Summer

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted!

A lot has happened this summer.  In some ways, anyway. As I posted last time, I moved to a new place and it's working out well for me. It is probably the most accessible housing situation I've ever had. It comes at a hefty price, but it is still cheaper than living in the Beltline. Fortunately, I have steady income now. I had a few hiccups shortly after I moved. It seemed there was a power surge and my laptop and all peripherals died. I've revived the computer partially - enough to access my files, but I can't run any peripherals through it. I had to buy a new laptop, a new printer, a new usb hub, etc. But, I also learned, in the process, how to set up a network and how to do some technical things with the computer that I didn't know how to do before.

Good times! We couldn't get one where we were both fully in the picture. It was so funny!

I took a trip to Manitoba this summer again. It was a much needed trip. I also had some memorable experiences ...

The Klassens

The outhouse door

• stopping at a rest area because I really need to use the facilities, only to find one of the doors to the outhouses was completely broken, and the other, where the door apparently didn't stay closed. I found that out the hard way, but fortunately, no one else showed up. Seriously, I have not had good outhouse experiences this year - the youth weekend back in May was also an example of this. Both times, I really needed to use the facilities so I just used them anyway.
• seeing a broad variety of roadkill - porcupines, a fox-like animal but bigger than a fox, some very unrecognizable but large animals, several skunks, and probably more.
• having an amazing time with God where he spoke to me about walking with me and how my heart is a garden and he is the gardener. Maybe I'll write a post about it and include a link to a few songs that fueled that conversation.
• saying good-bye to the Patmobile and saying hello to my new(er) Rav4. This is a positive thing - the car did not die but was on its last legs. This new vehicle will allow for the installation of a scooter lift at some point in the future, which will greatly increase my independence. If only funding were available in this province to cover modifications!
• seeing someone from highschool. That was a surprise.
• a much needed massage.
• going to a small town fair, taking pictures of the rides at night, and getting a henna tattoo.
• driving fast down Hwy 8, passing lots of vehicles - right Greg? :) And of course Gimli beach and wave surfing.
• fresh garden vegetables and fruit! Green beans, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries... mmm.
• spending time with family.
• connecting with some dear people in my life. It feels so good to really connect. And to feel wanted and loved. The hugs are amazing too! It makes me want to be back in Winnipeg.
• attending a beautiful wedding, seeing some extended family (and again the hugs), and the laughs during conversation. Oh, and taking random pictures. :)
• Mojitos! The theme of my trip, apparently! :)
• and of course, taking more pictures!

Other aspects of summer I enjoyed:

• church family camp.
• a visit from The Falks :) and the amazing Morrocan restaurant.
• the beautiful warm summer - so unusual for Calgary.
• watching Ultimate - go Raptors!
• sitting on my patio.
• the dragonflies.
• Julie's visit in July and The Klassens visit in August.
• living across from Global Fest and having a prime view of the fireworks. And of course, taking pictures. :)

The less pleasant aspects of this summer:

• moving! Although I am SO thankful everything came together so well for the move. I had friends from so many different areas of my life help out so it ended up that nobody ended up doing all of it. This started from the packing up, to the moving, to the cleaning of the old and new place, to the unpacking. I really am blessed!
• packing and unpacking! And sorting papers. Ok, that's all part of moving too. Did I mention moving?!
• having to put out of a lot of unexpected money. Although I do enjoy the new versions of what I bought - the vehicle, the computer, the wireless printer.
• feeling the stress of too many commitments on top of the life stressors such as moving, changes in work hours and responsibilities, etc.. I need to take care of myself in this way.
• not getting to see Brittany much - only a couple minutes. You'll have to come visit!
  

The new and the old

I'm not ready for summer to end, although fall is full of possibilities. Fall looks like it will be super busy and I've been enjoying the more laid back summer. I will start teaching the mental health course at SAIT again in September in addition to working at the hospital and doing my veterans work. The youth year will also be starting up at about the same time. I really do hope I can balance my life to take time for self care, exercise, friends and music, on top of other commitments I had previously. I know for my personal and spiritual wellness, I need to make time to get out into nature. take pictures, and to connect with people on a personal level. The long drive by myself to Manitoba was so needed on a spiritual level! Not only did I get out of the city, but I listened to music, I prayed, I stopped as I wanted to take pictures, and I relaxed. These are all important parts of my life. If things get too crazy, I will have to figure out what I can cut out so I stay well in all aspects of my life.

Regarding all the picture taking I mentioned - I haven't sorted through or uploaded all my pictures yet, but here are a few pictures to get you started. I have a few entries in mind that I want to write about as I've been thinking about some things. I do hope I have time, or rather, that I make time, to write and post these entries because blogging is also a very good spiritual and personal wellness exercise. But for today, I will end this post. I am frustrated because I can't seem to get the pictures to line up properly, so unfortunately, this post may look a little scattered. Nevertheless, Enjoy!

In Memory of Grandma

A few weeks ago, I saw a bag of Lifesavers. I was reminded of Grandma, so I bought the bag, sort of on an impulse. I didn't open them, though, until today (or technically yesterday, May 17). May 17 was her birthday. She was almost 100 years old when she passed away. I was in the room when she died. It was more peaceful than I would have expected. There is kind of a neat story behind her death. She wasn't ready to go for a long time, even though she was quite elderly. She had spunk. She had a desire to love. To give. To serve. To make blankets for people, even when her eyesight was going. But, I believe it was the night before she passed away, she had a dream about going to heaven, if I remember correctly. After the dream, she desperately wanted to talk to the chaplain about this dream. Then, she was ready to go. It didn't take long after this. I wish I remembered the details of the dream. I know I heard the story. Something in the dream made her feel ready to meet Jesus. I often regret I didn't make the effort to learn how to communicate in Low German. She was most comfortable speaking this language. Instead, she spoke to me in German, and I spoke to her in English, and we conversed quite well. Grandma lived in the same town as us, just 2 streets over, so my sister and I often went to Grandma's on our bikes. I remember trying different foods she made - homemade raspberry juice. I liked that, but I remember Julie wasn't so fond of it. Her yummy cookies, especially the white ones with icing and coconut. Kielke and gravy. And I remember the cookoo clock. I'd still like to have that one day, but I guess it went to someone else. I remember her laugh and her crinkly eyes. She was a beautiful person, inside and out.

Lifesavers are a symbol of Grandma. Every time we went to her place, she gave each of us kids a 3-pack of Lifesavers. Sometimes a few packs. We all had our favourites. Mine was yellow, I believe Julie preferred orange, and I believe Casey preferred red. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but we rarely fought over the colours, because sometimes we had to share packs. Or, we gave our least favourite colours away and collected all the candies from the packs in our favourite colours. I remember sharing Lifesavers with my cousins, particularly one cousin. Maybe next time I see her, I should bring my bag of Lifesavers with. :) My favourite Lifesaver colours are yellow and orange. Today, I savoured the flavours. I remembered and I am remembering as I type. I have happy memories. And I also really tasted the candies. I noticed the orange ones have a sourness to them that I really enjoy. The yellow ones (particularly the lemon ones) do as well. Hmm ... maybe that was the beginning of me loving sour - anything. Lemons, candies, juice. No, not anything. Lol. Sour milk, which I also had today, is not particularly enjoyable! I'm laughing just thinking about that. Anyway, I digress. I don't have any pictures to share of me and Grandma, or even of Grandma herself. I wasn't into taking pictures as much back then. But I want to say, I love you Grandma. And Lifesavers will always remind me of you!

Photo shoot with Pigs

So, the story goes like this. I was driving down Penner Street in Blumenort (the tiny community my parents live in) with my niece. I see something in front of us on the road.

Getting ready to attack?

Patti: What's that in the road?
Kaia [squeals]: Pigs!!!
Patti: Quick! Give me my camera!

I get maybe one picture in, and a black SUV turns onto the street and tries to herd the pigs onto the meat processing plant yard. Yes, there is a meat processing plant right in town limits. In fact, it's about a block from where my parents live. Come to think of it, no wonder it smells so bad in their town on some days. Back to the story. We follow the pigs onto the yard. Kaia suggests I use my big camera and she use my small camera. Afterall, I've taught her well.  She loves taking pictures, almost as much as I do, although she may not take pictures of some of the oddities that I've taken pictures of. We sat there on the yard, with some pigs coming close to the car to investigate and some hanging out in the big semi trailer ruts on the yard having a mud bath.  Here is a sampling of pictures I took. You can link to Kaia's blog to see her pics and a video she took.

Pigs apparently love mud baths

I'm not dirty enough. I need to roll around in the mud more!

Some guy came to try to herd the pigs in. This pig got sprayed with the powerful washer hose.

This pig needs to be sprayed clean!

More mud bath shots

Skunks ... and more factoids of my MB trip, summer 2009

• I smelled skunk 10 times and saw one dead skunk. By the way, have I mentioned I don't mind the smell of skunk?
  
• I saw a cougar on the edge of a ridge in a field. Or an animal that was that size, sandy coloured, and a similar head shape
• I saw a porcupine crossing the road in front of me.
  
• I was around people 24-7 for 20 days straight (including when dad came back with me and stayed here).
• I went camping for 4 days at Stephenfield Provincial Park and stayed in a yurt. The view was amazing. Our yurt was right next to the lake and we had a nice big deck that looked out on the lake. (hopefully I'll get around to posting pics)
  
• We saw an eagle, several pelicans, and oodles of ducks. I didn't get any good pics, though.
• Mom and dad came for one day. For supper we cut up potatoes, veggies, and sausage and put them in foil over the fire. Mm mm good. :)
• We had AWFUL instant coffee that literally curdled the milk! So I bought a camping perk and Casey bought fresh coffee. I gave the perk to her as an early birthday gift before I left. Oh, yeah, and I remember why I don't like milk made from skim milk powder. It is GROSS! Particularly when hot.
  
• Compost toilet outhouses are clean and NOT SMELLY! :D
• There was a nice big spider in the outhouse. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture. :(
• I went to West Hawk Lake for a day and went boating.
  
• My friend got engaged while I was in MB. I was unable to attend the party where it was announced due to the next point.
• I fell ... I didn't see a doctor, but I don't think I broke anything. Thank God! But I'm still noticing the injuries. I injured both feet, my left knee, and my left hand. Oh, and I scraped my left arm. There may be pictures of my bruised up feet to come. My knee is still tender if I kneel but I have full Range of Motion and I don't have pain in my knee when walking.
  
• I baked a cake ... in a glass bread loaf pan. Apparently that was the wrong thing to do because it took a very long time to bake. However, it was so easy to cut cake slices. Mmm ... chocolate cake with homemade strawberry preserves.
  
• I read a lot after I fell ... a book a day. Hopefully there will be a post on one of the books and what I took away from it. Some of the books include "The Last Lecture", "The Hunt", and a book about the 'Cuckoo Bird' - I don't recommend this book.
  
• I slept on a couch for 6 nights. I don't think I've ever done that before!
• I saw some friends I hadn't seen in years.
• I met with a potential contractor (is that the right word?).
• I had 2 telephone interviews.
• I drove all the way to MB by myself. And I didn't get bored until, maybe, Brandon.
  
• I went swimming in seaweed, or algae, or something green. My skin got stained, as well as my swim suit. And I could see little green floaties that looked like small little upright strings all around me. What I do for my nieces! I kept on telling myself people go for seaweed spa baths all the time, so it must be good for me.
  
• I went through the Caddy Lake tunnel for the first time.
• The theme of my weeks seemed to be 'Deep calls to deep' - it kept on hitting me before I fell, beginning with a challenge from a friend to write a blog entry on what that means (still to come some time). Then I listened to the song while driving. While flipping through the Bible, I learned there is actually a verse with this phrase in it. And, while trying to figure out the purpose of my fall, the fact I don't have an income, the fact I'm moving and don't really want to move, the feeling that things are NOT going according to MY plan, and just, overall, feeling overwhelmed, reading Ps. 42 and 43 repeatedly. Strangely, or maybe by the hand of God, my first Sunday back at church, the message was exactly on this passage.

That's all for now ... I may add some things to the list if people remind me of stuff.

Memories of Summer

I haven't been very faithful in keeping up the blog this summer. I've had a few opportunities to get out of town for the day, the weekend, to a week or two. I've seen some beautiful places. And gained some new memories. And, hopefully, summer is not over yet!!!

Kitsilano Beach (or maybe Jericho Beach?), Vancouver
(if you know which beach this is, please let me know and I will correct this)
June 2008



Doesn't this log look like a creepy, evil frog?


Notice the log ... "Patricia's log"


Stanley Park, Vancouver
June 2008




Church Camp, Camp Kuriakas (on Sylvan Lake)
June 2008




Latino Festival
July 2008



Banff
August 2008




Mountain Aire Lodge
August 2008


See the 5-legged cow? :D Ok, maybe not.


Family Time ... and Mom & Dad's backyard
August 2008