House/Cat Sitting Day Five Sept 20th

The day dawned cloudy and windy - I really expected rain, but was pleasantly disappointed.

I attended church in the Castle Downs Ward and renewed an acquaintance. I attended the 'Investigator's Class' - a class for people interested in learning about the Church and for people newly baptized to learn more about the church they now belong to and their duties as new members. It was great. We studied about the millenium - the 1000 years reign of the Savior on earth before the final judgement of all people. I learned new things and was able to share things I'd learned in the past and had a testimony of.

I was glad to get the bulletin and the announcements - there' a few activities I'd like to go to while I'm here. The ladies meet at 7PM on Tuesdays to walk around a lake I've never seen before, there's a ladies Temple night planned and we were all given info on a very cool event coming up this next Saturday. It's called -

"The Great Potato Giveaway"

"The Edmonton Potato Growers and the Greater Edmonton Alliance have teamed up to bring Edmontonians (hey...I'm a temporary one...!) to their own 'Local Harvest' on some of our city's most spectacular farmland"

They will be giving every person tools and reusable bags to dig up their own 50 lbs of potatoes They are also offering a class on growing your own potatoes on your own city lot! There will be a farmer's market, too.

I spent some time on the Church's YouTube Channel watching some very uplifting videos and now I'm ready for bed - it's early but I'm ready. 'nite

House/Cat Sitting Day Four Sept 19

I drove to Red Deer today to meet my husband, Bernard, and my parents to attend a concert featuring Marvin Goldstien and some local performers. It took me a little longer than I thought and, on arrival, quickly hopped into our van in the Value Village parking lot.

The drive to the Red Deer College only took a few minutes and Bernard dropped the three of us off at the door. We found our seats in no time and what great seats they were! We were about 4 rows from the stage. What an amazing view we had.

The show was opened by 'Precious Cargo' - 4 sisters that sing beautiful harmony accompanied by their mom Pat on the piano. This family, and indeed all the performers including the star of the show, are all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [Pat attends our branch in Three Hills and her daughter Amy - who I know well - is a dental hygenist in Three Hills.]

It was a really good show. Brother Goldstien is a great comedian and his fingers literally fly over the keyboard. It was a pleasure to watch and a joy to hear.

Most remarkable was Amy's performance of a song she wrote. Marvin played, she sang and it was marvellous. Music is truly a gift from God.

After the show, we went to Mom and Wes's favorite Chinese buffet and I was pleased that I contained myself. [I'm trying hard to respect my body by watching what I eat.] After that, we found a gas station that had air [for $1.00 - I wonder if taxes on air are coming soon...;)] and Bernard filled the rear passenger side tire on Chris's car that I had driven down in.

We hugged and parted ways - I had wanted to do some shopping in Red Deer but decided that I'd rather get back to Edmonton while there was still some light - and off I went.

I arrived home about 8PM and settled myself in bed with a good book. Ahhh...what a sweet day.

House/Cat Sitting Day Three Sept 18th

The kids are on the ship and cruising by now. I am so excited...you'd think I was there, and then who'd take care of the cats?

A walk this morning then home to chat with Trish. I manicured the tomato plants - the fruit the have now will be bigger and ripen better with the tops of the plants chopped off this time of the year. I watered the gardens and will clean out some beds next week.

And...I rescued some lady bugs. They are absolutely everywhere today! I heard that they would come in as large a number as the aphids we had and it's true. I was wondering how they were getting in the house. Well - there's a gap at the front door, a gap at the back and some window screens with small holes in the screening or gaps where the screen doesn't fit properly - like every house.

Now I'm off to get some vacuum bags, nail polish remover and some vitamins...bye for now!

House/Cat Sitting Day Two Sept 17th

Cristen and Chris are in Vancouver at the Inn at False Creek. I know...I left a message for them to call me...not a frantic one...not in a frantic tone, anyway...more about that in a minute.

Getting up at 4:30 wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be considering I hadn't gotten to bed until 1:15AM. [I don't know what time the kids went to bed, I could still hear them as I drifted off.]

We were all out the door by 5:30 and while Chris got gas at the 7-11, Cristen and I got some cash out of the bank machine.

On the way to the airport I remembered that we probably wouldn't be able to have breakfast together - turns out they were thinking the same thing. Once they got their luggage on the cart it was hugs all around and then I hopped into the driver's seat so they could see how to adjust the passenger side mirror for me. Someone had smacked it and it no longer would keep it's position. Cristen held the mirror where I wanted it and Chris taped it in place with a bit of clear packing tape along the top and along the bottom. Waves all around and we were both off- in different directions.

I stopped at Timmy's on the way home and ate my breakfast in the rapidly approaching dawn in the parking lot of Zellers.

On the way home I wondered where the registration and insurance was for the car. I'm a good driver but there may be a policeman out there who needs more paperwork to do and I sure don't want to be the mother-lode for him.

At home, I quickly went through the glove compartment - nope, not there. Starting to hold my breath a bit. I went through the console - nope. Less breathing. The compartment below the radio - nope. Ok, definitely low on air now.

Thought - Hmmm... my car is still here - granted it's now in a fenced yard but, if worse comes to worse, I can reinstate the insurance {I came up with only one day insurance as Cristen is buying the car} for a month. I'm still obsessed with finding these documents, though.

So...now back to the beginning of this post. In case you don't feel like scrolling back up or in case you were so caught up in this post that you forgot about it's beginning - here's a recap - I called and left a message for them at their hotel in Vancouver.

It took forever for a return call - ok, so I did leave the message before they'd even left the ground here, but this is the modern age, isn't it, where everything moves faster than the speed of light?

Anyway, when Cristen called back we chatted about their flight (I'll let her tell you about turbulence, airplane restrooms and flashing lights...on her blog), the zippy, scary cab ride and the fact that she was now chatting to me while laying across one of the two beds in their room. {Chris was on the other all stretched out}.

She didn't seem concerned that I had phoned - this is good - this means they trust me...no fires or escaped animals crossed their minds - this is good.

She laughed when I told her I was concerned that I couldn't locate the documentation for their car. She directed me to a somewhat secretish compartment in the door of the glove compartment where I was relieved to discover the nervously sought after papers...ah, no more wondering how to get that section of fence out of the way of my half-sold car (no paperwork done on that yet...hmmm paperwork seems to be plaguing me doesn't it...?) And, hey...is that some 0's rushing back into my lungs??? Ah, pure bliss...

Anyway, all is well. It's back to the phone to chat about a Stampin' Up! order with Trish. Apparently there is a gigantic sale on...sale...did someone say sale...?

Gotta go...!...and breathe...in and out...this paperwork is the good kind!

House/Cat Sitting Day One Sept 16th

Here we go again...;) I love doing this. It's like a mini-vacation for me and it feels good to be able to help out, too!

Cristen and Chris are at work, I'm taking a break from doing up some dishes and the cats are...well, doing what cats do...sleeping the afternoon away so they have enough energy to sleep the night away too.

It's a hot one today but there's a breeze blowing. Autumn is ever so delicately dancing with Summer right now. I hope the dance is a long, slow one.

We have to get up very early tomorrow AM so the two 'cruisers' can get to the airport by 5:30AM. I'm looking forward to a hot chocolate, muffin breakfast with them at the airport before I come home and join the cats in their early to mid-morning nap - you know, the one they use to get ready for the afternoon nap...!

Happy September the 1st!

I really like Fall and though I don't feel it in the air just yet - it's coming.



One day soon I'll wake up, go outside and just know - regardless what the calendar says - it's something in the air and something in my bones. The smells are richer, the colors are deeper, and my energy levels just surge!



Soon it'll be time for soup making, baking and scrapbooking. All these things that take a holiday for me in the Spring and Summer.



Mmmmmm...isn't life grand?

Heart of my Heart

My Mom had a heart attack in July.

She wasn't in Church that Sunday. That was odd so after Church I went to her place to see what the story was. She told me what happened - you'll read her account below - but wasn't convinced that what happened to her was as serious as I was making out. I wasn't fully convinced of the seriousness of the event either, but I did stress that at her age, and with her past health history, things like this need to get checked out sooner as opposed to later. Anyway here is her story sent in an email to her female friends and relatives...


THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU

I am writing this especially for the ladies. This is what happened to me.

I got up in the morning and went to the bathroom and while I was sitting there, suddenly I experienced a series of weak spells lasting about 10 mins accompanied by a cold sweat which was dripping off my chin. When I felt able to move, I got up and fell across the bed and slept for about an hour. Wes woke me up to see if I was getting up for the day and I told him what happened and fell back to sleep again. A couple of hours later I got up and dressed and proceeded to get on with my day, but I felt so weak and unstable I was unable to continue. After Wes made supper that evening, I went to bed and had a good sleep.

The next day, I had an appointment with my doctor to renew a prescription, so I told her about my experience. She had a blood test done and informed me that I had had a heart attack. I did not recognize it as such because there was no pain, but the blood test showed that certain enzymes had been released that indicated the heart attack.. She immediately had me shipped off to the Three Hills Hospital where I remained for 4 days while awaiting admittance to the Foothills Hospital for an angiogram.

Everyday they did blood tests and gave me bloodthinners. On the 4th day they said I could go home because the enzymes had diminished and they had cancelled the angiogram. Horray for me!!

So you see, a woman’s heart attack is not like a man’s.

Just goes to show you that you never know who the next one will be. I’m just happy that my name was not on the Lord’s daytimer that day.

-Pat Campbell

During this event my parents got their Personal Directives done and she and Wes along with the Executors named in their wills are getting together to share all plans, wills and directives.

It usually takes something like this to get ourselves in gear to make sure we have our affairs in order... after all we never know when our name will be in the 'Lord's daytimer'.