Since my diagnosis in August I've tried to limit my running around and to find entertainment close to home. On November 15th, Helge and I went to the annual Crammond Beef supper. The food is always great with a good selection of homemade pies, and there is always a full house. Crammond Hall is about 1/2 mile north and 2 miles west of us so it is very convenient. November 17th, our grandson Parker turned one year old. I wish I could have celebrated with him in Peace River. I did send a parcel via Greyhound which Rebecca picked up on the day of his birthday.
Tuesday, November 18th I went to Sundre for my weekly dressing change and PICC line flush. I also picked up tickets for the Shooglenifty concert at the Little Country Cappuccino. Then I noticed a little gift shop next door. Turns out it is a laundromat along with tanning salon and infrared sauna. Items for sale included beautiful soaps and bath salts made in Canmore, some earrings, and most intriguing of all some stuffed animals handmade from recycled materials. The prices were great and the animals had names so I couldn't resist bringing home a couple of them!! I also enjoyed visiting with Danielle who was manning the shop owned by her Mom. I found Danielle to be a delightful young person. She has her degree in Psychology from UBC, Kelowna campus. She has enjoyed a job working with special needs children and has decided to become a teacher rather than do research in psychology. She is taking a year off before continuing her studies.
Wednesday morning, November 19th I had an appointment with Dr. Miller in Innisfail. After my appointment I headed downtown to go to the bank. Since I was downtown I thought I might visit a few shops. I noticed that the sporting goods shop carried O'Neill hoodies so I thought I would check that out. This was my first visit to this shop. I was surprised to discover that the owners live close to me on the Harriman Road! Then I continued down the street heading for my favorite shop,The Gift Loft. Between the sport shop and The Gift Loft I discovered a fairly new shop Bare Bones owned by Angie who used to work at the Bowden Institution. After leaving Bowden she had much success selling on eBay. Then about a year ago she opened this shop. She has a great selection of clothing for guys and gals including shirts, hoodies and jackets. She also has awesome baby clothing and baby gear. Among her selection of purses are purses made from recycled materials, given the name Pursnickity. Angie is one creative person with a knack for knowing what people like. Visiting her shop was fun!! Next stop was The Gift Loft. I have found few shops anywhere that can equal the organization and creativity of this shop. About a year ago this shop was renovated. The new vintage style white shelves nearly reach the ceiling drawing attention to the original pale pink embossed metal tiles. (Before the reno I had never noticed this exquisite ceiling.) Now the shop is "Christmas" from back to front, with many styles and colors of decoration displayed. It is a real delight for the spirit. After lunch at the Coop (at the Mall at the other end of town) I checked out new clothes at the Classic Touch Boutique. Then I had a walk downtown and back which took about one hour. On this walk I discovered another new shop of baby clothing New Beginnings, and I stopped at Erin's on Main for a cup of tea. Even though I have little money to spend I still enjoy knowing what's new in the shops. My curiosity needs regular feeding!! After my shopping adventures it was off to Judy's....
My colleagues and I had been trying to arrange a time to get together at Judy's place. I asked if Wednesday after work was okay, and they said "sure." Judy and Al prepared coffee, tea, and juice along with hot and cold appetizers. Judy and Al spent 2 weeks in Korea in October. Judy's married son has been living there for some time. Judy was anxious to spend time with her young granddaughter. Judy brought back pairs of Korean slippers for all the female staff. I was so happy to see all the following (as well as the hosts): Barb, Evlyn, Cathy, Nancy, Shelly, Sherry, and Pat. We missed Norma as she was away on a week's holiday. The male staff sent their greetings. It was so much fun to visit and laugh with my wonderful colleagues!! Cathy lent me her CDs of "The Secret" to listen to. We are having our staff Christmas party on December 12th after work at Pat's home. I am so thankful for the ongoing support of my colleagues!! After Judy's get-together I headed to Red Deer to spend the night with Aina as I had an appointment for 8:00 on Thursday morning. On Thursday morning, November 18th, I had my second MUGA scan. The purpose of this scan is to monitor my heart function.
Friday, November 21st brother Glenn and his children Tyler, Braden, and Erika came to visit. Michelle was in Ontario for the weekend visiting her sister Danielle. Glenn brought two garage doors for Helge and picked up some more firewood. He also bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me. I made a big batch of blueberry oatmeal muffins for snacking and roast beef and veges for supper. Tyler is taking guitar lessons this year so enjoyed strumming on a small guitar I dragged out. Braden enjoys construction toys so made an amazing creation from our Fischer-Price Construx. Erika is working on a craft badge for Girl Guides so I showed her how to do some origami. Everyone enjoyed our Brio train set. These are the times that I am very thankful to be a pack rat!! I could never get rid of good quality toys like Playmobil, Brio, and Lego.
This afternoon Helge and I went to Sundre to hear the high energy Scottish band Shooglenifty. I missed my walk today but made up for it with some lively, sweat-causing dancing. Afterwards we shared a sub at Subway. It's nice to have a break from cooking and doing dishes!!
I enjoyed phone calls this week from Sharon Winder-Nelson, Alice, Laurel, Aunty Bea, and my children. Sonja has tickets for herself, me, Aina, Madison and a few friends to see the top ten dancers from "So You Think You Can Dance Canada" perform at Rexall Place in Edmonton on February 2nd. That's my birthday so I'm really looking forward to that. Laurel sent a nice card and a little note written by me that she had found in Mom's jewelry box. I would guess that I was probably in grade 3 or 4 when I wrote it. It said:
How are you? I am fine. I hope you will like the lilacs. God bless you. Elaine
Latest musical inspiration: Lorraine Klaasen, born in South Africa, and living in Montreal for the past twenty years. I love the energy of her song "Jubulani" from her latest CD "Africa Calling."
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