Marching on....

I hate losing an hour. But I do like seeing the sun shine past 7pm - that was a treat yesterday. My daughter thinks spring is just around the corner..... if by corner she means the end of March then she could be right!! Until then we have lots of snow still in our forecast though on the bright side it'll likely melt quickly.

Kilally Meadows

Kilally Meadows

After going to our doctor, then sitting in emerg for 6 hours followed by another visit to our doctor Kazi was finally put on a round of antibiotics. She has been sick pretty much continuously since the Olympics started in February: extreme sore throat, body pain, fever, headache, congestion, cough etc. It has been a long hard slog but after taking 3 pills (not all at once!) she started feeling like her old self again. Or should I say young self. She missed a lot of work - first full days and recently half days BUT today marks her first full-time day at work in several weeks. What a flu season this year!! I really hope she's past it all now.

Kilally Meadows

Not a lot else going on around here - I've been on nurse duty all of this time and beside trips to the grocery store for SOFT food (yogurt, jello, broth, applesauce, popsicles etc) I haven't been doing a heck of a lot. When the weather has cooperated I've gone for long walks and went to my volleyball games. Last Thursday and Friday I spent mostly with my brother booking Airbnbs in Scotland which is quite the exercise in patience - accommodations are not easy to find in the highlands and we spent hours and hours searching and booking. We're pretty much set except for finding a spot in Glasgow for the final 3 or 4 days.

So what to do with my freedom today? Well I think I'll head to Kilally Meadows after doing my yoga. The sun isn't shining but I want to check the Osprey nest. They are due back by the end of this month though I've never personally seen them in March. But I won't see them if I don't check! I also want to see if all of the flooding has receded. When I was there last week most trails, maybe 75%, were no longer under water but the MUD - oh my!

Enjoy your day! Hope the sun is shining where you are. We are only 8 days away from the official first day of Spring!! Wheeeee!

All in a Woman's Day .....

We had a gorgeous day to march for International Women's Day! Here I am in Victoria Park with my friend Jules prior to the march. There were a number of speakers telling their stories - it was quite emotional. One woman who spoke is currently engaged in a sexual harassment case against the principal of the school she used to teach at. A fierce woman spoke out about her murdered best friend and how the police were extremely slow to respond due to the line of work she was engaged in. It was a complete travesty and just another of the endless horrific incidents in which women's rights are neglected, ignored trampled on and discriminated against!! It sickens me to my core...

SHAME!!!

As my father used to say....

there, but for the grace of God, go I...

Here we are taking over the streets of downtown London - a great turnout!!  My sign relates to the number of years I worked for The Royal Bank of Canada beside men doing the same jobs for more (much more) money than I earned. That's just the way it was and we lived with it.

NO MORE!!

Unfortunately I got a parking ticket, how ironic! They get it from you one way or another! I am disputing it so we'll see what happens.  And even more unfortunately when I got home Kazi looked like she was on her death bed. After 5 hours in emerg it seems you can get the flu more than once because of the various strains this year. Oh joy! So another round of chicken broth, jello and popsicles. I am washing my hands so much I'm running out of hand lotion! Too bad the Olympics didn't last a couple more weeks...as it is she's watching every episode of "Friends" for about the 3rd time :) I'm keeping my distance...her symptoms are even worse this time around!

I sincerely hope y'all are feeling healthy!!

Marching on...

March 8 is International Women's Day!

I am celebrating by going to a women's march on March 3rd. My main interest is
"equal pay for equal work"! 

Sometimes it feels like no progress is being made when you consider how long women have been marching for something that should be a given. When I worked for the Royal Bank of Canada for 14 years I wasn't paid equally to the men working there in the same positions - the saddest part was I accepted that - that's the way it was!! My eyes are OPEN now and I realize how heavy the foot was that held me, and millions of women around the world DOWN!

And so I march on and on...

In other news...I have closed off February's budget and have set up my budget for March. I hope March isn't as spendy as January and February!!! I hope the money I put into savings this month stays there!
OH MY!! 
But the good news is my brother and I have purchased our flight tickets for September's trip. Money well spent as was all the money I have spent recently. Two new pairs of glasses, a very healthy Lily, memberships to ancestry.ca & amazon renewed, invalid food, many household purchases made, car had it's semi-annual inspection & oil change etc etc etc! And let's not forget my big tax bill grrrrrrrrr!!

I've decided to pay my taxes with investment interest as those two items are linked together so it seems fitting: I benefited greatly with big, and I mean BIG tax refunds when Kazi was a dependent and I maxed out my RRSP account yearly. NOW I get to pay back those benefits - aren't I lucky?! Me and millions like me. I used to let that interest compound but now I am going to put that money to use.

 Any RRSP money not withdrawn by age 71 becomes a RIF and I'll be forced to withdraw a certain percentage annually. So from now on any tax payments I need to make will be covered by interest. It feels less painful when I look at it that way :)

That about wraps up the past week. Kazi is over the flu but has a couple of other health issues - she has a weird bump on one elbow and a similar one on a toe. A biopsy has been down and we're awaiting the results. Then yesterday she whacked her foot on a piece of furniture and is going for an x-ray and ultrasound - they're concerned about a blood clot as her calf was tingly all day yesterday. So I've checked my phone about a million times so far this morning hoping for some good news! Nothing...

The weather has been amazing - warm and sunny - helping the ground dry up. My daffodils and snow drops are emerging once again though I hear more snow is in our future.

THIS IS NOT SPRING!! 

Oh darn...

Still Spending...

I certainly made the right decision to travel less this year - the money saved is going to lots of other things like two pairs of glasses (received today!), vet bill, federal/provincial gov'ts in the form of more taxes because I just haven't paid ENOUGH!, Petsmart, ancestry.ca renewal, Amazon Prime renewal, Red Cross monthly donation etc etc BUT on the bright side my brother and I booked our flights yesterday to Glasgow hip hip hoorah!! It's official now - we leave on Sept. 12 and return Oct. 4th.
We were able to get non-stop over night flights and will take a train to Stirling where we will have a rental car waiting for us. Having a car will give us access to a wider range of accommodations as we can stay out in the country instead of just in city centres. I've been looking at air bnbs, bnbs, guest houses and the like and they are expensive and getting all booked up already! Out in more rural areas the going rates are somewhat lower.

That's the good news...

The other good news is that Lily is all better and back to racing around the house like a demon cat.

Well, not in this photo obviously - you can't let the sunshine go to waste!!

Then Kazi came down with the flu and I spent a week nursing her back to health and I didn't catch it from her thank goodness. The flu around here has been sooooo bad this year so we took it pretty seriously. Since she already had the flu she couldn't get the flu shot but we had to get this other Tamiflu medication (pill form) which was supposed to help with symptoms and reduce the length of time she would be sick. Since the flu shot was based on last year's virus it really wouldn't have helped her anyway but with the other meds she was only sick from Sunday to Thursday, went back to work half days on Friday and Saturday. Then Monday was Family Day so she had Sunday and Monday for further resting.

Between the -25c to -30c temperatures and major snow storms in January and illnesses in February I'd say 2018 hasn't got off to the greatest start. The really BIG NEWS right now is that the Thames River has flooded its banks here in London as we had steady rain for 60 hours straight and the mild temperatures caused all the snow to melt. Kilally Meadows where I go to walk is completely submerged.

This is a photo taken from a police drone video. You can see police cars blocking access to the Kilally Meadows parking lot which is way down to the right. The large building to the left of the police cars is The Waltzing Weasel pub where I stop for a cold one after a long summer hike. Beyond the other grey building, dead centre, is where the mini-golf course is and the driving range just beyond the trees. On the far right of the photo is where the baseball diamonds are and where I watch the ospreys. Beyond the top edge of the photo is where the forests, meadows and trails are. I won't be walking in there any time soon!

The photo below shows Gibbons Park where I ride my bike in the summer. 

We usually have a little bit of flooding in the spring but I've never seen it like this before and I've lived here since 1981. Scary stuff. Yesterday we had a bright sunny day but we've had more rain today and more is in the forecast. I can't wait for a stretch of nice weather! I could be waiting for awhile yet!

What's the BIG NEWS in your area??

Flu Shot Dilemma

Influenza is complicated; there is Influenza A, Influenza B and Influenza C. Usually one strain strikes at a time; here in London Influenza A and B are hitting London at the same time. In less than 2 weeks flu has killed 4 people, caused 24 outbreaks and twice the number of lab-confirmed cases.

You would think I'd be running as fast as I can to get a flu shot, but no. When Kazi was in school and I was teaching we faithfully went to get a flu shot every year. But now I don't bother and I can't remember the last time I had the flu.

Is my immune system that good? Ummm, no, it's that the flu shot is that bad!

Here's what my local newspaper had to say about this year's flu shot:
"Making things worse, the main A strain of the disease - H3N2 - wasn't a good match for this year's vaccine, while the B-strain, called Phuket (say that very carefully!) was in the vaccine for under 18 year olds but not in the vaccine for adults. 

This year's vaccines still provide some protection, but it's less than optimal." 
The London Free Press

I've been told that each year's vaccine is based on the strains of flu from the previous year even though after a year or so they've mutated into new and different strains!

And that is why I don't bother with the flu shot anymore. So far so good. I know the flu will likely catch up with me sooner or later and if it does I'll just stay home and keep my germs to myself. If only everyone would do that. I do worry a little about all the various hands and germs/bacteria that likely cover the various volleyballs I handle for 6 hours a week so I carry anti-bacterial hand gel in my backpack and my purse.

Photo - Shutterstock

Oh, and here's another tip: I recently read that being "slightly overweight" provides more protection against bugs and illness than being "slightly underweight" so here's to those extra 10 pounds! They have a purpose after all!

What about you - do you get the flu shot every year? Do you "bulk up" for winter flu season? 😝

Thank You

Hi everyone. I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you out there who have supported me with kind words and offers of help, whether it be to offer your home to me or a shoulder to cry on, to go for a coffee or just stunned shock.

I appreciate each and every offer, every supportive word, every cyber hug, every email from some of you who are unable to comment. Why is that anyway?

Right now I have nothing figured out. I want to take my blog in a different direction but not sure what that will be yet. Unfortunately I ended up with the flu also so I really was down and out for awhile. I haven't been out of the house since Christmas Day but am going to attempt going to the grocery store tomorrow morning and to a friend's house for New Year's Eve tomorrow night. Nothing too strenuous. The flu was mostly in my respiratory system - lots of thick coughing, fever and chills, headache and body aches. I still have a bit of a cough but not too bad and am over the chills etc. I guess my immune system was pretty non-existent.

Again, I've made no decisions. But there are some obvious areas I need to work on. These include:
1. Health and Fitness
2. Renos and redecorating
3. Preparing for Retirement

I have started thinking about #1.  Tomorrow I am starting on a 5 day juice fast. I recently watched "Fat, Sick and Almost Dead" on Netflix about a fellow from Australia who went on a 60 day juice fast because he was obese and on many medications due to the diseases he had developed by being obese. He was able to rid himself of all medications, drop a large amount of weight and become physically active again. I have also researched somewhere close to school where I can join a beginner's yoga class. And I have researched a place close by where I can treat myself to a spa day.

I'm not kidding myself that doing these things will change my life but I have to do something and start somewhere and where better to start than on myself.

LOVE you guys!!