Sometimes You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

Hi Kate.

On your newsletter of April 17th, (which I very much enjoyed reading by the way), your last statement was a comment addressed to me. It said:

"Annette, you haven't posted to your blog in a long time. What's going on?"

I gotta say, I admire  you Kate. You are always very diligent about posting to your blog. I wish I had the same kind of perseverance but sooner or later, I find I have too many balls up in the air and somethings gotta give. What do I drop the ball on. My blog of course.

To be quite honest, even though I enjoy posting, I find it quite time consuming. It takes me a long time to make a post. I'm a slow writer and I often struggle with silly things like posting pictures and the logistics of it all. I know. Practice makes perfect and the more I do it the better and quicker I'll get, but I keep thinking there must be a simpler way to do things that I still haven't caught on to. Then again, maybe not.

I last posted on March 20th and lots has happened since then but nothing hugely significant that I can use as an excuse for disappearing into the ethers of the online world. Unless I count becoming an official senior citizen pensioner as such. But really, age is just a number isn't it? I don't feel any different than at 58 or at 64 except that now I'm always getting asked, "When are you going to retire?"

Maybe that question is the kicker that made me say, "fuck it" to the thought of starting to blog at 10 or 11 at night. Instead I chose to either sit back and read a memoir, write in my paper journal which seems to require much less effort, go for a walk, or run a hot bath with essential oils, lean back and relax with some inspirational music. Those choices felt much more inviting than another hour or so at the computer after just finishing with client files and book work for the day.  

Part of me feels very relieved not putting any pressure on myself to show up on my blog, (and I keep telling myself, not very many people know that I blog and who the hell cares anyway) but another part of me feels rather disappointed in myself, and like I'm cheating myself out of the thing I love the most which is writing (and so what if I can't manage it every day and it's not perfect).

Oh yes, While I wasn't posting here, I did a couple of trips to Grande Prairie, one to High River for 5 days where I met up with my three daughters and 5 grandchildren to celebrate my birthday over Easter, had another birthday celebration at a friend's house over here, cleaned and washed walls and windows as a contract job in a pretty big house, delivered a chair to our friend Marcel and visited with him one night, I've been putting together a course which I've called, Facing Death, Embracing Life, and what else? Oh ya, I downloaded this writing app on my phone and have been doing some timed writings in my paper journal which I've enjoyed doing. There's some pretty good questions which are fun to write to.

Okay, well you're likely yawning away by now and, if you've made it this far, wondering when this post is going to come to an end. So here it is. The End.

Hugs to you,

Annette

Wild Ones and Tame Ones

My Monday was a bit different than usual being I didn't have any clients for the later part of the afternoon. It was rather nice to come home early which meant I could go for my 4.5 mile walk. It's rather difficult to fit a walk in when I'm at work all day and, being I have a sit down job I like to grab the opportunity to get mobile when it presents itself.Looks like I may even be able to do the same tomorrow.

There's kind of a roadway along a bush line that leads to the town's sewer lagoon and a bigger wooded area. It's one of the places I go walking and there's always some interesting animal tracks crisscrossing every which way. From different birds species, to rodents of some sort, to deer, moose, and today, what I think are either coyote or wolf tracks.

It was hard to get a clear picture with the sun beaming down on the fresh snow so it's not too clear in the picture but they were good clear tracks when looking at them with the naked eye. There are no human tracks so it's not a dog for sure and dog prints don't show their claws but these foot prints had definite claws.

Poor little Peaches got sick on our watch on Saturday. He still wasn't feeling good on Sunday, nor doing much better this morning so Andree took him to the vet. We thought he'd come back home after they got him hydrated again but they wanted to keep him overnight to do further testing to see what has caused him to be so sick in the first place. He was so weak and lethargic after so much throwing up and diarrhea, that he barely moved. Hopefully we can pick him up tomorrow and he will be doing much better.

Please Shut It Off!

How I wish I could have a night's sleep. Dreams. I need to find the switch to shut them off. I awake all messed up. I feel like someone stepping off a ship. I walk around on my wobbly sea legs, unable to get grounded.

There's been an abundance of dreams this past month or so. It's like being at the movies all night long but they are not always movies I would pay to go to. Nevertheless, there they are, and I'm usually part of the script.

On mornings, like today, when I have a bit of time before heading out to work, I try to get a grip on where I traveled to during the night, the people who came to me in dream time, and what took place. I try to make sense of the imagery. Sometimes I can but most times I can't.

On mornings when I have to rush off to work, I jump in the shower and wait until the hot water clears the cobwebs of my dreams. Then I busy myself. I get dressed,  prepare my files for the day, pack up my computer, make a lunch, have breakfast, and whatever else I need to do.

I keep busy to focus elsewhere, to try to clear my head and get rid of how my mind and body feels limp and our of sorts. I try to bring myself back to the real world, or at least the world I'm required to function in.

Maybe it's my fault the dreams won't stop. Every night before I go to sleep, I ask to have clarity about my dreams, but so far, there are only a few insights. The rest is like the fog that rolled in this morning and made it impossible to even see across the street. It's hard to navigate one's way through that.

Maybe I need to start keeping pen and paper by my bedside. Maybe I need to start taking some kind of herbal meds to knock me into a deeper sleep state so I can have some more peaceful sleeps. Maybe I need to read less and write more. Maybe I need to walk less and write more. Maybe I need to work less and write more. Maybe I just need to write.

I've tried going to bed earlier, going to bed later, taking a relaxing bath, journaling before I go to bed. None of it seems to make any difference. None of it stops my mind from taking off and doing it's own travels shortly after I drift off.

A dream clinic would have a field day if they hooked me up to their machines and projected the images on a screen. In no time at all, there would be a full length movie. Likely not something that would even make any sense, unless the clinic had a dream deciphering machine. Is there such a thing do you think? Would it help?

The answer, I'm sure, lies within me and not a dream deciphering machine. It most likely has to do with the hunger to start on a big writing project and the hunger for a clear vision to guide and sustain me along the way.    

A week or so ago, the dream was that I was pregnant and the child wanted out. It was pushing so hard against my abdomen wall that it's little hands were making clearly visible hand imprints on the outside of my belly. I showed a few friends and they could not believe what they were seeing and how desperately this child was trying to push it's way out of it's confined space.

Maybe it was begging for my attention, begging me to stop long enough to allow it be born.

Coming Alive

My last post was titled "Stuck In The Cold." This one could well have been, "Coming Out of The Cold," or "Balmy Spring Day." At least I hope it was a sign of spring and not a false alarm. It sure felt like the real thing after coming out of our stretch of deep freeze weather. We hit plus 5 today. Woohoo! I went for a long walk in Peace River and everyone I met had a big smile on their face and I smiled right back. It felt like the world was waking up and coming alive.

I started journal #146 on the weekend. There's no greater joy than the smell and feel of cracking open a brand new journal. I love to feel my pen slide across the smooth, off white paper and watch my thoughts and reflections fill the blank page. This journal feels so different than the one with handmade paper I just finished.

I certainly don't fill journals as quickly as I once used to though and maybe that's a good thing from a financial aspect. I'd hate to see how much I've spent on my journal addiction thus far. But then, I consider it to be a better addiction than others I know.

So here's a funny story. On Saturday we decided to go swimming with our friend Marcel. I went to the bedroom, grabbed the swim bag, threw in some clean underwear for when we got out of the pool. We jumped in the truck and made the 50 minute drive to High Prairie, all three of us anticipating a relaxing time at the pool and a good soak in the hot tub.

When Andree and I got in the dressing room, she opened the swim bag, and said, "Uhh.., there's no swimsuits in here."

"What? What do you mean there's no swimsuits?"

"I mean there's no swimsuits! Did you grab them from where they were hanging behind the bedroom door?" she asks.

"Nope. Damn! Now what?" I ask.

"Well Marcel has a swimsuit and he's likely already in the pool waiting for us to join him. So you go and I'll wait out here and read my book."

"What? You want me to go naked?"

"You have clean underwear and it's black so put that on and go for it, Andree said."

And I did. And no one knew any different, (I don't think). And I managed to have a good time after I got over feeling bad about Andree having to sit on the side line by herself. But she's a good sport about stuff like that and I knew she meant it when she said she didn't mind sitting and reading her book while she waited for us.

When I was a kid, I used to dream about being taller. Then one day, I discovered I could be taller if I stood in the right spot. Sometimes, it's the simple things that make my day.

Stuck In The Cold

It's nice out - if you're sitting inside looking out the window that is. Wickedly cold when you have to go out and about in the subzero temps that plummets even further when the North East wind whips across the prairie field. It's been that way all week. Bright, sunny, brain freeze kind of weather.

I call it brain freeze with good reason. In one of my previous lives, I was working as a flag woman at construction zones on various roadways.

When I'd get home after 8 or more hours of standing in the same spot directing traffic in blasted cold weather, I literally suffered from brain freeze.  Never mind that I couldn't untie my work boots or unzip my coat by myself, I couldn't even think clearly enough to put one foot in front of the other to make my way across the room.

The only thing that saved me was my partner helping me crawl into a tub of warm water and as I slowly started to thaw out, she would add a little more hot water until my color started coming back and I could actually start thinking for myself again.

Makes me really appreciative of having an inside job when it's winter. but of course, being human, I bitch about being stuck inside in summer. Shish!

Look Alikes?

I received this picture today. Any resemblance between these two do you think? 

Meet my oldest daughter, Karen and my oldest granddaughter, Sadie. Two good looking gals that I love to pieces. My, how time flies. Makes me realize how old I am already.

We were five ladies who shared supper together tonight then we headed out to see the movie, The Shack. Great movie. The acting was good. The only drawback was the sound. Unfortunately we missed some of the dialogue as the actors voices were either not clear enough or loud enough.It was disappointing in that way.

There will be some shoveling to do tomorrow morning. A fair amount of snow came down in the course of the evening. The roads were snowy for our drive to Peace River but not icy which was good.

Tomorrow maybe I'll get to work on a course I'm putting together, maybe go for a walk, and maybe even do some writing in my paper journal. I still love the flow of the pen on paper much better than pecking away at the keyboard. I don't think that will ever change.

Late Night Meanderings

If the French saying, "Le trois fais le moi," is right, we're not over winter yet. I could translate it, but it loses all it's rhythm and spunk, so I best leave it alone.

It looked nice out there today but when I was out walking and facing that North wind, it was dawg-on nippy I'll tell you that. To be quite honest, I'm done with winter! Done! Not that my opinion matters or that it will change anything, it's just that sometimes you gotta get things off your chest in order to keep moving forward with your day. But, make no mistake about it, I'm more than ready to move on to the next season, especially since they're announcing more of that white stuff in the forecast.

There's plans to go to the movies tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to seeing "The Shack," based on William Paul Young's bestselling book by the same title. I'm curious to see how they portray certain parts of the movie. The filming of it took place in Vancouver and some BC countryside but I haven't been able to find out exactly where.

One of my young school clients has a lot of anger outbursts he can't quite control which gets him into trouble both at home and at school. I asked him to show me what that anger monster looked like. This is what he came up with. Scary looking dude.

Andree fixed an attractive looking healthy plate for each of us for supper tonight. I snapped a picture before we sat down to dig in.

I was sitting in my chair tonight thinking about how quiet it is in our house. There's never a lot of noise with just the two of us. We don't have TV unless we put a movie on which doesn't happen very often. Once in a while I put music on so both of us can hear it but mostly it's just me listening so often I use my headphones, like I'm doing now. For the most part, there's a lot of silence and we like it that way.

I've always enjoyed silence. It's never scared me as it does for a lot of people. There are many who run from silence as if it were a deadly disease. Afraid of hearing the whispers of their heart, the thoughts that run through their mind, the longings of their spirit. While there are others, like me, who can quite happily sit in the emptiness, stare out the window looking at nothing while noticing thoughts that float by until one or two invite further contemplation.

I love this quote:
"In your silence, when there are no words, no language, nobody else is present, you are getting in tune with existence." Osho

A Million Bucks!

Now don't get excited. I didn't win the lottery or nothing. But, it feels that way. Some things are just that delicious.

For instance, a good day at the office, a nice meditative 45 minute trip home watching the sun makes it's way down the western sky, walking into a warm house, peeling off the work clothes, jumping in a nice hot shower until my skin tingles and all muscles relax, pulling on some fresh pj's - I never use to sleep in but use as lounge wear, putting my feet up in my lazy boy chair with my fuzzy blanket wrapped around me and my laptop on my lap while I punch away at the keyboard to share my day with you. 

Yup, it's absolutely delicious! And, sometimes, all of the above is the carrot dangling at the end of my day. 

I bought myself some new plants from a lady who advertised them on Facebook today. I bought 4 but ended up with 6 since she threw in a couple just because. Two of them I kept at my Peace River office, 2 I am keeping at home, and the other 2 are going to my Falher office. 

If I had a solarium I would fill it with plants, cozy sitting areas, Buddhas and soft music. I'm not much into the flowering ones but I love green plants, desert plants and tropical looking ones too. 

How about you?

Random Stuff

Ten whole days I've been away. Not away from home but away from my blog. As I've said many times before, I can't seem to do it all. I write here and I get lonely for my paper journal. I abandon my blog, spend more time with pen and paper, and I start feeling like I've neglected this and need to show up again. Sometimes I have a hard time to understand me.

The thing is, I feel disjointed when I jump back and forth from one writing place to another, or I write bits and pieces in two different places. It messes with my mind. I was never one who could have more than one journal going at a time like some people do. A dream journal, a happy journal, a sad journal, a travel journal. Geez! That would drive me absolutely bonkers.

Valentine's Bouquet 

Maybe it's just the way my brain works. It's a one track brain. It's the same with interactions with people. I enjoy and do fine with one on one conversations, but start adding people and the more you add, the less I hear, the more my head spins, and the less I participate. Hmm... maybe I do understand me and I quite okay with who I am really.

Oh, wait, I said I wasn't away, but I was away from home for a day or two. I made a quick, almost turn around trip to Edmonton and back to pick up our new chairs. Dropped in for a surprise visit and overnight stay at Karen's and got to see Jody and her kids who were down from High River to attend the Edmonton Silver Skate Festival. I went with Karen to the festival's evening story telling walk which ends with a fire burning ceremony. I enjoyed it, It was fun.

Jesse snuggling with Grandma

Carys snuggles with Grandma

Yesterday Andree and I went to sell our bottles in Mclennan, and decided to keep going to High Prairie and go to the pool. Once we were done swimming it was close to supper time so we went out for supper followed by a movie. It was a fun time.

Today, it was brunch at her son's place and when we came back home I went out for a two mile walk down the side road. My foot is still not 100% but it's getting much better. Tomorrow, it's back to work.

Silver Skate Festival Fire Burning Ceremony

From Oldest to Youngest

My last post was about my oldest grandson who turned 16 on Valentine's Day. This post is about my youngest grandson and youngest grandchild who turned 4 on Feb 6th.

It has been really hot and sunny in High River where this little man lives. Apparently all the white stuff has disappeared from his back yard and left things rather muddy. What do you think?

It wasn't as warm here at home but pretty warm just the same. I poked and prodded at the patches of ice on our front drive and got the whole thing cleared. The bricks are bare now. Ready for the next snowfall which the weather channel says might happen overnight or tomorrow sometimes.

I guess it's not spring yet but what a delight to see those daylight hours getting longer and longer.

Valentine's Baby

Tonight, I sit and reflect how 16 years ago, on Valentines Day, my first grandchild, and first grandson, was born.

Sixteen years ago, I had more time, or perhaps it was more energy, than I do now. I started writing letters to my grandchild the day I found out my daughter was pregnant. I am posting here tonight, the letter I wrote a couple of days after he was born.

Friday, February 16, 2001, 9:30 am

Dear Grandson Cole:

Here I am sitting beside you while your mom and dad are taking a nap. It’s been an eventful few days but well worth it, that’s for sure. 

You’re here! You arrived 2 days ago, on February 14th. What a beautiful Valentine’s present for everyone. Beats all the flowers and chocolates of a regular Valentine’s Day. You chose one of the stormiest days of this winter to make your arrival. It was somewhere around minus 20 with a strong north wind and blowing and drifting snow. None of this mattered a darn bit to you. You were ready and you were coming.

Right now, you’re all wrapped up in little blankets and lying on the couch while I’m sitting at the coffee table in front of you writing this letter. Your dad and Friskie, the cat, are snoring away on the next couch, and your mom is having a well-deserved rest in bed. Hopefully they will get a good sound sleep while I’m here to help out.

I couldn’t wait for the day you would arrive. It seemed like the day would never come and now that you're here, it’s hard to believe you are. It all happened so fast. You woke your mom at about 5 am and she called me at 7:30 to give me the news you were on the way. 

I got to your place around 8:30 thinking I would stay and help out as much as I could until the midwife arrived. By the time, she pulled up the drive, it was 10:30 am. When I asked your mom if she wanted me to stay, or go, and come back later, she asked that I stay, and that’s how it came about that, two hours later, at 12.35 pm, I witness you coming into the world. 

To see the look on your parent’s face when you arrived and when you were placed on your mother’s tummy, was priceless. I wish I would have had a camera to record this for you but there was too much going on and everyone was caught up with just living the moment. We couldn't believe that you were finally here and the miracle of birth that had just taken place. 

As soon as you were born you curled yourself up bringing your knees up to your tummy and a warm towel was draped over you. Your mom held you on her stomach and kept saying, “My baby, my baby, I had a baby,” while your dad kept looking you over making sure you were all right. 

There was a few minutes where the two midwives, myself, and your mom and dad were breathing sighs of relief that you were here and everything had gone well. But, all this time a big question was still floating around unanswered. 

It wasn’t until the mid-wife, Kathy, said, “Who will do the honors; should we find out?” that your mom got a huge look of surprise on her face and blurted out: “Oh my God, we don’t even know what it is!” A quick check revealed the big news, and your mom exclaimed, “It’s a boy!"  

You’re such a good baby so far. We hardly ever hear you. I don’t think you’ve even had a real cry yet. Tonight, your two aunties, Jody and Brenda, are driving from Calgary to come to meet you and I know they are super anxious to get here.

So, it’s true. I’m an official grandma now. It’s been quite the day and I feel privileged that I was here to experience it. I look forward to having many happy hours spent in your company.

Love,

Grandma

Here he is having a birthday breakfast with his mom at the High Level Dinner

Happy Birthday Cole

In The Silence

"In your silence, when there are no words, no language, nobody else is present, you are getting in tune with existence." Osho

Silence, invites a quiet time of reflection and contemplation where the many questions and thoughts about life come forth and the wisdom that emerges from the shadows can be heard.

Silence awakens me to life and the many gifts it holds. In the silence lies my many truths and vulnerabilities.

In the silence I find my true existence.

An entry from an old journal:
Nov. 21st, 2000

What’s moving into my life now is a lesson that says I need to set aside my fears of being a voice in the wilderness, call what I see, stand in my truth, walk my talk, and live my calling (if I can call it that). The unanswered question is, how?

What I want is the ability and the capacity to convey the art of Oneness. 

I would like to dive deep within me. To pull out pearls of wisdom to share with others to help them on their own journey. 

What do I have to bring, to give or to draw from?

 Compassion, caring, understanding, examples of my own life, the ability to step into their shoes, the wisdom that silence brings, a loving from a soul level, a sense of connection and of Oneness that each one of us can embrace and hold.

Sunny Day - Moon Lit Night

I went for a 20 minute walk this morning in a snowy blizzard, complete with a biting wind that had me wishing I was walking in the opposite direction. I was thought of snapping a picture but the thought never got past first base. It was too cold to take my mitts off and dig my phone out of my pocket and I was using my mitts to try to shield my face.

This afternoon I went for another short walk but this time under a blazing sun and hardly a breeze to speak of. It was a very different and welcome change from my morning excursion.

Tonight, I didn't go for a walk. Instead I did a lot of stepping up to the window to witness the waning gibbous moon slowly making it's way up the Eastern sky. What a beauty she was rising above the trees and playing peek-a-boo in and out of the clouds.

My friend Marcel has been spending time making a lot of new friends at his place down by the lake. Today he managed to take some shots of how a group of chickadees have come to trust him.

He's been feeding them out of his hand for the past 3 days. I think it's absolutely amazing. Don't you?

On another note, my tail bone - lower back area, has improved quiet a bit already with 2 visits to the chiropractor followed by a massage. However, my ankle with a stretched Achilles tendon, has not been giving me much reprieve. It feels like my tendon was shoved in a clothes dryer and shrunk like a wool sweater.

Late Night Post

I probably shouldn't be writing a post this late. When the end of my day goes late into the evening, and I decide to write, I often end up making mistakes I don't see until the next day. That's often why I don't post. Tonight I said to myself, what the hell! Just write whatever comes and let it go.

I started work early this morning, had a break mid-day, then had appointments until 7:30 pm and didn't get home until 8:30. That's when the paper work starts. How much more pleasant work would be without the paper work.

Saw the chiropractor today. It was a costly but worthwhile visit, I think. At least he sounded hopeful to have me functioning better within a few treatments. Hope he's right. According to his findings, there's been a compression and jamming together of several bones at the bottom of the spine and into the tail bone which has been causing the pain. The stretched tendons in my ankle, he figures, is also the result of the my battle with the ocean wave. He thinks he can fix that too. Would be a plus.

Grabbed some take out lunch today and went and sat by the river, in my SUV. Too cold to sit outside even though it warmed up some compared to the frigid temperatures of earlier this week. It's not sitting outside kind of weather yet, but sitting in my SUV and facing into the sun works for me.

 A few weeks back the river was still flowing nicely. Not so this week. There's a huge mix-mash of ice blocks covering the water now. It looked like an artistic sculpture in some places. Good place to sit and enjoy a quiet lunch.

The Wonder of Nature

I don't get it! How in the world do those tiny little black-capped chickadees survive when it's so damn cold? I am a million times bigger than that little fellow and I need to put on 50 lbs. of clothes in order to survive out there, and even then, I don't last all that long.

Coming in for a landing.

Look at this guy. Weights practically nothing, a few fluffy feathers and tiny little legs the size of a piece of spaghettini and it flies around as if it nothing was. Doesn't make any sense in my head.

Ahh...jackpot!

Sure, there's all these explanations on the internet about how they survive and how they don't freeze, but still, when I look at this little thing that fits in the palm of my hand and I compare it to how big I am, how come I'm the one who's freezing? It's hard to wrap my head around that.

Scrumptious.

Today was a stay at home and stay in kind of day. Oh wait, I did run out this evening to plug my vehicle in so it will start in the morning but that was the only time I stuck my nose outdoors.

Okay, I'm full. Time for a nap.

I hope the weather smartens up and my tail bone starts feeling better soon so I can go out there and get back to walking. I miss that.

All photos courtesy of my friend Marcel

Tomorrow I'm going to try getting an appointment with a chiropractor and see if maybe that will help things move along quicker. That's my hope anyway. I have to get in shape for a BC bike ride that's in the works for June. I wouldn't want to miss that for sure.

Grasp The Moment

That's what I've been practicing lately. Grasping the moment and going with it. Today was a prime example of that. More on that later.....

First, look at who we were babysitting for two days this week. Peaches. He's so sweet when he stretches out and sleeps beside you but watch out after he's had a good nap. He turns into a little devil racing around the house chasing everything and anything in sight back and forth from his toy mouse, to a ball with bells, to a piece of Chiclets gum, he bats around the kitchen floor.

His owner, Nicole, says she might get another one and call that one Cream. Then Andree and I can babysit Peaches and Cream and we'll both have one to cuddle with on our chair.

Oh yes. I was going to write about grasping the moment. On the way home from doing a cleaning job around noon or so, I asked Andree, "Do you have any plans for the remainder of the day?"

"Nothing, that can't be changed at a moment's notice," she answered. "Why do you ask?"

"No particular reason. I was just wondering," I said.

So we had lunch and went about our day. I shoveled some snow, went for my first short walk since I've injured my tailbone, and did a few other odds and ends, as did Andree.

At 3:30 my phone rings. It's West Edmonton Mall calling saying my glasses are ready. It's too late for them to put them in the mail today. It wouldn't happen until Monday and not sure when they would get to my place. Andree and I look at each other and nod to one another.

I answer the guy at the other end of the line. "What time are you open till," I ask.

"Nine pm."

"Hold them there, we'll go pick them up."

By 4:00 pm we were on the road and tonight, I sit at my computer with my new glasses! I preferred the ones I lost in the ocean, but nevertheless, I'm so ever grateful to be have my eyes again.

Woohoo! no more off and on, off and on, with reading glasses and lousy distance vision. Grasping the moment can lead to truly wonderful things!

Heading back home tomorrow.

Getting In The Groove

Getting back in the groove of things since we've been back from Mexico is proving to be challenging. I've yet to get back into my daily walk and I seem to be plodding along at a much slower pace than usual. I'm hoping I'll get back on track soon.

Tomorrow should prove interesting since I have a very full day ahead of me. We'll see how it goes.

I'm finding it difficult to be sitting all day since I had that head on collision with that huge ocean wave that tossed me around and landed me hard on my tail bone. Darn tail bone has been giving me grief since.

I would never do it but, it would be interesting to see my clients reactions if I'd ask them to stand with me while we had our session. Shish! They would likely scratch their head and walk out the door or never show up again so I best leave my butt in the chair.

When we were in Mexico I brought Andree to see what someone set up in a narrow passageway on the outside of a building. It's called Beer Bob's Book Exchange and it's obviously been there a very long time. Most books are old and dusty but you can tell there's the odd one here and there that's been dropped off more recent by the amount of dust on them.

Andree and I walked in and had a browse around. We didn't find anything we wanted to read which is just as well since we didn't have any books to exchange anyway.

I love discovering and exploring new and unusual places or things when we go somewhere we haven't been before. This kind of stuff is often the highlight of our trips for me. Doesn't take much to keep me happy I guess. It's the adventurous spirit in me I suppose. I love the newness. The change.

I come alive with that kind of stuff. I think what I like most about exploring something or someplace new, is that it's like looking though a pair of fresh new eyes and seeing for the very first time. It leaves me in awe.

Back On The Ranch

It's always nice to get away to a change of scenery but it's also nice to come home. Of course coming home to mild temperatures and summer like roads made it that much more pleasant.

The time in Edmonton, which was mainly to purchase glasses, took much longer than aniticipated. We got home at 11:15 pm.

I've been gimping along with these cheap reader glasses. It's been challenging and will be until I get my prescription glasses in the mail some 2.5 to 3 weeks from now. They might be calling me squinty by then.

Trying to find glasses today was like one of those days when you walk into a store to find a particular piece of clothing, and even though the store is full of clothes, there's not one piece there that you can buy, and not because you're being fussy, but because there's just nothing that fits or works.

I have to be out of here by at least 7:30 tomorrow morning. It's time to get back in the saddle and head back to work.

It's been a slice!

Hello Canada

Phew! That felt like a forever flight. A long pit stop in Regina makes it seem that way. Whenever I board a plane it's one of those times when I'm grateful I'm short. I swear they keep putting those seats closer and closer together so they can cram more and more people in.

It's not cold here by Alberta standards, but it felt pretty chilly leaving the airport with no jacket since we went from 30 above to 10 below. Still, I'm glad to be home (almost). Feel appreciative of what our country has to offer. Simple things like being able to brush our teeth and drink water from the tap.

Before we left today we walked around Barra de Navidad some more and explored around. Had to go visit this huge tree that has been there forever apparently. The canopy goes on forever and there's no way I could get it in a picture but I got pictures of the huge trunk.

I also took pictures of the church to show how it's so different than in Alberta where churches are under lock and key all the time. In Mexico church doors are always wide open.

Look closely at the pictures of Jesus on the cross. You will notice his arms are down on his side instead of nailed to the cross. This is because when there was an earthquake in 1995 the arms broke and came down on his side. The people decided to leave the arms that way as a way to remember what happened.

Signing off now. Another travel day tomorrow to drive back home - after I go order some new glasses that is. Hopefully will be home by supper time.

Oh, wait, it's way past midnight - I get to say it now - Happy Birthday Andree!

The Eve of Departure

Apart from Andree losing a brand new shawl when we went to watch the sunset and have supper tonight, it's been a calamity free day.

We started the day by going to Malaque in order to find me some reading glasses. Got that accomplished, browsed around town for a while, then came back to Barra de Navidad. Stopped at the doctor for our third and final injection. Bid her many muchos gracias but we were not sorry to say adios.

Walked back to the house where we're staying and had a super delicious bowl of homemade chicken rice soup along with some toast. Hmm... it feels good to eat food again.

By the time we finished lunch it was close to 30 degrees out there so we jumped in the pool and cooled off for a half hour or so.

Andree stayed home with her sister and played several games of scrabble this afternoon while I walked to the other end of town and back exploring little shops along the way. When I tired of doing that, I bought an aqua naturalle, which is the closest thing to a Perrier water, and made my way to the ocean to watch and listen to the waves and walk bare feet in the sand.

Tonight we treated our hosts to a supper at an oceanfront restaurant called Simone's. While we were eating we had a guitarist/vocalist come and serenade us.

It was a good evening.

Tomorrow we will head to the airport around 3:30 pm. We depart at 4:40 but we don't arrive in Edmonton until 11 pm or so. We will overnight and in the morning go see about ordering some new prescription glasses. Unfortunately there's a 7-14 day waiting period before they will be ready.

Sigh!

C'est la vie!

PS: I wanted you to enjoy the waves with me. It's one of those big ones that came over my head and knocked me down along with my glasses.

 n