5C's Que Pasa

How often have non RV friends and family tried to talk you out of heading into Mexico for the winter?  Over and over!  The violence, drug cartels and vehicle stealing is not limited to south of the US border.  On August 1st, a Wisconsin couple who were on a 5 year cross continent trip had their motorhome stolen in Vancouver, B.C.!  It was found five days later in another part of the Lower Mainland. This was their first stop in Canada.  I wonder what they think of Canada now?  Will they ever return? The next week there was a shoot out in the city and someone died.  On July 12th and and again on the 14th there was gunfire exchanged between drug gangs. A 17 year old was executed in Surrey, B.C. on the 14th. Earlier in July an Alberta couple went missing and are still missing and presumed kidnapped or worse.  Their burnt out Class A motorhome was was discovered in Edson and later in the week ,their tow car was found in another part of Alberta. Today we read about shoot outs in Toronto and now terrorists being arrested.  Who says that Canada is safer than Mexico?

Missing Alberta couples burnt RV!!

Tags: Mexico, violence

Sorry I haven't been posting too much or  about anything exciting.  It's a slow news week….we did move back to the house from the RV on Tuesday (after 6 blissful weeks in the RV).  The site next to us (in the house) was sold and for the first time in 7 years we have permanent neighbours…they moved in on Tuesday.  The good news is that they have three times more flowers than me and even more lawn furniture…hard to believe, eh!  The noisy neighbours behind us returned Tuesday so we are back to well…no comment!!!!!!!

My Dad had a cortisone shot in his non operated hip today and was also moved to a rehab facility.  They say it will take about 2-3 days for the cortisone to have an affect.  They moved him from the hospital to Grandview via ambulance.  He rates the hospital as a 1 star out of 5 and the new place a 5 out of 5.  His roommate is a French Canadian who played cards all afternoon with a friend of his which reminded Dad of his father – in – law who played cards a great deal.  The two Frenchies decided to skip the dining room and ordered in wine and pizza for dinner!!  Classy joint I think!  Dad is still in hospital attire and wants his personal duds ASAP.  No one in the family seems free to do this till the weekend so I said to my Mom earlier tonite (I do luv ya Ma but really>>>???!!!)  just spend the taxi fare of $40.00 each way and bring him his clothes tomorrow….pronto!  Actually I guess she could just send the clothes one way via cab….HHHMMMMMMMMM…..no I think Dad would be mucho feliz to see her.  Besides it will be good for her to get out and about for a change.

I am barely hanging in there.  Colin has a raspy voice and sort of sore throat.  He thinks he talked too much (more like shouted a lot in Winnipeg..his Mom has no hearing aid) with his Mom.  Actually she has a sore throat also.

It is 9:15PM local time and we have yet to have dinner…no lunch today but we did get breakfast at 1:00 PM!  Colin is shooting a huge wedding on Friday and tonight is prep night so I best be off to get some protein into the poor guy!!  Oh yeah….does anyone want to come and walk the girls….they haven't had a walk in 24 hours…bad Mom..I know!

Here is a photo taken by Robert, a great and wonderful neighbour, of a heron on our beach one sunset a few days ago.

Photo de Robert; edit by Contessa

Ultra Allergen Free

I guess if you have designer dogs (that's what my 96 year old mother in law calls them) you have to buy designer dog food!  This 8 LB bag cost us $50.13CAD.  The very same bag can be purchased in the USA for $26.00!!!  A very big difference

Tags: pets

Lots and lots of phones calls the last two days.  Colin is having a wonderful visit with his Mom and they even managed a great & fun visit with one brother. I had a massage Friday afternoon and I wasn't here when Colin called.  For some reason he was worried & got his time zones confused and thought that I was out late!!!!  So he called a friend down the street  to come check on me and even called my Mom in Edmonton to check on my Dad and to see if she had heard from me.  Sweet guy…..you bet!

Dad's hip surgery went well but his blood pressure was so low that he could not be given any pain medication and he was suffering a great deal according to my Mom.  Poor guy.  Finally late in the evening when his pressure decreased even more they brought in a specialist who was able to order some pain medication.  Saturday it was discovered that his hemoglobin was extremely low so was was started on the first of three bags of blood.  At this point all I can say is that it has been very difficult for an 80 year old but he is definitely hanging in there.

My mother is most unhappy with the smoke in Alberta, it is affecting her breathing.  So very sorry Ma!  Colin is now complaining of the smoke in downtown Winnipeg.  I am just waiting to hear from my friends in Ontario.  Here there is no smoke but we do have cloudy skies and a forecast of rain for tomorrow which should make everyone happy again.

Just got an email from Colin today re his 96 year old Mom….cute..

“The OL Gal has lots of life still even though she is making arrangements for her end. She has been giving away things for the last 20 years because the end is near. One day she will be standing naked in her living room with nothing to sit on. Never hungry she says; last night she had, smoked salmon on bread, a vegetable roll, Gewitztraminar wine, glass of Kahlua and cheesecake.”

This has been the way I have tried to live my life.  Today it was brought to my attention in a forceful manner.  A neighbour was talking with his wife at breakfast when he suddenly slumped over and died.  Perhaps it is in getting older that one realizes you can't wait for tomorrow, do it today, call a friend, send flowers to a loved one or just send out positive thoughts to the universe because tomorrow may never come.

A little history here….

Carpe diem

Meaning

Usually translated from the Latin as 'seize the day', or sometimes as 'enjoy the day, pluck the day when it is ripe'.

Origin

The origin source for the Latin phrase is Horace – in Odes Book I:

Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
Aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

which translates as:

While we're talking, envious time is fleeing: seize the day, put no trust in the future

Lord Byron was the first to integrate it into English in his 1817 'Letters', which was published in 1830 by T. Moore:

“I never anticipate, – carpe diem – the past at least is one's own, which is one reason for making sure of the present.”