It is a statutory holiday for truth and reconciliation. I admit that I did nothing today in honour of that. It’s one of the first times. I haven’t worn orange you’re gone to one of the gatherings or both. I wasn’t sleeping well last night so I let myself sleep in and then the next thing I knew it was time to get ready and go to rehearsal.
The nice part about my getting ready is my routine of weighing myself every morning and I am very happy to see that I am below 200 pounds for the first time since just before I broke my ankle in December 2024.
I wore my corset over my dress for the rehearsal so I could see how it would affect my back and actually it was pretty good. I will wear each rehearsal amount until I’m very comfortable with it because I need to be able to check my breathing and how tight it should be etc..
Rehearsal went fairly well, although there are still a couple of people who need to get off book better. I did have to ask for lines twice so I know where I need to concentrate
I think the issue is there hasn’t been any actual time spent on the intention of the scene the intention of the character the connection so I am just going to continue doing the best that I can do and be sure that it will all come together. I am glad that we’ll have one or maybe two extra run-throughs in the next week.
I stopped to see Rae-Anne meet Lando their new puppy. What a beautiful boy he is he’s a springer spaniel and is so calm and cuddly and lovely and has clearly bonded with her as even while she’s cooking dinner he wanted to lay on her feet. She and I had a good talk about my need to hydrate and monitor my protein intake. She gave me samples of what she uses and recommended creatine and magnesium, as well as electrolyte packages to add to my water, which I did manage to find when I went for groceries afterwards, and then I came home and ordered creatine from Amazon to get the same kind that she had given me a sample of because it tasted good.
I decided to do a shop at Safeway as it has been sometimes since I did a proper shop and I wanted to make sure I got healthy food that I could enjoy in small meals more often. It turns out that protein is expensive. I got two bags of groceries for $301 actually 310 because I used points to take $10 off. And most of what I bought had been on special and the receipt that I saved $67.49.! two bags wow 
I did get two of my favourite things as the cookies always remind me of Jake when they come out and these are new ones for the season. And I love ground lamb and it’s so much healthier and there were six packages on for six dollars each with two dollar markdowns because they need to be used soon so I bought them all and threw them in the freezer. I love using it for shepherds pie and tacos especially as well as spaghetti sauce.
Today I had to meet with a client in the morning then had a doctors call in the afternoon, followed by getting my crown, put in grabbing a bite to eat and heading to rehearsal. I also got moulded for a new mouthguard, which I can’t wait to get being that I’ve been without it for over a month. That probably explains why I am so tired and often headachy.
This is my first non-gold crown and I’m amazed at how they managed to match the colour of my teeth so well
I woke up to a message from the paving company that they were actually starting today so I had to get notices out to the four trailers that will be affected and that went well thankfully. It was nice to come home later and see it all done and blocked off for the next couple days.
Physio with Cynthia was amazing. She does such good work on loosening up the tissues. It doesn’t always feel good, but I know that it’s working towards the best.
We talked about my hand, cramping and other muscle aches, and she agrees that it’s probably the fact that I haven’t been eating regular good meals and that it could be dehydration related so I shall focus on solving both of those problems
I did get some work done and popped home to throw the frozen pies in the freezer that I bought from one of my clients fundraisers and will bake and bring to Thanksgiving. I had a bite to eat did a little puzzling and then went to the municipal all candidates forum that JCI puts on every year I always find it the best way for me to know who I would vote for or not. I also got opinions from a couple of people.
The forum was very good and I did come away, knowing that I would vote for Lynette Wray for mayor. We had spoken beforehand, and she offered me a pamphlet which I took, and then a button which I did not and explain that I would learn a lot from the forum as I did when I voted for her as counsellor four years ago. I think she appreciated my honesty and when everything was said and done, I walked up her and said I’ll take a button now, which did make her smile.
Counsellors was a little more confusing. I still have solid. Feels about three of them and we’ll have to give it more thought and research about three more out of the 10.
I puzzled a little bit more and actually feel tired, which is good
I lazed a bit and then got ready to drop off last nights take to Lallah and meet Colin and Wendy at the Heidout. It’s a beautiful day. Rae joined us and then Will took his break to visit and eat. I was enjoying my time with them but every time I reached for my fork my hand would cramp up. It was painful and disturbing. I wish we’d had more time together but they had to head home to Kelowna and I had rehearsal to get to. I was so weirdly out of it that I didn’t even take a picture with them. Rusty made me my own pepper and onion free version of lunch.
Rehearsal went well but my elbow cramped up. It was good to rehearse in actual costume shoes. Mine are the quietest.
I came home and used my foot spa as my puzzled as per physiotherapist suggestion. It did really help my ankle. I’ve been watching Homeland. My hand cramped up again so I wonder if I am dehydrated. More water is on my priority list to see if it helps.
Lallah and Errol picked me up around 10:30 and we went to the Rotary storage where I grabbed Alice in Wonderland items to share with Debi Dockins for the President training in the new year. I will see her in Rossland on the weekend.
That got me motivated and I spent the next few hours working in my yard. I cut down plants, trimmed trees, and filled 6 yard waste bags before mowing the lawn. I also managed to put a 16×16 heavy duty tarp over the jeep shed in spite of the wind and doing it by myself.
I then soaked in the hot tub and then took a hot shower before making a delicious grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. The tomato 🍅 was from cousin Donna’s garden and so delicious
I was at the arena by 4:30 to be the banker for 50/50 at the Bucks vs Trail game. It took a lot to walk that arena as my body is aching. It was a little more complicated than usual as the internet was down in the arena. Still, with two newbies we made enough to give 1612.50 to the winner who was very happy
It was so lovely to come home to my yard
There is still more weeding to do but it is much improved
I poured a THC tub and soaked. It helped , but I am still aching
I did get good news that Alan and Pam are going to come from Slocan Valley to see the matinee at on the 25th!
Today brought all the fields when I got a notification when I woke up that there was a bill for $858 for Mom cell phone from Telus
I did a bit of work and finally called to deal with a bill which I was put on hold for a very long time during which I believe they listened to my original phone call that told me I did not have to pay for the phone and when the agent came back, she said she had spoken to her manager, and it was a mistake on their side and that they would delete that bill since the account had been closed, and I have been made promises of not owing anymore.
Well, I was on the phone with them. I received a call and email that the marker had finally been placed only three weeks to the day after the day. had promised it would be there
I texted Cousin Donna and I picked her up and we went to the cemetery together in Kimberley. It was a final moment for me that my entire core family was laid to rest. How is it that I’d only 63 I am now the matriarch of the family. I have one auntie Trish left on my dad side and one auntie leona on my mom side
My reaction took me to my Local Fenwick and Baker where I knew I would feel love from friends. As it happens, I was invited to go along to the hockey game tonight and it was exactly what I needed.
I had a very good time and my tank was filled with love, but to be honest, I probably shouldn’t have driven home tonight. That is something that I need to be more astute about.
Rotary today had us learn more about what the sunrise club is doing as their president Bob Bjorn treated us to talk about all the things they have been doing in the community and around the world. I love that we have two clubs doing great things in Cranbrook.
I had some lovely positive responses to the newsletter, which helps to keep me doing it as it feels strange to create something and send it out into the world and not get any feedback
I took care of a few errands and then spent some more time back at the office before heading to Rotary Park to be there for my friends supervise visit with his kids. Nikki met me there not long after I arrived, and we spent almost 2 hours working on our lines sitting at a picnic table in the beautiful fall weather
We are grateful that John Malcolm has joined our ensemble as Dr. Patrick and the defence lawyer. The run through went pretty good considering. I chose to try it off book and had to ask for a line a couple of times, but I feel a lot more confident about the whole show
I was thrilled to receive my new toppers today as well as my tarp for the jeep shelter and my Lego flowers which I will photograph when I build them. I was blessed with winning a $150 Walmart gift card from BMO and it more than covered a winter canopy for over my hot tub and the Lego. The cover will arrive in the next couple days and should also cut down on utilities.
I finished and sent the Rotary quarterly newsletter before I left office.
At 4:30 I arrived at the College of the Rockies for the Chamber after hours event. It really was lovely and I had nice visits with Denis, Rhonda and Tracey W especially
I received an email from Joseph Creek, where Mom used to live, inviting to Thanksgiving. So annoying
Many of us met early for line runs before rehearsal and I also learned from a friend that she needed a safety buddy. I’m all in for that. We have another replacement actor, John Malcolm from Kimberley. With only weeks until opening, I hope that’s it! He actually was very good and age wise suits the character closer
Nikki and I popped over for last call at F&B and ended up talking until they almost turned out the lights lol.
I grew weary trying to reset Moms iPad so as to give it to Emmy. There seemed to be no documentation I could supply to set it free. I finally did a deep dive and found a way to remove it from Find My Devices and then a way to reset it without 2 factor authentication! I will say that I was chuffed. I hope I never become a bumbler with Tech
My step report is amazeballs for last week, however, that is also what sent me to physio today
Cynthia did an amazing job of massaging the hardening tissue in my right foot. I am to see her for a couple weeks and hopefully get back to a better place.
I went to use the awesome metal ruler that Mom had. It turns out the edges are very damaged and I flipped it over to find Greg’s name. I texted him pics and he has no remembrance of it I worked on the Rotary newsletter which I hope to finish tomorrow
Mid afternoon I received the most fantastic message from his wife, Kym, that they had found my family pics in Donna’s stuff. I was verklempt when I saw the picture of my sister, Rae-Ann feeding me. I had never seen it before and she looks so much like my cousin Kelly that I wonder if my wee self held that memory and that is what made us so close
I did some work, and made an appointment for Physio tomorrow afternoon. It was a beautiful day so I headed home and sat out in the shade of my Maple and ran my lines. It’s only repetition now to get them ingrained so I am glad a few of us will meet early on Wednesday and Becky will join to be on book. I hope we are productive
I am watching the Lizzie Borton story on the monster series and honestly, it is so far off the actual story that it makes it hard to love it 
I slept until 10 again. Had coffee and relax and then jumped in the hot tub for a delightful soak in a perfect end of summer morning. It was then time to jump in the shower and head to rehearsal. It was interesting as always and of course the never ending search for a committed Dr Patrick/Defense continues.
Once we were done I was joined by a friend at F&B for a download of her life in the last few years. I have not previously even her shoulder it am pleased that she felt confident in sharing with me.
I finished off with wings and a visit with Tarron, enjoying showing him and Nick, the bartender, my Lego creations.
On my way home I stopped for a pint of soft serve and came home to cut up all my fresh fruit. I voted that gas is 199.9 currently!!! That is very high for Cranbrook
The day was so incredibly full from 10 AM until 11:30 PM. I was on site and on duty. But it wasn’t a lot of stress I was just getting tired and at one point I came home and changed into my compression socks and different shoes. I am home now and my ankle actually hurts not just aches. I’ll have to jump in the hot tub in the morning. I am grateful to everyone who helped to the awesome musicians and even the Dicky ones. The headliners were brilliant again. My son is a hurricane had the place hopping right till the bitter end. I’m sure there are 1 million little stories I could tell but I’m going to let the pictures and videos do that for me so I can get some sleep.
Kimberley Pipe Band
Brass Roots
Randy Marchi
Discover Circus
Cara Luft xo
Heather Gemmell
Cara Luft and Clayton Parsons
Side Hustle
My Son the Hurricane
There were happy moments with friends. I love my times with Randy and Shinobu, although she’s always taking the pics
A negative part of the day was the post on Facebook for the show I am in. I am embarrassed that they made an AI version (without asking) of me and made me younger and thinner. We had taken character photos in costume and makeup and were told they were for media. there is a lot of discussion out in the community and I hope it doesn’t affect the audience support.
That’s supposed to be me upper right
I received pictures of Mrs Bs interment as requested, but had no preparation for how hard it would be to see the marker with my Dad’s name as well. I was taking a video right after and tears began flowing so I escaped to the green room and had a good cry before sucking it up and getting out there.
My friend gave me a hug until I let go and that helped.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since the 911 incident in the US. I remember exactly where it was that day how my alarm had gone off and Larry and Willie were on the radio. A couple of jokesters. I didn’t believe it was true when they said a plane had crashed into The World Trade Centre I got up and turned the TV on in time to see the second one. I was living on Salt Spring and working at home hardware. That day we all moved around like zombies mostly hanging out in the electronics department watching everything on TV. The unimaginable had happened. That was something that was perceived to come from outside the American borders, but we have seen so much happening within since then, is anything really unimaginable anymore?
I started the day by taking things to the thrift stores in town. The first batch going to the Salvation Army and then the file box full of the rest of Mom’s Cat collection I took to the hospital auxiliary thrift. As I walked in the back door carrying it Kevin came running towards me to help and I explained that this was the last of my mom’s cat collection and I thought it was just the place for them. He looked in the box and his face lit up as he exclaimed. It was exactly the place for them. As I walked away, I heard oohing and aahing over them as he was looking through the box. It made my heart happy and my eyes leak.
I had a very productive day at work and then went to F&B for dinner as the owner Mike had told me that the best thing on the menu was the schnitzel on Friday nights. He wasn’t wrong. I sat and ate at the bar and visited with their dishwasher, Tarren, whom I had never met before, but we had a great conversation as he grew up in Port Hardy for the first half of his life.
There was a time when I was just sitting there eating and enjoying the hub around me, sheltered in the shield of my brain. I know that probably doesn’t make sense, but sometimes sometimes it’s just nice to sit in a crowd and not have to make conversation but hear all the happy noises around me.
I came home and did a couple like a projects and I’m now starting on my /despicable me 41 set
It’s nice to be doing some of these that I forgot that I even had because I bought them last year. I have been watching the rest of the season of Trying. It’s a good show. I will go to bed soon because I have to be picked up at 6:30 in the morning to go work the Gran Fondo.
I slept late finally even though I woke myself up yelling in a nightmare around 4 in the morning. I popped to the office to take care of a couple things and then headed to the park around noon. Turns out setup didn’t start until 1 so I walked down the street for lunch
Back on site I grabbed the KCT credit card and went to stock up for the hospitality green room. Selkirk beverages was very generous with pop for us and Cranbrook History Centre (train Museum) supplied their branded water bottles. A quick stop at Walmart took care of the snacks and then it was back to the park. I helped get the hospitality 10th set up unloaded my car and then went home to grab all the accessories like my inflatable couch and chair and a carpet and table covers and baskets, etc..
I got everything set up in time for the first sound check. It looks lovely if I don’t say so myself and the first band to arrive was Lemon Bucket Orkestra. They were very nice humans, a Slavic punk band all the way from Toronto
The first performance of the day was the Dean Smith Trio, which sadly will no longer be as Dean is moving to Victoria.
Next step was a acquire of lovely voices
In between Cranbrook community, Theatre did a little skit about the circus performance tomorrow
Sioux Browning and Rico made a ‘cranky’ show of the story of Ed. The most amazing thing about it was that it was a single line drawing through the entire show.
The lantern parade was lovely. It’s one of my favourite parts
LBO took the stage by storm to finish out the night. What incredible energy and creativity. I am always caught off guard with how much I love Polish/Ukrainian music. Tonight it made more sense as I acknowledge that my grandparents were first generation Canadians as far as I understand from that area. Music must connect from the core of my being.
I was able to close up the green room and was last one off site, confirming security was good at 10:50. It was a very good day but my ankle and back are feeling all 12k steps as most were on uneven ground
Today I worked .25 hours of billable time, but I reconciled my own books to date which was lots.
I also went to Rotary lunch which was so funny as Brian DePaoli is a very entertaining speaker. He works for RDEK and information about all our parks and waste management was delivered in a great way
I also signed up for Rotary International conference in Barcelona and paid off my Future Cruise Credits which will be applied to the trip and then next weekend Leanne and I will get together to plan the rest of the trip. It turns out that it is cheapest to fly to Dublin! We are talking about spending a couple days there before heading to Southampton for the cruise!!! I am so excited
I hit up La vie en rose for a good fitting and new bras. Let me tell you, there is nothing finer than a new bra
Rehearsal was changed and I was there from 6:30-9 as we worked and ran the second act. It is challenging as one of our castmates was away for last week and another is sick now. With a month to opening I have fingers crossed.
I stopped to see Rae before rehearsal and she had an awesome gift for me!!
I finished all of the bookwork that I need to do for September. I’m used to taking vacation this month so I’m finding myself with a lot of time on my hands, which is OK.
I went to my optometrist and they kindly gave me 10 pairs of sample contact lens for the play and then I stopped next door to get a new headset for my CPAP machine. around 250 bucks quite shocking.
Went home and finished my puzzle had a little dinner and I’ve been watching the newest episodes of my Apple TV shows
Today was more stable than yesterday. I think part of the problem is that September is usually the month that I have less client work so I take vacation but I’m not taking a vacation this month because I’m in the play. Having time on my hands during the workday makes me worry that I am forgetting to do something. This complicated brain of mine just can’t let me take a break. I did get an awful lot done though even on things that aren’t due until the end of next month and worked until six before I headed to F&B for something to eat and time to study my lines. I ended up having a nice visit with the owner Mike and then his wife Heather, who I’ve known much longer. It suddenly occurred to me that she is a hairdresser and we need a Hair! person for the play and she is involved with front of house, but I asked her if she would be interested in coming and being our Hair! lady for the run of the show and we had a lovely emotional moment.
At 8 PM it was my rehearsal time and we worked through the first portion of act two where I actually get to be a little lighthearted because I have a more casual relationship with my brother in the show. It’s a time to lessen the intensity and enjoy a little comic timing, which I do know that I am good at and will improve with each rehearsal, but I did love hearing the director laugh.
I had a real miss Rosie moment today. She was such a support to me through all of this and has known me since well for 61 years. She is 13 years older than me, but much like a big sister and confident. I wish we weren’t 6 1/2 hours away from each other driving time. I did write her a card and pop it in the mail for her birthday next week.
Even more than my girlfriends who came to visit, she knows me. Mostly because we have kept connection through all of the years where that wasn’t always so with the others. That was the part that was mostly relaxing though, these are people that you don’t have to explain a lot to, you can just be you and I’m not entirely sure that I have that person here on the regular.
Greg called today to let me know he was on his way to pick up Mrs B’s ashes which are to be interred on Saturday with Dads. We were both surprised that there is a marker for Dad. I shall visit it next time I am on Salt Spring.
Grief continues to pour out of my soul.
Our Strata Council meeting was short and sweet as we become finer tuned and get things done
Afterwards I came home to puzzle and watch the Emmys. I am now crying over Michael J Fox. Mom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s after too long of feeling its effects. In many ways I am grateful that the Cancer took her so fast.
I had a very good sleep in and worked on sorting for a puzzle. Once I showered and gathered items I realized I needed new opaque black tights so I tried to dodge the rain and headed to Winner’s. I had put my contacts in so I had to use my phone to zoom in on the sizes. That was a first but very useful.
At 1 we all gathered at the theatre to put on our costumes, makeup and hair. I have a small wig that matched my hair perfectly and rolls into a bun which stays put with many bobby pins and hair spray. It struck me as funny when Sandy Kaye mentioned that I have close ears and am lucky. It was not one of my assets that I’d noticed before, but now I have been obsessing over ears in the shows I’m watching. The corset was the perfect addition and it was funny to have Michael, who plays my husband, assist with the lacing. I am getting to know the cast better and still find this style of direction something to get used to. Our stage manager agreed that this is very different. I’m sure it will all pull together, but I think we need more rehearsal time.
The whole experience was lovely and we had our pictures taken for social media.
I puzzled and watched some shows. It was a nice day
