ETC.

Monday Monday.... did a bit more in my closet... have a bag of donations now and an "almost" amazing closet! Just need to find a bit more space for my duvet, etc. and then sort through my "work" clothes and delegate them to the basement for the time being!

Ruth and Pete stopped in for coffee.... woke me up as I had not fallen asleep until 5:30 a.m. That was unbelieveable... haven't done that in years... my head just kept going round and round about absolutely nothing.... finally took a couple of Tylenol as my hip was acting up as well.... so when they knocked on the door at 9:30 I was still snoring.....

Watered the yard and pulled some dead flowers and generally assessed what I need to do to put it all away for the winter BEFORE I leave for Australia....

Made appointments for groomer and for vet for the babes....

Fay sent me a copy of the show on the house.... it was great! She made the house look fabulous and me not so bad.... so need to send it off to Lee etc.....

Having lunch with Cheryl tomorrow.... can't wait to see her...

SUNDAY SUNDAY!

Have been working on the closet from hell all weekend! Made extremely good progress! As I'm doing, I'm packing for Australia! Makes it so much easier and I know what I still have to do. Not that I have that many seasons to cover this time.. two months but mostly late spring/early summer... so what I'm wearing now.

Hip been bothering me all weekend so kind of slowed me down. Have stayed home and when I do that I find I settle down and I don't worry so much about what I'm not doing. It's all about staying in the moment. Watched golf... Tiger didn't win but came from behind to "almost"... that's when I love watching him the most!

Making a good dinner for tonight... barbequed chicken and potatoes with onions and garlic in foil cooked on the barbie! Yum!

Cheryl must be here now... don't expect to hear from her until tomorrow... having lunch Tuesday after my acupuncture appointment!

AND THE BEAT GOES ON.....

Thursday.... Tammy coming to clean so I left.... went to Winner's to buy the largest suitcase I could find as I am limiting myself to one suitcase no matter what! Hope it works.....

Had coffee with Sharon which was lovely to catch up.... did groceries and came home.... afternoon coffee with Pat (Joanne's mom).... that was super nice too... cannot believe she's 78.... so nice to know someone older than I who has been retired for awhile.... she was very supportive... not by saying things get better but by saying, yes, you do have to create your own life.... and all the issues I'm facing are normal!

Tomorrow I start the "closet from hell".... boxes and bags for donations and my HUGE suitcase for Australia.... I'm ready to go!

DONE!

Shoot completed and it went well.... pretty day with good light..... will be on CTV at 5:00 August 31st....

Now on to the closet.... going out to buy a LARGE suitcase first... so I can dump all the stuff I'm taking to Australia into it as I tear the closet apart! Consignment/Donations here I come!

Bought travel health insurance yesterday! Yikes to the treble.... $539 ... ageing penalty! For 66 days! Marianne told me that I can put this on my income tax so that will help because there's no choosing about the insurance....heard too many
horror stories about people losing their savings because they became ill overseas!

Cheryl in Lethbridge tomorrow.... so looking forward to seeing her!

38 MORE SLEEPS!

Yes, that's all.... then it's Australia for 57 days.... so much to do before then! I think my procrastinating is to create the feeling I actually have a ton to do and I'd better get busy!

The shoot for the CTV piece is Wednesday... can't wait for it to be over as it's painful to keep everything neat and tidy and to always be noticing a dirt speck! Not my style!

Tomorrow to the hospital for another pre-op appointment... then groceries and then do all the finishing touches for the shoot.

Going to Calgary on the 31st to do some work with Penny creating funding applications for the Association..... should be fun....

Bought Lee her usual pj's and a bracelet for her just past birthday!

Feeling good.... Alicia home so more sounds in the house and I like that! She has decided to stay another year and I am very grateful for that... this isn't the year I wanted a new tenant but now that money counts in my budgeting... a lot!

ETC., ETC.

It's Saturday.... yesterday Fran from CTV dropped by to look at the house... she wants to show it on the Sticks and Stones segment of the CTV 5:00 News.... she produces.... so today I am trying to put it all back together.... I have way too much paper around... books, mags, things to do lists, emigration stuff, Australia stuff... and where to put it!? That's the question... think I need to buy a desk with a hutch and drawers.. might help! But the show will only show the great room (kitchen/living room), the bathroom (of course) and my bedroom! So can use office to dump everything until they finish shoot next Wednesday.

Feeling a bit panicky about Australia in terms of the dogs... Alicia not back until Tuesday... but I do know Nola can be backup... it's more their food... do I cook all of it now... or half of it and expect Alicia to cook when she is in her last semester and will probably be stressed enough... we'll see..... I am sure they won't starve.

Colin, my carpenter, is coming back to do the back door.... looked at new door handles and the one I love is basically $200... who knew! So need to think about that! He's going to fix the ensuite floor as well.

So, better get back to the cleaning up....

HOME AGAIN

And not sure I'm happy about it! Feeling very disconcerted.... not missing my job... but understanding that each day will only be what I create! And not sure
I'm up for it right now.... and yet, I must be or I shall get totally depressed!

Had a very nice time with my family at the reunion.... found it interesting that
few asked me about Dad.... or spoke of his suicide.... maybe not so strange.. it
had been 10 years since his funeral and that was the last time I had seen most of
them!

I truly feel sucky and alone today.... hope I get over it soon!

HERE I GO AGAIN!

Back on the road tomorrow heading for the Stuart reunion! Staying in Golden as the total drive is way over what I can do..... booked the hotel so don't need to worry about a place to stay!

Bought a bathing suit if you can believe..... the most hated task of all.... trying on bathing suits.... BUT.... I went to Travelman and it was just way too easy... saw one right off that I liked and they had one that fit! Can you believe that! Just took the VISA out and paid without kavetching about the price (you don't want to know!). Should do me for the rest of my life....

All ready to go without a great deal of fuss which is cool.... so.... talk to you at th end of this week!

SOLUTION REACHED!

Thank god for friends! Thought I was going to have to cancel the trip to the Stuart Reunion as my dog/housesitter cancelled..... but Marianne stepped in and is staying Friday and Saturday nights and I am coming home one day early which is no big deal! I'll stay for the Saturday evening barbeque and then travel to Golden which is only three hours..... easy drive even after all that food!

Today is a lovely weather day... sun's out and it's only 25.... perfecto! Cleaned my deck but it needs the blasting thingamagig..... the dirt looks ground in after all that rain! But at least it looks inviting enough to sit on again....

Jan and Maynard just stopped by... it's Jan's 46th birthday! Maynard very stressed about his upcoming surgery.... hard for him to be present but he knows it.... I totally get it as even with my surgery which isn't for another 8-10 months, I have
fears.... pretty normal, I think....

Looking forward to the reunion and the drive now.... much cooler everywhere so I should be good in terms of breathing! Going to do my wash and set aside stuff for packing.... going to keep that low key though as it's minimum days.... just need comfy stuff especially for the driving part! Booked Ramada in Golden for the first night.... have discovered Seniors' Rate....whoopee!

ANOTHER DAY COST MORE THAN ANOTHER DOLLAR!

Weather still overcast and I love every second of it! Experience in Vancouver still way too fresh.

Took dogs to groomer and now they look beautiful! Tess appears to be doing better but not counting on it! I could swear she's menopausal and driving not only me but herself crazy.

Found the dry dogfood that they "appear" to like at Just for Pets so that's good... maybe I can quit cooking so much for them.

Starting to pack a bit for family reunion next weekend... leaving Wednesday.... borrowed a plug in cooler so I can have food available at reunion. Just about every relative has a motorhome or pull trailer.... my other two cousins and I are staying at hotel so we have work out our food sources differently than everyone else!

STILL ON VACATION - IN MY MIND!

Third day of my return home and still haven't unpacked! Is that good or bad? Think I am really still on "vacation" - different than "retired"!

To be honest I am feeling discombobulated - however, I totally get it that I am supposed to be doing/feeling exactly what I am feeling/doing (not doing?). Think I would be fooling myself if I thought I could walk away from a job I love without any sadness. That is not the issue for me.... it's staying present with today and not running off "getting busy"....

Now that I've been home for a few days and look back at Vancouver - never mind the horrendous weather I experienced (apparently those were the hottest days EVER recorded in Vancouver) - I see it as it is today and know there isn't any going back - that's as far as I've managed to travel (in my mind!)....

Starting to ready for the family reunion in the Shuswap next week.... hopefully all the fires will be under control and the air quality will not deteriorate any further!

After that it's Cheryl and Griff's homecoming plus a few other events... and then it's time to pack for Australia....

Wicked thunderstorms tonight... we are to have a week of them with temps in the mid to high teens.... I am not complaining! Feels good to be this cool! Hopefully the lightening doesn't do damage or injure anyone!

HOME!

Yes, I'm back and back much earlier than planned! The heat and the B.C. fires sent me running home! No one was moving and no one wanted to move.... and Linda's apartment was worse than a hot box!

So, I did stay with Dot,Dorothy, Benji and had coffee with Doreen! Wonderful to see all those folks even if it was uncomfortable weather (to say the least!).

Overwhelmed by the growth in B.C. and the prices! Won't be living in the Lower Mainland as it takes a lot of money to do so... the only place worth looking at was the Hope area and not sure about that! The other areas were between Creston and Cranbrook... beautiful valley sites and stunning views!

Maybe this trip was about "wanting what I already have"!