bloggers block

It's been a tough week. I think it all started when I burned myself TWICE last Sunday. (just peeling off the crusty scabs this morning).

I generally try to look for the good in everything and try really hard not to let life in general infringe on my perky, sassy attitude.

For those of you who don't know me well, that would be the glass half full! I pride myself on being able to see the bright side of anything.

But this week has been different.

I'm overwhelmed with worry and anxiety and wondering just how many nights in a row the "super sleep" supplement will really work...The bottle says that after six nights you should really consult a physician. What's that all about?! I live with a physician and when I consulted him, he told me to quit worrying and I'd sleep better. baha

So I'm hard pressed to find anything funny or light to blog about and it's kinda making me blue.

I worry a lot and usually can see how silly my worries are but this week has just slammed me. I am more thankful than ever for my family but really need some perspective to get back on the happy track.

First Sara and Co. got robbed when Angela and Dylan went to Hawaii to visit. That was definitely NOT on the itinerary and made a short visit less than relaxing. Travelling through four or five time zones for a long weekend just to lose your identity, your sunscreen (that's why they came home pink) and your pants (poor Dylan- what kind of robber steals pants?) definitely tops the list for bad vacations. Dylan and Angela were good sports however, spending one whole day driving around the north shore visiting creepy pawn shops in search of Sara's stolen engagement/wedding ring set. Apparently property crime on the north shore is not nearly as sexy as depicted on Hawaii Five O.

So I have been tired and I have been working hard at the office and I have been trying really hard to be a good mother to adult children and I was starting to relax a bit; understanding my limitations and determining to just do the best I can...

....when I got word that our good friend, Ladelle, was killed in a car accident coming home from Kalispel after a weekend of skiing with family.

Wally and I have known Ladelle for years and our two families have become quite intertwined through that time. Ladelle's mom, Lois works in our office for Dr. Rampling. She's been a friend and a support through all the ups and downs this family has experienced. Her husband Stan is a contractor who has done work on our house and he's employed my son and son-in-law over the years. We went to Ladelle's wedding just a couple of years ago where he married Candace who has also been a part of our family circle. Diana lived with Candace for a time and Angela had classes with Candace all through university. Learning of his unexpected and unnecessary death (charges are pending against the trucker who slammed into them) was just one more reason not to sleep well and question, question, question what this is all about!

So it's Sunday morning and I'm still just kind of numb and BLOCKED over how to be sassy and carefree after the week's events. So I've decided there's a list of things to be thankful for and perhaps that will help me get back in the swing of things.

1. I'm thankful for good kids and more thankful for the people my children have married! My girls are married to a collection of the 4 best men on the planet. These guys take goood care of my girls and love them no matter what. (even when they do dumb things) My son has married probably the nicest girl in town who manages him with a skill the other women in the family haven't quite figured out yet. She's awesome!

2. I'm thankful for a husband who reminds me all the time that I can't fix everything so worrying about it is probably a bad idea. He keeps me grounded.

3. I'm thankful for relationships that can survive family feuds, robbery, tradegy, foolishness and everything in between. We really only have each other.

4. I'm thankful Ladelle's wife, Candace, (pregnant with their first child) walked away from that horrific accident. I guess we can find that "half full" moment if we look for it.

5. And actually when it's all said and done, Diana's extreme pain and discomfort as a result of an irresponsible tanning booth attendant turns out to be a hiccup instead of something that will keep me up for nights on end; although I'm pretty sure it's keeping her up. Hang in there Sweet Pea! (can't you sue? you live in America for crying out loud! that's gotta be worth something.)

So it's Sunday morning and it's been a tough week but writing it down helps a bit with the BLOCK and the anixiety and the bucketful of emotions I have been struggling with.

I'll carry on....in no particular order

I'll keep going to work and working hard. I'll go to a funeral this week that will wear me out but I'll remember the happiness in this tragedy. I'll send Sara and Angela new ID and credit cards as they arrive. I'll feel bad for Diana and the sunburn. I'll think about Angela and Dylan moving in freezing rain and wish I was there to help (but deep down be glad i'm not) I'll text all my kids every day (because I can) to tell them I LOVE them. I'll be thinking of everything that's going on- students studying, people moving, people moving on and life just happening; mostly out of my control.

And I'm not going to worry about it.

heat!

I've got too much heat in my life. This morning before church I was pressing my husband's white shirt when I accidentally put my hand on the iron. HOT! I went into the bathroom to curl my hair, nursing my left hand with the red burn.

That's when I accidentally put the curling iron on my forehead! OUCH!

I'm done with heat today. I'm going to go have a cold cucumber sandwich.

falling again....

Yesterday I fell while cross country skiing. How does that even happen? I mean cross country skiing is a little like bowling with bumpers. You really can't go off the trail if you stay in the tracks...duh. I won't even go into how I found myself upright at the end of the day but all evidence points to a very patient husband. To add insult to injury, I lost my room key somewhere out there on the wilderness trail AND I got the mother of all blisters (ouch) on my right heel.

Today was supposed to be better.

We awoke to an absolutely picture perfect day with snow falling in our little mountain hide away. It was like being in a snow globe-like I said, picture perfect! Wally went off to his meetings early and said, "I'll be back at lunch and we can go try out the new snowshoes. I have been dying to try the new snowshoes since we got them just before Christmas. Snow shoeing is something I have been determined to master. Seriously, how hard can it be?

So I put bandaids and polysporin on my blister and tried to get into my nice warm, waterproof winterized hiking boots. (also brand new and waiting for an opportunity like today) NO GO!

The pain was unbearable and I couldn't even walk across the room, let alone up a snowy mountainside. I finally decided to put on my running shoes with extra socks and it worked. Snow shoe or BUST!

We geared up and headed out. The Snowshoe Trail is a beautiful hike up the side of the mountain, around and down again back to the Lodge. The trail was great, lots of fresh snow. The scenery was beautiful. You just can't beat the Rocky Mountains.

The hike was FUN.

That is until I fell......

The only reason that event was not captured on film is because the camera was in my pocket and Wally really didn't know what happened to me until it was over with.

I FELL OFF THE TRAIL- face first down the side of the mountain, poles and snowshoes flailing appropriately as I struggled to keep my head above water in about six feet of new snow. I "swam" back up to the trail and was climbing over the edge as Wally turned around and asked, "You ok back there? What are you doing?"

I think snow shoes are my choice of apparatus. Those little things that hook on to the shoes actually spin and make it easier to stand up unassisted. Thank goodness.

Tomorrow is another day. Bring on the spa!!

I am NOT an athelete

My husband is a patient man. He is quite an athelete. All his life he has paticipated in team sports- lacrosse, soccer, hockey, baseball. He loves sports and he even likes the outdoors. He loves camping (but that's another blog). And for almost thirty years, I have tried to fool myself into thinking that maybe I could do it. Maybe I could be a little bit more athletic.

But I was wrong-dead wrong. I am not an athelete and I can't fool anyone.

And as was so gracefully proven this weekend at Kananaskis I am definitely not a skier.

the "fax"of life (part one)

I learned a very interesting fact this past week.

I can receive a fax on both my home machine and my office machine at any time of the day or night on any given day of the year from a penniless prince in Uganda, Nigeria or Etheopia. You choose any third world, politically unstable nation in the whole wide world and someone there will be able to send me a FAX.

BUT the girls at the copy center in Laie, Hawaii in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA cannot figure out how to send a fax to my office during business hours; EVER!

Poor Sara tried three times (at a cost of $3 per time) to have the girls fax me a document last week. I never received it!

But hats off to innovation and technology.

1. Sara took a photo of the document with her digital camera.

2. Ben loaded the photo on to his laptap.

3. Said photo was then attached to an email which was then...

4. ...forwarded to my inbox.

I printed the email attachment on the FAX MACHINE in my home office!!!!

Go figure?!?

stupid human tricks...

The other day I had to run to the bank at lunch time so I set off on the two block trek in downtown Lethbridge. There are often a few odd things to see at that time of day downtown but what I'm about to describe wins the prize for ULTIMATE "stupid human trick".

I saw two guys chatting on the sidewalk about half a block away. From a distance, it looked like they were just out having a smoke. (did I mention it was -22C ?) I thought the one guy had some kind of amazing i-pod system because I could see these wires going from his ears way down and around his body into a back pack that he was wearing.

As I approached, the whole scene became just a little surreal. I gave my head a shake and tried not to stare as I walked by, eyes wide and mouth gaping in disbelief. The dude with the wires was actually hooked up to an oxygen tank that he was conveniently carrying on his back in the pack. The "wires"that I thought were for his sound system were actually those silicone tubes that wrap around the ears and then deliver oxygen to the nostrils. And yes, he was smoking a cigarette. I'm not kidding-

Can you spell "KA-BOOM!!!"

katie says the cutest things....part two

Katie's the baby in the family. The rest of us sort of understood what that meant but we were never sure if Katie actually "got it".

The other night she and Nathan were over for dinner and it became perfectly, crystal clear that Katie does "get it" and has probably understood for quite some time just what it means to be the youngest in the family.

Sara and Ben are living in Hawaii for a few months while Ben finishes his degree and all the kids are dying to go and "visit". Angela and Dylan have booked their flights and Jordan and Sara are planning to go in April. Even Diana is trying to figure out how to go see Sara while she's in Hawaii. (funny...no one was knocking themselves out to come see Sara when she was living in my basement) Anyhow...

So Nathan and Katie looked at their budget and their school schedule and the probable work schedules and Nathan just couldn't see how they could manage a trip to Hawaii to spend some time with Sara and Ben.

no matter how much fun it might be...........

Nathan just said, NO.

And Katie summed it up quite nicely for me, Wally, and Nathan in my kitchen on Sunday night: "This is so HARD for me! I am the youngest of five." Then she turned her gaze to Nathan and with those big, beautiful eyes penetrating, pleading....."I am used to getting whatever I want, whenever I want it. This just really sucks!"

Nathan looked a little surprised. Wally and I laughed so hard we almost cried.

And Katie....well Katie gets to be married to NATHAN KOEGLER!

katie says the cutest things....part one

After the "wedding palooza" our small, tight knit community

has been struck with an epidemic of

DIVORCE.

We're not quite sure how or when it happened but the fall out has been complete. At last count there were more than a dozen young newlywed couples who had abandoned their "happily ever after."

Besides being simply heartbreaking for those involved, the whole hot mess is enough to send shockwaves throught that group of young single adults that were (up until recently) anxiously engaged in getting engaged! A whole whack load of divorces in a short period of time is enough to make everyone nervous.

Of course you will all recall the "weekend of the weddings". That's when Jordan married Sara on Friday and Katie (my baby girl) married Nathan on Saturday. It was a happy, exciting time for our families; and so far, the marriages appear to be sticking! yay! (Insert audible sigh of relief here.)

The other night the new Mrs. Koegler (that would be my sweet baby Katie) was out with her good friend, Bonnie who is single. They got to visiting as they were watching the basketball game and of course, the subject of the "divorce bonanza" came up. Bonnie is Katie's relaxed, laid back friend; nothing ever really bothers her.

This night, however, Bonnie was really concerned about the epidemic of divorces and she was really trying to wrap her head around the situation without getting completely spooked. Finally she put the question to Katie (who after 4 1/2 months of marriage was the closest thing to an expert Bonnie could find)

"Seriously Katie, how hard is it REALLY to be married?!"

Katie considered the question for a moment and then answered Bonnie the best she could.

She smiled sweetly, nodded over to where Mr. Perfect (oops...I mean Mr. Koegler) was seated and said,

"Well, not everybody is married to Nathan Koegler..."

'NUFF SAID