Day 233 - Finally! The Sun Shines!

Tonight's cup of tea (Yogi - Lemon & Ginger) had a bag tag. It read: "Don't take pride in taking. Give & you will be given virtues." I think I drink the tea partially because I like the element of surprise every time I open up the packet of tea! (Hey, it's the small things!)


Sweet sleep, oh, how I have missed you! I had a nice lie-in, mildly interrupted by Valentina's wet & cold nose & by my Mother coming in to study her appearance in the full-length mirror. I suppose it could have been worse. I piddled away on the laptop for a bit & tried to figure out in my head how on earth I was going to juggle all my pills. It's tough! I've only added 3 more, but it's a struggle to get it all in!


Here's the schedule:
a.m. - 5x EMPower (Super Multi-Vitamin), 1x Thymune, 2x Curcumin, 1x Green Tea, 1x Beta-Glucan, 2x Probiotic, 1x Garlic, 1x Quercitin, 2x Fibre, 2x Graviola, 1 tsp of Vitamin C, 1/2 tsp of Baking Soda, 1 tsp of Hoxsey


mid-a.m. - 2 BMD (Calcium/Boron), 3x Wobenzym


Noon - 5x EMPower, 2x Curcumin, 1x Beta-Glucan, 2x Graviola, 1 tsp of Hoxsey


mid-Afternoon - 2 BMD, 3x Wobenzym


Supper - 5x EMPower (Super Multi-Vitamin), 1x Thymune, 2x Curcumin, 1x Green Tea, 1x Beta-Glucan, 1x Quercitin, 2x Graviola, 1 tsp of Hoxsey


Bedtime - 2 BMD, 3x Wobenzym


What's the big deal? Well, I have to take the EMPower & Hoxsey with food & the calcium & Wobenzym without. The antibiotics from the fertility clinic are taken morning & night & have to taken WITH FOOD, but nothing with CALCIUM or IRON. Add in 2 shots at 1300 hrs & it's a full day! Eat, pills, wait. Eat, pills, wait. It will be a happy day when the antibiotics are finished! (The needles are a laughing matter after my 10 ml shots!)


I finished up my 7 loads of laundry, seeing as I've been home so little, it's really added up! Thank goodness I bought 35 new pair of undies when I was in San Diego the first time! :o) 


Valentina & I had a stroll out back & it was rather short lived. Her short legs & the number of fallen trees & massive mud puddles & bogs to trek through has us back home in a 1/2 hour! Oh well. I bought her a new bouncy ball & we had a blast playing fetch in the yard.


I used the clothes shaver on my lulu lemon duds. They look like new! De-pilling could be my new obsession! I sat outside in the glorious sunshine & de-pilled. I also finished a book by Katrina Bos. She's a Canadian author with an interesting family history of cancer. The book is entitled 'What if you could skip the cancer?'. Funnily enough, my friend, Jenn, told me about it & I ended up finding it in Superstore. It's been an insightful book. It discusses the personality traits of people who get cancer & helpful ways to overcome it & move your life in a positive forward direction. She discusses the challenges of change & I couldn't agree more! :o) I'll be making my best efforts to heed her advice. Here is a quote from the book I enjoyed:
Chapter 15 - Becoming Who You Really Are
Katrina was looking for guidance & she had begun to read the Bible, after much resistance. She shared this:
"One time, I was reading the parable of the talents. It is a story about a master who goes on a journey & so he entrusts his property to his servants. He gives a number of 'talents' to three of his servants, according to their abilities: five to one, two to another & one to another. While he's gone, the first two use these talents & make more money for their master. But the third one digs a hole & hides his talent to keep it safe. 
   When the master comes back, he is thrilled with the first two servants. But he is furious with the third. In fact, he even takes away the talent that he had given him & gives it to one of the other servants. 
   Well, I had read that story before. But on that day, it completely took my breath away. I was that third servant! I had been given talents & had chosen to hide them away. I had been given talents! But because I was choosing to live as someone else's second-in-command, I was not using them.
   But I couldn't blame anyone else. It was me who didn't have the courage to use them. I didn't want to cause a stir, although deep down, I probably would have loved to cause a stir - to be the centre of attention for my talents. But that just didn't fit into what I could imagine at that point.
   So now that I had buried my talents, was I in jeopardy of having them taken away? Or had they already been taken away? I supposed that it was a moot point because I wasn't using them anyway.
   It was time for me to become who I actually was. It was time to unearth those talents & start honing them & using them. No more hiding. No more pretending to be less than I am. 
   It was time to truly become me."


These words resonated with me. I had just been having a talk with Jenn, the friend who recommended the book, about what I wanted to do with my life & how I felt stagnant in my creative life. And I will be the first to admit that I have buried my talents FAR, FAR away, as I am PETRIFIED at the thought of criticism, failure, rejection... all those yummy things.


So, I paged through my jewelry design catalogs, picked out a name for the company, also inspired by Katrina's book, listed my old camera for sale on Kijiji & hopefully the gear will sell & I can get crackin' on being creative. I've also read here (scroll to bottom of page) about the lymphatic system being emotionally related to one's creativity: 


"Sometimes we get stuck in a particular pattern of stress that reduces our capacity to make positive changes. Your lymph can become blocked when you are feeling stuck or unable to express yourself. Remember that your life, too, is a progression, and “our biography becomes our biology.” If you find the same situations arising over and over, you may want to take a closer look. You may find that as your lymph system unbinds, so does your spirit."


Makes sense to me!


So, it was a big day! Now it's just to put it to action!


I have had the realization today, also through the help of Katrina's book & recent events in my life, that ultimately, I am alone in this whole ordeal. No matter who I think is supporting me, they will inevitably let me down. I can not count on anyone to be here 100% for me. I suppose that would be asking too much of anyone anyhow. Regardless of the percentage, it's no one else's Game of Life, but my own. A big depressing & a LOT disappointing, but this is the reality of it all.


On that bright shiny note, I'm going to finish my cup of tea & go fold 7 loads of laundry. :o) Sweet dreams & see you tomorrow...


xxxxx
Maria & Valentina

Okay, so despite the rubbish, I always like this little patch of grass...

One of Valentina's obstacles that I thought was pretty.

Another obstacle that neither of us cared to conquer! Reverse! Short legs in bog... not a good idea!

Pretty trees, pretty pathway.

 A little surprise clematis

Moss growing on the ?? side of the tree

Little Miss

Every day is a winding road...

Day 153 - Loooooong Day! Loooooong Drive!

This morning I was woken up by a cold nose & paws on my cheek. Thanks Tweet Pea. I got up & packed up my things. Dad & I had some lunch & cancelled the ride, as it was FREEZING cold outside! Brrr! What a wind! It certainly didn't feel like Spring time out there!


We hopped over to Glen & Lynette's after dinner & found Glenn in the barn pulling a calf. Of course, I spent the first 5 minutes trying to keep their 4 lab puppies outside of the barn. It was a challenge! With the baby calf on the ground & soon up sucking from Mama, we left the 2 to bond & headed to the house for some tea & coffee. 


Glenn is the kind of person who won't take no for an answer. You eat there & even if you say 'No thank you', you're bound to have a 2nd burger, 2nd cup of tea or what have you. You never go hungry/thirsty at their house! Hospitality is definitely their forte! 


We visited long enough for their daughter, Delaine, to arrive home from school. Oh my goodness. I feel old. She is in grade 9 & gorgeous! I babysat her when she was about 1 or 2!!! CRAZY!!! We chit chatted about school & who the teachers were... Some are still the same as when I was there, but most are new. Again. Old. 


We finished up the tea & coffee & it was time for me to leave. I hugged Dad goodbye & sped off for Medicine Hat. I was stopping in to see Stella on my way to Lethbridge. It was so wonderful to see her! We had a great visit & again, several cups of tea! We talked about a lot of different topics & I sure do wish I lived closer. I'd swing by for tea all the time! Stella has a heart of gold & I hope I can get back to see her again this summer.


I left for Lethbridge & started down the old familiar highway. I used to live in Lethbridge (twice) & also drove to Cranbrook to see my first 'serious' boyfriend when I was in College.  In fact, I also drove the opposite direction a fair bit when I worked as a surveyor's helper for one summer. I'll never forget the early morning drive to 'The Hat' from Lethbridge. Another old flame I was seeing called me early to tell me to watch the road on my way to work. Confused & thinking he was crazy, I was looking & looking & looking, when finally I saw it. There on the middle of the busy highway were the words:
Ryan
-
-
Loves
-
-
Jill
Awh. I felt a little like a bit of Jeff Foxworthy's 'Redneck' lyrics, as no one had ever used spray paint to declare their feelings towards me, but looking back, it was pretty sweet. Certainly made the drive more enjoyable! :o)


Anyhow, enough of ex's. I was just about to Coaldale when this black Acura sped up & drove alongside me. The car swerved close to my car & then sped ahead. I watched it for awhile & noticed it crossing the centre line a little too much. When it carried on with this behaviour for a little too long, I called 911. The car eventually turned off the main road & I didn't follow it. I left that in the hands of the trusty RCMP. It felt good to report it! I didn't tell them I'd been speeding the whole time though! :o)


I pulled into Dave & Collet's about 2330. Ezra was up & patiently awaiting the arrival of 'Nini'. He was so excited! They played & played & played until they were both tuckered out! I was tuckered out too, but Collet & I stayed up & had a little chat. 


Bedtime came way too late, but the end is in sight! Have a great sleep & see you soon!
Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Valentina's 'bed head' ears.

She loves mornings as much as her Mama!

Sleeping on Mama's knee to get close to the heat vent