Sleep was ragged, work was jagged, but this evening was satisfactory. I left the office at 4 and headed up to Colombo Lodge to help serve the 450 or so seniors a three course turkey dinner for only $5. All was possible thanks to generous donors and many volunteer hours. There were a couple annoying people moments but they were other Rotarians and I will let them know where the missteps were. Tom Bungay and Rollie Cummins played music to round out the evening.
And today at 5:50 am Yvonne’s great grandson was born. I hope they met in the in between.
I saw the news on Facebook. I didn’t want to believe it. You called me on Wednesday to let me know if you were doing better and that you hoped to go home to Bella Bella soon. You were excited and laughed to tell me that Ross and Shayne were having another boy. Another great grandson.
We ended our call with our usual I love You.
I got the call from one of your daughters looking for information to help with the plans. We were too choked up to talk. Her sister messaged me later and apologized for how I found out. It is okay, I explained, not everyone knows the connections we have in this life.
I am grateful for my time in BB. We have known each other for 14 years this month. It is still impossible to believe you are gone.
Rest in Peace Yvonne Wilson
The snow was still coming down this morning getting to a total of 15” or 38.1 cm in this current drop.
I got out and shovelled again before making g a nice lunch, showering, and watching ’Shrinking’ before organizing all my Christmas presents including getting Rae’s advent ready.
I had a 4:45 appointment with my favourite tattoo guy, Jeff, who has created some perfect ones for me. He is going to turn my best picture of a marine iguana into a work for me on Jan 8th. I love working with him on these pieces of memory.
On the way back home I stopped to drop off gifts at Guedes house and am amazed by the igloo the boys made
I picked up Tracey who was my guest for the Friends With Benefits dinner and concert at Encore. What an incredible off menu feast we had! All courses were paired with beer and I feel very much satisfied
It was also one of the owners, Jesse’s birthday as well as my grandson Will’s 13th
The opening band were three teens, Charity Standing Orders who brought back grunge with a vengeance
Half Spent closed out the night and they were amazing, as always
It has stopped snowing and is slushy slippery but we made it home safe and all is right with the world.
The best comment of the night was a teenager introducing me to his Mom, ‘This is Marnée, she does cool things’
Today’s focus was setting the tables at Colombo Lodge for our annual Rotary Seniors dinner. I was glad to be there, focused on the napkins and fine tuning of the place setting. At one point I ran out to Save-On and spoke to the manger to get a 15% discount which combined with my more card deals allowed me to buy seasonal candy worth $30 for $5. The place looks great and I will be there to serve on Wednesday.
The snow is weird, I’ve never had a snow curtain or rectangular icicles before
I stopped at Fenwick & Baker, met Bob and Eddy, and enjoyed good chats about the past before heading home to make some food.
I have been enjoying watching ‘When TV Goes Horribly Wrong’ on Prime
Shovelling three times today was not on my schedule. Work was good, met Rae at her place and we walked downtown for the annual late night shopping. It was lovely to wander in and out of stores who had snacks and bevies for us as well as deals. Roger picked us up to bring me back to my car in time to drop my stuff at home and head to Galen’s for poker night. I came out $75 ahead after taking 2nd place. Kathy and I were just going head to head when the power went out. I drove around for a bit after and there were odd parts of town in the dark. Even a block from me is dark but home is fine. It sure is beautiful but what a dump and it is still coming down heavy.
Woke up to a lot more snow and it kept coming down all morning. It sure is pretty
Ashley got her name tag at Rotary today and Paul introduced two amazing student Ms who won our Scholarship and bursary. They both gave amazing talks and had amazing answers to all questions. They are definitely a gift to the future.
I stopped at Superstore after as they had a buy one get one 50% off Lego. I picked up Emmy’s Christmas and a groot for me.
Yesterday I received a surprise call from my friend Yvonne. She wanted to let me know that she was doing better and apologized for not calling sooner. That is a depth of relationship that I really appreciate. Turns out she has been in hospital but is on the mend and hopes to return home to Bella Bella soon.
I have another friend who I deeply care about that has been in and out of hospital and not telling me anything. This has caused me sadness. I keep reminding myself that it is not about me but I care deeply and, well, just need to know, not be left in the cold until some horrible news comes, and it may.
I was up early so I made food and took half to Mom at the end of my day for her lunch tomorrow as I was there to deliver her pills and pay her bill.
After a day of snow fall and much work I decided that I wanted a crown and a snack so I headed to Encore only to find that they were out of Crown and it was a private party starting. Back in the car I was struck by gridlock which I have never seen here. I couldn’t turn left to head to Fenwick and Baker, so I circled the block to see there was an emergency of some kind on the strip. It all in all took me 26 minutes to go 2 long blocks away! I parked myself at the far end of the bar. I S tarted making small talk with the guy at the other end and moved next to him, with permission . Dave is the new owner of Canadian Tire here and honestly, I can’t wait to become fast friends with him and his wife Kimberley. I see travel and fun in our future! He enjoyed when people came by for hugs from me and even invited me to join them in box seats for BTO in April. I invited Jim to be my plus one. Really looking forward to it. got home and shovelled for the first time this season.
Today I took care of dropping things off at Salvation Army, picking up Mom’s pills and the beautifully labelled bottle for a friend before getting so much done at the office. I left in time to stop home to throw my Hello Fresh in the fridge and smoothies in the freezer. Then it was off to Key City to see the Sunrise Rotary movie night. The feature tonight was My Penguin Friend. I loved it. There were many sniffles in the crowd viewing this lovely show based on a true story. I do love penguins and good relationship stories.
And now I am home watching Nobody Wants This, on Netflix, a clever Kristen Bell show.
Got a lot done today. Made it home to hang my new curtains and switch out a light plate before seeing that the family was meeting at Encore for dinner I joined them and was happy to hang out. I popped home and grabbed a hair gift that I bought for Ashlée and ran it over to her. She had three old pics for me. Two were from my snake handling with Brutus in the March 1988 show of Talking with… at Cranbrook Community Theatre and one is of Rick and Suzanne and I in the early 80’s. She is Bill’s Godmother and has recently been moved into long term care. I loved the person I got to spend so much time with.
I finally started the great sort and purge by emptying many things out of my den, changing out a wall fixture and moving some shelves. It is much easier to access the freezer now. The games are sorted and I am slowly filling up boxes to go to the thrift store or transfer station. It is a work in progress for sure. Tracey is back from her cruise and we squeezed in a short visit. I made a delicious spicy soup for dinner which I may regret, but it was sure tasty. The kitchen is cleaned, garbage out for tomorrow and I will likely tuck in early.
I forgot to add the video of the engine from yesterday. So.. here it is
I have been daydreaming a bit about where to travel next year.
I woke up early and decided today was the day to winterized my ‘46 Willys as the insurance runs out tomorrow .
First I had my ABC Zoom and it was great to catch up.
It was sunny and cold. it started easily so I decided to head to Walmart to pick up the colour I need for my blanket (not available) and then get gas and stabilizer. I had fun on the journey, had a good laugh with a modern Willys I pulled up beside. Suddenly it started smoking so I pulled into the CP yard parking to let it cool down and google search the symptoms. I am guessing it’s a blown head gasket. I went a block and a half at a time, pulling over to cool down. Finally I was home and stored it in the winter spot and pulled the battery, with great sadness.
The day didn’t get a lot better when I learned a bestie is in hospital
This evening was amazing as I volunteered for the Bear Grease show. Serious, everyone should see it. They pre-announced that they are going to be off Broadway next summer, which is exciting for a Treaty 6 Alberta Indigenous take on Grease. I loved it!!
After party was a great girlfriend’s visit with Jess and Monica. I love the freedom to share anything feel safe in the bubble. It snowed!
Once home I enjoyed my Bear Grease Aero bar
I was at the nail shop for 9 and Minh had a black coffee ready for me! I love my new ‘Bucks’ season nails and we had a great visit as always
The sky was amazing today with the clouds following the mountains and then the full moon
I had an extraordinary moment today when I was contacted to see if I agreed to let my name stand for the Knights of Pythias volunteer award for 2024! I am so honoured to be nominated, just that means a great deal.
Tonight was 50/50 for the Bucks and it was also fun. It was good to see the new railings down the centre of the stairs in the arena. We raised a good amount of money too!
Just as the game was beginning I received a text with payroll hours that was suppose to come in earlier. After the game I went back to the office and ran it. I’d rather do that than go in tomorrow.
Rotary lunch was complicated by technical difficulties but was informative of the Horse Healing Haven it was also ‘welcome Ashley to member day’, and I am happy to have encouraged her to join for GrounFloor
The evening was a Friends With Benefits get together followed by trivia night. We sadly did not win, but had a lot of fun
I forgot the cool thing that happened today, I was refunded $80 Cdn and received an apology and assurance from Exoticca that there would be communication with the guide in the Galapagos who took us on the dangerous snorkel trip.
I volunteered for a show at Key City tonight and owe much gratitude to being placed on a door where I not only got to interact with Ivan and Smokii Sumac before the show, but enjoy their entire performances. Smokii is a passionate human whose animated feature that was part of the show spoke volumes to love and loss. Ivan took us on a journey through their early years as it intertwined with music of the 70’s, and 80’s and growing up in the Yukon. I may have a crush on them. We had a good laugh as they had mentioned Aussie Spray and I was actually wearing it yesterday. We also chatted about Atlin and know the same peeps there.
I joined the Rotary Board for their meeting over lunch at HeidOut today. I did not join the Board, just sat in to learn what they do.
It feels like snow coming
I met the family down near the cenotaph. It was a good service
I watched a guy put a picture down during the wreath ceremony. Afterwards I went to see it and talked with him. His name is Stephen Lathem and the picture is of his father.
Merrill Lathem of the West Nova Scotia regiment who served in Italy where in 1944 he was wounded.
Every year Stephen brings the photo down to honour his dad.
I went to the office to take care of some undone things which included my letter to the tour operator and my travel agent about the snorkeling incident.
I updated the FPPAS website and while on YouTube, looking for a video that I needed, I stopped in on my stats to see something cool. My Arlo Guthrie vid has nearly 80K views!
I also sent an email to all crew again giving them opportunity to buy t-shirts with the 2024 vimf logo on it.
I had a good talk with Cresslynn who is busy sorting and getting rid of stuff at the MusicFest office. She is going to find and keep my tote at her house and told me to just get rid of all the stage binders. It has been very hard on all involved and I only hope they can remain friends when it’s all completed. It was good to tell her I love and miss her.
I started to work on a VIMF blog by going through the years pulling my favourite pictures. It was quite the walk down memory lane and being that I started looking at The Big Time Out pics from 2008 and then MusicFest 2009 and on, I had to stop for another day.
I came home and made a nice dinner with just enough spice that I’ll be able to sleep tonight
I have pretty much been binging Doc Odyssey. It’s a little bit ER & a little bit Love Boat with Don Johnson at the helm.
I relaxed and worked around the house and volunteered on bar for The Small Glories. It was a good day
I was awake far too early again so I got some things done. Around 1 I headed over to visit with Elva at Kootenay Winecrafters. While there I put down 3 batches which will be split with Monica. We had a good chat and then Gene called that he was ready to go. I wanted to take him to Kimberley to My Best Friends Closet to try on a pair of Fluevogs there. I know they would be perfect for Grad. Unfortunately, they were too snug. He did find himself a nice jacket though. We spent a couple hours wandering in and out of stores on the Platzl and chatting. It was a lovely afternoon
We got him back home by 5, had a perogies spread whipped up by Lukas, and then Rae and I headed off to the Kimberley Convention Centre for Ladies Night. It is the event that always feels like it is kicking off the season. We had great talks and that was nice as it’s been a while.
It’s good to just be home and rest in the afterglow of connection
triumphgal 