triumphgal

September 24, 2022

I had a solid 8 hours sleep and felt rested and ready to get my chores done. I started the pool to draining although the buyer backed out. I decided to put it on Cranbrook Bid Wars and by noon tomorrow I should have sold it. Next thing, I got a message from Rae-Anne asking if I would like to join her and the two youngest boys heading to Kimberley. I took my bottles to drop off at Beautiful Moments where they were collecting to fund a gymnastics trip, dropped my recycle in the bin behind work, stopped at Canadian Tire for latches for the two gates and dropped all my old batteries at Staples for recycling. I met her and the boys at Arby’s where she had to assist staff and Will and Sawyer were eagerly awaiting me. We all jumped in Rae’s vehicle and headed off around 1:45. Parking was hard to come by and we found out that it was Oktoberfest in the Platzl. Odd as it is still September! We puttered in and out of stores, bought a cider and wandered. It was relaxing and fun. I was super impressed with the new restaurant, The Biscuit. We didn’t eat there but we did get our passports stamped for the Ale Trail promotion going on. I have to collect 6 stamps and trade in the passport to get a really cool enamel mug. I have 4 stamps just from today. We would have got more but the OverTime was too busy. We had a good stop at Grist & Mash Brewery for a flight and a pretzel. We stopped at the skate park and let Will and Sawyer ride around on their bikes. That park is so nice, no graffiti at all. Nice to see for sure. We stopped at the park in Cranbrook as well and ran in to Jonas, their student and one of her employees who called in sick. Oops, she busted him. We dropped the kids at home and just she and I went to the Blind Pig. We had a great visit and some good food and beverages. I felt really bad as I called my favourite server by the wrong name but it will never happen again. I got all twisted up over another conversation and pulled the wrong one out of my hat. We went for a walk around downtown for a bit before I dropped her off and came home. It was such a good day!

September 24, 2022

Today I was up and on the treadmill and off to work at a decent time. I feel like everything is just fluid right now, as if I am just moving through the days. I think I am trying not to stress for Mom. My super power friend Julie was going to help her tonight and I hope it went well. Rae-Anne let me know that the mormons are in town looking to give assistance where needed and that I should reach out to get their help moving her in on the first. I have to reach out to my brother tomorrow to see when he thinks we will need them. Sadly, the lady who reached out about buying my pool said her husband doesn’t want to store it for the winter so I will drain and clean it this weekend and ask more for it come spring. I stopped to pick up Roger’s wine bottle drying rack so I can get mine cleaned this weekend, ready to bottle on Thursday. Stacey is going to come and bottle with me. After work I came home and had a good catch up with Tracey who has been laid up with a bad back. Then, it was time to head to Key City Theatre where I was to bar tend again. It was the Jesse Cook tour and sounded good on the lobby speakers. After cleaning up following the intermission I decided to come home rather than stay and watch. It has been a long couple weeks. No alarm tomorrow, hallelujah.

September 22, 2022

It was rainy and grey today. That seems appropriate for the first day of Fall. I got into the office at a decent time after chatting with my guests. They just keep stressing how happy they are to be staying here, that they are sleeping better and longer than they even do at home. First thing was to call to see if I could get a nail appointment as they were in very bad shape, and was very happy to get in for 11:15. I answered all my email, made a lot of payments for clients and then raced off to the mall. Minh liked my idea to get my Halloween nails and I chose candy corn. Ty finished them off and although my thumb got hurt a few times it was worth it. I love them.

I shopped a little bit, picking up some new tops on sale at Ricki’s and a keyboard cleaner and for only a dollar, an I stand with the Ukraine shirt at the As Seen on TV store. After that it was back to get things done before my stint volunteering at Key City. It was Marsha’s first time volunteering and it was great working the bar with her. She has a great personality for it and is smart.

Once home I made some scallops and edamame. It was the perfect dinner which I followed up with a pot of tea and the first episodes of the new season of both The Amazing Race and Survivor.

I am ever so grateful for the friends and family that are helping Mom get herself up here. I plan to take time off as needed to settle her place at this end before she arrives. Only one more week! Rae let me know there are dollies to use at the facility. That will help to get her unloaded. I had someone inquire about my pool today and I offered a further amount off if they commit to getting it this weekend as I am planning to take it down and don’t want to have to store it. I hope she gets back to me tomorrow.

September 21, 2022

The day was convoluted, much was accomplished but it all aimed at crossing off list and felt… done

Really it matters not what a stressful day I had as I met Dave and Deb at The Blind Pig and had a most wonderful evening of catching up on our childhood and everything in between. We met in grade one and they moved away during grade three. In those years we bonded in a way that has brought us to 59 and still feeling the love. I want to share more but really, the memories are so precious I feel the need to hold them close. I am sad to hear her mom has a cancer scare that is multiplied by the fact that is how she lost her father. I only hope if it is fatal that it is quick and painless. It is amazing to be friends with someone you have known since you were 6!

My last guest made a lovely video of the space that I just have to share.

Big difference in temps today!

September 20, 2022

I made up the tent and headed into the office to meet a client and was grateful that she took two big boxes of info back to store. My office was getting crowded. Next I was trying to tackle getting my government access back to a file that I need to file returns on. There was a mistiming that had my authorization revoked prematurely and it is proving to be a real botch. I admit I got angry and it is taking a lot more time that I need to be doing other things. I will deal with it again tomorrow. It only took two years to get the last access for a Society solved, I will fix it… eventually.

Ron Popoff, one of our city councilors came by my office to talk about the plans for Rotary Park and how it is used for Summer Sounds and Peak Fest. We sketched out an idea and he will come present it at our Board meeting next week so that it can become part of the October budget after the civic election.

I finished a lot more and then got a call from my guests that they were here. It was a bit frustrating as I had reached out yesterday to see when they were arriving but didn’t hear anything. It turns out they are an older couple and absolutely lovely folks. We had a good chat and then they headed off to their family reunion. She is from Nova Scotia and her family is meeting here from various provinces. Brian and Jeannine are absolutely thrilled with their accommodations and will be great guests through to Sunday morning.

My elder friend in Bella Bella called tonight as she had been thinking of me while watching the Queen’s service. They are sadly still searching for a guy who fell overboard on the weekend. His boat was found adrift and then the fall was found to have been caught in the cannery cameras apparently. How very sad.

The one really great part of the day was waking up remembering that Doug let me know we will be having VIMF next year! It will be my 15th and maybe my last. I shall make the most of it. Something to make a plan for now.

September 19, 2022

I had set my PVR to record the Queen’s funeral but woke up at 2:45 am and it was to start at 3. I turned it on and tucked back in. It was very moving and incredibly impressive. The pomp and circumstance was like nothing I have ever witnessed nor imagined. I was constantly aware of the precision of movement of thousands of military personnel and how perfectly timed it all was. Everyone must be completely exhausted tonight. There were so many touching moments and I was also filled with pride seeing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police holding a spot of honour in the procession. I was choked seeing the Queen’s pony watching her go by. It is all just so much to process and I am glad I was able to take as much time as needed to watch and feel a participant in respecting and honouring her legacy. It is still so odd to consider she is no longer. I wish I could hug my UK friends and family and care for them in this loss. I am sure I will be processing it for some time and I am glad I woke up as the recordings were only a small part of the entire thing and I am grateful to have seen it all.

Eventually I went to the office as I had several payroll to do and had hoped to finish off some other work but ran into obstacles. I took the time to go to Joseph Creek and put Mom’s deposit down, get a new tour, take some questions, fill out all the paperwork and get the keys. She is getting things sorted at her end, even so far as calling a junk remover to come and get her old couch. I am impressed. It seems she has actually embraced the idea.

Once back at the office I got a few years of filing sorted and boxed for a client and planned out my week. It was nice to work in peace and quiet. Fortunately others were working up front as a parcel I had been waiting for arrived.

I made my way home in time to say goodbye to Safwan and stripped the trailer while my dinner was in the oven. He had written a beautiful thank you note in my guest book which is especially nice as this was his first solo travel and I have only one more guest before I am done.

I probably should have gone to bed sooner but am waiting for the laundry to finish. I will make up the bed in the morning and be ready for the couple arriving although they have not reached out to my query about when they are expecting to get here. I’d just better be ready.

September 18, 2022

In making the rounds to feed George and the Stickbugs, I couldn’t help but notice there has been a baby boom in stickbug land. I am thinking of offering them to teachers to see if anyone wants them for a classroom. In the meantime I added lettuce to my grocery list to keep them fed. I need to clean their cage but have to make sure to put everything in a ziplock and add water to ensure there is none left to hatch as they are an invasive species.

I decided to pour a bath and watch shows when I got a message that Safwan made a mistake and needed to stay here tonight, not tomorrow. That actually worked better for me as I have guests coming to stay for a week starting Tuesday and that will give me tomorrow night to change it out.

I discovered I had not watched the final episodes of the Book of Boba Fett and so watched two of them. I was sitting outside watching the third when Safwan arrived. He offered to help me accomplish the things I wanted to outside today. I took him up on it! We moved the big ugly pile behind the trailer, I designed and he assisted in making a new gate which will keep out the deer and stand up to winter. I repurposed the arch way and am pretty darn happy with it, just have to add a little bolt lock to make it stay easily. NO MORE DEER!!! And no more crazy net hanging to keep them out. Safwan was a great help and we had many good laughs that his father would be amazed at what he was doing. He is the same age as Jake and I think similar in nature. It was fun to have a surrogate son for the day. The final thing we did was store my Kayak for the season. We had gone to pick up a few hardware items at Home Hardware and stopped at Superstore for dinner items. I made dinner to thank him and we watched the first 5 episodes available of She Hulk. It’s cute.

I made it to level 3000 of Candy Crash which is funny as there was a time when level 100 was a really big deal.

I have set to record the Queen’s funeral just in case but intend to try to watch as much of it live as possible. I’d best get some sleep!

September 17, 2022

Mom was up and off to Kimberley to meet with Rosie and drive their cars together to Blind Bay. Rosie’s back is bad and it is good they stick together in case she can’t drive farther. She left things here for when she moves in two weeks. I spent time reaching out for help from family and friends to drop her off boxes and help her pack. Greg booked the Uhaul and will have her up here for the beginning of the month.

Today was ABC zoom day but only Mike and Colleen and I were available. We ended up having a good visit and I hope to be able to pop down and see them in person in the near future. It was fun to talk about the places they have been recently that were near where they took me when I was there in the past. I really enjoyed our visit to Hood River. It is always more awesome to visit places with people who know the area as you get a special perspective. They are both so great at noticing and appreciating all the details around them.

I was done in after the past couple weeks and gave myself the luxury of a day of rest. I look forward to Mom being here and settled and then I will move on to making my plans and getting organized. I must get back to the Maritime plan.

Rae-Anne had a bunch of us over for a beautiful roast dinner eaten out in the yard. It was nice to spend time with Dee and Zach, and all the home stay students as well as the usual family. Only Roger and Deanne were missing, he for work and she for scrapbooking. After dinner many of us headed to the first exhibition hockey game which was against the Trail Smoke Eaters. There was no score in the first and third periods and we got 5 in the second to accomplish a shutout. It was lovely to have sweet Will sit with me. He is really feeling life changing as Lukas hangs out more with the older kids now. It can be tough to be the younger brother. I am sorry that Tracey couldn’t make it as she has pulled her back and is immobile. It was nice of her to give up her ticket to Jonas, one of the Guedes students.

I dropped Will at home and came home to relax again. I am catching up on my shows and chilling as tomorrow I will need to get things done outside. It is time to make a proper gate before winter arrives and store some of my summer things, ensuring it is all still nice for the last two bookings of my AirBnB next week.

September 16, 2022

Up and at it, not feeling one urge to get on the treadmill. Off to the office, much to do before taking mom for a tour of Kootenay Street Village. I worked getting payroll done under the pressure of may interruptions. We had the tour and were so pleased with Kyle, the manager. He was very thorough and answered all questions although more importantly, he asked the right ones. After dropping Mom off, I booted back to the office to finish more payroll and then came home to discuss all the pros and cons. Mom was open to the process and after calling my brother, and me talking to Landon, the superior at Golden Life, she actually wrote a cheque for the deposit which I will bring in on Monday to secure the suite she likes at Joseph Creek. I honestly think the deal maker for her was when she found out housekeeping was included. Also calling Greg, my brother was the clincher as he agreed to take care of organizing the move at that end. We heard he had it planned for the month end so mom will go home and get packing. I told her not to worry, get up here and we can help her get settled and get rid of anything she doesn’t need. This has been a decade in the making, her transition is a family celebration! We have had rum to celebrate and destress from the last couple days so I am going to leave it here and wish you all a goodnight.

September 14, 2022

Today held so many things that needed dealing with all at the same time. It feels like it went through in a blur to be honest. I am grateful to have gotten so many things with deadlines done.

The day started with Nikki and Sean picking up my brand new BBQ that I sold to the GroundFloor. Apparently ‘if you build it, they will come’ doesn’t work with family. I am not bitter about that, I just need to relieve myself of those things that I don’t use unless with a group. I had someone interested in my pool but her husband changed her mind. She did say I should be able to sell it though as I had it for such a good price, which is encouraging.

The overall goal though was to get a tour of the local Seniors Homes for Mom so that she will move up here. As it happens, when I called Golden Life, the voicemail I got was my friend Landons. He called back at 5 and laid out all the options, skipping the sales pitch and even responded to my text afterwards when I asked where he would put his Mom. We have a plan for tours of the two local spots tomorrow and he will let me know in the morning when. I have had a hard time convincing Mom to even entertain the idea that it would be best to move before she is infirm and has to. I did call my brothers and spoke with his wife to let her know I had made it clear to Mom that their life is not conducive to her living there.

I went to the Key City welcome back to volunteers night and thought it funny that I saw my face on a cake for the first time and even got the piece with it on it! For the evacuation training drill I was assigned as the wheelchair person and to be honest, it was stressful waiting to be last taken out. It definitely gave me a new perspective.

Once I got home I made sure the tent trailer was set and the heater was on to welcome Safwan. When I went out to meet him, he was being dropped off by Dave who I know from working at the GroundFloor Coworking Space. He assured Safwan that he was in good hands. He is here for the JCI conference in Kimberley and will be back to stay next Monday night before heading forme to Toronto.

Tomorrow will prove to be interesting at the least, so sleep I must

September 12, 2022

I took it easy getting going this morning and even took a client call while I folded my laundry. Once at the office I buckled down and got a great deal done, even taking time to eat my lunch with a couple of the ladies. It was nice to relax and catch up. Once I got home to Mom who had gone to Kimberley to inter Auntie’s ashes and visit her parents graves with her brothers, we made a plan to meet for dinner with my friends. Dave and Deb were in town from the coast for a few weeks, staying in their trailer and enjoying the golf and lakes around here. Deb was my best friend from up the street when we were in Kindergarten until her family moved away after grade 3. We stayed connected for many years but lost touch. Facebook reunited us a decade or so ago but I had never met her husband who she has been with for 39 years! We all met at the Firehall restaurant and had a fabulous visit. They have just joyful personalities and I really loved hearing about their kids. Autumn, who is about to graduate as a nurse and their twin boys Zach and Tate who are world class track stars going to school on full scholarships towards their PHDs in Physics as they keep winning races. They broke 27 year old records in BC, placing first and second. I was happy to hear they are considering places to retire to and love this area. It would be great to have them near.

The rain that was promised never arrived today which is too bad as I hoped it would take down the smoke in the air. It would be nice to see the mountains again.

September 10, 2022

I was up early and readied to head to town to assist and oversee the set up at Rotary Park. I was shocked to see that something had gotten in and rampaged through my yard. I suspect it was at least one big Buck but it was a mess out there, I should probably check the scat in the morning. I am shocked that branches off the maple were ripped off and the cherry tree was destroyed. Both hammocks were also damaged.

Once downtown, I was happy to see Jim was set up for sound, people were all happy and I was able to wander down to the first part of the day. I live streamed the reveal of Bud’s Bench. Bud Abbott was one of the founding members of Cranbrook Community Theatre in 1964 and an avid volunteer in the community into his 97th year on the planet, leaving us the following year. The bench is amazing as it has a QR code that takes people to all the volunteer opportunities in Cranbrook.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=750428239385481&id=621672395

I then headed to the park and took over the mic until Peter arrived with the coffee and I was happy to see Maureen was available to do the introductions in my absence. I was able to tell my Bud story and them headed for Kimberley.

I slipped into the church, grateful to find a seat. The pastor was still sermonizing and that was followed by a beautiful eulogy by Rosie and Mark and then a few people shared. I also got up to share my love of Auntie Ollie. I was ever so grateful to have made it and shared the time with everyone. We had a delicious church lady luncheon and then Danika dropped off Emmy and we all headed to the family home. SO MANY COUSINS! It was really wonderful to hang out with family from age 4 to 90 plus. They are my non-blood family as they are all related to my stepmom, Barb but are closer than blood, possibly as we choose to stay close. There is talk of a reunion next summer and I look forward to it already. We had so many good laughs, that is the legacy Auntie Ollie left behind, so much love over all the generations.

I picked up Emmy, who had gone with Ash to have dinner with the younger boys at Bill and Deannes for dinner and brought her home for a shower before bed. She loves attending Nana’s salon, and lets me brush out her hair and braid it with no complaints. She easily tucked into my bed and fell asleep. Mom and I watched The Con, this one being about an 18 year old who passed himself off as a Dr!

September 9, 2022

Today was productive in a relaxed way. I had my client from Victoria stop in for a great visit as he is up for a wedding, another client from Kimberley stopped in to discuss his file and I set him up more efficiently and then home to have Mom arrive. She came up for her Aunts memorial tomorrow and will stay with me for a week or so. We just hung out watching 2020 about the Queen, had some dinner and then had popcorn and watched a movie I had recorded. My thumb is super sore today and I can’t tell you how hard it was to do up my bra this morning!! Nice to just relax before the full day tomorrow.

September 8, 2022

The sad news of the day was the passing of Queen Elizabeth II

This woman has had quite the impact on my life. I attended Queen Elizabeth Elementary school in the neighbourhood of Queensborough in New Westminster, dubbed the Royal City. Her presence was ubiquitous. We sang God Save the Queen at every assembly, studied under her portrait on the wall and understood that she was special. It was only many years later that I truly understood what her service to the world entailed and what it likely cost her being in that position. She was 96 but the sadness is there, the deep loss. I feel for those all over the world who are mourning her, especially the citizens of the UK. It will be interesting to see how King Charles III rises to the position and if the structure of the monarchy will survive.

It was annoying to have people joke and run her down on the day of her death. It is not the time. I am grateful for the memory of her, of shaking her hand as a young child, to have grown up seeing her grace in the face of all things. I am sorry for her grandchildren the most.

In other local news, my friend ML received her birthday card today. It left Cranbrook on April 19th and made it to Salt Spring Island 4.5 months later! I could have walked it there. As i was wrapping up my day, the janitor brought me a parcel that had arrived. It was my inflatable furniture that I ordered off Indiegogo months ago. It was worth the wait as it is high quality, sturdy and comfortable and takes less than 5 minutes to self inflate. Only took a little longer to deflate as well. I love it.

I was very tired but made myself go to my Shield Maidens class, even wore my slippers. Wasn’t long in before I took a stick hard on my left thumb and had to ice it for the rest of class. I know it will be fine tomorrow but I am glad it wasn’t my dominant hand. Joel gifted me with a stick bag as I don’t want them rolling around in my car but I didn’t need the fancy one for sale. It is perfect!

September 7, 2022

It really is amusing what a difference having a plan forming for my future makes for my mood. The trick is to get working towards the goal but not be rash. I am refraining from taking new clients although they are reaching out weekly now. The best I can offer is training and set up of files. I will get everything tidied up that I can, start working more from home so that I am used to working on my laptop and second screen and make big lists in triage order. The home mode is to get outside things done first and then start at one end and move to the other, sorting, purging, painting and finishing details I have ignored. All of this gives me minor anxiety and tons of hope for adventure and opportunity. I am good to go to other places in the world without being reliant on anyone but also glad I have various friends and family in several areas of England for a connection. I also need to be careful about my recent use of gummies for sleep assistance as cannabis is very illegal still there. That is a risk that I will not take. It’s a shame though.

The hardest decision I made today was to bow out of emcee duty for the Bud’s Bench placement and celebration on Saturday. I am committed to being there early to help set up and do the initial stage manager duties but will leave just after it gets rolling at 11 in the park to head to Auntie Ollie’s Celebration of Life in Kimberley. I was ignoring how much it would mean to be there and Ashlée reminded me last night. Family first. I will not regret missing the gig and I will hear the stories and see the pictures. Being with family and remembering Auntie is more important.

September 6, 2022

I was so happy to get a what’s app pic from my friends in the UK showing me a sign. Well, they were sharing it as they saw Yoda in the sky today but I see it as a calling. The spot for you, this is.

I got to work and people were friendly and said they heard good things about the weekend. And then as I settled into my office I loudly hear a speaker call asking for coffee orders. It was made very clear they were going to get one for reception and I heard a friend ask if he should come ask me if I wanted one but there was sudden silence and no one did. I mean, I don’t actually need anyone to buy me a coffee. It was just fucking rude. I have asked on more than one occasion if there was something that needed to be fixed and assured no. So I am going to try to let it go, and let their toxicity poison them. It is making me consider giving my notice to a particular client so I will not have a need for an office there at all. It is my ultimate goal, and my contract just agrees to give notice so… sooner than later, I guess. Working from home for the winter wouldn’t be so bad anyway. Not much gets dropped off there anymore since the mere presence of my drop box in the store room seemed to be causing issues. Grumble grumble sigh.

I did get a few things done, including entering the income from the weekend and readying the deposit, paying the few invoices I was given and replying to insurance and payment questions. Tomorrow I have a meeting about a client that I requested be at my office space but it seems I must go to one of their offices. I know the two people I meet with flat rate bill so it would seem unreasonable for me to have to bill for travel time. I will go for a very specific length of time and see how it goes. People with two businesses I would like to support in Kimberley have reached out on a referral from an accounting firm to see if I could be their bookkeeper but I just don’t have the capacity. I am going to see if my friend would like to take them on as they are currently using Sage which she seems very familiar with.

After work I dropped off the chair bag Bill B couldn’t find when he finished his volunteer shift on Saturday night. I met his wife and she is just a huge breath of fresh air. I adore great natured older people, so inspiring.

Dinner was easy to make and tasty but I seriously want to snack the night away. I am going to have to make some low call snacks available like when I first started Noom. I have started seeing myself as slimmer in the mirror but it is the body image issue I have always had. I look relatively the same in the mirror whether skinny or fat. I only recognize my true shape in photos. I saw photos of myself that Murray took and I am way fatter than I think I am. I guess I’d better pare down the diet again and get off this plateau.

Hmmm, I am starting to think that I should transition to home as it will be more like what it would be living abroad.

September 4, 2022

I feel that I should clarify or create a disclaimer to make it clear that all ‘reviews’/opinions contained within this blog are purely mine. I may know of people who agree but I do not speak for anyone else, ever.

This was the shirt I bought from Tennyson King. I love it.

I didn’t crawl out of bed until noon and as I was having my coffee I texted Rae to see if they all could come for a pool party and bbq. Unfortunately she was working until 7 and suggested I call Roger. He already had plans to take the boys out to the cabin and go tubing. I admit I cried a little bit when I got off the phone. Roger did call back and say he could drop off Sawyer.

Sawyer and I had a perfectly lovely day together. He helped me hang the clothes and then bedding on the line, change out the tent, sweep after I mowed and pick up blown down branches.

I took the cover off the pool and he was in like a fish. He would get out once in a while and lay in the sun to warm up. At one point I came around a corner and he was standing on the pea gravel with a funny look on his face.

Me: hey sawyer, what’s up

S:

Me: Did you put rocks down your pants?

S:

Me: does that feel good?

S: nods

Me: okay, just don’t let any go up your butt, and get them out before you go back in the pool

That’s how this Nana rolls. We had fun in the pool together and then came in for showers where 4 rocks fell out of his trunks.

We watched The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl as we ate popcorn and cuddled on the couch. I am having sharp pains in my shoulder and can’t understand why. Sawyer offered to massage it and for 7, he has strong hands.

The only thing I worry about is that he said he can’t read and that they are not teaching him to at school. I suspect that can’t be true. He did teach me that tomatoes used to be called poison apples because people got sick from lead poisoning. He learned it from his Dad. I asked Google and it is true, the rich ate them off pewter plates and got very sick making people think it was the tomatoes that were the problem. He clearly retains interesting things and relays them correctly.

He is a little love bug and I am enjoying all the hugs and cuddles. I also like that he loves good healthy snacks and playing Little Big Planet with me.