Happy New Year

The time is tick-tick-ticking away.... slowly heading towards midnight. The year

is coming to an end along with this day.

The clock on my computer says it is 11:11pm, a special time to be sure, and it tells me just how close we are getting to that moment in time when this year will end and the new year will begin, filled with hope and promise for a better, happier, healthier, slimmer, trimmer, more love filled and joy filled year of greater prosperity. Yes, we all pin our hopes on the new year, wanting it to be better than the old one. There is a way to insure that it is better... change the way we think and we change our experiences in life.

One sure way of changing our lives and making them better, happier, richer, etc. is to practice gratitude.

Just take a moment here and there to count your blessings.


For everything, great and small, give thanks.


I have so very much to be grateful for and I take time each day to thank God for the many many things I have to be thankful for. Some are as simple as:

- I am grateful for my eyes as they allow me to see the beauty that surrounds me.
- I am grateful for my ears, for with them I get to hear music, laughter, birds singing, and all other things that I can enjoy &/or learn from.
- I am grateful for my feet and for my legs as they make it possible for me to stand and to walk, to drive my truck and my trike.
- I am grateful for my hands and my wrists and my arms. They make it possible for me to care for myself and others, to pick up my food and feed myself, to pet my animals and to take care of them all.

Having been in a crash this year, I am even more thankful now than I was before for my hands & wrists. Having had the left wrist shattered and the right one sprained I have come to really appreciate just how much we depend on the use of our hands for great and small things every day. Just for a day try not using your hands, or even think of each little thing you use your hands for and notice just how wonderful a creation they really are.... be grateful for them. Slowly I am getting the use of my left hand back, but it is still unknown if I will ever get full use of it back. I am so grateful that I can again type with it.

I also think of the 'outside' things for which I am grateful, such as though not limited to:

- I am grateful for my home. It is cold outside tonight and I am blessed to have a home to live in and a fire going in the stove to keep my home warm and comfortable for me and my animals.
- I am grateful for each and every one of my animals: Mewsic (cat); Grace Hawk (rabbit); Sheri, Daisy, Smudge & Charlie (chinchillas); DW (Indian Ringneck Parrot/Parakeet; Friday & Miracle (Pacific Parrotlets); Angel, Stud Muffin, Tiki & Billy Bob (Cockatiels). They give me a reason to get out of bed in the morning, and to come home again each time I leave.
- I am grateful for my computers... for oh so many reasons.
- I am grateful for the food I eat as it nourishes my body.
- I am grateful for the clothes I wear.

And I can go on and on and on... but I won`t just now.

I had many sad times in 2010, and I also had many happy times, many things to be grateful for. I know that I am truly blessed in many ways. I look forward to the coming year, knowing that it too is filled with many things I will be grateful for. It is filled with much excitement, joy, love, prosperity, abundance, friendship and.... more.

As the last second of 2010 and the first second of 2011 approach, I wish you all much to be grateful for. I wish you all the very best of everything in this wonderful year and beyond.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I look forward to seeing you again throughout the coming year.

What's in a Hospital?

What are some of the things you would find in a hospital? Well, I guess other than the regular equipment for x-rays, mammograms, blood tests, and stuff like that you find lots of beds, nurses, doctors, orderlies, and other people that help us when we are injured, sick, or having babies. There is the gift shop where you can buy baptism gifts for children, books & magazines, ornaments, flowers, etc. to give to your friend or family member that is in the hospital, or even for yourself while you are there visiting.

So, you might be wondering why I would be thinking about the hospital. Well, because of one other thing that is in our local hospital... my dear & valued friend Donna Jean. I got a phone call from her husband Rolland yesterday saying that DJ had a minor heart attack. Today I called the hospital and found out that she is in CCU (Cardiac Care Unit) so only immediate family members can visit her. This makes it all seem rather more serious than 'minor heart attack' sounded. I sure hope she will soon be well again.

I also have another, longer time friend, Wanda, whom I value very highly and who is also in hospital, though not here. Wanda had a brain aneurysm earlier this month and is very lucky to still be alive. Fortunately, she was in the Vancouver area at the time she had the aneurysm and was close to the big hospitals there and the specialists in that field. My former husband, Everett, had a brain aneurysm in 1999 and was not so lucky. He passed away at age 44, just a few days after 'the event'.

Good Wishes for YOU!!

I send you love and wishes for a most Merry Christmas and a 2011 filled with Joy, Peace and Love for you and your loved ones.

I also send a 'Christmas Gift'. It's a free download that could well help your 2011 be a lot more prosperous. I've downloaded it before but didn't get around to reading it... sigh, so just downloaded it again and am finding it very interesting whenever I find a few moments to read. I look forward to a quieter time soon, lol.

Well, I think I am about as ready for Christmas as I will be this year. Much of it is already over and much left to come. December 2nd was my TOPS group party... full turkey dinner for lunch, games to play, gift exchange where I was fortunate to get what I felt was the best gift, a hand quilted wall hanging of snowmen. December 18 was a turkey dinner at my sister Marcy's in Enderby including a gift exchange before M & her husband left for Whiterock, Las Vegas, & 4 months in Arizona/California. Tomorrow, Christmas Day, I go to Mom's in Enderby in the morning for gift exchange and to spend the day with her, we'll go to a church dinner later in the day. Monday is another family dinner at Mom's. My 2 brothers and their families will be there, one from Langley and one north of Edmonton. I'm making my 'famous' bread pudding for desert.

And now... off to dreamland or Santa won't stop by. Well, okay, so he refuses to stop here anyway ever since the crash... sigh. He tried to park on my roof which is metal and very steep. It was a nasty mess. Ah well, maybe some day Santa & the reindeer will get over it and stop in again. In the meantime, they drop my gifts at Mom's so I have to get there early to open them. Night night, and may your morning bring you lots of good stuff under the tree.

Merry Christmas and a Joy, Peace and Love filled 2011!!

A Christmas Surprise

This evening the phone rang and I had just sat down on my armchair with dinner, tv and laptop, so was not feeling happy about someone calling. However, I got up and went across the room to answer the noisy thing. "Merry Christmas Eve!!" I cheerfully said into the receiver. That's when I got the surprise!! My friend Art moved away earlier this fall, out of the country to Thailand and he phoned to wish me a Merry Christmas!!! This is the FIRST time I've ever gotten a phone call from THAILAND!! How is that for totally COOL!!! It was good to hear from him and to hear he's doing very well.

I also got a 'pre-Christmas gift' about a week ago. I was at my chiropractor's office and in walked a man I spent part of my life with 2o some years ago.... (hmmm, what year was that?) We worked together at the glass plant and fell in love. One day he walked up to me at work and asked "England or Hawaii?" Huh?? I had to ask what he was talking about. "Where do you want to get married? England or Hawaii?" he asked. He was from England and I've always wanted to visit both of those places, so I told him "England. It's where your family is and I'm sure they'll want to be there." The wedding never happened. He went back to his former wife. I've never known for sure if he went back out of love for her, guilt, duty, or a mixture of the above. I never doubted that he did love me which is odd as I had never felt that certain of a man's love for me before. I haven't seen JR for more years than I can clearly remember now... but it sure was good to see him last week. He appeared very happy to see me too. We had a great chat, though short as he was called in and I had just come out from my treatment. He stood and gave me a really nice big hug. It's weird, but after all these years I can honestly say I still love JR... and I think he still has fond memories, maybe even some love feelings for me. I wish him all the joy in the world and I am grateful for the time we spent together, even if it was no where near long enough. He did what he had to do and that is what makes it right.

Christmas Eve

I used to be out dancing most nights of the week. It was a passion with me for a long time, to be out 2 Stepping and Line Dancing. I especially loved the 2 Step especially when I had a good dance partner. I was very slim and trim back then with all the exercise I got on the dance floor, and I could eat anything I wanted pretty much. Now, I never go out and dance, I'm overweight and I can't eat the way I used to. Now the only kind of 2 Stepping I do is getting up to the kitchen cupboards on two step stools or 2 step ladder. I make sure I always have my little ladder handy in all rooms of my home.

Tonight is Christmas Eve, a Friday night, and I sit home alone with my computer and my cat both on my lap as I watch TV. Currently I am watching Oliver Twist. On the small table beside my armchair sits a pot of tea and my cup. The pellet stove heats my home with the beautiful fire burning inside of it, I can see the pretty orange flames through the window in the door of the stove. Not only does this warm my home, it also warms my heart as do the Christmas Lights and Fibre Optic Tree here in my living room. I am cozy and content, and I am very grateful for so many things in my life.

Happy Christmas Eve everyone.

Merry Christmas

Feliz Navidad Prospero Año y Felicidad

Merry Christmas Prosperous New Year and Happiness

I wanted to share an exact translation, so went to igoogle and entered the Spanish phrase to translate to English. Now, breaking it down so I can learn from the experience:

Feliz - 1.happy 2.felicitous 3.lucky 4.blest 5.blessed 6.blissful
Navidad - 1.Christmas 2.Xmas 3.Yule 4.Nativity 5.Noel
Prospero - 1.prosperity 2.prosperous 3.success 4.welfare
Año y - year and
Felicidad - 1.blessedness 2.happiness 3.felicity 4.bliss 5.keif 6.kaif

Only 3 sleeps to go....

Dreamer

I often daydream about things I would like to change in my home, about renovations I'd like to do here. I mean, if you're going to stay in a place for a long time you may as well make it what you want and I've lived in this place for 20 years now. I've done some renovations: 1997 built on a 10x32 addition, a new roof over top the mobile home and both additions, a carport, changed all the windows, cut 3 doors through the mobile wall into the additions, a divider wall and new ceiling in old addition. 1998 a mosaic ceramic til floor in my bathroom. 2008 laminate floors in living room, kitchen, loom room, bedroom & hallway. Some of the things I still dream of doing include: large deck out back overlooking the lake, new kitchen counters/cupboards, enlarge bathroom & put in larger tub. I think it would be great for the bathroom to do part of the outside wall with those clear glass blocks and do the tub surround with glass tile work. I think it would go well with my floor as well as adding more natural light in the room. I think closing in the carport for another room and building the carport in a different place would be good too. Yup, I am a dreamer.

NCIS

I'm sitting here in my big armchair with my cat Mewsic curled up by my side. She is sleeping while I am watching TV and playing Solitaire on my laptop. I'm watching NCIS on TV. I love this show, especially Abby. She's so cool and so cute in her funny little way. That girl is so stoked, always an abundance of energy to burn. She was just doing the Turkey Dance when Gibbs walked in to her lab and she showed him a bunch of stuff on the computer that she'd just been researching about turkey DNA... all to do with the case they are working on. Abby doesn't need to take diet pills with ephedra, she hasn't an ounce of fat on her and as I said she has energy to burn.... but the energy comes from all the mega huge soda pops she drinks all the time, hahaha. Yes, I know that it's not real, just acting, and it just happens to be not only entertaining, but sadly more exciting than my life is at this point in time. Advertisements are over and the show is back on... gotta go.

.

Thinking of my Trike... s

I like saving money whenever possible so would like to find good yet cheap insurance companies for all of my insurance needs. Since I found out I have to get my trike appraised (when the new one is built and ready to go on the road) then insured through ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia) and a second, private insurance company I especially want to cut costs if & when possible... and yet I still want it to be a good company that if anything ever happens again, I will have good insurance coverage that will actually pay me what I need to get in order to replace my machine.

Anyway, I am looking forward to having a new trike. With all the heavy snowfall we got yesterday it is not exactly trike weather, but I still love to think of being out on the highways riding in the sunshine. Plans are coming together for the new one, and the physio therapist said my wrist should be healed enough to ride by spring so as long as the winter months will feel, they will be good as I need the time to heal more.

My Exciting News

I am really excited to tell you that I have started my own business. It is one that will help a lot of people to reduce their pain, heal their bodies, and for some even improve their financial situation. Following is an email I sent to friends and family to let them know my exciting news:

I just wanted to tell you I have started a new business that I am very excited about. As many of you know, I was in an accident in September where, among a few other things, I got a badly broken wrist. A friend in one of my 'bike' groups offered to 'wand' it for me, then I have been getting together with people for wanding ever since. I have found that wanding reduces my pain as well as improves the movement in my wrist as it heals.

Having seen the improvements I was experiencing, my friend Joyce asked me to take her along to a wanding and of course I did. She had a very badly broken ankle in January 2006 which, like my wrist, required a metal plate and many screws to hold it together. Joyce has had a bad limp ever since, unable to walk without shoes, and unable to 'tap her toes' (move the foot up and down). Since her second wanding she has been walking without the limp and has been able to flex the foot & tap her toes. To say the least, she is thrilled! Tonight was her 4th wanding and she now can walk without her shoes on. Wednesday Joyce joined me at my physiotherapy treatment and while there, her former physiotherapist came out of a back room and said hi. When she showed him the movement in her ankle he was very impressed and said that whatever she's doing just keep doing it as it is working for her.

This morning my new wand arrived on my doorstep by courier, until now I was dependent on other people's wands and am thrilled to have my own to use daily. I later went out for lunch with my TOPS group at a restaurant in Armstrong & the owner, Marg, was in a lot of pain, you could see it in her face as well as the way she walked. She was over at our table and I asked her where she was hurting, she showed me the place on her back and I began to wand. No, the wand doesn't touch the person, though it can, it is usually held a couple inches out and always turned in a clockwise circle. In just minutes Marg was saying she felt like it was pulling the pain from her and that the area felt hot. It was not long before we all could see the change in her face and the way she held her body. She was no longer hurting!!

Check out the links below and watch the videos. Send this on to anyone you know that is in pain or just wants to improve their health.

This is my web site:
http://www.eamega.com/wanderfullwell

You will find great information on this web site which belongs to a friend of mine. If you decide you would like to order something, please get in touch with me or go to my web site above.
http://www.wandtheworld.com/?go=AWAY-WITH-PAIN

Feel free to contact me with any questions you have.

Insurance Woes

I am sad to say that I have been having problems with my vehicle insurance company. I paid my insurance for my trike, then rode happily all summer until September 10 when I was hit by a car. One would think that I would be covered by insurance... right? Well, I was but certainly not well as it turns out. We have not yet gotten to the injury portion of it, but ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia) will only give me $1500 for my trike which I just had built at a cost much higher than what they are offering. It would seem I will have to take them to court if I have any hope at all of getting enough to rebuild my trike. It turns out that what one needs to do when insuring a 'unique' vehicle like this is get it appraised, then insure it through ICBC (we have not choice in BC, we have to insure our vehicles through ICBC) AND also insure it through a private insurance company. Yup, double insurance in order to have any hopes of getting paid if in a crash.... even when it's the other persons fault. I think I'll check out Wholesaleinsurance.net and see if they insure here in my area or just in the US.

Personalize it

I have been most remiss in my blogging lately. I have been most busy lately with loads of stuff in life and most of that is therapy for injuries sustained in 'the crash'. It is a challenge to type with only partial use of my left hand, yet I am very happy to say that things are improving a lot... less pain, more movement.

As always in December, it is a busy time getting ready for Christmas. I like the idea of personal gifts, like personalized basketballs, cups, mouse pads and a whole lot more. I usually hand make my gifts though this year it is just not possible due to the broken wrist, so I am purchasing all my gifts this year.... just like everyone else.

A Good Day

Went for physio today then ran a bunch of errands and shopping then met with a friend for lunch.... more errands then home. It was a very busy day and I didn't make it over to visit Joyce as I had planned, nor did I make it to the bank... just too tired by the time I did all the rest. When I went to start the truck this morning there was a moment I thought it might not start after sitting in the cold since Monday without being started, but he started up without problem, just kinda stiff from the cold. Was grateful to be back home this evening, safe in my warm, cozy home with the fire burning. As I sat working on some Sudoku puzzles, one of my birds, Bubba, flew over and sat on my knee keeping me company. He's such a sweet heart and mostly lives out of his cage, free in the house. He's a cockatiel.

All in all it was a good day.

Cold Weather

Last week some people were still riding their motorcycles, then on Friday there was a drastic change in weather. Overnight it went into the deep freeze and Friday we got our first snow of the year. It has been way colder than usual for this time of year too. It's been so cold that politicians and CEOs of Insurance companies have been seen with their hands in their own pockets!! Now that is cold! I don't usually wear a jacket as I don't usually feel the need to, only when it's really cold, and I've been wearing one the last several days and been very grateful for having warm jackets to wear. Last night before I went to bed I checked the thermometer outside my door and it was a nasty -20C (0C = 32F). This morning as I left for my physiotherapy appointment it was -13C, so had warmed up some though still cold. This evening the snow started falling again. Dan, a friend of mine, is driving 117Km (73 miles) each way to work these days and stopped to visit me on his way home this evening. He said it was horrible driving in the snow storm as he couldn't see where he was a great deal of the time.

Tonight on TV they said we've broken records for cold temperatures. Today -19.8C broke the record set in 1985 at - 18.4C. Burrrr!

The weather forecast is for it to start warming up to normal November temperatures, and for us to get a lot of snow in the next while.


I sure am grateful to live in a nice home with a good pellet stove to keep me and my pets warm, and with hot tea to add to the warmth and comfort.

Dreaming... my Wish List

Just over a month to go until Christmas. Yup, that's right, today is the 19th of November so just over a month until 25th of December. This is kind of scary for those of us that don't do our shopping and such ahead of time. Who is on your Gift List to buy for? What is on your Wish List? I can tell you a few things on my Wish List:
- a fancy new cell phone with all the 'bells & whistles'
- a CD player for in my home
- a CD player for in my truck
- a big flat screen TV
- a new trike, or even a great paint job on the trike I am about to build to replace the smashed one
- tanzanite jewelry
- body work and paint job on my truck
- a Wii and Wii Fit to go with it
- an Amega wand
- a trip to a warm location
And last but not least..... the most important thing on my Wish List... a wonderful new man to love me and to buy some of the above things in my list.

My Weight and Health

I don't really believe in taking medications for anything unless it is totally the last choice and yet even I have been tempted lately with the idea of taking what could be the best weight loss pills. Not that I'm going to yet if ever, but I have been 'out of control' with my eating lately and have been gaining weight instead of loosing it. Every Thursday I go to my TOPS meeting and weigh in. Last year most weeks I had a loss, earlier this year lots of ups and downs resulting in staying about the same, but since my crash I have been 'bad'. With a shattered wrist and a sprained wrist I just ate what I could get my hands on... nothing I had to cook or prepare so nothing healthy, just stuff that would fill the emptiness in my stomach. Usually I wear jeans so if I am gaining weight with them, it shows with discomfort in tightness, but now I can only wear stretchy pants that are easy to get into with damaged wrists. This has resulted in gains. I have now recommitted to getting under control for my weight and for diabetes. I HAVE to get back under control or be in very grave danger. I am now writing down what I eat, and when as well as back to taking my blood glucose readings and writing them down too. This will all help me to see where I am going wrong and where I need to make changes. I also must get back to more regular exercise.

Weight Loss

Very nearly 2 years ago, I was wondering how to lose stomach fat fast, as well as how to loose fat from other parts of my body. One evening at Toastmasters I was talking to Pat and the subject of weight loss came up. I said I'd like to loose weight and she invited me to attend the TOPS meeting with her that Thursday morning. I went and on that day, January 15, 1008, I joined. Over the next year I dropped 20 pounds. Sadly I have been gaining a pound here & there again lately, but since I weigh in every Thursday I am very aware of this and know I must make changes in what I eat and how much I move in order to get this going back in the right direction for my looks and my health. I am going to keep a 'food journal' for the next while, recording what I eat as well as when & why. I will also record water and other drinks as well as exercise I do. This will help me to see what I've been doing wrong and correct it. I am sure that eating lots of scones has something to do with it, so that must change to eating a scone only occasionally.

Grateful

I used to think that I should have lived in a much earlier time, like maybe the 1700s or 1800s. I romanticized the life style of the times and felt it would have suited me to a 't'. And maybe I did live in those times as well, but I am now living in this time. I have come to be quite grateful for this fact, and very grateful for people who do health care jobs. Think about it, all the things that are possible medically now that were not possible or available 100 years ago, or maybe even 50 years or less. If you read this blog, you know that I was in a bad crash 2 months ago and had my left wrist shattered. I am so aware that if something like this happened earlier in time the outcome would have been very different. I was able to have surgery to reconstruct the wrist bones, a metal plate and 9 screws put in to hold it all together. This could not have been done 100 years ago, even 50 years ago it could not have been done with the skill or chances for total recovery that it can be done with today. I don't know yet if I will get full use back of my hand & wrist, but it should be close and I know that if I had been born a century or two before I was, and if I had a similar injury then, I would likely loose most or all use of the wrist and hand. I am grateful to live now. I am grateful for my life.

Thoughts

When I was a girl I often heard adults say that time flies faster now that they are older and I thought that was stupid. Time is time and it always goes the same speed. Yet, now that I am older it truly does seem that time goes faster and faster each year. I'm sure that, even if I was wearing a Momentum Cobalt Watch by St. Moritz, time would be going faster now than it did when I was a kid. It's just crazy... I mean, it was spring just such a short time ago, now summer is gone, we're well into fall and any day now the snow will be flying. Oh, you wouldn't think so to look out my windows as it is such a sunny, gorgeous day with the most beautiful clear blue sky and yet, being the 12th of November you just know that it won't be long now. Even if it was one of those years when we don't get snow until just before Christmas, the way time flies so fast it will be here all too soon. Life is getting just a little crazy, spinning out of control... or so it would seem.

November 9

Today was a wonderful, full day. It started off with my friendly pellet stove repair man coming by about 8:30am to have a look at my stove. It's been making noises lately that I don't like and figured that the motor on my fan could be 'going'. He thinks it just needs a good cleaning and oiling so will be by Friday morning to do that. This means I will have to get up early to turn the stove off so it can cool down before he gets here as it must be cool for him to work on.

I was on the schedule tonight at Toastmasters to be the Greeter & the Grammarian, give the Joke, chair the business meeting (I'm the club President) and to give a 5-7 minute speech as well as to be Timer throughout the meeting. I had been trying all week to think of what do do my speech about and yesterday came up with an idea that just wasn't really working, though today it 'jelled' and came out as a fairly good speech. It would have been much better if I had it written a few days ago so I had more time to practice it rather than just a couple hours, but it is what it is. Due to many people moving away for work, our club has gone from around 21 people to 7 people this year, so each of the active members must 'wear many hats' to fill in all the spots on the evenings agenda.

Usually on Tuesdays I am at the pool for a good part of the afternoon, doing Aqua Therapy then some swimming &/or soaking in the hot tub, but not today. I had to get the speech written & practiced, do up the agenda for the business meeting, read over the basics of Roberts Rules of Order in preparation for the business meeting, find a Grammarian word and print out the word with it's meanings, find a joke and familiarize myself with it in order to 'present' it rather than 'read' it.... etc. etc. so I didn't have the time to spend in town. To make up for this, I got onto my recumbent exercise bike and peddled for 30 minutes while studying the speech I'd written, then had my shower & got ready to go out. I've decided that since I don't seem to be able to give up the 'bad' foods or change over to more healthy, sensible foods, I must exercise more to make up for bad eating. I still must work on changing eating habits, mind you, but the 'work outs' are a good thing. More work to be done tomorrow.

November 8

Yesterday I went to town for x-rays on my left wrist, then went for blood tests for my diabetic check up that is coming up soon. By this time I had to run to get a cup of tea to take with me and off I went to my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon that did the reconstruction on my shattered wrist nearly 2 months ago. He brings up on his computer the x-rays done at the hospital as well as those done at the x-ray place downtown. It was interesting seeing what the metal plate & 9 screws look like and where in my wrist they are. He said to now start doing physio therapy on the wrist and go back to see him in 2 months. He also said it will be 6 months before things are back to normal if they ever get back there.

I went to visit Joyce then Tuggy phoned and wanted me to meet him at A&W, so Joyce & I went and had lunch with him. He was on his way to his doctor for more tests as he's not well & they're not finding out why or what to do about it. I had planned to go to Aqua Therapy, but by this time it was too late to get home for my swim suit and such, so I went to Joyce's for awhile longer then headed home to try to write a speech for tonight at Toastmasters. I had finally come up with an idea what to speak about... or had I? It just wasn't working.

During the evening I watched House, Lie To Me, & Hawaii 5 O on TV. While watching House I got on my recumbent exercise bike I had a workout. The timer quit working part way through so I don't know how long I peddled on it, but do know I did it for a fairly long time. Once in awhile I stopped for a short rest before starting again, and did this for the greater part of House.

Thinking about time.

Time sure has been flying for me and it's hard to believe it's almost 8 weeks since I was in the crash. This Friday it will be 8 weeks. On October 27 I went to a movie with a dear friend I hadn't seen in many months and here it is already a week since then, though I was thinking it had been 2 weeks, so time is getting mixed up for me. Anyway, it's been quite some times since I was last to a movie at a theater and was surprised to find out that you no longer buy your theater tickets at a desk when you enter the front door, then if you want popcorn etc you go line up to get those things. Now you go in and line up in the 'treat' line to get tickets and your treats all at the same place. I can see where this would increase chances that people will purchase snacks to eat during the show... even if they hadn't been planning to do so before they got there. I really enjoyed the movie and Pat's company.

I spent time today working at cleaning my home. I've been doing this lately, trying to get it back to where it once was before I let it go. It sure is starting to look better in spots. Oh so much more to do... and it seems to take a lot of time to accomplish a little bit. I can only do small amounts at each go due to having a broken wrist and back problems. I am now laying on my bed resting my back so I can go to Toastmasters this evening. I have to be there early as I am the Greeter... and the Table Topics Evaluator and the Speech Evaluator #2 as well as one of the 2 Timers. Our club was a good sized group last year, but many people moved away so now we are a very small group in need of new members, and those of us that are left do several jobs each Tuesday.

My Day - October 28

I had a good day today. When the alarm went off and it was still dark in here I did not want to wake up and get up. Hey, I hadn't slept all that well during the night and wanted more sleep. I got up and turned on my bedroom light, then hit the snooze button & back to my mattress for a little while, snuggling under my comforters. Then I got up and had a shower, dressed & off I went to my TOPS meeting where I was weighed and found I dropped 1 pound. After the meeting most of us went for lunch together. Next some of us went to the Bargain Bin, our favorite 2nd hand store. I picked up a really nice jacket & a vest & blouse as well as a few bits towards Christmas gifts. As always, we then went for desert, this time to McDonald's where I had an ice cream cone. When I left there, I drove to nearby city of Vernon to pick up some D-Ribose which has helped a lot of people with Fibromyalgia, and some bulk mixed nuts. I ran into a gal there that I've known for years & stood there chatting for some time, then drove home where I took some D-Ribose and some other 'natural' pills that I take for anti-inflammatory purposes. I kicked back and played some Solitaire on my computer, then off to town again to join a group that meets every Thursday to 'wand' each other for health. I find that after a wanding I have less pain. Tonight I had them work mostly on my left wrist/hand (the broken one) and my right shoulder which has been hurting a lot for some time now. When I got home, with my wonderful cat Mewsic curled up beside me, I watched TV, Gray's Anatomy then Private Practice, and played some more Solitaire. Now, some blogging and it's time to get ready for bed. Maybe I'll sleep better tonight.

Sweet dreams!

Shopping

I never shop online, do you? I guess lots of people do, and I've been tempted a few times when I browse around sites like rocawear and see nice things for not loads of money. However, I'm the type of person that likes to touch and feel things, to look at the way clothes drape, to see the colors in the different lights, and of course to try them on to see how they fit, how they look on me. I can't really tell from seeing them on a model if they would look and feel good on me or not. I actually don't even shop a lot in the stores either. I occasionally go to the second hand store that I like and look there for what I want or need. Usually I find what I'm looking for and get it/them for very reasonable prices. I have 2 sisters and I know neither of them would shop in second hand stores, especially for clothes, but gladly I am not them. Without second hand stores I would be running around naked or at least in very old, patched, out of date clothes. Yup, I like my second hand store when I actually have to shop.

Recumbent Bike

A couple weeks ago I had the chance to buy a recumbent exercise bike in good used condition for $15, so I grabbed it. I don't like the regular exercise bikes, but find the recumbent bikes much better. This isn't exactly like mine, but gives you a good idea....


The other day I finally got on it and used it. I did 15 minutes, non-stop. I didn't do it super fast, but did a fairly decent speed and steady for that full time. Today I got on it again and this time did 20 minutes while watching TV. I must admit I did not do it non-stop this time, I stopped twice, once to grab the nail polish & hand lotion from the desk beside me which only took seconds and I used the lotion while peddling. Then I stopped for a couple minutes to put the polish on my nails and continued peddling, letting my nails dry as I worked. Oh, I know it would be easier, less work, to just go to www.dietpillswithephedra.net and have them ship me pills to take for weight loss, but that's not my style. I want to give my cardiovascular system a good workout, to keep my blood sugar levels in check, my muscles strong, and loose the weight all at the same time, so I choose to exercise. I plan to get on this bike every day, or at least nearly every day, and work out on it. As I get more used to it I will do longer times and/or tighten the wheel so it's harder work to peddle so gives more workout in the time I am doing it. I am looking forward to my new healthier body.

Moisturizing

I have never really been one to 'pamper' myself, to use face creams or hand andbody lotions or stuff like that. I've always just been 'natural'. Lately though I have been thinking I need to start taking better care of my skin, after all, I'm not getting any younger. I used to like wearing nail polish, but my nails would dry out and break every time I did, and with leading an active life I don't really take care of long nails. I used to work with & ride horses, not a 'nice nail' activity. More recently I 'pulled wrenches' helping to build my trike, also not 'nail friendly'. I long ago just accepted that my nails are what they are, short and okay, not something you polish up. Now, having had my left arm in a cast and having limited use of it, my nails on that hand have grown fairly long and I'm liking it. My friend Joyce has really long, thick, strong nails and she says a lot of it is the Mane & Tail Hoofmaker lotion she uses. I just 'have to' try it, so bought some of this the other day. My hands have been almost painfully dry lately and normal lotions haven't been helping a lot, so I have been happy to use this as it is moisturizing my skin. Hopefully it's also going to strengthen my nails. I'm even going to order some nail polish from Avon, inexpensive but good quality, and paint my nails again like I did when I was young. I've started using moisturizer lotions on my face lately too. Oh, their not exactly a fancy anti wrinkle treatment, but a good step in the right direction before I get a lot of wrinkles. Apparently as we age our skin dries out more, so we need to keep it moist, so here goes.

See The Difference??

I don't know about you, but I wish I had some money coming in and could get a good cash advance. I want to file for arbitration against the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) regarding the value of my trike, and I need $318 to file, but don't have it.

Can you see the difference between the two motorcycles in this photo??
Don't look for anything but the really obvious.

They are both Yamaha Maxim 650
One is 1983, the other a year newer or older, not sure.
So what is the difference?

One is a trike... 3 wheels instead of 2. It is a one of a kind custom conversion. Can you see that? Did you pick that out right away? The 'officials' at ICBC can't seem to see any difference between the two. The value/cost is very different, over $6000 different in fact, and there in lies the problem. Mine is the trike, the 2 wheeler was parked on the street near the office I was going to one day so I parked in front of it and took this photo on my way in.

Any thoughts on how to get ICBC to see the greater value of my machine would be gratefully accepted... post a comment.

Loving The Ride

All summer long I rode my trike, leaving my truck parked at home. I put very nearly 6,000 kilometers on the trike in just under 4 months of riding it... then got wiped out by a car. I so loved riding, being 'in the wind' on my own 'ride'. This was my first motorcycle though it won't be my last. I will build another one. I so enjoyed being in the sunshine and even didn't mind a lot when I had to ride in the rain, I found a way to carry a cup of tea to my destination so I could have it to drink when I got there. I found that riding the trike I could not eat while driving, like I can do driving my truck. I just somehow felt happier and different about me & my life. Riding my trike I would never need even best weight loss supplement, the trike was my weight loss supplement in an odd way. I really just love the ride. Maybe it's a spiritual thing.

5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, 5 Sundays in one month

I was just watching the local TV news and the news guy told the weather man that he heard 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, 5 Sundays in one month only happens once every... I forget if he said 600 or 700 years. He stated that he hadn't done research to see if it's true or not. Just for the fun of it I decided to do some research on it and I found one web site that says it happens all the time. They even include pics of calendars from other recent years that have this. I continued to search a bit more and found other sites that say the same thing.

Some Cool Stuff

This evening I went to the big mall in the small city where I live. I hadn't planned on going there, rarely ever do go there, but was with Joyce & she needed to go there. While there, I met up with a very long time, wonderful friend, Diane. I haven't seen Di for a couple years though just last night I was talking to some ladies that know Di & said they had seen her on Wednesday. Now I see her. It's funny like that some times. In the mall there was a big 'garage sale' happening & I found out it was the Animal Care Society. They paid for me to take my dog to the vet & to have surgery when she needed it and I couldn't pay for it. Tonight I bought a beautiful, framed picture of a wolf for $15. Not big time, but at least it will help a bit. I wish I had more to give... maybe one day. I do plan to write a will one day and put them in it. I bet many people will be buying things from them & many of the stores in the mall with plans to give them to loved ones as Christmas gifts. Yup, it is that time of year when people are thinking of and even purchasing gifts for 'the season' which is just around the corner. Every year I tell Mom a few things I would like to have and she usually gets me one of the things, or two. I want a Wii so will tell her this, though I think it is too much a 'big ticket item' for her to get me. She might consider getting me wii accessories, though they would do me no good without the Wii... sigh.

Ya.... maybe I'll go back to the mall tomorrow & grab a thing or two for gifts.

Autumn... or Fall

Ahhhhh.... fall, or as some prefer to say, autumn is upon us with all the leaves on trees changing colors and falling to the ground. Gardens by this time of the year are usually harvested though here we've had such warm, wonderful weather that the season has been extended. I have turned on my heat a couple of times for long enough to 'take the chill off' though haven't had to keep it going for long. Now, I lit the pellet stove today and may need to keep it running until spring. This is the time of year when sports nuts start thinking of football gifts, of hockey games, when many put away their motorcycles or 'muscle' cars, when people dust off their 'sleds' and prepare for the start of snow.

Harvest Time

I am fairly sure it will freeze here tonight, so I have covered my garden to save my plants. I must go out and harvest everything tomorrow or loose it all. There are still tomatoes, peppers, carrots & beets as well as 2 kinds of parsley & several kinds of mint that I want for making tea. I really enjoyed having a garden this year, enjoyed having the fresh veggies whenever I wanted to go outside & pick what I needed... fresh!! I would like to have a greenhouse or even just a room in my home where I could set up hydroponic systems and grow my fresh vegetables all winter. It would be so awesome to be able to have fresh, home grown veggies all winter.

Trike Returns Home

Thankfully, I have always been blessed with nice skin. Oh, I get the odd outbreak, a zit here or there, though nothing to where I would require acne products. I've always felt blessed to have this kind of skin, not even having the usual megga zits in high school. Now that I have arrived in the mid 50s, I am blessed to have very few wrinkles & the ones I do have are not very deep, mostly just 'laugh lines'. I am very aware that I got off 'very light' in the motorcycle accident I recently had. After the car hit me, I was thrown off my trike, hit the car, then hit the paved street. When I later examined my helmet and saw some pretty heavy scraping on it, I sure was glad I'd been wearing a good helmet or my head & possibly my face would have been severely damaged.

I got my trike home yesterday. Though the insurance company & I have not agreed on a price for them to pay me for my wrecked trike, they offered to sell it back to me for salvage. I agreed, happily, and some friends helped me get it home. Having a good look at it once it was here I got to see that it has even worse damage than I had tough. No wonder the insurance company said it can only be used for parts & can never be repaired & put back on the road.

Mom Called

I just got off the phone with Mom. She phones fairly frequently to see how I'm doing. I know she would like to be able to come down to help me, but she;s 87 and not in the best of health. Though she still is able to drive her car round the small town where she lives and to a couple neighboring small towns, she is no longer able to make the drive down here. Though part of me 'wants my mommy', I know that overall it's better she can't come here. She would be devastated to see how messy my home currently is. I've been trying to over come the problem & get things back under control, then ended up in the crash, broken wrist, and barely able to feed myself nevermind do lots of cleaning & heavy work.

The next few months will be filled with things like doctor appointments, orthopedic surgeon appointments, more x-rays, physio therapy & chiropractor treatments, lawyer, insurance company, etc, etc, etc. I'm glad I don't need eczema treatments. At least that's one less thing I need to do.

Supplementing

Since I have arthritis in several joints in my body, now have a shattered wrist that I want to heal well & quickly, and just overall want to be as healthy as possible, I have been taking different supplements... some to reduce the cholesterol levels, some to reduce inflammation... and now I am thinking about getting some for joint health & see if there is something to speed the healing of bones. I guess I could benefit by reading some supplement reviews. I love the way we can access so much knowledge & information through our computers.

My Friend G

My very dear friend, G came over to visit me this evening. It's always nice to spend time with G. I told him that Tuggy said the windshield G gave me for my trike helped save me during the crash, that I hit it & was slowed by the flex before I hit the car. Oh.... you don't know about the crash? A woman in a car hit me while I was riding my trike.... but I digress. So, G is a big man with a big heart. He goes to the pool frequently to exercise. I don't know if G would take the best diet pills, but as far as I'm concerned he doesn't have to. I treasure him just as he is, and as a great friend. Whilr G was here, he washed a bunch of dishes for me I did some organizing in my kitchen. Since I have a shattered left wrist & a sore right hand/wrist, even the simple things like this are a challenge.

TOPS

If you follow my blog, you know that I am a member of TOPS, working at Taking Off Pounds Sensibly. Every week, we meet to weigh in and have a meeting, then most of us go for lunch together. It is a great support group, and most of us have become friends. I enjoy going to the weekly meeting. Part of the meeting is a "program" where one of the members shares information with the others. Some of the past programs that come to my mind include: natural diuretics, Jicama, Stevia... way too many to mention. All very interesting information and often with samples to eat. For the next 2 months or so, I will not be weighing in due to having a cast on my left arm, and yet I will still attend the meetings and lunches as well as other social time with my wonderful TOPS friends.

Halloween

There is a long time yet before Halloween, over a moth, and yet many people are already preparing for that one evening. I've seen ads on Freecycle & on Cheapcycle, asking for kids costumes. I've also seen some store ads for Halloween related items. I used to love getting dressed up & going out to the nightclubs or to peoples homes for Halloween parties. It is the one night each year when you can be someone other than who you are the rest of the year. It can be a lot of fun. I haven't dressed up or gone out for Halloween in many years.... hmmmm, maybe it's time. What could I go out as with a cast on my arm?? Maybe wrap me in tensor bandages & go as a mummy?

My Day - Sept. 8

Today I did my volunteer work at the local food bank. This took the entire morning, as always. We get bread/buns/donuts/cookies/etc. in by the large bag and large Tupperware bins. We had a lot of them today. We take plastic bags and portion the above into the bags, then these are placed out front for people to take home. After that is done, the bins have to be washed in preparation for the following day. Today there was also popcorn & frozen chicken strips to be portioned. I finished the day by taking bags off the roll and opening them in preparation for the people working tomorrow to fill. It's hard to explain this, but it is a simple step that makes the job easier.

I went to the walk-in clinic and saw a Dr. about my right shoulder as it's been giving me a lot of pain for several months now. I kept thinking it would get better on its own, then went to the chiropractor and now, on the chiropractor's advice, I decided to get an x-ray done. The Dr. said the same thing as the chiropractor, that there could be calcification in the shoulder and the x-rays would show if it does. It takes 2 weeks to get into my regular Dr. and I made an appointment with him last week so will get in next Tuesday. By then he should have the results to the x-rays and be able to tell me. The pain runs from my spine to my elbow and sometimes as far down as my wrist... not fun, keeps me awake a lot as it always seems to get worse when I'm laying down.

I had a good visit with Joyce over tea at Tim Horton's, then went to the laundromat where Wendy was doing her laundry and sat in her car visiting for ages.

In 4 months, I will be old enough to get the Seniors Discount in some places, haha. To me this is a joke as I still feel like a kid.

Friends

I've so often heard the saying "diamonds are a girl's best friend", and of course, this would even apply more if they were certified diamonds. However, dog is man's best friend. Hmmmm. As much as I like sparkly diamonds I would take a dog any day. I so miss my Reba. She was such a special dog and yes, this girl's best friend. I must tell you about my 'other best friend'.

D is a really wonderful guy who has been wanting to work on my trike and in the last couple days did exactly that. He welded not only the 2 places where the 'professional welder' had done recently and had broken again, but he also took the back wheels off to get to other areas where Ron had not gotten to and welded there too. He really went the extra mile to add more metal and more welds to insure that this braking problem will not soon return. Also, he did a much neater, nicer looking welding job. I wish he'd been able to do all the welding on my trike right from day one, though I had not yet met him back then.

Another thing he wanted to do was the brake peddle system. Tug hadn't been able to figure it out to give me good back brakes, but D changed where one rod was and walla, I had back brakes. This was not good enough for D, he still wanted to do better. Today he did a lot of work redesigning the system and moving the peddle to a different position. Welding, cutting, bending, bolting over & over until he had it as good as he could get it with the equipment he had to work with. D has a full machine shop where he lives but doesn't have much for tools here, so he rented the welder, bought a grinder & used some of the few tools I own. All in all, he's done a great job and I have really good braking power now. I can lock up my back wheels and skid the tires if I want/need to and also still have a good front brake.

Yes, D is a very good friend. A girl couldn't ask for better. It's too bad that some of life's 'stuff' makes it that we can not be more than good friends... or maybe it's a good thing. In my experience, friends last longer than lovers. Maybe I should be grateful we can 'only be friends'. I have for some time now been happy as a single woman and did not want to change that. Knowing D has to some degree made me think that maybe a relationship wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. We have so much in common, love doing the same things, and laugh together a lot. If only I could find a man like D who is free to be with me.

Dinner

This evening when D was here welding on my trike, I wanted to cook some dinner for us and thought that buffalo smokies would be a nice treat. I thought I'd hook up the bar-b-q which I was given last fall and haven't used yet. I managed to find the tank of propane I have here, and dug it out. We got busy working and by the time it was time to cook, I figured it was too much work to hook up the tank to the bar-b-q and light it up for a couple little smokies. I took 2 slices of pizza out of the freezer & put them into the microwave, followed by 2 smokies. I thought later that I also have an electric grill I could have used, though smokies are already cooked so just need to be heated up. It was a very simple meal, yet rather yummy, washed down with ice cold Club Soda. I have 1 more smokie left and just thinking about it I want to go eat it... and know I have to take my Turmeric/Bromalain pills, natural anti-inflammatory that I am hoping will help with my shoulder. It has to be taken on an empty stomach so I must 'be good' and wait until tomorrow to eat that yummy treat.

Lush

Yesterday Joyce & I went to Kelowna and shopped at the Lush store in their big mall. I got some new shampoo & conditioner as well as a small container of face mask. Part of me says I shouldn't have spent the money with my truck needing repairs, yet I do still need some things. The shampoo & conditioner will last a very long time. They are solid blocks, you use very little of the product, and they are very good quality, mostly natural products. I saw so many things that I want to get for Christmas gifts and birthday gifts for friends & family. If you are getting married you could get your brides maids and even groomsmen gifts at Lush as they even have products that could be used by men... though I guess most men would appreciate something from another store, haha. I just hope that by Christmas I have money to spend there so I can get many of the people on my list gifts of love from Lush.

My Truck Needs Fixing

Doing colon cleanses, or colon cleanser reviews may not be a lot of fun.... and neither is finding out that you have major truck problems. Today a mechanic had a look at my truck to see exactly what work it needs and I am not happy.

Both sides of the front end need:
- upper & lower ball joints
- radius arm bearings
- brake hoses
and of course, the labor to do all of this... $1000 just for the labor!!! The cost of the parts will be in the neighborhood of $7-800, maybe even more. So I am looking at very nearly $2000 to have this done. I know there are a couple other things that need doing too though can wait until later. I have about $200 to put towards this work, and don't know where I will get the remainder needed.

D thinks I should get a new vehicle, that it's too high a chance that once I do the above repairs to my truck it will then need something more... then more... then more. I am not sure though that anything else I could bye would be in any better shape... high risk that the 'new' vehicle would also have lots of expensive problems that need fixing. Yet there is also the chance that the 'new' vehicle could be a great one. I have had 'cheap' cars turn out to be great and not so cheap ones be garbage-on-wheels. I just don't know what to do. I live just over 8k out of the nearest town.... just over 8k from the nearest city bus system. I need to have a safe & dependable vehicle on the road. For now, I have my trike, and I am most grateful for warm, sunny days and wonder just how many of those warm, sunny days are left. The insurance runs out on my trike Oct. 18 and I suspect by then I will be wanting to have a car/truck to drive for the winter months.

Driving Me CRAZY

I am SOOOO glad to finally be here. I have been having some real challenges with my computer and the internet. Some days ago, my wireless connector thingy quit working. Yesterday Dan brought me a cord so I can plug my computer into the Linksys and be back online. tonight it has taken me 2 1/2 hours to finally get here. The internet connection I have so so impossibly slow it's driving me crazy!!! The web pages I needed just refused to load properly.

It has been a bit of a crazy day... neither good nor bad... very up and down. I had so much company it was incredible, more people stopped by today than usually do in weeks. D came by to look at my trike and figure out what he could do on it to fix where the welds had broken again. Tuggy came by with his nephew Vic so Vic could have a look at my truck and give me an idea what work it needs doing and how much it will cost. D came back. Len came up from below my place. Graig came for tea and to talk about moving his bus, could he park it on my place. We walked down below and had a look, planned where it could be parked and what work needs to be done to achieve that. D came back with a welder and some steel strips. Graig & I showed him what would be needed, D put in his opinions, and he agreed to do the work for which I will pay him later as I can. After Graig left, D welded my trike back together.

Sooo... what did Vic say was wrong with my truck?? Well, it needs almost everything other than a convex mirror. I will tell you more about it in my next post.

Car Talk

Yesterday, while driving me and Koko to Edgewood, my friend D & I had much to talk about on many subjects. We were traveling in his little diesel burning car which gets many miles to the gallon (a.k.a. kilometers to the liter). He was telling me all the advantages to having a small car and especially a diesel burner. He also tells me he likes to have a good flashlight along in case of emergencies along the roads and that he is fond of led flashlights. He is a very environmentally friendly type preferring to use as little fuel as possible and it would be his wish to live off the grid entirely, something I expect to see him doing one day. D of course talked about the advantages of solar power in our homes, of wanting to research electric cars, etc. He even went so far as to tell me that his 4 door sedan would cost less to travel in that my trike would be. It cost me around $20 in gas to drive my trike to Edgewood & back, much less than it would cost to drive my truck. His car.... we didn`t fuel up so can`t say for sure, but it took about 1/4 tank of fuel and it costs him about $50 to fill it up... so likely about $12-15 for the round trip we took. DANG, it is cheaper to drive than my trike... though I guarantee it`s not as fun.

Learning

I really enjoy learning things. I wish I had realized this when I was a teenager in school, when my parents were paying all the bills and I had a fresh young mind just waiting to be filled with knowledge. Instead, I got married after grade 10... I was only 17 years old. How dumb is that!!! Now that I have been 39 years old for several years, and divorced for many more years than that, I think I am still too young for marriage, though not too old to still learn things. I don`t think that at this time I would go for Online Graduate Schools, but I do know that I learn lots of things through reading a lot of books and from taking part in life as well as going to Toastmasters. Not that I would ever knock any way of learning and certainly not of getting a certificate in something that interests you, just that I think we all must gain our knowledge in different ways at different times. I have taken my GED so have my grade 12 equivalency and at this time in my life don`t even feel I use most if any of what I learned there. I`ve taken many spiritual type courses and loved those though currently am not taking any classes. It`s been a fabulous summer and now is getting close to time for going back to Toastmasters after the summer holidays. I look forward to it and also I am sad to see the end of summer so near.

Remembering

I remember back in the 'old days' when we went to the grocery store and selected all the stuff we wanted to by, then took it all to the counter at the front where there was a person that ran it all through by hand. They either knew the cost per pound or knew the item number off by heart. Not at all like today when they just know how to pass the items over a barcode scanner and let the computer do the work. I know this must make it easier for the cashier, though I find myself thinking that it's something of a 'no mind' job now. When I was a waitress years ago, we had to make change for people when they paid their bills... without having a til to tell us how much change to give. You just had to figure it out yourself. We even counted the money back.... for example, the bill may have been $9.15 and you were given a $20 bill. You would count back the change saying "$9.15" hand them a dime "9.25" hand them 3 quarters "$10", then maybe give them a couple $5 bills and say "$20".

Ahhh, the change of the times. I don`t know if this is good or bad, it just is.

Doggone Dog Gone

Last Wednesday, I got a 'new dog'. I drove my trike all the way to Edgewood, a 2 hour drive or more from here to look at this dog and brought her home. She, Koko, is a very cute dog. Her father, from what I was told, is pure Rottweiler, while her mother is 1/2 Great Pyreneese, 1/4 German Shepard & 1/4 Black Lab. A gentle type dog and very pretty. However, Koko had problems. Before I got her I was told she was an outdoor dog and after I brought her home I found out that before being an outdoor dog she was allowed in the house and up onto the furniture. I had known I would have to house train this 5 1/2 month old dog, but hadn't known I'd also have to teach her to stay off the furniture and off the kitchen counter. She had a bad habit of jumping up and taking whatever she could from the counter, and broke one of my good bowls while doing so. This is not even why I finally decided to return her to her previous owners. You see, every time I took her for a drive in my trike she got sick, either heavily drooling/slobbering, or outright throwing up. At first it wasn't too bad, though as time progressed instead of getting better she was getting much worse. I didn't have the option of leaving her home while I went out as each time I was out of her site, and some times in her site but more than 3 feet away from her, Koko had panic attacks, barking/whining/yelping until I returned to her side. 2 out of 3 times that I put her into Reba's old dog pen she managed to find a way out and disappear. The first time she came home after about 12 hours... the second time it took her 2 days to return. Obviously, though a very nice dog, she and I are not a match. I know she is much more suited to the life she had and now has again, living waaaaaay out in the country with a family that has 3 other dogs and never takes her for a drive. I thought perhaps it was due to the trike, so a friend drove us in his car and I sure am glad I put a tarp in the back seat for Koko to sit on as she puked 2 times on her way home as well as was soaking wet from drooling.

Will I get another dog?? Only time will tell. I love dogs and at this time I feel it's not the right time for me to get a new one. If I am meant to have another one it will happen and in the meantime my cat, rabbit, 4 chinchillas & 9 birds will have to be enough.

Pictures

I was just talking to a friend of mine about doing digital camera reviews. I have 2 digital cameras and have loved taking photos. I used to use a 35mm camera before the digitals came out. Mostly I like taking photo of scenery and animals, some of friends & family. The other night I got to take some nice shots of a young fawn whose mother was killed on the highway, so these people are raising it on goats milk. This baby deer hangs out with their dogs. I would show you a photo or two of this fawn but they are all still in my camera and the camera is on my trike.

Getting Old

A couple days ago, my friend Art popped by to tell me he's moving away. He just turned 65 in July and has been on the provincial disability pension for some years. Now he's cut off that as well as the medical & dental from that only lasts for 1 year, so he has to live on the national social security benefits. He told me he can't afford to live in Canada anymore, so is moving to Thailand as it's so much less costly to live there. I wish him well and think it would be great to visit Thailand and other countries, though don't really want to leave Canada. In 11 1/2 years I will be having to make this decision though, as it will be my turn to become 65.

Monday

I spent a quiet, relaxing morning at home, followed by swimming with Joyce & her daughter Melissa. We get together several times a week to go swim together. I have been doing 17-18 laps of the pool, and am told that 32 laps is 1 mile, so I do my 1/2 mile + 1 or 2. I plan to work my way up to the full mile in time. Just now my right arm & shoulder give me a lot of pain so I don't want to really push it, though it hurts less when in the water than it does any other time. The worst time is when I lay down, then the pain increases (I don't know why). This makes for very poor sleep each night. I currently have shooting pain going down the arm from just below the shoulder joint to the elbow... a challenge to type. It was bothering me some before I started riding my trike, so I know it's not from that, or at least not all from that. The left arm bothers me too but not anywhere near as much as the right one. Anyway, after the swim, as usual we sat in the hot tub for awhile, then showered and went on our way.

From the pool I rode about a half hour to Lumby where several of my friends were gathering for a birthday party at the pub. We not only enjoyed each others company and ate good food, we also sang a lot. Roy, the birthday boy (81 years young) is always bursting out in song, and with 2 other singers and us others that wish we were singers, we had a grand time. After awhile they turned up the music in the pub, perhaps to shut us up, but it didn't work, haha. Also, there was another table of people sitting just up from us that joined us in song. When we were all leaving, 6 of us (there had been 11 of us there) stood outside with our arms around each other, talking and singing. The feeling of Love is strong in a group like this. I sometimes think it would be great to have custom mugs made to commemorate these kind of days.

I rode home in the rain, thankfully not raining terribly hard but raining none the less. I was grateful for any little patch of road where it wasn't raining, and for my windshield. Though the windshield on a motorcycle is not high enough to totally block you from the rain, it does help a lot.

Sunday

The last several days have been very busy and wonderful.

On Sunday, I went to the Centre for Spiritual Living just as the service came to an end, because I wanted to connect with some friends there. Raymond & Blenda went north to Atlin, BC for a couple months and just returned, though only for a few days. They had planned to stay here for the winter, making this their home base from which they do their traveling then return. While they were in Atlin their plans changed and now they will be going to Victoria area to spend time with his nephew who, in his mid 40s, has had a bad stroke. Then they will be house sitting a short way from Victoria until next spring. I am saddened that they won't be around here, yet I know that this is meant to be for some reason as it all just came in the way it was meant to come. I spent the afternoon with Raymond & Blenda at their camp spot, along with Linda & Tjana, other friends from the Centre.

I left their camp spot about 5:15, in a hurry to get to Enderby, a town north of here where my Mom lives. Much of my family was meeting there for dinner at the Chinese restaurant. Present were: Mom, my eldest sister Anne from the Vancouver area, Anne's only son Denny from Enderby, with his family (girlfriend Brandy & her 2 kids, just moved up from Mississippi to live with Denny) and his son Dustin from Vancouver area. (Denny's 2 daughters were not here.) My other sister Marcy was also there with her husband Randy & their granddaughter Kennedy. Their son Blake & girlfriend Bev were there, though daughter Shannon, husband Brad & son Carter weren't there. My older brother wasn't there nor were any of his family. My younger brother Bernie & wife Karen were there from north of Edmonton, Alberta. None of their 3 grown children were there. So, 15 of us were there. After a wonderful dinner we went to Marcy & Randy's home to visit more over tea & coffee.

My friends that hadn't yet seen my trike were very interested in it and very impressed with it... my family members didn't even say a word about it. Normal.

It was a most beautiful night for a ride home, as I of course went up there on my trike.

Dew Rags

Whether you call it a Dew Rag, a Du-rag, a Doo-rag, or a bandanna, this is a popular form of head wear with youth and adults alike. They are multi-purpose, they are fashionable and they keep sweat out of your eyes. Dew rags make a fashion statement on both men and women. They can also protect your hairdo. You can easily make a Doo-rag out of just about anything, including a T-shirt. I call it a Dew Rag, as it 'catches the dew' from my forehead. These are worn under helmets by many people who ride motorcycles. I don't know if it's a way how to prevent hair loss, but it does help hide 'helmet head' or 'helmet hair', that flattened down messed up hair from being a long time in a helmet. I really enjoy wearing mine & several people have said it looks good on me... bonus.
The Dew Rag I have is black with blue & white, it's from Mexico & has Speedy Gonzales on it. I got lucky & picked this up second hand last week for just $1. Fits my budget & my head as well as my life style.


I've been looking at it and thinking it would not be hard to make these bandannas. Not that I'm a great sewer, but I can sew some and do have a sewing machine. All I need is a pattern. I guess I could take this one apart and use it to make a pattern, but I would prefer not to do that.


You can make these out of a variety of different materials. I probably wouldn't use leather as I'm not a leather artist, don't know how to work with it, though I do have a couple old leather jackets that I could cut up... hmmmm. At my favorite 2nd hand store I can buy lots of bits or different fabrics. I'm thinking if I got good at making these not only would I be able to have several for myself but also maybe sell some... something to think about. Make a good supply and take them to the Farmer's Market might be something that could work out. Yup, something to think about.