Monday, March 31, 2014

house is clean!

Finally cleaned the house today. I have not done any for quite a while. I won't say for how long, but let's say that some things hadn't been done since before we went to Spain.
Other things like thesis and painting at rental took over our priorities. I do like having the house clean. I feel like a more successful human being.

Sent off proposal for thesis. They'll suggest changes of course, but it felt good to get it sent off. It's kind of like I know they'll suggest all kinds of other things, so it doesn't make sense to have complete with formatting etc, because I'll just have to change it anyways. And good Lord, there's a lot of research to do for the damn thing. Like at least 10 pages of references. And I may be underestimating. The paper itself is at 31 pages at the moment. Sure, having even more research on general mental health literature sounds good, even though I have found almost all that I swear is out there on attitudes of nurses to people with BPD,because there was quite literally nothing on my exact research subject,  I say cheerfully to my advisors. Though is better to do this type of thing now and pass then be less thorough and FAIL THE PANEL!

As a consequence, I keep having school anxiety dreams. You know, when you show up for a class and realize that you have not attended all year? And now you either have a final or a paper due?

Mom and I went flower shopping Sat and bought spring flowers! I planted them yesterday-pansies and primroses mostly. Sure makes me feel pleased. Weather has finally improved a bit!

We went to see Noah this weekend. Don't bother. But we also went out for delicious Thai food at a new restaurant.

Mom and I are going to go to Tofino for Easter. Richard has to work. Bummer.

Woman at work keeps saying to me, and I think it's meant as a compliment, oh that looks slimming on you. I may start replying, 'oh, that's too bad. I was going for the chunky look'.

Sourness.

Richard has been painting away at Jones. He's been really steady at work too for him.

I found Sebastian also peeing on floor. But I think it was because I had the litter box empty for cleaning.

Christmas Draw 2014

Geoff and I drew for 2014 Christmas.

Mom has Anne
Theresa has Geoff
Geoff has Grace
Jude has Will
Laura has Jude
Jim has Richard
Lisa has Allison
Richard has Jim
Allison has Laura
Anne has Mom
Del has Lisa
Will has Courtney
Courtney has Theresa
Grace has Del

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Will this work

Quilting

Jude and I decided to put Anne and Del's quilt together so we can get it quilted by Tim's wedding. It took us all day yesterday and we concluded that it really makes a difference having a lot of people involved. More helpers make it much quicker. Now we will get fabric and put on the border and it will be ready to quilt.

Sitting here looking out the window at the snow falling gently to the ground. A pretty scene in December but not at the end of March. We still have two or three feet of snow on the lawn and it has been added to this last week when it snowed every. fricking. day. As I said to Lisa once, the glaciers are not disappearing, they just moved to Rocky.

Tim and Courtney came over on Friday night for supper bearing Thai food. Our neighbour across the street makes it in her home and you just order and go over with containers and she fills them up for you. It was delicious. While we were eating we put Grady in the living room to play. Near the end of the meal, I heard a little sound, looked down to see him just shooting across the floor to the table. While we were eating he figured out how to climb the steps!

Geoff got a call from a company asking him to go to work for them part-time from April to September. He has decided to try it out although he is a bit reluctant to give up his time off. But it will be a way to add considerably to the travel fund. And it won't be full time.

Lots of changes at work again, but the new people all seem really good. I do like having young enthusiastic people around. One new reporter worked as a summer student last year and the other is from Newfoundland, as is the new editor.

We bought a new stove and took the old one down to Jude's, so her place is pretty well done, although there always seem to be little finishing things to do. We have worked out that she will join us for supper every night, it seems silly for two people to be cooking separate meals. She will take care of her own breakfast and lunch and will take a turn cooking occasionally. I think it will work well.

The new stove is quite fancy. Geoff did the research and buying. He's the one who uses it the most, after all.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Hipster grandson

Little Grady on Saturday night. Grace and I were babysitting. Kane was all tucked in bed so we had a good time focussing on the little guy.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Visiting

Last Sunday was S&B in Edmonton, so I decided to make a weekend of it and do some visiting as well.  Grace and Dallyn graciously let me stay at their place.  I arrived on Friday night, Grace picked me up at the Bus Station and we had supper at Tony Roma's.  On Saturday night Sam invited us (Grace and I, Dallyn was working out of town) for supper at his place, Nancy was there too so we compared travels, and tried to decide what our favourite part of the trip was.  He made a delicious ham, with potatoes and vegetables, we brought mini cupcakes for dessert.  Sunday morning I met Allison and Laura for breakfast, it was a nice surprise that Laura was in town too and happy to catch Allison before she left for New Orleans.  Then Sunday afternoon, over to Diane's for S&B.  On Monday I went to the store for a visit with Kay and Evelyn.  Monday night I met current and former IBMers for supper.  My last visit was with Dr. Pag for a check up and teeth  cleaning, then home on Tuesday afternoon.  Theresa picked me up at the Petrocan and we stopped at Tim and Court's for a quick visit with them and Kane (Grady was in bed) and then back home.

Yesterday T&G's new stove came in, so G and I moved the old one down for me, and then the new one into it's place upstairs.  Court and the boys came over for supper, Geoff made Macaroni and the new stove seemed to work pretty good.  With the stove in my place, it really makes the kitchen look finished.  Geoff has been working on the crown molding in the bathroom and it is almost finished.  

Sunday, March 16, 2014

A phone call

The phone rings. I see it's from Tim's house. I answer: heavy breathing on the other end, then: "Baba?" It's Booboo. We chat for a bit, then I tell him to give the phone to Tim, who, upon hearing me, starts laughing. He says Kane has taken to walking around the house with the phone to his ear, pretending to talk to someone. Except this time it was real.
I love that little Booboo.

Sunday, March 09, 2014

;m;l,l;,

meant to write this earlier

Our next door neighbor, Sandy's stepmother lives in either Millbrook or Torpoint! Can't remember which one. I think it was Millbrook!

finally

Still can't get laptop browser to post but tablet will let me.
Richard went to church, but I slept in.
Got 8 pages of my proposal done so far, so I guess I am over my writing freeze/feeling of panic.
Doing this felt overwhelming.
It still does if I think too much about the amount of stuff. So, am just thinking of what I need to do right in front of me.
Went to hockey game last night. It was fun. Why is the music always the same rocker songs though?
House is dirty, I should really clean it, but I tell myself that doing thesis, working, and volunteering takes up all my time. Which is partly true.
Mom and I will go grocery shopping today. Neither of us will be in a car buggy.
We have a mouse in our garage. Richard wants to set a trap. Which is absolutely what we should do. But I saw the little devil while cleaning up in there yesterday and I really don't want to do it. It was small and cute. I said we had to get the live, humane trap. It had a good winter living off the birdseed. And crapping and peeing everywhere. Still it is small and cute. And is just being its mouse self.

Whose Cat has a Draft on the Blog?

Saturday, March 08, 2014

To travelling Badgers

So I guess everybody's life is back to normal?

Thursday, March 06, 2014

Two Days Early

I went to check in at the airport on Monday morning, and they had no record of me flying to Calgary on that date.  Like an idiot, I did not have anything that said I was supposed to be on that flight except for the boarding pass from my flight to the UK.  The agent I spoke to was great, she took my phone, went over to the the other counter and managed to find out that I was supposed to fly out on Wednesday. They could get me on the flight but could not guarantee Business Class.  By this time I did not care if I went Business Class or not, my cold was getting worse, and all I wanted to do was come home.  So off to the the ticket counter, got rebooked in economy, the agent said there were still 7 seats in business available, but would not find out if I could upgrade until I got to the gate.  When I got to the gate, I got the upgrade so all was well.  In the end I think that it was meant to be, because as Theresa said, I got here, had supper and pretty much stayed in bed, nursing my cold until Wednesday morning.  I felt pretty awful, fever, chills, coughing, so better in my own bed then at a hotel.  When I got off the plane I was so happy to see Geoff's smiling face.

The rest of my stay in Tunbridge Wells was good.  It has really good bus service to the surrounding area and I took the bus to Lewes (which is actually pronounced as Lewis) where there is a Castle.  this one was not as dilapidated as the ones previously seen, and had just as interesting story.  It was originally given to the deWarrennes family after the Battle of Hastings by William the Conqueror.  The Battle of Lewes was fought during the English Civil War, which helped bring about Parliament by representation.  After the castle, i looked around town, stopped at a hotel around since the 1700's and had a cream tea, hopped on a return bus and back to Tunbridge Wells. 

On Saturday I was going to see another house, just outside of TW, but when I woke up, my cold was feeling worse, so I took a sick day, just dozed and read and watched TV.  My room was twice the size as the one in Brighton so I had lots of room to laze in.  Sunday morning I got up and took 3 trains to get to London Victoria, then the bus to Oxford.  I stayed at the same hotel as G&T, very close to the Bus Station.  I walked around Oxford a bit, then met Anne and Del for supper at  Jamie Oliver's Restaurant which was conveniently located just below the hotel.  Food was yummy, company was good and an excellent end to an excellent trip.

Tuesday, March 04, 2014

A Busy Weekend

I had just barely unpacked and recovered from Europe when it was time to hit the road again!  I got back to Tofino on Tuesday, and on Friday I was back on the road to Victoria for the weekend.  Our new Bishop, Logan was consecrated (ordained as a bishop) on Sunday.  I also had a meeting on Saturday, and was looking forward to spending some time with Jeff and Kirsten.

The road down was pretty good, though there was still a lot of snow around Nanaimo.  I had a good weekend with Jeff and Kirsten - we went to a vintage fair (most of which I recognized from Grandma Ferrey's basement) and to a flea market on Sunday morning.  I bought some records for my future record player - Jeff and Kirsten just got one, so they're keeping an eye on them for me.  One of the highlights was a Kate and Anna McGarrigle record that I just love.

The consecration was an amazing service.  It was really long - three hours - but very good.  Logan had had a friend of his who is a hymn-writer (Herbert O'Driscoll for Anglicans in the crowd) write a new hymn to the song from Les Mis "Do You Hear the People Sing".  There was also a group of first nations drummers who drummed Logan to his official Bishop's Chair.  Usually it's some kind of big organ anthem at that point, but Logan asked some people he knows to drum instead.  They spoke as well, and it was very good - comparing our Cathedral to their big houses.  The preacher was also first nations - Martin Brokenleg, who's a fairly famous teacher, but also an Anglican priest.  He called the diocese out on bad behavior toward the last bishop - people who would be rude to him, or walk out of services, and told us he expects better this time!

The best part of the weekend was Saturday afternoon, when a parishioner phoned to say that she'd found Patches!  She really loves cats, and was very worried when she went missing.  She's been looking all week, and kept looking when I was in Victoria.  On Saturday there she was, just hanging out near the house, as if nothing had happened.  Jennie and her husband managed to lay hands on the little beast and bring her home.  When I got in today, she was very happy to see me, and seems to be quite a bit skinnier - though she was pretty fat before, so it's not too bad of a thing.

The one sad piece of the weekend is that a friend of mine, a retired priest from my last church died last week, and we had his funeral yesterday.  I was glad to be able to go, and the current priest at that church asked me to preach, which was nice.  He was a great guy, and I'll miss him.  Nice to see all the people from St. Luke's though!

Now I'm home, and I intend to stay here for a while!

Monday, March 03, 2014

Changes

We have been back from vacation for a week but in some ways it feels as if we had not gone at all.

There were changes at work while I was gone. The new editor started. Everyone kept telling me how great she is and I agree with them. She is very personable, seems interested in all that is going on and can write. So that is a relief for us all. However two reporters have given their notice which means the editor will have to do some hiring right away. Also my coworker Caitie is going to be working part time over in the sales department. It's good for her as she will have some new things to do. We will be hiring a part time person for the front office. That will mean training someone new.

It has been so cold. It is more like January temperatures than March.

Geoff went down to Calgary to pick Jude up today. She said she could take the bus but I said it is too cold to be fooling around with buses. Plus she has that cold that has been going around and is not feeling well at all. I think she is glad to be back. She went to bed right after a comfort supper of pyrogies.

Am watching tv while doing this - there is one of those Newfoundland ads on, which makes me want to go there.

Sunday, March 02, 2014

Home Sweet Home

Well we made it home. I wish we were still over there though. We needed at least another week in London to finish off our list of things to do, if not longer. 

Glasgow ended up being better than expected. Well, we didn't actually do anything in that particular city but sleep. We did a day trip to Edinburgh. We went to Edinburgh castle and on a fantastic walking tour, where the tour guide is a registered Scottish storyteller, which is apparently a real thing. So he just told stories the whole time and I really enjoyed it. Then we went to a pub called The Last Drop, which is where Anne took Tim for haggis. So we had our haggis, which was alright, and then sticky toffee pudding, which as absolutely amazing. 

The next day we went on a highland tour. It went up to Loch Ness, where we took a cruise, and then back. Was a full day- left at 8 and returned at 7:45. Apparently we covered 400 miles. It poured the whole time, so we couldn't actually see much, plus the tour guide kept talking about how much more beautiful it is in the summer, so I will definitely have to go back. 

The next day we flew to London. Our hostel was right beside the British Museum so we went there for a couple hours after checking in. The mummy section was my favourite. It seems like everything we wanted to do in London takes up a big chunk of a day, so we had to pick and choose our activities. We did a walking tour, walked through Hyde Park, went to Harrod's, saw Book of Mormon, which was absolutely hilarious, did the Tower of London, and the London Eye. Plus various pubs, including The Maple Leaf. The Tower of London was my favourite part of the whole trip I think. I loved it. 

Neither of us are looking forward to work tomorrow, but the thought of making money to go on another trip is good motivation. 

highlights

We sure enjoyed the trip to England.  Cornwall was great so was the wedding!  The Monday after  folks left we went to the pub for jazz night and a lager and lime. The second song that was played was Sunnyside of the Street, co incidence? I am not sure. Tim and I had quite a discussion about that song at the wedding. It is funny how things seem to happen.
We spent time at that pub almost every night and when we were leaving for the last time, the lady who worked there came over and gave us a hug and said how much they enjoyed meeting us.

We enjoyed London, although there are too many people crammed into the city. The first day we walked to the V&A across Hyde Park, about 25 minutes from our hotel. You could spend a whole week there and not see everything. But I enjoyed what I did see. That same day went to I knit, a woolstore where you can get a drink and knit. It is a cool, place with amazing wool check the place out iknit.org.uk.  a very nice lady entertained Wilf while I checked out the yarn. I have been researching what to do with the wool I bought on ravalry, might make a blanket out of it, not sure at this time.

I am always surprised at the kindness of strangers, twice on the tube a young man got up to give me his seat, very kind (although part of me thinks I am not that old). Also in Minneapolis one of those guys in a golf cart gave us a ride to our gate, where were they in San Francisco hey Mom?
The committments was extremely good, the music made us both want to dance. I was glad we choose that one.
I forgot to say how much I enjoyed Venton House, that was a gem of a find Judith.
Henry and Ally surprising us at the airport was great also, it is always great to be met, but a surprise makes it that much better.