I had a brutal night of acid reflux. I had to stay up late until I could lie down. I woke up and had to prop up on pillows to get back to sleep and once up for the day had a sore throat and phlegm chest. No more Taco Time for me
I met Mary Ann at Sandor Rentals at 1:30 to look at decor for the Gala. We had such a good time and then went to Fabricland to see if there was anything we could do ourselves but decided it would be cost prohibiting.
We picked up a chair that we bought and dropped it at my house as I am going to figure out a way to recover it to suit the theme.
I then went and spent over two hours at Superstore getting a good supply of groceries for the first time since before my trip. I enjoyed it.
I even ran into Tyrel who we hope to hire as auctioneer for the gala. He has promised to confirm soon
I stopped at Great Canadian Liquor Warehouse to use the gift card that I won and find these new Crowns very tasty
I came home and made some dinner and have been watching The Big C
It was nice to leave the office at 3 on a Friday and go help Monica bottle her wine. We went back to her place and had a visit for a few hours before I came home and started watching season 3 of Slow Horses
Today involved work and planning. I met Mary Ann and Nadine at Colombo Lodge to Susa out a floor plan for the Gala. We had a great meeting. Things are getting real.
I sure wish I could shake whatever is causing the phlegm and hitch in my chest.
I tried booking an appointment for the perineural injection with the recommended Dr in Invermere only to find it will be months. Sigh
Got a call from Uncle Brian and Auntie Lynne about mom and made a plan for me to come visit
A woman I volunteer with stopped by the office to give me two Hyacinths as a thank you for referring her to a financial planner. So sweet
After work I went to Encore for my last event as a Friend With Benefits. I arrived to find that I had been allowed a plus one. Tracey and Sven were both busy so Rae suggested Blaire. She arrived in time for dinner. We were seated with John and Teresa, and Ben. The meal was an amazing and the company was fun. It turns out Ben is a train engineer and we swapped some great railroad stories. I really enjoyed Blair’s company as well
I picked up Mom at 12:30 to bring her to her Dr appointment. She was moving quite spiritedly compared to the weekend. Clearly has taken her water pills as the swelling is lessened. We picked up Rae so I could drop them at the back alley ramp and go around front to park. It seems her biopsy from her leg was cancerous so I am to watch it for changes after it heals. I dropped both of them off and headed back to the office where I got a good lot done and then came home.
I finished watching season 1 of Slow Horses. This is odd and sometimes I have no idea what’s going on, but I am weirdly obsessed with it.
I was wakened from a deep sleep by a double beep every 30 seconds. It was the carbon monoxide detector indicating end of life. I removed it from the wall and followed the directions on the back to turn it off for recycling, but it didn’t work. I was so annoyed that I marched outside and threw it in my garbage. It was still beeping at days end when I rolled the bin out to the road for collection in the morning
I do love my new Bumblebee earbuds from Jake. They have great sound.
I finally gave up on my book and put it in the thrift box. I didn’t care that I only had 95 pages to go, it’s so poorly written
Uncle Lawrence called and we had one of our best conversations ever. He was shocked how poorly his sister is getting around and promised to help more in getting her up and moving. It was emotional for me and cathartic to express how tired I am of being angry at the situation
I was at the are arena for 2:30 to finish training as banker and sell 50/50 It was a very exciting game. We are a 4th from the bottom in the league team and we beat the Blackfald Bulldogs who are 3rd overall 4-2!
I also won a $100 GC to Liquor Warehouse when my program # was chosen.
I stopped to see Mom and offer her a pair of my shoes as her runners are hard to get on and her feet hurt yesterday. She said they didn’t fit so I headed off and stopped at the kids. Everyone was there having tacos that were delicious!!! I’m only sad that I missed Dee’s homemade tortillas. The meat Roger made was so tasty and had nothing that has upset my stomach.
I remembered to bring my present from Jake home. Jack, who Jake gave me years ago, is happy to finally have his Sally
I picked up Mom and we headed to Kimberley to attend the celebration of life for her cousin Jeanne. It was emotional and beautiful and so full of love.
Mark, Chris, Adrian and Brian did a lovely eulogy and the last song was a request by Barry, Sweet Caroline, their song.
It was good to see all the family and friends there. I wish I could have stayed and visited but I needed to get Mom home as she could barely walk. I was glad Roger and Gene and Jake helped her out to the car.
It was so nice to get to chat a ltttle with Dale and Janet Lofstrom, Moms cousin and wife from Grande Prairie.
Yumi had a Kootenay experience with deer
We stopped and I got Mom some groceries and then got her settled back at home. Jake and I went out to F&B and talked about what it takes to start a business. We then joined Yumi and Emmy at the mall where they’d gone to a movie. After shopping for a bit it was back to the house where Roger had made spaghetti for all. We had a nice visit and played Rummicube which I won lol.
I am blessed with family that’s for sure. Also. Tired.
Today I did manage to get a lot done, but I also took a mental health break and built my happy plants that the Watson Family gave me for Christmas. They are adorable.
I headed straight from work to the arena to be trained as a 50/50 banker for Rotary. I was also a seller with Laura. Lallah did a great job walking me through it all.
Near where my selling spot was there is a wall of hometown hockey and I was thrilled to see that Jason Marshall had been added to the line-up. I house sat for his Mom when they went to the draft. He was picked 9th overall by the St Louis Blues who also happened to be the team who played the Canucks at the first NHL game I ever went to. It brought me joy that he ended up playing with my Ducks.
Tonight’s intermissions had weiner dog races that were hilarious. It was a salute to Leslie Long Rescue who does amazing things for animals in this city. It was announced that Rotary was giving $750 of their share of the 50/50.
I went to witness the way to draw the winning number and gasped to Lallah that I sold that ticket and knew who won. It just happened that I had noted the numbers when I sold. Sure enough, the winner was D, an 80 year old volunteer for Leslie Long Rescue!! She took home over $2700. It was very moving to say the least. We got a picture of her and of presenting a cheque to the organization
I stopped to say hi to Jake and Yumi who had driven with Ashlée after flying Vancouver to Calgary. We will all get together for Jeanne’s celebration of life tomorrow and then spend some time together.
Today was super annoying as apparently Microsoft 365 had issues globally.
Jason Fast, a partner at the firm I used to work for gave his bio at Rotary and it was entertaining
I went from work to trivia and played with Jeff & Dee, Nolan & his friend whose name I forget, Blaire, and Roger as Magic Short Bus. We won by one point. I was happy to have supplied a couple answers that the rest didn’t know. We were a good balance of knowledge and it was fun and I made $31 after entry fee.
I met with Rae today to discuss an upcoming fraud case that we may both be called upon to comment on. We can’t talk about it but I am grateful that I can talk to her.
I did move mountains today, working right up to our 7 pm Gala planning meeting. I had tested my idea for an edible glitter drink and it was very well received.
The internet was still a bit sketchy today which I will have to report. I suppose my option is to work from home but I would miss my two big screens.
I stopped for wing night and a visit with Chris. He’s a good lad.
Today was beyond frustrating as I struggled with my computer. I chatted with Intuit and called the office IT guy. I did get as much as I could done and then headed to F&B for dinner. I had a nice visit with Bejea and a delicious order of steamed mussels followed by ice cream and crème de menthe at home.
I was grateful that Rae-Anne took my Mom for her bloodwork today. It allowed me to get further ahead. I left earlier than I’d have like in order to get to the Key City Theatre volunteer winter dinner. I did have a nice time visiting with Daryl and Marianne, and Tony. Ali Joe Crow played after the potluck dinner and then we all waddled home.
I spent the whole day sorting through photos and backing up digital ones as well as uploading CDs into my iTunes. I did take breaks to deal with laundry and make mini cupcakes for tomorrow’s volunteer potluck dinner.
I spent the better part of the day converting my Seattle photo Works photos off of discs from the late 90s early 2000s into JPEG’s on my laptop it was a bit of an emotional trip down memory lane as so many people in the photos are now gone after that I got myself ready and headed to the Rotary UnChristmas party at Colombo Hall I had prepared a three round trivia and everyone seemed to have fun the spaghetti dinner was lovely and I came in second in the pool tournament. It really was just a lovely evening of like-minded people hanging out together 
Was happy to open a lovely Christmas card from a couple of my favourite Texans. Also got a message from Kathy about a next cruise together. I promised to look into it once I got through this month
I liked my Audible stats for the year considering I feel like I didn’t listen enough and definitely didn’t read enough ‘real’ books. All of those 22 titles were autobiographies read by the authors. I feel there must be some facts at least in their memories.
Rotary lunch was lovely as paws therapeutic dogs were in the house. Mike did a great job explaining what they are about and then the dogs wandered around and visited with everyone.
I finished the last of my clients T4‘s today and some others which puts me ahead of schedule and feels good.
I left work around six and headed to Encore for trivia night. Brett showed up and brought his friend Ryan and we were the team named. ‘We Thought it was Cash Cab!’ that got a good laugh. Once again, we were tied for first at the end of the first round and ended up in third. The team that we are competing the most with is very good on the music round which always kicks our butts as we need a country person.
I was very surprised and nervous to get a text from Rae-Anne that she wanted to go for a drink. I of course assumed there was some news or issue to deal with, but really it was just for fun. I’m glad because I sure enjoyed our time together in November and I hope we can do more of these one on one visits. We mostly talked about the upcoming trip that she and Roger hope to take to Italy and beyond.
Once again, I am unnerved by the lack of Winter. I keep expecting my bulbs to start popping up, but then again I hope they don’t or we will get a deep freeze.
It’s funny how much Missy loves my new carpet. She rolls around on it and stretches. I admit that I want to do the same thing. It feels so wonderful.
The temperate climate is so strange for this time of year. I’m reminded of the coast. I went to help Mom with the bandage on her leg but she’d already managed it. Next was Rotary board meeting and a delicious lunch at Heidout. Back to the office and a 5 hour GST fix for a client. Glad to get that one off my list.
I am very much enjoying watching Love on the Spectrum. Much more uplifting than the 90 Day world.
It’s so strange how little snow there is for this time of year.
I picked up Mom and brought her to her Drs appointment. She has a nasty spot in her leg that he took off for a biopsy. It went well and she bought us drive thru Dairy Queen. My guts did not love that.
While I was with her we talked about the fact that growing up our family Dr was a black man. Dr Rivers was kind and it is only in hindsight that I marvel that we had a black Dr in the 60s.
I received a call that my Turkish rug was to be delivered later in the afternoon. I got a text when they were half an hour out and went home to clear the Lego, vacuum and move the current rug. The guys who delivered were so sweet and said they didn’t have another like mine in the truck, that this pattern was usually reserved for Angora rugs. Mine is silk, bamboo and cotton and feels like a dream. I was worried about tariffs and duty but they brought mine in with rugs for a show in Toronto so it didn’t cost me anything else. I love it so much.
I popped back to the office for a bit before heading to Mr Mikes to have dinner and celebrate Donna’s belated birthday. She’d been lost in the wait at her sister’s bedside. I was blessed to be at dinner with Jeanne’s sister Rosie, sister Donna and husband Hogie (Erik), and brother Dan with his wife Terry. We had a lovely visit. Cousins are so special
At 7:30 I had a haircut appointment with Karissa. I always enjoy visiting her and she cut a lot off. I feel so fresh!
triumphgal 