I saw the name when I picked up my phone to answer it. I struggled to answer as I knew in my gut why he was calling. My best friend’s son, Reid, was calling to let me know that his Mom had died today.
I am in an emotional coma, the sobs come in waves. She was the person who knew me best, and loved me even more in spite of, or because of, that. I have so many tales of laughter and tears. The memories are running like a slideshow in my brain at the moment.
I last saw her in July.
I planned to go see her for her 70th in March, but had to wait to see my surgeon before locking down the plan. I was waiting to FaceTime her until I knew. I wish I hadn’t waited.
She set me on the path that led to who I am and what I do today.
Today was complicated and I am glad to get past it. It is late, but I haven’t unwound yet. Gene came this morning and installed my grab bar so I can safely shower. It’s a nice one that matches my towel bars. He then drove me to work.
I was emcee for the first of the Winter Ale series in the Key City lobby and what a blessing
The opener was Oliver McQuaid from Kimberley and he is a very talented singer/songwriter with a touch of comedian.
The main act was The Charms, two ridiculously talented humans, Denis & Meg Dufresne. Also just really nice people!
I accidentally videoed but the sound is so good and the story leads perfectly into the next video so I am keeping it
Have to love a band that so dislikes streaming services that they played through the intermission
Rae picked me up and brought me to my waxing appointment with Ireland and then to Home Depot to buy a safety grab bar for my shower. I also grabbed a plant for my office
I got a fair amount of things done today, but was very frustrated again by my volunteer experience and I am looking forward to being off the board this month. I do not work well with the newest board member and have been refraining for a week and a half from responding to his emails with a firm F off today was so close.
Ashlée bought most of my stuff from her place and pick me up from work which was great. She just missed the things in the bathroom, which I’m sure Rae-Anne can bring in the morning. I am now officially moved home.
I put away most of my stuff and then sat at my table, watching my shows and did two more bags of my Lego Jaws before my foot had had enough and needed to be resting up. 
I saw an interesting thing on one of the shows that I watch and had to look it up online. now I want to go there. 
Rae picked me up this snowy morning I got a great deal done on many things today. I am again stressed and frustrated by the demands on me by a board member with no consideration for my time. I bit my tongue struggling not to reply to his myriad of email with a capitalized fuck off. Near the end of the day the president finally clarified that he was meeting with me on Wednesday to discuss parameters and bought me some time. Keratin kindly drive me home and helped me get my scooter up on my porch. I use a kneel squat combo to get myself up. I made a nice meal. It is most challenging at home to take things out of the oven and the dishwasher
I settled in to do a little Lego and finish watching the Grammys. There were some lovely moments. Chappell Roan especially had a good message. It was impressive how much money was raised to help victims of the wild fires. I finished three bags and put my leg up for a rest.
Today was actually quite lovely. I got some more chores done. I sold a dresser. I made some good food. I rested as needed in between. I decided that I will continue to stay at home as long as I can continue to get rides to and from work as necessary.
I did one death defying thing which was to take a shower in my very deep standalone bathtub. I did text Rae-Anne to let her know that I would text her within 15 minutes and if not to call me and if I didn’t answer come check on me. I was extremely cautious and have decided that I will put a grab bar across the back wall that can double as a bathmat holder so that I am safe for years to come.
I was grateful to Gene who came and shovelled and ice melted my walkway and out to the road as we had a bit of snow today and he also moved my coffee table for me so that now I have a nice turnaround area more convenient then previous
I am going to sleep without my air cast on tonight as I don’t believe I can actually break or do any damage and honestly, I am so looking forward to not having it on for that length of time
It was so nice to awake in my own bed this morning. The night was only interrupted by Missy meowing in a way that made it clear she was pissed off that I was gone for so long.
Over the course of the day she has gotten comfortable enough for me to pet her again although she is still skittish about my scooter
I had a nice day, doing laundry, cooking for myself and moving what I could to make navigation easier in the house.
I have been catching up on my PVR shows in between chores. It is good to be home but I also find myself wondering what the family is up to
I am concerned for Deanne as she couldn’t move today so asked to go to the hospital. I am glad she will get sorted as it has been hard to watch her ability go downhill of late.
Lunch made me think. Why are the servings 4 pieces when there are 9 in the package. Is the 9th one to feed the birds with?
I was so grateful to sign off and head home. I had woken up thinking that I wanted to stay at my place this weekend. Ashley brought me home and helped me gather all the things that I wanted to bring with me. My Ashlée packed up my food and some bevies from the fridge and off I went. Ashley helped me get into my place and grabbed my mail. We had a good chuckle over the fact that there was a yellow pages in my mail box
Next it was off to Western Financial Place where we both were volunteering doing 50/50. I set a chair inside my podium to rest my bad leg on but quickly learned that I was not a flamingo in a previous life. My left leg was aching and kept spasm shooting into my back. I pressed on and had lovely interactions with many people. I was super amazed how many younger children stopped to tell me they hoped my leg got better soon. I even made a little buddy when we finally got opportunity to sit and watch the last period. I was curious as to how this injury usually happens…
It’s melt conditions at the moment t which is good for me. We got me in the house and I was so happy to settle in my chair. Missy is very cautious of me, won’t let me touch her but is curious. I suspect it won’t take long to win her over
Nancy Reid (Emmy’s other grandma) was the speaker today about all the things gas Community Connections does. She did really well. Lunch was cold pasta. We are voting on where to move our meetings to.
After finishing and filing everything possible today, I asked Ashley to drop me at Encore. I read my book as I enjoyed Blueberry Vodka in Hop Water and then Sailor Jerry’s in the same. It was refreshing and tasty. I also hat a Tot-Dog which was very tasty and I think it is the best value on the menu.
Gene and Sawyer picked me up at 7:20 to go get our haircuts from Karissa. I love mine
I am watching Monsters the Lyle and Eric Menendez Story. Shall head to bed soon. Need my rest to heal.
This was the first reason that I didn’t want to get up this morning
I put in 8.5 billable hours, a small break for lunch and the loo, and did some volunteer work on top of that. I became very emotional from the strain of it all and finally texted for a ride just after 7. I was grateful for the pea soup awaiting my return. I was more grateful that when I connected my keyboard that Gene and I picked up this morning to my non functioning laptop, I was able to login in etc. it is effectively now a desktop but at least I don’t have to spend money that I do t have right now.
The best part of the day was when I relaxed into the chair in my jams and removed my aircast and sock. It is hard to explain the grinding down it causes. I am not always in pain, there are merely moments, but I am always aware and uncomfortable. I know that the longer I sit at my desk the worse it gets and yet I am too tired to fully function and move around much. I have to be even more careful. This is the time of year when I am normally so tired that I lose my personal bubble of protection, this multiplies the lack of awareness for my safety.
I also shouldn’t have looked up the usual healing progress and timeline of a syndesmosis Injury combined with a fracture…. Sigh. I am a sad sack tonight. So, I watched ‘A Real Pain’. It was worth it.
I had a lot to do today and did get a chunk of work done. I also got a lot of volunteer and personal things done. Ashlée came and got me at 4 and we started off at CIBC where I had to go in person to pay off a loan before it renewed. They sent me across to RBC to take out cash as I couldn’t use my debit at the counter. Made it back and paid it off which feels good. One less payment a month. Next it was across the street the other way to see Nolan at the Pharmasave Medical supply. He gave me a very good deal on two new socks for in my aircast, and a bulb to inflate and deflate mine so I could give Bills back. He also through in a sample of mattress gel pad to use under my poor knee. What a blessing!
Once home I made my Hello Fresh charred corn and shrimp salad and settled to watch Skeleton Crew and rest my leg.
The rest of the week will prove to be long days and heavy concentration.
I pretty much relaxed and puzzled and binged a show on Netflix today, “Safe”. I also joined the family welcoming their new student, Paul, as Niko left yesterday.
We all headed to Encore to see Maddisun open for Alex MacNeil and the Revenants from Dawson City, Yukon. The sound had terrible issues but the band was fun and kind and also talented
The worst part of the day was trying to boot up my laptop to do some work for Fisher Peak only to find that it has been dropped, and the keyboard does not work. I’m going to try to get my keyboard from home and see if an external keyboard will work with it and begin to treat it like a desktop. Otherwise I’m going to have to go get another one.
I felt very sick to my stomach and no one seems to know anything, but I have to move on. It’s just a thing, right?
I spent the morning watching the title show on Netflix where I was curious about one of the actors. I felt like I should know her, but didn’t think that I had seen her in anything else so I finally went on IMDb to find out that her last name is Hewson and then it all clicked. She is Bono‘s daughter. 
I was picked up around noon and brought to a clients to work for seven hours straight on his two different companies getting them ready for their year end and GST filings. It was a lot, especially being day six in a row and I had to sit on this tall stool and let my leg hang down for all of those hours, which was challenging as well, but it knocked three big things off of my to do list Which made it worth it.
When I finally got back to the house around seven, Gene was busy making a delicious dinner and had taken into account my food intolerance. It was so great to sit and have dinner with them and visit for a bit before I puzzled a little and settled in to watch more of my show. 
I am sneezy and tired and stuffed up and hope I’m not getting something
Seriously busy day followed by some good fun. Ashlée picked up Bill and then grabbed me at work to go to the Friends With Benefits night at Encore.
It was a bit awkward at first as the spot I could claim comfortably for my leg left me alone. Eventually though people settled and I had great conversations with Jenjie (such a cool name), Julia, Nolan and Ryan. The new beer, A La Mode Sour, was definitely to my taste and the Appies were spicy but worth the tummy trouble risk.
It was such a relief to hug my little buddy, Atlas. It is miraculous how well kids bounce back from horrible tragedy.
The highlight of my evening was a random discovery that Nolan and I both have favourite scotch from Islay. We had such a great conversation about Scotch and made a plan to get together for the good stuff. He also taught me how to fold my scooter and will arrange a gel pad for it as he is the guy who manages the place that I rented it from. He said I will get the friends and family deal. (Honestly I wish he were 10 years older…)(yep, he’s my kinda guy)
Today was very full. Rae got me to work at a good time after getting a picture with my oldest grandchild, Gene, who graduated yesterday. Today he has an interview with one of my clients for a potential job until He goes off to Fire Fighter training in September. He still has a few hoops to jump before acceptance but things look promising
Rotary lunch was in a different location today and I was happy to meet the speaker and introduce her. Stacey Brensrud, the ED of Chamber is a great presenter and I think a real benefit to our city
After lunch I got quite a bit done including downloading an archive of my (Twitter) X account and then deactivating it. I am slowly removing derision from my life. It is not entertaining.
I played some Unraveled 2 with Sawyer after work and then Dee picked me up to go to Trivia at Encore. Rae, Roger, Dee and I played before Jeff showed up for the last round. We ended up tied for first place and came in second in the playoff
On the way home we swung by Crozier’s where we were gifted with a third of a tortiere each, homemade by Jeff. We dropped one at Bills, Roger dug into one, and mine is I. The freezer to savour soon. Mine also was the one that got dropped upside down getting out of the van so it is not pretty it still smells and looks delicious
A client picked me up at the office in his wife’s Caddie so that he could be the one to carefully put my scooter in the trunk. I worked on her books for 3.5 hours onsite and then was shuttled back to get things done at the office before Kerstin drove me home. I have spent the evening resting my leg, puzzling and watching Netflix. The Martha Stewart documentary was interesting. Now I am well into the limited series: Griselda. It’s well done.
I didn’t sleep well and finally got up and ran a tub around 6. It was nice to take the air-cast off and have a more normal bath although I didn’t soak that leg. I can’t believe the muscle loss already. Of course the left is bulking up so it looks even more.
I have a deep sad settling in. It was a single focus kind of day. Rae dropped me off, Ashley took good care of me and I made a point to help her with her books between others. She dropped me off at Key City in time for the 4:30 EdFest meeting where I had the idea that I present to Rotary and ask for $ and volunteers.
The meeting was followed immediately by the Volunteer Appreciation party. The pesto chicken was supplied by HeidOut and everyone brought potluck sides and dessert. I enjoyed the people I sat near and was happy when Judy agreed to be the volunteer coordinator for Summer Sounds.
I was sitting up front and was happy to find out that Tyrel Hawke was the entertainment. He played piano and sang for an hour. As he was finishing Roger and Rae arrived to pick me up. When I got up to go Tyrel said he’d been waiting all night to say ‘and now she’s gotta scoot’. As I cruised out the group still sitting at the table let out a chorus of ‘weeeeeeeee’
I got in the house just in time to pee but was disgusted by the dried pee all over the seat. It’s a boy house and it wasn’t the first time, but apparently it was the straw that broke this camel’s back. I had strong pain in my leg off and on all day. My tolerance ran out and I lay on the bed and sobbed for half an hour before finally getting dressed for bed and going out to sit in the big chair. I was pleased to see that Ash had left me a bowl of popcorn. I texted her to come and take a good look at my leg to see if there were any signs of distress. There were none and I just took some Advil and am letting it rest for a bit while watching Ginny & Georgia.
Today was a lot with what felt like little accomplishment. I had a nice morning visit with Sawyer as he and Rae-Anne readied to go skiing with his class.
I ordered OPA with Nikki at the office and it was tasty.
After lunch we all got a text that Sawyer crashed during his lesson and was being brought down by ski patrol. He turned out to have a slight sprain in his knee and we had a nice visit building one of my more recent Lego.
Ashlée made me a delicious dinner and we watched some of her show before getting into a complicated conversation that went sideways fast. I wish I could see the triggers coming. I hate going to bed with things off but she left and I’m too tired to wait up.
I was glad to join the family at Bill and Deanne’s for ice cream cake to celebrate Bills birthday that was on Friday. I walked up, er, rolled up the black with the entourage of Niko, Will and Sawyer.
Afterwards, Gene dropped Will and me at my place. Between the two of us we got a lot done including finishing my Lego shelving and he moved a large amount of stuff around so I have access to move around.
In the hour and a half we were there I didn’t see Missy at all. She didn’t come out from wherever she was hiding.
Back at the house, I Door Dashed some food, puzzled, sewed a patch on Sawyer’ backpack for him, and watched several episodes of Veronica Mars with Ashlée.
triumphgal 