Sunday evening

It's Sunday evening. Rose got called into work this afternoon and is sleeping for a bit now before she gets up to do homework. Bram hasn't arrived home from Chorus Tour, but I expect him within the hour. Betty just finished doing laundry and is now back in her room (where she spends all her time).

We had a larger crowd for Sunday dinner today - between 30 and 35 I'd guess. Ruth and Lisa Vance brought casseroles and I cooked a roast. We had some good visiting going on; one group in the family room, one in the dining room and one in the living room. I'm so thankful that I have a home large enough to accommodate pretty much as many people as I want to invite over. The most I've had over I think was at Thanksgiving when we had around 60 people, but I've done over 30 several times now.

I've been working on planning how to redo my bathroom lately. I've been wanting to add a shower to the half-bath in my bedroom, and update things in both bathrooms (the pink fixtures from 1957 can disappear - they've done their duty for over 50 years and it's time for something not quite as dated.) I had a really nice floor plan sketched out, but my dad says that I can't do it because the plumbing stack is in the wall between the two bathrooms and as I have a low-slope roof, I can't move it without redoing my roof. I'm not wanting to redo my roof, so I'm working on plan B. Apparently Dad also sketched out another possibility for me, but took it back to S'toon with him, and I haven't seen it. Yesterday Walter P and I went and looked at fixtures, etc. at both Rona and Home Depot. Somethings are cheaper at one place than another. I've also looked on-line at Sears and CDN Tire. Haven't bought anything yet.

Finally figured out why my dishwasher leaks sometimes and not others. It's from 1967 according to the serial number, so it's nearly 50 years old as well. The seal on the inside as perished in one spot. It doesn't leak unless I do two loads back to back - then it heats up enough that it just doesn't seal properly. Walt thinks I should just replace it - but I'm in bathroom more than kitchen mode right now. I think a towel on the floor also works - but if I get a DW at a really good price, I may replace it.

New Book

OK, I've bought my first on-line book for my kobo. I was waiting last night for Rose to be done work, so I went by Chapters (it's right by the Safeway where she works), and read half a book. I just found it on-line and downloaded it to my kobo so that I can finish reading it while I man the registration table for youth rally.

Update

I've been informed that I haven't updated my blog for quite awhile. Sorry. I've been sending a weekly letter to my mother-in-law and my parents, and don't seem to manage to keep everything updated.

So, what's going on in our life here in Regina? I've given up on waiting for spring and have ordered seeds. Hopefully when I get them started, it will look like spring inside if not outside yet.

Rose is still suffering from allergies, etc. and has taken a week off school to work from home where there are less allergens. We're going to try her back at school again today and see how it goes. She went to S'toon last weekend, met some of her friends there, bought too many books (this comes as a shock and a surprise?) and bought me a kobo (e-book reader). She's going to Japan for Easter break and is finalizing her plans right now.

So, I've read a book on the kobo. I wasn't impressed by the book - in fact, was totally disgusted. At the end it left things hanging, didn't resolve anything, and was just frustrating! About the kobo? I'm unsure. It's certainly a lot easier to hold than a paperback book; I like the way it's easy to adjust the print size; however when "turning" the page, it takes a second or so to refresh the screen and up to 5 seconds at the end of each chapter. It's not much of a wait at the end of each page, but is a little frustrating to start a new chapter. It's definitely set up for a right-handed person (and I'm a lefty), the navigation button is on the bottom right hand corner. I'll reserve judgment.

Bram is continuing to do well. He's up to date on all his assignments; and is taking a pretty heavy load, including calculus by self-study. I really enjoy having him live at home with Rose and I instead of in the dorm.

OK, I've updated things. TTYL

On drugs

Rose has had a full day on antihistamines and is back to feeling fine again. We'll file the symptoms away for future reference. Oh the wonders of modern drugs.

I'm much improved as well, but not back to full strength yet. My throat now feels like I've been swallowing gravel (pointy gravel). This is an improvement because before it felt like I had been swallowing razorblades. Ruth and I went grocery shopping together and then we were both wiped and had to go home to our respective beds to lie down for a bit. I've discovered that they weren't kidding when they said one of the possible side effects of the antibiotic I'm on is diarrhoea. What joy!

Bram just phoned me from Yellowknife (he's up there for the long weekend) to find out what temperature to bake sweet potato fries at. Glad to be of assistance.

More pain

I woke up Monday with a sore throat. Tuesday it was bad enough that I cut school for an hour to go to the closest clinic - to have the doctor say, "You have a cold. Drink lots of fluids." Today I had a message from the clinic saying, "Come in to see the doctor again." That's because I have strep throat. I knew I had strep throat on Tuesday, but they had to swab my throat and wait for the results to come back. Meanwhile I've been exposing my germs to the entire school. However, I'm now on antibiotics and hopefully will improve soon. I've been going to work everyday, and doing not much, then coming home and collapsing. Today was no different.

Rose has also been suffering. However she's been suffering with migraines and severe dizzyness. I finally came to the brilliant conclusion that she likely has been reacting to the snow mold because the snow has been melting. So I bought her antihistamines, and hopefully she'll improve too. She went to work today after school but wasn't feeling well at all.

Pain and hopefully, relief

I saw the chiropractor yesterday. I've been having trouble with my arms again. She agreed that I've been having trouble with my arms. In fact, as she expressed it, she'd never seen anyone with arms as stiff as mine. She put a rib back in alignment, gave me a short treatment for my arms (the bruises shouldn't start showing up until tomorrow)and told me that I need to see her for at least twice a week for a minimum of three weeks, plus I should be having regular massages. She also showed me some exercises to do.

So today? I hurt. My arms hurt more than they have for some time. I felt my back go back out again last night. The good news is I'll see her again on Thursday.

Tournament Weekends

Last weekend I accompanied Western's Bible Quiz team to Nipawin for a tournament. It was a busy time - we left Friday at noon, arrived in time for supper, quizzed until after 10 pm, then went to our billets. The next day, the tournament started at 9 and things wrapped up closer to 11 pm. Sunday they had two services; the quizzers went to the early service, made a bag lunch and left around 11 am. There were around 350 quizzers, coaches, etc. there. It was an excellent time, but I was very glad to get home by the end of it.

This past weekend I accompanied the wrestling team to Saskatoon. We left in the morning as the tournament started at 1 pm. My parents and my sister Glenda billeted us. The next day the tournament started a 9 am and we finished around 4 pm. There were about 350 wrestlers on Friday and closer to 500 on Saturday. It was two very long days sitting on gym bleachers (my back can attest to it).

This coming weekend, my hope is to stay home and have a quiet relaxing weekend with no extra responsibilities.

Even though I was gone for both Saturdays, Ruth and I still managed to get our weekly salad making done. We did it on Sunday afternoon instead. It is so nice to have all of those salads in the fridge - and it makes lunch so easy! Grab a salad and something to go with it, and you're ready! We just finished about an hour ago and I've got the dishwasher running to finish up the clean up.