Thursday, August 29, 2013

Chicago!

I got the hotel info and it's this one:
Hotel Burnham

Sunday, August 25, 2013

I have vowed to exercise again, so am making it public to shame me into it!
Please feel free to hold me accountable. I do feel better when I do it, so just have to remember that when I get home from work and want to sit on couch.

we went to drive in last night-saw Pacific rim and we're the Millers. Both were fine as drive in movies. I managed to get us stuck though as I did not listen to Richard as we were leaving and did not back out. Tow truck came quickly though and off we went after he pushed us off the bump.

I did not get job in quality assurance-but manager suggested I apply for parttime position upcoming. I asked if I was qualified given that I didn't get interview even, but he said my skills, abilities and qualifications would definitely fit with the position. I think perhaps there must have been someone uber qualified? Anyway, I don't want parttime (tempting as that would be). And I do really like my job. Will just keep my eyes out and see what transpires. I have been fairly straightforward with co-worker who is irritating me and this seems to help. I am waiting for her to ask me if she should retire, I have internally practiced saying, 'yes!' She alludes to it, but has not asked straightforwardly. I am determined not to reassure when she alludes however. Last time she said, 'When I retire, I'd like to live in Hawaii' I said, 'I'd like to live in Hawaii now'

What else is new? Had Leanne and her daughters over for supper-last time she was in town, we met up. She's living in Duncan now and working as a nurse.

Booked flights to Ontario-week before Thanksgiving. Is always a good time to go there-usually nice weather and trees will be in full colour.

Will be teaching a course through BC Schizophrenia Society this fall too. 10 weeks on Tuesday nights. Co-facilitator is very great-so that'll be good. I said if I was doing this, I didn't think I could make it to board meetings too-there is only so much volunteering I can do.

Have to start final course soon. Ack. I feel panicky about doing thesis. One step at a time. Getting stronger every day.



Monday, August 19, 2013

Family Dinners

This weekend I saw lots of family.  Friday night Allison came over and we had supper in front of the TV while watching some episodes of the Game of Thrones.  Thank you Laura for lending the DVD's to me, what a good series.  Saturday I worked, it was fairly busy at the store so the time went quickly.  For anyone in Edmonton we are having our 70% off sale, so drop by and get some good deals.  On Saturday night I went over to Grace and Dallyn's (except Dallyn wasn't there, in Drayton for a stag) for supper with Sam and Nancy.  Grace is a very good hostess, and made us an excellent supper, followed by eclairs for dessert.  A good visit with everyone.  On Sunday Grace and Dallyn, Jovita and David came over for supper and we looked at Jovita's pictures from Europe and Ireland.  The pictures were really good.  I am pretty sure Grace must be getting tired of seeing me so we will have a break of a few days before we all get together to celebrate Sam and Nancy's birthdays on Thursday night.  Friday I am off to Rocky to see the "great" nephews plus their parents and grandparents.  I can't wait to see the changes in the little guys.  I don't expect the bigger people to have changed that much.

I went to see my financial guy on Friday, so I let him know what my new plans are and he was supportive, so that was good, I like getting the positive reinforcement on my plans.  Today will be a day of laundry, not as much as Allison has done, but maybe I will even get some ironing done too.  Nancy is in town this week, so hope I get a chance to see her.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Vermin Days of Summer

I've had a lousy week. Literally. Wednesday night, woke up late to find small bugs in the bed. I have bedbugs! Exterminator is booked for this Wednesday, and I have been laundering everything I own, and storing in garbage bags in the basement.

In the meantime, I am working on my proposal that is due end of summer. One supervisor says it's almost there, and both had helpful suggestions. So I am trying to do that inbetween.

Also have a friend painting the rest of my apt, but he's stopped while we get rid of the insects.

I'm exhausted.

Theresa days of summer

So not having had much of a summer makes a person more appreciative of the few warm sunny days there are. It's weekend has been really nice despite the forecasts for thunder showers every day. So far they have not materialized.

Good news from Will re his ministry to the surfers. He said last week he was pretty sure it would be happening, but things are not official until they are official. He may find himself with a lot of visitors after he gets settled in.

The weather was great for folkfest last weekend too. We had a great time. I was so happy to see Dave Alvin so many times and saw very few anemic angst-ridden singer-songwriters of any gender. Also got to see John Wort Hannam quite a few times, including up close and shaking his hand. I also enjoyed my time in the beer tent with Grace and Dallyn. We left about 6 p.m. and as we were driving out of the city we noted the big thunderheads forming. We just missed all the rain. Jennybelle was at ff and said it was pretty hard climbing the hill when it was so wet.

Yesterday was the Brian Mazza trail run out at the lake which Geoff and I (and anyone who is staying here) help out with every year. It went well. We used a new system, an app that times the runners. It was so easy to use and worked well. It is a great event, all kinds of runners come from all over to run around the lake. There are good prizes and a barbecue afterwards.

After the run we went over to Tim's for the baby welcome party. Since it was such a beautiful day, we were all out on the deck. It was a good time. Tim has made his yard such a nice place to hang out in.

Geoff has discovered he likes making jam. The raspberry crop is good so we have lots of jam. Goes well with his homemade bread.

We watched Kane and Grady on Wednesday for a bit. Kane came over in the afternoon to play with Grandpa and Tim dropped Grady off after I got home from work. Kane was in the house and when he came outside he said, "Gwady!" and ran over and patted Grady's head. So I think he is quite happy to have a brother. Grady is growing lots, seems to be pretty laid back ( his parents may not totally agree) and is very very cute.

Looking forward to a visit from Jude next week.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Free money!

I won the 50/50 staff payroll lottery draw this week! Enough for RW and I to go on a vacation! Or something! We started a list of things-I of course, lean towards vacation. Sure made my day Friday.
Earlier in the week a woman donated a sizable chunk of money to our unit which was terrific.
Good news for mental health this week!
If I was smart, I'd pull myself out of the 50/50 draw, while I'm ahead, but would feel badly. It goes towards the hospital foundation, which helped fund stuff on our new unit. So, I'll stay in it.

Mom and I went to Farmer's market today-I bought a watermelon and soap. Judging by the prices, farmers couldn't afford to shop there.

Plus I  cleaned the house-except vacuuming-which I leave for Ricardo.

I was looking up quote of the day on Friday for putting up on the white board for patients and while reading it, answered the phone, ' Lisa speaking, feel better'. I laughed for quite a while about it, in part because it actually was appropriate.

Chatted with Gerry and Dorothy this week-all seems good there. she had some chest pain and went to hospital, but all was fine. Cardiologist says she is in excellent shape. We'll go to Ontario in the fall, October likely.

Now I must go read the Saturday Globe and Mail, and nap afterwards.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Another Folk Fest Gone

We had a small tarp this year, not too many people could make it.  I was able to go all 4 days, but everyone else was not.  The good thing about a smaller tarp is that you have a little more flexibility on where to put it, you can squeeze into spots that bigger ones can't.  Everyday there was at least one standout performer for me, so that was very cool, it does not always happen.  On Thursday night it was Dehli to Dublin, so much energy and I really like the mixture of eastern and western music.  Friday night was Neko Case, Jerry Douglas and David Francey.  Saturday was Dave Alvin, Lisa Hannigan and the Steep Canyon Rangers.  Sunday the Avett Brothers and my new crush Shakey Graves.  A bit of a change this year, the main stage started later than in the past except for Thursday night, so there were more side stages scheduled, and performers played longer on the stages, a good change I think.  Also more concerts on the side stages but still plenty of jams.  Weather was good except for Sunday night where a big storm cut the last act Loreena Mckennit short, but I left after the Avett Brothers so was home when it hit.  Theresa and Geoff left around 6 as T had to work on Monday, Grace and Dallyn were not able to come n the Sunday.  I was able to find a little patch of grass for The Avett Brothers concert, Just below the east/west walkway and had a good view.  Had to buy a new chair this year, mine broke on Friday night.




Monday, August 12, 2013

Night views

The evening draws on, and the day is almost over

Muttart at night

Full dark, no stars

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Dog Days of Summer

Actually, should be cat days as they like sun and heat best.

There is a severe thunderstorm warning in effect, we had one yesterday-not very much rain, but a little is better than nothing.

Really, there is nothing new here, puttering along, enjoying the season, wondering how I will manage when school starts again.

I applied for a temporary job at the quality patient care office. It is just a 3 month job, so I thought if I ended up getting it, it would make for a nice change, but without having a commitment. I would have to make sure, if I got it, that I could return to my position. A lot of what if's, but I am feeling like I could use a bit of a change. I am getting irritated with a co-worker and starting to feel resentful, which is no good. I've done what I can with it, but my ability to modify the situation is limited. And since the situation has limited ability to change, I must find other was to modify. If the temp position does not pan out, I will keep my eyes out for other options. There are always things out there. I have been reviewing how to tell my boss (who I really like) that I applied. I asked Richard and he said the same things that I had thought: that it's a 3 month temp, will help me in present job, that am feeling somewhat frustrated with co-worker and this will give me a break, without needing to leave position. so, we'll see.

Just finished reading Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Really v.g.+

Thursday, August 08, 2013

Folk fest and gall bladders

No folkfest for Laura.  I am sad that I cannot go but there is always next year.  On Tuesday Morning at about 5:30 I was having lots of pain from my gall bladder and so went to the ER.  Doc there said he would admit me for surgery.  Gave me morphine  and no pain left.  (can't say I like the feeling of morphine but it took the pain away). The OR in GP was running 24 hours a day because of how busy the weekend was here, lots of quad accidents and car accidents.  So sat in hospital bed all day, no surgery, Wednesday I was on the list but the surgeon said it was unlikely I would get in.  So he gave me drugs and sent me home with a surgery date of August 20.  As the result of all this drama I made the difficult decision not to go to FF feeling that if I had an attack while driving it would not be good.  Sniff.  Hope you all enjoy the weekend and sing Four Strong Winds for me. 

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

New apartment; Golden; festivals; squash; work update

To be honest, not too much is new from the last time I posted, but here's an update for posterity.

My roommate Ian (with whom I've lived for a year) moved to a new apartment on Bellamy Hill at the end of June. It's just south of the Chateau Lacombe. My unit is the 18th floor, and I face east over the river valley. It's more expensive than other units in the building we looked at, but it was the only one available when we signed the lease and anyway, I'm quite partial to the view (see below). The building is a converted government office tower, so it doesn't have balconies but does have A/C and ensuite laundry. It was quite the gong show getting moved in but we got everything moved, unpacked and cleaned in one day. The new place is a fifteen-minute walk from work, too - probably less once they finish tearing up Jasper Ave/101 Street.

There's been a lot of changes at work so I have a new boss who is temporarily covering for my old boss. The old boss was doing a mat-leave cover but then recently moved departments, so my new boss will only be my new boss for three months, until I get another new boss fresh from mat leave. So all of that should be interesting. It's slightly unnerving having a new supervisor as we go into one of the two busiest periods of the year, but that probably means I'll just get saddled with additional work. So it goes.

 A friend got married in Golden a couple of weeks ago, so Nancy and I looped through Rocky on our way to and from the wedding and met the new G.T. Ferrey (while also saying hi to T.G. Ferrey, Mom, Dad, and Will, who were all there at the same time as me). Wedding was really good. The ceremony was at the top of Kicking Horse Mountain, so guests took the gondola up. It actually hailed right before the wedding was supposed to start, but everybody kept themselves occupied at the bar and the weather cleared up nicely (and cooled things off). We stayed at the resort as well, so it was quite simple to get to and from the festivities. The day after the wedding I was feeling somewhat queasy but Nancy and I still went tandem paragliding. For the curious, this entails strapping yourself to an Italian dude with a big parachute and then running off a mountain and floating around. Overall it was fun.

Went to K-Days and the Taste of Edmonton, but missed the Heritage Festival this year. Nearly walked away with a stoneware cookset at K-Days because I'm a sucker for sales-pitch demos, but Nancy talked me out of it.

In less exciting news, I'm getting a new squash racquet tomorrow after game-testing three different models over the weekend. I've been working with a  cheap Sport Chek special ever since I broke my graphite/titanium model in a fit of rage a few months ago. If anyone is in town and wants to try squash, let me know since I'll have an extra racquet again.

I've been thinking of getting a bike this year, as I haven't had one since mine was stolen last year. May wait until the end-of-season sales come out, which is pretty much any day now.

A few views from my unit. In my opinion, it looks even better at night but I couldn't seem to take any decent pictures because of the bright light reflecting off the lens/glass. I'll try again tonight and update this later if I can pick up something reasonable.

Overlooking the Low Level Bridge and James MacDonald Bridge. Gallagher Park is just across the river.

Refinery Row.

Hotel MacDonald and Bellamy Hill.