Prairie Dog Blog

Let the banners fly and the bells ring out! Finally! After years of waiting! Well, days, maybe....Presenting my new bathroom. Are you impressed? I'm quite happy with the way they turned out. I've tried my new shower. It's great. The whole assembly slides up and down so you can customize the height for a short person or a tall person. I love the colours. I bought new towels and bathmat.

I'm already booked for one day of subbing in September. Great! Back in the saddle again. It's at my favourite school. Woo hoo!

Not so good news on the Daddy front. His case worker took him to the hospital and had him tested. The doctors conferred and they decided HE'S COMPETENT!!!??? Now here's a man who isn't eating regularly, has lost a lot of weight, lost his dentures, lost his pills, forgets to take his medication, forgets where he lives, gets lost, gives away all his money and they think he's COMPETENT!!!!! They probably asked him a lot of stupid questions like what day is it today and who's the Prime Minister. He probably said, "I don't care what day it is - I'm retired. And it doesn't matter who's PM, they're all idiots anyway." And they said, "Oh, yeah, he's okay." So, he's now staying at a boarding house and tomorrow when he gets his pension money, he's gonna get into a taxi, go to Suzanne's and take her out drinking at the Legion. And just in case she forgot him, he's gonna remind her how much he loves her by giving her all his pension money.

I gotta learn to take deep breaths and just let it go......

I'm gonna go sit in my new deep soaker tub and soak all my worries away. Maybe I'll even treat myself to a glass of wine to celebrate. Yeah...

Take care...TATA...Peace.

There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub. - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Needing a Deep Place of Silence

The last few days have been pretty sad ones. I have read that the grieving process is not continuous or even. That's certainly been my experience. I think that because I have been focusing on my Dad's problems and the trip to BC, I have been putting my grief aside and now that I don't have to do that my psyche is rebounding. Well, it sounds good in theory anyway, doesn't it? That's me, analytical. I have to find reasons for everything. The thing about grieving is: you can feel happy, then sad, then happy again within the same hour. It takes a lot of energy and can be quite tiring. I've always been an optimistic person and I feel sure that I will return to those good spirits eventually.

The work on the bathrooms is progressing nicely. The tiles were installed yesterday and they will be grouted tomorrow. The end of the job is in sight! I will post pictures when it is finished.

Yesterday, Saturday, I went to sell gourd bird houses again for the Afrique 2007 Project. It was in an outdoor market and the wasps were bothersome. Ever since I got stung by a wasp a few years back, I have quite an aversion. There was a little girl about nine or ten at the table next to mine who was playing the violin and selling iced tea and lemonade. The music was excruciatingly bad and the sweet drinks attracted every wasp in Winnipeg and all their country cousins! I was sorry I hadn't brought my fly swatter. Still, it was good to do something to help others less fortunate.

Last night my friend Pat and I had a "girls' night out." We went to Earl's for dinner and a bottle of wine. The conversation ranged from family to shopping for shoes. Most enjoyable. I miss the Vancouver lifestyle that I had with Margot while visiting there, the going out for a bite or a drink and being able to walk everywhere.

I am looking forward to getting back to subbing in September. When I was out for lunch with my friend W. on Wednesday we met up with two of the teachers at my former school. They assured me they will hire me for subbing again this year. I'm thinking it's time to bake some treats and take them to the staff room. Bribery, you say? No, never. I just need to remind the teachers that I'm still alive and kicking and ready to work. I need to keep busy.

I see by Gary's blog that Noni and John have set up housekeeping together. I'm sending lots of hugs and kisses their way. I'll deliver some in person when I'm in Victoria in December.

Bye for now. Get blogging all you Ouseys out there in cyberspace!

I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor. ~D.H. Lawrence
Wasps, Girly Talk and Hoping To Get Back in the Saddle

Here are a couple of pictures of my bathroom. The sink and tub have been ripped out. After the work crew left I went into the room and I was talking it over with Suzie. My voice echoed around the hollow room. Today I felt like that bathroom, my insides all ripped out, hollow and in a state of disrepair.

The day started out fairly well. I got a phone call from Dad's Case Worker and he is going to take Dad to a hospital for an assessment. He will find Dad an appropriate place to live. It was a relief and I can stop worrying about my Dad now.

I had lunch with my friend, B., whose husband has final stage cancer. I enjoyed it and we agreed to get the old gang from King George V School together for another dinner. Most of us are retired now. (Or semi-retired, like me.) But we did talk about her grief and loss and she cried as she told me that her toddler grandson would miss her husband the most because they play basketball and soccer together. And suddenly I was remembering and missing him.

When I got home I took the dog for a walk and picked up some garbage in the neighbourhood. I often do that when I walk Suzie and I think I am getting a reputation as that crazy old lady who wears an ugly floppy straw hat and picks up garbage while walking the dog. The day was beautiful, blue sky and fluffy white clouds and I was missing him.

Shopping sometimes makes me feel good, so I went to Walmart and bought some new towel racks and a new bathmat for the new bathroom. And a Lucky Lines ticket and a Dairy Queen cone, two things that are almost guaranteed to make me feel better. Today they didn't help much.

Exercise usually cheers me up, so I did some aerobic exercise when I got home and suddenly I just started to cry. I was missing him like hell. I took out the scrapbook that Margot made for me last Mother's Day. She put in many pictures of her Dad with comments and some words from his blog. I laughed and cried as I looked at all the pictures and read the words out loud. I missed him like hell today.

Tomorrow may be a better day, but just for today I was sad.

A belated happy birthday to Rachel. Twenty-one! You go, girl! I added Mike and Char's new blogsite to my sidebar. Thanks to Jack for the wonderful picture of Margot at the Ousey BBQ and thanks to Gary for putting it in his blog. I was touched. Thanks to my sisters, Bunny for the card she sent me and Dee for making me feel that I'm needed.

Now I'm going to spend the rest of the evening reading his blog. Whenever I read it, I can hear his voice...

Take care and TATA...and PEACE.
Just For Today I Was Sad

I haven't posted a blog for a month! What a surprise. A lot has happened.

First of all my father was in Ottawa for about two weeks, just long enough to spend most of the money left from the sale of the house. Then, one morning, he got up before my brother (who was living with him) and got on a bus back to Saint John! Long story...the short version: he went to my cousin's. She took him in on the understanding he would be working toward getting into a personal care home. Two days later she could no longer look after him and he had lost some of his pills so she took him to a hospital. A couple of hours later he got dressed and left. The last word I had was that he got in a taxi to go to the YMCA. He had about $200 on him then which was two days ago. I don't know where he is. The Police won't allow me to file a missing person report because I don't live there.

I called the Adult Protection Branch of Family Services in Saint John. I told them he is exhibiting signs of dementia, that he is not taking his medications, not eating, getting lost, giving away all his money so that he has no money for accommodation or food. They said they would investigate. If they decide he is competent there is nothing more I can do for him. He won't listen to anybody. I am so afraid he is inches away from living on the street. I worry, but there is just nothing more I can do.

On a more positive note my trip to BC was great. I had a great time with my daughter and the Ousey Reunion BBQ was fun.

The renovators are here noisily working on my bathrooms. The water was off most of the day, so I took the dog for a walk and pulled weeds. It will probably be close to the end of next week until they are finished. I will post pictures of the new bathrooms when they are done.

Kudos to Charlene for starting a new blog. Loving it. BB tomorrow again. Who gets to go home? My prediction is Marcelle. Got to go...workout at the Rehfit and then BBQ at friends' place. Love to all.
Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig