Daybook: Monday, October 23/17

Outside my window.....it is another nice day, mostly sunny with increasing cloud and wind gusts. Rain is coming into our area, but perhaps not until tomorrow. The front lawn needs cutting again, but I finished off all the back yard yesterday.

I am thinking.....about another trip I need to make this week. Within the last hour I learned that my step father has passed. I will be going to his funeral when I hear about the final arrangements. I am also thinking of all the catching up that needs to get done now that I am back. When I arrived back to the house on Friday afternoon, my feet hit the ground running and I have been going ever since.

I am thankful for.....my family. My son and his fiancee looked after picking up my mail and delivered packages. They watered my plants and cut the grass (otherwise, it would have been much, much worse than it was) My daughter looked after my dog for the whole three weeks so I could make this trip. My eldest son and his wife put up with me for two weeks and showed  me a wonderful time by taking me to a NHL hockey game,  the Vancouver Symphony, and sight-seeing tours including one from a boat around Burrard Inlet. I got to spend lots of time with my oldest grand daughter who graduated while I was out there, and my youngest grand daughter who had to stay home from school with the flu for a whole week. I read 3 books while I was there, which is more than I would read in 3 years. I am jazzed about that.

From the kitchen...... lots of chores await my attention. Saturday night and Sunday morning I cleaned my oven in anticipation of all the Christmas baking I will be preparing for soon. After doing a major grocery shop this morning after going for my Lab work, I have cabbage and cauliflower to prepare. I found a huge eye of round roast and a pork loin on sale that needs some butchering. I have packs of chicken thighs and Italian sausages that need to be frozen into smaller packages. I also need to bake the dog more doggie biscuits because the store-bought ones my daughter supplied, are running low.

I am wearing.....denim jeans, a black button down shirt with 3/4 sleeves, and new black socks I had to buy because I have worn holes in most of my other ones.

I am creating.....nothing yet. I need to write a message and sign the Halloween cards I made (fortunately) before I left. They need to get into the mail ASAP. Only then can I get busy on some craft projects.

I am going......to the post office later. I have already done all my running around this morning.

I am hoping.....my mother can get through these next few days. She will be lost without her partner. My sister and her husband had already moved up to Elliot Lake while I was away. They aren't even unpacked yet, but they drove down yesterday to be with my mom when our step-dad went into the hospital. They were preparing to move both of them up north to stay with them in a granny suite. That was to happen  a few months from now.  However, they may be wanting to take my mom  back  with them, even though they have not prepared a space for her yet.

I am hearing.....more sirens and blasting. I had really hoped that the blasting would be over with by the time I returned.

Around the house.....I want to do more vacuuming and dusting. I did all the vacuuming before I left, but with this being an older house and the blasting going on 3 or 4 times a day, the dust is incredible. I NEED to get some crafting done....cards and homemade gifts.

A few plans for the rest of the week....include two doctors' appointments, which I may have to reschedule again depending on the trip I need to make. I was also scheduled to serve the homeless this Sunday, but now that is up in the air.

Here's the picture I am sharing.....

Just a teaser for what's to come.....taken from one of three dome cars on this train trip across Canada. This was a very long passenger train pulled by three engines. I was lucky enough to see lots of deer and caribou.