5C's Que Pasa

The past few days have been beyond tough for me.  I have wanted to share my feelings and thoughts with you.   You,  my blog family mean the most to me and I mean that just the way I say it.  You mean the very most to me!!  You all responded to my 60th and were there for me as not a one of my family said a word!

My mom had another very bad day on Sunday.  In fact she was 5 minutes away from having her O2 pulled away and a huge shot of morphine administered.  The family had once again been called to Mom’s bedside. However my brother told the Dr to wait until my father had returned.  Within that 10 minute period my Mom revived and today ( Monday pm ) she is holding her own.  She is a fighter.  I won’t go into the details but suffice to say that on Sunday we all told her that it was okay to just go and relax.  Colin thinks that because we all told her ( I did so via my phone to my brothers’ cell to Moms ear ) that it was alright to go, that she refused and started fighting back.  She is very feisty indeed and we all love her.  However she is a very sick lady and will never ever revert back to what she was.  I had her photo and her obit ready to send to the newspaper in Edmonton.  No go!  She is on top once again.  You rock Mom!!!

I could not travel to Edmonton today, Monday, as I had 2 VERY important medical appointments, one I have been waiting for over 18 months.  I have decided to stay here in Kelowna  until Mom passes and then go back to Edmonton.  I did have my special time with her 2 weeks ago and hugged and kissed her. I think that my dad  will need me much more once she has gone.

Life is not easy and all I can say….is….LIVE YOUR LIFE TO THE FULLEST EACH DAY!

Meanwhile, over the weekend, Colin put up our second rain chain.

...we really needed this one to make things work and it is doing a perfect job.

...the girls hung out around our tribute to Channel, our 2nd doxie who died at 3 years of age.

...just a symbol... that life continues.....be it human, dog, goose or whatever.............

Tags: 319, emergency, Family, health

Many of you are snowbirds from Canada who travel to the USA for the winter.  But are you eligible to do so?  Do you know the current rules?

The following is a guest post by Ken Bartlett.  He is an RVer who spends his winters down south.  The following applies whether you are an RVer or not.

Canadians Travelling South for the Winter

There are three things to consider

Time out of your Province and Medical Coverage

It is essential that all Canadians travelling in the USA have supplementary medical insurance since the Provincial medical schemes cover only a tiny fraction of medical costs in the USA. An unpaid USA medical bill might even cost you your home. The authorities will pursue you legally in Canada for payment of their bill.

Generally, the Provincial medical schemes allow you to be out of your Province for 6 months less a day in one calendar year. In BC and some other Provinces, recent legislation now allows up to 7 months. This will allow you to be outside Canada for 6 months less a day (see below) and also visit another province for up to one month without losing coverage. Also in BC, by registering with the medical authorities you can be away for up to 12 months once every 5 years. Please check with your own provincial medical authorities for the current legal rules. Being out of your Province in excess of the stipulated time generally means your coverage will be either denied or substantially reduced.

As far as I am aware, there is no restriction on time out of the Province for payment of OAS, CPP or coverage for your vehicle from ICBC. Be aware that if you stay in one US State for an extended period then that State may have a requirement to register your vehicle in that State.

Current time in the USA

The USA allows visitors to be in the USA for 6 months less a day within one calendar year without a visa after acceptance by the immigration authorities at the border. This is generally accepted as being 183 days less one day. A current passport is required. If the passport expiration date is close to the expected exit date then you may be denied entry. Best have an expiry date at least 3 months after the expected exit date. Crossing the border for one hour to buy beer or gas counts as one day towards the 183 days. Staying longer than 183 days is possible but that means you are illegal unless other paperwork has been submitted and approved. It also means you are now subject to USA tax laws which in general means you will have to submit a US income tax return declaring and being taxed on your world-wide income in addition to your Canadian Tax return. It can get messy and complicated. See notes below.

Cumulative time in the USA

In addition to the 183 day visitor rule there is the 3-year rule for tax purposes. The formula is:

Add the current tax-year (ending December 31) days in the USA to 1/3 of the last year number days in the USA to 1/6 of the previous year number of days in the USA. If the sum of these three numbers exceeds 183 days less a day then you are subject to the USA tax laws. Example: suppose you stay in the USA each winter for say 150 days (5 months), then (150)+(150*1/3)+(150*1/6) = 150+50+9=209 days. You are now in default of this 3-year rule and subject to US tax laws. [Note: mathematical compliance with this rule is about 123 days for each of three years or about 4 months each year.] Days within each year are cumulative e.g. three 50-day touring trips or 150 one-hour trips for beer equals 150 days.

UNLESS: You file US tax form 8840, Closer Connection to another Country, (see below) within 30 days [January] of the calendar tax year in which you exceeded the above 183 days.

Tax forms

USA tax form 8840 can be readily down loaded on the Internet and must be completed for each and all persons in default of the 183 day rule. Click on the link for the website www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8840.pdf.

Tags: travel, USA

My life is never ordinary.  Take the last few days.  Those who know me well will attest to the fact that drama is always a part of my life.

We have had the roof of the sun room checked and according to this new company the original builder made some errors so we will have to foot the bill for the repair work.  We have no choice.  Not only is the roof leaking, we have yet more water under the house so none of the repair work we have done since being back home has worked.  Hopefully they will be able to do the repairs this afternoon as we have a week of rain ion the forecast.

Fortunately I have been able to save us a bit of money here and here.  I called UPS to ask for 50% off my bill ($60.15 ) that was delayed due to their error when I sent all our tax information to our accountant the end of April.  Instead UPS gave me a full refund.  Now that was very nice.

While in Mexico we still have propane delivered to the house to keep the furnace running on low. I questioned this new Hazmat fee of $15.00 on each delivery.

...and received a credit of $168.00. It should not have been added to our bill. So it pays to keep an eye on your paperwork.

Do you know what is in your honey?  I mean the eating kind.  Kevin and Ruth from Travels with Kevin and Ruth discovered that it is almost impossible to get 100% pure honey.  Click here for the link to their blog post with all the details.

Good news for the animals in Mazatlan.  There is now an acupuncturist who will give treatments to pets starting this winter.  Our oldest doxie Carmeh had seriously hurt her back several years back and was almost paralysed in her back legs.  A local vet here in Kelowna saved her with acupuncture.  Nice to now have that option in Mazatlan.

I am still getting a lot of spam but now a lot of if is in French!  Very strange.

I meant to tell you that it is obvious I don’t get around much.  When I went to Edmonton last week I could not figure out how to use the hand dryers in the airport washrooms.  You have to stick your hands into a straight down slot.  Looks weird but it worked.

That leads me to an update on my Mom.  She is in day 9 of her hospital stay and the pneumonia is clearing up.  Both her and Dad think she is going home.  I can’t even begin to think about that.

Yes Connie that is one of the new art pieces you saw in the last photo in yesterdays post.  We really had no idea what to put on that wall.  We think this piece of original iron work is perfect.  Of course it also depicts our love of parrots.

It is about 5 feet high by 3.5 feet wide.

We have sun today ( perfect weather for roof repairs ) and Caeli ( she is on the bottom left on the patio ) was out there checking the rocks.  The geese swam right over to see her.

They just looked at each other.

Stayed tuned for a guest post any day now about travelling to the USA.

Tags: 319, construction, Duck Lake, repairs

Hey you only turn 60 once and so we celebrated.

The party started the night before. Tuesday Colin came home with gluten free crust pizza for me. He had gone to the Health Food store and bought gluten free crust which he then took to Papa Murphy's to put our favorite toppings on. How sweet is that?

I woke up yesterday morning to all the decorations plus gluten free cinnamon buns! They were delicious but I can't make a habit out of them.

The day progressed to champagne ( the large 1.5 L bottle ). Colin likes champagne and hates to run out.

Yes that is me. Clearly a classic at 60!

I don't think I look any older at all.

Between sips of champagne we opened my presents. A French Press coffee maker. I tried it this morning and found the coffee too strong. I will have to experiment. Among other things Colin gave me those stainless steel wine goblets. I bet they will keep my vino blanco cold this summer.

The rain never stopped falling all day and then it began to really drip inside.  We had eight leaks complete with buckets and towels to catch the rain.  We had the house builder come by and it was decided that the problem was the way the sunroom portion of the house had been added to the main part of house was the cause of the problem.  Because of the heavy rain and strong winds the rain is being driven up under the flashing which goes under the shingles.

Robert, our neighbor got this shot of them up on the roof.

If you remember we had the entire length caulked with self levelling sealant but it seems that is not the problem.  Sadly the sunroom builder died last December and the company has closed down leaving us without a warranty.  We are waiting for a visit from another sunroom company who will have to do some repairs at our expense.

It was a great day for ducks. We caught this Mamma walking her babes down the street to the lake. She must have had a nest in someone's yard up the road.

Because of the constant rain and miserable weather we decided to just stay home and continue our private party.  Did I mention Colin had even bought me some chocolate truffles.  Yes I was spoilt.  After a great dinner we decided to watch a movie only to discover that our PVR was dead.  So no TV plus we have likely lost everything we had taped over the past few months.  A new PVR should arrive within a week.  It’s a good thing we don’t watch much TV but I will miss the taped ending to some shows I have been watching all season.

...and so ended the party.

Thank you all for your birthday wishes!

Tags: 319, celebrations, rain, repairs, Wine

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