Saturday, September 17, 2016

Soft food week


Another tough week here at the Island pad which involved both hubby and I being out of commission due to unexpected mouth surgeries.  I ended up having a partial root canal on Tuesday after having extreme mouth pain all weekend on the tooth that was crowned last September.  It turns out the tooth is now dead so they drilled a hole in the top (without removing the crown or damaging it) and did as best they could until my next appointment in 3 weeks time where they will finish it.  It takes about 2.5 hours from start to finish if you do it all in one sitting and they are so busy they removed the infection and temporarily filled it with cotton stuffing and cement until my mid-October appointment.  $750 out the window.  Hubby has had some ongoing mouth issues and had unexpected surgery yesterday - another $670 out the window.  He received 10 stitches in his mouth yesterday morning under IV sedation and still managed to have a 45 minute conversation 2 hours later with a potential client who we are trying to get to sign a contract.  He took 2 Tylenol 3 immediately after that and stopped working.  The things you do in self-employment!  


I am sick to death of soup and macaroni so today I am making skinless chicken breast in mushroom sauce made in the slow cooker over rice.  If need be I will shred the chicken so hubby can eat it.  He isn't allowed to eat anything abrasive for 3 days so meal planning is difficult.  In the mean time, work has still been going 200 miles an hour which is why I haven't posted in many days.  I did however manage to take some pictures on our evening walks with the dog.  We have had a great week weatherwise with nice sunny 20 degree days but Thursday night the clouds rolled in and now it is dark and rainy and we should have this rain all week.  We were supposed to go to a friends house tonight for a party but unfortunately hubby is in no shape to go so we will instead have a movie weekend.  We hardly left the house this week except to deposit company cheques, mail out things to clients and go to dentists and doctors.  I might even venture to the grocery store today.  


The two photos above are of our Maple Leaf trees.  British Columbia continues to hold the record for the largest maple leaf in the world.  That record gets broken almost yearly  by someone else in the province.  These are pretty big and will be turning lovely shades of yellow and orange very shortly. Last year we had almost no rain all summer and the leaves dropped off early due to that so no pretty fall colours but this year I expect will be very pretty as the leaves are still currently alive ready to change colour in October.

Sunset sky with clouds rolling in 
Every May I fill up this flower bed with inexpensive plants and hope for the best.  They are still doing really well.  This year was yellow marigolds and red geraniums.  Neither are my favorite flower but both do really well in the hot summers and they are bug and deer resistant unlike some of the other flowers I have planted since we moved here. They were about 2 inches tall when I planted them (.99 cents a plant).  I will take them out in a few weeks when they start to look raggedy but for now they are still going strong.We need to trim the boxwood beside them but will wait until the flowers are gone to do that.

 A couple of posts ago I told you that I had managed to buy one Christmas present off our 24 hour Facebook bidding site.  This Robinson Ransbottom of Roseville Ohio 6 Quart blue stripe 1930s farmhouse bowl was purchased for $16, a steal as it is worth 3 to 4 times that and as Mom collects old bowls like this it is the perfect gift as is in amazing condition with no cracks or chips.  I was tempted to keep it but purchased it specifically for her and know she will love it.  I know the picture is not great but it is really dark today due to the rain.

 One thing I have noticed about that site is there are not a lot of bidders on vintage or antique items.  I also bought something for myself.  These two paper mache antique made in West Germany Easter Eggs for $3 for both.  I already own one of these so it appears now I have started a collection of 3.  They usually go for around $10 each so another great bargain.  I was the only bidder.The sweet lady who sold them to me tried to also sell me some other modern stuff but I had to tell her I only collect the vintage stuff.  Apparently collecting vintage Christmas is not enough, now I collect vintage Easter stuff too.  I don't really think I am a minimalist at heart although I definitely own far less stuff than the average human and have no trouble purging.
On the way to the dentist on Monday I took our pickup truck.  On Sunday we had done a bunch of yard work which included trimming all our landscaping and hubby had taken a full load of shrubs and debris to the landfill.  Apparently when he got back in the truck a spider the size of the one below (this one lives over my garbage cans and rarely moves so I am ok with him) came back into the cab of the truck with him.  I was driving about 3 blocks from home and the spider dropped off the sun visor and straight into my lap.  I screamed, managed to avoid hitting both the car and kid on a bike in front of me, drove 1/2 a block and then jumped out screaming and dancing in the street like a madwoman.  I was tight for time on the dentist appointment and had to get back in the truck to continue the journey without finding him.  Another 2 km down the road right on a bridge with major traffic and he ran across my lap.  I nearly lost my mind.  I am ok with spiders as long as they leave me alone.  I had no option except to scream again, jump up and down in my seat hoping to crush the little bastard (excuse my language but there were lots of swear words happening at the time) and speed the last 3 blocks to the dentist where I again leaped out of the truck and shook myself silly yelling "yuck yuck yuck" at the top of my lungs.  Even tougher was returning to the truck to go home.  And no, as of right now we have not found him.  I refuse to drive in the truck until his carcass is found.



Once again, I am hoping for a quieter week.  Hubby flies out to Edmonton on Thursday to see his Mom after her hip surgery as she finally got transferred back to the small town hospital.  She seems even more confused and didn't recognize my sister-in-law whom she has known for 30 years the other day so it will be a difficult trip on hubby. My brother-in-law is knee deep in harvest and usually spends 15-18 hours a day this time of year bringing the crops off the field so he has no time to move her stuff out of her old unit where she is not allowed to return due to her downturn in health.  Our boys will help hubby clear it out and bring it to the farm where it can be stored until she gets her proper long-term care room and they can see what will fit.  We are extremely fortunate though that the small town hospital where she is has her old living place attached which was a senior living facility and they also have long-term care and nursing home facilities attached.  Depending on your increased level of care required she just goes to a different part of the building.  Hubby's Aunt and Father both lived out their final days in these facilities and we know the staff are wonderful, some are even relatives.  She will be receiving the best possible care from people who truly care about their patients. Hubby's distant cousin is head of nursing there and her niece works in the kitchen and regularly visits with her. 

On good news front (yes, there is some!) it appears that a past Corporate client of ours is intending to do a purchase of our new online course for many of its staff.   This is an Albertan Hotel Chain and this purchase will likely exceed all our hard costs so all the work we have done last winter and this summer trying to complete it will finally pay off.  Woohoo!  Have a great weekend everyone - I hope to post a little more when life slows down, if it ever does.

26 comments:

  1. I just returned from six days on the Island, a short and much needed vacation. The fall colors that are starting are just beautiful, as was the sunset the final evening I spent there.

    Ouch for the dental work! I've been through a root canal previously and never again. It lasted about three months before it feel apart.

    I hope all goes well with the clear out of your mother-in-laws unit. It's never easy to watch someone you love falter.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by my blog! I do have to say, if you move here you will have no regrets. Such a fabulous place to call home.

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  2. You have had some incredibly busy and often hard days recently. I admire your hubby for talking to a potential client right after his mouth surgery and stitches. That is great to add to your mom's pottery collection and then find the pretty Easter eggs for you.

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    1. My hubby would do anything to make our business succeed and he definitely took one for the team.

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  3. Wow!! You have been a busy lady!! Tooth pain is awful and expensive! I am so sorry BOTH of you had a bout with it!
    Love the maple leaves! And that SPIDER!!!! Oh, my!!! I can just see you now in my mind's eye!! I am so sorry but it did make me laugh out loud!!
    I have two eggs like yours!!

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    1. I will take more pictures in a few weeks once the leaves start to turn. Still a bit early yet. I know, it is a pretty funny story, ok to laugh at :)

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  4. I hate dentists. Especially the ones in Canada. Crooks.

    Had to laugh at your spider story. Sorry! It probably wasn't funny at the time. But picturing it is kind of funny.

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    1. All my friends laughed at the spider story - don't worry, I would have been laughing if it had happened to someone else too :)

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  5. Ouch. I know the pain of oral surgery, both in the mouth and on the wallet. Hope you both recover quickly. The bowl you bought your mom is beautiful. My mom loved vintage bowls, baskets and pitchers. So relieved you didn't get into an accident because of that spider. I would have been freaking out and cursing too. That's a real nasty looking one. I hope you find its body so you can drive the truck again. lol. Congrats on the corporate client. So glad all your hard work is paying off. :-)

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    1. Thanks! I still think pay as we go is cheaper than buying dental insurance but at the end of the year I will price it out again. For the last few years it was definitely cheaper to go without the insurance.

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  6. You poor girl...
    I had the same thing happen: a crown on a tooth that wasn't dead yet, but apparently died soon after. I kept getting boils by the offending tooth, which was irritating...but kept putting it off. And a year later, I not only had the same drill procedure you're describing, but found out that a portion of the jawbone had actually been eaten out, thanks to the infection.
    Fortunately, most of the time the bone grows back. And the doctor was hopeful, in my case. But that was $860 out the door for us! (So you got off cheaper.)
    Thank you for sharing your life with us. I enjoy hearing about your everyday stuff so much...even Big Mean Spiders. I can handle them, except for the palm-sized black ones that show up on the deck every now and then. Wolf spiders, and they're good for bugs, but still... (shiver)

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    1. I am ok with snakes but spiders? Let's just say I prefer them to keep to themselves. That infection in you jawbone must have been so painful!

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  7. Would you be willing to share that bidding site?

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    1. It is a facebook 24 hour bidding site specific to the Comox Valley..not sure where you are from but likely they have one in your area if you are not living here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CV24HourBidding/

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  8. Such a lot to deal with at the same time. Your hubby is a super star to manage that 45 minute telephone conference with his client post surgery. Wishing you both a speedy recovery and a continued financial success this month.

    As to the spider, I would have reacted exactly the same.

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    1. The client signed the contract on Monday so glad hubby did that although at the time I thought he was a bit nuts. We are both 100 percent better - thanks!

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  9. Good lord, you have a lot going on. I pray you and hubs get up and going again. Mouth pain is the worst. Not to mention the pain in your wallet. Ouch and double ouch.
    Woman don't get me started on spiders. Yuck and yuck and a few screams. I found one on my pillow the other night.

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    1. Almost nothing is worse than finding a spider in your bed - I think that might be worse than the one who dropped in my lap.

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  10. You poor darling. do not get run down-you have had a lot come at you recently.

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    1. I am ok, stuff happens to everyone. It just seems like a lot at one time right now.

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  11. And to think us Brits moan about having to pay £53 for fillings, root canal treatment and extractions. God bless the NHS! Hope you both feel better soon.
    Yuk, I hate spiders. xxx

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    1. We do have excellent healthcare cheap - but we do pay out of pocket for all dental and prescriptions and visioncare so that adds up.

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  12. Good to hear your business is doing well. There's nothing worse than tooth pain. I've had my share of it. We pay for dental insurance which covers up to $1000 in a year plus two cleanings and checkups. The cost of the checkups makes the cost of the insurance a wash, but if we have any additional work it's a savings. - Margy

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    1. We might start thinking about it. I priced it out last year and it would have cost more than what we used the last 3 but as we get older things are breaking down faster :)

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