Thursday, December 26, 2013

Boxing day

We had a nice Christmas. Christmas Eve we had perogies, cabbage rolls, kolbassa etc. I left a baking sheet of perogies on the deck to freeze and forgot about them. This morning there were only 3 half eaten ones left. I am not sure who got them, the birds, raccoons, or squirrels, but apparently they liked them.
Richard and I went to Christmas Eve service, though we both fell asleep beforehand.
Christmas Day we opened gifts at Mom's, puttered, played TRivial Pursuit (I won!) and had naps.
Mom cooked a delicious turkey-perhaps the best gravy ever?
I am off work until Monday-yay!
Al and I are going to go watch a matinee today I think.  Ricardo has to work, though he doesn't seem to mind. We are thinking of going bowling this evening.
We booked our flight to Spain and our hotel in London for Mom, Jim, Richard and I. We are staying at the http://www.sheriffhotel.com/ from the 17-19, for Mom and Jim and until the 22 for RW and I! If anyone is going to London, it seems reasonable, recently renovated, located right near Buckingham Palace, which Mom says is where we want to be.
Jude what is the name of the place we are staying in Cornwall? and when is check in time?
I think Mom and Jim will get there earlier in the afternoon, but if check in isn't until later, they can putter around London.
We get into Gatwick at 930 on the 14th, so will get to Cornwall by later afternoon I think.
I need to find an outfit to wear to the wedding that is packable and lightweight. Something knitted perhaps?

Quiet Christmas in Rocky

Sam and I arrived on the 23, with a minivan full of things, some were things from my move, but an awful lot of them were presents, Sam's, Grace's and mine to put under the tree.  The flowers were waiting for me, from Anne, Will, Tim, Courtney, Sam and Grace to welcome me to my new home, it
was a lovely thoughtful gift to receive. 

Christmas Eve, Tim and Court made supper, we visited and played with the boys.   Then G, T, and S went to church and I cleaned up.  Christmas morning, Grace drove from Drayton Valley and woke us up around 8.  Even though there were not as many people as most years, the tree still looked very full of presents and it took awhile to open.  Tim and Grady came over, while Court was taking Kane to his Dad's, then she arrived and we all had breakfast.  Pretty low key afternoon, naps and book reading and eating Chili Cheese dip, then supper and more visiting. 

I have started unpacking, take the turtle approach, slow and steady wins the race, I think by the time I leave for the UK I should be all unpacked.

Merry Christmas to everyone, now I think it is time for a hot Turkey sandwich for lunch.

Monday, December 23, 2013

A Christmas (tree) story

Wilf and I have always had a live Christmas tree, in recent years he and Henry have gone into the great outdoors and liberated a tree.  This year Wilf did not want to go by himself so Saturday we headed out to track down a tree.  First place we went only had trees that were too big, so we went to Canadian tire , they had lots a couple of days ago.  They hadn't real trees left, so we looked at artificial ones, the ones left were all in a planter to put up on the patio. Not what we wanted. A lady who was shopping there said she worked at CT and she would help us find the trees, she could not find anything either.  She talked to her coworker who said the last one was just sold.  They suggested Peavey mart, so off we went.  Got there, no real trees left and no artificial either.  The lady we talked to there said do you want it today, we said no tomorrow would be fine, so she sold us the display tree with the understanding that it did not include the decorations. It is beautiful and 50 percent off. We took it home and decorated it.

Merry Christmas to all.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Sunday Morning with nothing really to do

and I am very happy with that state of affairs.  Friday morning I took the car back to Enterprise, and asked for a ride to work (because they pick you up).  And what to my wondering eyes should appear, but Santa in a minvan, ready to drive me where I needed to go.  That really put me in the Christmas spirit.  On the way home I took the number 5 bus, when I got on the driver had a Santa hat on, and said to me "So happy to have you on my bus young lady".  Instant Christmas spirit again.

Last day at work yesterday, and my 2 favourite customers came in to say goodbye.  Then cousin Nancy also came in to have a visit.  Another regular customer came in,she just retired and I asked her if she wanted to work in the shop she said yes so she might replace me, and not only that her name is Judith.   After work Grace and Dallyn picked me up and we went to see Saving Mr Banks, I really enjoyed it and it made me a little teary eyed (in a good way).

I booked my flights to the UK and back, have decided to spend some extra time  so I will be leaving on the 28 of Jan and coming back the 3 of March.  Other than the week in Oxford and the time in Cornwall, I have not decided what I will do while I am there, so once I am home in Rocky, will have to decide where to go and what to do.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Finally Feel Like Posting

I think I am beginning to come down from from the moving stress.  I don't know what I was thinking, I should have asked for the possession date of the condo to be this week not last.  But I didn't and T&G paid the price, having to put up with the movement of my stuff into their place until 4:30 am.  The move was a nightmare, I was not nearly ready enough and having crabby neighbors in the condo did not help.  The movers got to my place around 9:15 am, and started moving stuff out right away.  But because we do not have a loading dock I had to sit in the lobby of the building because the doors were unlocked and open.  Then people who live in the building were complaining about the doors being open because it is winter and cold and the plants might be adversely affected.  Then complaining because my stuff was lined up in the lobby, and was supposed to be loaded to the truck right away.  of course if that had been done the doors would have been open a  lot longer, it started to snow, and was slippery on the steps so the guys had to slow down some.  Obviously the people complaining had not moved in a very long time.  I hope their moves are horrible.

I was very lucky to have Allison come over and calm me down, I was feeling very stressed, but she really helped me feel better.  After movers left we did some more packing, into bins and a little clean up, but I was exhausted and had to call it a day around 7.  Took stuff over to Value Village and dropped Allison off, and went to find Vicky's.  I thought I knew where I was going but got confused and could not find her place, stopped at Walmart to look at a phone book, but the office there did not have white pages.  Finally called 411, to get their telephone number and then did a reverse lookup once I had the number.  So happy to get there.  Of course I was still wired from the move, and knew I had stuff I should get out of the condo, so woke up at 3 am, and did a couple of loads to take stuff to Vicky's.  The Got Junk people came on Thursday morning, and took remaining furniture, and some garbage.  Allison came over and took Baba's sewing machine, and I cleaned and took more stuff to Vicky's.  The handover to the new owner was to take place at 12:00.  At 10:00 I got a call from my lawyer saying they were waiting for some information from the Management company and the sale would not got through until the next week.  I got that straightened out, and we went into this tenancy thing, when I am still the owner, but the new owner becomes a tenant until the sale is final.  I got the money in my account on Monday, what a relief.  I feel very lucky that I could stay at Vicky and Dick's, it is so peaceful and quiet.

Grace had a goodbye dinner for me last Sunday, it was lovely, she made lasagne, and had Allison, Sam and Nancy and Henry and Ally over.  We had a good visit heard about the Europe trip and Christmas parties and other things.

Then on Monday I heard that my realtor has stage 4 brain cancer.  His wife works at the store, and i just feel terrible for them.

I moved over to Allison's on Thursday after work,(Vicky and Dick coming home today and I thought they might like their house to themselves).  I work again tomorrow and then over to George and Kay's on Sunday to visit, Monday morning meeting Vicky for breakfast, picking Sam up Monday afternoon, and then officially moving to Rocky.

I cannot wait.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Newest felting project

I have finished these slippers the pattern is from the bee hive in Victoria, what a great wool store my first attempt did not work well so i kept them for myself.  I have figured out what I did wrong and now i am happy, so are Wilf's feet.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Well, Jude's stuff has moved in although Jude has not yet. The movers did not get here until after 9 p.m. On Wednesday. They got stuck in the alley two or three times. Finally left here about 4:30 a.m. It's hard to believe that all the stuff from the condo fit in that small space, but it did. There's not much room for Jude in there although she will be able to get to her bed.

The new editor at work got fired last Monday. Quite a few people were unhappy with her, including the bosses, I guess. Monday is production day so it wouldn't seem like the best day to get rid of someone, but there you are. So that makes things more busy for me, but the Christmas rush is done. Today went quite well, better than when she was here.

Tim's birthday on Saturday so the boys came for a sleepover so Tim and Courtney could go out celebrating with friends. We had a great time. I showed Kane Del's Climsy Ninja game and he had a lot of fun with it. He would laugh out loud then turn to me and say, "He funny." We'd had a birthday dinner on Sunday.

Did Christmas shopping on Saturday. I am determined to do as much as possible in Rocky. I hate going to Red Deer and it looks like we won't have a chance to get to a real city.

We have had lot more snow and cold weather. It has warmed up a bit but is supposed to snow and get cold again.




Saturday, December 14, 2013

Happy Birthday Tim


Sunday, December 08, 2013

Election!

I'm just back from Victoria, and the election of a bishop for our diocese!  It was all very exciting (for church nerds), and I was really glad to be there.  This was the first time I had seen a bishop elected, so I didn't really know what to expect.

I actually went down to Victoria on Wednesday. I had a meeting with the interim bishop, which I had craftily scheduled for Thursday, giving me a couple extra days in the city.  These are the tricks one has to learn upisland. I stayed with Jeff and Kirsten, who are both doing well.  Jeff is slowly moving off the substitute list - this semester he's teaching two classes full time.

As it turns out, I was very glad I had come down on Wednesday, as it started to snow in Victoria (and apparently Tofino) on Thursday.  I was glad not to have to worry about either the roads or the other drivers. There was also a big power outage in Victoria on Thursday, and I had to fight my way across town with no traffic lights.  It's quite nerve wracking when an intersection with twelve lanes (counting turn lanes) is turned into a giant four way stop.

The election was on Saturday.  All the clergy of the diocese and elected lay people (one per hundred) from each church were all there, at the Cathedral.  We began with communion at 9, and then they shooed out everyone who was not a delegate (they had to watch from the balcony) and locked the doors.  I was one of the scrutineers, which was exciting (sort of).  I watched the lay people put their vote into the box, to make sure they didn't try and sneak in two ballots or something.  Then after everyone had voted, I went and helped count the votes.

There were six people running - five were people I know quite well, and the sixth was from New Zealand.  No one seemed to know why he would want to run in Canada.  I was disappointed that no lady clergy were running - in New Westminster (Vancouver) they had three or four women running.  The youngest person who was running isn't even forty - some people were quite shocked at his audacity!

We had to vote three times before we had an election (majority in the clergy and lay votes).  Logan, who some met at my ordination was elected (he's the Scottish one).  It was very exciting, since I thought all along he was the best candidate.  This was the fewest number of votes in our history- last time it was 5 votes, and before that 8.

Logan seems a little in shock - it's a big and pretty stressful job.  I think he will do well though.

I drove home today - no snow on the roads, but lots of snow and frost at some points in the mountains.  The road is lined at one point with trees, they were all snowy and frosty white -like driving down a bright white tunnel. It's good to be home!

Moving

My last weekend in my home for the last twelve years, it does not feel real, even though I have boxes packed and things that I no longer need sent away to new homes.  

I was going to go to Rocky this weekend, but decided to stay home, and I am glad I did, the weather is very cold, and still have some packing to do.  Grace and I went to the Butterdome craft fair yesterday, and who did we run into ,but Laura and Ally.  The Longs are in town to see Henry and Ally, after their trip to Europe.  What a happy coincidence that we would run into each other.  Grace also took me on a  Value Village run, so I could drop stuff off.  

My friend Vicky and her husband are in Mexico right now until the 20th of December and offered their place to me, so I could stay, until I leave for Rocky.  I will stay there until the 20th, then over to Allison's until the 23, and then off to T&G's and my new home.  I feel very lucky to have family and friends helping me out with stuff.

Changes

So It turns out that Jude moving here is really real. And is happening quickly. Her apartment is not completely ready, but only her stuff is arriving this week, not her, so we hope to be able to get things done. If not, we will treat it like a (long) visit. Tim and Courtney are taking some big things to their house, the piano being one. I like to think of a third generation playing g that thing. Maybe Kane and Grady's mom can make them keep playing so they don't tell her when they grow up that they wished they had kept on.

We have really got a winter going on this year. Three big snowstorms in November, one in December already and cold cold temps.

Work is pretty busy at Christmastime. There are changes there too and quite a bit of tension. I try not to get too caught up in the general grumpiness but it can be hard to resist.

I was just thinking, less than two months till Cornwall! 

Saturday, December 07, 2013

Article

Here's the link.
Apologies for self congratulatory post and email, but need to do it somewhere and work would not be appropriate.
Relational Engagement and BPD

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Progressive!

Got my new glasses today-adjusting to them has been really easy! The optician guy said that my eyes are perfect for progressives, something about not having much astigmatism and combo of nearsightedness and reading distance? he was quite excited when I was able to see well with no issue!
as was I!

I heard back about my article and I will be published soon. Not to worry, I will post link for everyone to read (being journal of ethics in mental health, it is free on line access). I shrieked with delight when I got the email. I will be google scholaring myself as soon as I think it might show up. I'd love to casually leave it on the table at work, but I suspect that is a bit too much.

Am almost finished essay for this course-6000 words, 25 pages. I thought to myself, 'OK, I just need to do that 3 more times in year and then thesis would be done-right? I am a little worried about it as it is pretty vague in terms of what I should be doing with it. Though I sent the analysis to my editor, A Sivak, who is pretty awesome at helping me.

Trauma Informed Practice thingie in Kamloops was good-I will be doing something with this in  Kelowna. I'd like to go a little more in depth with it, then they did though. Like looking at taken for granted practices.

Kamloops itself, I like. Nice downtown. Living there, it seems that many people live in outskirts. Though this is not dissimilar to Kelowna. I prefer to live centrally.

Am very unprepared for Christmas, but I think this is also because retailers keep pushing having people shop earlier and earlier to spend more money. Now if things aren't done by Dec 1, for some reason we feel that we are behind. That being said, when needing to mail things, being done earlier  is better. I try not to think of that.

Was sick for a couple days this week, did not go into work. I got a flu shot, but I have the weird idea that it was a modified flu bug that didn't progress to real flu because I got the shot. Much heated stuff about people having to get the shot-working in health care. When people ask me if I get the shot, I tell the tale of giving the flu to Mom who was recovering from cancer and then she developed pneumonia. I am certainly not in favour, nor do I trust big pharma, but I do trust public health departments, who say health care workers should get the shot. There are much worse things out there than vaccines.