Thoughts

What to blog about? What to blog about???

Not sure really. I've had a decidedly low-key week-end. I've been finishing up my course on "Introducing Environment". I have one assignment to write up, and then I'm done. I'll be working on it over the next week or so. It won't be that hard; it's only a 10 credit course.

Other than that...

Oh, yeah - Final episode of Doctor Who series 5 was fantastic. I'm really impressed with Matt Smith actually. Some people swear up and down that David Tennant is better, but I think Matt is fantastic. I love the fez in this episode... it's too bad it had to go at the end there.

More people should wear fezes.



I wish I had a pet sometimes. A furry one.

Babies are nice, I held a baby today in church. They're everywhere I turn at church.

Dundee has had ridiculously lovely weather for the last month.

It's amazing what delicious concoctions you can come up with when you have a near-bare cupboard.

There are 9ish sleeps until Andy comes back to Dundee to see me. (he hasn't given me an exact day yet - deciding on transport)

I'm looking forward to reading for fun this summer, and not just reading my course materials. In October, I'll be back at it - for 60 credits this time.

My peace lily has decided to flower in June instead of at Easter.

Yep, that's about everything that's on my mind at the moment. Some of it's boring I know, but there it is...

Have a nice week folks.

Happy Father's Day!

I just spoke to my Dad on the phone... he's sounding ok, just feeling a little bit older overall. I guess the stroke, and surgery has left him feeling a bit more tired, and a little absent minded. I suppose a cerebrovascular accident is bound to slow you down a little bit, his brain is bound to have suffered a little damage... (which accounts for the absent-mindedness) I think though, considering his age (78), he's done very well.

I miss him (and my Mum), especially on days like today when families are meant to be together. At church today for Father's Day, we had the Primary children colour paper ties for their Dads, then put them on ribbons so that the Dads could wear them. They turned out really cute. It made me think that perhaps I wanted one. One little girl (one of my favourite girls) drew ginger-haired sets of toupees and wigs on hers to remind her Dad of his former glory days when he had hair. Heehee. Some of the boys drew weapons on theirs, and flames... I suppose their Dads will see the artistic talent in them anyway. I love opportunities to see the artistic talent of the children in our ward. They're absolutely brilliant in every way. I really think this is my favourite calling I've ever had. I look forward to church every week, even though I know it could turn out chaotic; simply because the kids are sooo great. :-)

We also taught them a song to sing in sacrament meeting to their Dads. We then handed out fairy cakes to all of the men over 19 in the ward. It turned out rather lovely. :-) It looked a bit like this...



That's the song we sung anyway... imagine that x 25. :-) Brilliant.

I've just been thinking that I really miss all of those family dinners we had out in Okotoks at Debbie's house. That's where my family will be just now... sitting around the dinner table, eating more food than necessary, and talking about politics, religion, and gossiping about this and that. One is always guaranteed intense conversation at our family gatherings.

I hope all of the Fathers, and future Fathers out there have a lovely Father's Day. I know I'm really grateful for my Dad, not to mention my Heavenly Father. I'm thankful for his constant guidance in my life. I don't know where I'd be without him, to be honest. It's a good thing he'll always be there. :-)

Happy Father's Day!

Adventures with Andy in Arbroath

I didn't post yesterday because, frankly I had better things to do. :-) Andy was here in Dundee this week-end. He came up on Friday (really really tired from working earlies all week), and then Saturday morning, we took the bus to Arbroath and I made him walk everywhere (he didn't complain though - bless him) We had an Arbroath Smokie. (I now wish I had taken a picture of it - Andy did though) Arbroath smokies are quite tasty I have to admit. My only problem with eating fish in it's non-battered form is fighting with bones. I hate fish bones, they gross me out a bit. The taste of smoked haddock though, is quite delicious. We then went to the Seaton Cliffs at Arbroath.





The Seaton Cliffs are really quite beautiful. Apparently if we had gone a bit further on the path, we would have seen even more beautiful cliffs, and the Mermaid's Kirk, not to mention the Deil's head. But, I suppose we shall have to save those delights for another day. From the cliffs, we went back into the town, and had lunch, then we toured Arbroath Abbey... which is really quite interesting and Rich with History.





It was founded in 1178 by William "The Lion" I of Scotland who built it in honour of a friend of his who had died a Christian martyr. William I is actually buried in the Abbey. (see picture below) One of the many other things which Arbroath Abbey is famous for is that it is the site where the Declaration of Arbroath was drafted and signed. It's also really very striking because of the red sandstone rocks it is built from. As you see in the Cliff pictures, Sandstone rocks are quite common in the area of Arbroath. So, when the monks built Arbroath Abbey, they did so with the materials available to them in the area. It's really quite a striking building - even just with what's left of it.



So, our time in Arbroath was lovely, and in fact all of the time we spend together is lovely. It all goes by far too quickly though - as I'm painfully aware of this morning. I only just left Andy at the bus station an hour and a half ago. I suppose I can survive the 3 weeks before I see him again.

I never thought I'd be this sappy.

What's On My Mind...

Friday morning I got up early to catch a train to Chorley. I went to the temple again this week-end with Andy. He could only do one session, because he was on the early shift on Saturday. He has to get up at 3:30 am every morning this coming week and cycle 6 miles to work. :-S He's a hero in my books; among other things. As many of you know, I am far from being a morning person. Neither is he - which makes it so amazing that he manages to do these morning shifts.

What I really am enjoying right now, is who I am when I'm with Andy. He brings out the best in me. :-) He's also just - a really really good person. x

Parental Drama... as per usual

Hello there... I've just spent most of the afternoon and evening napping I'm afraid. This means that I am now wide awake and ready for action, even though it's 10:00 pm. :-S

Ah well, not to worry. I'll just force myself to sleep at midnight. Hopefully that will all work out...

Anyway, update on Dad... He's doing well. The surgery went really well, and the only trouble he had was a bit of low blood pressure afterwards. This is apparently pretty normal for a stent insertion procedure. The reason being - that with the stent in his artery, the blood is able to flow more freely, so there is less pressure. He's ok now though, just really really tired. He didn't get much sleep in the hospital, and I'm guessing that now he's at home with my Alzheimer's suffering Mother, he's still not getting much sleep.

I just had a chat with my Sister, and it sounds an awful lot like Mum is getting worse and worse with her Alzheimer's... she will hear nothing about talk of living wills, or assisted living. This is a source of great frustration for me and my siblings. She's always been that way though - extremely stubborn, and unwilling to hear what other people have to say. Now that she's not at full capacity, it's even worse. I don't know what to say really, except that I moved at the right time. ;-) Just kidding... well sort of kidding. To be honest, I couldn't handle much more of her behaviour while I was there, it gets to you after a while. Plus, I was the one who was there, actually living with them, and keeping an eye on them. So, I got the brunt of most of her attacks. Now, Dad gets it. Debbie and Rich get it too, but they don't live with her - so it's not every day. You can imagine, that living with that every day, and trying to recover from a stroke, and surgery is pretty difficult. I'm afraid Mum isn't going to be the pleasantly confused type of dementia patient. She'll be the kind that we had at the hospital all the time who yells abuse at you, and tells you you're going to hell, because you're a terrible person. Mark my words Geri-Psych nurses - you're in for it. They're used to it though, I suppose. As for me, I've had my share, and it's enough for anyone. I don't know what to say really, except that if she doesn't want to hear what people are suggesting about assisted living, then I'm afraid that eventually, she'll be committed to a geri-psych facility via sectioning. That won't be a pleasant experience for any involved. Maybe I'll have to have a blunt talk with her. It will be slightly easier with me being a million miles away. The only trouble is, you have a blunt talk, and she forgets the whole thing the next day.

A person could go slightly crazy going around in circles like this. There is no clear answer, except to say that she is going to get worse, and we'll just have to see how it goes day to day.

As for me, in my life - I'm good. Life is good. I'll see my boyfriend on Friday. :-) He's wonderful, and normal, and kind. He's highly refreshing after a lifetime like mine. :-) Andy is going for a walk tomorrow for Haitian Appeal... if you can donate, then please do so here... (link)

Have a lovely evening.

Love,
Becky x

Prayers Please...

Sorry I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday... it was a busy week-end as it turns out. It was just what I needed though. I had a very good visit with my Andy. It was a short visit, but productive. :-)

Plus, my mind has been on other things...

Thursday morning I logged onto facebook, and read my little brother's status which went like so... "mmm just got home a little while ago and just missed parents. message from mom about hospital and dad, crap." I wrote him a message asking him to expound on that, but with no response. So, all day Thursday I was thinking about this in the back of my mind. Then, when I got home, there was a message on my phone from my Mum.

What happened was that my Dad had a stroke. He's never had a stroke before, but he has eaten a fried English Breakfast almost every day I can remember for his entire life. He would dispute that, but it's true. Any of my siblings would say the same. Fried Bacon, fried eggs, chips, fried mushroom, fried tomato, rashers, sometimes beans. So, I guess it finally caught up with him.

What they found from the tests, is that if he hadn't had this little stroke, he would have had a much bigger stroke in a week's time that could have been much more detrimental, possibly fatal. They found that he has 77% blockage in his carotid artery. Which means - that tomorrow he has to go in and have surgery. What they're going to do is go into his artery from his groin, and pump a balloon up that has a stent around it to open up the artery again. Obviously this is a risky procedure, but leaving it the way it is with no procedure at all is far more risky.

I've spoken to a couple of people since this happened who have had the same procedure, and they say that they are fine, and that it was the best thing they could have done. This brought me some comfort. Also, Andy was a big comfort to me on Friday and Saturday. It has been hard though, being so far away and not knowing exactly what is going on, and not being with him. In the past, whenever something like this has happened, I've been the one to be there with them, and make sure everything is alright. But, my sister is there, and my 2 brothers. Also, the Relief Society at church, and my parents' Bishop have been a support. So, that brings some re-assurance.

So, the reason I am writing all of this, and laying out the personal details about my family drama is because I would like to ask anyone out there who knows us and loves us, (or maybe doesn't know us at all but can relate) to offer up your prayers for my Dad that his surgery will go well tomorrow. Whatever your faith, or even if you have no faith, if you can - please spare a thought or two, or a prayer for my Dad and family. I would very much appreciate that.

I Fell Off The Wagon A Little...

Apparently I didn't learn my lesson the last time I gave up Caffeine...

Well, last week during all of the election excitement, and staying up late to watch this news or that I got to be pretty tired in the mornings. So what did I do? I turned to my old friend Diet Cherry Coca-Cola. I need to remember though, it is NOT my friend. No - not! I'm sad to say that yet again, today I am suffering from Caffeine Withdrawal. I think I have spent quite a lot of my adult life suffering from Caffeine Withdrawal. The best times I've had in my life, where I've felt the most healthy have been when I've been off the sauce - entirely. I've got to get off the sauce again. Today, it was quite by accident really. It's the week-end is all. No caffeine yesterday, or today. Today I am feeling it by golly.

I'm sure most of this blog makes very little grammatical sense. If so, you can blame it on the caffeine withdrawal. Why is it so painful? I don't know. I'd like it all to stop though. Make it all stop.

I'm thinking of going to Addiction Recovery classes at the church on Thursdays. I have a bit of an addictive personality I'm afraid. If I weren't a Mormon, and I didn't have the "Word of Wisdom" to follow, I would probably be dead in some ditch by now. Yep - dead in a ditch. Thank goodness my parents let the missionaries in. In fact, if they didn't let them in, I probably wouldn't have been born at all because my parents would have never met. So - overall - thank goodness for my parents letting the missionaries in. Way to go Mum & Dad! Way to go missionaries!

Excuse me while I crash on my bed for a while.

Later peeps!