Ouch

Today was the CT scan. I must admit that I was nervous this morning, fear of the unknown set in yet I put on a brave facade and off to the hospital we went.

The first thing they had me do was read and sign a form which informed me of possible side effects, one of which is death (1 in 200,000), this almost had me turning around and running from the hospital! Then came the video of what they were going to do. Next they came at me with a harpoon which they dubbed an IV and I was whisked off to the waiting area.

I browsed though a few magazines, and shhh... I ripped a few advertisement pages out of one of them, then it was time for the actual scan. I was positioned on a bed, feet hanging over the edge and this was when the nice lady suggested that I breathe (I guess I was holding my breath due to anxiety then I remembered my breathing techniques for stressful situations and it actually works!) Once the dye was injected I felt hot right from the roots of my hair to the underside of my toenails, quite the feeling I must add! Then out of nowhere a wave of nausea set in yet it passed very quickly. The actual scan lasted for about ten minutes, now it's the waiting for the results. Tick, tick, tick...

I have felt nauseous all day, tired, and out of sorts. I hope that this passes by morning, one more day of work before I taste freedom instead of that metallic taste I had in my mouth! I must be insane but none the less I was out desk shopping About six stores later, feeling super crappy and almost chewing a salesman's head off, I found "the" desk!

I am extremely grateful Herb was with me, this helped lessen the anxiety to a large degree, thanks hun for being here with me.

Sisters

Today I went to return my sisters key which I still had from when I tended to her plants while she was away for a bit. I was so tired that I asked if I could borrow her guest room for a few hours and that I did. I wasn't thinking clearly obviously, Julie also is a P365er, her photo of the day is "sleeping beauty!"

I love my sister immensely as I do all of my sisters. I feel that God blessed my life with my wonderful family.. but did He have to allow this particular sister a camera? ;-)
Here's the link to "Sleeping Beauty"

http://juliej-project365.blogspot.com/2009/07/sleeping-beauty.html

I haven't as of yet figured out how to include a link into my writing, so until I do this will have to suffice.

Moving Day... continued

Today consisted of getting the last few things from my old place along with a few other things. It's been a hectic few weeks, this past two days being the craziest! I have been working, painting, scrubbing, shopping, and moving everything I own. Where in the heck did all this stuff come from? I have accumulated so much good stuff that this move has taken longer then I anticipated.

I haven't had the time as of yet to get anything at all unpacked. Just the same, here's a photo of a part of my bedroom. The one wall is lined with boxes but at least my bed is together! I am in dire need of sleep, the average night for me lately is an average of 4 1/2 - 5 hours a night and I'm starting to feel it.

The living room is a work in progress, as you can see from this photo I am having new light fixtures installed. Herb just got one up and I LOVE it! I have two more curtains to hang to compete the front window and as you can see a list a mile long to get to in order to make this room comfy, cozy.

It is so very true, home is where the heart is and as I sit here in my corner of the living room I know I am going to love this new home. One box at a time it will come together!

Moving Day

Moving day is here, or was here and now has came and went. Most things are now moved from my old place. I'm absolutely exhausted and have to be up a half hour earlier than normal to get to work on time. Yuck, that means 5:30am!

This new place looks like a tornado went through it but no worries, I'll get it all together soon... I hope!

I think that I'll take a photo right now and possibly use it for my P365 tomorrow...hmmmm, I just took a look around this living room to assess the work ahead of me and decide maybe I won't take that photo after all, it's too embarrassing. Maybe in the day light it won't look quite so bad... a girl can dream! lol

Cravings

Have you ever had one of those nights where you just want something to eat and can't seem to find it? Here I am, it's 1a.m. and all of a sudden I get this craving. Generally I have to taste about 10 different things and can never seem to find what it is that I want. Tonight I hit the jackpot! I went to my cupboard, which is getting pretty bare with the move, and I spotted the peanut butter, I took out a spoon and bingo! That was exactly what it was, two teaspoons of peanut butter right out of the jar and now I'm ready to call it a night!

I am curious now if what "they" say is true, cravings mean that your body is lacking something. If this is the case maybe I am lacking protein and I'd best incorporate more of it into my diet. I haven't had my protein shakes in a few days now so this possibly could be it.

More research to do in all my spare time! :-)

IF

If is an odd word. I went to my doctors two weeks ago to get results from an ultra sound and was informed that it appears I have a spot on my liver, it might be cancer... and here's the kicker... I was told "but don't worry." How in heck can anyone tell someone that they might have cancer and not to worry!


Today I went for some necessary blood work for Friday, this is when they will do a CT scan and the results from this scan will determine whether or not I do have cancer.

IF I do have cancer I will live like I was dying without being reckless and wasting time on trivial things in life. I will continue to treat people as I would like to be treated and I will still tell the people I love that I do love them!

IF I do indeed have cancer I will cross that bridge when I get there and consult with my doctor and the specialists. I don't feel like I'm going anywhere just yet, hell I've only just started to really live!

If I do not have cancer I will do my happy dance and carry on my merry little way! I will still do pretty much the same as I would do even IF I have cancer, it's my nature to be who I am. When I question myself about who I am I listen to a song by Laura Smith (An Eastern Canadian), she sings a song which brings tears to my eyes... the part which touches me is when she sings "I'm the person I've always wanted to be." And yup, that's me!

I am refusing to let this get me down, I'm too busy to worry, hell I'm not even moved yet! All that I wanted painted for now is complete and what a feeling this is.... feelings of sore, tired muscles, feelings of sore feet and eyes not wanting to stay open! I'd best quit for the night, another early morning coming up!

All is well in my world!

Over or Under

I have a few pet peeves in life, nothing major mind you. One pet peeve which is near the top of my list is when people put their bathroom tissue (TP) over on the roll holder. To me it seems that people would waste more tissue when it comes off over the top, it would keep on rolling and rolling as long as a person didn't stop it.

When I was raising my children and I would put the roll over, well there was no end to the paper, it just kept on coming and coming off that holder like there there was no tomorrow! Once I began to put the roll under it seemed to me that the TP would rip ending the game of the moment (seeing how long of a sheet they could get until it ripped.)

Now as I sit here and journal about something so irrelevant I now see where this pet peeve originated! Today I suppose either over or under well what really matters is that there is TP available when needed.

Sneak Peak

Well here it is, these are my new colors in my bedroom. The colors are like I had imagined them, sorta! I do love the soft pastel colors and I feel that I will have a bedroom which is going to be cozy and warm once I'm done with it.

So here it is a sneak peak at what colors I have used, once the room is completely finished (if this ever happens!) I'll post another picture here. I have no idea which pieces of furniture I am going to put into my bedroom, there's no way it's all going to fit. Hey, maybe I should start with the bed and work around that! I'm too brilliant for my own good! ;-)

Martha Stewart

My oldest sister Jewel (one of my nicknames for her) is away oh a holiday. Meantime back in the city I am watering her flowers for her while she is away.

Everything Jewel touches turns out perfect, just like Martha Stewart! Yes, this would be her second nickname! Take this clematis for instance, Jewel bought her house under four years ago so I'm thinking that she planted this beautiful perennial three years ago. I cannot believe the size of it and it's so full. Both of her clematis plants are amazing, hell are of her flowers are so full and gorgeous!

Now I'm on a mission, I must find out what she is doing to get her plants to do so well! I wonder if I go through her house while she's away if I'll find her box of secrets.... hmmmm!

Love ya Jewel, hope you're having a blast! :-)

Post is coming!

Blogger for some odd reason will not allow me to post a picture today, tomorrow is another day! I'm wiped anyways, I worked from 7-2:30, went grocery shopping for the restaurant, mailed out a few things and changed my address, came home and waited for my daughter, then we headed over to the south side to my doctors office to pick up a requisition, next we went and spent about three hours painting! Yup, it's bed time, 6am comes mighty early when I don't get to bed until midnight.

Canada Post

I have received textbooks which I ordered through Amazon.com. I was attempting to save a few dollars on my books for the upcoming school year and I had thought that this would also give me the opportunity to get some of the "required" reading out of the way (in all my free time!).

I was out of town when our trusty postal service delivered my textbooks to my door, they apparently left the books between the screen door and my inside door for two days (thank you Canada Post lady behind the counter for informing me of this). Now the problem being is, it was pouring rain for these two days. Then after two days of severe rain the post office decides to take the parcel back to the post office and left me a card in my mailbox informing me that this package was in.

I go to the post office to collect my parcel, the lady brings me out this damaged box so I open it right in front of her, three of my textbooks were damaged, go figure! I call Canada Post to see what they are going to do to rectify my dilemma, after all it was their postman who had the brilliant idea to leave a parcel in the rain. Canada Post has the nerve to tell me that it is up to the sender to rectify this problem.

Now could someone please explain to me how a company in the United States is to be held accountable for Canada Post's ignorance? This has me baffled! I have now sent the books back to Amazon, as it turned out Amazon sent me three more textbooks when I emailed my complaint in. Another dilemma is I have been charged for these books again. So some of my "savings" in textbooks has now been spent on postage to return books and I'm sure that I will have an issue with Amazon regarding returning damaged goods! Some days I wonder if it's even worth it to attempt to save a few dollars.

"Eh"

Today I received a bit of useless information in Zellers. I spotted this T-Shirt which explains why us Canadians use the word "eh."

The shirt says "Canadian term for right?, okay, please, maybe, thank you, how about it?, don't you?. Used after a statement or question. Sold with spirit and pride even to Americans and other visitors.

WHY DO CANADIANS SAY EH? IT'S BETTER THAN SAYING HUH!"

What you think of that eh?

Family

"You don't choose your family, they are God's gift to you, as you are to them."

(And if I were to choose a family, I'd choose the same one that I have.)

Tonight after a long busy day I stopped off at my oldest sisters home to pick up a key. What a bonus it was to see my nephew and his common law wife! I haven't seen them or their children in about a year now. I was planning on staying only briefly but found myself not coming home until after midnight.

My nephew looks like he's falling asleep here, the children were still going strong even after a day at Ft. Edmonton Park! I asked my great niece where she got her energy from, her response "I bought three candy sticks today at the park!" I'm thinking I just might need me some of these candy sticks to get through my shift at work tomorrow then off to paint again!

After Math

Last night here was insane! We had a storm so bad I was scared to move out of my chair, and no it's not because I'm a big chicken!

"Environment
Canada meteorologist Blair Morrow said a “gust front” sent winds howling through the city at speeds up to 110 km/hr."

The winds did some major damage in our city. This photo here is at the end of my block. Last night as I was looking outside the trees on my lawn were almost bent in half! I swore that they were going to snap and come right through my picture window or worse yet come through my roof! Thankfully the only thing that broke at my house last night was the rain spout... or whatever you call that thing which hangs down from the eaves and the rain runs down it! lol

It's been an extremely long day, I'm tired and getting goofy now so time to log off and come back tomorrow all refreshed!

Ingenuity

I got to thinking this year, I knew that I would be moving and didn't want to be without my flowers. I planted almost all of my flowers in flower pots so that I can take them with me! Now how's that for ingenuity? :-)

Now lets see what the guys say about my brilliance when they're helping me move... maybe it would be much wiser to take the flowers to the new place in my car!

(Side note: The white house across the street now has its For Sale sign taken down, I guess that they came to their senses!)

Japanese Village

Tonight we went out for one of the best dinners I have EVER been out for. For my daughters 20th birthday my two sons, my daughter-in-lay, my daughter, her friend and myself all managed to synchronize schedules to fit a dinner in. Life gets way too busy sometimes and I personally feel that we need to make the time to all get together on occasion.

Ok, enough about that, the chef was fantastic! He was extremely personable, his cooking was divine and his sense of humor was a bit off the wall but funny none the less. It was so awesome to see the chef flipping, twirling, clanging and banging his tools around, I have never seen anything like this before and I will definitely go back again!

Sorry Michelle, I had to include this photo! Once the food had been served, the cake was brought out and the one of chefs placed this hat on Michelle and they got her to put on the Japanese vest. There was about four chefs who came out to sing to my beautiful daughter. We all had a great laugh at Michelle's expense!

All in all, I would rate this restaurant a 4.75 our of 5, they could let up on the sodium a tad to make it a 5 our of 5.

Before

Tonight I went over and filled some small nail holes at the new place. Little did I know that these walls are plaster, now I know what I am contending with! I want to have the living room and my bedroom, and possibly the hallway all painted out before I move on the 28th. I will take a photo of my bedroom once it's finished to compare, a before and after photo.

So much to do, so little time it seems these days!

People There Is a Recession Going On!

This old, quaint, charming, little (approx. 900sq ft.) home right across the street from where I currently live is for sale. The asking price, a whopping $345, 000! I cannot believe it! They were asking $1700 a month for rent which is absurd in my opinion. We are in a recession and some people are still living in the market from two years ago where this house would have easily sold for this price. If someone were to buy this house right now at this price they really should have their head examined in my opinion. Why would anyone pay that much for a 60 yr. old home when they can buy a brand new, much larger home for less money? Some people I tell ya!

Another Moment in Time

This morning I had an appointment I've been waiting to get into for over four months. I went for an ultrasound to ensure that there is no blockage in the TIPS I have in my liver. A few weeks back I was at my doctors office and he's thinking that I might have gallstones now, what next? I don't have time to get sick or for operations.

This machine will give him the information he requires to either validate his suspicions or dissapiate them. If I do happen to have gallstones this is minor in the big picture of life after all that I have experienced and endured. I should know the results within a few days, in the meantime I'd best get packing and painting so that's out of the way.

When I think about this, I am curious if I do need surgery just how long this will take with all of our cutbacks. I hope nobody has ever died of gallstones before... hmmm guess I'm off to google this and see what I don't have to worry about, I'm just too busy to worry!

A Trip to Home Depot

I don't much care for the color in the living room and bedrooms in the house I am moving to. Today I did something to get the ball rolling, I went and bought four gallons of paint and all of the necessities to paint these rooms out. The main walls are going to be a creamy color with a tiny hint of green and the trim is going to be sage, this should look good with wood floors. Or at least I hope it looks as good as I have it imagined in my mind!

Happy Birthday Michelle

Today is my beautiful daughter's 2oth birthday. I no longer have any teenagers, they are all adults now and in looking through some old photos I have some fantastic memories of when the children were all young. I am posting a few photos of Michelle when she was a wee girl. Michelle has always been extremely beautiful, both internally and externally and I am one proud mother, not only of my daughter but of my sons as well.

Michelle, here's to you on your special day!

This photo was taken on my son Derek's 25th birthday in March, it really wouldn't be fair to post a photo of Michelle today. She still has immense swelling from having her wisdom teeth removed on Friday.

God has blessed my life with wonderful children!

Off to Nana's House

The Edmonton International Airport is pretty big for a 14 year old, especially one who is not used to flying. This morning I took Cheryl to the airport, a few times I asked her if she was anxious at all, being cool she replied "no." I think that her anxiety peaked when she realized she had to go through security by herself and find her gate, then to make matters worse she had to find her seat on the plane! I'm sure all is well, this was at 11:30 this morning, it's now 8:30pm and my phone hasn't rang, this is a good sign!

Hmmm, now what to do with myself for the next two weeks? ;-)

The Dentist

Early this morning I picked up my daughter to take her to have her wisdom teeth removed. She was scared, rightfully so! The last I seen of my daughter before her procedure was her lying in the dentist chair getting very sleepy, they had given her two sleeping pills which saved the pain of an IV. After I left they gave her the third sleeping pill. I left and went to pick up her prescription which I knew she would be needling later on.

I returned in time to pick up Michelle, they brought her back to me soooo stoned, it was hilarious! I managed to get her home to bed (something she has no recollection of!) and went about my day. Now she's back at my place, eating yogurt and not quite so stoned. I'm off to watch movies with her.

I feel blessed today to be able to be here for my daughter.

Backseat Mice

I find it rather amusing how people travel with their pets. Little did I realize that one day I too would be packing up my pet and taking him with me on a mini holiday. I do not have the heart to leave any creature at home and risk them running out of water and food... so I found myself buckling in this fancy named mouse (Russian Hamster) in the back seat of my car and away we went out to the country, we being my niece and myself and now Alexander, who travels quite well I must add.


We all have arrived at home safe and sound, and now the fun commences, time to get packing for the move. I hope that Alexander settles into his new surroundings fairly quickly and does not develop displacement disorders from all of this!

1930 Durant

Much to my surprise when I went out to one of the shops out here at the farm I found this old 1930 Durant (not that it was lost!) I asked if it was in running condition, Herb said that he has had it running once but it needs "a bit of work." I am looking forward to the day when this bit of work is complete and seeing this old car on the road, it's a beauty!

A Day on the Town

Today it rained, I never realized how desperately bad rain is needed in Alberta. Southern Alberta is experiencing a drought and if there isn't immense downfall here northern Alberta will be in the same state of affairs.

So what do you do when you live on a farm and it rains? Rainy days are for shopping, paying bills, and having coffee at the local coffee shop. As you can see from main street Barrhead a lot of farmers do this, it was pretty busy in town today. Our little excursion to town included shopping and banking but no coffee shop, it was time to get home to the roast and baby potatoes, delicious dinner I must say!

Life On a Farm Is Kinda Laid Back

Who wrote that song?
"Life on a farm is kinda laid back, nothing that a country boy he can't hack. Early to rise, early in the sack, thank God I'm a country boy."
Whoever did write this song did not know what they were talking about!

I spent all morning cleaning this flowerbed which is in front of the house. It was overgrown with grass and weeds so what I did was dig it all up and replace the soil. I'm starting all over again with this bed. In a month or so I should have a bed full of beautiful flowers, or at least I hope to!

Garden of Weedin'

I have so much weeding to do out in the garden, so I got up early and off I went to tackle the weeds. I worked quite hard all morning barely stopping at all. It wasn't until I came inside that I realized just how hot it really was, my back is pretty red. To make matters worse, not thinking about my burned back, I went and got in the hot tub later on, not smart at all! I toughed the hot tub out (for about 15 mins.) then went and sat by the fire. It was a great day, less the warm back! I still have so much more weeding tomorrow and the flower beds are in dire need of attention, for some reason I love this type of work. Maybe I need my head examined? :-)

Back in God's Country

After working a very busy shift I went a did a bit of shopping to pick up last minute things to bring out to the farm, the sort of things that I don't need but like to have. Then it was a quick stop off at home and on the highway. We pass through Fort Assiniboine to come out to the farm and although I've driven by this huge wagon wheel more times then there are people in the Fort, I have never viewed it through the lens of a camera. I never realized that it's quite this huge! I would like to see the horse drawn cart this wheel came off of! :-)

"As Seen on TV"

I bought these "Fresh Bags" last week just to see if they are any good, if they are half of that they claim they are and I am impressed. The banana in the back I put into one of these bags whereas the banana in the front I left out, I can see the difference, can you see the difference? lol

Each of these bags can be reused ten times, now this one I am definitely going to check out and see how effective they are after a few uses. 20 bags for $4.99, well I can say that I've spent this amount of money (and then some) on totally useless things in my time, so what's five dollars to preserve food a bit longer? I will save money by not throwing out quite so much food in the future I'm hoping.

Moving Again

There's much to be said about moving, yet I can't think of anything nice to say about it right now! Mind you there is the matter of no longer having to tolerate the landlady I now have. I'm sure that there will not be anymore of this 48 cents crap owing and the feeling that I am being ripped off anymore. There are some people who should NOT be landlords and I happened to find one of them!

Now the fun begins, packing, cleaning the oven and under the fridge and stove, washing walls, etc. I have until the last day of July so no huge rush. I'm just glad that school is on break until the 31st of August. Not my ideal way to spend part of my summer but I move now or I have the landlady from hell for another year. No thank you!

Graffiti Park

I have a sister who takes the most amazing photos. Today we went to this old abandoned place which appears to be old barracks. It seems that they are going to be cleaning up this site, there is a new chain link fence surrounding this isolated area since my sister last has visited the site.

I have a this dilemma, I am having problems picking out only one photo to post today so what the heck, rules are made to be broken (it’s a Project 365 thing, one photo a day for one year). The first photo was taken by me, so I am sort of within the guidelines of P365, the others were skillfully shot by my sister and today it’s all about me!

Thank you very much Jewel for the wonderful afternoon! You take amazing photos, even make me look good! :-) Today was a blast and I'll definitely do this again!