Archive for April, 2011
You Are an Angel Headed for the Land of Sunshine and Fortune Is Smiling Upon You
I love old cars. I love ugly cars. So why don’t I love this? I knew Karen would so I snapped away. Needles and cars all within 100m of each other. Interesting combination.
True Love
Because I’ve not been feeling well the last little bit (I’ve had two colds in the last 18 days on top of the heart problems), Karen decided to buy me some flowers while we were shopping the other day. Isn’t she sweet!
Wait, what? Flowers? Are you sure those are for me? You *say* they are, but I think they’re for you. Nice one, Karen.
The Changing Face
Every day I drive by this a few more of the cherry trees are gone. In the last week they’ve really kicked it into high gear and taken out a few hundred. And every time I drive by this ‘orchard’ I think of my cousin Jeremy. His passionate distaste for the clear cutting, or at least his vocalization of it, sticks with me whenever I see another victim of progress.
I imagine they’ll probably put in a vineyard here… it seems to be what they’re all doing. There’s just no money in apples and cherries any more. Or that’s what they say, at least.
And vineyards are nice. Who doesn’t like to see the familiar rows upon rows of green? At least they’re better than another multi-coloured apartment block (what is with that fad?!?!). If we’re going to be the next Napa Valley we’re going to have to kick it into high gear and start producing more wines. Who doesn’t love wine? Well… me. But that’s beside the point.
Wasting Time
This is how I like to spend my free time. Golf is such a relaxing sport, while still being a great workout. You get outside, you get fresh air, you get some serious stretching in (especially if you’re attacking the ball as hard as I do), and you get to spend some time with 3 people that you really enjoy.
Moving to Gallagher’s Canyon Golf & Country Club in November was probably the best thing we could have done. Not only do I get to be on a golf course, both living and playing, but the atmosphere and people here are unbelievable. We’re so happy.
Karen’s not really a golfer. That little itty-bitty putter she’s using is Kai’s, but when we have some family time we enjoy going down to the driving range to practice our short game.
And the weather has been weird! Waking up to snow, then it’s warm and sunny, and the next day it’s raining. Not normal for the Okanagan.
I’m hoping to golf more than I did last year… but I guess it’s not hard to beat zero. The Pinnacle at Gallagher’s is also here, about a ten minute walk, so I’ll probably get in most of my rounds on those 9 holes this years.
Patient-ly Waiting
I Was Alone. I Was All By Myself.
So I went and had myself checked out. The doctor says my blood pressure is fine (110 over 80 I think he said). He listened to my heart and my breathing with his fancy cold stethoscope for about 3 minutes and said it sounded okay. His advice was to go to St. Paul’s Healthy Heart Clinic in Vancouver to follow up on the tests I was recommended 8 years ago.
Now I just have to find Dr. Jiri Frohlich to find out what tests need to be done and then schedule them all.
Man do I hate hospitals.
I’m Going For A Walk
Sometimes you just close your eyes and hope that it will all go away.
I suffer from a genetic disorder passed down through my Mom’s side of the family called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Basically it’s a really big, uninteresting word that says that I have EXTREME levels of cholesterol surging through my body at all times. My normal levels are nearly 4x what is acceptable in the human body. That’s a lot.
When I was about 30, a genetic case study was done on my family and after having visited one of the leading experts in the field at St. Paul’s Heart Healthy Clinic, I was told that if I hadn’t come in I would have been dead in 2 years. It shook me hard. Although, 6 years later, it shakes me even more.
My Grandma, the one I wrote about a few posts ago, has had many complications from this disorder. Triple bypass surgery on top of the abdominal aneurysm she has now to name one. It scares me to think what might happen later on in my life. How long do I have? Really. Grandma made it far into her twilight years… will I have the same opportunity?
And then this morning I woke up with pains in the left side of my chest. I decided to go out with the family for a nice walk in Okanagan Centre anyway, and the pain continued for the entire walk, slowly working its way to my shoulder and upper left arm. I’d like to think I’m reading too much into it and it’s all a trick of the brain, but if it’s not gone by tomorrow morning I’ll go visit the E.R.. Aren’t hospitals horrible?
Green
So just over four weeks ago I stopped eating sugar. It was painful to say the least. The first few days were a killer. My head swam and I craved so bad. I’ve quit other things before, and this was second only to smoking on the OMG I WANT TO KILL SOMEONE scale.
Those that know me know that my idea of dinner is two chocolate bars and a bag of Doritos all washed down with a couple of Diet Pepsis. It wasn’t the healthiest lifestyle, and I wasn’t really that big, but I figured it was time to slim down from 221 to a more desirable and healthy weight.
Four weeks was this last Monday and I lost 20+ pounds. All dropped by eating low G.I. foods and continuing with the walking and biking I have been doing all Winter. Not bad for a compulsive eater. I can’t ever stop at one of anything… I need MORE – especially when it’s junk food.
The photo is of part of what I was preparing for dinner. It was super-yum and I ate a huge amount of it but I’m afraid today is the day I eat my first piece of real chocolate. I had a couple of chunks of 71% Cacao chocolate this week and it was delicious and I really do like it… and then my Mom gave me a huge Hershey bar and it’s sitting in my freezer calling out to me. I’m going to eat some of it and I can’t stop myself.
The Okanagan
Isn’t it Spring yet?
The flat, featureless sky is looming over us today. Yesterday I received a beautiful sun burn, today it goes back to that blah that we seem to be smothered by for four to five months a year.
It must be that I’m forcing the issue. I *want* it to be Spring so bad. I’ve been doing the Spring clean-up on the yard the last few days and as much work as I put into it, it continues to look drab and brown and lifeless.
Come on Spring, spring to life! We’re ready!
Symbolized Bar Code Quick ID, Oh Yeah
I’ve spent the day trying to preoccupy myself. I found out last night that my Grandmother, one of few people on this Earth that I truly love, might not make it through the week. I’m not normally a crier, unless I’m watching a really heartfelt romantic comedy of course, but today I just couldn’t help myself.
I have probably seen her no more than a couple of handfuls of times since we moved from Manitoba when I was 8, but each one has been memorable. She always makes me feel special and loved… no matter what I may have done recently. When I was 19 I drove from Vernon to Niverville, MB 20 hours straight to see her (and my cousin Jer), stayed for about 18 hours, and then turned around and drove straight through to home.
I may have to face my one fear greater than death sometime in the next week – flying. I’m not looking forward to it, but I should be there for her.