Redplaid Time

Chapter 3: Getting Artsy

2007-07-26T23:03:00.001-04:00

if you haven't done it yet you might want to look at the first 2 chapters to know what's going on here.
Sunday Evening: It starts with a blank canvas and some paint.
[Alexandra, resident of Winnipeg, youngest sister, artist and brain child of this exercise]

Make that a lot of paint. This is just what was on one side of the table.
[Erinn, the 1/2 marathoner choosing her colour]

The boys [Daddy and Alexandra's and Erinn's husbands] had left for the pub after the kids were in bed [Alexandra's and Erinn's, the rest of us left our kids and husbands at home].

Alexandra started lay out painting supplies. Would we be treated to an artistic display? No. We were going to paint! What? ya! All of us. hmmm. That's a surprise. This should be interesting.

Alexandra began by dividing the canvas into manageable sections. She started with a trunk, added roots then asked us to each choose a different colour. She painted in each section and then......

turned it over to us. To do what?

Whatever we wanted.

I sat back a watched for a while. I needed to think. I had no idea what to do. Maybe watching my sisters and mother would give me an idea.

Shawne, the nurse and artist, paints veins on her red section while Erinn watches. Erinn painted a graceful vine and leaves.

Heather painted symbolic flowers and stars.

Mommie added glitter to her purple section.

I finally got started. I used every colour and painted fun confetti squiggles.

Then Alexandra asked us add one word to our art. Mommie added a phrase. She's entitled. She wrote "The whole earth is full of his glory." Alexandra: "truth", Erinn: "grow", Shawne: "breath", Heather: "grow" [some mental telepathy going on there], Me: "play"

Alexandra waited till we were done and then added tiny flowers to the yellow space.

When it was all done we agreed it looked better as a tree reaching up then roots digging down. So we had a tree of strength [Mommie] and beautiful branches growing in all directions [That's us!]

And here it is:

paint!

And now for some sweet.............and silly:

Alexandra's son, Silver

and her daughter, Trinity.

Chapter 2: The Race

2007-07-04T09:25:00.000-04:00

We had to get up at 4:00am to get to the marathon. Here I am pinning on my number in the parking lot of some Safeways just before getting on a shuttle bus. There was absolutely no parking at the race. Everyone had to shuttle and it all worked so well. We were all impressed at how well run the marathon was.

There were almost 13,000 participants in all and over 2,000 volunteers. Mommie, Daddy, Heather and Alexandra walked the 2.5km. Erinn out did us all running the 1/2 marathon. The full and 1/2 marathoners were the first to start and then the 2.5km walkers and runners. Last to go is the 10km walkers. We were usually in the mist of a crowd the whole time. It was so energizing!

Don't get trampled Alexandra!

See all those walkers? Very serious people! Shawne and I had a blast the whole time, talking, laughing, clowning around, and every time our route paralleled the marathoners we cheered them on, "Go Marathoners, Go!", "Your doing great!", "Your awesome!", "We want to be just like you!" I couldn't help it! I couldn't shutup! I thought it was so amazing they were doing it and deserved all the encouragement they could get. All those other 10km walkers? Not a peep out of them, not once! [It was weird.] At least not the ones we saw. There were 800 other 10km walkers so it is possible there were other cheerleaders in the bunch. The other weird thing was the lack of support from passing motorists. Several times our route was on a busy road. We walked on lanes blocked off by orange cones. But very, very few honked their horns in encouragement. Shawne and I wondered if it was a Winnipeg thing. I once participated in the "Big Bike" in Thunder Bay, that's 29 people on a big bike riding a route of a few blocks for charity. Really not a huge physical feat yet people honked and cheered at us constantly. It was cool.
That's not to say there was no encouragement in Winnipeg, not at all! The route was lined with 100's of volunteers whose only job was to stand there, clap and cheer us on for hours. It must have been exhausting. In the residential areas [which are beautiful] people would set up chairs at the bottom of their driveways and cheer. In one front yard there was a Japaneses drums band, at least 15 drummers just given 'er. Awesome!

We all wore these t-shirts that my mom embroidered with "Sursum Corda" which is on the family crest. [we are the Hotsons of the house of Howeson, clan McDonald of the Isles] Being the uninformed, 5th generation, Scottish immigrants that we are [read: far removed from the homeland and therefore not knowing what the heck we speak of] assumed that Sursum Corda was Gaelic although my Dad rightly told us that is means, "Keep your heart strong" or something along those lines. I ran around that morning yelling "Sursum Corda" like it was a warrior's cry. When ever I saw a T.V. station's camera pointed at me, when I was crossing the finish line, I was yelling! [I just have to be sooooo dramatic]

Out of curiosity I just googled it and found this:

Noun

sursum corda - (Roman Catholic Church) a Latin versicle meaning `lift up your hearts'

hmmm, ok, it's not Gaelic, it's Latin, makes sense, most family mottos are, should have figured out that. But what is that about the Roman Catholic Church? Turns out Sursum Corda is a part of the Catholic Church's service. Makes me wonder if there were any Catholics out there, what did they think I was doing? *sigh*

About 2km into the race we spotted a Starbucks. Detour! We walked in and the guy behind the counter said, 'the washroom's that way.'

'We're not here for the washroom.'

'oh!'. Shocked surprise.

'Grande Chai Latte and...'

'Grande Caramel Macchiato.' Shawne added.

As we rejoined the walk we over heard someone say, 'They got Starbucks! That was smart.' I think they meant that in a good way.

As we were coming back around and passing Starbucks again Shawne spotted the ladies that were in front of us when we went into Starbucks. She recognized the grey hat one was wearing. We had caught up!

'I want to pass her.' I announced.

'Let's run!' Shawne answered. We started running and were shocked how good it felt! It was like taking a break from walking, just as good, probably better than stopping. I guess because we were using different muscles. AND we left Grey Hat in the dust! [sorry, gloating]

Just as we entered the last mile [yah, they had the last mile marked and named] my legs wanted to stop. They got slower and slower. Up until this point Shawne and I had been walking at a quick pace, no Sunday stroll for us. Shawne said, 'this is when you have to push yourself, keep going.'

Ok, keep going! At this point we had joined the marathon route again. They all looked so amazing. They were coming up on the finish of a feat of a life time and they were succeeding with grace! Some marathoners were having fun with it and had dressed up. There were the princesses in tutus and tiaras, batman, the super friends in red capes, a guy in a riped tuxedo shirt and bow tie. Shawne and I talked about what we could do.
Soccer Moms: Dress in matching pink jogging outfits with cellphones and blackberries attached at our waists and get the Starbucks on the way back so we could cross the finish line on our cellphones, drinking coffee.
or Thunder Bay Hat Heads: trucker hats, animal print balloon pants and rock band t-shirts.
One guy, clapping at the side of the road, said, 'Your almost there! There are thousands of people waiting for you in the stadium to cheer for you!' Man! He wasn't whistling Dixie! As soon as our feet hit the plush, red, running surface of the stadium and we saw and heard the crowd Shawne said, 'Let's run!'

What a rush! Here we are nearing the finish line. Shawne had spotted our parents, Heather and Alexandra in the stands. I just thought she was caught up in the moment. I think that is the female 1/2 marathon winner getting her prize behind us which would explain why people were cheering like mad. But, of course when you are nearing the finish line you take all the celebration for yourself! Running under that huge, finish line, timer is another cool experience. Just on the other side there are 20-25 camera men shooting film and snapping pictures. You feel like a star for just a moment. Then you get past them and see hundreds of metals on red ribbon being past out, but their not for you, they're for the 1/2 marathoners. Move on.

Once we were done, Shawne and I stayed behind the finish line so we could be the first to congratulate Erinn. She thought she would be about 2 1/2 hours. As the 2.75 hour mark drew near Shawne spotted Erinn entering the stadium. She looked so amazing! She ran like a graceful gazelle.

Here she is, crossing the finish line at 2:46:47 hours.

Congratulations, Erinn. You are a inspiration to us all! No, seriously! I want to at least do this race again, or others here in Thunder Bay. I wonder if I could run the 10km? [next years race is on my birthday!]
Stay tuned for Chapter 3: Gettin' Artsy

Marathon runner....well, not quite

2007-07-03T21:44:00.000-04:00

Blogger's note: this post was getting really long so I have divided it into chapters.
This is Chapter 1: The Build Up
Yep, that's me, running across the finish line at the Father's Day Marathon in Winnipeg on June 17th. Look at me, breezing across, so fresh and easy, and in only 2 hours and 21 minutes. Huzzah!

Ok, I didn't run the marathon, not even the 1/2. I walked the 10 km with my sister, Shawne and this is only one of the wonderful experiences I had that weekend. [oh, and the walk started 1/2 after the marathon so we did it in less than 2 hours. Huzzah.]

It started with a road trip to Winnipeg on June 15th, with my Mommie [pictured], Daddy and Shawne. Mommie lives in St. Catharines and had been visiting for the week before. Sister, Heather was flying in from Ottawa that day. Sister, Erinn and her family were on the road from Thunder Bay too. We would all meet at the airport.

Heather gets a big Daddy hug.

Sister, Alexandra, who lives in Winnipeg had all of us take turns in the photobooth. She put in the money and then we all ran in and out, trying to get everyone in at least one picture. It dissolved all of us into a puddle of laughter. Great way to start the weekend.

Party time that evening in Alexandra's backyard. It was my birthday. Erinn is naturally, very excited for me while Heather thought it might be cute to threaten to fill my face with cake.

I, of course, knit. This is the first sock of the most kickin' pair ever knit!I am joined here by Kalan and his mom, Erinn. The yarn for this sock [Colinette Jitterbug in Jewel] was a birthday present I bought for myself and go on about in great detail and massive amount of pictures on my knitting blog.

When I could drag myself away from the knitting I took a few pics of the partiers. Starting in the lower left corner, Heather [#2], Erinn [#4], Shawne [#3], Alexandra [#5], Kris [Erinn's husband] and Mommie [in between Kris and Mommie that is Daddy's white leg, we are the family that doesn't tan. no skin cancer please.] See those bigs candles? They're for keeping away the mosquitoes. Didn't really work but made the place look like a big birthday cake!

Look what we did the day before the big race!Fun, but we are such idiots! I had never ridden a horse before and had no idea what I was getting into. This was an hour long ride. Ouch! [that's me in the orange and Heather behind]

Happy 140th Birthday Canada!

2007-07-02T17:17:00.001-04:00

Sinead came running up the stairs on Sunday morning and exclaimed, "Look at my toast!"
We were just waking and her creativity started a busy day with a good laugh. Of course Barry had to reach for the camera.

I know, yesterday was Canada Day. I am a day late with this salutation but yesterday WAS Canada Day, too busy. Today is the day no one is working, no paper delivery. Barry and I have done practically nothing all day. I went to George's Market and loaded up on fruit, veggies and bread from their 'past due date' shelf [major hull, might go back tomorrow], took Sinead to a sleepover party and loaded a ton of pictures on facebook. Barry has been modifying pictures he took yesterday and putting them on his blog. Bronwyn has been playing with the neighbour girl.

Barry took a bunch of pictures of strangers and past out his business cards with his photoblogs on them so people would check them out to see pictures of themselves and order prints. That sneaky guy! I had no idea he was so entrepreneurial.

Prayer of the worn-out, volunteer children's minister

2007-05-29T09:55:00.000-04:00

Job 14:14-17
All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.

I will keep working. I will not stop. I will continue on the path set before me. I will remain faithful, trusting God for the times of renewal that I need.

You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.

Lord, open my ears that I may hear you when you call. I don't want to miss it!
Forgive me for not spending time with you. Give me longing to be with you as you have for me. Thank-you for loving me.

Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin. My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.

Hallelujah! Thank-you, Lord for forgiveness! Thank-you, Lord that all the steps I have taken in the right direction are not lost in my sin. Help me to live in your forgiveness. Help me to forgive myself.

Why YouTube Won't Let Me Sleep #2

2007-05-20T07:52:00.001-04:00

[to see #1 go to my knitting blog]
CAN'T STOP! I Love My Vintage Sesame Street!
I thought of posting an obvious classic: the pinball machine, but that's to easy. Then I thought, "Who can resist the Queen of Six or New Flash with Kermit the Frog or Monsterpiece Theatre, oh, oh, or Grover as the Waiter or Salesman or Elevator Operator! AHH, Ahh!

WAIT! !........ BERT AND ERNIE! Or those segments with all the cute kids!

Too much, too much!

Instead I decided to look for a more obscure clip...... so obscure I could only find it in Dutch.
The premise is Grover is walking along the street with his flute [ya, flute *giddy*]. He gets called over by a trio of bullies who "tease" him about it with a surprise ending.

Bronwyn dances at the Folklore Festival

2007-05-14T14:46:00.000-04:00

I was cruisin' through Sinead's photo collection and was surprised to find that she took a video of Bronwyn dancing at the Folklore Festival on Saturday, May 5th. She is dancing Sean Truibhas, the dance that celebrates when the kilt was no longer outlawed in Scotland, 1747. The leg shaking represents shaking off the truibhas [tr-oo-ze] or pants.

My New Knitting Blog Unveiled

2007-05-02T22:17:00.000-04:00

Ta Da!

I've started a knitting blog! I'll be posting here too about other stuff but my goal is to post more about knitting so you might want to check it out.

Knit Redplaid

Lime and Violet made me do it

2007-04-28T10:19:00.000-04:00

My First Pair of Socks!
Yes, I have succumbed to the title-wave of yammering about how great socks are to knit. Damn you Lime and Violet!

k, it's not totally their fault but they definitely played a big part.

You know those people who keep insisting that watching violence and playing violent video games do not make people do violent things. I don't know about that. I was resigned that I would never knit socks.

Never.....

But I listen to podcasts, I read blogs, and slowly....so slowly I find myself thinking about socks,
hand-made, knit socks.
Are they really so much fun to knit?
Are the yarns so wonderful to feel slipping through your fingers?
Is a heel really a miraculous thing to create?
Can it be true that they feel soooo amazing on the feet that I will not want to wear store bought again? [That thought was planted by Brenda Dayne. I'd curse her but I might get struck by lightening.]

I kept telling myself,
"you don't knit socks",
"your dad never liked wearing the ones his mother knit him and mailed to him on a regular basis for years because he would put his toe through them on the first wearing."
"Too tedious."
"You hate making anything twice, that's why you have never finished a sweater for yourself [except the cardi where you knit the sleeves and body all together] which is why the only thing you knit and wear that has arm holes is a vest."

I could go on but what's the use. It has all come to naught. I am forevermore condemned to knit socks!

And why? What was it that finally pushed me over the edge? A miracle.

I don't know where they came from. It is a complete mystery. I was doing laundry, in my house, and found a pair of ugly, blue socks. Two different, mismatched blues with white stripes at the cuff. I looked closer. What on earth!? Their hand knit! How did they get there? In my laundry? [I think I actually looked around. I don't know what I thought I would see, Lime and Violet twittering behind the curtains?] I was confused and curious. The yarn didn't look like anything special but so soft. I slipped them on. Game over! Ugly or not, they found a home. That was in February. I have never asked anyone about them. I'm afraid someone will claim them. Their mine!

And it really is a miracle. Look at them: [ahem...I could only find the one when the picture was taken.]

Who could love such things? Not only have I walked over to the dark side....I did it because of those hideous, cozy, wonderful socks!

I knew I had to learn. The first pair didn't have to be amazing, just functional. And here they are.

They are knit out of Red Heart Strata, a worsted weight, acrylic, self striping yarn that my daughters gave me for Christmas. After months of wanting to validate their gift and not coming up with anything it suddenly came to me.....self striping yarn = socks. They knit up quick and were not as scary as i had believed. Ya, their acrylic, ya their bulky but their great for wearing on cold days over other socks. Seeing their bright, happy colours peeking out of my pant legs make me smile. They're comfortable.

But more than that....they make me feel .... good, just good. I made them. I'm wearing them. Their cool!

Then there's my husband, Barry. For the last year or two he has mentioned he would love knit socks. Now before you say it let me assure you he had nothing to do with this tragedy. We have been married for 15 years. I am so past being swayed by his unwanted requests. BUT when he discovered I was knitting socks he knew it was only a matter of time. One evening, not long ago, I was desperate for something else to knit besides the endless rounds of an experimental poncho that never seems to end. [We'll talk about that latter] Earlier that day I had printed off a pattern for socks using Briggs and Little wool, so very plentiful in my stash. I ran up stairs during a commercial break, grabbed two colours that looked great together that I didn't think I would want for anything else and was casting on in minutes. Here is the first finished sock.

I know. It's bright. That orange is actually called "hunter orange". Barry is thrilled. I feel like I am making something that he will never wear. This wool is scratchy and thick. He never wears slippers. He's always warm but he has assured me he will wear them. [It will have to be the dead of winter with him trudging through snow before it happens.] Now I have to knit another. *sigh* oh dear. I hope I make it.

Knitting Snow!

2007-02-22T15:30:00.000-05:00

LOVE IT!
This is my sister Heather at Winter Lude in Ottawa.
so cool.
thanks heather for taking this picture for me!
to see a close up go to heather's blog: bugbums ,scroll down, click on this picture and a larger version will download.

Ted Haggard, Sin and what to do about it

2006-12-12T09:08:00.000-05:00

While we were working on the children's Christmas production I had an epiphany.

The idea for this year's play came from the kids. It starts with the kids wearing backpacks with the word SIN pinned to it. They slump across the stage, confess a sin into the mic and then fall in a lump somewhere on the stage. When they are done they are slumped all over the stage, weighed down by their sin. We are establishing a need for a Saviour. Then Jesus comes, provides the solution (this is the ultra condensed version) and, one by one, picks the kids up (they have shed their backpacks by now), they walk to the mic and say the opposite of whatever sin they confessed. So if she said "I stole." at the beginning, at the end she would say, " I give."

To decide what sins the children would say I had them write or draw a picture about what sins they had done. After discussion we decided that the sin the kids say should be real ones, sins they really had committed. We thought this would make it more real. When one boy refused to confess a sin in the mic, in front of everyone, it lead to a talk about how we don't need to be ashamed to confess our sins to each other. Not only are we all guilty of sin and, therefore, have no right to pass judgment on others who sin, Jesus told us to confess our sins to each other.

"LIGHT BULB!"

We don't confess our sins, one to another. Why? Because we don't want to be judge as being a bad Christian. We want everyone to think we are good Christians, we read our bible and pray everyday, we always tithe, we never gossip (we only talk about those that need prayer), we are perfect parents and good friends and do all we can to help the poor. ya.....

Maybe if we really did what Jesus told us to, confess, Ted Haggard would never have got so far into his sin. Maybe he could have received the prayer and support he needed when he was only thinking of doing drugs or sex outside his marriage. I don't know if my generation can be changed but maybe the one coming up can learn the benefit of confessing and create a healthier Church.

With that in mind, a couple of Sundays ago, I asked the kids if anyone wanted to confess a sin they had committed that week. Four did. We discussed what they did, what they could do differently, some confessed that they had done the same or similar things and then we prayed for each of them. It was a beautiful thing. BUT there was also a power in it. You could feel it. Like something shifted in the air, like a fog clearing. We will definitely do that again. I confessed a sin too, of course it was age appropriate, and I felt a release in doing it. There was a difference in me for doing it. I haven't done it since.

I think we started something very important.

Free Knit Accessories for you!

2006-11-21T09:39:00.000-05:00

My sister is doing something similar on her blog. I'm adding my own twist. The first 5 people to reply to this post and tell me they have donated at least $5 to Hope for Malawi will receive a free knitted accessory from me. The knitting will be done after Christmas but you will get it. It could be a small knit purse, keyhole scarf, wrist warmers, fingerless gloves or maybe something else. It will be a surprise!
Photo from Knitty.com

To find out what Hope for Malawi is read on.....

What can a Child Accomplish?

Well I'll tell you. In a few months Jaako Polkki, 9 y/o friend of mine, has electrified all those he encounters with his mission to help needy children in Malawi.

In May God told Jaako to go to Africa....

to read more scroll down just a bit. You can help.

Surprise Yourself

2006-11-09T19:10:00.000-05:00

Watch this video, free hugs campaign ......then check out the effect ......then read the back story ......then click on the comments to read my reaction.

halloween rant '06

2006-11-04T20:17:00.000-05:00

I wrote it. I blabbed it. Barry videoed it. Clint edited it. It was played last Sunday morning in church and well received. It was a "focus on the arts" Sunday. The theme was Fearless. We filmed it in about 20 minutes on a chilly evening. It is the first time any of us have done anything like this so it is a bit rough, I mean artsy.. yah, artsy. So enjoy ... or not.

halloween rant '06

here is a paragraph I edited out because of time. It further explains why I believe it is not necessary to tell people about Jesus, unless directed too by the Holy Spirit. I am an advocate of relationship evangelism.

"When my husband, Barry, was on his spiritual journey in the years before we met, he made many plans to go to mind control workshops, quests to find his spirit guide and other new age adventures. Those plans never panned out. After he met Jesus and looked back on that time he could see that every time he meant to carry out one of those quests a Christian crossed his path and he just never went through with it. The surprising part of this story is not one of those Christians preached a word to him, not even one "Jesus loves you". Just being in the presence of one serving Jesus was enough to steer him closer to the Lover of his Soul."

What can a child accomplish?

2006-11-02T15:09:00.000-05:00

Well I'll tell you. In a few months Jaako Polkki, 9 y/o friend of mine, has electrified all those he encounters with his mission to help needy children in Malawi.

In May God told Jaako to go to Africa while sitting in a church meeting. He told his mother. She thought that was nice. Jaako explained that he would need an absent note to take to school because he would be gone for more than two weeks. Jaako's mother became concerned.

After much discussion Jaako's parents, Andrew and Sue, chose to take his passion to go seriously. They saw this was truly the call of God on his life. But Africa is a big place, there are so many in need. How could he chose? Jaako knew what to do. Sue began to read a list of country's. When she said Malawi Jaako said, "That's where I want to go."

To make a long, long story short Jaako has already raised $10,000 through Sunday morning bake sales, a large yard sale and a Malawi feast and silent auction. Local radio and CBC radio have interviewed him, CBC radio has agreed to advertise all the fund raising functions. The local paper ran a front page story. There's a story about him on Breaking Christian News. Elementary schools are putting together Bags of Hope (ziploc bags with school supplies, toiletries and other goodies to give to children) But that is just the beginning, a small beginning. God has told Jaako that he is to raise $800,000. At the rate he is going he should be set for Malawi in a few years.

But that is not good enough for Jaako. His faith is not a small one. His faith wouldn't fit in the Sky Dome because Jaako is leaving for Malawi, with is mother, on January 14th, just a little over 2 months away. Impossible you say? Yes, it has been said. So what. I could quote scripture here. Suffice to say nothing is impossible with God and Jaako knows it.

And now we all do. The flame has been lit in Thunder Bay and is turning into a wildfire. It is about to over take us and spread throughout the world. It started with Jaako, Sue took up the cause, doing all she could. Now others are taking on the cause. Joy Prentice is just one of them. A women who has suffered with chronic pain for 13 years, Joy was just completely healed 2 weeks ago and has taken on the challenge. She is inspiring others to run with it. God told Joy the money will be raised through multiplication. Soon, very soon, there will be an email campaign, a website, on-line donation center, posters all over the city, a documentary in the works and much more coming. The internet is the key.

Keep up to date with Jaako's blog. I will be posting here. I will also be doing all I can spread the word. Link to Jaako's blog on your blog. Talk about it. Post about it. Get the word out.

A 9 y/o boy is bringing hope to the children of Malawi. Don't miss this bandwagon. It's a big one. The biggest one I've seen and I don't want to be left out of the joy of blessing those who really need it.

"Raising boys" & So glad I have girls

2006-09-14T10:34:00.000-04:00

This has been circulating the internet for a few years and have read it before but it is so funny that when I saw it this time I just had to post it. (the name of the author is not there, to bad)
My apologies to my sisters, who all have boys, but I really am glad God gave me girls. I don't think I have the fortitude to live through the following:

Things I’ve learned from raising my Boys (honest and not kidding):

1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3.) A 3-year old Boy’s voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant. (ok, yes, Sinead has the biggest voice in all of NWOnt.)

4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20×20 ft. room. (kinda wish i had a ceiling fan right about now, might cut some time on the painting)

5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn’t stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words “uh oh”, it’s already too late. (this one is non-gender specific)

8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it. (sounds like a homeschool science class in the making)

9) A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies. (I don't get this one, who doesn't know that flint is used to start fires?)

10.) Certain Lego’s will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy.

11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12.) Super glue is forever.

13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool! you still can’t walk on water.

14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15.) VCR’s do not eject sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20.) The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.

21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24.) 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.

25.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the clorox with brake fluid.

Podcasts

2006-09-13T14:50:00.000-04:00

This is my new obsession. Here is a list of what I am listening to regularly.

http://www.cast-on.com/ the best podcast, it just happens to be about knitting

http://www.knitcast.com/ the one that started the craze in the knitting community

http://knittingnewscast.blogspot.com/ great info, quality getting better

http://one24worship.blogspot.com/ good podsafe worship music

http://www.wiredjesus.com/ postmodern and challenging, to me.

I have listened to more and have more downloaded to try so this is all i can recommend. I would be interested in what you listen to.

2006-08-26T17:34:00.000-04:00

I am going public! Just registered my blog at www.technorati.com
Technorati Profile

2006-08-12T22:34:00.000-04:00

wow! May since i last blogged. So much has happened. Lets see if I can sum-up.

* i worked for the census, 3 months and 4 days and then got called back 3 weeks later. I am only working 1 week, done on Tuesday.
* in those 3 weeks I spent 1 week preparing for our churches day camp, directed the day camp the next week, took a few days off and then packed and went to the church's family camp for the long weekend, good times
* end of June went to Winnipeg to take a week of training with CEF. stayed with my sister, Alexandra, and her family, awesome time.
* my friend Tina visited from TO, hardly got to see her (stupid job)
* discovered I HATE WORKING FIVE DAYS A WEEK, IN AN OFFICE, FOR WEEKS AND WEEKS........
* i love being with my kids
* i don't know how working and single moms do it, YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!
* and the most amazing thing was my best friend from my youth called me up one day, she was in town. A gift from God to me in a time of tragedy for her. But her visit would bring another gift, one I thought I would never have.

My Friend Loretta

Loretta was my best friend. We met at and went to the same church. We hung out every Friday night at youth group. We were goofy together. When I was 19 Loretta graduated from high school and left home. Her plan was to get a job and go to bible college. It was strange losing Loretta. It's not like my life depended on her or anything like that but I felt a little "left behind". I really missed her. Near the end of August my mom asked me if I would like to go to bible college. I just about jumped out of my skin with joy. Within a few days I packed a trunk, got on the train with my bike and was on my way to Saskatoon, Sask.

I was unpacking when I heard Loretta's voice in the hallway. Her room was right across the hall. We were both very busy with school and Loretta worked at the closest 7/11 (she went to school all day, worked all evening, came home and did homework to 2 am), yet we still found time to goof off. We would shut ourselves into the girl's dorm prayer room and record silly stuff on tape to send home to my sister, Heather. Once we snuck into the cafeteria's freezer (you know, those big walk in ones) and ate ice cream, we had to eat it in the freezer because if we got caught with it we would have no explanation of where we got it. The best thing was Loretta took flute lessons with me. Once a week we would take the bus across town together to have our lessons on the second floor of an old, interesting building. This was in the early 80's and Saskatoon ran a-muck with punk-rockers. The whole town was fascinating.

After the college year was over (I took the one year course, Loretta was going for the whole 3) I went home and didn't see or write (I don't know why I didn't write, it seems to be something I never do) to her. When she was done she came back home. That summer she fell in love, married and moved to Peterbough, Ontario, because her new husband was in bible college there. My sister, Heather, went to the same bible college so I got to visit with Loretta once while visiting Heather.

Some time later, 2 years maybe, Loretta and Wade moved back. I would visit and we saw each other at church and we were involved in youth ministry but we had very different lives. I was single, working, she was married, having children but she still had influence. There was this new guy at church. He got involved in youth ministry. We worked together but it wasn't until Loretta pointed him out to me as a potential mate ("I think he is good looking") that I took special notice. We got married the next summer.

Loretta's husband got a job as a pastor in a small prairie church and moved away again. I always felt I wasted those last years she was in town. I could have spent more time with her but I was to wrapped up in my own life and didn't get her's. It wasn't until I was having babies I started to miss her again. I would hear of her, what she was doing. Once her family was visiting and came to our house, met our kids and we met her's, again, they were older. But I never kept in touch.

One day, a little over three months ago, Loretta called me, she was in town. I was thrilled.

Then her tone drastically changed. Her parents were in a car accident and her dad was dead.

It was devastating news. Her mom's back was injured and Loretta would be staying for 3 months to help her mom and settle her father's affairs. I felt tragic sadness and joy all at once. It was so awsome reconnecting with her. but there's more.

She owns a townhouse on the same cresent i rent on. She has been renting it out for 11 years, unable to sell it. She offered it to me. She is giving it to us. All we need to do is asume the morgage. She said that God has blessed her and her family and now it is time to bless someone else. I am so glad it is me!

Love you Loretta! and thanks.

An Other First

2006-05-03T22:12:00.000-04:00

So I preached Sunday morning. Its like spewing out your personal opinion to a big room of people and then leaving. No feed back. No discussion. At first I felt great. I finally had all that stuff of my chest and out there.

Out there! Oh my! What did I say? What did I do? Was that ok? Was it right? Did I say anything wrong? What do people think? Do they like me?

I know, I sound pathetic. All day Monday I was nervous. Then I heard from our worship leader and it was good. Better than good. I value his opinion. That felt nice. I have heard from others, beside family members, and its all good. I know, ideally, I should be above this. But, honestly, I needed to know. It is the first time I have done this. Maybe thats why. Maybe I'm just vain at heart.

Sleepover Survival

2006-04-01T17:43:00.000-05:00

Yes, I survived, with dignity in tacked. BUT I am sooooo tired and sore, just from moving around all day yesterday and this morning. Not much sitting down in the last 36 + hours. Oh, except for the whole 6 1/2 hours I got to sleep. Thank-you girls for that.

Last night was Sinead's 11th Birthday Sleepover. Seven wonderful girls, age's 8 to 11 slept in the front room. Did I say, "Slept"? Silly me. It's not like I expected much sleeping anyway. Yes, they were up till 1:00 am and yes they woke up at 6:30 am but they were great. No major problems. And yes one girl did go home around 10:30 but I expected that too. For a few girls it was their first night away.

And so it begins.

Oh wonderful. A Tamagotchi. It's like a video game your kid always has with them and if they don't play it enough it calls out to them.

Making friendship bracelets.

The Sleeping Beauties.

NOT!
I had planned to talk sleeping pictures when I got up with Bronwyn (She had to wake-up early to prepare for her Highland dancing metal test at 8:45) but they were already up so I asked them to pretend to sleep. Good sports!

Brady and Amy really got into the nails!
If any of you out there are planning a sleep over here is some advice: Have extra activities planned for the morning, just in case they wake-up at 6:30. I find it interesting that in all the articles i read on the internet there was not one mention of planning activities for the morning. It seems everyone else gets by just letting the children sleep-in, eat breakfast and goof around until the parents show up. I was so glad there were a few things we didn't get to the night before. Like candy necklaces.

The Birthday Girl

Who's missing here?

Here she is! Just home from her dancing test. She looks so different with her hair pulled up tight, glasses, ruffled shirt. I almost can't believe how my girls are growing and changing.

I just gotta say Sinead was a wonderful hostess, attentive to everyone, including everyone. She was so mature and yet wonderfully silly and joyful. I hope she always keeps those qualities no matter how mature she gets. Sinead, I am so proud of you. Happy 11th Birthday!

I Did It Again!

2006-03-30T09:13:00.000-05:00

I woke up late so only had time for a 10 minute walk but I knew I had to do it. If I didn't I'd risk loosing momentum. I am great at doing something once and then never doing it again. So I broke that habit. Now I just have to be determined to do it tomorrow.

I Did It

2006-03-29T22:23:00.000-05:00

Last monday I said I would start walking. I didn't. The other day I saw this on another blog. This morning I got up at 7:30, and before I could change my mind I got up, dressed and quickly walked out the door. I walked briskly for 20 minutes.

It was refreshingly cold. I was glad I grabbed a hat just before I left. We are in the time of year where most of the sidwalks are almost clear of snow and ice and winter coats are no longer needed. I enjoyed it. But I did forget to "walk with the Lord".

At this moment I am determined to go tomorrow. We will see how determined I am in the morning.

BREAKING NEWS

2006-03-28T10:52:00.000-05:00

I got a new job. Starting April 10th I will be an office assistant. It is a contract job; will run to the end of June. My boss is fine with me going to Winnipeg for a week in the middle of that, which is amazing. With my job I will be traveling to Dryden and I think Kenora, or somewhere like that. It will only be mornings, which leaves the afternoons to homeschool the girls. It just sounds so perfect. It fits my life.

It is definitely an answer to prayer. Last Thursday morning I was complaining to God about our finances, something I have not done in all the years of financial struggle (and we have been struggling all our married life, more since Barry went back to school five years ago so I have always prayed about it, just not complained, not that I am saying that complaining was good. I don't know what the connection is, if any.) Two hours later the phone rings and out of the blue my old boss from an earlier temp. job calls and asks me to come in for an interview the next day. It was mostly a formality. She acted like I already had the job.

Since I took over control of the finances last fall I have really tried to be responsible with them, paying tithes, not wasting it on stuff we don't absolutely need, and that means even the little stuff like magazines, candy and chocolate at the checkout. It doesn't matter if it is only a few dollars, "do I need it?"

I plan on carrying that attitude of responsibility to the job. I will go to work with the purpose to serve my boss, to work as unto the Lord. God does care about me and my and my family's needs but he also cares about souls. This job is not just about me but about those I will be working with.

So I have two weeks to get myself and home together. Yahoo.

My Girls

2006-03-27T15:32:00.000-05:00

Bronwyn at 8. She likes Highland Dancing. Here she was on her way to her first performance at a local Celieh.
Sinead, at 10. Too cool for school. This was spring last year, around the time the camera broke. I guess I need to borrow one to get some recent pics.

Yes, I am Inconsiderate

2006-01-20T15:07:00.000-05:00

or just not in the blogging mood, or lazy, or busy, any of those will work. It is not that nothing has been happening in my life. But it is weird that as soon as Barry fixed my site I quit writing. Bad Kellie. By the way, I don't know what is going on with the date up there but today is March 20th, not January. Alexandra’s latest blog title inspired me. Hey Derek! Thanks for the note a while back. That also has been prodding me on to do this. I have decided Monday morning is good blogging time so here I go!

I am just going to list stuff that has been going on starting with the latest happenings:

I got word last night that the Elders (of my church) past both of my proposals; 1) hold a 1-day workshop for training those interested in Children’s Ministries, Debbie Neufeld of CEF will be coming in from Winnipeg to run it. 2) Sending me to Winnipeg to take Children’s Ministries training for a whole 7 days from CEF! (Ps: I love CEF) BONUS: I will be staying with Alexandra for the week!

Last night “Graduation Day” for the children’s choir I have been directing for the last month and a half. It is the Thunder Bay Christian Homeschoolers (TBCH) choir. Our concert was held at TBCF (my church) because we could have it for free (thank-you TBCF). The choir sang 3 songs, two of them with “Stomp” style percussion. This just means that the children used Rubbermaid bins, small garbage cans, ribbed coffee cans as scrapers and homemade shakers to add a little “boom!” to the music. It was fun stuff. In between songs choristers performed solos on piano, violin and flute. Next weekend the music festival starts and all the children had their best pieces practiced up. It was excellent music. Bronwyn, my daughter, performed the Highland Fling and was wonderful. Somewhere in the middle she almost fell over but recovered beautifully, leaving out a few steps to get back in time with the music. I was so proud! We had a crowd of about 50+ in the audience, which was very nice, mostly parents and relatives. I was encouraged to see 3 ladies from my church that just came to see what I was up too. The kids were great! The concert was about 40 minutes. After we all shared treats and conversation. I was so stressed and it turned out so good!

Saturday we had the grandparents over for supper to celebrate the girl’s birthdays. I was concerned that Daddy might feel out of place since my mom moved away but he was fine, fit right in with Barry’s parents and Grandmother.

All day Saturday was spent cleaning and cooking. I made Sinead’s fav, lasagna.

Friday was the final practice for choir and Presentation Day at the Homeschoolers meeting (TBCH meet every Friday afternoon) Sinead did a presentation on Shakespeare’s childhood and did an awesome job. I was so proud!

Last Monday I attended the first meeting of the Ladies Ministries exercise class. We are learning to square dance! We are also watching a video series on proper eating and Linda gave a bible study on true beauty. It was great. I was pleasantly surprised. Looking forward to it tonight.

Last week I went for a follow-up appointment with my surgeon. I complained that I have put on weight, just on my middle. I am turning into a pear! He put me on the scale and I was shocked to see that I am 125 pounds! This means I have put 10 lbs on my middle! Mostly my butt!! On my little frame this is a big deal. It makes a big difference in how my clothes fit. I either have to do something about it or change my wardrobe. I have put this on since Christmas and is obviously a side effect of being on hormone therapy.

A few weekends ago I went on a Scrapbooking retreat with 13 other women, most from my church and thoroughly enjoyed it.

So I have become a middle aged, pill popping, scrapbooking, square dancing, pear. All that is ok but the pear part. Not that I am going to get upset about it, I’m not the obsessed about my weight but I don't want to change my wardrobe. That is just too much effort and money involved. I need to get moving. I'm going to try walking. I'll start today. I'm not going to do the diet thing. I probably could cut down on carbs (LOVE THEM) but we don't eat a lot of junk. Mainly because we can't afford to.

Coming up we have Sinead's sleepover party. We were going to do it this Friday but just discovered that is when the church is having a 20th anniversary dinner so it is getting bumped to the next weekend. We were in church when I figured this out. When I told Sinead she first tried to figure out how it could still happen this weekend. When that didn't pan out she said, "We'll just have it the next Friday, no problem." The lady sitting beside me said, with tears in her eyes, how wonderful Sinead handled the situation. I guess it just goes to show some people are not accustomed to children being good about not getting their own way. Moments like that make me feel like I am doing the right thing and a pretty good parent. That's a nice feeling.

2005-11-24T22:19:00.000-05:00

Yaaaaaaa! My blog is fixed! My hard-working, well-meaning husband redesigned it about a month ago. He wanted to surprise me by putting a picture of Audrey Hepburn on it. Unfortunately the picture he found was not Hepburn (Barry insists the site he got it from said it was her) and she was holding a cigarette. Not quite what I wanted. He just changed the picture and I love it.

Audrey Hepburn was not just a great actress who defined the style of her time she was a tireless humanitarian who devoted many years to working for Unicef, not just as a spokesman but literally working, mainly with children.

I have fully recovered from surgery. I have started taking hormone therapy. The hot flashes still persist but it hasn’t been a week yet. At my last visit I was told I have a “soft lower spine” and have been referred to another doctor for that. All of a sudden I am a middle-aged woman who’s had parts removed, taking pills everyday and seeing multiple doctors. I’m feeling old.

Kids in the Kingdom

2005-10-28T11:39:00.000-04:00

My last post grew into a little dissertation on my basic opinion on children’s spirituality that I felt needed it’s own space. So here it is:

It has been my experience that children come by faith easily and naturally. When you tell them Jesus wants to talk to them and all they have to do is ask, they believe it. I sometimes remind them of the scripture that says, “If a son asks his father for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matt. 7:9) When you ask Jesus to speak to you he will. You don’t need to worry if what you hear is from any other source (like we adults do. Example: “That’s not Jesus. That’s just me. That’s what I want to hear…..”). Children need to be encouraged that they are hearing from God. If they can start the communication now, practice it now, they will know, without doubt, that Jesus is with them throughout their life and they won't be able to turn their backs on him because of their personal experience. That is my hope and my goal.

As parents we need to take our children's spirituality seriously. We need to affirm their spiritual experiences. A while back a friend of mine told me that her 7 y/o son announced to her that he was a prophet. I was happy to hear that her response was, "Yes you are". That is just the attitude we need to have. (btw; I concur. That boy is a prophet.)

Children don't have the doubts and skepticism that adults do. Their spirituality seems purer. They don’t get hung up on the doctrinal issues adults do like, pre, mid or post-tribulation, what kind of music is appropriate for worship, how to act in church and so on.

I like that our church leadership is willing to move towards giving children more participation in church. Alyssa’s word of prophecy is just one example. We closed off one service with the children praying for adults and leading worship (it was an incredible experience for all). A few times the children have been called to the front to pray for others. They are allowed to dance and flag during worship and the worship team is coming up with a plan that will allow children to participate with the them on Sunday morning. It’s a start. A start in the right direction.

My Cold and Jesus speaks to the Kids

2005-10-25T08:21:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning: I was so looking forward to going to church. It is killing me that I had missed 2 already.

The first Sunday I missed, the worship team went wide on the percussion instruments and little Alyssa (6 y/o) prophesied. I love that she had the guts to tell the pastor (her grandfather) and that she was allowed to speak to the church. It was just one sentence, "Jesus is saying that he wants to heal people", but it is a step in the right direction. For about a year I have been training the children and teaching them that they are important members of the Kingdom and just as capable of worshiping, praying for others, hearing Jesus' voice and prophesying as adults. I’m sure that her grandfather is the pastor made it easier but it is a great example to the other children and a great lesson for the adults. I plan to talk to the children about when I get back and tell them they can do it to.

Anyway, I woke up feverish, chilled, achy, headache, miserable. Rats! I have Barry’s cold. So now it is 3 Sunday’s missed.

Ashley (who is taking over my class) is doing a great job and having a great time doing it. Two Sunday’s ago she led the kids in some God chasing time (the kids find a place in the room to be alone, no talking or goofing around, and talk to Jesus and listen to him while some quiet worship music plays). I told her that when she does this she will probably feel like everyone is just sitting around, twiddling their thumbs, waiting for it to be over but to be sure to gather the kids around after and ask them what happened. She said it happened just like I said. Her response to what happened during the after-talk was, “They blew me away!” A few said that Jesus told them he loves them (this is the most common and beautiful response. He most certainly does love them!) and 2 others had received a clear word from Jesus that spoke to their specific need and situation. I miss those kids.

My Sticking Uterus

2005-10-20T08:16:00.000-04:00

To anwser Yvonne's comment to my last post:

Apparently, before I had both ovaries ripped out, I had endometriosis.

“What is endometriosis?

The word "endometriosis" (say: "end-oh-me-tree-oh-sis") means a problem with the lining of the uterus. Endometrial tissue is usually only inside your uterus. However, if you have endometriosis, tissue from the lining of the uterus moves through the fallopian tubes and gets on your ovaries, in your pelvis, on your bladder or in other areas. When you have your period, this tissue swells and bleeds, just like the lining of your uterus. This is often painful, and scar tissue can form in your pelvic area.” (quoted from http://familydoctor.org/476.xml )

Eew! I wrote “apparently” because I did not know I had this condition, no one did, because I had no symptoms. The usual symptoms include, pain, pain, pain, during menstruation, intercourse, bowel movements (thank-you Jesus for no pain!) and difficulty getting pregnant (thank-you Jesus for my girls!). Ok, I had some pain with my period but nothing midol couldn’t handle.

Anyway, this uterine tissue makes your insides “sticky” (a real medical term used by my surgeon). My uterus is glued to my colon. More eew! I ask Mr. Surgeon if I would ever have to have my uterus removed. He did not foresee any reason for that but if I ever came to him and said I wanted it out (…time-out here: did he say I would ask for more surgery? Not gonna happen!) he would send me to Winnipeg where a team of surgeons would work on me. It would be a big deal. My main reason for asking was because I wanted him to say “no”. I never want to do this again!

Yvonne: I don’t know how many times I pushed that morphine button but I too would push it 3-4 times every time I woke up. I also thought I was sleeping for hours at a time but after waking up the 20th + time and it still was not morning I guessed I was dropping off for only a few minutes. I loved that button. I was in control. I got to recognize and love the little sound of the pump pushing out that 1mm of morphine. When my husband told me the next day that it only worked the first time I pushed it and only worked once every minute I learned to harness the power of the pump with the help of the desk clock I had Barry bring in. Cool stuff. I cried when they wanted to take it away but that’s another story for another day.

Two Weeks

2005-10-17T21:43:00.000-04:00

Yes, it has been two weeks since surgery and I haven't updated. There is a lot to tell but I'll just give you the basics tonight.

TWINS: I went in around 9:30 am. Despite external and internal ultrasound, x-rays and CAT scan Cysarow was not alone. The surgeon lifted out one chocolate cyst only to discover another attached to the other ovary. So a two-hour surgery to remove one cyst and ovary turned into double duty. Four hours later, after determining that my uterus was steadfastly glued to my colon, wasn't coming out and looked healthy enough and losing a lot of blood, I was finally sewn up and taken to recovery.

I remember nothing until I was taken to my room at 5:00 pm. I remember being lifted and moved to my bed and all I could say was "Pain, pain, pain!" I could hear people telling me I would be hooked up to a morphine pump that I could control myself but I just couldn't shut-up. I can't think off any other time I have been in more pain. But that only lasted a minute or two. They got that morphine pumpin' pretty quick. It worked immediately. My memory is foggy but I remember Barry and my mom being there. I remember Barry telling me about Cysarow's twin (which I named latter, posthumously, Cysalane) and that there was no cancer.

I remember having a basic, almost desperate need to hold Barry's hand. It was like I couldn't effectively communicate any other way. When his hand wasn’t available he offered his foot. I didn’t care. The foot worked just fine.

Latter Barry told me I listened to Coronation Street and then put my glasses on and watched Corner Gas (one of my two favourite shows that I can’t miss). This I have no memory of, which really bothers me. I feel like I missed my fav show…..yet I didn’t. It was about Brett giving up coffee and Emma giving up knitting and crocheting to support him, a story line I would have really appreciated because I love knitting and crocheting and love that Emma is doing it in every show. I love that she is usually making some ghastly looking thing out of cheap acrylic. (Although, in tonight’s episode she was knitting something out of a cozy, nubby yarn in a neutral shade. I wonder if they are real projects that she is working on. She certainly is really doing it; she’s not faking it.) oh well.

That night I must have woke up every 10 minutes to push that morphine button pinned to my hospital smock. And every time I couldn’t help but be THRILLED that I didn’t have cancer. I guess I was more stressed out about that then I realized.

I will try and post more about my recovery and hospital experiences in the coming days. There is much to tell, some of which I wish I had known about before. I have a need to post as much about it as possible in hopes that I can help any of my sisters or friends that might need surgery in the future. (but I really hope not!)

Surgery Eve

2005-10-02T16:47:00.000-04:00

Was the day before surgery, when all through the house 
not a creature was stirring not even a mouse.
When up in the bathroom there arose such a clatter 
I ran up the stairs to see what was the matter.
When what to my assaulted nose did I smell 
but a stench so vile I gagged for a spell.

Yah, its pretty stinky up there right now. It is 4:55 and I have survived the first bout of fleet enema cleansing. In a few minutes I must take the second dose. I have had nothing but liquids today, clear liquids. Barry picked up a box of vegetable broth cubes at the health food store and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Even though it took me about 20 minutes to strain it through a coffee filter to clean out the herby bits I am looking forward to doing it again latter. I have had tea with no milk (only barely tolerable, I managed to drink about a ¼ of it), blue PowerAde, granny smith apple juice (wonderful) and lots of water.
For an hour and a half after downing the first bottle of enema I was nauseous and had to lie down. After a couple of hours of toilet time I finally felt pretty normal. Now it is 5:00 and I must go and struggle to get the second bottle in my gullet.

The Pre-Admit

2005-09-30T12:01:00.000-04:00

8:00 am, at the hospital. Sporting my new short, short, surgery haircut (no bed head for me) I checked in to Admitting. Then down the hall to some other waiting room (can't remember what they call it). When called I was led into a small office where a nurse (at least she was dressed like one) ask me about my family’s medical history and mine. It seems I have given this information so many times over the past month and a half, to every doctor, doctor’s assistant, nurse, receptionist….Almost makes me want to start making stuff up just to make it different.

She asked about allergies, made notes about the food I can’t eat. Mainly MSG, which she mentioned the hospital doesn’t use. That’s a surprise. I’ll believe it when I see it. She was bummed out that I can’t eat Jello, that clear fluids, old hospital stand by. What will I eat? We talked for about 45 minutes. She gave me stuff to read about what to expect, told me what I can have the day before and to expect to be on the toilet all day with the two fleet enemas I have to take.

And this is the weekend my sister’s family is coming to visit and we are having Christmas/Thanksgiving dinner. It was to all happen on Sunday but my mom got everyone to change it to Saturday so I could enjoy it too. That will be nice. Well I have stuff to get done. Clock is ticking. 3 more days to rip-out time.

OH NO! A COLD!

2005-09-27T13:08:00.000-04:00

The day after the pre-op I wake up with a cold! Sore throat, bit of stuffiness, touch of fever. I thought the surgeon should know. I don’t know if it is a big deal or not. I’m a non-medical person. I don’t remember hearing from the surgeon, doctor or anyone what should happen if I get sick before surgery I just thought someone should know.

I call the surgeon’s office. After the 2 minutes or so of voice mail I get the receptionist who cuts me off in mid sentence to tell me I need to talk to the surgery schedule office and patches me through.

Talk to the scheduling office. The lady tells me that surgery will be canceled if I can’t get rid of it and to call my family doctor and tell him.

OK. Call the doctor’s office. Get the receptionist. She tells me I need to call the message desk and gives me the number.

All right. Call the message desk. Once that lady hears my reason for calling she talks in a grave tone as she tells me she will tell the doctor right away and get back to me. Great! Sounds like I got through to the right person to tell.

She calls me back. If I have a cold I must tell my surgeon since he is the one to make the decision to operate or not. I don’t think I’ll waste time telling you what I felt like saying to that. Rather I told her I had done that and was told to call my doctor. Well see how you feel in a couple of days and then call your surgeon back.
Thanks. I think I just wasted a good 30 minutes at least.

I rush out the door to get some work hours in and when I come back for lunch there is a message for me. It is the receptionist from the hospital admitting office wanting to schedule my pre-admission appointment (that’s when they will take my blood and make me pee in a cup). Hmm, she is saying this is the second message she has left and is wondering if she has the right number. So I listen to all the messages left on the machine and sure enough there is another message, left before, but in the first message she doesn’t say why she is calling, she just leaves her name and phone number. I guess I could have heard it before and ignored it because I don’t know her. Or maybe DH, Barry heard it and forgot to tell me.

So I call back. She is thrilled to hear from me, knows I have a cold and that it isn’t like me to not call back. Who has she been talking to? It is nice to talk to someone who is all pleasantness and smiles. The appointment is made for Friday morning. Then, out of the blue, she asks if I have been rushing around trying to get things done before the surgery. I must answer yes. “Well”, she says, “now it is time to relax and get rid of that cold. You’ve been planning for this surgery. You don’t want to miss it. I sound just like my mother.” She sounds like my mother too. OK, I’ll try.

Sleep. That is what I need. I have got to get to bed at a decent time tonight. But right now, I gotta get back out there and make more money.

The Pre-Op

2005-09-26T13:19:00.000-04:00

So I had my pre-operation physical today. No biggie. Listen to my heart, check my reflexes, look in my mouth, ears, eyes. poke my tummy - Done.
"What! That's it? No taking my blood? No peeing in a cup?"
He told me that the papers I got in the mail about the surgery will tell me what kind of blood tests need to be done and I can do that any time. Now where did I put those.....

CT Scan - What a Trip!

2005-09-22T23:16:00.000-04:00

First you can't eat or drink anything three hours before so if your appointment is at 9:30am you don't get any breakfast. Then you have to show up an hour early to drink two large glasses of water with a bit of something in it that makes your bowels glow. It’s just like tap water with a little extra tinny or chemical taste. The last few gulps are difficult to get down because you are sick of it and hungry for just about anything else.

Your glad the washroom is close by because you have to use it several times before you are called in 15 minutes late. During all this waiting time you are almost driven mad because some poor patient's IV is beeping in the hall. You look at all the nurse/doctor looking people walking by and wonder, “Can't someone check on that?”, “Is that lady ok?”, “I guess it must be ok since everyone is ignoring it except for me and the woman sitting beside me with her book turned over on her lap and complaining to me she can’t read with that thing going off like that.”

You start to think you should visit the washroom again when a nurse summons you into a large room where you are asked to lay down on a stretcher while she inserts an IV needle. She explains the IV is for an injection that will be given to you during the scan. She goes on to say the drug will give you a “warm” feeling through your arms and make it’s way down to your “bottom”. This injection will make you taste and smell “something” and make you think you wet the bed.

You want to say you really do have to go to the bathroom but that would be awkward now that you are there with a needle in your arm, which, by the way, is driving you nuts; it hurts and is itchy. You manage to fight the urge to pull it out and scratch when the nurse leaves the room by singing a silly Sunday school song you can’t remember most of the words to.

Finally she comes back and leads you to the next room. Sitting in the center of the room is a large, upright, square donut looking all sleek and modern. Sticking out of the hole is a bed. Yes, that is where you go; you will soon be put in that donut hole. Once you are lying down the nurse asks you to unbutton your jeans and pull them down. Hmmm. That will be difficult with a needle stuck in elbow pit. You try doing it with one hand and end up letting the nurse do it. After helping you lift your arms above your head she leaves.

You’re alone in the room with the big donut. The donut moves. It is coming up your body. Closer and closer to your face. It stops just at your chin. The inside rim of the donut hole is clear and you can see the innards spinning around it. It is mesmerizing. It slows down so you try to distinguish what is in there. Stop! Don’t do that! It’ll make you dizzy and you feel weird enough.

Then it speaks to you. Telling you to hold your breath and then to breathe. The nurse’s voice comes out of ……. I’m not sure where and tells you she is starting the IV now. Sure enough you feel a warm, tingling feeling move through your arms, your shoulders, you taste and smell “something” er… not yummy. The feeling, which is quite over whelming, moves down to … there and you are sure you peed! It is bizarre!

Then it is over. The feeling goes quickly away. The nurse comes back. While she removes the IV the nurse mentions that your blatter is quite full. Good! Its' still there. After putting pressure on your needle wound for the longest minute she finally lets you go.

So I’m just one more step closer to surgery. On Monday I go for a pre-op physical with my regular GP. In the mean time just trying to get everything done before the 3rd. Tomorrow I will be staying home. My nephew is coming over for the day. This will give me a chance to do some unpacking and act like the stay-at-home mom I really am.

Finally! A Surgery Date!

2005-09-20T20:59:00.000-04:00

October 3rd! Yikes! I was really hoping it would be later in the month. That is only 2 weeks away. I won't be able to finish my job, which runs until the end of October. I need to arrange for teachers for Children's Church for at least 6 weeks. About a month ago I started sorting out all the stuff we have for Children's Church and deciding how to store it. I still haven't finished that and the one classroom has piles of stuff all over the place. It doesn't look like we will have Pioneer Clubs until after Christmas since I still don't have the number of teachers I need. Even if I got them tomorrow I don't feel I would have enough time to prepare them and start the program. I've already decided that I won't be doing a Christmas program. I have to finish unpacking (from moving), need to arrange the basement and fix up my room. And, somewhere in all of that, put in as many working hours as possible. Two weeks.

Giving up my Children's Church class will be the hardest. I love doing it and the curriculum is so much fun. I do have a couple of teachers willing to do it. I need to get together with them and discuss it. I will miss the kids.

But I will be spending lots of time with my girls. I am really looking forward to that. Reading stories, drawing pictures, doing schoolwork surfing the net, watching TV, all together.

Life goes on...

2005-09-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

Not much to update. Well, nothing special. I still don't have a surgery date. The fall stuff is starting to happen. Bronwyn started back at Highland dancing lessons on Saturday. Homeschool activities have started. Last Friday we participated in the homeschoolers' camp out at Kakabeka Falls. It rained and thundered and lightning-ed half the night and then the Hydro damn set off it's siren several times to warn people down stream that they were letting extra water out. What I would just like to ask is "Who is going to be down stream in the middle of the night?!" We didn’t get much sleep but had fun anyway.

This Sunday Children’s Church goes back to normal: two separate classes instead of just one. Pioneer Clubs is still on hold while I try to round up enough leaders. I don’t want to start and then have to stop when I have the surgery. Pastor Irv is going to help with this one. He is preaching on the importance of Children’s Ministry and promoting the Club. So I will wait one more week before canceling it all together until after Christmas.

My job is going well. Got good reports from my boss and her assistant. But I miss the girls. Almost every day I take them to someone else’s house so I can work. I try to remember that I will have lots of time with them when I am recovering from surgery. I started reading “Children and the Holy Spirit: How to set your child’s heart on fire for God” by Mark Harper. In chapter two he quotes from writings on past revivals, how children were affected, respected by leaders and used by God. Fascinating stuff.

I am exited about starting our new curriculum for the 6-12 y/o’s. It is the second book in the Young God Chasers curric by Dian Layton. The first book completely changed the effectiveness of our time on Sunday morning. The kids learned to Chase God, spend time with him in prayer and worship, pray for each other and adults alike. We capped off the year in June with a presentation and ministry time in the “Big Church”. The kids and, even more important, Jesus’ love and power blew the adults away. It was an amazing thing to see the front of the church full of adults on their knees, sitting, lying down, some still standing, some weeping, all being moved by God as the children quietly touched them and prayed. Can’t wait to see what God has in store for us this time around.

BTW, everything Dian Layton writes is awsome. I will have to post more about her later. She is my hero. But right now I must go to bed. I broke my glasses at the camp out and these contacts are driving me crazy. Poor eyes.

Chocolate Cyst-MMM Chocolate

2005-09-07T13:30:00.000-04:00

Actually it is yukky, not yummy. That is the kind of cyst my surgeon now says I have. Apparently the dermoid cyst conclusion was made by another doctor who looked at the ultrasound. When my surgeon looked at it he didn't see that and the x-ray confirmed it. So endometriomas is a blood filled cyst that looks like chocolate when they cut it open. It usually causes a lot of pain during periods but I haven't had that. My surgery will be in October. I will have a definite date within the week. The surgeon will make a vertical cut (a large one) take out the cyst and, most likely, the ovary it is connected to. Another doctor will look at it and decide in about 5-10 minutes if it contains cancer cells. If it does (not very likely) he will give me a complete hysterectomy. If it doesn't (much more likely) he will sew me up. It will be difficult and painful and time consuming and annoying and interfere with my life! I gotta go to work and get in as many hours as I can.

I am currently working as an enumerator for Statistics Canada which means I get to walk the streets and check addresses. I also get to see what people do with their gardens and yards, meet many different people, see communities and streets I didn't even know existed. I am finding it fascinating! It is also good exercise. I am going into this surgery in good shape. The job runs until the end of October but this surgery will interfere with that. Once I go under the knife my job will be over. So here I go to make money!

Happy Birthday Barry!

2005-09-06T12:39:00.000-04:00

Yes, this handsome guy is 41. Isn't he cute! Sinead (daughter #1) looked at it and her only comment was, "I hope he didn't always look like that". Sheesh! Most guys looked something like that back then, didn't they? Hair parted down the middle, swept back, just like Andy Gibb. (Man, that's a creepy memory) But really, what's with the big bow tie? Barry doesn't like this picture and cringed when he figured out what I was doing with it out of the frame. I like it. I didn't know Barry back then. I like to look at it and wonder if I did know him would we have clicked? Probably not. Our lives were very different then. I am glad that God introduced us at the right time, the time we were ready for each other. I love you, Barry. Happy Birthday!

Tonight we are are off to the inlaws for birthday supper. I go to the surgeon again tomorrow. Hope to have a surgery date.

Death to Cysarow

2005-09-01T22:54:00.000-04:00

I curse you Cysarow!
You interrupted my life, unwanted, unneeded, bane of what order I had in my life.
Now life must be reordered, plans remade. Time must be spent to have you excised, time consumed in recovery.
So be it!
It is a price I am willing to endure to have you removed and destroyed.
You are the catalyst in a test of character I am determined to win.
So cursed be Cysarow and blessed be
Heaven's Prince of Glory who's running by my side.
What is his name? Jesus!
And I will praise him!

Yes, it's happened. I named the cyst. The surgeon called it a dermoid cysts, a disgusting thing that contains tissue from all the body parts. Yes, that means it has skin, hair, bone and teeth in it. Ahhhhhhhh! I have a garbage bag containing spare parts inside me! Get it out! Get it out! I should have a date for surgery when I see the surgeon again on Wednesday.

In the mean time I am fine. The only symptom I have is bloating every time I eat and my pants don't fit quite right. I guess I'll live. Oh, and the good thing is that the doctor is satisfied that it is not cancerous. Besides the fact that it is not common for ovarian cysts to be cancerous the doctor told me that this one just doesn't look like cancer. Yay!

PS: That last bit of my "Cysarow rant" was inspired by a Doug Horley song I am teaching the King's Jewels in Kingdom City (the kids in Children's Church). I can't remember the name of it but it is about running the race and never quitting. Good tune and the arrangement reminds me of "Today's Special". You remember that kid's show from the 80's with the mannequin that comes to life when the store closes. He had this jazzy way of dancing. I decided to have fun with this song and worked out some simple jazz moves to it. The kids loved it and really got into it. I was surprised. It was cool.

Tomorrow, the Surgeon

2005-08-30T08:17:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the first meeting with the Surgeon. I'm anxious but relieved that it is finally here, that things are being done, believing that this is the beginning of the end of my journey, believing that this thing will be taken out and that will be the end of it. It is hard to feel sorry for myself this morning while watching the news. Hurricane Katrina. 50+ dead. 1,000's homeless. Houses, apartments, businesses flattened. I sit in my home and thank Jesus I am here, on this journey he has sent me on. I pray for those on a much different and tragic road.

At Two

2005-08-22T17:21:00.000-04:00

Me at the Highland Games in, hmmm... Southern Ontario somewhere, wearing red plaid, of course.

Redplaid Time means.....

2005-08-22T13:50:00.000-04:00

time for me. Time for me to recount and rehash what's going on with me. I am at a time in my life where everything seems to revolve around what I am doing for others. Not that I resent that, I have created most of the business around me. I am doing many things that I love. But, I have neglected myself, ignored what I need. And what do I need? Depends on the day. Today I need a call from my surgeon. I discovered a large lump in my abdomen, went to the doctor who scheduled an ultrasound the next day, called me into his office the following day to give me the results and referred me to a surgeon to have it removed. In a matter of 3 days MY perspective changed, my stress level sky-rocketed and for the first time in - I don't know how long - I felt out of control of my life. (I called the surgeon's office to find out that he will be looking at his referrals today and should hear from him by tomorrow. Just knowing that helped tremendously.)

So I wait for the phone to ring. In the mean time I see this as an opportunity to do some things I should have been doing all along. My God has been calling me to him, for me to spend some personal time with him but I have found other things needed to be done. Now I find myself running to him, jumping in his lap, curling up and trembling, hardly able to find the words to speak, except to admit I can do nothing about this one. My need for him has become desperate and I must not waste this opportunity. Time for some worship.