Today was full of interactions.
Work
Strata council
Mom visit (she’s a little more with it)
Gala debrief: Was wonderful to learn we netted 112k for our senior’s residence project. I pitched my 80’s Under the Sea Prom idea for next year
I wore my compression socks and had a lot less fidget and pain today.
Am still up late watching Survivor Finale to see if I won the pool. two of the three finalists are on my team so highly likely 🙂
I started the morning at my doctors office, discussing all the things that could be wrong with my ankle and the treatment and the options for dealing with chronic pain. He encouraged me to continue doing what I’m doing and start taking gabapentin again.
From there, I went to the office and got a bunch of work done before going to my Physio appointment. Cynthia massaged the ankle and lower leg and then applied heat before sending me on my way. We discussed the compartment syndrome and that we would continue to work on getting it flexible and resolved.
From there, it was off to see mom who had come out of the colonoscopy, bewildered that she had to have it. It made me worry about her cognitive when she thought the only thing she had to do was have the prep was surprised to go down for it. Her surgeon for me to say that it definitely looks like cancer, but they don’t know what kind until the biopsy results come back later this week or early next week. Had a good long visit with Mom, but she definitely was off in weird ways. Hopefully they will do a baseline on her cognitive soon.
I came home and even though it was cold and windy outside, I climbed into the hot tub that was measuring 105° before I took the lid off. I stayed in for a good half an hour or more and it felt great just really cold to get out of. I’m very happy with it. It’s also nice and big and will be good if Emmy or Sawyer are here to visit. A friend suggested I get a canopy for over it and use pretty shower curtains to give some privacy. I think canopy with bug screens would be a good start for the summer and it would also keep the leaves, etc. out. I could hang pretty lights and make it a special place. I still have some tapestries and hangings from when I had my Airbnb that I could use.
Today was fairly well rounded and relaxed.
I did deep clean chores, built my two Lego botanical sets for my pottery vase, visited with Mom, and went to the office for a few hours to run payroll and work on a file as well as prep for two meetings on Wednesday
I’m mowed my lawn and scabbed together a fence to hold my raspberries back.
Rae encouraged me to enquire about the new inflatable hot tub on Marketplace. I had said it couldn’t afford it right now but she sent me the cash and I picked it up. I got chemicals and insulated underlay at Home Depot and after a nice visit with Mom came home and got to the task of creating a level spot. I used the pavers I had, some left over flooring, the insulated layer, and then the thin ground sheet included. I got it filled and this currently heating.
It was comfort food when I was done, perogi casserole.
I am achy so it is time for a hot bath before bed. I have been spoiled
This morning started with a decent sleep in. I watched a press release on the news with Dr. Bonnie Henry talking about the Hantavirus outbreak on a small cruise ship that has involved for people in BC. She is assuring all that is nothing like a pandemic very difficult to get but one of the people in quarantine has tested positive.
Sometime just afternoon it started to hail. Great big stones. It left a lot of fresh snow on the mountains, which is good for when it melts and protects us for the summer.
I went a little bit early to the heritage so I could read my Rotary magazine and enjoy a lunch before the mosaic lamp making session. I took pictures of the pieces that I already have so that I could make something similar to match
I really enjoyed doing it and it was lovely to visit with Christi, Erin and Dee-Anne two of the other three ladies at our table were very nice. The third one just ran down Cranbrook and even told us that she tells people not to come here. I tried to point out to her that it was mostly her experience specifically with her neighbour that she was talking about that made her not like it here, but she has been here two years and really doesn’t like it. The funny thing was that she talked about needing to make friends, but she wasn’t making any at our table.
The next step for my lamp is to let it dry for a couple days and then do the grouting before assembling it together and hanging it
I went for a nice visit with Mom. I enjoy our chats much more when her mind is back.
I stopped at Save-on and picked up a few things before putting together what I called my 1970s charcuterie tray, complete with toothpicks and Ritz crackers. it was a hit at Poker league finale night at Landon’s house. There were 20 of us to start and I managed to play all the way to 10th position before going out on only $20. It was nice to see some of the faces that I haven’t seen in a while and I even took the time to have a discussion with Landon about what happened with Mom as he is in management of the company who owns where she lives. I told him I was still concerned about whether the emergency buttons worked properly and easily. He assured me he was going to look into it.
I was lucky to get a nail appointment for 1 pm when I called this morning. It has been well over a month. Minh did an awesome job as usual. I love that he doesn’t put pressure on me to decide what I want. He knows me well enough to just be creative and it’s one less decision I have to make.
I did stop at Warehouse One in the mall as they are closing out and they got two pairs of jeans for $100. I am down to one pair so I am considering this a win
I saw weird lights reflecting in my computer screen and there was a dump truck backing up and unloading a pike of gravel outside my window
I stopped for a short visit with Mom to confirm her understanding that she will have a colonoscopy on Tuesday as her surgeon called me today. I am relieved that it will happen that soon. She still can’t get out of bed on her own.
I made my way out to Jon Bissets place in Meadowbrook. It was lovely to drive through Kimberley as it’s been a while. It was the annual Lobsterfest and meeting of musical friends. For $30 I got a fresh flown in from NL lobster, melted butter and a selection of salads and desserts. I sat with Doug and Patti and Wally. Had great chats with Percy Davis, and a few others. There were many great hugs but my leg was bothering me the colder it got so I decided to leave around 9.
I decided to turn left instead of right at the highway to see if I could see Brian Taggarts new home build from the road. As far was passing back along his road to head out due to being unsure which driveway, he pulled out and saw me. I followed him and had a lovely long visit and tour of the house. It is so lovely and I am so happy for him and the family. We talked about how bittersweet it is as he wished his mom, Jeanne, had lived to see it done.
The saying around here is you plant your garden May long or when the snow is gone off the ski hill… crappy dash photo but that is still some snow on the hill
I got home and made a CBD/THC bath bomb bath and watched Younger. It made my ankle move better.
Work was a lot. Rotary was interesting as we learned a lot about our college volleyball teams
Met with Mom and discussed all her jewelry and treasures and I suggested she not wait to leave people things but give them while they can have them and enjoy her knowing they loved them. Also spoke with surgeon again and made a plan for next steps.
Trivia was… interesting. New host is very different. Brett, JD and I won by a landslide. We each took home $65 which pays for my poker finale on Saturday night.
Brett joined me at F&B to chat and see my Ducks get knocked out of playoffs on home ice BOO
I really hope that statement is true because if not, my leg is getting worse after getting treatments on it. Bad enough that I made an appointment with my family doctor for Tuesday morning before my next Physio so I have some oversight on all of what is happening. Compartment syndrome is no joke and if that is what I have I need to be sure that there’s no permanent damage already and that the right things are being done.
I worked most of the day with one of my clients auditors and then went up and spent a couple hours visiting with Mom. Greg hasn’t made it yet and she is anxious that he comes for a visit soon. It is complicated by the fact that he is awaiting surgery on his knee.

Today was a lot. I got to work and remember to try to make a Physio appointment as prescribed by Dr. Webber in Invermere. Turns out they had had a cancellation and I managed to get an 11 AM appointment with Cynthia.
Just as I was about to head out the door, I got a call from Mom’s assigned health person at the hospital. she wanted to let me know that they would be keeping an eye on things to see what level of care Mom needed next. She felt strongly that she would be able to go home with support.
As soon as I finish that call, I went to my Physio appointment and I didn’t take her long to say that I had compartment syndrome. I know this I’ve seen it before on people. She worked on my leg front and back and then had me lay with my knees over a pillow and had heat packs on. There are three small exercises. I am to do and soak in a hot tub or a hot tub every day, preferably with Epsom salt I am to see her again once a week for the next few weeks.
I had just made it back to the office when I got the call from the hospital doctor that’s been looking after Mom and it seems she has a 7 cm tumour in her larger intestine that is near the appendix irritating it causing her to have appendicitis. She said she would have the surgeon call me or meet with me later.
I had to push aside any thoughts about myself which was difficult because for some reason after the treatment, my lower back hurt a lot
I finished when I had to at the office then I stopped at the Fenwick and Bakerfor a single ounce of Oban, neat
I had a visit with mom once she woke up from her nap and it wasn’t too long before the surgeon arrived. She is a general surgeon serving in the hospital and will try to fit Mom in. She gave us all the steps carefully laid out first to let the antibiotics take care of the appendicitis , and then get Mom on her feet.
In order to find out what is really going on and what the options for treatment are she needs to do a colonoscopy, but Mom needs to be able to get out of bed for the pre-treatment portion
There are many details, but at this moment, what matters as we are taking it one step at a time and Greg is going to try to come up tomorrow to visit with her. I managed to get a spare set of keys from Joseph Creek and he has permission to stay there.
I went back for a last visit with Mom after going to get the spare keys for greg in case he arrived when I was not available as I have to deal with an audit tomorrow. She seems an OK spirit so I guess we’re probably in a similar space right now we both took in a lot of information today.
I stopped at clarity and purchased some CBD bath bombs and enhanced beverages. Then I went for the muscle special at F&B because it is my favourite meal there for Tuesday special
I was waved up to the bar to sit with the others when a seat cleared and had some interesting chats while I watched the start of the Ducks versus Knights game I had been decked out in my jersey today with my matching Capris
That’s how my day started joyfully thinking about the game tonight
I feel very supported by family, but seriously, I could use just a wee stretch of no stress at all. I may have to go on a little road trip soon.
Got an amber alert at 1:58 am. Startled awake and hard to get back to sleep.
A lot done today and then a visit with Mom. Her levels are off still. More tests being done.
I went to her place to clear out old food etc and while I was there she asked me to grab a bag from beside her chair that held all her jewelry. I may just go put it in my safe deposit box
Came home and filled out her census which made me laugh as she got the travel one. Figures.
No alarm was glorious. I did wake up at 7:16 and said, Nope. Woke up again two hours later.
Around 12:15 Rae and Roger dropped off Kael. He and I spent two hours working g in my yard. He cleaned up branches and weeded while I mowed and brought out the summer furniture. The transformation was awesome. There is still some work to do but I am thrilled. We went for sundaes at DQ after There were some interesting conversations about his life I. Brazil compared to here
I went for a visit with Mom. They are going to do an Xray as she is having some abdominal pain. There was no sparkle in her eyes today
Roger and the boys made a delicious meal for Rae, Deanne and I to enjoy.
After dinner we watched Swapped. I enjoyed the creatures and animation
Even my watch proves that my working holiday in Oct-Nov was better for my health
Today was a glorious long day of making kids and parents happy the green room and the hospitality tent were well used and they were very few snacks in the entire day. I am very very, very, very, very exhausted though.
I can’t really completely explain how amazing this day was because there were the super lows that were balanced by the super highs and all of the good things in between.
It is Is the 22nd anniversary of my father, crashing his plane and dying. It is the first day of the 40th anniversary of the Kootenay Children’s festival. It is Friday and I should probably be in my office and working.
I chose to spend the day at Rotary Park, setting up the festival with people who I love and love me.
It was the best choice ever, and I kicked into music fast, organizer mode, and set up a little village for performers and volunteers. I really do love being in charge of the hospitality. I feel like that is really in my wheelhouse from all the experience I had at music fest. It made my heart happy when Galen came in and mentioned that he loved the vibe the most ever in the green room.
I did take a break to run across the street to Fire Hall to get some protein in my system so I could perform at my best and was impressed with Paul and his bartender skills
Unfortunately, when I went to open a case of Gingerale, there was a sliced open canyon inside and I seriously cut my thumb. It is not painful. It just bled a lot.
It did start to rain and that may have scared a lot of people away, but Beckam Barr had a nice collection of family members there and a good audience and then Robin Layne & the Rhythm Makers arrived and entertained the small, but appreciative crowd.
I was so excited to see Robyn performing here as I have watched him grow over the years, become a father, etc., at Vancouver Island MusicFest. Imagine my complete surprise that Richard Brown was also there playing drums with him. We probably haven’t seen each other for a decade and it was such a great little reunion from those same days back at music fest when he ran back line and I was in charge of all the stages.
Will and Sawyer did a swing by on their way to dinner. My two youngest grandson are turning into such amazing humans.
When all had done for the day at the festival, I headed up to Rhiannon and Rogers as Roger had invited me for a scotch in honour of the dead dad‘s club. We sat around the table and had great conversations and debates, and tried several different scotches in honour of both our dads. It was poignant when Gene and Lukas joined us.
I was happy? When greg phoned me today to acknowledge the 22 years that dad is gone. 
I sang for her after breakfast. We had a laugh and I promised to stop by later. I then sent family and friends to visit over the course of the day. I did see her between work and a play and we had a couple laughs. Her cognition seems to be improving a bit.
At Rotary lunch, a guy who had been helping me with the decor of the gala, Jack Mara, came up with great enthusiasm and said that he wanted to tell me how great it was working with me and that he loved how my brain works. Leanne and I both had a good laugh at that. She said that’s not something you hear every day and I said no and I have witnesses lol
I was invited up to read the nominating letter and present the award from the district to Judy. She was very surprised and there were many good compliments to her and to me for nominating her. She is the only person I know that is older than me and I feel taller around her. She’s a powerhouse of a little woman.
I was somewhat regretting spending over $25 to get my single ticket to see a high school musical. But I got there in time and was three rows up centre stage. It was the perfect spot and wow what a great show. I’m still not a huge fan of musicals cause I find sometimes the songs just go on too long, but I have complained about the inappropriate con content in a bunch of the high school shows of late. This one was completely inappropriate was remarkably done. The characters were spot on and the choreography and costumes were a lot of fun. I was blown away by the boys tap dance number.
The actors who portrayed SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward were so good. They were also a couple of side characters that really nailed the essence of the cartoon. Jared, father of Squidward otherwise known as Navy Gross was sitting in front of me and we had a great catch up. He is hoping to be in Neverland this fall and I am auditioning for Blood Relations at CCT.
I left the Theatre happy and that is exactly what I needed. Thanks, Patrick.
Woke to a text that they couldn’t find the curb stop. I showered and headed two doors down. First logical place…
Dare I say ‘man eyes’ were searching
It was a good Rotary board meeting.
It was a good beginning to setup QBO for the strata and connect Chelsea.
It was good to get a lot of work done on a file and get everyone’s payroll remittances filed and paid
It was good to have a visit with Mom and show her the predictive text on her phone. Small thing that changed her life in a big way
It was good to pick up Chester’s chicken rather than cook
It is very good to be sitting in my chair watching my shows
Let’s hope I stay on the top of my Survivor pool this week
I managed to get a good seal of work done and had a call from Moms occupational therapist about her future and he agreed she should be on extended care list before supportive care is not enough. I did go have a visit with her after work and she is very…. Old. From there I headed to the arena as I had committed to selling 50/50 tonight for round three of the playoffs against defending champs, Brooks Bandits from Alberta.
It was continuous sales from 6- slightly after puck drop in third period. The total to share was $10055!
While I was selling I had to take any poppy to reply to messages from strata council about the trailer two doors down from me that has water spraying out. Our handyman had tried to turn it off at the curb stop today but it clearly had not worked. Our secretary suggested she could ask her brother who is a plumber what we needed to do. He agreed right away to send one of his guys in the morning to check it out….. and shortly after…. Won the 50/50!!! Instant karma!!
I woke up to this fabulous pic of my friend Nigel
I called Mom and arranged Rae to bring her a charger and her Sudoku. I had to head to Invermere for my next neurology appointment.
I was surprised to receive a call from Clayton, the concierge at the place mom lives in independent living. He calmly mentioned that she had not come down for dinner last night and was now missing. I calmly informed him that I was upset that no one was aware that she’d been taken out by ambulance 15 hours earlier.
My appointment went well although this time it was much more painful. We are looking at options going forward and he is referring me to Physio
I made it back to the office by 2 and got a payroll and some payments for clients done before heading to visit with Mom. By this time I had gotten her lab results and she has a high Creatinine level and an infection which they are treating. She is having physio twice a day. I did speak to her about getting her on a list to find a spot in extended care as close to us as possible. It was so hard for me to speak calmly and lovingly but firmly communicate the necessity. She did agree. After I left I dropped her walker for service and then sat in my car and called my brother and his wife to update them and ask for support so that I am not the bad guy when she hated having to move. It hurt my heart. They support completely and Kym did thank me for taking the load here. I told them I couldn’t do it without cousin Donna taking care of her shopping regularly.
I came home, had some soup and put my foot up. Now I’m off to bed, it’s been a lot in the last 6 weeks.
Morning was smooth, packing, breakfast, in memoriam video and goodbye hugs.
I made a stop at Walmart for a few things and when I went to pay I couldn’t find my CC! I paid with a different one and headed back to the hotel thinking I had left it in the sleeve with my key card. It was not there so I searched again and it was in my wallet. Argh I had wasted so much time.
I was pretty tired driving. I even pulled over and got a package of mentos out of my shopping to kick in a sugar rush.
Made it home just before three, thinking Beth’s funeral was at 3:30. I double checked and found it was actually at three so I got changed in a big hurry and headed to the Alliance church.
I made it to hear Caitlyn singing just before the eulogy by Dylan, one of the sons It was beautiful
I realized that I had forgotten my phone at home but decided I didn’t need it. I went to the celebration of life at the Royal Alexandra Hall.
I got home around 6:30 to find that mom had called. I called and she was in bad shape. Her door was locked and it took her a very long time to let me in. I had to put one arm in and help her to get turned around and sit on her walker so I could push her out of the way and open the door. I had called an ambulance. Her neighbour Gary had pushed his fall button to get someone to come with a key but no one came while I was waiting. That is disturbing
Up at the hospital they ran tests and did a chest X-ray. Finally just around d 10 a Dr came to say she hadn’t found anything wrong. She agreed that her swollen feet were extreme and they would admit her for a couple days. I begged my leave and chatted with Rae on the way home to ask her to check in tomorrow as I have to go to Invermere for treatment in the morning.
Up early and off for breakfast. It was tough to not go see the car show or the farmers market setting up on this gorgeous day! after some small group discussions our past president, Joe, was the speaker and unfortunately the room was too bright for his mostly video presentation. He did well though.
We walked over to the Panida Theatre for our business meeting and some presentations of awards. I was thrilled to go up and accept on behalf of someone who will be presented on Thursday at our meeting. We then all climbed in school buses to be driven up to a beautiful community forest where the Peace Pole was revealed. It is very interesting as it looks like two hands shaking or someone giving a hand up. I was blessed to visit with Marilyn on the bus. She is just darling and told me when I come through town to stop and get the family discount of 30% plus the 20% for Canadians!
After, we couldn’t find our Bay Trail group so Penny and I just walked down to the Red Bridge Mall and had a great time checking it out. I want to start a Build spot! We even stopped for a mimosa in a cool Hawaiian spot and chatted with other visitors before getting caught in a wee cloudburst on the way home.
After a short break, it was time to get dressed and head for the main dinner. It was a nice stroll away in a converted Catholic Church. The food was very good, as was the company. I found myself invited to sit with the Dockins and who should sit across from me but dear Marilyn! I introduced Debi to her and they had a mutual very dear deceased friend. There were awards and stories and I learned that Dad jokes are endemic. I was so happy that Ndago from our satellite club in Uganda was able to join us by zoom with a couple other members. It was 6 am there.
I did wonder how it went at the border… what’s under the tarp sir? Oh just an iron lung!
We all walked back to the hotel and I decided not to go looking for trouble but call it an early night. I enjoyed chatting with Leanne about Rotary, and our trip. It was nice to get all the compliments on the dress that I bought at Marilyn’s store.
triumphgal 