Close Call

If you're reading this, chances are that you are family and already know about my dad's recent hospital stay.

Our family medical history is probably polarized, and by that I mean my mother was an alarmist, feeling the symptoms of any illness or trouble that anyone else near might also be going through.  To say she was a hypochondriac might sound cruel since she's no longer here to dispute it, but I think most in the family would agree she had those leanings.  I'm not a licensed medical practitioner, but as a card-carrying family member, I'm of the opinion that in the long run, her early demise may have been due to a tendency to run to the doctor and convincingly argue ailments, enough as to become medicated.  She had apparently recently stopped taking a variety of meds, including a blood-thinner, before it all caught up to her one morning last April, in the form of a blood clot.

Now to say that my mother was healthy was probably also not true. A free-spirited tomboy growing up as the  daughter of an extremely wizardly kitchen magician, I can only imagine the struggles to instill any kind of love and patience of cooking during culinary lessons in a place my Grandmother viewed primarily as her workplace, where she was Chef and Artist with a shortage of patience for daydreaming teens.  As a consequence, my mother got out of her teens and into marriage with of fundamental lack of knowledge of basic nutritional needs.  I think, however, this was typical of many of the housewives of her era since the fare I saw on farm tables where we visited was generally the same as we saw at home.   This lack of knowledge probably contributed to weight issues she had since I was young enough to really remember her. 

My father, on the other hand, sees his doctor only as necessary .. and that usually means blood has been drawn and won't be staunched with a tourniquet.  His stoicism is legendary.  He's needed a hernia operation for years, but has been too busy to see to it.  However, a few weeks ago, Dad was alarmed enough with abdominal pain to make a doctor's appointment and suffer through the week leading up to that appointment.  

Turns out that a cyst growing near the appendix was causing pressure on the appendix and caused it to burst .. its unclear to me whether that happened in the hospital, but it may be so because Dad's stay was a couple more days than he initially thought. It's fortunate that he didn't leave it much longer or have to patiently wait for the doctor much longer or I'd be writing 'in memorium.'  Dad downplays that, but .. it was a closer call than I care to think about. 

I got a call from Aunt Sandy to let me know ... Dad had happened to have her phone number in one of his jacket pockets and gave her a call after a procedure that saw a shunt installed to drain the area.  He was hospitalized for a few days, then stayed with Ralph and Deb for a few more afterward.  While the stay with  my brother and his wife was due to blowing, drifting snow at Dad's farm, I was certainly gratified to hear that Dad would get to experience Deb's cooking and nurturing for a few days as he recuperated.  The fun part of the story is that one of the neighbors actually went by snowmobile to pick up Dad's little dog and reunite the two over at my brother's place.

Dad is doing well, is hungry as a horse, has had a colonoscopy, is having the appendix removed and will be having that hernia operation scheduled for a bit later .. it's possible the two operations could be done at once, he was told, so he's hopeful that his springtime is not riddled with hospital visits.  He goes for a physcian consult on Feb 3rd, so we should hear any results from the colonoscopy then.

On my part, I've resolved to talk to my farther more often.  It gets to be too easy not to pick up the phone sometimes since Bruce's business relies heavily on phone calls, but this is one resolution I intend to keep.

A visit from the Far East

In between trips to Houston for a meeting with company execs and one to Morocco for organizational stuff, Kent stopped in Vancouver for some R&R and managed to sneak in a day trip to Nanaimo where we simply sat around and swapped life updates. Although we don't catch up to our jet-setting brother often enough, when we do .. there's always plenty of smiles.  Bruce was seen sporting this grin for days after.

The good news for the Neumans of Singapore is that they are expecting a sister for Elsa this Spring.  If you'd like to leave a comment of suggest names, go right ahead and I'll pass them to Ilana.

Kent, I've emailed you a larger version of this picture.  If you'd like one suitable for framing, I can do a bit of photoshopping for you.  Ilana, if you check this, I need your email address, please.

An Event Wedding

Before we begin, I'd like to welcome a new reader to these pages .. another of my nieces .. Myranda.  *waves*

Now, for the big day, you'll want it to be memorable, right?  Something splashy and understated, elegant, refined, but definitely rememberable.  I present you with some ideas that you may wish to adopt as your own, Samantha and DeeWyn.  Oh, I'm sure Ralph would love to pay for it .. no, no, don't even think about not asking .. his pocket full of cash is your pocket. 

So without more fanfare because these pictures have enough of that .. here we go!

Nothing says romance like a tractor ... amirite?

But then again ... wings are always a nice whimsy.  I can totally see you with purple hair, Sam.

Of course, DeeWynn may want to rock some purple of his own. And a hat.  Hats rule.

Maybe you should go futuristic ... love the orange jumpers.

Or just settle for the stormtrooper groomsmen

Getting back to fairytale weddings ... how much you think this would cost, Ralph?

Woodland nymph, Sam?  You could pull that off.  I'll bet DeeWynn already has boots like that.

Or maybe the shoeless 'hobbit' look is better.

Phantom of the  Wedding, perhaps?

I know, I know!  We'll get your bridesmaids in Catwoman outfits ...

... and the groom can signal for help.

Oh .. now this screams romance.  Betcha DeeWynn has this kinda stuff in his closet anyway.

Of course, TMNT are staging a comeback. This could be their big year!

Now a Zombie/Goth wedding is sure to be remembered forever.

Or how about Fight Night?  lolz.

Of course, dirtbiking is always an option for a theme ...

Your wedding photos could look this adorable.

 Whatcha think?  Do we have any winners here?

Frog Man

Bobbie sent me a link she found on YouTube for The Frog Man.  Unfortunately, I can't set it up here, but I can provide the link ... gave me a few minutes of amusement.

The Frog Man

Bobbie is a wonderful friend I met through a browser game and has some pretty amazing talent .. check out her link in the Friends and Family section at the bottom.

An old friend

Last night, I laid in bed, trying to sleep, but an occurrence from earlier in the day was bothering me enough that I kept replaying it and wondering if I handled it correctly and what I might have done better.  You know those circumstances when you think you did everything right, but somehow, the end result wasn't quite what you wanted.

Anyway .. as I lay there cycling through it time and again, and trying to distract myself with sleepier thoughts, the rain pattering down and the melting snow forming tiny rivulets that gurgled and chuckled below my window on its way to who knows where .. well, they caught my attention.  I remembered the Thornton W. Burgess books that we read as kids, particularly the one called "Along Laughing Brook."  Those books absorbed my attention, each new one was a delight and a treasure. I can still recall the names .. Reddy Fox, Grandfather Frog, Sammy Jay, Chatterer the Squirrel, Buster Bear, Joe Otter.

It struck me that our parents, particularly my mother, instilled a love of reading in me simply by having books around to capture my attention, the creative and free spirit longing for expression.  I remember those little books, I remember the Pollyanna series, the Hardy Boys set, the Enclyopedia set whose volume on Fairy Tales I quickly bookmarked and read voraciously.   Books and reading were never pushed at us ... I remember Ralph getting caught with a flashlight reading under the covers at night .. so I must not be the only one that has a love of a good story.

As we got older, the books we read matured a bit I suppose.  I took up the Louis Lamour westerns that Dad read, the Harlequins that amused mom and the Agatha Christie books that used to keep her up late at night, spooked by strange noises.  Yea, those spooked me in turn.  Even now, give me a good detective story with fantasy characters, and I'm hooked.

Seems to me that the best way to get kids interested in reading is simply to be a reader.


For those of you not introduced to the delightful whimsy of Laughing Brook and the Green Forest, I give you an excerpt from "The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad."

Old Mother West Wind had just come down from the Purple Hills and turned loose her children, the Merry Little Breezes, from the big bag in which she had been carrying them. They were very lively and very merry as they danced and raced across the Green Meadows in all directions, for it was good to be back there once more. Old Mother West Wind almost sighed as she watched them for a few minutes. She felt that she would like to join them. Always the springtime made her feel this way,--young, mad, carefree, and happy. But she had work to do. She had to turn the windmill to pump water for Farmer Brown's cows, and this was only one of many mills standing idle as they waited for her. So she puffed her cheeks out and started about her business.
 

Jimmy Skunk sat at the top of the hill that overlooks the Green Meadows and watched her out of sight. Then he started to amble down the Lone Little Path to look for some beetles. He was ambling along in his lazy way, for you know he never hurries, when he heard some one puffing and blowing behind him. Of course he turned to see who it was, and he was greatly surprised when he discovered Old Mr. Toad. Yes, Sir, it was Old Mr. Toad, and he seemed in a great hurry. He was quite short of breath, but he was hopping along in the most determined way as if he were in a great hurry to get somewhere.

Now it is a very unusual thing for Mr. Toad to hurry, very unusual indeed. As a rule he hops a few steps and then sits down to think it over. Jimmy had never before seen him hop more than a few steps unless he was trying to get away from danger, from Mr. Blacksnake for instance. Of course the first thing Jimmy thought of was Mr. Blacksnake, and he looked for him. But there was no sign of Mr. Blacksnake nor of any other danger. Then he looked very hard at Old Mr. Toad, and he saw right away that Old Mr. Toad didn't seem to be frightened at all, only very determined, and as if he had something important on his mind.

That 'stuff' at the bottom

At the bottom of my main page, I list a few of the things I follow ... webcomics, friends links, music, what I'm reading and cool sites I've seen. 

Most, if not all, of the items are actually links.  I list my fonts and give you a link for a free download if you like it. The album cover will have a link to the artist's official site as will the book cover. 

I'm not sure if you're poking around, but if you haven't yet .. please, please feel free to do so.

A study in contrasts

I headed out of my house shortly after lunch to go to the mailbox .. I've ordered a new pair of moccasins and am looking forward to their arrival.  They're officially called 'red' .. so I suppose once I get them, you could say I'll have my own pair of ruby slippers.  Harrr.

Ahem, anyway ... we don't often get frost that stays around during the day, so I took a picture of my street to show you.

And then ... as I swiveled back toward the house, I spotted this.  I know you Albertans will be green with envy.  Which is, of course, why I'm showing it to you.

The camellia is getting ready to bloom.  Those buds that look strangely like pussy willows are actually going to be flowers soonish.

Today's Horoscope

Words to live by, my friends ... especially considering you are my friends.

"At times, you'll wonder whether you're the only sane one in the room.

To be fair, if you buy a ticket to the circus, you shouldn't be too surprised to see the clowns.  Sit back and enjoy the entertainment." 

-------------------

Resolution and Oven Cleaning

Cleaning the oven.  That's the big milestone we've set for the year.  No other resolutions.

Actually, I'm kidding ... Bruce cleaned the oven on New Year's morning.  And when I say cleaned, I mean he actually had to read instructions from the wee "how to do things" booklet we got with the stove when we bought it, then walk over to the stove and push some buttons.  And before I mock too hard, I should note that it is also he who knows how to reset the stove when we have a power fluctuation.  I tell you, that stove jolts out of its normally placid state and becomes self-aware .. buzzing and flashing letters and numbers at us at the speed of an Amtrac train.   The first time it happened, there was general panic in the room and lots of running around throwing our hands in the air.  Ha.  More like running the hands through our hair as we tried to read the manual while trying to momentarily ignore the strange manifestations of our usually well behaved kitchen appliance.  But you get the picture.  And it is he who calmly solves the puzzle of the self-aware stove when it happens.

And who resets most of the clocks in the house for Daylight savings.  Except the one in the bathroom controlling the house de-humidifier that runs nightly.  Because that is technology that totally mystifies him.

But I digress.  New Year's morning found me lounging abed while Bruce had Activity.  The Christmas Day scalloped potatoes mess had to be cleaned so we could have turkey on New Year's Day, so he took care of the dirty deed.  Isn't he a good man?  And look at me, I mocked him.  I should be ashamed.   Or .. I should continue.  I'll probably do the latter, because that's more fun.

Anyway, he talked to quite a few people before the light of noon woke me.  We had a day full of phone calls and chatting with people .. was lots of fun.

One of those people was Debbie, who demanded that I get my act together and keep on writing my blog.  I think she started the conversation with "where the hell is my blog update?"  To tell the truth, December just plain steamrolled me.  It's time to get back on top of my game. 

I read something in the paper on Friday ... that social media is a way for us to be the stars of our own lives; that we find it hard to become disconnected from the media and data feeds, feeling like we're missing things, or more importantly, like life is going on .. and not missing us while we disconnect.  I had been feeling like I was perhaps doing too much navel-gazing and somehow, that article brought back my perspective.  I am the star of my own show, yes.  And its time once again to act like I am.  This particular blog is not so much about me, however, as it is about you, and the people to whom I wish to remain connected.  It's a way of keeping in contact and having a bit more (okay, a lot more) immediacy than letters while still giving me a communication outlet that allows me a bit of creativity through the combination of words and graphic design.

The thing that made me realize the communicative power of this tool is sitting there on my dining room table right now in the form of two Christmas cards from nieces, neither of whom know me really well (yet).  Both have felt included in my life through this blog and have acknowledged that through personal messages at Christmas. 

Hopefully, this year, I'll round up a few more nieces and nephews ... (I have a gaggle of them) ... and get them to actually respond here.  Samantha .. I saved a new wedding gown idea for you already.  Stay tuned. *grin*  Oh, and Ralph .. the new celebrity 'in' thing happens to be elephants at weddings.  By the time Sam gets married, though, it will be sooooo 'last year.'   Don't worry .. we'll come up with something!

I'm putting up a birthday list .. if I forgot yours (or someone I should have on the list) let me know and I'll put it up there.

I'll sign off today here .. I actually still have to redesign for January, so I'd better get at that!