News

Cami is still coughing, but is back to his normal silly-self and asking to eat and play video games again. What a relief (all your well-wishes obviously helped- thanks!).


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And now I am reminded (once again) that we live on a fault zone. Chile had a HUGE shaker this morning at 8.8 magnitude! And there are tsunami alerts and warnings ALL OVER the Pacific. That boggles the mind that a rock wiggling in South America can cause grief in Hawaii and Japan. Apparently the shock wave transfers the energy at the speed of a jet plane through the water, so at least there is SOME time to get to higher ground for the Pacific Islands (if there is any higher ground to get to).

I called my mom in the Queen Charlotte Islands, she was aware and they said they are expecting it to be just some bigger than average waves, and are advised so stay off the beach. Same warning as around here (phew, that's good news).

I also just got an email from a dear college friend that her mom and step-dad just landed in Santiago for a 5 week vacation there last night! And she hasn't been able to get through to hear if her folks are okay as all the phone and internet is down (Santiago got not as bad as some areas, but still a good shake!)... I bet she is going crazy with worry, my prayers are with her.

NOW -- GO AND PACK YOUR EMERGENCY KIT!

The sick and the salesman

Well, Cami is still sick. I have been camping out on a foamy at night in his room because his voice is so small that I couldn't hear him call for me otherwise. The fever is up and down and the soreness in his throat is making him cry a lot. Night before last he coughed hard enough to puke again, and so it was a midnight bed-stripping with a crying kid. Poor guy. So yesterday I took him to the urgent care clinic, I was worried about his raspy short breaths. 45 minute wait to get in, and the doctor said the same as the other doctor... respiratory viral infection. He says it's in his Esophagus, Larynx and Bronchial tubes, but his lungs are clear (what a relief). Antibiotics wouldn't help so we just have to wait. He hasn't eaten anything solid since Monday morning!!!! But the doctor said until he actually gets "hungry" we shouldn't offer him anything but CLEAR fluids.... and lots of them.

Last night was the WORST. He was listless and unresponsive, coughing and sobbing. When I tried to get him to go from the couch to the bed, he looked at me like I was a stranger trying to abduct him! I think he was a little delerious -- certainly not in the realm of himself. It was heartbreaking. Sure enought eh fever was back, so I gave him some Tylenol and coaxed him into trusting me to put him to bed. He slept quite well (except a nightmate), and today he was more himself, even trying to chat and drinking his fluids and petting the dog. Hopefully that is a good sign, and hopefully there won't be any relapses.

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And on a brighter note!

Stevie had a "Young Entrepreneur Program" sale with his class yesterday evening (Tim and I took turns attending).

Steve has been working hard on his enterprise, which was "Ruff & Ready" dog toys. He came up with the design and the products himself, and even devised a snazzy logo! see:

For this assignment they had to come up with a saleable homemade product, write a simple business plan, do market surveys make a prototype, borrow money for supplies (from their parents) write a loan contract, find a charity to donate to, make their product, advertise (in a class newsletter, posters around the school and a brochure), make signage and table display and finally have a strategy to SELL their products (including making a float, making change and of course, the sales pitch). I may be biased, but I LOVED Steve's idea for the dog toys! He had a big rope bone an other fun tug and tossing toys, 4 different models to choose from at different prices. Check out his booth (the pic was taken near the end so there wasn't alot of product left):

The sales event was really busy and the kids were quite inventive! There were backpack sacks (in glow in the dark fabrics), jewellry, scented satchels for heating or cooling aromatherapy in pretty bags, witty T-shirts, scarves, toques, origami creations, a wide assortment of baked goods and even beef jerky. It was a success as far as I could tell, Steve sold more than half of his inventory and came away with a small profit that he will be sharing with the SPCA. I am very proud of his effort, and it was a homework assignment that actually made him some cash, how cool is that?!

Sleepless Night

Look at that, he is still smiling......

My little Cameron had a fever last night, so I gave him some Ibuprofen and sent him to bed early. Then at 10:30 he woke up crying and coughing. The fever was under control but the cough was worrying him and his neck was sore.

I feel so helpless when these things happen, I wish I could take it away for him.

I sent him back to bed with some water to drink, but at 4am I could hear him softly calling for me (croaking was more like it). T got up too, and together we fretted over how extremely HOT to the touch and lethargic he was. He was quietly moaning between coughs and obviously unwell.

I called the Nurse's Hotline and the nurse asked me some questions and listened for his cough. She recommended we seek medical attention because of the level of fever, sound and persistance of cough and he seemed to be breathing harder than normal (oh and the sore neck). Under the nurse's advice, I gave him more Ibuprofen and a quick sponge bath and bundled him up for T to take him to the Emergency Room. Amazingly, they were back home by 6am (making T about 1 1/2 hours late for work) and Cami seemed in good spirits. As is typical in these situations, the fever medicine kicked in just before the doctor saw him and the upright position did well to relieve his cough, so there was nothing for the doctor to look at really.

Apparently Cami has "just" a respiratory virus (I say "just" because it's not likely H1N1).

It was a Pro-D day today, so he didn't miss any school. He has been laying around watching movies while I've been trying to keep him hydrated and managing the fever. He is even too sick to play video games (one of his favourite activities) so you KNOW he's not feeling right!

Hopefully tonight will be gentler on him.

I feel gratitude for my life today.

"Be content with what you have, rejoice in
the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."- Lao Tzu

No special reason for it, I just woke up in a thankful headspace. My home is secure, my family is healthy, my neighbourhood is peaceful and my country is free. I have food in cupboard, a roof over my head and people who love each other in my life.... what more could a person want? My only complaints are trivial in comparison to the essentials that I have in abundance, so I feel very very joyful this sunny Sunday morning.

I hope you find reasons to be joyful too.

Staying Accountable

My 2010 resolution is still going strong! I think about it everytime I get dressed in the morning, everytime I pick something off the counter (or the floor).

"A place for everything, everything in it's place"

And if the thing doesn't have a "home", I get to ask:

"Will my life be the worse without this thing? Will I lack?"

I'd like to say that my home is a clutter free haven right now, but honestly I haven't had the opportunity to dig deep... just the stuff that happens to cross my path in a day gets judged. And in that small measure I am successful! A few more items have been culled, a few less items are languishing on the flat surfaces of my home.

Wet Coast -- sometimes.

Friday was a great day for storm-watching on the West Coast... good thing I was at Ucluelet for a job! Check out those waves!!!!!

Sure it was W-E-T, but it is still the warmest February on record (and I feel sorry for the Olympics's headaches).

Then came Sunday! For Valentines' Day we went out for a ride in a familiar place (I didn't get to ride because of my ankle, but I managed to get over 300 photos!) It was BEAUTIFUL, clear and balmy: The plants are budding like crazy!

Even the maple keys that didn't make it to the ground are excited about the early sunshine!

(see the sprouts?)

And today.... impossibly even nicer than yesterday! My garden is a kaleidascope of blooms and the thermometer is reading over 10 degrees (that's over 50 for our american cousins)... pussy willows are so sweet.

Crocuses are shiny and new.

I suppose Spring is here..... ready or not!

"No matter how much you push the envelope, it's still stationary"

(A little Graphic Designer humour for your Monday morning).

XOXOXOXO

I hope you are haveing a LOVE-ly day today!

Ankle Update

Thank you for all the well-wishing I have received about the ankle thing.

It has been an annoying injury, but I am lucky that my job is one that can take frequent breaks and lots of places to put my feet up! So far the hardest thing is getting things up and down the stairs. I'll poor myself a cup of coffee up in the kitchen and then have a HECK OF A TIME getting it down to my desk without sloshing it everywhere.

A week after the fall, I am not limping much anymore (but definitely favouring the foot still). It aches in the morning worst of all and bedtime is still awkward getting it comfortable. But I find myself "forgetting" that it's damaged quite a bit over the course of the day, so no pain!

There are a rainbow of bruises all over the foot and up my leg a bit, but the swelling is very small now. I am wearing the tensor bandage about 1/2 the day and when the top of my foot gets tingly I stop and elevate it with ice or warm pack. And I am constantly wiggling the toeas and stretching to keep it flexible.

I'll have to look up what the recovery time is on these things...

It doesn't hurt to ask.

I doesn't hurt to ask, providing you are asking the right person.

One of my college friends asked me to come with her to all the hardware stores in Duncan to look for paint colour, flooring and faucets for her bathroom reno this weekend.

The dear friend had JUST ripped the bathroom down to the studs when financial disaster struck their household, and they were left in survival mode since LAST February! She has been living with a naked room with NOTHING but a bathtub set in studs in that room for a year now. The only working toilet and vanity being downstairs. I am proud that she didn't borrow money to get it done before now, but still.... 3 kids, her and her husband all living with their only full bathroom torn up like that would be VERY difficult.

Thankfully they are both employed now, (though under-employed) and the first priority is to get that room functioning again!

She knew exactly what she wanted, and had me limping around FOUR different building supply places, then back again to the one that had the faucets she wanted. There was only one box left of the tub faucet... and it had obviously been opened and rifled through. So we took the box to the nearest help counter and asked if there was another one in the back.

NOPE.

So we asked him if he could be sure all the parts were accounted for.

YEP.

She decided she would get it, and as we were packing it to go pay, I asked. "Do you give discounts for damaged packaging?" My friend smacked me on my shoulder, embarassed that I would ask such a thing. But the fellow was amazingly helpful and called over a nearby manager, he jokingly asked the same question. At first the manager chuckled, then he asked if it was on sale (it wasn't) and went into the computer and came back with a price that was $60 OFF the original price! Well, my friend was gobsmacked because that was about 40% off, and she said she NEVER would have thought to ask.

I'm shameless that way.

I will ask the grocer for a discount on wilted veggies (if I'm making it into soup anyways...) I will ask the butcher for a discount on close-to-expiry meats (they go straight to the freezer), and I always ask for a discount on damaged packaging and on the floor model/last item (if they are obviously not going to re-stock it). Just make sure it's someone with the power to make those decisions... the stock boy doesn't give a crap, and neither does the cashier.

There is technique involved. Strangely, you do need to look as though you are respectful of the product and the store. Threatening to not buy it unless there is significant discounting doesn't seem to work at all. It's a delicate thing to look as though you would be HAPPIER (as a loyal customer) with a little discount and would be doing them a small favour in return by taking this thing that otherwise may not be sellable off their hands (without being too obvious about it). Implying that you'd rather have a PERFECT product just like anyone would, but this one will do at the right price -- hint, coy smile.

I always gush happily when the discount is made, and that way I am more likely to get repeat results. And I am genuine about it. I also don't as too often, it looks greedy.

BTW this doesn't always work. Some managers, when I mention that something is past-due, will just say "oh, thanks for bringing that to our attention" and whisk the item away. Others will look offended that I would take the item off their hands if there was a discount. But, as long as you are willing to take these responses along with the good ones (I have gotten FREE vegetables and bread this way) it is always worth asking.

Busy Busy days ahead

Just when the thrill of Christmas begins to fade for another year, "birthday season" starts!

This morning marked the beginning with a big birthday bash out at a rural friend's home (their 9 year old). I LOVE their property and tell them everytime I see them how blessed they are to live so independently and freely on their homestead. She always says "I know" in a whistful way that lets me know she isn't taking it for granted at all. Each time I go, there new improvements to the property for the grown ups and their 3 kids. Swing set, tree fort, wood burning BBQ chimney, new veggie garden, woodshed, etc, etc... It helps that the land has been in the family for 3 generations now, and just keeps getting parted down as the kids grow and have their own kids.The total family owns something like 150 acres of forest and river, so there is lots to go around still, and it's like heaven to me there with the trails and gardens and fields and out-buildings. They throw a great party too with treasure hunts and energetic outdoor activities (rain or shine), BBQ foods and hot chocolate, and even money hidden in the birthday cake. So fun! My ankle was cranky so their property looked TOO big to me today, and I hid out in the car quite a bit.

Tomorrow is T's birthday, a friend's within 2 days, then Valentines, then my birthday, then Steve's, a nephew, a best friend's, my mom's, my stepdad's..... it doesn't let up! I get my trip to England this Spring too!

I have to say... I think the plan is shaping up nicely for the trip too. Aside from the crazy-cheap airfare that we scored, we will be able to commute to and from London and stay at my friend's for all the time we want to be in that area! AND aunt Joyce has offered for us to stay with her as long as we want in Cornwall. So other than staying in Gatwick the night before we fly home, and the time Sharon insists we go to Paris, there won't be any accomodations expenses! And there will be some home cooked meals included too. The transportation betweent he various regions doesn't look very cheap, but at least there are options. Most of that can be dealt with once we arrive. I am leaving the whole Paris thing to be organized by my sister, but I told her it needs to be affordable!

Fending for Yourself

After watching what terrible things have happened in Haiti thorugh no fault of their own (other than living on a fault), I set to concerning myself about my family's need in the event of an Earthquake here. It is commonly accepted that it is not a matter of "if" but "when" a major shaker will happen here.

This is the message that our government has given us courtesy of http://www.getprepared.gc.ca/index-eng.aspx

For a major emergency, you need to be prepared to be independent from assistance
for at least 72 hours.

What goes into a basic emergency kit:
• Water - 2 litres of water per person per day (include small bottles that can be carried easily in case of an evacuation order)
• Food - that won’t spoil, such as canned food, energy bars and dried foods
• Manual can opener
• Flashlight and batteries
• Battery-powered or wind-up radio (and extra batteries)
• First aid kit
• Extra keys - for your car and house
• Cash - include smaller bills, such as $10 bills and change for pay phones
• Emergency plan - include a copy in your kit,and photocopies of personal documents, such as passport and birth certificate.…
Consider these additional emergency supplies for your kit…
• Change of clothing and footwear - for each household member
• Sleeping bag or warm blanket - for each household member
• A whistle - in case you need to attract attention
• Garbage bags - for personal sanitation
• Toilet paper
• Safety gloves
• Basic tools - hammer, pliers, wrench, screwdrivers,fasteners, work gloves
• Small fuel-driven stove and fuel
• 2 additional litres of water per person per day - for cooking and cleaning
• Other personal care supplies

I agree with the 72 hours, and what's on this list for the most part, after all my home is on the other side of a small bridge that could easily cut us off, and an overpass between us and all food/medical supplies that could potentially collapse. but I do have a question.... WHERE is the BEST place to keep such a kit? Because I am pretty sure my house would be messed up if the ground shook too hard around here, I would say my car -- except I don't really want to drag all those supples with me all the time (it would take up my whole trunk!).

Likewise, my basement may be inaccessable, my hall closet it quite small, the garage is stuffed literally to the rafters so we'd have a tough time digging anything out in a hurry..... so where?

Fortunately I think a lot of it could be kept in our tent trailer all year (except fluids that could burst if we got a good freeze).

Who else is ready with a kit? and where do you keep it?

Du-oh!

Well, it was bound to happen eventually. I'm by nature kind of accident prone, and I do run up and down the stairs a few hundred times a day....

Today I was taking the grocieries upstairs and turned to get another bag to bring up. I misjudged where I was on the step and fell off of it, landed on the SIDE of my foot and fell the rest of the way down (only 2 more steps). fell with a collosal THUD and CRASH as me and my groceries sprawled out over the landing and I hit the wall.

I tell you what, that nasty feeling of a crazy, red-hot poker skewering my ankle and foot was a sensation I will not soon forget! I sat very still hanging on very tightly to my ankle saying all sorts of un-ladylike phrases and pondered what to do next. (A call alert pendant sounds pretty smart to me now. The phrase "I've fallen and I can't get up!" came to mind immediately). I decided a phone would be smart, just in case this wasn't gonna get better, then an icepack if I could get that far. I dragged my whimpy self to my office to get the cordless, and then lifted myself up to find the pain wasn't so bad after all! HOORAY! I hobbled to my freezer then got myself to a couch to elevate the ankle.

Then the adrenalin wore off.

I called my nurse friend (she worked in emerg for years), she told me Xrays were never a bad idea, but my description of the pain led her to think sprain or pull. (she kept telling me she was not a doctor, and to keep that in consideration). She instructed a 1/2 dose of Ibuprofen, ice packs for 1/2 hour at a time, keep off my foot and a imobilize with a tensor bandage. I did everything as she said and the swelling really isn't too bad, I really don't think anything is broken, just

V-E-R-Y

A-N-G-R-Y

at me. (I took a picture to post for you all, but it just looks like an ankle with an odd, big bump on it).

Needless to say, it will be a quieter day than I had originally planned. (My gas pedal foot is out of action -- waaah!) Good thing the kids can walk home from school on their own.

I wish the dog could fetch me a lunch.

OUTA HERE!

Will my life be lacking anything if I have less pairs of black slacks?

I THINK NOT!

I don't even work in an office anymore! My average work uniform these days is a Vneck cotton shirt (and cardigan), jeans paired and fuzzy socks. Believe it or not, I was able to GET RID OF 5 pairs of black pants without barely hurting my selection! Now I'm down to 3 pairs of black capri's (in varying cuts and cuffs), 2 pairs of black cords (one casual and one dressier), a synthetic pair of long straight cut slacks that seems resistant to dog hair and a more elegant hanging formal pair that unfortunately LOVES dog hair, and a few pairs of black, cotton, casual pants.

Oh, and I found a few faded shirts and unflattering blouses to remove from the closet too. Nice BIG bag to take to charity tomorrow -- Feels good!

(sorry I didn't find these things before the clothes swap...)

so sleepy....

I made my sister a cappucino yesterday evening at about 6pm. It was strong and tasty (made from the brand of espresso beans that I drank on the trip to Italy). I knew it as I was drinking it that it may be a bad idea.... but it tasted so GOOD.

Last night I couldn't even consider going to bed at regular time.... then more than 3 hours later I forced myself to sneak into bed beside my slumbering husband, and stared open-eyed at the dark ceiling for ages. I have no idea when I finally fell asleep, but I know it was before T got up for work at 4 AM.

Today so far I feel like I have the flu or something. I don't know how my friends can stay up as late as they do on a regular basis and still function. Oh how sleep deprivation works me over!!!

I'm such a baby. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............