LIFE ON PAUSE

"Have a nice sleep!" 
That was the last thing I remember. The round blue eyes of Dr. Davies peering down at me as I followed commands and took nice deep breaths of the oxygen. 
I had surgery this week. As a matter of fact not only myself but my father and my father-in-law all had surgery this week. 
You know what the say..... the family that goes under the knife together........I got nothing...
We all came through with accolades.
I had a lump removed off my left leg and a mass removed from my right breast. And I reiterated numerous times - left leg, right boob, do NOT mix them up. Dr. Davies did some penmanship around the offending areas to avoid any confusion, which I deeply appreciated! 
Here is a photo of the leg work - if you are squeamish and don't like legs that aren't really well shaved - pass by quickly.

One of the worst parts of surgery for me is that blasted IV. I have small and jumpy veins - they do not like to stay still. So when Marko (a burly guy with lots of tattoos who actually works on the Base with Search and Rescue but spends his spare time doing IVs in the hospital - go figure) showed up I gave him my speech.
"You gotta take your time and woe them out." And he really did try and was very patient but to no avail. Eventually another nurse gave me a go and after about 10 minutes she determined it looked like the IV was in and working. After that I was wheeled into OR and off I went for my "nice sleep."
But now my life is on pause.
Because after surgery you have to "take it easy" and "rest". 
I came home, sat in bed and watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and as usual cried like a baby at the end when they were trying to find "Cat" in the rain. Gets me every time. Later that night I watched the new Superman. 
At the point I had had enough TV. 
But my life is still on pause.
No exercise, no lifting anything more than 10 lbs, no gardening, no nothing. I can't even play Morrie.
Let me tell you, I've been pretty bored. 
Today was Day 4 after surgery and I confess I did get on my bike and ride to the market. It was OK except for any major bumps in the road. 
I also went to a Celebration of Life for Nick, one of the fellas I had met at the drop-in centre downtown. Nick was the first guy I interviewed for my next book, "The Salty Side of Grace". He was a gentle giant who had lived a hard life and at 44 his life paused permanently. 
So the moral is, even though I'm restless and my life is on pause, I still have life and I trust a fair bit more to live. 
Soon I will be back to my normal routine of work, work at home, sleep etc. 
My life is on pause at the moment. I'm trying to be a good girl and abide in it. But like me veins, I'm small and jumpy!

I'M INTO YELLOW

I was checking stats this morning....cause that's what I do (not really, I don't get up in the morning and think "what stat shall I critique today?). 

But I was checking stats and the favourite top colour (canadian spelling) is Blue. Then green, then red. And coming in at number seven is my favourite, yellow! Not sure why it is not more popular. I mean yellow cheers you up when you're sad, it is the symbol of eternal happiness and nature itself prefers yellow! Ever seen a villain wearing yellow? Nope, not gonna happen. But heroes have yellow belts, rings, even capes - yellow saves the day.

Here's proof of my yellow fetish....

I have yellow chairs on the deck getting cosy with yellow pansies.

There are yellow flowers in the garden

My mom gave me this great old bench seat - Sheldon painted it yellow for me

My front room is painted a pale buttery yellow. I'd probably look very nice in a yellow car! 

Now this, however, is not yellow.

This is a cool cooler I bought for Sheldon's 50th birthday. As you can see, it is orange (favourite colour number six according to the stats). And although I would prefer yellow, it is Sheldon's birthday, not mine.

So, whatever your favourite colour is, I hope you have it sprinkled throughout your lifestyle somewhere and can enjoy it. 

But me, I'm into yellow!

GIVE ME A MOMENT

Normally, I write my blog up in about an hour's time. But this one I've been ruminating over for a number of days. 

You see, my dog Amelia had to be put down a week ago and for those of you who are pet owners, you know how very hard that is. So this blog is partly in her memory. 

Before we had Amelia, we had a bruiser of a golden lab named Sam. Weighing in an 135 lbs he was a lot of dog! I loved him dearly and he adored me but he was never in my husband's good books. So when Sam passed away, Sheldon made it very clear there would never be another dog in the house.

I tried to resign myself to this fact but alas, there was a hole in my heart that simply could not be filled. I longed for a dog, like Hannah longed for a child. I could not shake it. I cried often. Two years past and I still struggled with it! The girls at work threatened to drop a dog off at my doorstep anonymously. 

One day in prayer as I'm trying to wrestle this stupid desire to the ground, God said "I have a very special dog for you." Surprised as I was, I know His voice well enough to believe Him. It was a moment of hope.

About 10 months later, Sheldon had a change of heart and he agreed to us getting a new pup. Less than two weeks later, we were driving home from the cottage and a cardboard sign in the middle of nowhere had "BeagleX puppies for sale" written on it. We stopped in and this big gruff man plopped this floppy eared puppy with more skin than required right into my arms. 
My heart's desire was hand-delivered. A very special dog indeed.
She was my constant companion, my biggest fan and brought my family so many moments of comfort and joy! 

A moment is a measurement of time - usually considered bite-size. 
And in a bite-sized moment of time, so much can happen!
In a moment, you can:
Experience great joy or great pain.
You can fall in love.
You can get married or be widowed.
You can be humbled or exalted.
In fact our lives are made up of these moments. Some seem to last forever, some seem to blip right on by. But they are all a part of who we are and effect who we become. They change us. 
This past week Sheldon and I celebrated with our son as he graduated from McMaster University with his degree in Civil Engineering. A very proud moment indeed!

I miss my dog. I miss the jingling of her dog tags in the house, her warm body sitting beside me in the chair. I miss her little kisses on my hand to wake me up for her morning walk. I miss her face at the window when I come home and the lazy thumping of her tail when I walked into the room. Who knew a dog who slept so much could leave such a vacuum?

So give me a moment, to grieve, reminisce and remember Amelia. Give me a moment with all it's ups and downs, pain and joy, even the humdrum run-of-the-mill ones because they create my life's journey, the past, present and future.  

FOOD TIMES HAVE CHANGED

Part of my job at work is calling our patients to review the services  we are providing for them. This past week, when one of my co-workers, Kelly, was making a call the patient asked for his wife to pick up the phone and take the information. It seems he was in the middle of eating a bologna sandwich and he just wanted to finish his lunch.
Remember bologna sandwiches?
On white bread with mustard...?
Man, I used to live off those! They were a standard in my lunchbox! I don't think I know anyone who still eats bologna, or white bread for that matter.
What about those huge bags of Puffs cereal that could barely fit in the cereal cupboard? Half and hour after a bowl of those, you were famished.

This is what I had for lunch today...

and I finished with Yogurt, berries and homemade granola

Pretty hoity-toity and grown up. And a bologna sandwich would taste just as good, just not as good for me!

Cause I'm a big girl now and this body is over 50 years old so I'd best try and look after it. 

But some things I've just upgraded.

I've gone from orange or cherry popsicles to Magnum bars or gelato.

I've gone from Mr. Big and Snickers bars to Ghirardelli and Lindt.

When I was a waitress back in the early 80's the dessert of choice was Rice Pudding, pie with ice cream or fruit cocktail. Light beers were just coming on the market and Liver and Onions with gravy and fries was a big seller on Wed. nights. 

Nowadays, eating gluten free, and paleo are all the rage. Cause times and the food we eat have changed. 

Who knows what my grandchildren (should I have any) will be eating! Maybe bologna sandwiches on white bread or those big bags of Puffs cereal will make a comeback.

NO BOUNDARIES

It was a beautiful weekend. I mean perfect weather wise! Not too hot, not too cold, blue skies and wispy kiss clouds here and there. 

Too bad I had to work it.
...All weekend
...8:30-4:30

The good news? I have the next two days off. And I had great bike rides to work and back.

Because when you bike on the weekend the roads are really quiet, especially in the morning. 

That means the boundaries I have to abide by are lifted!

Usually I'm hugging the very curbs on the busy roads as cars and trucks whisk by and I try to avoid getting taken out.

But the last two mornings? I have the whole road to myself!
This is one of the main roads in my city - a very pretty, old road and it's all mine baby, all mine.

So I rode right down the middle. I did figure eights. I stopped at the 4-way stop intersection.....sorta.

Here's an action shot!

Can you feel the wind in your face? Don't cha just want to toss that helmet and let your hair fly free? 

Not sure what happened here....

Some kind of I-Phone faux pas on my part.

But I enjoyed my ride. And every now and then, no boundaries, no limitations are a nice change. Especially for a routine-oriented, follow-the-rules girl like me.