BRAIN FARTS ARE SO ANNOYING

 Not only are they annoying but at my age and our family's history they are scary.  Is it dementia?  Is it not?  When I was younger it didn't matter but now at 74 brain farts have a whole new meaning.

I got out the door early on Thursday.  The ferry was right on time and I got to April's by four.  Jen and she were well into their cups!  They were so happy to be together again.  Sisters to the core...crazy sisters I might add!  We had an amazing dinner of schnitzel and crispy baked wee potato pieces and a gorgeous salad.  Myle's makes the best schnitzel!

But speaking of brain farts...I made three pans of brownies and went to extreme lengths with Monte to get frozen Yorkshire puddings from No Frills before leaving port.  I had bought a very expensive (worth every penny) beef tenderloin at the butchers.  I needed the Yorkies for the sliders.  I cooked that roast very carefully, it only took fifteen minutes to reach medium rare!  When it had cooled I sliced it all into slider size and made a litre of gravy.  I then left the five bags of Yorkies in the freezer that were alongside the brownies and there they stayed.  I was too far down to Nanaimo to go back for them.  I could have cried!  The only other thing I was bringing were the condiments!

So, before heading out to Rosedale and the venue we had to find our way to Superstore..the only other store that sells President's Choice, thus PC Yorkies.  And thank goodness they had them.  Finally on our way!  In Chilliwack, just before Rosedale Jen and I decided we were hungry so we found a C-lovers and stopped for fish and chips.  Jen, being a landlubber but originally from here, missed seafood like the dickens!

And then we hit the venue.  It was a massive bougie type house with many bedrooms.  It claims to sleep 17...we were 16 and I sleep on a couch.  And then people started to arrive.  Did I say people?  I mean food.  Holy Doodle!!!  Get that many women with their fave dips and cookies and casseroles and just delicious food and it's the reason I like to get there first and claim fridge real estate.  Ohhhhhh the food...the yummy yummy food.  Incredible.  I am so impressed by what they all brought.  I will see if I can make a list:

hot chili dip

brie and blackberry

cowboy caviar

twenty pound lasagna

beef tenderloin and gravy sliders

a plethora of rolls, pot stickers and dips

meatballs

charcuterie

croissants, baking, chips, baklava,

sausage eggs hash browns

cream puffs and Nanaimo bars

spinach salad and dinner buns

and waaaaaay too much booze to list

and way way more than I can remember at the moment.

The fun began.  One thing we did thanks to Steph and Jocelyn, we each were given a blank painting canvas and water paints and set up at the table.  We drew names and had to paint something that would be recognizable as that person.  It was a guessing game. But some were a tad obvious.  Someone drew a chocolate chip cookie for Cookie.  hahaha!  I drew Leeloo for April.  Man did we ever have some laughs.  The whole weekend was fun.  And loud!  They had decible measurers in the house and on the deck.  Neighbours.

Jen and I left around 11 and headed straight to fat burger in Ladner.  We were actually hungry believe it or not!  You'd think we hadn't seen food for weeks.  jeez!!!

We then went to Aunty Jan's and Uncle Jim's.  It was so freaking amazing to see them.  It reminded me so much of Bill it was almost teary.  They haven't changed a whole bunch and Jan was her feisty self!  Uncle Jim was exactly the same.  Their house is so homey and full of good memories.  It was lovely to catch up on all the kids goings on.   She made a well needed cup of coffee and cookies and butter tarts and we had about an hour and a half talky visit.  I loved it and will see if we can do it again.  Jen was so happy to see them.  It had been a while for her too.  I love rellie visits.

We managed to beat our way through Vancouver to April's.  We had a delicious dinner of leftover beef and Yorkies and salad then watched a very interesting documentary and off to bed.

So now we are going to meet Russell, Lorraine and Bill's brother's wife..aunty Joan for supper down on the pier.  This is so nice for Jen who is sorely missing family out there in North Trumpville...I mean Alberta.  I can't wait until she can move over here to BC.  And with any luck she will bring her youngest with her.  He is now training to be a welder like his talented Mamma.  Lots of work here for them.  And I love that boy.  He is the most interesting person and very witty!

Well thats it for today.  A good time was had by all.  Can't beat women's retreat and relatives and tons of food.  TFL&TTYL

A GANDER BACK

Once in a while when I go to bed I cruise around in my head.  I try to think of every person I know and take note of the ones I need to connect with soon and which ones may need help or most of all which ones I may need to make peace with.  I have done this since my mom put us through the first five or six lessons from the Amway business course when I was twelve.  It was all about empowerment and self awareness and the power of what you think.  It truly was a life changing event for me.  One of those things I learned was the importance of the people in your life and to take care of those connections.  So now and then I would do what I did the other night.

And I realized that I had not properly connected with and THANKED Bill's sister....Auntie Jan (we still call her that in the family).  Bless her heart she took the money needed at that time, now it's free, and herself to the genetic testing place and got tested for the Bracc gene (sp?).  It is the gene that causes breast and fallopian tube cancer in women. 

Bill's daughter died in her early thirties from breast cancer.  Bill's mother got breast cancer.  Auntie Francine got breast cancer.  Auntie Jan got two types of cancer.  So she went and got tested and tested positive.  She convinced Bill to get tested and then both Jen and April tested....positive and both have had total mastectomies.  

I had not talked with Jan since Bill died twelve years ago.  Actually to tell you the truth I didn't really think she liked me much...which I totally understand.  I don't like me much a lot too!!!  lol!!!  I respect her dislike and kept my distance.  I missed her though.  I liked her a lot.  She is the kind of woman I like...strong and very family oriented.  I like those traits. No milque toast here!!!  Thank god!!

So I messaged her and I thanked her.  Because of her both my girls are alive and well.  There is no doubt about that.  I am so grateful for her perseverance in testing and convincing Bill to get tested. I figured if she chose not to answer that would be totally okay and I sure could understand.  But she did!!!!  And she sent such a lovely message.  I was so happy!!!  We had a lovely little convo and after the retreat on the twentieth of October in Chilliwack Jen and I are going to go over to Ladner to see her.  Both Jen and I are super excited to be seeing her and Uncle Jim again.  I can't wait!!!

So now I am up to my toothless gums in retreat preparations.  Plus cleaning and readying the house for the cleaner.  Tomorrow we have to make a trip to the butcher in town here.  I need a long piece of super expensive tenderloin beef to roast and cut into proper sized pieces to make Yorkie sliders at the retreat.  We did it for April's wedding but they never got used.  No Frills sells bags of frozen already cooked Yorkshire puddings.  All you do is put them in a hot oven for six minutes!  They are delicious and the perfect small size for sliders.  Along with some goats on the roof horseradish and thinly sliced onion and pickled hot pepper rings...can't beat it.

So I am signing off and next post will be disgusting stories of antics at the retreat!!!!!  Pics will have to go on fb.  They sure as hell can't go on here for eff's sake.  TFL&TTYL

 

SO POST NUMBER THREE

THIS IS THE ONLY PIC THAT WENT THROUGH.  MY FAVE PICTURE OF BILL.

 

A PS TO THE PREVIOUS POST

 I sent the previous post ages ago earlier today.  Since then I have been in this chair so long my ass hurts in a new place, trying to put pics on this stupid blogpost.  To make matters worse they updated my laptop, an apple, and you no longer have iPhoto...it is now apple photo and it freaking sucks.  You cannot put photos anywhere.  They don't drag and drop.  They do not email.  They do not insert.  No matter what I do they don't effing go anywhere.  I am so pissed off.  So no photos.  Even AI when I asked slapped his head with the palm of his head and said okay here we go....and proceeded to instruct step by step about twenty steps you have to follow.  Which I carefully did and it still didn't work.  So I am about to throw this freaking computer out the back door so I am going to quit trying.  You will have to go to fb.  I think they will drag and drop from my pics there.  I will go see.  Sorry about that.    HP

EITHER I AM POSTING TOO OFTEN (SURE) OR WAY TOO FAR APART

 I remember when there use to be all kinds of blogs to read and the writer would leave a long distance from the last post, I would panic that whoever was writing wasn't writing anymore.  It happened a lot.  I don't think any blogger got further than three months before quitting.  Just a few continued longer.  One of them that I religiously read had gone on for a couple of years or more.  I became very very familiar with her life.  Then one day there was nothing.  I just kept checking and checking and checking.  Nothing.  Then one day...ping!! and there was a post.  But it was her boyfriend telling us she had been killed in a car accident.  It was so terrible.  I can't tell you how upset I was for someone I had never even met.  I still kinda twinge when I think of it.

I think this is the longest I have gone without posting.  It means I have been busy!  And I will admit that I am not busy all that often...not often enough for sure.  April came to visit!!!!!!  Visits from one of my kids is very rare.  I live in a stupid place for easy visiting.  Plus they all have very busy lives.

We had such an awesome visit.  The first day I got up in the dark and drove to Nanaimo to the ferry to pick her up.  We then mozied up the island on the old highway.  What a fantastic trip!  We had time to make a couple of stops here and there and take a few pics.  Our destination was Campbell River where my brother lives.  We had a wonderful visit.  Antonia makes fancy delicious little sammiches and awesome bean soup and she MADE panacotta...perfectly with the caramel and all.  Then we got visiting so much we forgot to leave!!!! lol

Our next stop was at a mushroom farm near there.  April was approached a couple of years ago to make their signs using the cutest mushroom cartoon character.  She became friends with them.  We had a most interesting visit with them!

Then we hit the freeway and got home....but not before we stopped at A&W and picked up a couple of teen burgers and onion rings to bring home.  I ended up giving my burger to Monte.  They are the most delicious burgers money can buy but I was still full from lunch.

She stayed for another couple of days.  One of them we spent part of a day in Winners for heaven's sake.  It was actually a lot of fun.  I am not a shopper and especially now with an uncooperative tailbone.  But it was fun.  I bought a bright red dog house for Leeloo, who is staying with me for a couple of weeks.  She is in it as we speak.  I then took April out to Canal Beach...a fave spot Monte and I go to sit in the car and listen to music and stare at the channel.  And this time a big humpback whale breached and April caught it in a video!!!  It was an amazing moment!!!  You can see the video on Facebook or instagram.  I would put it here but...well you know.

On our way home we went to a place called Dog Mountain Brewery.  We sit upstairs on a huge patio in the hot sunshine, with the dog, and we drank delicious amazing beer (they win all kinds of awards) and the best freaking nachos I have ever had!  Then home and no supper.  We were just too full!

The next day we didn't leave the house.  We just lazed around the house and gossiped.  Best day ever.  Then I baked a massive salmon chunk and made dill béchamel sauce and April made a massive Greek salad and we had some rice and dinner was incredible. Spring salmon.  It was way better than I thought it would be.  Spring isn't my fave.

Yesterday we took April back to the Hullo ferry and she was gone.  But I still have Leeloo!

Monte and I then went to Horangs on the way home.  We had an early dinner there.  Jeez Murphey the food there is outstanding.  It is Korean and honestly their food is award worthy.  We got sushi rolls for a starter then there is this dish for two.  It includes a bowl of rice each, a bowl of amazing miso soup each, a long wooden narrow serving dish with kimchee, salad leaves (so deliciously dressed) and some kind of fermented amazing onion.  Then the main event was this massive cast iron cauldron full of long cooked braised beef short ribs still on the bone and a broth with carrots, potato and tiny Korean dates.  Unbelievable!  I park the car there where I can see it right out the window so we could leave Leeloo there.  I went out to check her and she was just laying there, happy as a clam.

And now I am home in a pretty messy house and posting instead of cleaning!!  I did clean the kitchen whilst my coffee brewed!  And now I am going to clean up the living room and get me a fat salmon sammich.  I am hungry.  I think we are supposed to drive to Bamfield today.  At the moment though it is so foggy we can't see past the house across the street.  We shall see.  I will try to post some pics in a separate post.  TFL&TTYL

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN

 You know I have basically no life.  Which obviously suits me fine or I would change it.  So how is it I forget to post every four days...which is what I tried to aim for.  Obviously that aim didn't happen.  Jeez!!!

I have two awesome daughters in law.  One is in Kamloops and one is near Vernon.  I see Dana in Kamloops once in a while.  If I only got to Kamloops more often I would see her more often!  I love having lunch with her.  She brings her mom whom I just adore.  We spend the lunch laughing and thats with no drinking I might add.  I love those lunches.

My other daughter in law is Cheryl.  She and I, when we do get together which isn't often sadly, get along like a house on fire.  I super like her. 

 I messaged her the other day to say hello, how are you and what's happening with all the family.  She sent me back the longest most awesomest message and caught me all up on Bill's extended family.  It was so good to hear about all her kids and grandchildren.  I miss most of Bill's family. 

 I see now after living here on the Island for seven years, seeing family and friends is not easy. Every trip is no less than 300 dollars and I am at the counting shekles part of my life. 

I gotta say getting halfway through the seventies to eighty is very humbling.  I was just texting April about this this morning.  And I can see that the majority of the population under seventy not only can't understand that concept but probably could care less.  I don't blame them.  Their time will come soon enough.

I think the only thing I would change if I could  would be to get them all to stop treating us like we are stupid.  We know more than they ever will til they hit over seventy themselves.  After all we are the ones that invented the computer.

I didn't realize this consciously until I hit over seventy.  I think what did it was cruising.  Being on a boat for three weeks where the vast majority of two thousand plus people were well over 70 did it for me. By far they are the most interesting group of people I ever hung with.  They had all had the most interesting careers and lives.  Many of the women in that age group never worked. They taught me verbally so many awesome recipes and home making tips.  They were interesting and geniuses in their own right!!!

  I remember one old old geezer had been a nuclear physicist. Another had been a radar specialist in a war.  Another one was only 59, retired RCMP, talked endlessly about himself and bored us silly.  Hah!!!! I thought...just you wait til your over 70.  No one is going to be trapped by you.  If you are a long time reader of this blog you may remember me writing about him.

Well the last of my culled clothing went out the door yesterday.  Another five bags of the discard.  What a waste of money.  I was feeling bad until the chubby little lady said that she and her plump friends had a blast going through and picking out clothes that fit them.  They all got used!!!  It just goes to show us chubalubs are overlooked in the fat lady clothes department....thank you Temu for putting an end to that!!!!  And putting and end to dreary, grossly ugly, expensive clothes and giving us fun and colour we can afford.

Just a final note here...I have quit worrying about my diet.  I have become more than jiggy (I said JIGGY, not jiggly) with my chub.  I have become more than jiggy with my kidneys and fat liver.  I figure I will outlive both the troubles with them.  And I have basically quit worrying too much about my type 2.  I am somewhat mindful but not overly so.    I am done with all that.  I am about to turn 74.  I want to enjoy my last years.  I will shorten my life for sure by worrying about all that and trying to figure out what to eat.  For the last time ever will I be sitting in my beloved recliner, mentally going through what food I have that I can safely eat and going..no, no, no, no and blah!!!to raw vegetables.  Done with it.  And I can't see doctors who would give me shit anyway so I just don't care anymore.  If they don't care why should I.

Thats it for today for this happy camper.  I am going to go cook spuds now to make us all corned beef hash and eggs for supper tonight!!!

TFL&TTYL

JUST A THOUGHT

 Just to be clear here this post is NOT a rant.  It's just interesting...to me.  Probably boring to you guys.  As always feel free to skip this one.

I was reading an article in one of the newsletters I get in my email.  It was a big expose on how 'little' people on disability get and that it should be increased.  So I did a little math.  I happen to live with two people who are on disability for different reasons.  One for physical and the other for mental.

So they each get just under 16 hundred a month.  Which does seem like not enough.  But.....they never have to pay for certain things above and beyond that base pay...that never seems to be mentioned or added into the equation.

For example basic dentistry (right now I am having to fork out abut 2,500 for a dental piece),  eyeglasses (five hundred per year plus eye exam 75), medication (mine is 2,000 per year), they get transportation help which can be 300 plus bus help, subsidized housing qualifications, all medical supplies, all diabetes supplies.  This all adds up.  I am more than happy they get all that but 15,000 per year is kind of a false number.

Well Monte and I are off to Coombs today.  Last time I was there I found the carb free bbq sauce I love.  It's only available on Amazon or Coombs market.    On Amazon the one Ange likes is 90 bucks and mine is 15.  They both are available at Coombs for fifteen.

This may sound like a lot for a bbq sauce but when you are eating so stringently and so limited in your choices a qualifying bbq sauce is way more important than it should be!!!  It makes amazing chicken wings, if you can afford those.

I finally did it.  I hauled every piece of my clothing into the living room, sat on the edge of my recliner with a massive box for give away on one side, designated piles in front of me, a garbage bag for discards between my feet and the unfolded ready to sort piles of clothes on the other side.  And now I am feeling accomplished and looking at nine separate  giant piles around me on the floor.  Waiting.  To be put somewhere.  And there's nowhere for them to go.  There is no room in the two pieces of furniture in my bedroom to put them away.  So there they sit, on the living room floor.  And there they will stay until I figure out an answer.  Whenever.  Whatevs.....If anybody comes to visit they will just have to step around them and pretend they aren't there.  Oh yeah...no one visits!  I don't have to worry about it!!!

On rereading this it sounds like I have way too many clothes.  But here's the thing.  It's about the size of the clothes not the quantity.  When you are a chubalub, one piece of my clothing is like four pieces of a skinny person's clothes.  It makes a difference!

Well enough rattletrap for one post.  I shall quit....I was going to say while I'm ahead but I have a feeling I am NOT.  lol!!!  TFL&TTYL