I made my will online and had it witnessed and registered
We had mimosas at the office with fresh squeezed orange juice as a farewell to Ashley who is leaving us this week to care for her sister with Cancer in Alberta
After work I went to the Heidout as I have a gift card and worked on my character before rehearsal. I had the soup and salad and Beeramisu which was delicious. I would never have guessed that a dill pickle salmon soup would be such a good combo. I suspect it may have been a hard sell though
Rehearsal was basically me watching the others get their scene ready for the Abbott awards when I am away, a first costume fitting, and getting the script broken down into units. The last cast member to arrive showed up today but was very argumentative about everything and I don’t think that will last long.
After rehearsal I stopped to drop off stuff at Rae’s and got great hugs from Addison, Vanessa and Chevrolet who are up from the states. So good to see them and looking forward to hanging out for Rae’s birthday. She and I went for a walk trying to solve the world’s problems. We did not succeed, but I sure love those walk and talks.
It was definitely too smoky today to do anything outside, but I had conversations with my cousin Kim and then my brother before channelling my energy into more sorting, and I managed to empty two more totes worth of treasures. It’s an interesting walk down memory Lane as some of the things I have forgotten I even did. Play bills from shows I was in and tickets to events. I definitely have packed a lot into this 60+ years of mine. I am being quite brutal about getting rid of paper, but also sorting into specific things; a container full of my theatre world, another of music fest, and concerts etc. 
My calendar now has terrible reminders as every four weeks I had marked Mom pills and there’s no point even whiting them out because I will see the white out and my brain will still register. It’s the little things.
I met with a new client first thing this morning and I think he’s going to be very easy to work with. He has a cool business, making energy drinks from actual real juice. I look forward to trying it. It’s called 96 drink lab
I spent some time getting through to Telus to find out how much the buyout for Mom’s phone would be and then negotiated with Lukas a good price for him. She only got the phone in March so he is happy to upgrade to an iPhone 16. He’s such a sweetie. He sent the money right away and said if I needed more to let him know.
Before I left the office, I took my tote full of items to put into the shredding bin, and as I was going through, I found my deposit book from my contracting company. It made me smile and the deposits made me realize how little I was charging back then.
After work, I stopped to see Lukas and called Telus to officially close mom’s phone. While I was doing that, Rae-Anne went online and signed into mom’s iCloud to download pictures into a shareable folder which we then shared into the family group text so they could download things that they wanted.
Well, Lukas and I were talking. He left the room and Rae mentioned that he is so excited about the new phone that he decided to pay for it rather than go see his cousin in Vancouver for a few days. It was then we connected that I will be going to Salt Spring and staying with his cousins mother in their cottage when I go to the wedding. By the end of the whole discussion, we had figured out that Lukas and I are going to take a road trip and I am very excited. I had lost my drive to go to Salt Spring after all of the experiences this last little while but now I am looking forward to it.
I came home and gave Rosie a call to make sure we could stay with her each end of the trip and then messaged with Roger’s sister-in-law, Sandy to make sure it was OK that I brought Lukas over for two nights as well to be my plus one of the wedding. It turns out she will be in Vancouver on the Friday to see her daughter Haylee and will bring Lukas back with her to the island. It is all working out perfectly, and I feel remarkably less anxious than I was after deciding to change the date of the gathering and make the plan to go to the coast. I am super looking forward to a road trip with Lukas.
Now I am grateful that we are not on any wildfire alerts around here, but the smoke is the worst today of all
I didn’t get a lot of paperwork done today as I was dealing with mom and brother stuff but I did finally make a decision to move the gathering to the Friday night following the internment. I booked the Heid-out for catering and Dave Prinn for live music and my whole chest relaxed, and my shoulders softened.
I had a really good long talk with Heidi after the Rotary lunch about whether I should accept the position of assistant coordinator for the polio plus Society or not. We got into a big talk about the things going on in my life right now and she was awesome about both things. She and I are very similar in lots of ways as far as just speaking truth, although she may be a little kinder than I am. She told me I may struggle with the position offered because many times in organizations people think they want assistance, but then don’t wanna let go of what they have been doing by themselves or I could end up that they then decide to leave the position and now it’s all mine. So I should think about it. As far as the rest of the kerfuffle of this last while she looked me straight in the eye and said you are surrounded by love and when all this is over, you just flick your finger and make the others go away. She told me I was a loveable person I needed not to forget that. That really helped me to go make the finishing touches on the event for Mom. If it’s being left on my plate, then I shall serve up the plate that I want and what I want is to have everything happen on one day so that then we can spend the rest of the weekend visiting with friends and family. Rhiannon and Roger are going to put on a pancake breakfast the next morning for anyone who is in town and it just sounds perfect.
The speaker at Rotary lunch with Mike McPhee, who is the executive Director of Visit Cranbrook and he had some very interesting stats about the tourism industry in our area
There was also a presentation about our society project to build the seniors residences which broke ground today and so far we have $76,000 in donations towards it. We have a benefactor who is matching up to $100,000 which is pretty amazing.
I was geared up for my appointment at 3 o’clock to get my well done, but the Notary ended up having a tough week and getting behind schedule so we rescheduled for Monday and I headed off to meet Penny for an early dinner and visit. I think it’s the first time we’ve managed to do that with purpose rather than just ending up at Rotary conventions together. We met at the fire and oak and had cold brew martinis and delicious food and hours of conversation. She was a brat and made like she was going to the washroom but paid the tab. I had already decided I was going to because she was being such a good shoulder for me. We had a good laugh and a hug and I came home just to unwind as it was too smoky to go to summer sounds in the park.
I spent the morning at the bank canceling my two small safety deposit boxes and getting one medium sized one. It took way longer than I thought but 1155 is mine and I shall not misplace the keys!
I made it back mid lunch party for Ashley who is done work at the GroundFloor on the 14th. She is moving back to St Albert and I am sad.
I did most of my filings and sorted my cupboard at the office before sitting down to write a big email to Greg and Kym with all the financial details of my executor job. I suggested that we have the gathering catered at Rae’s after the internment on the Friday and just have the weekend to visit with everyone. Rae suggested we have a pancake breakfast and early dinner together on the Saturday. I am awaiting their response and have reached out to those I know are coming from out of town. I am so happy to hear that my three closest high school friends, Julie, Sherry and Sue are coming for the weekend. I need all the love right now.
I stopped for wings and had a great visit with Mike and Heather Nix. He’s the owner of F&B and they are the cutest newlyweds
I joined the family for Spider-Man Brand New Day in 3D. It was good but I look forward to seeing it in regular on my TV as I learned that I don’t love the bokeh effect. I do love me some Hulk and Black Widow though, and don’t get me started about Jean Grey!
I actually woke up feeling very motivated. I hopped in the hot tub and then the shower before gathering all the diamonds, I have with intention to pick up my safety deposit box key at the office and take them to the bank. As it turns out, I couldn’t find the key anywhere and was getting very frustrated so I just went and got in line at the bank and opened a new box to put them in with intention to find my key and cancel the other one rather than pay the $270 to have it drilled out.
Once back at the office, I got an email that my results of my x-ray were on my health portal. Imagine my surprise to find that my lungs were clear. I am going to have a talk with my doctor and find out why I was put on a double dose of antibiotics and told that I had pneumonia in my upper right lung when nothing showed up on the x-ray. There is definitely a mistake somewhere.
I focussed on getting work done and was partway through running a payroll when I noticed an email come in from my sister-in-law, which was unusual. It was a copy of the Will from my stepmother Donna. This is not a place. I would normally talk about those things, but I am struggling. It turns out that the property was left to Greg and the remainder of the state to Sandra. My understanding from all conversations was that we had both been left out of the Will so it was a terrible shock. I called Rosie and had a good cry and then called Rae-Anne who came over to the office and talked me through all the feels. To me this is just proof that Mrs. B was not in her right mind when she remade the Will in 2019. What really hurts is that I was not informed of any of this. I am still trying to process how to keep relation.
I finished my payroll and then went and sat in the red chairs in Rae’s yard before we headed down to F&B for some food
I stopped afterwards and bought a nice bottle of crown for Tracey as it is her 60th birthday today. She arrived home just after I did and we have spent the last few hours sitting on our deck, enjoying a sip and good deep conversation. It has helped me to let go of enough to be able to sleep tonight and decide what I am going to do in the near future.
My heart is hurting.
I found this card from Jake and sent him the pics to which he replied “you still haven’t “ I love my son
I did manage to pull off a little prank at the office today as my poinsettia was struggling to stay alive. I swapped it out with the fancy one upfront, but before I left, no one had noticed.
One of the treats I ordered myself was a new quip toothbrush, and I love the packaging that it came in
The times and details of the day are irrelevant as what matters most is how much better I feel even though it’s weird because I haven’t coughed up anything I hope that’s not a stage still to come. I have continued my sorting, even bringing in two totes from the shed. Yes folks there is more stuff out there that needs to be dealt with. One of them I emptied completely, cleaned and put back everything sewing related that I had come across; material and batting and edging and elastics and strap material and patterns from the 80s and 90s and then I took the whole thing over to Zoe, as her Mom, Monica, had said she’d gotten her first sewing machine.
On the way there, I stopped at my office to get some work done while a client and I were both available at the same time. I don’t mind that because it makes it easier for tomorrow.
I did have a nice visit with Monica catching up on the world as we do on their nice new surfaced deck. I didn’t get a very great visit with Galen as he arrived back home just as I was getting ready to leave. I have been trying to stick to an eating schedule and not be drinking so I just had that one glass of wine while I was there with Monica.
I had a Dr Oetkre fungi pizza in the freezer, so I put my leftover taco meat and some tomatoes on top and made in the oven and it was so good. I could only eat a third of it but now I have lots for lunch and dinner tomorrow.
I have a good sized bin to take for shredding tomorrow that included my tax returns back to 2003. I still have not found my Will. I wonder if I actually did put it in my safe deposit box. I might have to go check that out tomorrow. It seems strange to me, though that I would’ve put that in there, but not the diamonds that I have.
Yesterday, my neighbour Tracey came and said that she was going to do my lawn on that side of the trailer that was getting out of control because I had run out of gas and although I did go get gas, I have been sick since. I just went out today and had a look and she does a far better job of it than I do. It looks just beautiful. I am one very grateful woman.
I had a nice long message back-and-forth with my Texan Kathy about our friend Ginger as they had all gone out for dinner together. She sent me a nice picture. Ginger lost her mom in March and I guess the antianxiety drug drugs they gave her are reacting poorly with her cancer treatment treatments, causing her to have a challenge with words. I am very worried that the first time I met all these people in Italy will be the last time that I see them all together so I am making a plan to see if I can get an inexpensive flight to go to Texas, even for an extended weekend or tied onto the beginning of my trip to Salt Spring as I can go free m Vancouver cheaper probably. I will look into it all tomorrow and Kathy said I can stay with them.
I had a hard time staying asleep last night, but then I had a good sleep in so I suppose that all balanced out. It was less smoky today, but I still didn’t spend much time outdoors at all. I got an incredible amount on indoors though and 3/4 of my house is clean and mostly organized even washed all the floors and anything left to be organized is now in the living room so I’m back to that but it’s a lot less than previously. I even set up Mom’s cabinet as my space for travel treasures next to the cabin. I already had with sports things on it and of course it’s in my Lego room.
I made a delicious dinner again and I’m always grateful that I learned about the ground meat cooker tool from Diane. i’m so glad I got a decent amount of groceries as I am enjoying making food at home again.
I saw a post from Scott Hyland’s wife, Veronica, on his Facebook page that he had chosen MAID and left this earthly coil on July 29th. It really was an honour to have been his friend during the time I lived on Salt Spring. I can still hear his voice ringing in my ears and was grateful to be under his direction for Under Milkwood. He did leave a legacy on film and on stage. I had just come across this picture the other day, and he’s the third person no longer with us from that one photo.
Another thing I wanted to call Mom about. She admired him so
It’s almost hard to remember everything from today as the wi d is blowing so hard, it smells lukewarm a campfire outside and Wasa, Ta Ta Creek bad surroundings are being evacuated. This means my cousins and friends out Meadowbrook way are on alert. So soon after the alert was removed from Kimberley too
I inadvertently upset my dentist today when I got a make an appointment reminder for Mom. It was sweet to get that response though.
I cleaned a lot today. Washed all my ruggables and mopped bedroom floor before putting it back together.
I also completed my Turkish lamp that I started mid May; I like it
Dinner was delicious
I believe I may have been sick for a while all right. I have had so much energy and desire to get things done. I also haven’t had a drink in three days nor a smoke in 2 not that I haven’t craved but I am determined to be stronger than the weakest parts of me.
I struggled with sleep last night as the only somewhat comfortable position was on my back. Every time I rolled over in my sleep I woke from pain. I look forward to this stage being over
I went in to the office and ran all the necessary payroll before picking up some yogurt to counter the effects all these antibiotics may have on my system.
Once home I have tried to rest but I am antsy. I’ve watched a number of documentary shows and the entire season of The Hawk. I don’t usually like Will Ferrell but it was amusing and there were many familiar faces in it.
I am trying to decide if I feel good enough to sit in a chair at the table and do crafts, a puzzle, or some Lego. I can hear the sounds of ball being played at the nearby diamond but it is too hot and smoky today
Oh well, I have three more days to rest what with it being the BC Day Long weekend.
I started feeling quite at odds around 10 pm last night and was try g to sleep by 10:30. I was in n pain as well if a band were tightening around my chest at armpit level. I tossed and turned and it got so bad that I got up, dressed and headed to the hospital. I’m not sure I should have been driving. By the time I spoke with triage nurse I couldn’t even carry my own purse and it was described as ‘crushing chest pain’. Instantly I had three nurses and a Dr looking me over, running ecg and bloodwork. I was given a shot of Toradol into a butterfly in my arm. The strong anti inflammatory was because the Dr suspected I’d had a muscle spasm.
I was eventually told that my heart was healthier than his and I would stay until I could have a chest X-ray in the morning. I did remember to tell him that in 2011 when they thought I was having a heart attack, it was walking pneumonia. I wanted to call Mom and tell her that it had happened again, to find comfort, but all I got were sobs which taught me that crying uses a lot of lung power and hurt too much.
To be fair there are heart issues on both sides of my family but for all the food, booze and inhalants, I have a very strong heart and lungs. Even with pneumonia my O2 level was 97%
The X-rays confirmed pneumonia in my upper right lung which was where the pain had radiated. When i arrived there though it was all encompassing and hard to pinpoint.
The night had been long as the nurses and Dr told travel tales and stories right outside my curtain and the blood pressure cuff woke me up even if I did manage to dose.
I was given pills and two prescriptions for antibiotics. Once a day for 5 days and the other 3 times new a day for 7 😦
The good thing about that is I will not drink so those pills can do what they need to do I’ve had a sore neck and upper back all day
I dropped off some thrift stuff which the guys kindly got out of my car and bought cat food.
I did do the unthinkable for me and cancelled out of 3 of the 4 things I was supposed to do today. I know I disappointed some folks but it took all I had in me just to pick up Will and his cat, Leia to go to the vet. She had been favouring her back room got leg and hissed when picked up. Turns out she did not have a fracture but rather an abscess at her right hip from a puncture wound, likely the stray cat that managed to get in their home. she is such a calm kitty.
Will and I went to ABC restaurant while they worked on her and I was happy to have no pain swallowing tomato soup.
We picked her up and it was 624.99! I know Will was very relieved.
After dropping them off I stopped at Safeway to pick up all my prescriptions including Naltrexone to take the urge to drink away. Pretty sure this cheat thing will help with not smoking so just need to eat healthy and not replace with snacks.
There was a wee fawn on my way home and I hope it finds its family as I saw none around
I took a hot soak to n the tub and then dosed off and on in my chair. I am now watching Project Hail Mary for the second time. If I fall asleep it won’t matter as much
I am at odds without pressure. I keep busy, or do nothing at all but watch movies.
I finished my watering job today and did find it was good for my soul. Met with a client and moved mountains on his file. Went to the dentist for a cleaning and booked getting a post and crown Sept 2nd.
It’s still too hot to work in the yard when I get home.
The harder part of the day was discussing the marker for Mom’s grave and sending the info to have it made. It will be just under $2k!!
It seems I have a lot of available time in July due to the lack of MusicFest. I should probably plan vacation for next July. Oh right, I am going in June so I’ll be busy in July when I return
The last of my inheritance came through today and I paid off a great many things including the government. The only thing I bought myself was a new Quip toothbrush.
I got home and went through my bathroom vanity and sorted and got rid of expired items, arranged things in drawers etc for more practical use. I had bought toothpaste while grocery shopping only to find I had four tubes of the stuff I actually like. oh and I need never buy another bath bomb
Next, after dinner, I sorted another tote of memories and have a bunch for recycling and shredding. The best thing was finding a letter from Mrs B with a copy of her will from after Dad died. I will scan it to Greg tomorrow.
I was at my Dr appointment at 9:30 and opened up about my addictive behaviour. He agreed there is a very real underlying issue, grief and stress, but it is ok to treat the symptoms. He did suggest reaching out to EK Addictions for help if I like. In the meanwhile I am starting a new drug soon which is supposed to kill the buzz, thus the cravings. We are hoping it will work for me for all the things, not just alcohol. I would like to quit smoking and binge snacking as well
I watered and then put in a few hours at the office before heading to see Minh and get my nails done before he is away for a month. He even glued my cut which was snagging
The sky is clear and it is such a relief
I came home and made a delicious dinner and lunch for tomorrow, honey garlic ribs and double stuffed baked potato. Mmmm
I had a little bit of a sleep in and then I got a bunch of chores done and then I went and watered my friends place and took my recyclables and picked up some beverages and groceries so many groceries it’s been a while and then filled up my lawnmower Jerry can and came home and that was enough because it was too hot and I have just been relaxing and watching traitors.
Today was a very good day starting with talking to my son Jake on his birthday
I went to the tiny heritage Anglican Church for Kevin and BArb‘s 40th anniversary vow renewal service it was lovely and a good time was had afterwards for some finger, food and beverages. My outfit matched the decor lol
I took my leave to head up to the Prinn household where a celebration of Dave’s 70th birthday and his retirement was underway. I had some great visits with Theatre, people and music, friends and even a past client. At one point, I went to go in and get some more ice for my beverage. I opened the door and then reached behind me to pull it closed and there was a piece of the ring around the bolt sticking out and it just sliced my right ring finger as if it were a sharp knife. And boy, a boy do fingers bleed a lot. I left my mark on their pavement and then someone said hold it over the plant which I did and well I hope the plant survives I definitely left a lot of my DNA behind. 
After a bit more visiting, I headed down to Rotary Park to rejoin the renewal party and did a little dancing to T3 and the Sonics it was lovely, but by that point I was a bit peopled out 
I sat and had a nice visit with Tracey in her yard as the sun was setting, and there is a great sigh of relief that the evacuation alert was rescinded for Kimberley
I am not had a small amount of work today so after a lovely lunch with Rae-Anne at Family Thai, I stopped at the city to report my issue with the parking meter. I was given contact info and will follow up on Monday
I then came home and as I watched Traitors Canada I sorted through 3 totes of ‘stuff’. I managed to sort a lot to thrift and recycle. I found that I have a lot of framed pictures to make a memory wall with. Now if I only had a wall..
Today was such a roller coaster, good and bad getting and giving, all of the things
Before going to work, I did take a good soak in the hot tub trying not to be bothered by the smoky air, which is even worse today
On my way to Rotary lunch I stopped at Joseph Creek Village to pick up mom‘s mail which I had been promised would be held for me and I now know that everything is being forwarded so it was just the things that arrived there in the first two weeks of July to pick up. I admit to being instantly angry to find out that rather than call me that there was a stack of mail. They marked, returned to sender on all of it and sent it back to the post office.
The lunch was really great as it was part two of a talk on dementia given by Cheryl Savage. I also sat with Heidi who told me that her friend was struggling with some pretty bad complaints about Joseph Creek as well and it turns out that that is the same person. The funeral Director was going to connect me with. I feel that we have a story for the newspaper about the expectations and disappointments of elder care in our community by a for-profit organization.
By the end of the meeting, I was calm down enough to go to the post office. I walked in and the post he who came out from the back, recognize me, and I explained what had happened and she went and checked to find a stack of Mom‘s mail. Thank goodness as it was her bank statement, credit card statement and forms to fill out for her investments. I know that she probably wasn’t supposed to just give it to me, but she knew who I was and she knew that the forward had already been put on the mail so it was a blessing of being known in a small city.
By 3 o’clock, I was pretty much done with any work, so Brett and I headed off to the Heid-out for happy hour and a good debrief. From there, our intention was to meet at Rotary Park where Jill and the girls were supposed to be but Brett got a call out to go to the Curling club and help set up the evacuation center. As I didn’t have rehearsal until 630 I headed over to join and help out. It felt good to be doing something proactive that hopefully will not be needed but is ready in case the city of Kimberley with its 8000 people needs to evacuate. I helped get the trailer unloaded and then took off for rehearsal. There was a nice group of people there and apparently it didn’t take them much longer to get it all done.
Rehearsal went very well as we read through the script again, recording it to put into the linelearner app. I am trying to be very careful not to direct, but I was put in my place quite sharply at one point. I did not react, even though my insides were on fire, I simply said acknowledged. It was nice to walk out with Nikki as we are both excited to be working together.
One of the odder things of the day was when I parked downtown and saw the amount a twoonie would buy only to put it in and only get an hour. Do better Cranbrook
A lovely part of the day was getting a message that I should run for Mayor, lol. It’s nice that someone sees that potential in me but my shoot from the hip personality is not made for politics
triumphgal 