BUT BOTH CARS?

 Yesterday both vehicles were in different garages.  The car had two back flat tires and all the tires are in rough shape.  Ok tire suggested we get the four tires changed.  So a thousand bucks later we have four new tires.  

The van hasn't been running for months now.  It has always had electrical problems and it kills batteries.  Plus the motor that runs the AC and defrost has quit.  So we decided no more Canadian Tire.  They suck!  So we took it straight to dodge...after all the van IS a dodge.  Well we didn't take it. BCAA did.  God knows how much that is going to cost.

Today we go to Nanaimo!!  But this time it isn't for shopping at Costco!  My grandson whom I never see will be playing Ultimate.  He is the team captain and they are in a tournament.  His game is at 3:15 so we are heading down to watch him!!  On the way I want to stop at Walmart and buy a cheap soccer chair.  I can't stand for ages.  I am so excited to see him!

I see spring has sprung outside!  I have had Jonathon come and mow the lawn already.  And now it is time to gather all our Amazon boxes, flatten them and cover the two front flower beds then cover them with mulch.  I think first I am going to get two gallon jugs of vinegar and liberally douse the beds.  Always batting those pesky weeds.

Speaking of vehicles, I think we are heading for a showdown in this house.  Monte wanders the logging roads a lot.  He goes out to find places to practice his archery and swordplay.  Plus he hikes the trails.  And I have a feeling that is the problem with the car tires.  And honestly I have been without a car at my disposal for as many months as the van hasn't been operational.  I have had a car to use my whole life, since I was 18.  Monte gets up, mumbles and leaves.  Sometimes he sleeps at his office and I am left with no car.  That was happening before the van quit but at least back then I could drive the van if I had to.

So I am laying down the law now.  He loves loves loves that car plus he owns part of it.  But I am going to have to make the rule that because I paid for the tires (we split the cost of the van upkeep) that car is now a town car only.  You want to go out into the bush you take your van.  Plus on days I know I want to go out you leave the car and take the van.  I will drive the van on spur of the moment outings.

I should probably switch to the van anyway.  I hate that car.  It is so low to the ground it makes it almost impossible to get in and out of.  And I cannot see curbs or the hood to gage parking distance etc....  The van is unbelievably comfy and I can see Russia from the drivers seat.  The only issue is every third person in Port drives a Dodge Grand Caravan..mostly old man navy blue like ours.  For sure at least once in a while I will be attempting to get into the wrong vehicle.

Well this post has been a whole lot of crap you didn't want to hear about.  My apologies.  As I often say I have no life.  No life equals no stories.  (shovel list).

But thanks for showing up.  You guys are the best.  TFL&TTYL

COOKING NEW IDEAS ,CREATING NEW SPACES AND WRITING ANYTHING THAT SPARKS ME

 My three fave pastimes.  I love to dwell, read and execute new recipe ideas...mostly dreamt up in my head.  Right now I have an interesting concoction in the crock pot. I love to dwell on a totally empty room to convert  into a new room.  I booted Monte out of the second room he took over and it is now ready to be converted.  I have ordered a new bed and now in my mind I am marching through my belongings, shopping for suitable decor for the room. I love to  write my post...talking to all you awesome people, my most fave activity.  I always feel better after talking with you guys.  I probably say too much but it feels so good to be able to share.  Jeez!  that sounds maudlin!!

I am thinking of getting a set of cupboards for the guest room that I can use for upstairs storage.  I think I am a hoarder.  I have stacks of ancient clothes that should be thrown out...and I can't.  I have three sets of 12 dinner plates and I seriously only need one set, if that.  But I just can't get rid of them.  I love them.  I have all kinds of kitchen pots, pans, bake sheets, frying pans....but I can't get rid of those either.  I have tried and tried.

  I think that getting rid of all that stuff is an admission that my normal happy busy life is done now.  No more baking, no more dinner parties, no needing more than one outfit per week, no more cruising or vacations.  Getting old with bad eyesight and balance issues sucks.  I'm pretty sure that when I go to renew my drivers license next October, my eyesight will make me fail. (shovel list to the power of infinity)

  My world is getting really small.  I am whining here...did you notice?  Lol!!!  I am still happy.  Not because I am strong and choosing to be. I'd like to take that credit.  No, it's because I was born happy and can't help it.

I called my dump guy.  He is coming tomorrow to take the two mattresses away.  He will have to make a second trip next week or later this week for a second trip.  I buy extra extra large glad garbage bags.  I can fit two of me in them.

I have been filling them up and throwing/dragging them out onto the deck.  I will haul them down to the carport when he comes back for a second run to the dump.

It feels so good every time I fill one of those suckers.  It's just plain stupid how much crap I have in this house.  It just keeps our life from being simple.  Time to Steve Jobs it as we say in our house.  He didn't put anything except a lamp, a floor cushion,  his computer on the floor and a sleeping mat in his house.  When Monte and I first moved into our empty house in Kamloops I bought my beloved recliner that now looks like Frasier's dad's chair, a twin mattress for Monte and a coffee pot.  I think I already told you all this. Sorry.  We oldsters get repetitive.  Goes with being invisible.  hahahaha!!!

I am going to take pictures of the bedroom as we go along.  I didn't get a pic of what it was like to start with.  Monte man was not in a great mental space for a long time and his room showed it.  Out of respect for him I didn't take a picture.  But I can start now. The hardest part of that is getting the pics on here.  Blogspot sucks.  Have I said that before?  Methinks so!!

So starting next post it will be updates.  You guys are the best. You have no idea.  TFL&TTYL

TODAY IT IS MEATLOAF DAY!!!!

ANGE AND I MADE THE TRADITIONAL TRAIN CAKE FOR THIS TIME OF THE YEAR.  WITH EASTER AND FOUR BIRTHDAYS, OVER THIRTY YEARS AGO OUR TWO FAMILIES AND FRIENDS WHO WERE NEARBY GOT TOGETHER AND MADE AN EASTER/BIRTHDAY CAKE.  SO THIS YEAR WHEN WE ARE SPREAD OUT SO FAR ANGE AND I DECIDED TO MAKE ONE FOR EVERYBODY AND SEND A PICTURE.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY DOROTHY APRIL AND ANGE 

Today is Ange's birthday dinner (a few days late).  It is the middle of the night still and I have lists dancing through my head.  First thing this morning I am going to set the table.  Then finish unpacking the grocery delivery that came last night.  I took out the fridge stuff but forgot there were two bags of frozen raspberries in one of the bags.    Crap!!!!

I was going to mention the cookies Ange bought.  They are Dare's new Boston Cream Ultimate Doughnut flavour.  It's a sandwich cookie with one white and one brown cookie piece.  The inside is white icing.  She wanted my opinion of them. 

 So I took one out of the box, anticipating a Boston Cream doughnut flavour.....and even before it got to my mouth I could smell that it was no Boston cream.  And then I took one bite and within a few seconds spit it out into a tissue.  I'm not exaggerating here....It smelled and tasted just like a rat's nest.  They were just plain awful!!!  We made rude remarks then threw them away.

About ten minutes later I was in my chair and on my lappy and I could swear I could still smell that smell.  If you don't know what I am talking about, next time you get the opportunity, if someone actually finds a rat's nest and is destroying it, give it a snort.  Trust me, you will never forget that smell.  And that is what I kept smelling long after the box was disposed of and long gone.  Then as I picked up my coffee mug I noticed a weeny teeny piece of the cookie where I had set it had fallen off.  Minuscule!  And I could smell it from some distance.  That is how bad it was!!!  If you go on Amazon and look them up, both Ange and I left reviews you should read.  Hahaha!!!

Ange and I spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon on a project.  There are four people with birthdays clustered in this couple of weeks.  Ange, niece Dorothy, daughter April and sister Kathy.  And they are spread out through the week.  So Ange and I decided to create a birthday surprise for them that they will find out what it is on April eighth either in an email or on Facebook or here.  We had so much fun planning and executing it.  Just in case they read this thing I can't say what it is.  But I promise on the eighth I shall make a quick post and reveal!

Well I am getting sleepy.  I took a strong gravol last night, time release and I feel the next layer kicking in.  Around eight last night Monte made his dinner.  It was based on some of the ground turkey we bought at Costco.  I cannot stand the smell of ground turkey cooking.  It actually makes me super sick to the stomach....and he bought a ten pound log of the pink slimy goo.  I just got sicker and sicker as it cooked til finally I took a gravol.  It barely worked but did make me sleepy so I went to sleep fairly quickly.  I still woke up at three though!!!

Well the birthday present is out of the bag a day early.  It's pretty much April's birthday today in Vietnam.  I am going to try to post the pic here.  All for now...TFL&TTYL

 

DINNER DONE!

 I always forget how tasty our family recipe for curried chicken is.  You take that first bite and it immediately takes me back to the beginnings of that recipe that my sister and mom invented a hundred years ago.

I have had to make a couple minor changes.  For one thing Lipton doesn't make dry mushroom soup mix anymore and that was what was used to make the roux that thickened the sauce.  And no matter what I did by the time I had browned the chicken, the flour dredge in the frying pan was too burnt to use. So I would brown the chicken, layer it in the pan with the onion rings and pepper rings and then make a proper roux with butter and flour (lots), add the curry and seasonings, use chicken broth and make a boatload of yummy sauce, and lastly add fistfuls of brown sugar til quite sweet but not overpoweringly so.  I would pour the sauce over it all and into the oven til all brown and bubbly.  So darn good.

I also made subjit with carrots peas and potatoes.  But I did find out something new.  I made an apple crumble (and absolutely no oatmeal in the crumble...it's a big shovel list for me).  I bought ten apple crisp and eight grannies.  So at six in the morning I was sitting in my chair watching Water Rats, peeling and peeling and peeling.  All went well with the apple crisps.  Then it was the grannies.

Now I do not know who that Granny Smith was but she invented a crap apple.  Not only is it not fun to just chomp down raw but they are impossible to peel easily.  Jeez!  Thanks Granny Smith, thanks a freaking bunch!

Anyway it all turned out super delicious and by end of day I was completely bagged, my back was beyond help and my neuropathic feet were swollen and screaming.  What a loser.  But I so totally enjoyed the whole day and the visiting was awesome.

  Bryce is so bright and interesting and a real sweetheart.  At one point Monte and Bryce were into a heavy animated discussion about something I can't even repeat here it was so far above my mental pay grade!  At one point I just started to laugh.  I mean seriously you should have heard them.  Two men with ridiculous IQ's discussing something I have never even heard of or read about.  It was funny.

Now on another note...an embarrassing one.  It's the fact that I can't listen to music I love, new to me or old, without crying.  I have tried so hard to learn to stop that.  I start trying by distracting myself, hum loudly along, deep breathing, but nope.  Tears just roll down my face.  Jeez!!!  (shovel list). I don't know if it's because I am super sentimental or whatever or if its just old people cry too easily shit.  I don't know but it is just really aggravating.  And it isn't just crying!  I feel it right through me to my toes.  It's like my insides melt into pieces.  So painfully annoying and embarrassing.

But it isn't just music.  It is also tv.  I remember years ago watching Judging Amy with Tyne Daley.  She is one of my fave actresses.  But in the show if she started crying I would unbiddingly start crying right along with her.  I remember when a sad scene was coming to a head with her in it, I would start saying don't cry don't cry and sure as crap she would start crying...and so would I.  Dammit!!!

But now?  I start crying at any sad scene or anyone crying.  And boy! if they are playing a sad sad haunting song at the same time I almost collapse.  What the hell is that?

So now it is time to turn my attention to the next dinner.  Ange's birthday dinner is going to be her favourite, her choice, meatloaf.  On the sixth her friend Randi is coming over and we are going to have a birthday dinner.  I really like Randi. She is a lot of fun.

Next post I will tell you about the new cookies Ange bought.  There is a reason for telling this one!!!!

That is it for today.  I am going to try really hard to post a wee bit more often.  But only if I have something to report.  Have a great few days and TFL&TTYL

THEY WERE SO CUTE

I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE

MY ARM AND SHOULDER SEIZED UP

YOU'D THINK I WAS BUSY...I'M NOT!!!

    ONE OF MY MOST FAVOURITE PEOPLE...SHE WILL BE HUGELY MISSED BY EVERY ONE WHO WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO KNOW HER.  KERRY'S SISTER WENDY

 You would think I was too busy with life to take time to post a post.  Well I am not.  I think as my retirement continues my brain is atrophying.  When I talk to my contemporaries they are all busy with grandchildren and hobbies and people.  That's three things that are NOT in my life.  No grandchildren, no hobbies and no people.  But....that being said....

It is Ange's birthday tomorrow so next week she is having a friend over and I shall make dinner.  The request was for meatloaf...Ange's fave!!  And I love making it.  

Then on Sunday we invited Monte's friend Bryce over for a dinner.  We are buying a three boner prime rib and I shall make Yorkies and a boatload of gravy.

  He is the most interesting person.  He makes mead (from fireweed), flavoured vinegars, sauerkraut...no kombucha thank goodness.  He also does briskets and I am the grateful receiver of the trimmed off pure fat.  He is a most fascinating character!

I heard from April today.  They are in VietNam now.  They spent three days in Thailand on the beach and met up with a couple they will be continuing the trip with.  April is sicker than a dog.  That poor kid can't get a break.  She is also terrified to eat over there.  She keeps her epi pen right handy just in case.  I guess one of the letters on her passport looks like a number and by the time the security people figured it out they missed their plane.  They are in Saigon and have had to get a hotel for the night and they fly on tomorrow.  

When she told me they were in Saigon a shiver ran through me.  Hangover from the Vietnam war which still horrifies me all these years later.  Anyway they are spending the night in a Holiday Inn and travelling on tomorrow...meeting up with their friends.  Can you imagine the hassle that would have been before cell phones?

It's time to clean my house.  It's a mess and I have no one to blame but myself.  The dining room table is piled high again.  I am so sick and tired of cleaning that effing thing off.  I think when dinners are over next week I am going to upend the dam thing, take the legs off and get Monte to help me move it to tinny.  Eventually when we have manpower around it is going to Monte's office.  It is just too big and messy in here.  I think I am going to go back to a small round table and four chairs.  If there are five of us to dinner...one of us has to sit on the couch in the living room to eat.

So, speaking of that, I shall get off my butt and go clean said table.  I have no idea where all the oven stuff is going to go.  I store four frying pans and a dutch oven in the stove oven.  I need the oven on Sunday to make dinner.  Dang it.  Where's my junk dude!!!!

Gotta bounce!!!  TFL&TTYL

I DIDN'T DIE...FELT LIKE IT...BUT I DIDN'T

 Finally!!!  I was sick for 12 days with a few lingery days at the end.  My throat is sore from super heavy duty coughing.  Jeez Louise!!!  I was trying to remember the last time I was really sick and I couldn't. Oh piddlyass things and I did have an uncomfortable covid for two days.  A very mild case...thank you vaccines.  But really sick for days and days?  I honestly don't remember.

I haven't been out of the house even once since getting home.  It is buck*uck ugly out there.  Rain snow wind...nope.  Not going out in that!

I made a recipe, a follow along recipe the other day.  It was pounded out chicken breasts, something I never ever buy...never have ever bought a breast.  I don't like chicken much to begin with but breasts?  Why?  Tasteless dense chewy meat.  I feel the same about pork loin.  Have never bought it.

I used a cast iron frying pan.  Best casserole dish ever...no matter what you are making.  First layer went down..seasoned chicken.  Second layer was equal parts cream of chicken soup and sour cream...only I used mushroom soup plus poultry seasoning.  Thick layer.  Third layer was a couple of boxes of stuffing with lots of butter and chicken broth.  I packed that on top and into a 375 oven for an hour or more.  I wanted the top crunchy.

  What I appreciated about this recipe was zero canned tomato of any kind and zero freaking cheese.  I like cheese just fine but holy moly when you read recipes online the vast majority  are either Mexican or buried in cheese. This one smelled delicious!!!

Ange:  ate it but didn't say much about it.  I don't think my cooking is totally to her liking.  She doesn't eat fat.  To me fat is where the max flavour is...any type of fat.  Poor thing..fat doesn't agree with her digestive system.

Monte:  Absolutely totally loved it.  He usually just eats and says thanks.  This time he immediately made yum noises then actually out loud told me how much he loved it.  I had put the extra one in the fridge and I saw the next morning it was gone!

Me:  hated it.  OMG!!!  I could only take two bites.  I hate chicken breast and I don't think I like sour cream in mixed dishes.  I will make it for Monte...maybe.

Now I am on the hunt for a new dish to make.  I want one with no tomato, no cheese, no pasta, very little starch, no sour cream and doesn't look like a dog's breakfast on a plate.  Sigh!  (shovel list). The possibilities are getting slimmer and slimmer.  In the meantime I shall just stick to my raw wieners, sliced up tomatoes in homemade mayo or thousand islands.

Well I think today is the day I get ou1t of the house. The sun is actually shining out there! Monte is sleeping at the moment and probably will be for a while yet.  He was awake most the night.  But when he gets up I will get him to drive me down to the bank.  The reason why I'm going will maybe be mentioned some other time.  Makes me tired thinking about the why.  It is a massive (shovel list). 

I think I am getting tired of running the whole show here without help from Bill.  Car insurance, property tax, income tax, busted kitchen sink, broken florescent light fixture in kitchen, filthy needs paint walls, front door lock not working (it locks just difficult and dead battery), dishwasher in desperate need of deep cleaning by expert, I also desperately need double pained windows, house insurance is due and it is outrageously expensive due to wild fire hazard in Port, hot water tank needs replacing,  microwave door broke, van isn't running, a mystery pool of water shows up in the middle of the downstairs bathroom now and then,  deck needs massive repairs and work.....etc.  I wish I was a renter or still married to a handyman!  I am not really fully enjoying widowhood or retirement. lol!!!  Other than just selling this house and moving I am not sure how to solve all that.

Well time to put some green on and clean the mile high pile of crap on the dining room table.  Thank goodness the kitchen is clean!!!!

Sorry for whining.  TFL&TTYL

HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN JIGGITY JIG

 Home and sicker than a dog.  Wowza I haven't been sick like this in years.  This is way worse than the two days I had covid.  Coughing like a banshee..good thing my tonsils are gone...they would be stuck to my front room window by now...launched from my trusty dusty worn out chair.  And there is soooo much to do here and I can't move.  Whine.....

I spent two nights in the hotel with Mr. Man.  He was busy visiting his friend and going to Anton's for dinner...only the most amazing pasta palace.  I honestly do not remember what I did in that room....I got sick and I think my brain left to go elsewhere in a happier place.

Yesterday we left and drove straight home.  Although I will admit to dragging my sorry ass out of the car on the ferry and went up and got a bowl of their clam chowder, the most addictive stuff ever.  Then I skedaddled back down to the car to cough my lungs up in peace.  I hold my eyes in with my fingers when I super cough like that and I try not to do that part in public.  

Thats it.  All I got.  I can't think.  I shall catch up later when my legs are straighter, as my Billy used to  ALWAYS say.  TFL&TTYL

THE GANG ALL WAITING FOR A SUNSET 

I AM JUST PROVING I AM THE WORST SELFIE TAKER EVER

WE WENT FOR A WALK DOWN AT THE WATERFRONT

PARTY IN THE FRONT....NOT SO MUCH IN THE BACK

I GOT TO CUDDLE MY GREAT NEPHEW!!  

SMOOTH SAILING

The trip home was amazing for me...thanks to my incredible sister.  She had arranged on her phone a day or two before for a wheelchair to meet us as soon as we were about to line up for baggage check and then again in Calgary.

Now I will admit it was somewhat humbling.  That was the first time I had to admit to not being up to normal walking.  And after blowing out my knee one year on a cruise, Bill had to push me around Singapore in a rickety noisy wheelchair and it wore him out.  I was worried about poor Kathy pushing big old me through ridiculously loooong airports.  She kept saying she was fine but if pushing me could tax a huge tough man I knew that pushing me wasn't easy.  

At one point we came across a fairly long uphill ramp.  I was about to hop out and walk up, no way would she be able to push me up that hill, when a lovely looking pilot came along and told her to drag his luggage up the ramp and he would push me.  Which he did!!!  During this whole experience I was overwhelmed by the kindness of people.

We landed in a very snowy Calgary.  It was nine at night.  In the end we spent longer sitting around on a traffic jammed airport tarmac than we were in the air flying to Kamloops.  But we finally got to the Kamloops Airport by around three in the morning.  And there was Kerry, a very welcome sight, all ready to take us home.

I want to mention Jackie here.  She was one of the ladies on the trip.  Her dad and Bill signed up for the RCMP at the same time.  And way back when her dad was a teen they moved right beside my mom's parents in Kelowna.  What a coincidence!

The reason I mention her is she is the one that had the kutzpa to go to the lobby about the lack of decent stairs in the pool.  And down below I have put a picture to show what her smarts caused!!!  We were all so very proud of her!!!

I had one day at Kathy's before catching the bus to Vancouver.  I called Anne and made arrangements for her to pick me up.  She invited me to a lunch across town.  It was in the back of a thrift shop, run by a Catholic Church.  I am not sure if it's everyday or not but they serve seniors a free lunch made by a variety of people from the congregation.  And it being the first weekend lunch or something it was borscht and perogie day!!!  Now this is not something I would normally feel comfortable just showing up at but she was really wanting me to meet some of the people there.  So I agreed.

Well let me tell ya, it was fantastic.  Homemade pirogies and sour cream and the best borscht I have ever had.  And there were lots of seniors there.  I got talking to one lady across from me only to find out we went to Norkam together and knew all the same people.  What a head psyche that was!!!   She filled me in on how many and who are dead.  Yikes.  I feel a bit lucky to be alive. Overall what an awesome experience it was.  I am so glad I did the trip and did the lunch.  

I think over the last seven years since moving to Port I have become people and experience shy.  No one visits me on the island (I don't blame them) and I have lost interest in making friends.  I think I will revisit joining the senior club in Port.  They have about 65 different things I can join.  

Well this is getting long and a little diary ish.  Til next post TFL&TTYL

WHILST IN THE THRIFT SHOP I CAME ACROSS THIS GEM.  I WOULD GIVE MY RIGHT YOU KNOW WHAT TO HAVE THESE IN MY LIVING ROOM AT HOME.  WAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

JUST A LITTLE NACHOS WHILE WAITING FOR THE SHUTTLE TO THE AIRPORT

THERE SHE IS!!!  JACKIE, STANDING ON THE VERY STAIRS SHE TOLD THEM THEY NEEDED.  HOW POWERFUL IS THAT????!!!!

 

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT A COMPLAINT

 I am dead serious. This is NOT a complaint.  I am about to point out all the ridiculous anomalies of this four and a half star resort.  Everything, and I mean everything, is just a little off.  It's like they put together a great idea that slid just a bit as it was completed.  But without a doubt this has been by far the most interesting!!!

I am sitting right now at a small pedestal type table outside of their coffee shop.  I have to keep a foot on one of the feet to keep the table from seriously wobbling every time I press a laptop key.  I tested each table before sitting and they all wobbled..some much worse than the one I chose. 

 On one of the tables is a public use jenga game.  Seriously.  It isn't possible to play jenga on a wobbly table.

Most of the hard chairs for sitting, whether at a restaurant venue or at these tables are supremely uncomfortable because they are missing most of their backs.  It is possible they are designed to keep us moving but jeez...we need some time to gorf down our food or finish our Nine hole Golf game or crib game.

All over the resort property there are stairs and ramps and without notice..different levels of floors.  The level changes are very small and not noticeable from five to six feet above.  Suddenly you are a couple inches lower or higher.  Very off putting.  And the stairs down to the small crowded beach are old rickety wooden ones that are totally uneven.  Other cement stairs here don't have railings..not good for some of us tippy or drinky people!

And speaking of stairs, the one pool for the three nine story buildings has a wee set of stairs attached to the wall of the pool and are very very hurtfully narrow.  Painful!!!  And if statistics are correct sixty percent of us have diabetes of some sort.  This means we have very neuropathic feet...again, painful!!! 

 One of our crew who shall remain nameless, bless her, had the ovaries to go to the lobby and give them what for and told them they need to put proper stairs in and out of the pool!!!  I was so very impressed with her!!!  In fact we have made suggestions to her about other things she should go to the lobby about!!!

The beds...oh the beds.  They are big and very comfy.  The bedding fresh, beautifully white.  The pillows are plentiful  various sizes for our comfort.  These lovely beds are placed on large sticky outy wooden platforms.  I now have a gouged leg and so does Kathy from rounding the corners of those beds and taking  chunks out of our shins.  The last time I did it, and of course at exactly the same spot it had already happened once or twice, I swore like a seasoned sailor and proceeded to walk over every inch of the room, bleeding the whole way then climbed into that pristine white bed.  And it's clear that due to our age in that room it wasn't.....well you know.  It was from an injury dammit!!!

The food is all Mexican...which is lovely.  But after a while it becomes monotonous.  Every meal is basically the same stuff.  But...their soups are unbelievably delicious.  Nothing even slightly off about them!!!  The salsas are also great except you can't tell if they are perfect or blistering hot.  You have to ask and sometimes they don't even know. 

 Today at lunch I asked a lovely Mexican waiter which of the ten bowls of rainbow coloured salsa was safe to eat.  He didn't know.  So he took each spoon and dropped a glob on the palm of his hand and licked it up!!!  hahahaha!!!!  He eventually found the right ones.  That is definitely taking one for the team!!  Then he told me he didn't like hot ones!!!!

This morning I came down for breakfast and there was a line up out the door.  I went past it to the girl signing everyone in and she said it would be a half hour wait.  Now so far we have been able to get a table but honestly I wasn't surprised.  That buffet dining room is so small..at least small for three nine story buildings.  I was mad.  Half an hour later it was not so busy but still....just a little off.

Lastly, well there is more but you get the drift.  I left the bedroom this morning and guess what?  The elevator isn't working.  Sigh.  I can walk down from the fifth floor but I am not sure my fat ass would make it back up before our stay here is over.  I found a person that works here and she got someone who finally fixed one of them.  Always just a little something...keeps it interesting!!!

One last word...one more thing.  This one is not a little off.  This one is perfection.  And that is the employees here.  Whether it's the restaurant staff or the cleaning crews or the bartenders....the men and women who work here are absolutely amazing incredible people.  They are so attentive, friendly, kind, no judging people.  I love them.  It is amazing how you can make friends with them so quickly and so memorable.  I will remember Filipe from the dining room forever.

Next I will write about the seven people I am here with.  Hahahaha!!!  Just kidding!!!  I would never do that.  Let it suffice for me to say that this is an amazing awesome group to be friends with.  I don't feel worthy.  TFL&TTYL

AWKWARD POOL AREA

WHERE I WAS SITTING OUTSIDE THE CAFE BLOGGING THIS POST

NOTE THERE IS NO USA FLAG!!!!

JUST A WEE BIT OF  PIXELATED EYE CANDY

RAMPS AND STAIRS AND RAMPS AND STAIRS

A LOVELY ECHOY LOBBY

ANOTHER LOBBY, STORE AND BAR.COFFEE SHOP AT THE FAR END.

OUT THE LOBBY WINDOW

NO, THAT IS NOT MARSHMALLOW SALAD IT IS TONS OF DELICIOUS CIVICHE

SO WHO LOST AND WHO IS GLOATING AND WHO DOESN'T CARE AND WHO IS THAT???

DRINKING AT THE BEACH FROM FAT LADY CUPS

AWESOME HOLIDAY!!!!

What makes an awesome holiday?  Fantastic people in your group, relaxation, laughter, perfect (for me) digs, awesome bed and I love my roommate to pieces.  What more could one want?  Maybe the food could be a little less monotonous but if thats the only complaint then it's all a win win.

I have only two complaints about the room.  No balcony (that would keep me from coming back here) and the type of frame the bed sits on.  The platform corners stick way out and before we got purposely careful I stupidly didn't watch and twice, in the same spot, took chunks out of my leg.  The second time it bled and I was so flipping mad I just let it bleed...all over the room and in the bed.  I feel bad about that now but...hmmm...maybe not.  Stupid beds.

I am sitting in my bed as I write now.  The US and Canada hockey is on.  Everyone has gone over to one of our crew's upgraded suite to watch.  We go there each evening and gather for drinks before dinner.  So kind of them to share their beautiful room.  They actually get both a sunset and a sunrise in the room!!!

These seven people we are with are the most wonderful people.  Funny, kind, intelligent (that is important!) and interesting.  Even if I was willing to write a negative about them I wouldn't be able to.

  And they don't force me to always join them.  Due to certain issues I shan't describe here (you should be grateful about that!} and my balance and falling problem I don't go down to the beach much.  I have a real problem with getting out of those chairs down there and its kind of scary navigating the steps and ramps to get there.  Plus it's too dangerously far from the facilities.  But I am totally happy wandering around the safer parts of the place and I am very busy in my room writing and reading.  I hope they understand.

Each night Kathy and I are in bed by around nine.  And then we watch Bridgerton.  It is so fun.  But we are all caught up now and will have to find something else.  This morning it's hockey.  I am not much of a fan anymore...unless the Detroit Red Wings are involved...which of course they almost never are.  So I decided to stay here in the room and post on the blog.

I am putting a few pics at the bottom.  They aren't all mine.  In fact my fave fave fave one was taken by Marian.  It is the most beautiful picture. I may get it blown up and frame it for my wall in my bedroom at home.  It is beautiful

So before signing off I am going to mention the food.  I am pretty experienced with buffets due to cruising.  Some of the those buffets we visited for three weeks in a row and I have to say they were radically different every night and delicious.  Not so much here.

They are all some form of sauce with lumps of things in it...chicken pieces, beef pieces, lots of pork, the trifecta.onion, bell peppers and carrots, bananas, corn combos etc.  Then there are salads, coleslaws and some fruit and veg ones.  At the back of the food area is a giant hot slab of steel grill.  A night or two ago they wrapped wieners in something and fried them.  One day they had a donair type rotisserie meat thing.  Lots of pork dishes.  But all the same in sloppy sauces which taste the samish. I have a similar observation about restaurant Indian food.  Pans and pans of sauces with different lumps in it.  But the difference there is each one has its own delightful flavour.  Each bite with naan or roti makes its own dish.  Not so much here! 

But there are two things that are absolutely perfect and that is their cream soups and their bread.  Their soups are unbelievable...cream of cauliflower, cream of potato and leek, cream of carrot etc...  Desserts are ho hum but now and then they put something new in there that isn't moussey, gelified and/or creamified and those are good.

Last night we went to the Asian specialty restaurant on the property here.  It was fantastic and we are planning to go back!  We were kind of blind ordering from an enormous menu.  Kathy ended up with a delightful dish of ribs...but way too spicy for her.  I ended up with a delicious beef in a sweet Korean sauce.  She doesn't tolerate really spicy stuff and I love it so we switched.  The meal was awesome.

So thats it for today.  I am going to finish the game here, shower and head downstairs in time for lunch!  More delicious cream soup and dunking brown bread.

TFL&TTYL

THIS WAS TAKEN BY MARIAN, MY ALL TIME FAVE PIC.  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS PICTURE

OUR BREAKFAST IN OUR ROOM

KATHY TOOK THIS! I THINK SHE IS PLANNING TO SEND IT TO KERRY TO SHOW HIM WHAT HE IS MISSING.  OUT OF PROPORTION GIANT FAT HAUNCHES IS WHAT I SEE.

 

THE FOOD TROUGH!

JUST CHILLIN' ON THE BEACH...A VERY BADLY TAKEN SELFIE.  I AM NOT GOOD AT IT!

THREE OF THE LOVELY LADIES IN OUR GROUP!  JACKIE, MARIAN AND SUE

OUT OUR WINDOW WHICH TURNS EVERYTHING BLUE

OH MY ACHING BONES!!!

 It's wheelchair travel for me now on!!!  Holy cow!!!  My step counter on my phone pegs me at an average of five thousand steps a day since leaving.  As you loyal readers may remember my average steps are fifty or less.  I now know what the meaning of 'my whatever was screaming at me' means.  My whatever was my hip, tailbone and back.  I really didn't think I was going to get to my destination yesterday after we landed in Cancun.  But a good night's sleep fixed it up nicely and today I am purposely taking it easy.

Our first flight out of Kamloops was delayed by six hours due to weather in Calgary.  So when we did land there our plane to Cancun was long gone.  We then walked a million miles to the end of the earth, I mean the airport, to a bistro to get supper.  By then we were all starving.  Somehow a package of teeny delicious pretzels didn't cut it.  Dinner at the bistro was absolutely delicious...and not just because we were hungry.  Off to a lovely hotel for the night.  

Calgary was under a fair amount of snow...not the most I have ever seen but lots.  And as we shuttled to the hotel it was pretty funny to see so many vehicles stuck in the snow.  So it isn't just lower mainland people that can't drive in snowy conditions!!!  Calgarians should know how to drive in snow.  A lot of them clearly don't!!!

Up at 4:30 in the morning and off to the airport for our final plane trip to Cancun.  So braving the thirty below temps and blowing wind outside, we were off to the airport.  We all got onto the plane no problem and then we were told the water line for the plane (it was a biggun') froze.  So another hour to unfreeze it and we were finally off, a day late but oh well.  Alls well that ends well.

I am currently sitting in the room Kathy and I are in.  This place, compared to other ones we have been in, isn't quite as nice.  No balcony, a pretty bare room, not many amenities in room.  But the bed is super comfortable, a nice big tv, coffee makings, beer and water in the fridge and a fantastic bathroom. This place suits me to a tee.  I love it.

Last night we went straight in to the dining room and the eight of us sat at a table.  They are the nicest group of people.  Honestly I am so so lucky to be with this group.  We had dinner.  Kathy and I both noticed though that the serving utensils at the buffet didn't have a spot to put them down after using them.  You had to rest the handle on the side of the pan of food.  They slide off into the food constantly.  People's hands are not necessarily washed.  It doesn't overly bother me but I have the constitution of a horse...some of them don't.  At least a couple in our group are immunity compromised for whatever reason and it can be a little worrying for them.  I know on cruise ships they either dish you up or they have utensil resting spots.

So now here we are after a great nights sleep.  All the others are out on the beach but I opted to come back up to the room to shower and unpack.  Crap!!!  I am sitting on the bed and I see I have bled on the bedspread.  White one no less.  I banged my shin on the sticking out bed platform corner.  I didn't realize it bled.  Jeez between falling down the stairs at Kathy's and taking my knee out on the brick fireplace hearth and banging the other leg up here I look like I have a problem.  Lol!!!

Well now I can either take a nap or go eat another meal, after all it has been a whole hour since eating a massive breakfast.  I shall sign off here and I shall post again when something happens!!!  TFL & TTYL

AS USUAL ALL OUT OF ORDER.  KATHY AT THE BREAKFAST SPOT

OUT THE WINDOW.  I THINK KATHY TOOK THIS ONE

DRINK NUMBER ONE IN OUR ROOM

OUT A DIRTY ROOM WINDOW.  OUR FIRST SUNSET.

IN OUR CALGARY ROOM.  I THINK WE WERE DOING OUR LAST FREE AND EASY COMMUNICATIONS WITH OUR NEAREST AND DEAREST!

UP UP AND AWAY

 Today is our last day to get ready and cover all our bases before setting off at four in the morning for first Calgary and then Cancun!!! 

I have had an amazing time with the Kathy family the last few days.  All three of her girls were here plus new wee Gordon.  What a special time.  He is one gorgeous baby!!!  And Emily and Drew are turning out to be almost perfect parents.  I would say perfect but...well nothing is actually perfect!  But I can't think of one thing they do wrong or wonky.  And Emily is just so relaxed and so comfy with sharing her baby with all of us.  And I can honestly say I wish I had had a Drew when I had all my babies.  He is actually one dad that is a dad...not a 'babysitter'.  He is such a natural with Gordon.  It has been a real family time...which I have super been needing.  I don't see family very often.

I also saw Anne a couple of times.  Her gorgeous nineteen year old grandson is living with her while he attends the university here.  I have known him since he was born.  But I only get to see him once in a blue moon.

The first day I was there we decided to order Chinese food to celebrate Anne's 81st birthday.  We could have gone out but I really wanted to see Max.  So we ordered enough food to sink a ship.  They ate the leftovers for two more days and then some!  It was awesome and of course Anne and I talked a blue streak!  One time when we were a little younger we talked for 17 hours straight!!!  I kid you not!!!

So now it is time to seriously put some personal filters in place.  I go months and months not seeing people and it's clear I have regressed on my conversational skills.  I am too loud, too strong in opinion, too ready to share my research knowledge, too too too.  It's kinda like the thoughts dammed up in my head suddenly burst through.  

I can't talk to Monte.  He just takes over and I don't get a chance to say anything for the next hour.  Although what he says is totally interesting.  And I don't see Ange anymore.  She has taken over the bathroom downstairs so she has no need to come upstairs. When she used to I would have things to share and I think she felt trapped and totally uninterested in my musings.  She was very polite and patient about it!!!

Both Monte and Ange are loners.  They seem quite happy with absolutely no one in their lives and no interest in changing that.  I am not like that.  I love visiting and learning about people and who they are and their histories.  Those two clearly do not.  Sigh.

  But I do talk with the girls by text and I get to talk to all you lovely folks!!!  Thank goodness.  And you always have the option of not reading this thing and I would never know.  hahaha!!!  Not like poor Ange sliding down the stairs trying to get away while I am finishing a story.  Or Monte just flat out saying 'I have to go'.  I shall practice with all the people going with us to Mexico.  I think almost all of them used our Maui condo occasionally.

I remembered at the last minute I needed to update and buy health insurance for this trip.  By the time we were through it was 330 bucks.  Kathy had a great suggestion of using Costco.  They were probably cheaper but the thought of reading out to them all the  names of all the unpronounceable pills and their amounts etc...was too daunting.  Easier to just pay and trust that BCAA, who has the list already, isn't all that much more.

So now I must go and finish cleaning up this lovely little suite downstairs here in preparation of leaving in the middle of the night.  What a treat this place is!  I will have wifi and my laptop in Mexico so I shall be posting and probably sharing inappropriate pictures!!!  TFL & TTYL

BIG THINGS I AM NOT USED TO

So many things!!!  I sit in that chair of mine at home and never go out and no one comes to visit.  It sounds sad but it's not.  I have had an over busy life and I am totally enjoying my down time now.

The trip on the Hullo ferry was somewhat disturbing at first.  I don't really go anywhere without knowing what the seating arrangements are.  I can't walk long distances without having to sit for short spells to straighten out my tailbone etc...

Well from the parking lot to the actual ferry is loooong!  And I had an immensely heavy backpack, heavy purse and a super heavy suitcase.  But I made it onto that beautiful walk on boat.  We were downtown Vancouver so fast!  Aryn and Bradley met me there and helped with the luggage.  We got a taxi and went to their place.  We had a fantastic time!  Aryn had made all kinds of Super Bowl snacks and we watched the game and visited.  It was so good to see them.

April and Myles just happened to be going through a very traumatic few days right about then.  Not my story to tell and I won't but I will just say that they are going through a lot right now.  My mind has been divided between what was happening at my moment and what was happening at theirs.  I wish I could have been with them at least a little.

Pardon the size of print and paragraph distances.  Another thing to deal with...an update on my laptop.  I hate updates.  They change everything and I am an old stick in the mud.  I don't like change.

Aryn and Bradley drove me down to the bus terminal the next day.  I have taken a bus to Kamloops a hundred times in the past so no angst there.  The trip seemed fast and it was good except....there was a fellow sitting behind me.  He opened a giant bag of chips and through all the rattling of that bag, he ate the chips with a wide open mouth.  In between he would slurp a drink then burp.  I mean come on!!!  Then he farted!!!!  I heard it!!!  And the aroma permeated the whole area and it took forever to clear out.  I almost said something to him but he was too scary.  He got off in Chilliwack thank goodness.

It was so good to see Kathy waiting at the stop in Kamloops.  Coming to Kamloops still feels a lot like coming home.  Kathy and Kerry are the best hosts.  They have a little cute suite downstairs where I stay.  It's perfect!  I shall be unpacking stuff I don't need in Mexico and lightening my load.  I will pick it up when I get back.

Yesterday Kerry drove me down to Emily's to not only visit but to be introduced to a brand new little human being.  Oh my Goodness!!  Gordon is about two months old, smiling to beat the band and very responsive to you.  I got to sit in a comfy rocking chair and snuggle him for an age whilst he slept.  It was heavenly.  Plus visiting with Em was great!!!

Now more things are on the agenda.  Last night I was heading to my cozy little suite when I fell down the three stairs to the lower level.  I hit my knee on the edge of their brick hearth.  And then I proceeded  to roll around trying to get up, like a beached whale.  Very embarrassing and distressing for them.  I felt bad.  I finally got up and skedaddled to my rooms.  I need to convince them I am used to falling!!!  My depth perception is gone!!!  Causes falls.

Now today, it's 4:30 in the morning right now. I think its and stay and relax day.  Jo is coming up at two for a visit.  I love visiting with her!!!  Actually I love visiting with all three of their girls!  And I get to see Ainsley and Stirling!  I haven't seen them since April's wedding. 

So it has been busy, sad, exciting, painful, embarrassing, cuddly, delicious, so many things over so few days!!!  I just ain't used to all this excitement.  I love it!!!  Next....MEXICO!!!

TFL&TTYL....FROM MEXICO

TEN DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 It has been ten days since I posted.  My apologies.  I used to read blogs back in the day when people actually blogged their basic life.  And it was so annoying when someone wouldn't post for days.  You come back and check and check and no post.  Then you start to wonder what the hell is going on.  So freaking annoying.

One time I was reading a particular blog.  This would have been back before 2003. Back then the general trend of posters were single anti social women.  Once in a while there would be a woman with kids.  There were and still are bloggers with a specific interest...sewing, cooking, gardening, the queer community etc...  I wasn't interested in them.  I far preferred the general dear diary type and would deep dive into their personal lives.

There was one lady with a busy life.  She was a member of the queer community and she belonged to a queer choir in Seattle.  She was really funny and had a busy life which appealed to my nosyness.  Once in a while she would take an extra few days to post and I would go back and check multiple times.

One time it took quite a while for her to post.  I kept checking and people were commenting in the comments...calling on her to please post already yet!!!  The last time when I checked after a couple of weeks there was a post....finally!!!  I started to read and in the very first line whomever was writing identified himself as her brother and she had been killed in a car crash a couple of weeks before.  OMG!!!  It was like losing a member of my family.  I was on the fourth year of her blog posts.  I knew this woman inside out.  It was a shock and it was painful.  I have never forgotten that.

So if there isn't a post for a long time here I could be dead.  If so I apologize.  Lol!!!!  Just know I have completed my bucket list ... and Bill's bucket list, several times over and I have read hundreds of near death experiences and I know exactly where I am going should I die.  Yup!!!  And it's a waaaay nicer place than earth.  I am totally jiggy with it.

On that note I want to mention another one I was reading at that time.  She was a late thirties, chubby cute single lady with cats. One of the things about these personal blogs is how cagey they are about their identity and location.  But due to sleuthing (reading backwards reflections of signs in windows etc) I deduced that she lived a few blocks from me in North Van and she worked for Skytrain.  I even figured out which apartment building she lived in.

Anyway I read her blog for a number of years.  At one point she wrote that she had a fellow friend from Seattle visiting her for a few days.  He came up on the Greyhound into Vancouver and she picked him up.  There followed a couple of posts about his visit.  She did post pictures of herself and her cats.

Then one day a creepy strange thing happened.  I was either going to Kamloops on the bus or picking someone up, I don't remember, and as I walked towards the doors that led outside to where the buses came and went, she came in as I approached those doors.  It was just so strange to see someone I knew so well but actually didn't!  I almost said hello!!!  But I quickly realized that that would be totally inappropriate and possibly scary for her so for once in my life I slammed a filter in place.  But it was very unnerving to see her after four years of reading all about her life.  Eventually she switched to twitter which I could not follow and lost  her.

Now...back to me  hahaha!!!! I have been busy these past few days.  This Kamloops/Mexico trip has been the hardest trip to pack for that I have ever experienced.  I have been on so many trips I can't count them.  But every one of those trips was either a hot country or a mildly cold one.  Greenland was pretty chilly I must say.  But other than there packing for those trips was pretty easy.

But this upcoming trip is really difficult.  I am spending one week in Kamloops where it can actually suddenly be 25 below zero.  And then ten days in Mexico.  And all I have is a medium 22 inch rolly suitcase and a smallish backpack.  And when you are a hefty heifer your clothes are huge and take up space.  My living room looks like my closet threw up.  Piles of musts for cold here, musts for hot there, possibles for both temps on the floor, wishful thinking clothes.  Jeez!!!!  And I like to pack choices, not just necessaries.  I am looking at my packed suitcase...which isn't closed yet.  I am hoping that it WILL close.

I leave Sunday by the walk on only ferry in Nanaimo.  Aryn and Bradley will be picking me up.  I spend a night at their place and then they take me to the bus the next day....then bus to Kamloops and stay til the 17th.  Then we fly to Calgary and then on to Cancun.  I am getting pretty excited!!!  Home again on the 27th.

So that is way more than you ever wanted to know about anything.  I shall stop now!  TFL&TTYL