CHERRY HEAVEN

Well the boys delivered.  We now have more cherries than I know what to do with!!!  And they are delicious!  The only fruit I like as much or more are those purple plums when they are really delicious when super ripe.

I haven't done anything with them but eat a lot.  I need to bag them up and freeze them.  I went out and took a look in the upright freezer I have, I can't remember the last time I looked in there, and was shocked to see it full!!!  What the hell?  Upon closer inspection I see stuff I have no recollection putting in there...salmon burgers, organic hamburger meat, tv dinners (I remember those), meatballs, dry ribs, icecream (all crystally and gross), yorkshire puddings (I remember those!), a giant box of tart shells and on and on....  no room for cherries.

And speaking of an abundance of stuff, you should see the garden.  The spinach and chard are out of control.  We can't keep up with it.  Time to chop and freeze.  I am going to toss stuff out of the freezer and make room for it all.  Greenery is a lot better to have in your freezer than dry ribs.

I went to the notary.  Sigh.  We arrive (I can't drive yet so Monte drove me), arrive five minutes early, hop out of the car and go up to the door.  Its locked.  Not only locked, but the office is totally empty...no furniture...nothing!  What????  So I go back to the van get my phone and google it.  Nope! the website had the same address.  So I phoned them and got their answering machine.  I left a very abrupt, not so nice message about how there was no sign on the window or indication on their website, how the hell are we supposed to have an appointment?...blah blah blah....then waited for them to call me.

Then Monte carefully (I was in a steaming fit at this point) suggested that maybe their office was on the little road just below, which is kind of identical.  The road formation right there is like a capital F.  We were on the top line.  I swore I had never been on the lower road but what the heck...lets check.  And yup...there it was.  I was wrong.  Shit...I had to go in and eat crow.  Stupid!!!

Somewhere along here I got a call from Uncle Gordon!!  They were coming this way and would like to stay a few days!!! So excited!!  I called Kathy and between us we made arrangements for their stay.

I was down at her place yesterday and visited with them and Kathy and Kerry.  It was so wonderful to see them.  We had a delicious dinner, like my fave dinner...new little potatoes, green beans cooked perfectly, coleslaw and salmon.  Mmmmmm....Monte picked me up around nine.  I was pretty bagged by the time we got home and kind of collapsed in my chair in purple room.

Meanwhile...the boys had decided to make a cherry pie.  They actually sat there and pitted four cups of cherries.  On the way back from Kathy's we stopped at safeway and picked up pie crust.  Well, they made that pie!!!!  It wasn't done til midnight but they did it.  I never believed for one minute it was going to actually work but I gotta tell you...it was beyond delicious...and it looked GOOD!!!  I haven't had the courage to go out and look at the kitchen just yet this morning!

Well I must go and get the watering done and check out the kitchen.  If its bad I will be dragging a large person out of bed to gitterdone!!!  TTYL

BLOG READER

I am a blog reader.  As such there are a couple of things that really bug me and I try hard to avoid them here.  For example:

Long long long paragraphs.  I find that those blog posts that have really long paragraphs are annoying.  I get half way down then start skipping to the end.  So I try hard to keep the paragraphs shorter than normal.

Bad grammer and spelling.  I have actually quit reading some pretty interesting blogs because of that.  Its too much work to always be correcting and guessing what the writer actually meant.  And bad grammer?  no no no....I keep hearing my mother's voice in my head...having a fit!!

Blogs that go on for a month or two then just quit. I don't understand why there are so many people out there that start blogs then just quit!  I can't tell you how many blogs there are that all quit in the first month or two.

And....long long silences between posts.  By the time the next post comes you have forgotten you were reading it.  And that being said, I apologize for not posting for six days!!!  With no excuse.  The only thing I can say is its just been about the most boring week of my life and I have spared you that!!!

But things are about to get crazy!  There is so much happening in the next month....lets see, cherry picking, an awesome visit from Uncle Gordon and Auntie Orma, a visit from April and Myles for the long weekend, Stan and Antonia are staying for the same weekend and week, a bbq thrown by Sue, my awesome handyman, as a thank you for letting her use the condo, lots of legal crap to sell the condo, a trip to Vancouver to go to the US consulate, flying to Maui with April and Myles from the 22nd of July to the 29th, and.......

So posting will be frequent and a lot more interesting.  I can't wait to dust off the camera and take pics again.  I think this will be my last visit to Maui.  I really have a hard time going there without Spod.  From now on its Mexico with Cook and Oahu to party and eat!!!  So again, my apologies for not posting sooner.  And please please feel free to bitch about the blog in comments.  I shall take heed!!!   TTYL

I BEAT MY DEADLINE!!!

Well that was a slice, no pun intended.  I don't remember much about Friday.  I just know that my blood pressure tanked and I had an assigned nurse sitting at my head all day.  Nothing would bring it up.  All I remember is being super duper hungry.

My pressure didn't come up from 54 over 31 to 99 over 64 til that night.  So they kept me in recovery.  And recovery is really quiet on weekends.  All they had were a couple of emergencies and a couple of kidney stones.  So I got four nurses waiting on me hand and foot.  They just kept me there and never did send me up to a ward room. And I finally got food...and it was way better than I expected.  Sat. afternoon I got dressed and went downstairs with Monte for coffee.  Kathy and Emily visited on Friday and Kathy and Kerry on Sat. night.  I had a great time!  I was taking oxy so I was REALLY having a good time!!

I talked to the dr when he came in on Sat. and he decided to send me home on Sunday!  So Monte picked me up around ten on Sunday morning and I came home!  I got a script for some kind of tylenol pain killer that helps a little but I gotta say, it hurts like hell.  How four little holes can hurt my whole insides is beyond me!  Oh well, I know from experience it gets better fast.  I have to make sure I don't do too much.  I sure have some dandy bruises I must say!

The Doctor did say that what they removed was pretty big.  Its been sent off to pathology and he said he wouldn't be surprised if some of it is cancerous.  But even if it is, he took a huge portion of large intestine out, exactly what they would have done if they had known for sure it was cancer.  So I am not really worried and neither is he.  But if my doc had not sent me off for a colonoscopy, I would maybe not be here down the road.  I must go and tell him and thank him for that.

But all in all it was a really good and friendly experience.  As usual the nurses were truly amazing.  I can't believe how much they care and how hard they work.  I can't say enough about them.  I do believe a big cadbury box of chocolates is going to wing Recovery's way!

I shall report more tomorrow.TTYL

FEELING A LITTLE BLUE TONIGHT

Last night was amazing.  The lamb dinner was delicious and the company even better.  I filled my plate to the max and finished every single bite.  I don't do that much anymore.  I love baked potatoes...love them!  I could live on them.

Anne came over today and she was such good company.  She made sure I drank my stuff and took my pills.  I cooked up leftovers and fed her lunch.  I can't eat today and felt royally sorry for myself.  Next to baked potatoes I love leftovers mostest.  We had a wonderful visit catching up on everything.  We talk on the phone lots but I hadn't seen her in forever.

Now its evening and Monte is out and I am getting a teensy bit antsy about tomorrow.  I have finished all my drugs and drinking stuff and I have put together my backpack.  I'm telling you I AM going to be home on Monday.  

I will post a post as soon as I get home.  Love y'all!  TTYL

FILM CREWS AND NERVES (NOT MINE)

Who knew there was so much equipment involved, making a ten or twenty minute video!!!  And what was really weird, I wasn't even the slightest bit nervous or anxious about it.  Not a twitch.  I don't know why really.  Jen, the EPI, was as  jittery as hell!  It was actually kind of funny.  I tried to calm her down by telling her jokes and teasing but that just made it worse!  And its funny, when you get talking you really forget that the cameras are actually there with three handsome dudes staring at you!

I just read the previous post's comments.  I thought I had mentioned the video in a previous post.  Monte's (Michael in the video) Early Psychosis Intervention therapist, Jen, asked me to do this government sponsored video about his recovery and our experience with EPI from the time he had his psychotic break to now.  The video is designed to help parents of new kids to the program, which is amazing I might add, and will be posted on the government website.

I got interrupted and I wrote the above yesterday.  Today I am tearing around getting a leg of lamb dinner ready for eight tonight...my fave thing to do!!!  But Maui keeps interrupting!

  I just got a call from the escrow lady (called a conveyancer here) and she told me that I need an American tax i.d.  Which means I have to go get a certified copy of my passport to send to her.  AND to sell property in the US I have to have the deed, which she will send me, signed and notarized AT THE US CONSULATE IN VANCOUVER.  And the only way to do that is by making an appointment online.  Which I did...and the soonest I can get one is July 21.  Good luck making the Aug 1st deadline.  Don't ever buy property in the states.  We wouldn't have if we had known all this.

Well I am in the midst of making a disgusting stuffing for an acorn squash.  I have two vegetarians tonight...no leg 'o lamb for them.  I best get atter.  TTYL

TWO WHOLE POSTS ARE MISSING

I am pissed off!  I wrote two whole posts between last weekend and this weekend and they aren't here!!  How the hell does that even happen?  Grrrr....

What I wrote about was everything that was happening last week.  I got called into the hospital for a prescreening on Monday morning at a super early hour.  The anesthesiologist was really funny. I spent an enjoyable half hour with him.  He was totally crazy and made jokes that he apologized for later!  So funny.

On Friday morning Monte and I packed up, picked up a band friend of Monte's and headed to Vancouver for a very rushed but hootin' good time weekend.

On Friday night Aryn, April and Myles and I went to a native restaurant Aryn discovered.  Its called the Salmon and Bannock.  The food was outstanding, the decor incredible and we had an amazing time.

But the next night was the real fun.  We met up with a couple who are friends with Aryn and we went to a Japanese BBQ.  Jeez, did we ever have fun.  We all got pretty tipsy, ate a ton, played street fighter on the wall and laughed til we were crazy.  On the way over, in a taxi, we were headed through downtown and BAM!  flat tire.  So he called another taxi....and after a half hour one finally arrived.  We sat in that taxi for half an hour!!!  But we were all on our phones so it wasn't that bad!  Thank god for phones.  Now instead of staring out the window or smoking or...god forbid...talking, we all stare at our phones.  Anyway we finally got there and had an absolute blast.

Sunday Monte and I had a great trip home.  But we were tired so we pulled into McD's in the Wack and parked and went to sleep for an hour.  It was a really beautiful trip home.

Now its Monday and I spent the day readying the house for the film crew that is coming tomorrow.  I stopped into the fat lady store to get a plain shirt to wear..I guess stripes and busy patterns are out for filming....and filled prescriptions in preparation for Friday and took care of some business.  Selling the condo in Maui is proving to be a nightmare of paperwork.

A crazy thing happened in the fat lady store.  It was pretty quiet in there...only about two customers.  One of them was a short squat very wide lady about my age.  When I entered the store I could hear her kind of arguing loudly with one of the sales people.  I ignored it all and went to the other side of the store and started hunting.  She continued to pretty forcefully insist on whatever it was she was demanding...from the sounds of it she wanted a lower price on a blouse she was trying to buy.  She swore up and down that one just like it had been in the fifty per cent off corner last week.

Anyway she stopped yelling finally and she stomped way over into that corner that they reserve for dump sales.  There is a lot of stuff in that corner but its all loser crap.  I never go in there.

Well, I worked my way around the store, ending up close to that corner and lo and behold!  she was pulling stuff off hangers by the hand full and throwing the stuff on the floor!!!  Tons of stuff, all spread all over the floor!  And the whole time she was muttering and swearing and kicking the stuff and throwing it.

I backed away, careful to have no eye contact, and whipped over to the sales peeps and told them what was happening way over in the loser corner.  Shit!!!!  They flew over there and started yelling at her and grabbed her to make her stop and she just got even more wound up and frantic.  One of the sales people came back over to where I was and called the cops.  They actually came pretty quickly and they didn't waste anytime...they nailed her to the wall and cuffed her and hauled her out of there into a car outside.  I think they knew her.  So exciting, these trips to the only store I go into on a regular basis!

Now its time for bed.  I will do a short post tomorrow night and let you know how the filming went.  Should be interesting and thank god for editing!!!  TTYL

CRAZY WEEKEND IN A CRAZY PLACE!!!

Oh Lordy!!!  We had more fun than a monkey on a banana farm.  

Cookie and Gail were already there when we arrived.  And they had done the check in and got the keys to the eight bedrooms and...opened all the windows and doors you possibly could.  The place totally smelt like urine!  It had them gagging as they walked upstairs!  I think they narrowed it down to the stairs, someone didn't make it!  A can of febreez helped a bunch.

What a fantastic weekend.  We unloaded everything, people started to trickle in, which is always exciting and, as opposed to our usual November retreats, this time the weather was so fantastic that other than evenings, we spent our entire time outside.  There was a lovely firepit and we had brought wood.  So hot dog roasts, sitting around the fire gossiping, playing games...soooo much fun.

Dorothy and Jo had brought all the stuff and set the whole thing up I might add, for BIHO (beer in hand olympics).  OMG!!  They had set up a circuit of crazy games out on the field.  We had to bocci, throw crumpled beer cans through narrow holes, hop (old fat broads with sore knees and loose shorts with beer in hand CAN'T HOP), etc. holding a cup of beer the whole time.  It finished with cup flipping beer pong.  All of this was done in full sun on a very hot field.  And it was soooo funny!! I have posted some pics below!

This place is really really hard to get a read on.  The actual log lodge is really beautiful on the outside, kind of worn down but very functional on the inside.  But the whole grounds are several acres with cabins, rough little cabanas, a huge outdoor theatre, abandoned and weird and full of junk..a hoarder's paradise, and another giant stone building full of cats, ducks, dolls, dresses, junk ...  you name it.  There is also an old cement plant ruins..so odd.  Then out on the grounds down different lanes and paths are statues, ponds, bridges, riding rings, more religious statues, dock on pond with paddle boats and kayaks, weird buildings with booths and chandeliers, a wee tiny church and on and on.  So very weird.  

I know the owner is Chinese and she caters to Chinese tours.  I don't know if this explains anything or not.  The Chinese do have a wonderful appreciation for the 'not normal'.

The food everyone brought was fabulous.  Because there were only twelve this year we were able to sit down at the table for dinner!  I love this!  It honours the food and conversation is just different when you sit at the table instead of spreading out through the house finding places to sit and eat.  And the food was fantastic!

For some odd reason there are two very old ex-circus things in the abandoned roofless cement ruins.  Aryn climbed onto the spinning board, where you throw knives as they spin, and spun.  Jeez!!!  We didn't need to add the knives to create danger!  And then she climbed into a huge wooden wheely thing and walked it like a hamster wheel.  This place is just crazy and whole lot of fun!!  We found llamas and pot belly pigs!  The pigs had a pig pen with an old camper plunked in the middle.  This was their house.  The stone stairs leading up to the upper part of the property are all full of actual real fossils.  Crazy place!

We had a beautiful trip back on Sunday.  Yesterday I was up at the crack of dawn and off to the hospital for that appointment...which was pleasant and quick.  The hospital staff are so amazing and the anesthesiologist (sp?) was a hoot!  

Anywhoo I must get ready for Kiwanis.  Here are some pics!  TTYL

HOT DOG TIME!

COOKIE CAREFULLY REMOVING A JENGA PIECE

COOKIE AND I DID THE BIHO CIRCUIT AS PARTNERS.  PINGPONG BALL THROWING...BEER CUP IN HAND

WALKING THE BALANCE BEAM...CUP IN HAND

CUP FLIPPING BEER PONG....PANTS ON THE GROUND  (THOSE STUPID SHORTS, THEY FELL OFF ON A BEACH IN MAUI TOO)

THE GLOATING WINNER...SORRY COOKIE

ARNIE AND CHRISTINE...MORE CONTESTANTS...THROWING CRUNCHED BEER CANS THROUGH TINY HOLES...BEER IN HAND!

GO!!!  KATHY AND A HEADLESS EMILY

THE TWO CREATORS OF THIS CRAZY OLYMPICS!

ANOTHER HAPPY WINNER

THE HAMSTER WHEEL THAT ARYN WALKED

WE CAME ACROSS A HORSESHOE PIT!

GETTING OFF THE SPINNING KNIFE THROWING GADGET

AND AN ECHO CHAMBER...THAT SUPER WORKED

OUR WONDERFUL SIT DOWN DINNER...I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS!

WE HAD TWO BIRTHDAY GIRLS....ARNIE AND EMILY

THIS IS THE CRAZY THEATRE AND BUILDING WITH THE DRESSES, DOLLS AND JUNK ETC...

THIS WAS NEAR THE LAKE...HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT WOULD BE USED FOR

A PEACEFUL PADDLE ON THE LAKE...BEER IN HAND!

AN INTREPID APIRL WHO ACUTALLY SLID DOWN THAT SLIDE INTO THAT POND!  TURTLES, LEECHES, FISH, FUNGUS, SLIME AND ALL.

ARYN CONDUCTING A SOUL SAVING SERMON IN THE WEE CHURCH

THERE IS A PIG AND LITTLE PIGS IN THAT THERE CAMPER 

IF YOU REALLY LOOK YOU WILL SEE TONS OF FOSSILS IN THESE STAIRS.  WHY? I ASK

THINGS HAVE CHANGED

I have had lots of operations in my life.  Caesarians, tumour, reductions, cut thumb off by accident, and when its time you go in, you get gowned, wait in the waiting room and in you go.  Now, jeez...I got a call on Tuesday.  They made a three hour appointment (which is longer than my operation will be I am sure) for me next Monday morning at an ungodly hour.  I asked her what the heck they would be doing.  She said that they go through my health history, again, this will be the third time now.  Go through my list of pills and supplements, again, the third time.  And I get to meet the ...lets see if I can spell this the first time around..the anesthesiologist.  Nope.  I shall go back and correct it. Okay there isn't a correction.

  I also had to drop everything and go straight into the lab for blood tests....I asked what the tests were and they were all the same ones I had a few weeks ago.  No wonder our health costs are through the roof.  They never used to do this. 

 And they put a wrist band on me that I have to wear til I leave the hospital after the operation...which isn't until the 17th.  Its already looking beat up.

Well today is the day!!!!  Retreat time!!!  I don't think people understand just how much fun we have at these bashes.  And eat....we eat til we burst..everyone brings there bestest and favouritest stuff.  I don't know everything thats coming but here is a partial list:  pulled pork, coleslaw, curried meatballs, breakfast casserole, cupcakes, potato salad, hot dogs, meat skewers, veggies, spiralizer fun, bacon/eggs, apricot jam (a real treat...who actually goes out and buys apricot jam!!!), banana bread and on and on!  And booze.  Lots and lots of booze!  Games, every conceivable rude game we can find.  Ahhhhh...so much fun!

I now need to go and finish packing.  Thank goodness Kathy has a big van.  Not only am I taking food, but I am also taking all the condiments, coffee pots, sharper knife than they have, Molly etc....two coolers etc... and when we come back we need to add all of Emily's coming home stuff!  Thank goodness for my sister and Kerry.  Not only did they get a super handy huge vehicle, but they also bought a beautiful huge house that fits all the returnees and extended rellies when needed. 

I forgot to mention...Austin came over last night for an awesome long visit.  We haven't seen him since he left for Korea to teach English Literature months and months ago.  It was so good to see him and hear his stories.  I just love that guy...he is so quirky and introspective and fun and honest.  All qualities we love.  Gotta bounce!  I shall post disgusting and hilarious pics on Monday!!!  TTYL