Day 391 - Prayers & An All Nighter

So after a lengthy hiatus, I'm attempting to catch up after sleeping for only 1 hour. I have heartburn, I'm too hot & I was woken up by Mom's screaming tea kettle, which screamed for 9 minutes straight. I guess that's better than the 1/2 hour from a while back, but the whistle was greatly enhanced this morning.

Traveling back in time, well, it won't take long to catch up. I couldn't sleep, didn't sleep, slept, slept more, couldn't sleep, didn't sleep & history repeats itself. Not sure what's up, but I'm pretty fed up with it.

Mom drove me into town tonight for groceries & then we went to prayers. I had a melt down in Safeway. I think my current situation is getting to me. I can't handle much, so it appears. I went through the self checkout, as all the other (2) lines were busy with full carts. It took forever & because I used my own bags, it kept saying, 'Unauthorized item in the bagging area'. And then I had to wait. And wait. It wouldn't scan. Same message again & again. Mom got fed up & went to the car with the groceries while I was trying to pay. I hit 'Debit Card' & it did nothing. I swiped my card. Nothing. This process was as long & drawn out as it could have possible been for 2 bags of groceries. To top it off, there were 3 clerks standing around chatting. Finally I snapped. I had been muttering under my breath for most of the experience. I said loudly, 'Would someone please tell me why I can't swipe my card? All I want to do is pay for the groceries & get some food in my belly!' The clerk just stares at me & then says, 'Where are your groceries? What are you paying for?' I told her Mom had already taken them to the car. She tells me she needs to see what I'm paying for. I told her it was on the screen, can't she just swipe my card for the $88.11 it says I need to pay!?!? Still staring at me, her colleague, also staring, says, 'That will mess up our system.' To which I said,  'Well, that lousy scanner messed up my night.' They swiped my card & I left. Argh.

Thank goodness we were headed to prayers next! I needed some prayers for patience & stress relief. We had some great discussions, as always! Mom drove home on the icy roads & I slowly came to the realization that I wasn't going to be going very far in the next few months. Sigh.

Of course, I couldn't sleep when we got home, so I stayed up. In fact, spilling onto Friday...

Meet Beyoncé

Day 171 - A Day Off!

Today was Sunday & the clinic is closed on Sundays, so I had the day off. I slept late, of course, and around 0900, I was started to toss & turn - sleeping lighter & lighter. The phone rang at 0930 & much to my delight, it was Ed!!!


I met Ed the last time I was in San Diego. Ed was taking his brother, Bobby, to Castillo's - you may remember the story. The US Doctors had been treating Bobby for Arthritis for NINE MONTHS meanwhile it was a tumor growing out of control! Sadly, Bobby passed away in January, but today Ed told me that Bobby fought for his life right until the moment he passed away. 


Ed & I hit it off right away, as he told me about his little Yorkie, Chloe, and her & Valentina were about the same age, so they were going through the same phases at the same time. We talked a lot of dog talk & ventured out to Trader Joe's & Target... I was sad to say good bye to Ed & Bobby last November!


Naturally, I was excited to hear Ed's voice on the other line today! We visited for about 1.5 hrs & covered a broad range of topics. I do hope it works out for us to meet up! He has a friends & family connection with Princess, so maybe he can visit Jaco & I on the ship! 


After we hung up, I decided I better make something of the day. I did up my dirty dishes, made a wrap & a smoothie. My smoothie consisted of a can of coconut milk, 1 cup of water, a mango, 5 big pineapple chunks, 5 leaves of small kale, & 1 banana. Not too bad if I do say so myself! 


I didn't feel 100% when I woke up this morning & it has stayed with me all day. Headache, sinus issues, feverish, sweaty, achy, & tons of occipital tension. Here's hoping I wake up feeling much better tomorrow!


I showered & threw on a cap & headed out the door about 1400. I know, it still takes me a long time to get mobile! I caught the 1415 bus & then the trolley. I rode it all the way to the end at Old Town, then hopped onto the Green Line. Man, the Green Line is cush compared to the Blue Line! Either the Green Line takes you past the ritzy side of San Diego or they are much busier, because the trolleys were much newer than the Blue Line! I felt like I was on a trolley in Scandinavia or something! How posh!


I hopped off on the 2nd stop at Fashion Valley. I had been told about Fashion Valley last time when we were in Palm Desert. I went last time & it was good, so I thought I better check it out this time too! It was crazy busy! I didn't get there until about 1530, so I swiftly made my way around the shops. A few had closed since I'd been there last & several new ones had opened in their place. Satisfied with what I did & didn't see, I left around 1900. 


I caught the trolley back & on my way, I visited with a Cook. He cooks the meals for the Marines in Boot Camp. He told me that he used to be an Alcoholic & has been clean for 4 years next month. He lost his job & his car & even did jail time for his actions while drinking. He lived on the street for awhile too. He is happy with his life & still struggles in making the right choice. He shares his home with a single parent Mom & together they are able to make ends meet. What a life. Wow.


After he got off the trolley, a man from Tijuana got on. He was a clean cut young Grandpa looking Mexican. A beautiful smile & very friendly. We got to chatting & of course, he wonders why I'm in San Diego headed for the border, alone & after dark! He asked me the first few questions & then said, 'You're from Ireland or England?' I replied, 'Neither, I'm from Canada.' 'Oh, the French part then?' I left it at that. Of course, I tell him I'm going to Tijuana for Cancer treatments. His eyes bulge. 'YOU? But you look so healthy!' He gets very excited at this point. His brother is a Specialist in Colima, near Guadalajara. He tells me how a fellow he worked with had cancer & his brother made arrangements for the man to have surgery in Tijuana & the brother made sure the costs were covered. The man, Jose, writes down his number for me & demands that I call him to get his brother's number, only after I've given him a few days to talk to his brother. 


I managed to catch the very last bus of the night. Thank goodness I didn't stop at the pharmacy on my way to the trolley! I would have had to walk home, alone, in the dark. With nothing but my wiener to protect me. :o) I was so happy to see the bus sitting there when I stepped off the trolley! 


On the bus, a fellow from Dallas was telling us he was looking for a place to live & how expensive it is in San Diego compared to Texas. Then he comments on how cold it is tonight. HA! I'm laughing, as these people are walking around in parkas, toques, boots, scarves & clothing like it's -20! I'm in capris & flip flops! Yeah, the evenings warrant a hoodie, but that's about it! I'll take their cold weather any day!


I missed my Dad on Skype, but managed to catch Collet & Ezra. As soon as Ezra heard my voice, he instantly said, 'Nini? Nini? Nini?' He had to see her on the webcam. It was very cute! He's doing awesome on his potty training & he even counted to ten for me! Wow! What a good boy! 


I'm now settled in bed, alone. Valentina is having her first night in her kennel in preparation for her big flight. I've put one of the heat packs in the pillow cover & we'll see how that works!


Have a wonderful sleep & I'll see you tomorrow!
xoxoxoxoxox
Maria & Valentina

Waiting for the trolley

Shh, she didn't buy a ticket!

Southern end of the Best Western

Palm trees waving in the twilight breeze.

It looked so pretty! Magical, if you will!

Day 116 - Shake Your Groove Thang...

Hello everyone!


I hope this finds you well & enjoying your Tuesday morning. It was Family Day today in Alberta, so hopefully those of you celebrating it, were able to spend some quality time with your families!


I spent it with part of my family. Adios, Valentina & Mom. I woke up with what I like to call my Phone Sex Voice. My throat was nice & raspy & there were a few rumblings from my chest. I am guessing this is a chest cold & not a sinus cold, as my sinuses are fine! I've never had a chest cold, so this is something new. Again! Anyhow, after my mid-afternoon walk, I'd progressed, or regressed, depending on how you look at it, from my Phone Sex Voice to my Puberty Voice. I think I would rather have just lost my voice!


Mom mashed my back with some peppermint oil & the muscles are just about back to normal, although now the skin is nicely burned. Ah well, win some lose some. By tomorrow morning it should be all good. Just so you know, I asked for the mashing. No pain, no gain.


A fairly uneventful day, I did actually get outside. I took the pooch for a walk, snapped a few happy ones while I was out & then came back to the house. I spent most of the evening trying to clean up the kitchen. Our septic tank isn't quite normal yet. We called for help, but never received a call back. Thanks! So hopefully we can make it through the night without the alarm going off! 


I have to share this little story about the septic tank alarm... Last summer when Jaco was visiting, Mom was away & we were sleeping in her bedroom. In the middle of the night, the septic alarm goes off. I knew the noise right away, but my poor foreign husband did not. He thought we were being robbed, broken into, vandalized... All of his limbs were moving simultaneously, as was the duvet once covering him, but he wasn't moving anywhere! It was priceless. I got up, turned off the alarm & told him to go back to bed. We'd worry about it in the morning. It was almost as humourous as imagining poor Gord in his electronically adjustable bed with it going completely haywire while he's in it. I know, it's cruel to laugh at someone else's misfortune, but there are times when it wouldn't matter if it were you or I in the scenario, we'd still be busting a gut laughing... Moving on...


I managed to get a few things on the Mexico To Do List checked off! I had planned on heading to town, but when I looked at the clock, it was already 1400. Then I remembered it was Family Day, so I ixnayed the trip to town. There's always tomorrow! 


I caught up with a few good girlfriends & I just have to say, I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends whom I know support me. I love them all to pieces & how lonely life would be without them! Thank you for enriching my life! 


I have to put this out there & hopefully something good will come of it! A very dear friend of mine is in need of help. My best friend, Jenn, & her husband, Mike, recently moved back to Canada. Mike is from Texas & they had been living there. They moved back to Canada when Jenn's health insurance fell through & it would cost them $20,000 to have the planned Caesarean section Jenn needed. Adding to the mix that Mike had been laid off last March & was still unable to find work. 


Jenn safely had a beautiful baby girl in December & things were really looking up when Mike had a job offer to work close to Jenn's family in Southern Alberta. Unfortunately the company offering the job wasn't ambitious enough to properly fill out the paperwork & Mike came as close to being threatened with deportation. A long story longer, they are desperate to find work for Mike. As he doesn't have a work permit, there would be paper work involved, which is easily done, if you do it the right way the first time! (!!!!)


I'm asking, pleading, begging, if you know of anyone who is in need of a fantastic employee, please let them know! Mike is a wonderful man, a true Texas gentleman & wants desperately to be able to provide for his family. His work experience puts him in the line for Industrial Mechanical type work, but at this point, he is willing to do almost anything! He is a strong, intelligent & hard working fellow. If you know of anyone who needs any kind of help, please pass along the information! You'll be doing this family a great service! Jenn's baby is only 5 weeks old & it is nearing the point that she will be forced to return to work. Jenn also keeps a blog. Please feel free to send her a message if you know of anything! Thank you! Oh, prayers are good too!! :o) http://burnettbunchlife.blogspot.com


No news from Jaco yet. I hope the Air Hostesses weren't too cute. Perhaps he's traded me in. Wouldn't that just be the icing on the cake? On Valentine's Day! Mile High Club! Ha! Horrible thought, but I'm laughing, as I know it would never happen. I'm the luckiest girl I know! Maybe if we're ever in the same postal code, I'll even get lucky! Ha! I must be feeling better, no clue where all this 'talk' is coming from!


Anyhow, I better call it quits for tonight. I've got a big day ahead of me tomorrow! The city beckons me & I hope the roads are good! Sleep well & here's for exciting news tomorrow! 


Love & hugs,
Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Walking down the road.

The Valentina's Day trees! Is this the official definition of a 'Tree Hugger'?

Okay, fine. So winter can be pretty.

One of my many winter pet peeves. Socks coming off when you take off your boots. Then you step in snow to get the other boot off. (I know, it's almost Mexico time!)

Day 109 - CT Scan

Oh my. Is it really necessary to wake up this early? Really? Apparently it's time to change the batteries in my alarm clock. It sounded mighty ill this morning. Had I not been paranoid of over sleeping, I may have completely ignored the faint flickering of a beep!


Up & at 'er, I was out the door on time! Yes, ON TIME! Poor ol' Contemplate did not want to start this morning. I don't know what the temperature was, but it was 'Crunchy Car Seat' cold. Away we went. Luckily it wasn't foggy. Until I hit Priddis. What's that? Freezing fog? Great. Here comes Granny! I slowed down to about 80 km/h & I could feel the adrenaline pulsing through my body. I just don't enjoy winter driving! 


I decided to take the long way, rather than the back roads. At least I knew there would be a lot of traffic & help if I needed it. I don't have a cell phone, so if I'm in trouble, I sit & wait. Luckily I made it to High River only 20 minutes late. 


I wasn't allowed to eat 6 hours prior to the test & could only drink clear juices. Luckily there was a vending machine with some apple juice in the entrance to the hospital. I was planning on heading to Jenn's right after the test, so naturally I had Valentina with me. Since it was so cold out, I didn't feel I could leave her in the car. I packed her into her carrier with her little red jacket on & plopped my pink fuzzy blanket over her carrier. No one was any the wiser. She even shook a few times in the carrier, her ears & tail rattling the sides of the carrier, but nobody even glanced our way! Lucky! 


Blech. They made me drink this awful drink named Telebrix. Since they were scanning my abdomen, I needed to drink the contrast in order to make the scan look better. They really ought to consult a few folks with tastebuds before they approve these drugs. First, I'm a water snob. I don't drink chlorinated water, always bottled & mineral water. I don't care what you say about tap water being just as good. Hogwash. Do they monitor everyone's pipes? No. Does every town have the same chemical cocktail? No. Anyhow, this drink is mixed with chlorinated water. Gross. Then the drug itself has a nasty taste. The worst of it is, I have to sip, not gulp, this concoction for the next hour and a half! I think I gagged the last portion of the 1 litre bottle! Then the Nurse offered me more right before the scan! Can't I be the Designated Driver or Scanner or something?!? Enough already! 


I took Valentina out to the car right before the scan. Luckily it didn't take long. About 20 minutes in total from change time to out the door. And she was still in her coat & under the blanket. She climbed into my jacket as soon as I got in the car. She's a great heater!


Anyhow, back to the scan. It wasn't that bad. I have had one before. This time they injected the contrast dye a little slower, which was great. For whatever reason, it makes you feel like you just peed your pants. I am completely serious. You don't, but if feels all warm down there. This time the feeling came on a little slower, which was good! Secondly, the first time they did the test, they made me hold my breath & the contrast dye made my chest feel like it was going to explode. In fact, had they not said 'Breathe', I'm sure they would have scraped bits of me off the ceiling 2 seconds later! But this time, I told them I wouldn't hold my breath any longer than felt comfortable. When I started to exhale, the Doctor got cranky & sternly said, 'DON'T SWALLOW, DON'T BREATHE, DON'T MOVE'. I told him, 'Sorry, but it hurts.' They did one more scan & thankfully that one didn't hurt my chest at all. 


The Nurse that helped me was really nice. She has fun at her job, which makes it that much more enjoyable for the rest of us! They monitored me for 10 minutes to make sure I was okay. Apparently 1 in 25,000 people die from the contrast dye. It can cause serious allergic reactions. Luckily I beat the odds! 


Feeling extremely fatigued & the fog having not lifted, I decided not to visit Jenn :o( & made my way home. I was bummed to miss out on a visit with a friend I've hardly seen in the past ?? years, but I'm glad I went home. The roads were extremely icy & I could NOT stay awake behind the wheel. I barely made it home. I fell asleep 6x. I hit the rumble strips & the snow on the side of the road. I have never been so out of it. I was wide awake one second & the next my head was snapping up. I called the Diagnostics Department as soon as I got home to check the side effects, but they claim diarrhea is the only side effect. Needless to say, I called Jenn to tell her I would have to take a raincheck & headed back to bed. I slept until 1830!


I woke up when Mom got home, only to have her leave 20 minutes later. She had been riding all day & then headed off to her Toastmaster's meeting. I answered a few phone calls, made some dinner &, what's that? Yes, I cooked! I made some pasta with clams & spices... Mom makes it from time to time & I quite like it. Apparently Valentina loves pasta too. She went manic for the penne! 


Anyhow, I headed to bed shortly thereafter, but I couldn't sleep. I am so stinking itchy these days, it's crazy! I put stuff on it & it burns. I itch it & it burns. No matter how I lie in bed, it itches! I try & try to not touch it, but sometimes the itch is so intense I just can't take it! I will be very excited for the treatment to take away the itch!!!


Oh, I also heard from Jaco's Mom. Sadly there place was broken into on the weekend. They only took a TV & no one got hurt, but nonetheless, I can only imagine how scary it would feel to be woken up at 0400 to the alarms going off. It frustrates me that people get away with these petty crimes, let alone the serious crimes. I suggested a big ol' Rottweiler or Doberman to take care of would-be criminals, but she told me they just throw poisoned meat to the dogs & they die! How awful! Anyhow, if you come up with any great ideas to solve crime in SA, let me know! So far my best solution is to feed them the same birth control corn as they do the pigeons in San Marco's Square in Venice, Italy. Any other suggestions?? :o)


Sleep well, stay safe & here's a hug!
Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Finished that awful drink & my smuggled dog! I think she has her nose mashed up against the screen!

My friendly scanner!

Hoarfrost

Heavy Hoarfrost

Winter wonderland!