5C's Que Pasa

Sixty years ago I was born in Edmonton, Alberta.

It was a Friday, under the sign of Gemini. The US president was Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican). In that special week of May people in US were listening to The Song from Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart) by Percy Faith. In UK I Believe by Frankie Laine was in the top 5 hits. The War of the Worlds, directed byByron Haskin, was one of the most successful movies released in 1953.

These were the best movies playing that week.

May 25, 1953 Life Magazine cover.

The current fashions.

The TV of the year.

Look who got married that year.

I believe that Dad did own a Chevy but a much older model.

Do you remember eating this 'gourmet' meal that was introduced in 1953?

I was born a blonde! It really was a great year!

Looks like a great RV was built in 1953!

1953 model of computer.

The world certainly has changed over the past 60 years.

This is what I woke up to this morning.

It looks like I am going to have a fun day!

Tags: celebrations

…here in Kelowna and the Okanagan in general we are in the midst of severe thunderstorms and record amounts of  falling rain.  We haven’t seen the high winds nor the hail yet but I suspect we will soon.

This is an alert to the potential development of severe thunderstorms with large hail and damaging winds. The rain is predicted to continue until midnight.

The rain chain is not keeping up.  Good news is that we have a second one to install but it only came today.  The girls are each hiding in two different areas of house.  It is their first big thunderstorm here.  I can’t find Carmeh’s thundershirt and I think in might be in the RV.  Just waiting for Colin to get home.

Lots of water.

It is snowing once again on the Coquihalla HIghway and the storm drain in front of the house is under water.

No Mom update other than she had the test this morning but no results yet.

Tags: 319, health

We had a to do list for the weekend but most of the things that we did were not on that list.

Colin wanted to finally get our pictures put up. As we have limited wall space we had to carefully choose which ones were going to be put up.

Once we decided which picture went were he had to make some meticulous calculations so that the final effect was perfect. While he was doing that I caught up on my mending. No sooner had I repaired the yellow toy in Carmeh's mouth that I noticed she had another toy just waiting for me to mend! She loves to pull all that fluffy stuffing out.

Once we finished inside we went out and did a few jobs in the yard.  We brought 150 feet of warm white rope lights back from Yuma.  I had found a deal online for $65.00.  We also put up our solar lights and the yard did look nice last night.  I am trying to keep it simple this year and decided to take out my one flower garden ( I had 7 in the other yard ) and not put in roses.  Instead soil and weeds were removed and we are waiting for our landscaper to bring in a load of Oyama shale.

Meanwhile I could not wait so we placed some of our stuff in that area. It actually looks pretty good so once we have the shale in place we will properly position everything and add some interesting stones.

We have boxes of shells from wherever we have travelled in Mexico and I put this little centre piece together for our patio table. Usually I just leave the bowl empty. The bowl is from Acapulco, the gravel type sand from San Carlos and the shells from four different beaches.

Meanwhile the girls hunted for snakes in the rocks.

Mom Update:  She is still 50/50 but hanging in.  She can now have liquid foods and jello ( how nutritious ! ).  She is still bleeding from her right lung and tomorrow they will do a special test to check that out.

Tags: 319, Family, garden, health, Mexico, The girls

We were invited to a 70th birthday celebration Saturday night.  But first right after the garage sale clean up we went shopping.

Colin had popped into the Santa Fe store a few days ago and had found a piece of art he thought might be perfect for our new home. So armed with the $58.00 profit from the garage sale we went shopping and we spent about 13.5 times that much and filled up the back of the car. That fellow should look much happier considering what we had just purchased.

You are going to have to wait to see what we bought.  All I can say is we bought Mexican art in Kelowna!  The owner goes to Mexico every few months and brings back all these treasures.  I have to say it is the best collection of a variety of Mexican products in one location that I have ever seen in a Canadian or USA store and the prices are beyond reasonable.  So we rushed home, unloaded the car and got ready to party!!  We both really needed to unwind and to be honest we both really did.

Our neighbour Diane had created the most wonderful evening to celebrate her husband's 70th complete with a gourmet sit down dinner for fourteen. She is already known as the hostess with the mostess but she surpassed herself Saturday evening. The food was delicious and the wine was generous and we all had a very happy time.

Colin decided to become Diane’s kitchen helper, table setter and photographer while I sat and indulged in both the food and wine and just relaxed.

I was truly able to relax and I felt good and did finally have a great sleep last night.

Dan the birthday boy who kept saying he was only 69 and his lovely wife Diane who created the evening and did all of the cooking. Seven candles, one for each decade!!

As Dan opened his gifts, Diane passed around the cake. Oh, she made 3 different types of cake. I had to pass on the cakes which everyone said were delicious due to my gluten situation but I did have some of that creamy vanilla ice cream.

Several hours later we meandered home….we only live a few home away:)

Tags: friends, Holiday Park, Wine

I think today may have been our 3rd in a row but possibly our 4th.  Each time we say never again.  But we have so much neat stuff to sell.  Last May we had tons of stuff which netted us a nice sum.  Most of that was from the packing up of the house as we moved into the RV for the year.  This time we have stuff that won’t fit into our new home.

But really the weather could have been better.  In addition to the wind, we had some showers ( hence the umbrellas ) and it was chilly.

We didn't have too much too sell. The entire RV Park was doing the garage sale so it was good for those living outside of the park to come and search for bargains. There were over 60 people selling things.

What surprised us was that, that unopened pink bag of insulation in the foreground never sold.  50% off!!

We did make $58.00 ( as opposed to just over $300.00 last May ) and in unpacking our things I found $60.00 worth of things that I would have had to re purchase because of my upcoming hip surgery so that was a savings.  We also kept a few things aside for Mexico and the rest will be donated to charity.

Honestly we are done.  No more garage sales.  Ever!

MOM UPDATE:  She has been moved to a real bed in a real hospital ward.  She is asking for a toothbrush and a hair brush.  Positive signs to all of us.

Tags: Holiday Park

It was an eventful evening and night.  The family were called in at 1230AM to say their goodbyes to Mom.  Meanwhile I called the hospital and found out that she was still in Emergency.  I spoke to Mom’s nurse who explained why the family had been called in.  My reply was that for my Mom that was healthy!!!!!!!!  She hadn’t had vital signs that good in a long time.  Mom now has a ‘bad’ pneumonia, when is it ever good?  She is on heavy IV antibiotics.  I feel so bad that my family had to go out in the middle of the night for a false alarm but then you never know.  It was 3:30AM Edmonton time when my sister called to let me know the outcome.

So here it is 13 hours later and she is still in the ER as there are no beds available in the hospital.  I just spoke with Dad who says she seems very alert.  He is exhausted but relieved that she is better.  Now we just have to take it one day at a time.

I spent today at my desk trying to catch up on paperwork but I need another 8 hours of work to finish.  I think I am moving at a slower speed.  Colin was out all day meeting clients and doing job quotes.  The girls have been unsettled but of course they are picking up stress vibes from me.

The great news is that the big long weekend is here aka the first big camping weekend of the season.  Our park is filling up and people are walking around, biking and just having an excellent time.

This couple had their 2 children out in a canoe several times today and I could hear their happy chatter as I sat at my desk.

Sadly our neighbors bird house fell into the lake and floated away. You can see the small black mid photo between the 2 sets of geese. I don't think there were any babies inside as they had just put it up two days ago.

That is it for today.  Colin is bring home some fresh wild salmon to BBQ so we shall be feasting tonight.

Thank you all for your comments and personal emails.  It means a great deal and it is comforting.  So many of you have already gone through this process. The fact that you survived and you are such wonderful friends is a huge comfort to me and I know that with your help I will persevere.

Hasta manana!

Tags: Duck Lake, emergency, Family, health

Thirty minutes ago this post was titled……Emergency trip back to Edmonton!

Mom was rushed to hospital this morning via ambulance.  I was out till about 1PM seeing my own Dr. so had no idea of the situation until I got home.  I spoke to the ER Dr. who was not optimistic.  Tests were being performed, many specialists including her heart surgeon were called in.  It was 50/50 with no resuscitation or ICU to be provided.  Dad was shaken when the hospital called at home and asked him to come immediately to the hospital to make decisions.  My sister took him and I packed and made a reservation on the last flight out of Kelowna tonight and called other family members to the hospital.

Just a bit ago I called the hospital to find that miraculously Mom was rallying.  She is doing much better and asking for a TV!!!!!  She will be transferred to a pulmonary care unit for  the next few days and then to a long term care facility.  It is quite likely that she will never be going home again.  I have decided to not go to Edmonton tonight.  I was there with her less than 48 hours ago.

Meanwhile it has been an extremely stressful day for me and my family.  At one point my sister did not want to tell my Dad that this could be Mom’s last few hours but Colin and I explained to her ( via telephone ) that he had a right to know and to be able to spend time with her and talk to her.  Mom herself was never told that she was not doing well.

Yup…I am beyond exhausted!  Time to pour myself a glass of vino and go unpack yet again!

Tags: emergency, Family

….of a visit.  So much done in so little time.

First I would like to thank Colin for surprising me and you with yesterdays blog post.  I can’t believe he got 10 comments.

The day before I left I made us a smoothie as well a large crock pot of soup. I think I put too many veggies in the pot as it turned out to be a stew. I just want you to know he had other food group choices

I chose to use wheelchair service at both airports coming and going and I am so very glad I did.  I would not have made it otherwise and what a treat it was.

I haven't been on a plane in three years so all this fancy Live TV was rather interesting. You get to check your speed, altitude and watch the plane move along the map. Our wee lake is the one below the W in Winfield mid shot. I had a great view taking off and as we turned over the bridge giving me an opportunity to realize once again what a beautiful place we live.

I was able to snap this photo as we turned, our lake is marked by the red arrow. In fact our house is at the tip of that red arrow. Our area is called Lake Country, look at all those lakes.

The action started ( not really ) when I arrived.  My sister got lost picking me up at the airport and was 45 minutes.  In her defense there is a huge amount of construction happening and many signs are missing.  Wow, Edmonton is a growing city.  We managed to stop at a breakfast place for a quick bite.  I had been up at 5AM and needed food to function for the rest of the day.  I almost fell out of my chair at the price of an omelette, $17.98 for one omelette and 2 coffees. So we split the meal as I wasn’t going to eat the toast.  I was a good sister and gave her half my frittata. I guess that is what they call an omelette in Edmonton.

Meanwhile our parents were heading out to the Dr’s office where we would meet them.  By the time we got there ( allowing 7 minutes to eat our meal ) they were already seated inside the office waiting for the Dr.  Phew I made it!  Mom and Dad have a wonderful new GP and he spent close to 90 minutes with us.  I really felt sorry for all of those waiting for their appointments with him.  Many things became clear to me as I took copious notes.

They cannot continue as they have been but steadfastly refuse to leave their home.  In the end that is likely to be okay as they are not able to move into an assisted living facility.   Mom is at the point that she requires daily assessment by an R.N. or a doctor. Otherwise she will have to move to a nursing home.  It seems that a good deal of her recent problems are coming from a lack of information being passed onto the right people or action being taken on her blood pressure results, reactions to medication, etc.  Some referrals have been made but those are 6 -8 weeks away.  I spent hours making lists of to do’s for Dad.  Perhaps and assisted living facility with acute care can be found in Edmonton.  I can do that research from here at home.  We did a lot of talking that night.

They have been married for close to 61years and love each other very much. It is an extremely stressful time for them.

Dad is her caregiver but he can no longer lift her if she falls and he can’t hear her half the time even with his hearing aide.  This was the only photo I took as I was busy calling here and there and making lists and seeing the pharmacist, opening up her bubble pack pills and removing some and adding others.  They do have Home Care that comes in twice daily but for less that 10 minutes each time.  So the one thing I was able to arrange was for an RN to come in daily for one hour at their expense  to do what is called a Wellness visit.  Mom has so much wrong with her and is on so many meds including a very high amount of pain meds that her situation can change quickly.  I had a long conversation with the RN manager who will assess them tomorrow and filled in some background.  I also cleaned out 1/2 grocery bag of old medications.

It was really difficult to leave yesterday.  So hard not to live in the same city but I do have urgent things requiring my attention here in Kelowna.  But first I had a stop to make enroute to the airport.  My wonderful massage therapist who winters in Mazatlan happens to spend the other half of her life in Edmonton.  So I was able to get a wonderful healing massage before getting on the plane.  The last massage I had, happened to be by Mary in our RV the night before we left the Isla on April 7th.  So here it is just over 5 weeks later I have my first Canadian massage by Mary but in Edmonton.  You just never know what life will bring you.  I totally forget to take photos of her really neat house.

Then the gong show began.  My sister had driven me from my parents place to Mary’s and from there I was on my own.  I took a taxi from her place to a nearby hotel which was fairly uneventful if you don’t count the seat belt that you have to open the door and reach under your seat to put it on or the window that does not open or the fact that the driver forgot to start the meter for several blocks so tacked on $2.00 at the end.  From the hotel I was picked up right on time by the airport shuttle I had booked.  They got out and came to carry my bags to the van.  It was already full of people so I had to sit in the middle of 2 others.  The one fellow insisted on sitting on the end.  It was 5 PM and  rush hour!  The fellow on the end was panicking as his flight left at 6PM and the lady on my other side had a flight at 6:30PM.  Hmmm I thought you were suppose to check in 90 minutes ahead.  My flight did not leave until 7:45PM ( more about that later ).  Halfway to the airport traffic came to a standstill likely due to an accident ahead.

We were positioned about 1.5 miles from a ditch that cut thru a fence to a gravel service road. The shuttle driver veered onto the shoulder and drove 'quickly' to this deeply rutted ditch. Having travelled to India twice and lived in Mexico I knew what he was about to attempt. The incline down and back up were steep. Despite my seat belt I almost went flying.

Was it worth taking this risk to get people to the airport on time?  I began to lose confidence in the driver when he stared speeding up the gravel road, the dust was flying and you could not see oncoming traffic on this narrow lane.  We did pass the accident on the highway and it did not look good.  Meanwhile we reached a stop sign and were behind two dozen vehicles.  I wasn’t quite sure where we were, someone said we had to cross the Devon Highway to get back onto the airport road.  At this point we could see some planes in the distance but crossing a busy highway at rush hour was not an easy feat.  While snaking our turn up to the stop sign the driver got out to pee!!!  Yes to pee, I guess he could not hold it any longer and no I did not take a photo.  You might say we were both relieved once we crossed the highway.  Then the race began, we were flying at top speeds to the airport.   People were shouting out their departure times ” 7 minutes”, “10 minutes” and this shuttle driver was trying to accommodate them.  Finally we were down to the “45 minute” person and then me.  I said drop her off first and take me around again to my gate.  I was never so glad to get out of vehicle in my life.  Once my heart stopped pounding I went to check in.

As I was being wheeled to the gate I noticed that my flight had been delayed an hour.  I was the one who had allowed sufficient time to get to the airport in the first place.  Sigh! What to do?

I had the attendant wheel me into a restaurant with instructions to pick me on in 90 minutes and I indulged myself. Indonesian stir fry veggies on rice with shrimp on top and a lovely salad with chick peas and walnuts. Oh of course, the requisite glass of wine, a lovely Pinot Grigio from Australia. It was a generous 9 oz. our that cost the same as the meal itself. For me it was totally worth the $32.00. I deserved it after the last two days.

What better way to pass time in an airport especially if you are in a wheelchair?

I was on the wrong side of the plane to see our house from the air but did catch a glimpse of the snow covered Rockies.

I was happy to get back home to my sweet husband and the girls who went crazy when I got here.  Today has been a long day and this a long read.  Just checked in my parents and all is well today.  Time for me to go relax a bit.

Tags: 319, Duck Lake, Family, food, Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, travel, Wine

Contessa is away in Edmonton on a family visit to assist her parents so I am holding the fort. It’s a tough life, all the wine to myself, weiner dog snugs and Kraft diner. The winds were very strong and the water was bouncing all over. My entertainment was watching  the lake, nature, ducks,  geese and baby geese with Carmeh and…  we shared the Kraft diner.  Caeli was sleeping in her new little bed next to where Contessa sleeps.  She misses her mom so much. Last night she would not go under the covers to sleep.

…and I am excited even if I am coming back here tomorrow.  Nice to be able to do something different and to see my parents.  For a variety of reasons I have not seen them for almost three years.  They could not come here and I was unable to go to them.  Previously we visited once or twice per year.  The last time was in June of 2010 for my dad’s 80th birthday. Now that was fun and frustrating and very expensive with our major RV repair that trip plus the other things that went wrong!!  We even still had our bird then and it travelled with us, the one shown in the bottom right corner.

June 17, 2010. Time for an updated photo.

Shortly after that visit an event occurred which changed things forever.  Perhaps one day I will be able to tell you about it.

Off to the airport….

Tags: Family, health