HOW TO SPEND YOUR VACATION IN A LOCKDOWN

We all know the deal right now. Keep your distance, wash your hands, limit your contact. Only go out if you must. Stay home - stay safe. Not conducive to travelling and sight-seeing, shopping, dinners out or anything one would normally do on a vacation!

I himmed and hawed on whether or not to cancel my upcoming week off but in the end, decided to go ahead with it. I had some lofty goals to start learning a new language but in the end, I fell back on the comforts of home: cooking!

I tried out a couple new recipes.

Peanutbutter chocolate chip shortbread

They hit all the high notes for me. Will definitely be making them again!

I also tried my hand at Drunken Noodles. 

I made them with tofu in keeping with Sheldon's present vegan diet and although this was a good meal, I feel it needs some tweaking!

Might as well tackle some spring cleaning! 

Cleaning windows is like instant gratification. I would recommend this in the lockdown vacation tourism book.

Finally, the weatherman advised Jack Frost had finally packed his bags so I got busy in the garden! I dug up my strawberries and decided to put them in a little planter, safe from the bunnies who eat the berries. I also bought myself a Lemon Tree! Always wanted one so thought I would give it a go!

Got the gazebo comfy and ready for chillaxing, and the flowers tucked into planters. 

Gardening is a GREAT way to spend vacation time, lock down or not. I even had a few new visitors!

A rose breasted grosbeak and I even saw a Blue bunting!

 

Finally, I did get to spend some quality time with my daughter, son-in-law and of course the Little Prince. I confess, I hugged him for the first time in two months. There's only so much a Nona can take.

So, if you are like me, and your vacation is in lockdown, try some new recipes, get some spring cleaning done, hang out in the garden and make new friends. But next year - Paris, here I come!!

WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?

This was taken in 1989. My daughter Randi (7-10 months old?) and Awesome Dawson. If it was in colour the peach and green scheme would have given it away. Have you ever tried to do laundry with a baby? How about with a baby and a cat? As I recall, the one in charge here was Dawson. As fast as I would try to put laundry away he would be in there messing about. And Randi was just distracting adorable eye candy!

Somebody has to take the wheel, somebody has to be in charge, somebody has to make a decision. And with that, I'm segueing into the importance of Consent! 

When it comes to a health crisis and you find yourself in the stressful situation of having to determine the course of action, there are a few options. 

If you have your faculties (capable) and are able to communicate, the one in charge is YOU. For example, Dr. Mustard will show up and say "Scarlett, you have a few options: surgery, a new medication trial or we can send you home with palliative support and care." YOU need to ask some important questions, get the pros and cons of your options, be informed. Bounce it off other professionals and family (Proverbs 15:22). 

But, if you are out cold or mumbling away in a Delirium somebody else will be in charge for you. In Ontario everyone has an automatic  Substitute Decision Maker (SDM). No paperwork required unless you want to change that.

See that green part? Those are the automatic SDMs. First off will be your spouse/partner and if you are divorced or single it would move to your Parent or children. 

So if your spouse is aware of what's your version of quality of life and can keep a cool head under stressful situations and knows to get the facts on the options that's the guy/gal for you! But what if you are divorced and have a teenager at the helm? You only need to be 16 to make life altering decisions for another person. What if you are down to siblings. And there is 3 of them. And they can't agree on anything? If you are starting to freak out just calm down. When your options are dicey you can appoint your own Power of Attorney (POA) and they now trump all the automatics and will be the one in charge. You don't need a lawyer to establish a POA. You do need to sign it voluntarily, with two witnesses on hand and they also need to sign it. Info on POAs can be found here:

https:\\www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/family/pgt/poa.pdf

Consenting to a course of action in a medical emergency can be very, VERY stressful. I'd rather do laundry with a baby and a cat, but with some candid discussions and pre-planning (see my last Blog on Life's Non-Negotiables) you or your SDM can make the best informed decision possible.