HAPPY NEW YEAR

As I reflect back on 2012 it is with slightly mixed feelings; I managed only one short trip this year! With my friend Lucy I went for 5 days to Las Vegas - a place I had not been since 1980!  I had such a great time with her there even though we didn't get more than a day and a half of the hot sunshine which was our sole reason for going.   As for other trips... I knew I most likely wouldn't make it back to the BVI but I really did hope to go back to Mexico to get the rest of my dental work done. Alas, Revenue Canada decided that a whole raft of write-off's that they allowed in 2009 and 2010 were no longer applicable and so retroactively disallowed them and applied them to my 2011 filed return.  So the expected $6000+ tax return was reduced to $1,200.  It could have been much worse; I heard stories of others in the film industry who paid sums of up to $20,000 in back taxes due to the same situation.  It doesn't seem right that they can change their minds like that and make it retroactive. They have been hard after the film industry workers for the past year or two so it was just a matter of time until they got to me, I guess.  One thing they did to me, which I called the union about and they'd never heard of, was disallow all of my union deductions from my paycheques unless I had a letter from the employer (which, in legality, is actually the payroll company that each production hires) stating which union the deductions had gone to.  This makes no sense as the paperwork the union sends me for tax time clearly states they are the ones who received it.  The union rep was aghast as my call to her was the first she had ever heard of this happening.   She promised to look into it and I need to follow up on that with her in the new year.

So all that to say, I didn't get to go to Mexico for dental work as that was what the tax return money was allotted for.  I didn't go to Palm Springs for Christmas this year either as the flights were so expensive.  When I went in 2009 it cost $240; 2010 $350; I didn't go last year because my daughter's due date was December 23 and there was no way I was going to be gone for that.  This year the flights were $570.  That is a huge increase from when I started going and I am just not willing to pay that in a year I have only worked on low-paying independent films, and only half a dozen of them at that.

On a much happier note, and this eclipses anything I could consider sad or negative that happened this year.... I became a grandmother on January 2nd to the most darling little girl anyone could be blessed with.  Malia has brought untold joy into my life and I treasure every moment I get to spend with her... and that has become increasingly more as the year has progressed.  Other grandmothers told me that having a grandchild in my life would be a joy like no other but I never imagined just how much.  It is indescribable.  And I don't quite understand it... after all, I was a mom to three fabulous kids.  But this is so different.  And as I develop a relationship with her it overflows my heart when she lights up when I walk into the room, when she picks up my iPhone and waves it at me and sways as if in time to music  - her way of telling me that she wants me to play music and dance with me, so I put on some pop music, sweep her up into my arms, and we dance around the room together.  I love it that she goes to sleep faster for me than anyone else... as soon as I take her into the nursery and turn off the light she rests her head on my shoulder and tangles her fingers in my necklace as I kiss her head and sway her off to dream land.  

On May 5th, my son got married (at one of the most beautiful and fun weddings I've ever attended with food that was out of this world) to the love of his life and I have to say.... she's a keeper.  We love her to bits.  Isolde's sweet nature, kindness, and the way she thinks the world of my son is all a mom could ask for.  I am very thankful for the choice in spouses my two married children have made.

My third child had an amazing gift of a trip to Kenya for three weeks to live on the Masai Mara with a Masai tribe.  She was awarded volunteer of the year at her company for all of the work she does with youth in her community.  She was able to choose where in the world she would like to go where a charity which her work sponsors, Free the Children, have a presence.  She was beyond excited to fulfill a 'bucket list' dream of hers to go to Kenya and go on safari.  As her mom, it gave me untold joy to see her be able to fulfill this dream and to relive it with her, once she was safely home, through her stories and amazing photographs.

I was so thankful for fairly steady work from one busy production company this year, who would have hired me for every show they did had it been up to them, but the director gets the last say on who his script supervisor is, so I missed out on only two or three but got the rest  - even the ones with new to Vancouver directors who just went on the producers' say so.  

I FINALLY got to see COLDPLAY live.  I've wanted to do this every year they've come to Vancouver but either couldn't afford it or was working.  This year I made it happen... I gave a ticket to my daughter for her early April birthday and one to myself for my late April birthday.  Best. Gift. Ever.

I am so thankful for my family and my friends.  Some friends I don't get to see often enough but I know that we are there for each other and that when we do get together it's like we've never been apart.  I am very rich in the friend department of life... Fran, Cary, Carol, Jule and Lorraine; five women I wrote about earlier this year, as well as Donna, Denise, Debbie, Erna, Dave, Cookie, Roberta, Brenda, Alison, John - these friends I have had for decades.  Then there is the abundance of newer friends I have made from the film industry and I could never list them all but these are some of the ones I have come to love as much as my old friends... Lucy, Linda G, Tana, Lisa, Linda SB, Lynne, Connie, Kim, Ron, Eric, Michael, Jeff, Irene, Violet, Laura, Lecily, Carol, Amy....  so many many wonderful people in my life.  And I can't forget the wonderful new friends I made on my last trip to the BVI... Walker, Nancy, Linda, Mike, Rebecca.  It almost makes me teary to think of each one as I type their names and think of what they mean to me.  So blessed.

As I look ahead to the uncharted waters of 2013, I feel at peace and sense that it will be another year of personal happiness, achievement and full of wonderful friends.  I am feeing good about the work situation with the chance of working on a series come early spring as well as some personal production projects I plan on working very hard on with great hopes of success.   I look forward to Malia's first birthday celebration next week and can't wait to dance with her at her party.  The next year will bring great changes for her as her already pretty incredible vocabulary for one so young (about 20 words and a few phrases!) will expand and she will learn to walk (so close already).  I look forward to spending more time with her and cementing my place in her life as her much loved Nan.  

I hope to have much more to write about on here that concerns travel.  I am again hopeful that I can make it to the Dr. Arce in Mexico early in the year to finish off what he started as it will make a huge difference to my ability to properly chew food!  Here's hoping for a decent tax return.  Lord knows I've put enough money into my car for repairs in 2012 that that alone should account for a decent write-off.  

As this year comes to a close, I am so close to 40,000 views on here.  I am hoping to cross that line before chiming in the new year... that would be so exciting for me.  Please stick with me as my dream of sailing the Caribbean, one way or another, has not died.  Even if it's just for a few weeks at a time, I plan to make it happen and be assured you will get the complete details here as soon as it does.  I have two huge goals this year towards that dream; get fit and take sailing lessons.  There.  I've said it. Now I have to do it!!!

Thank you all so much for your faithful readership and I truly appreciate every one of you.

Blessings to you all and may you have a joyful, healthy and prosperous 2013!

With ultimate thanks to the God I serve and his son Jesus...

For the last time in 2012...

Sandra 

THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

Above is a picture of me with 5 other women who have been my friends for over 21 years. From left to right are Cary, Julie, Fran, Me, Lorraine and Carol.

What a lot the word FRIEND covers.

We started out as a Mom's in Touch group in September of 1990. My youngest had just started Kindergarten. I remember that I kept hearing a woman's laugh outside of the school whilst I was in the office, doing volunteer work. I loved hearing that laugh and finally found out who she was. It was Fran and she invited me to join the group. I gladly accepted, having no idea what a huge part of my life the women I was about to meet would become.

Our reason for meeting together was to pray for our kids and their teachers. And we did. But it became much more than that... we prayed for everything that was going on in our lives. Women came and went from the group over the years but the six of us remained steadfast. I moved away for 6 years but continued to join in when I was back in town and always stayed in touch with the core group of friends I had made. As soon as I moved back into the area, it was as if I had never left. Once all of our kids were graduated high-school we, in theory, should have disbanded the group - which at that point was just the six of us as it had been for several years. But there was no way we wanted to quit meeting. And we still had lots to pray about. Some of our kids were in relationships we weren't sure were right for them. Some were about to be married; others now had kids of their own; some were having trouble making career choices; others had just lost their jobs; some were still struggling in desperate ways. LOTS to pray about. And besides, we had become such good friends - some closer than others; it seems that we tended to pair off a bit outside of the group. Me with Fran, Carol with Cary, and Julie with Lorraine (their husbands worked together and they'd been friends before the group so that was only natural). I spent a lot of time with Carol as well as we lived just a few blocks apart. We each really wanted to keep meeting as a group. So we did.

We have seen each other through so many many things; wayward teens, divorce, death, marriages, births, illness, scary hospital visits, and the horrible empty nest syndrome. I know that I could call any one of them any time of day or night and if I needed them to come, they'd be over in a heartbeat. Sometimes they come even when I don't ask. Fran has driven me to the airport at 2:30 am. She went with me to the hospital when I had to go for a colonoscopy. I took meals to her once a week for a few months when she was devastated over the death of her mother. Cary and Carol helped me move out of my house when I left my husband. I pushed Carol into sorting through all the stuff she'd collected over the years which FILLED her garage, and spent days in there going through it all with her. And that's just a small sample of things I know about. I don't know what all each of the women have done for another but I know that in 21 years, it's been lots. And every single thing has been a gift.

I love these women. I hope we have at least 21 more years together.

FLOODS, WRAPPING, AND THE COMPANY OF GOOD FRIENDS

The rain never let up all night and today, when I head out in my little red car to buy a Christmas floral arrangement for my hosts, the roads are flooded everywhere. The announcer on the radio says that there are dozens of road closures around the valley. I am hoping none on the routes I usually take are affected because I don't know my way around enough to take an unmarked detour. On one corner, the flooding is so bad it is keeping a pedestrian from being able to cross the street in any direction. As I wait for the light to change I can see he is frustrated that he can't get where he is going as he assesses the situation over and over and can't come up with a solution.

The flowers are bought and in the house, and I set back out on the road to Ron's to pick up some wrapping paper. He wouldn't let me buy my own the past two days when we were out shopping as he has lots of it and wants me to use his. When I get there, he and Nelson have just arrived home from the gym. The plan is to go to Pinocchio's for lunch. As the boys shower and get ready I use Ron's iPad to check the Lifetime Movie Network to see if I can stream On Strike for Christmas now that I am in the states and I can. So I watch some of it until it's time to go. We head out to lunch and I have a burger and we all have 'bottomless champagne' with orange juice. Ron spends most of his time on the iPad trying to book a van for our trip into LA tomorrow as the rental agency has just called to say they won't have one for us as they're all booked up. He is successful and so we are good to go tomorrow. Once lunch is over we head to the dollar store so that I can get a gift bag and, of course, that's not all I buy. Everything in the store is one dollar and there are a few bargains. I pick up a car air freshener because when I got in to my car this morning, it smelled like a fish had died in it overnight. Not sure why but it was most unpleasant and I need it gone.

Once we are done shopping we head back to Ron's and I select a roll of wrapping paper from his stash and head back to my place. I need to get all the gifts wrapped but first I get on my laptop and continue watching On Strike and finally see my Knitting Consultant credit. So great! I then go about adding the credit to my IMDB page. The movie is really well done, I think, and has a hilarious scene with the guys trying to bake cookies.

The movie ends I finally get down to the business of wrapping gifts. It takes a couple of hours and when I am done I go into the family room to chat with Bob and Ada. After 15 minutes or so I can hear a phone ringing and it sounds like it's coming from my room. Bob gave me a spare cell phone they have for me to use while I am here so that I can take calls from Ron without using up all of my 15 minutes of roaming charges I paid for before I left home. I run to get it and just miss the call so I call him back and he asks "Is this where I can order a Bible? Is this the Gideons?" I laugh and then he says, "Hold for the Duchess of Milton." The duchess is a wonderful man by the name of Michael Rowe, a well known author from Toronto and someone I often verbally spar with on FaceBook over politics and religion. Michael gets on the phone. "I would like to order one religious fanatic to be delivered to the Oliver household as soon as possible." I laugh and tell him that they are both crazy. "But how long will it take for you to get here?" Ron had earlier told me that Michael and his partner would probably be tired and cranky from their long day traveling from Ontario and not be in the mood for company tonight. Apparently that's not the case and they want me to come over. So I pack up the gifts that I have just finished wrapping and head out.

It ends up being a wonderful evening of light banter that eventually turns into a lively discussion and debate about Christianity, false Christians, faith, miracles and a host of other related topics. It's a perfect evening and I am loving it. And, one great thing that comes of it is that, on Christmas Eve, we are all going to head over to a nearby church (that Liberace used to attend regularly) for their special Christmas service so that we can sing carols.

Church Liberace Attended













Ron Oliver. In church. I can hardly wait.

LIFE IN THE SUNNY OK

The trip up to Kelowna is fun and uneventful. Shonah drives all the way, despite my offer to relieve her at any time. When we get to my friend Donna's house, we unload my stuff and the girls keep going.

Donna shows me to my room. It's empty of any furniture except for a small table. Apparently, her daughter just moved out of the room today to take up her newly married brother's recently vacated room downstairs. Donna's husband appears, hauling a mattress to put on a wooden pallet on the floor. Voila! I have a bed.

I dump my bags in the room and then go back downstairs to have a cup of tea and get caught up with Donna. She is tells me that they are happy I am back in B.C. and really glad to have me stay with them until the end of the summer. She is excited about my interview on Tuesday with Disney Online Studios (as Club Penguin is now called) and tells me that they receive hundreds of resumes for every job posting so it's amazing that I have made it to the interview stage.

I head off to bed tired and with a huge headache, it seems I am not over the concussion yet, but happy to be with good friends again. Malcolm has made up my bed for me while I was downstairs and I sink into it gratefully. It doesn't take long for me to drop off.

The next morning, Donna gives me a handful of coat hangers so I can start to put away my clothes but it isn't going to be anywhere near enough so she suggests that I drop her at work and take the van for anything I need to do. Once I drop her off, I drive to WalMart and buy a package of 30 regular, as well as four skirt, hangers. I am sick of spending my precious dollars on hangers!! Especially when I have a big box full of them in storage but I need them and so there isn't much I can do about it. I also stop at Home Sense for a pillow as the one I had last night is too thin and I woke up with a headache and a sore neck. When I get home I discover that I am about 20 coat-hangars short. I should have bought two 30 packs. Later in the week I go back and get another.

When Donna comes home she tells me that their family has plans to go to Birch Bay for the weekend. They are using a condo on the water that a friend of theirs owns. One of their daughters can't go because her passport hasn't arrived in time so she asks me if I want to join them. I say that I don't want to intrude on family time away together but she insists that she wants me to come. So I agree to go. It seems funny to finally be back in Canada and now I am gong back to the states in a few days.

Donna's dad is in his 80's and lives in a suite attached to the house. A cleaning woman comes once a week to clean his place, and it is paid for by the government. Donna pays her extra and she cleans the rest of the house as well. Apparently the woman just quit to pursue other work and Donna wants to know if I would want to take the job over while I am here to make some money. If not , she is going to hire someone else but wanted to see if I was interested first. I say, sure, I will do it. I plan to do it on Thursday but when the day arrives, my head is still killing me and I can barely get off the couch all day.

Tuesday I go for my interview with Disney. I am interviewed by the head of HR and the head of Research and Development and they have a lot of questions for me. I am there for two hours and it goes very well. The next day, the head of HR tells my daughter (who works there) that she 'loved' me and would hire me tomorrow if it was up to her. That gives me a lot of hope. I won't hear for a while though, as this is a new position for a new team and the start date has not been finalized yet.

I get a call from the insurance adjuster for the mall. They want to make me an offer. The guy says he wants to meet with me to take a statement as to what happened but when I tell him I am going to be in the Okanagan for the summer, he asks me to write it all down and email it. I go to my blog, cut and paste my account of it from there, edit it so it doesn't sound so much like a blog, and send it to my son to see what he thinks. He tells me that, other than it sounding more like a novel, it's fine. So I send it off wondering how much money they will offer me.

Just after I got up here, a friend sent me an invitation to a cocktail party being held by the Okanagan Film Commission for crew up here to meet some producers who plan to shoot a movie in the fall in and around Kelowna. I go to the meeting and it turns out that the producer is a woman I have worked for in the past and got along really well with. She tells me that she is thrilled that I am up here and would be able to work on the show as it is a first time director and he will need a strong script supervisor. The job is mine if I want it. I tell her i would love to do it if I am not working for Disney by then. She tells me to let her know as soon as I know either way. I promise that I will. I also spend a bit of time talking to the head of the Film Commission and find out that there is only one script supervisor in the Okanagan and that there is a lot of work headed this way come the next year. He tells me to send him my resume and that he will pass it along to the producers of a TV series starting up in the fall.

Friday morning we leave early to get down to Birch Bay. I have the back seat of the minivan all to myself and I brought my pillow so I lay down and sleep part of the way. My head is still not right and I find I am tired a lot during the day. The miles go by quickly and before I know it, we are in Abbotsford. I notice that we drive right past the exit to the Sumas crossing, the one Donna said they wanted to use and I assume that, while I slept, they decided to use a different crossing. We pass the exit for the Aldergrove crossing about fifteen minutes later and soon see a sign saying the next three exits are for Langley.

"Why are we in Langley?" Donna asks, "Did we miss our exit?" I tell her that, if they wanted Sumas, we passed it half an hour ago. She isn't happy but I tell her that if they take the first Langley exit, we can cross at the 176th Street crossing. So for the next 20 minutes I give them directions as to how to get there. I direct Malcolm all the way down to zero avenue so that we can bypass any lineup on 176th and when we get there, there is a huge line-up and we enter it very close to the border without a problem.

I haven't been to Birch Bay in over 20 years and when we get there, nothing much has changed. There are no stores except for a small corner grocery. This place has such potential but it seems the residents would rather it stay the way it's always been. Our condo is lovely and looks out over the water. There is a loft bedroom upstairs that Malcolm and Donna will use, and another bedroom on the main floor with two twin beds and a huge deck outside the sliding glass doors. This is where Bethany and I will stay.

We stop long enough to drop our bags off and put the bit of food we brought into the fridge and then Donna is chomping at the bit to go shopping. She has talked of nothing but Ross since we got going and she can't wait to get there. We pile back in the car and drive another half an hour down the freeway into Bellingham where there is a Ross across the street from Bellis Fair Mall. We spend the next two hours combing through all the racks and shelves and in the change rooms trying on armfuls of clothing. I buy two tops, a long black dress, and a black purse. Donna buys about a dozen tops, some pants, and 4 or 5 pairs of shoes for herself; a couple of dresses and matching shoes for her daughter -in-law and the daughter that couldn't come; and 4 or 5 shirts and 3 pairs of shoes for Malcolm. Her cart is piled high.

We then head over to the mall where, apparently, Macy's has an incredible sale on. She finds a pair of Calvin Klein Jeans marked down from $175 for $12. She also buys another pile of shirts and who knows what else. I find one sweater top I like but I don't buy it. I can't afford to be shopping like this. The next day, Donna goes back and gets some more bargains and gets the top for me. She won't let me pay her for it.

We grab dinner at the food court in the mall and then stop at a grocery store on the way back to pick up some food for the rest of the weekend. The store also has a clothing section and I find a rack full of lots of different styles of flip flops for $6.99. They are buy one get one free so I find two pair in my size and toss them into the cart. If I had more money to spare, I would get some for my daughters as well but I just don't. Besides, I don't know what they would like, their tastes have changed a lot since they lived at home.

We get back to the condo, watch a movie - Martian Child, it's very good, and then head to bed. The next morning, after breakfast, Donna and Malcolm go back to the mall and I stay back with Bethany. I am all shopped out and I want to enjoy the gorgeous sunshine. Once we are dressed, Bethany and I go for a walk on the beach. We are out there for about 10 minutes and we are both freezing cold. It's a sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky, but the wind off of the water is has a bite to it and it's too cold for what we are wearing. We go back to the condo for something warmer to wear but, once we are inside, neither of us feel like being in the cold wind. The deck off of our bedroom is sheltered from the wind so I decide to change into my bathing suit and read in the warm sunshine. Bethany goes up to the loft and watches TV all day.

Malcolm and Donna were only supposed to be gone for a couple of hours, but it is dinner time before they return. We make dinner together and then sit in the sunshine on the deck until it is too cold to sit out there once the sun goes down.

We were supposed to stay until Monday morning, but at breakfast on Sunday Donna tells me that we are going home today. Her brother has hip surgery tomorrow and they couldn't find anyone to drive him to the hospital so they will need to be back to do it. I spend the day on the deck in the sunshine again while everyone else is up in the loft watching TV. By 4 o'clock we are all packed up and in the car ready to drive back home. I enjoyed relaxing on the deck in the sunshine and reading my book. It was nice to be by the water even if it was too chilly to be on the beach. It felt great to be able to sit out in the warm sunshine without sweating and needing to jump in the pool every 5 minutes. Not that I minded the heat and the pool in Florida AT ALL.... I love the heat, but it's just a different heat here, less intense and a lot less humidity, and it's nice.

Monday I get stuck into cleaning the house and doing the laundry for her dad. It's a big house and it hasn't been cleaned in a while and so it takes me all day. I have a pounding headache and am exhausted by the time I am done.

There is a huge in-ground pool in the backyard and I am dying to go swimming in it, but it's in dire need of cleaning. Apparently, a young friend of the family offered to upkeep it in exchange for use of it to teach a diving class. He hasn't kept up his end of the deal. I offer to vacuum it but when I go outside to do it, the vacuum doesn't seem to be sucking anything up so I give up after half an hour. A few days later, Malcolm cleans it all up ready for a pool party for Bethany's birthday. It looks great but when I go dip my toe in, it's freezing cold. I check the thermometer and it's 70 deg. WAY too cold to swim in. It's hot out and the pool looks so inviting so it is torture. I eventually do go in, a few days later when it has crawled it's way up to 74 deg. It's really hot out and so use my pop-up floaty thing to float around the pool and stay cool.

Friday morning, two of Donna's friends come over. They meet regularly, just like my Mom's group in Langley, and they have been praying for me while I was gone. I know both of the women from when I lived in Kelowna for three years in the early 90's so it's good to see them again. They ask me lots of questions about my trip and about my interview with Disney. The company is a huge deal up here and everyone knows someone who is working there. The three guys who started it go to local churches, one of which is Donna's church so many of the kids who have worked in the CR department since it's inception as Club Penguin are youth from the church.

I beg to be excused before they are done as I am meeting a good friend from the film business for lunch. We worked together on jPod and have stayed in touch since the show ended. Her husband is in the film business as well but the two of them sold their home in Vancouver and bought property in Oliver and have built and recently opened their own bed and breakfast and named it High Chaparral. She is coming to Kelowna to stock up on provisions at Costco and called to see if we could get together. I am to wait for her at the Mac's store just around the corner from where I am staying. Unfortunately, I told her to make a right where she should have made a left and so it takes a while, and a phone call to me, to find me. When I climb into her SUV, it is great to see her again. She is looking happy and well rested. We head up the road to a Japanese restaurant and spend a very nice hour or so talking about film, my trip, her B&B, and having a few good laughs. She really wants me to come down to Oliver to see the cabin they built for the B&B and I will as soon as I have a vehicle to make the trip.

On the weekend, Bethany has her birthday party but no one uses the pool as the water is just way too cold. The girls spend most of the time downstairs in her room.

I spend a lot of time tidying up and keeping the kitchen cleaned up. Donna has a crazy schedule due to the pastor of her church taking a sabbatical and she has picked up a lot of the work load. The kitchen tends to accumulate a lot of clutter as soon as my back is turned.

The weather has turned cool here, with big heavy clouds covering up all the blue sky. If the sun pokes out, it's a warm sun, but mostly the sun is behind a canopy of thick grey clouds and it's breezy and cool. Where is the gorgeous Okanagan summer Kelowna is famous for? I hope it comes back.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS ALL AROUND

Saturday morning and it’s Bethany’s birthday today and Fran has a feast of a breakfast planned; crepes with 4 different toppings – peach sauce, mixed berry sauce, Nutella, and lemon & sugar (my favourite), along with bacon, turkey bacon, sausages, fresh fruit platter, and croissants. My head feels normal today and, for once, Fran is going to let me help her in the kitchen. I get started on the two fruit sauces and Fran sends Tom off to the grocery store for the croissants and a couple of other things. He comes back inside to tell us that two of the neighbours have a garage sale. Fran and I go grab some shoes and our wallets. We are both suckers for a yard sale.

Fran buys some plants in lovely pots; I see a cute candle holder lantern and ask Fran if she wants it. She says no so I buy it for two dollars. It’s dusty but once I wash it, it looks fabulous and I decide to give it to Bethany as a birthday present as I wasn’t able to get one yesterday when my shopping trip was cut short. There is a toaster oven for two dollars and I debate whether or not to get it for Ashleigh and Rob, as I know they wanted one and didn’t get one, or a toaster, for a wedding present. I call to ask but there is no answer so I leave a message.

After about half an hour we head back to the kitchen to get on with breakfast. Fran is in a bit of a panic as we have wasted precious time at the garage sales. I go wash the lantern and put it on the kitchen table. It looks great there and now Fran wishes she had bought it. I ask her if she wants it but she say’s no, to give it to Bethany as she will love it. I go to Fran’s stash of gift bags and wrap and pick out a bag to put it in. That done, I get back to the fruit sauces. Ashleigh calls and says that Rob and she have talked it over and they have decided that they can just afford the two dollars for the toaster oven. We both laugh at that and I run back over to the neighbours to buy it.

Once back, I mix up the batter for Alyssa’s gluten-free crepes. Fran has everything else covered so I get stuck in to washing the pile of dishes we have used to get the meal ready. Alyssa and Glen arrive, Bethany and Chad aren’t far behind them. Fran gets the crepes going and soon we are all sitting down to one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long, long time.

Fran refuses to let me help in cleaning up so she, Tom, Alyssa and the boys do it all. They set up the kitchen table to play a game of Carcassonne but I bow out, as I don’t feel like playing. I go to my room and set about finishing my packing up and then gathering up the gifts etc. that I need to take to Ashleigh & Rob. I am eager to get on my way and will be making a stop at my friend, Brenda’s, to catch up and give her a hair cut. She is the only person I still cut and I enjoy it. I load up the car and head out. I am glad my head is better today or I wouldn’t have been able to borrow Fran’s car – she wouldn’t have let me drive. I get to Brenda’s and we have a great chat as I cut her hair. I stay about an hour after her hair is done; we have so much to talk about. Her business is coming along so well and she shows me a web site that she is building. It looks amazing and the tools she used to make sure she shows up in searches astounds me. I will have to remember it if I ever get around to revamping my script supervising website one day.

I am excited as I drive to Ashleigh’s, as I can’t wait to see them. There is a ton of traffic on the road; it’s the ColdPlay concert tonight and this must be everyone driving in for it – it’s the right time. Shonah is going to the concert tonight and I am envious. The last time they were in town I couldn’t go because I was between shows and wanted to save my money, but I vowed I would go the next time they were in town no matter what. I had no idea then that ‘no matter what’ would mean I was without a home and broke. So, needless to say, I didn’t buy a ticket. Besides, I was supposed to be in Guatemala right now, working on upgrades to the catamaran with David.














I eventually get to North Vancouver and load up with the presents. Fran gave me a little foldable luggage cart and I have put Ashleigh’s pile of presents on it; they are tied together with tulle. When I knock on their apartment door and she opens it, her eyes pop at the stack of gifts. We hug for a long time and it is so good to see her and hug her again. I give Rob a big hug and kiss and then drag all of the gifts into the living room. Ashleigh opens her birthday presents first and is taken aback by how many pieces of her dish set she is unwrapping. It’s so great to see and I am loving every second. Then I give them their presents from Florida. They love the picture frame I picked up at Bealls that looks like three windows with awnings over them… very beachy. I suggest they put it up in their bathroom, as the colors match, and put honeymoon pictures in it. They love the idea.

Rob goes off to pick up some pizza and wings that they ordered and I ask Ashleigh about how life is going for them. They both are so happy with each other. And they both bought bikes a couple of weeks ago so that they have something fun to do together on weekends that is also good exercise. They love it and just today spent the day with friends Christa and Jeremy biking the seawall in Stanley Park. Rob comes back and we sit down to eat. Ashleigh looks at me as I take help myself to a slice of pizza and says, “Ok, start talking.” I laugh. “We want to know everything that happened.” she says and they both look at me expectantly. I ask them if they have read any of the blogs and they say they have but not the last few, so I start to fill them in. They keep eating as I talk but I can’t talk and eat at the same time so my pizza goes cold. When I am done, they are finished eating and I bite into my cold food. Ashleigh feels bad that I didn’t eat while it was hot but I don’t mind a bit. It has been so much fun to tell them about moving the houseboat and all that entailed and we laughed a lot. Strange how things that go terribly wrong and are so stressful at the time are so hilarious later. I don't have many of those sorts of tales to tell as a rule, because I am usually so over prepared. This trip has made up for it.

After dinner, Asheigh says, "Rob was wanting a haircut but I guess you don't have your scissors." I say, "You are in luck! I stopped on my way here to cut Brenda's hair so I have my scissors in my purse." They are happy and say that Rob is so desperate for a cut he was ready to let me do it with the kitchen scissors or even the ones on his Swiss Army Knife. No need, a happy coincidence means I can cut his hair with my hair scissors and I get down to business.

Far too soon it is time to go and I leave very reluctantly. I know I am not going to see them again for a while. They have plans to go to Kelowna mid July so I know I will see them then, but that is a month away. We hug each other tightly and I kiss them goodbye. I drive away feeling very happy that I got to spend an evening with them in their cute little apartment, and that I will see them in a month.

By the time I get home, I realize that my head is back to where it was yesterday. That is to say, I am in a lot of pain.

The next morning, I get up early to go to church with Tom and Fran. We are leaving early so that we can stop in at Bethany and Chad’s new apartment and see their new couch. I am looking forward to seeing their place as I have heard it is beautiful. When we walk in, I cannot believe the size of it. It’s huge! The kitchen is one of the biggest I have ever seen in any house, let alone a condo. The living room and bedrooms are big as well. And everything is finished in lovely, contemporary colors and with lots of wide crown molding on the nine-foot ceilings. The main bathroom is huge with a deep Jacuzzi tub and a separate large shower. I am so happy for them and wish that Rob and Ashleigh could get into a place like this soon. Heck, I wish I could get into a place like this soon. It would be a fabulous place to live.

After church, Tom and Fran and their kids are celebrating Father’s Day with a barbeque so I decide to let them have their day without me hanging about, even though they protest that I am welcome to join in, and call Carol, another one of the six mom's, to see if she wants to get together. She does and she comes to get me and we drive down to White Spot for the Legendary Burger and some yam fries. Yay Yam Fries!!! I have missed them so much.

We eat our burgers and yam fries and get caught up with each other’s lives. She has been reading the blog faithfully so is up on what is going on. She is so glad I am not out on the open sea with some stranger. She was not crazy about me going from the very beginning and had a lot of misgivings. But at least she gives me credit for being gutsy.

I have to be back at Fran’s for four o’ clock because Shonah is coming to pick me up at about 4:30. When I get back I finish up packing the rest of my bits. All the winter clothes and other stuff I don’t need just yet are in my big suitcases and a couple of smaller bags and I take them all downstairs and leave them in the entrance hall. Tom will put them in their crawlspace later in the week. I pile the two large duffel bags and my backpack, which are going with me to Kelowna beside the other bags and then go to wait in the family room with Fran. My head is aching from the exertion and I enjoy just sitting there and chatting. It’s not long before the doorbell rings and Shonah is there with the two friends who came down with her for the concert. She told them to pack light so that there would be room for my bags in her trunk. She takes a look at all the luggage in the hall and says, “Oh-oh. We have a problem.” I laugh and tell her that not all those bags are coming with us and point out the three that are. She is relieved and we haul them out and they fit just fine in her trunk. Shonah hasn’t seen everyone for a while so we all go upstairs and visit for about twenty minutes. Unfortunately Alyssa had to leave for work so Shonah doesn’t get to see her. They have been best friends since kindergarten and don’t get to spend time together anymore so it’s a shame.

We hug our goodbyes and then all pile into Shonah’s little VW Rabbit and wave goodbye to the Abbuls. I am so grateful to Tom and Fran for letting me stay for the past few days and I will miss them.

TRIP OF ANOTHER KIND

Fran drives me to Denise's, my friend who let me stay with her for the five months between giving up my house and leaving for Florida, so that I can pick up my suitcases of winter clothing that I stored at her place, and then to the mall so I can buy Ashleigh's birthday present; some items from her good dish set that she didn't get for wedding presents. When I get to The Bay, I select a cream and sugar, a gravy boat and three serving bowls. The cashier rings them in and they are 40% off so I add a casserole dish and a meat platter to the pile and it still doesn't come to what I had planned to spend so I am really happy. I carry it all out to Fran's car as I don't want to lug it through the mall as I make one more stop to pay my cell phone bill.

Fran says she wants to stop in at Cobb's Bread and the vegetable store so I leave her there and go inside to head to the Fido store. I am walking at a brisk clip in my flip flops and suddenly my feet go out from under me. I realize right away that I stepped on something really slippy, it felt like a piece of fruit or something. I also realize that I cannot recover and I go down hard on my right elbow and hip. I fall right in front of the dentist office and there are two women at the counter talking to two receptionists.

The two women are at my side before I know what has happened. "Do you have any health problems?" the one on my right asks me. I am a bit dazed and don't answer right away. I am thinking, 'health problems? I fell down, I don't understand the question.' The woman on my left says, "She is a nurse. She can help you if you need it." The nurse asks me again, "Do you have any health problems?" "No. Just a bad knee." I say. "My head hurts." I add. "You must have hit your head, it certainly sounded like you did." she responds. I feel the back of my head but it doesn't hurt and there isn't a bump. "I don't think I did." I say. I try to get up but they won't let me, "Just stay there until someone comes." they tell me. I can hear one of the receptionists calling for security. I start to feel silly just sitting there as people go by, turning their heads to look at me. One nice man stops and asks if I am alright and the women explain. Two handsome young security men come up, one is holding a first aid kit and by now I am standing up. I insisted on getting on my feet.

They walk me over to one of the padded benches and sit me down. The nurse tells him I have a headache and he asks me if I know what day it is. "Tuesday." I reply and then realize I am wrong. "NO, Thursday." "Date?" he asks. I want to say, 'sure but don't you think you are a bit young for me ?' but instead I reply "The 18th." "Great." he says. I am rubbing my elbow because it really smarts and I notice it feels funny beneath my fingers. I check the other one to see if I have the same lump in it and I don't so I say, "My elbow feels funny to the touch." He takes a look at it and there is a lump forming already. He takes out an ice pack and has me hold it on my elbow. I look at the other fellow who is just standing there watching and say, "Would you do something for me?" "Sure." he responds. "I am here with a friend but she is outside at the bread or produce store. She is short with dark short hair and her name is Fran. Could you go tell her what is happening?" "Absolutely." he says and goes off. The remaining security fellow asks me a bunch of questions about how I fell and what I was carrying.

Before long the other guy is back with Fran and she asks me how I fell. I tell her. She asks the guy if he has checked my pupils. He hasn't but now he does and says they are fine. My head is killing me now and he says I most likely have a concussion. I tell him I have had one before. Fran tells him how I got it. It was about ten years ago. I was at her house sitting on her couch which had a loose pillow-back with a hard rail backing behind it. She said something funny and I threw my head back in laughter and my head went between the pillows and hit the rail, hard. I actually felt my brain hit the front of my skull and for the next two weeks I had virtually no short term memory. It wasn't until I asked my husband the same question three times in a span of a minute that I realized something was really wrong and went to the doctors. Now the young guy tells me that once you have had a concussion you are more susceptible to another. He wraps up his report and then sits with me until Fran goes to get the car.

Once in the car, I tell Fran that I have to pay my cell phone bill as it is 4 days past the due date so she drives me around to that part of the mall and we go inside and I pay it. She suggests that I should go to the mall administration office and tell them that I am going to go see a doctor for my head as it is really hurting. I decide to take her advice and we walk to a directory to find out where it is. We find it and see it is beside Ingledews, a shoe store. She asks me where that is from where we are and I look up and see The Body Shop at a junction in front of me. Now I know this mall like the back of my hand but, for a full 15 seconds, I have no idea which way is which. It's a really strange feeling and I don't like it. I cannot for the life of me come up with the direction I am facing or where to go from here. Suddenly it lifts and I point to where we need to go. As we walk I tell her what just happened and she says 'That's it. I am taking you to a walk-in clinic as soon as we are done letting them know." I don't argue. That was scary.

We find the office and talk to the receptionist and then Fran drives me to the walk-in. As I stand at the receptionist desk it is all I can do to keep my eyes open. I just want to lie my head down on the counter and sleep. I don't know if this is because of the fall or jet lag but I didn't feel this way before I fell.

I get in really quickly and as I am waiting for the doctor, I hear a mom and a little girl in an adjacent room. The girl has the cutest little voice and, although I can't see her, I figure she is about three years old. She is chattering away and asking questions. Her mom has had enough and says, "Ok now you need to be quiet. This is a doctors office and there are sick people here and you need to be quiet." "But I want to talk." the little girl says. "No. You need to stop talking." "What's that thing for on the wall?" "I said, stop talking." "Do you have new shoes on, mommy?" "STOP talking." "Mommy. I said, are those new shoes?" "Ok, you know what? If you don't stop talking, the lollipop goes back to Miss Jane." "No it doesn't." "Oh yes it does." "NO! You are not my teller." "Oh yes I am your teller." "NO YOU ARE NOT!" "Yes I am. Now this is your last warning. Stop talking or the lollipop goes back to Miss Jane tomorrow." "Where is my lollipop?" "In the truck." "Well I will get it before you can." "No, I will get it first." "No you won't. I will and you are not my teller." "Yes I am." "You are not my friend." "BE quiet. Or it goes back to miss Jane." "NO!" "Ok that's it. It goes back tomorrow." "No it doesn't. You are not my teller and you are not my friend." "Fine then, be quiet or it is going back." "I will take off my shoes and socks and walk outside barefoot." "Well then you might step on something and get hurt." "NO! I will be careful." "Put your shoe back on right now." "Nope." I hear a rustling as the mom, I am guessing, takes her on her lap and puts the shoe back on. The little girl starts to cry. It is all I can do not to go in there and say, "Listen, you can take this for what it is worth but I have raised three kids and I am telling you now, if you don't stick to your guns, follow through on your threats and nip this in the bud, you are in for hell when she is 11 or 14 or 16." Not that I had this problem because I was really firm with my kids for the first three years and after that they knew who was boss. I have seen the results, over and over, of not sticking to your guns with little tykes. But I don't go in there and the doctor shows up for them and closes the door.

Soon it is my turn and the doctor checks me over thoroughly. She tells me that I have a concussion, my elbow isn't broken, and to ice it and my hip and to watch for certain developing symptoms as far as my head is concerned. She makes a lot of notes because there may be a lawsuit, she says. She tells me to take some tylenol for my head, if I like, and to lie down for the rest of the day and no reading or anything else that requires concentration. TV is ok.

When we get back to Fran's she makes me lie down and brings me a glass of water. She asks if I want the TV on but my head aches too much for that. I doze in and out as I lie there. Shonah phones me about travelling to Kelowna on the weekend with her and after 10 minutes of conversation I have to hang up because it is making my head pound. I lie there thinking of everything I have to do before Sunday. I need to go through all of my clothes, both what I took to Florida and what was at Denise's and repack for Kelowna. I need to wrap Ashleigh's gifts, and a few gifts I brought the kids back from my trip. I need to find boxes to pack away all the things I don't want to take to Kelowna, like my books that I took to Florida, and anything that won't fit in my suitcases that I am leaving with Fran. Most of this will take a lot of bending over as I don't have a bed at Fran's, just a big fat comfy foamy on the floor. I can't bend over without extreme pain so I don't know how it will all get done.

The next day, Tom puts a long folding table up in my room and now I can work on my packing. I wrap the presents at the kitchen table and that works well. My head is not as painful but I have developed a stabbing pain behind my right shoulder blade that is pretty harsh. I must have jammed it when I fell on my elbow. The women at the mall said I made a loud crack when I fell, they thought it was my head but I am sure it was my elbow. I am getting quite the bruise on it.