Those words I didn't want to hear

I've always known this day was coming but it doesn't seem to change the way I felt about it.  Yep, "You need to take insulin."  It happened in August of this year.  My Dad had been type 2 diabetic at 35 and my Mom at 40.  The doctors had always said it was just a matter of time.  My insulin resistance happened over the last few years to where I started taking oral medication.  However, that began not to work over the summer.  I saw my sugars start to rise and I started to fight with my dietcians over taking something else.  So they continued to hound me until I finally gave in and I started taking the crazy stuff.

So now that I'm on insulin was it really so bad?  Not really.  It took a while for my sugars to come down to the right level and we had to fiddle with it to get the right amount but now that we are finished I wondered why I waited so long.  I have so much more energy than ever before and I've noticed I can do things again that I couldn't for a while.  Who knew that the needles and the poking would be worth it?

Well the blog has gotten away from me again.  Anyway, lots of things have happened since my last blog in *gasp* January.  First of all we made it through winter.  Winter this year seemed to drag on.  By the time we were finally able to shut down the woodstoves, Art and I were both very sick of dragging in wood.  We have lots of stairs in our house.  So we came up with the brilliant idea of chucking wood from our driveway where the guy dropped it off to the top of the garage.  Our garage is like 12ft high or something close to that.  So Art went out and started chucking.  I waited until he had a good pile and then we worked together to pile it on our back porch.  We did this with seven cords of wood.  Art's poor arm just about gave out by the end as these were not pansy little splinters of wood.  Most of the fall it rained and so thus we piled heavy wet wood.  So in order to have wood that would work well in the stove we needed to pile it indoors as well.  We would through the winter take about a bunch of wood and pile it indoors.  From the dry stuff we would stock next to the stove.  It seemed like the drudgery would never end.  Not to mention the amount of bark and twigs and ash.  But, we survived it and we will do it all again next winter.

To help us through our winter blahs in April we headed down to Myrtle beach.  Our good friend who stays there for about three months of the year offered us a free room.  We decided to take him up on his kind offer!  We had quite the time getting transportation as all of our vehicles took ill right before we left.  Car #1 had a wheel bearing gone and couldn't get it replaced in time.  Car #2 had several known issues but the vibration in the steering tipped us off it wouldn't make it the 17 hour drive.  Truck #1 clutch busted.  That was the end of our vehicle options.  So we decided to get a rental car and go anyway.  We are glad we did.  We had a fantastic time!  On the way down we "had" to stop in Hershey to get some chocolate.  Then we made a quick tour through Washington DC to see the smithsonian.  Too bad we didn't know it was the cherry blossom festival day and they had closed several roads.  We finally made it to Myrtle beach where we had just less than a week to pack in shopping, sleeping and lots of surf!  We even got to the Ripley's aquarium there and got to pet a sting ray and look at all the amazing sharks.  On the way home of course we stopped in Maryland to catch a Newsboys concert.

Now we are in the middle of May and the weather has been wonderful.  There is only a couple more months till the end of school and some serious vacation time.  :)

Sigh

Well here I am the eve before turning 33.  It's snowing and though it is a bit chilly we are fairly toasty with our two woodstoves cheerily burning.  Art sent me out yesterday to buy my birthday present and I realized that I have mostly everything I need.  Oh yes, I could use some new boots but the ones I have do fine.  I would like a new long coat for church but that's way too expensive.  So I got myself a new 9x13 glass baking pan with a lid and it was more fun to just snoop than get the actual present.  Life is good.  I can't say that every day I wake up thinking to myself it's going to be another perfect day but really what more could a girl ask for?  A roof over our heads, mostly warm house, a loving hubby and a crazy cat who entertains us for hours.  Yep, life is good.

2011 is Here

It's hard for me to believe that it is 2011.  I wonder if this year will bring as many surprises as the last.  In 2010 we had a series of struggles and accomplishments.  At the beginning of the year Art became very ill and we were very frustrated that no one could figure out what was wrong with him.  At the same time we also finally had our new propane furnace installed after years of break down with out electric.  By Feb. we were well on our way to heating our home for the first time ever.  Art's illness continued for some time until around May or June when he began finding work in construction.  He had to push himself for quite some time before he started to feel like himself again and he still from time to time feels the effects of it. 

In June, Art was asked by a guy he did a tile job for to come and take a look at his apartment complex where there was a rotting post.  Little did we know what replacing one post would do.  When Art arrived he realized the whole structure had rotted and warped beyond a little repair and got himself into a very large job.  Our friend Darrell jumped in to help him jack up the three story balcony which was around 100 years old and rip it all out.  This first story balcony led to the second story being totally replaced and then the third story balcony.  While I was at home on summer vacation Art was busy working there. 

In August Art definitely needed a vacation as did I.  I had helped hand tools and bring lumber to my handsome hubby for about three weeks of my summer and I was ready to lay around somewhere.  So I booked our vacation and packed all our stuff and we headed out the last week in August to the Gaspe.  It's quite a beautiful spot if you ever have the chance to go.  We saw gorgeous mountains and ocean and most importantly end of season sales in all the tourist shops.  We actually had a good time figuring out how to say things in french but for the most part we could speak english as I had pre-prepared all our meals and snacks.

Setember meant back to school and back to work for me.  I headed back meeting some cute kids and having some of the old regulars back in the van.  For once the van was reasonably quiet even if I ended up with more kids than usual.  Art continued his day job and his night job.  We became like two ships passing in the night.  However, by the time Art's birthday rolled around in November we were able to scedule a weekend away.  We found an awesome cabin where we watched the first snowfall come in from the hot tub.  Truly a great sight.

December meant Christmas preperations were under way and Art continued his grueling schedule.  We managed to find time to get the tree and I decorated the house.  We also bought a new bed for each other for Christmas.  By Christmas eve Art had finally finished his job downtown and we were able to spend a wonderful relaxing Christmas together.  We ended up getting each other "extra" presents, spent time with friends and generally doing nothing throughout the holidays.  So what will happen in 2011?  Who knows but I'm sure whatever it is we will be busy like every other year.  Happy New Year everyone!

A Big Blowout!

Well it is the last few remaining days of my summer vaction before I head back to another school year.  This summer though longer than last years has just flown by.  I'm not sure I am ready for another school year but I guess I will figure it out.  The best part of summer so far though has been our vacation to the Gaspe.

 

It all started out as a surprise for Art.  He knew of course we were going on vacation but had no idea where.  So I packed and cleaned, made lists and got guide books and off we left.  The first night we arrived just past Montreal and found a semi-quiet corn field to rest our heads in.  I had planned to leave earlier and be in Quebec City that night but I would find out later everything worked out according to someone else's plan.

 

The next morning we awoke to beautiful sunshine and started off again.  It was very early in the morning but the sleep had not been so great in my seat.  We made it down the road about 10 km when I heard a sound coming from the tires.  We had blown a tire and Art advised me to pull over.  This would not have been so bad if our car had not been overloaded with stuff but it was.  So we pulled it all out and got out our spare.  However, we had not thought when we bought the car to check for a jack and to our dismay there was a tire but no jack.  Art decided to walk to the gas station for help and I would stay with the car.  After Art had been gone a bit, a man from New Brunswick stopped and offered assistance.  I was happy to accept but I explained we were without a jack.  He then asked me a series of stupid questions before driving off and saying his jack for the large Cadillac car he was driving would not work for our car.  A few minutes later Art also returned empty handed.  Apparently no one at the gas station would lend him a jack but they had told him of a mechanic nearby which we could drive our car to.  By this time Art was furious and frustrated.  I just started praying for help because I knew the tire would not make it past where we stuck on the Auto route.  Just as I finished praying, a truck pulled up.  I confidently walked up the Quebec plated truck and asked in English if he could lend us a jack.  Art was amazed as he replied in English and got out his jack.  Within minutes we were on the road again with a dummy tire but we were going.  We thanked him and whoever he was I wish there had been something we could have given him but hopefully we will be there if he is ever in need.

 

Looking back on the whole escapade I couldn't help thinking of  a parable that Jesus taught of the good Samaritan.  A Jewish man was robbed and beaten and left for dead.  So called religious people ignored his need, others too walked by and ignored him but a Samaritan stopped to help.  Thank goodness for a good Quebec Samaritan.  Also if we had continued on our trip earlier on Friday night we would have had a blow out during darkness where it would've been very dangerous. 

We're having a heat wave...

a tropical heatwave.  When the heat hits like this in Ottawa, I really struggle to remember why I ever moved here.  This week has been around 30C with a humidex of up to 41C.  There have been power outages and generally cranky people and kids who have been stuck indoors or risk getting steamed outside.  I hate humidity.  The sticky-icky feeling is not for me.  But that all being said, I've no reason really to complain.  For one I have central air  which works quite well except in our bedroom which is on the top floor.  Not all that surprising really.  I don't have to go to work.  I can take really cold showers.  Thank God for our deep well.  And, I've got a basment which remains cold no matter how hot it is anywhere else and there is a tv down there.  The other night it was even cool enough outside for Art and I to do some stargazing.   So really nothing to complain about especially when I have all of Febuary and March to complain about snow and slush.

Our summer thus far has gotten off to a great start.  Art was awarded a big job and has had to take time off work to finish it.  However, he is having a great time doing it and we've had a little extra spending money.  Totally nice.  I was able to get our windows cleaned in the house which was a great relief to me.  It was worth every penny to have someone else come in and do it.  There was no way I was going up that high on the ladder again.  I was also able to start cleaning out all the junk we don't want anymore.  Mostly knick knacks and some other dollar store junk, have all been removed from a couple of our rooms.  I even got a morning out with the ladies to see a $1 movie.  We also had friends come out for Canada day.  It was super nice as we played Trivial Pursuit, ate way too much steak, potatoes and cake and watched cool fireworks in Arnprior.  So all in all a good summer has been started here.  Hope yours is too!

Time flies...

when you are having fun.  So May must have been fun because I hardly remember it.  We had another Men's breakfast, attended birthday parties, Art was working, stained the deck finally and I'm sure a whole host of other things that  were fairly mundane.  One of the most exciting things was that we got a new cat.  We named her Cicia (Keet-cha).  She was named after a cat who was Art's little sister's while they were growing up.  Cicia was a wonderful addition to our family.  She loves to play and be sucked up.  Her orginal name was cuddles and it was descriptive of her but too cheesy for us.  Besides unlike our Oliver she didn't know it.  Oliver and her instantly disliked one another.  For over two weeks there was hissing and fighting.  Finally Oliver decided to like Cicia but like any little brother in a family he gave up fighting and decided it was more fun to pester her.  He would wait until she curled up under a chair and sit on top of it and reach down with one paw smartly smacking her head.  Cicia would hiss and Oliver would run.  Now you have to understand Cicia is at most 7-8lbs and Oliver closer to 15lbs or more.  So it was funny and we laughed at it a lot.  Cicia was also chased by Oliver from time to time but spent most of her time getting upset with our other huge and dumb cat.  In the end however we decided it wasn't fair to have Oliver pester poor Cicia and offered her to a friend of ours.  They had been thinking about getting a cat for their family.  She loves it in her new home and has three adoring fans to pet her constantly.

Last Thursday Art and I got tickets to go see the Newsboys.  It was quite the concert with Audio Adrenline opening.  They were the first band I had ever seen in concert.  Way back when with the youth group in Marion, Indiana.  I remember how proud I had been that I went to see them!  Things have changed for them and now they are really into worship and working with charities to support the poor in Haiti with their Hands and Feet project.  However, it was so cool to hear "Big House" again live.

Newsboys themselves have changed with another old favourite of mine Micheal Tait formerly of DC Talk taking over for Peter Furler.  I still remember a good friend of mine drooling over him in highschool when they came out with their Jesus Freak CD.  I won't mention names.  They have quite the new CD coming out.  Their sound has changed a bit but I still love them and they put on a amazing show!  Art had a great time watching them as well and now is complaining that the CD sound is not as good as live. 

To follow our concert time Art and I went to our seperate retreats.  I went to Ladies retreat at Camp Iawah near Westport.  It brought back so many good memories of GBC and even smelled similar.  Though they didn't have neon green carpet or beer caps on the ceiling tiles as decorations.  I got to play dutch blitz, stay up into the wee hours, hear a great speaker and have non stop eating for two days.  Art had his retreat at a friend's place whose wife was also attending Ladies retreat with me.  So from all accounts they gorged themselves on pop, pizza, burgers and chips, played a lot of video games and generally had a fantastic time.  None of us can wait for next year!