You don't know when your time is up

We are so consumed with not so great health-related news at work like our dear Crafty Queen Becky who has had cancer revisit her again...and now another full-of-life person Mary in bookings who has discovered that her heart is not pumping blood to the full capacity. Life just dishes out so much crap sometimes!!
I should be thankful that health is still good for us all...except that Darcy could be better but he needs to work on losing some weight and eating less of the good food that we do serve.
But back to Becky...if someone can warm your heart and be the quintessential person of inspiration and kindness, I think she wins. Her craftiness is phenomenal...I think Kari and I were undoubtedly inspired by her when we embarked on our Crafty Neighbours adventure. Becky is an icon in Port Moody of beautiful, quality country crafts! She has battled so many variations of cancer but this time we sort of know that it will catch up to her...it is sad :( but she has so much love from so many whose lives have been touched by her.
Health...so critical as it determines the quality of today and tomorrow for us all...so important to maintain a lifestyle that keeps us healthy in body, mind and spirt...comes back to working on my personal goals. With mum being a cancer survivor, I guess I am considered at risk...well, Joanne drags me to my mammogram for the last 2 years and bribes me with all-you-can-eat sushi lunch so I should be thnakful for her doing that! Ah Mah died from late-onset diabetes and since I supposedly resemble her guess thats another notch against me...and there's heart disease with Dad having had his quadruple by-pass...goodness me...I really have alot of work for me to maintain disease-free! Caiti made me go to the Blood Pressure Clinic at Dogwood and according to it I am classified as high-normal...whatever that means.

The powers that be...

Raye at work came back from Winnipeg after a very busy week moving her mum into interim care because she seems to be suffering from disorientation and the onset of dementia. It was nice to be back at work with her...I really like her and she is going to be a Gramma for the first time in August which is exciting. Anyway...things are very busy at work and with all the new strategic alignment , big boss Jill, Karen and Judy are having more heaped on their plates. Judy has been asked to help out at the Sports Arena because our new Division Head Joyce was promoted from the arena manager and so now the current person covering needs help as he is completely overwhelmed with many new areas to look after. Big boss Jill had asked Raye to step in to assist Judy which means me stepping in to backfill Raye...but Raye being so sweet asked if I could do the backfill for Judy instead! Well...the reason why I left Community Services was the fact that I do not own a valid driver's license (like driving has any impact on the work that I do) so big boss Jill was not sure if HR would nix the idea and if there would be road blocks...anyway...HR said there was no issue if she was willing to waive the drivers license which she adamantly did...see...truth be known I was certainly not treated fairly in my previous job. Anyway...changes ahead and I am really quite excited about it...back to doing some programming also doing what I love now. Not that I don't love pretty much everything that I do. I have been so fortunate to have the support of so many like Heather in bookings as well....she has been so awesome and such a caring person who has had her share of trials and tribulations.
Someday I hope I get my permanent status doing what I think I do best...now of only Darcy can get back on his feet...life might have some glimmer of light!!!

The Struggle

I think my most challenging struggle and something I want to accomplish is weight-loss. I am back doing Weight-Watchers online again. I had gained back 10 pounds of the 30 pounds I had lost but now am mentally gearing myself up again to continue with the goal. I am not caring so much about being skinny (because I could wish my whole life away) but maintain healthy and be fit. So...I have been a little delinquent about Curves but that is partially due to work scheduling but the bike downstairs is not a clothes=hanger anymore and it is back to walking...walking...walking. Truth be told, I like counting points and making sure that I make pretty good choices most of the time! So...despite the stress which I wish could just melt the pounds away...the goal is to keep with the plan and stay OP (On Program) as much as I can!!!

Sunny Saturday!

Wow! I can't believe that I have not written on this blog for weeks. Probably because I have been working so much and trying to get through each day as it comes. I was so glad that today was a Saturday! It was also a very sunny day and Darcy and I were out and about early in the morning. Out of pure curiousity and because we know that it was we want to eventually do...we went to a Timeshare presentation downtown Vancouver...realizing that this is not the time to do it but we plan to in the future. We scored some Canucks tickets and we shall see if we get them or not. It was a very interesting morning...it was good to see what sort of vacations we can have in the near future.
We went down to English Bay for lunch at the Tanpopo sushi place. We rushed home because Sheba had a vet's appointment. She hurt her leg again at Buntzen Lake...we simply cannot afford the $1600 surgery at this point in time.
Rushing again all the way to the Percy Norman Pool for the Special Olympics Swim meet to volunteer our time...hoping that Chrissy will take up the offer to volunteer coach for them. Jim Lacroix was very welcoming and eager to have her!! So it was a piece of Flying Wedge Pizza on the way home...and such was this Sunny Saturday!!!

Another bump in the road...

Well...if we have not already endured enough. I love how God doesn't give you more than you can handle. Darcy is leaving Pacific Sunspots and leaving BCAA. The job stress has literally been slowly killing him and better now than a heart attack d0wn the line. He will go in next week to wrap up the negotiations on his severance package and then he will have some time to get healthy...re-group and then get back on this crazy hamster wheel of life. He needs to take the time and if he finds something sooner than the 6 months then we have a little windfall on our hands. I don't want to think of the worst case scenario...that is a little too scarey and anxiety-generating. We will take each day as it comes and do the best we can.
Caiti goes back to Kelowna tomorrow morning and then it will be back to the 3 of us and the menagerie of animals to manouver through life. We need someone to be shining a light on us and say...this family has gone through enough...give them a bloody break eh??

Back to Curves!

It felt really good to be back to Curves this evening. It really is a very quick and easy work-out too and I must make the effort to fulfil the minimum 3 times a week. It is always enjoyable going and chatting with Kari as we go around the circuit. Tonight, we discussed the merits of joining Weight-Watchers online.
Made yummy Lamb curry tonight to go with the roti that Caiti got from Tulsi...so authentically good! I have to work on Wednesday and Thursday night so no time to cook things Caiti wants to have before she goes back to school. Darcy made an extra tray of strawberry cheesecake for her to indulge in this week.
Anyway...last full day of bookings. Raye's mum is in the hospital so she is going home to Winnipeg next week so I shall be working fulltime for at least a week.
It certainly rained so heavily this morning. It was so dark out until later in the afternoon too.

The first day of 2007

Of course...its raining out. I can't remember what the weather was like the first day of 2006 but I am sure that it really doesn't matter because I won't remember what today was like next year.
I was very determined that I got all the Christmas decorations and the tree taken down as soon as I could this morning. It was one of those things that I felt just had to be done and it was actually invading my dreams all night.
Another blah New Year's Eve...what to expect. The girls were both out and of course we had soap opera again with Chrissy and her choices. They did both make it home which I should be thankful for. We had not that great Chinese Food but what can you expect from take-out on probably one of their busiest nights. This place, Lougheed Wonton moved from the North Road location up to St. John's Street in Port Moody so it was close by and well if you don't try you certainly don't know! Indigestion was almost a certainly even before the first mouthful.

What is happening today? At this point...no clue. The "bad me" is yearning for all-you-can-eat sushi but the "good me" is saying that would ruin all your points for today...yeah, yeah, yeah. It is going to be such a struggle to stay OP but I HAVE to do it or face feeling frustratedly frumpy forever (how do you like that use of alliteration!).

Resolutions?
To have a better, less stressful, more healthy year is probably on everyone's priority list. Somehow, I would like to figure out how to earn more money, and make a visit back home to see Mum and Dad. I wish Chrissy would cause me let's say even 50% less grief and anxiety and that Darcy would be a little less "at work" and be a little less difficult. Certainly, I will try to be less of a nag (but today on this first day I have already not done a great job in this area) and will let things go and not fixate on what I have no control over. I would like to have more "fun" time and enjoy things a little more without it being attached to eating more.

I hear lazy people finally stirring so I should head up and see what is in the "plan" for this first day of 2007.