Drum set

 

March Journaling

1.       Finishing my message on Esther for Saturday. Reworking an old one.

2.       Thinking about writing about my illness journey. Just read a very encouraging book called CFS Unravelled and his hypothesis about the cause of ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia seems plausible and the stories of people who’ve recovered, even after decades of illness is so encouraging. I have hope for the first time that I can recover and get my life back. Mark my words: this is the year I recover from my illnesses.

3.       Our blue boxes (recycling) either blew away or were taken. Now I have to go and purchase new ones.

4.       Women’s Ministry went well, but I crashed for a few hours afterward.

5.       Church flanking nap.

6.       Haircut and eyebrows waxed. Funny how just a little bit of grooming can make a person feel better.

7.       Pain clinic, plus my mom is coming for dinner, which she offered to bring.

8.       Working on writing today.

9.       More writing.

10.   Our daughter’s family are coming to spend the night so they can go on a date while we babysit. We’re giving our grandson a toddler drum set because he looooves drumming. I’ll post a picture, although the video is better.

11.   My husband had a men’s ministry breakfast and then is prepping easy worship for tomorrow. Also starting on our income tax returns.

12.   Our youngest has the end in sight for law school. She graduates June 9^th, but finishes school in April. So proud of her.

13.   Quiet day at home, reading my Bible and writing my summary of Joshua.

14.   Pain clinic today, then my mom is sleeping over.

15.   Visiting my daughter’s family today.

16.   My youngest daughter who is in law school often goes to the law library at the university. There are sometimes non-law students who also go there. They refer to them as SNAILs, which means Student Not Actually in Law. So funny.

17.   Happy St. Patrick’s Day to those who are Oirish, or wish they were.

18.   Dinner party today. We’re doing a Raclette dinner party. It’s a Swiss cheese, but also a style of cooking. It’s an indoor grill so we prepped food and will sit around the grill and cook. Our menu includes seven proteins. We served three apps; Individual crudites and dip, crackers with goat cheese, and watermelon-feta-arugula skewers. Our mains; steak with Korean bbq sauce, chicken with Greek souvlaki seasoning and tzatziki sauce, honey garlic chicken, shrimp with cilantro and lime, scallops with wine-butter sauce and chives, Atlantic teriyaki salmon, Basa fillets with dill, parsley and lemon pepper. The sides were parboiled potatoes, mushrooms, bell peppers and red onion, bread, and cheese: Raclette, pepper raclette, cheddar, stilton bleu cheese, onion goat cheddar, herbed goat cheddar, Applewood smoked cheddar. And a light dessert of homemade lemon sorbet in lemon rinds. The most time consuming part was prepping the food the day before. My husband did the cooking. It was a lot of fun for the usual four couples.

19.   Church today.

20.   A quiet day at home, catching up with Bible reading. Yoga tonight. None last week because of March break.

21.   Bible study, last lesson in Joshua. Pain clinic in the afternoon.

22.   Ran a few errands, then recovering the rest of the evening. Terror attack in London today; five dead.

23.   Chiropractor and massage today, then I went to pick up my grandson to stay over two nights.

24.   Loved having my grandson over, although it wore me out. I took him to the mall for lunch and he loved seeing the garbage truck come by. The driver beeped and waved to him, which made his day. He also spent lots of time on the drums and watching shows. He speaks in full sentences, “I want to watch a show.”

25.   Our granddaughter is rolling from her tummy to her back already at six weeks. I checked and apparently it usually happens at four months. Overachiever!

26.   Today between services, we hosted some people from church for a meal. Thankfully I had enough time for a nap.

27.   Quiet day at home. My husband is doing the taxes. I have yoga tonight. He has an executive meeting at TBS.

28.   Busy day; Bible study where I’m doing the summary of the book of Joshua. Then out for lunch, then to the pain clinic for nerve block injections. Tonight is our church’s annual general meeting.

29.   I have a Fibroscan of my liver this morning. It’s apparently a better test than an ultrasound, but it costs $60 out of pocket. What else is new?

30.   We may rent out our basement apartment in the fall. Thinking about it. It’ll be an adjustment since we’ve had it empty for two years now and our life has spilled over into it. But it’s a young couple from church who are getting married in the fall and their condo won’t be ready for a year because of delays.

31.   I’ve been sick with a sinus cold for a few days; something I haven’t had in years. Hard to sleep. Spending the day at home, reading and writing.

New Granddaughter!

February Journaling

1.       Our grandson is two years old today. I can’t even say how much I love him. He’s a Mimi’s boy, but I’m a Benny’s Mimi. Trying to catch up with paperwork for my insurance companies.

2.       Such a mess down there in the U.S. So many executive orders already. Does he not know how things are done day to day, by trying to prove the merits of the idea?

3.       A quiet day at home.

4.       Finished my Summary of Deuteronomy for Tuesday morning.

5.       We had a funeral this afternoon for a friend of my mother-in-law. My brother-in-law Michael, who is now a Pastor, did the funeral service. The thing I love about Caribbean funerals is that they serve real food, not sandwiches. There was curried goat, jerk chicken and bbq chicken along with hot side dishes. Delicious.

6.       Pain injections in my face today. I was numb in my head and shoulders, so I had to back out of yoga tonight.

7.       Presented the Summary of Deuteronomy today, then out for lunch. Pain injections to my back today.

8.       Helped my mom fill out forms for the same pain clinic I go to for the nerve block injections to my back. Then rushed over to Oakville because our daughter was in labour. She delivered a baby girl naturally after only five hours of hard labour. They named her Robin Elisa. We didn’t know what she was having, but are so excited to have a granddaughter. Since these are most likely the only grandchildren we’ll have, it’s nice that we have one of each. Benny was so excited to meet her. After he saw her first on the phone, he ran into their room and pointed at the bassinette and said, “Baby…tummy…out.” The video of them meeting was precious. I’ll post a picture of her.

9.       We were going to go over there again so my husband and mother-in-law could meet the new baby but my husband still has a cough and it’s supposed to snow a lot today.

10.   Women’s Ministry breakfast today. I finished out my old series on Even Me? The Unlikely Women in the Genealogy of Christ, with Mary.

11.   I’ve started saving money in different ways; one way is to save $5 bills as I get them, I’m up to over $500 that way. I also set aside cash each pay, to pay for any vacation in full. I also save all my coins. And I set aside money into another account every pay.

12.   I sent off a sample for DNA testing for detoxification studies. Almost $800 out of pocket for that. I hope it gives me some answers for targeted treatment. I soooo want to get better.

13.   Not thrilled to go to my family doctor today, as I’ve got so many insurance forms to fill out.

14.   Summary of Deuteronomy today, then lunch with the ladies.

15.   Finally! A few days off without anything to do.

16.   Catching up with my Bible reading plan. I try to stay a week ahead because life happens and I get too overwhelmed when I’m behind. Also Yoga again tonight.

17.   Picking up forms from the doctor’s office that she didn’t want to fill out when I was there on Monday. Also it’s costing me $40 out of pocket.

18.   My husband has been sick so this is his first time to meet the new baby. His mother is coming along as well. Then our grandson is coming for a sleepover.

19.   Our daughter is coming back tonight from Law School for her reading week. Nice to have her back.

20.   It’s Family Day. Quiet day at home. Tacos for dinner. No yoga tonight.

21.   Bible study this morning, pain clinic in the afternoon, and WM planning meeting this evening.

22.   My diet has changed because of my illness. I eat almost all organic foods, no preservatives or pesticides. Cleaning out the trigger products like scented cleaners, air fresheners, dryer sheets and memory foam pillows has made a big difference. I also don’t use plastic or Teflon anymore.

23.   Three appointments today; dentist, chiropractor and massage. My daughter attended my yoga class with me.

24.   Our youngest daughter and I went to babysit so our other other daughter and her husband could attend an appreciation dinner for the worship team at their church. They took the newborn along since she’s nursing. When we left the fog was sooooo thick. The visibility on the 407 was only 5-20 feet ahead for most of the way home. Thankfully, my daughter drove while I prayed. I must say I was quite nervous about it.

25.   Quiet day at home, doing laundry and reading.

26.   Church today.

27.   Osteopath appointment today. Just found out this new company we’re under since January doesn’t cover osteo like the previous one, so I may stop going. It’s not terribly helpful to me. Yoga tonight was extra hard but my goal is to hold the pose for as many breaths as I’m supposed to. Who knew stretching and posing could make you sweat? Yet, in only a month I’m building muscle and getting more flexible. Seems to be something to this thing.

28.   Last day of the month already. Bible study, then lunch out for the birthday of one of the ladies, then a quick rest, not long enough, and my pain clinic appointment for more nerve blocks to my back. They’re helping at least with my back pain, for about five days out of seven.