Monday 31 October 2016

Your Cowboy Name

Happy Halloween! On Friday at work we had a pumpkin painting competition, it was a fun thing to do on my lunch break. Also according to this photo by my co-worker, I paint with my pinkie up. I am going to take the pumpkin home today since we don't have any decorations and are planning to give out candy at Casa Verde this year.

Dressed up at work today with my team as Cowgirls, (Since I was able to supply a lot of hats.) According to the quiz below my Cowboy Name is Billy The Stubborn Sheriff, which is cool but I have decided to be Chris The Kid.

---- from The Internet

Click to enlarge
Let me know your Cowboy Name in the comments!

Friday 28 October 2016

Steph On Dave

Steph has been participating in the Rising Tide Society's InstaTideChallenge this week. It has been nice to get a little glimpse into her daily life as a professional photographer through her Instagram feed, which normally features her work and nothing about her as the worker.

Today she posted the following photo of Dave, with a beautiful passage she wrote about his role in their two-person team, how he supports her, and the awesome love and life that they share. Having known Dave for almost as long as I have known with Steph, I am also good friends with him. This is such a beautiful tribute to the incredible person that he is. He is the only partner who could be close to good enough to my Steph and their love is one for the ages.

Check out the image and her comment below from Instagram:

Words and photo below:
Copyright 2016 - Stephanie Beach Photography


Today is the final day of the risingtidesociety InstaTideChallenge where we celebrate another creative who inspires us. Ottawa is absolutely filled with amazing talents who inspire me on a regular basis, but I felt I should give credit to the other half our my husband-and-wife team, the tall guy with the bow-tie as I often describe him on wedding days – my husband and second shooter Dave.

He is always looking for new, super creative ways to capture our couples and their moments, never too tired to get one more shot and never complains when I want to stay longer on wedding days to ensure we get everything covered. He’s forever in my corner rooting me on and supporting me as I follow this amazing dream of mine. And although photography was something he initially picked up through me, he has definitely created his own voice through it and has a unique style all his own. I often find myself culling through our images and thinking how lovely the shots are and pleasantly surprised by the new angles and compositions he worked with.

This is a behind the scenes shot I grabbed during one of our favourite weddings that I think sums up Dave’s style pretty nicely – adventurous and creative. He is willing to do just about anything to get the shot he has in mind, including scaling walls.

Above all else, he is an absolute delight to work with, not only because he is my husband and I love him to pieces, but he is so sweet and thoughtful with our clients and their friends and families. I simply couldn’t ask for a better partner in this journey and his creativity truly inspires me every day.

Wednesday 26 October 2016

Motherhood - Is The Baby Sleeping?

Thought I would post another light-hearted 'rant' video, before I return to the more serious types of Motherhood posts.



Good Quotes:

"Is she sleeping through the night? No, she's a baby!"

"Slowly sucking my will to live."

"Cry when the baby cries? Oh wait, no, I already do that."

Tuesday 25 October 2016

The Queen Speaks

------- Funny! From an email, sent by Mom

A Message from the Queen!

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

In light of your failure to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA, and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except North Dakota, which she does not fancy). Our new Prime Minister, Theresa May, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

 To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.' Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.'

3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.

8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialect in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

11. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

Monday 24 October 2016

A Weekend Challenge

This past weekend I challenged some friends to go through this list of questions with their spouses. (Some are with their life partners, while others are newer couples, some were married, some engaged, etc.) I agree that the following questions aren't fun to go through, some are intimate and some might be awkward, but they are designed to spark honest discussions.

For the most part Jason and I had been over this content before - in some fashion or another, at some time or another. But it is always good to take serious stock of your relationships - have serious conversations, just to do so, just to see if things have changed, if anything surprises you, if you truly are on the same page.

I don't think that any of my friends actually did end up sitting down with their spouses and going over them, but I figured I shouldn't issue the challenge and not follow through myself. So Friday night I texted Jason the link to the article, said, "Let's head to bed a bit early and go through these together" and made my way upstairs. I didn't present it as a fun game - cause it really isn't. And I didn't ask him if he wanted to - because I didn't want to hear he wasn't interested. I didn't want to argue over doing it or not, whether there was worth in doing it. So we did it.

The Questions

The questions and article were from the New York Times and you can see them and the reasoning behind asking each one ONLINE.

To get a sense of what the conversation was, this is the list of questions:

1. Did your family throw plates, calmly discuss issues or silently shut down when disagreements arose? 
 2. Will we have children, and if we do, will you change diapers? 
 3. Will our experiences with our exes help or hinder us? 
 4. How important is religion? How will we celebrate religious holidays, if at all? 
 5. Is my debt your debt? Would you be willing to bail me out? 
 6. What’s the most you would be willing to spend on a car, a couch, shoes? 
 7. Can you deal with my doing things without you? 
 8. Do we like each other’s parents? 
 9. How important is sex to you? 
 10. How far should we take flirting with other people? Is watching pornography O.K.? 
 11. Do you know all the ways I say “I love you”? 
 12. What do you admire about me, and what are your pet peeves? 
 13. How do you see us 10 years from now?

Since I had sent the link to Jason's phone I thought having him read the questions would be best, it also would mean that he could control the speed of the conversation, quickly jumping to the next question or stay on a topic if there was more to talk about. He asked the question, I answered, he answered, then sometimes we would want to know more or needed clarification and he would read the little background bit included in the article.

Our Outcome

Jason and I are intensely open about, and on top of, our money/finances. So I figured the questions related to that would be easiest, however 6 ended up being a short but interesting conversation. Firstly, neither of us had any idea how much a couch costs because we haven't ever bought one. Jason compared it to buying the king-bed and mattress, but even then I was struggling with the high cost of these items more than him. There are definitely certain things that I am not happy spending money on. I barely bat an eye at dropping multiple thousands to travel but the thought of spending a grand for a couch makes me exceedingly uncomfortable - couldn't we get something nice for less than that?

Both Jason and I had the same price point for shoes with a max of $250, however I consider the need to spend that much only in the case of a highly specialized product, like boots for trekking in the Arctic. In general, I can't image go near that cost for the types of shoes I usually need - where that price seemed normal to Jason for anything from winter boots to hiking, biking, or running shoes. Lastly the question led us into a discussion about buying a new car, which we are considering doing next year. We will need to revisit the cost breakdown for that again but it is a major purchase that we need to work out together.

I have noticed from doing this post that we actually didn't end up talking about the last two questions! We stopped on 11 because it was a cool way of looking at relationships that I hadn't really heard of before. It got us talking and we forgot about the rest of the quiz. I really want to get the book by Gary Chapman that is the reference for this question. We both agree that we show each other love through affirmation and physical touch. On top of that, Jason he feels like I demonstrate love through giving him gifts and in contrast I think his acts of service are one of his primary languages. I think this is a really interesting way to look at love and relationships, I want to know more.

Thursday 20 October 2016

Not My House

---------- from Facebook


Sure, I would love a Spacious Mansion, but that is never going to happen! (Though that is totally what Le Manior was, a dilapidated but spacious mansion. Remember THIS PHOTO was only the side of it, the front faced the street to the right.)

Let me know in the comments what your home should be and if you agree.

Wednesday 19 October 2016

Our 'Team' Style Wedding Concept

We had a strange wedding. It was strange in so many ways. From the science-referencing custom ceremony to the euchre tournament and other activities, a lot of what we did was a bit unusual for our crowd of friends and family. However, what I think was truly unique and the most special aspect of the whole event was just how much all of our guests were involved.

We had, 
what I have been calling, 
A Team Wedding

I don’t know how to describe this concept to those who weren't there, and even some of those who did attend may still be confused. However, Jason and I were thrilled with how everything turned out and I want to pass along the idea to other couples. So, I am going to try to explain what happened using the 5W1H technique from elementary school.

What?

A Team Wedding. A multi-day celebration that was built by our community of friends and family. A pot-luck lunch. Shared expertise. Friends as vendors. Participation in the ceremony and event in some way by every guest.

Instead of wedding gifts we requested that our wedding guests sign up for a 'participation' component of the wedding. This was an extreme level of the delegating that many wedding websites advocate for to help elevate the stress of planning such a large and complicated event.

It wasn't purely a pot-luck since it was much more involved and complex, also the participation expanded beyond food. It wasn't crowd-sourced in a conventional fund-raising way but the theory is similar.

Why?

Firstly, it was truly because we wanted it this way. I had envisioned this type of wedding for most of my adult life - not as extensive in terms of participation but I always liked the idea of involving people close to me to help put the event together.

We had noticed that the best events, especially weddings, in our memories were those that we participated in or helped with. The most personal events were those that had been prepared in love and collaboration. We wanted to re-create that type of occasion.

Secondly, we hoped it would help with cost. It was a rare suggestion, but we had seen 'ask friends and family to offer help and services' on a few 'how to plan a wedding on a budget' lists. Weddings are insanely expensive and we didn't want to cut back our guest list, which is the number one suggestion on all the aforementioned lists. Hiring the various vendors needed to have an event for 150 people, especially in Toronto, adds up quickly and eliminating those costs by having guests fill some roles would really help the bottom line.

How?

Confidence! Courage! Clarity! Consistency! Communication! Conviction!

Wedding planning is challenging. It took a lot of determination to stick with our vision and ignore the confusion, comments or judgement that might come our way. I think if we approached this concept in a questioning or timid manner it might not have turned out as well. But our ideas were met with love and support. We were the champions of our wedding and this concept, our guests were all on board.

As for the logistics, I will try to outline this using the remaining questions - Where, When, and Who.

Where?

Online. The choice to invite guests and coordinate the event digitally was partly born out of the desire to cut costs but mainly for the speed and ease of communication. Google Docs and emailing meant people could collaborate easily and having a wedding website allowed us to clarify details, storing important information for guests to reference later.

Also, our choice of venue at a community centre helped project the vibe of cooperation. We were left to our own devices without an event planner or venue manager. This gave us and our guests open access to a large kitchen, bar area, and event necessities like tables and chairs.

When?

We sent out the invitations very early. Our first email contacting our guests was in February, for a late-September event. This was not a 'save the date' we had location and timing details already. We used Google Forms for our invitations, I have made them public so that others can see what they looked like. We sent out an email inviting guests and asking that they complete a survey as their RSVP. There was an ADULT and CHILD survey. The important part of these forms is the bottom section where we provided a list of suggestions as to how guests could participate. We also made sure to mention in this initial email (and frequently reminded people) that we were declining wedding presents.

We sent reminders in April to those who hadn't yet responded. In May we thanked everyone for getting back to us and let them know we would be in touch regarding their possible role at the wedding. We spent the summer reaching out to everyone and asking for their help with various elements of our wedding.

Who?

To ease the planning process, and give people an easy contact on the wedding day, we designated leaders for each of the areas that guests were helping with. These close friends or family members then fully arranged a section of the event with people that they may have never met. We had Food Coordinators, Activity Leaders, Decorating Managers, and more. We could direct others to them with questions.

We know our guests well, which is why we wanted them at our wedding, and why we didn't want to have to cut down the guest list. So, we took our knowledge of their skills and interests into consideration when requesting their assistance.

And?

It turned out amazingly! Better then we could have ever imagined. Jason and I are so thankful to everyone who attended and assisted and made the day so special. We hope that our guests enjoyed themselves and felt like this style of Team Wedding, having everyone helping with the event, added to the experience. It was so touching to see what we all built together; it was a fun, beautiful, memorable, and wonderful day.

Monday 17 October 2016

Superheroes

Cuddles with Hawkman And Batman
P and Jason, October 2016
Photo by Me

McDonald's has Justice League masks right now as part of their Happy Meals. These are pretty great! I have to say though, I am just not really into the DC comic universe like I am with Marvel, and Hawkman is continued proof of that - what is this character? Great mask though - fits on adults too. But really I don't have to choose one over the other, I can enjoy both.

Also, this photo is taken near the end of our weekend looking after four wee children, ages 1, 3, 5, and 7. Everyone is still smiling!!

Thursday 13 October 2016

Addictive Television

Watching a bully...and I am conflicted, but addicted. I really like the TV show Bar Rescue, it is a a really exciting show, part renovation, part business make-over, a great reality show. It is run by a hospitality expert, Jon Taffer. Unfortunately, he process often involves bullying. Normally I wouldn't notice it but with the current political climate in the USA I am particularly sensitive to men yelling. I was concerned that it might ruin the show for me but it still is a really fun thing to watch. The yelling part sucks but at the same time I can see the heart and passion behind it.

Tuesday 11 October 2016

Seriously The Comments Guys

I guess it is the time of the year that I put out a pleading post for more comments. My mom has given a couple lately, and Heather comment on my last post, but in general it has been pretty silent.

And I have had some good posts lately:
- A trip to the emergency room
- First little look at our wedding photos
- Stuff about my Dad
- A Funny video
- Two's awesome Instagram
- A fun internet quiz, normally people would share their results in the comments.

Sunday 9 October 2016

Watkins Glen State Park

It was such a full day yesterday that we wanted to take advantage of the sunshine but also take it easy. We slept in and then headed down the far (east) side of Seneca Lake. The main focus of the day was a visit to Watkins Glen State Park to do a hike through the gorge.

Jason and I by a Bridge
Watkins Glen State Park, NY - 2016
Photo by Jason

We stopped by Ponderosa for an early buffet dinner on our way back up the west-side of the lake. I had to be really careful with what, and how much, I ate, but was happy that we got to go since it is one of my favourite places. We got back to the hotel in time to catch the Blue Jays game and have a quiet night in.

Grandma At Ipperwash

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A Sunday post about my Dad, named after a song that he loved.

I realized that I didn't talk about the black and white photographs included on the In Memoriam Page of the wedding program when I posted about it last week. Aunty Laura emailed me recently that she liked that we had included the two photos of my grandmother. It was important for me to have her on that page as well, since it was sad that she couldn't be there for our wedding.

The images are a young one showing my Grandma about to pick up my Dad as a baby and then the two of them again in the 1990s taking the Laser out. I know that the top image, with Grandma on the boat, was taken at Ipperwash, since she always vacationed with us there. We have seen that life jacket before! I believe that the other photo at the bottom of the page might have also been taken at Ipperwash, since it looks like they are at a beach and they used to go there when Dad and Aunty Laura were kids.

Saturday 8 October 2016

And The Tradition Continues, Or Starts

Jason and I are spending the weekend in The Finger Lakes region of New York State. This marks the third time we have spent Thanksgiving in the USA.
- New York City 2014
- Chicago 2015
And now exploring Northwest New York, it is really becoming a tradition. The actual definition of 'tradition' is a bit more complicated but I think the second occurrence suggests a tradition and the third solidifies it.

We considered staying home, especially because the Canadian Dollar is particularly bad at the moment, but decided that it was a fun pattern to have and we could do it cheaply. Instead of flying we drove and we aren't taking any extra days off of work so it will be a short vacation.

Today we drove around the orchards found in the area between the Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario. We found a map that detailed a Apple Tasting Tour so had fun visiting eleven different locations, mainly farms or local produce stands but also a winery, a distillery, and a couple of cider breweries.

Then we headed west to Rochester. I wanted to go to The Strong, which includes The National Museum of Play, the Toy Halls of Fame, International Center for the History of Electronic Games, etc. Basically it is a 'children's museum' but that didn't phase me. We had a good time!

Jason and I - Virtual EtchASketch
The Strong - The Toy Halls of Fame - 2016
Rochester, NY 

Before heading back to the hotel in Newark (not the airport, the town) we decided to grab some dinner. Dinosaur Bar-B-Q is a small chain that we remembered having great reviews when we were staying in Harlem during our 2014 NYC trip; they only have nine locations, mainly in New York State. It turns out they had a restaurant in Rochester so we went there. It is super popular! There was going to be an hour and half wait for a table but then we noticed that they have a big area doing take-out, so we grabbed a sandwich to go! I had brisket, my favourite thing to have barbecued, it was delicious.

Thursday 6 October 2016

Motherhood - Not Friends

Great video!


Awesome excerpts:

"If my kids liked me 100% of the time, I am probably failing at parenting."

"If your 30, 40-something and your best friend is an 8 year-old, like that's just weird."

"You know what is terminal? Them turning into entitled bratty adults the rest of the world now has to deal with - that's terminal."

The video is by Kristina Kuzmic, she has written an article along the same subject on her blog. I was totally 'parented' as a kid, and am so very thankful for it. In fact my mom still refuses to be my friend. I am sad about the that but also understand it - we each have our own friends, our dynamic is mother and daughter.

Tuesday 4 October 2016

Can You Believe The Gall Of That?

As I detailed the pain and diagnoses in my last post, I thought I would write a quick description of my issue with Gallstones.

Over the weekend, and on Monday morning, it turns out that I experienced some gallstone attacks, also known as flare-ups. Gallstones form in the gallbladder, in fact many people (20%) have them. Sometimes (about 1% of the time) these gallstones move to block a duct in the gallbladder causing extreme pain, this is then considered a medical emergency - which makes me feel better about ending up at the hospital when it happened to me.
Sometimes this blockage can lead to infection and inflammation of the gallbladder, which requires emergency surgery to remove the organ imminently. This is not the case for me. However, I will need to have my gallbladder removed since I am now considered to have gallbladder disease. The attacks will continue and if the stones pass through the ducts in the gallbladder into other areas than more serious complications can occur. I have been given an appointment with a general surgeon next week.

In the meantime, I was prescribed some strong pain killer medication to take if another attack occurs and given some suggestions as to how to eat to possibly avoid the attacks, though a lot of what I have read is contradictory. What I am trying while I wait to have the pesky thing removed is multiple (6-8) very small meals each day of low fat foods, mainly fruit and vegetables. I am not eating anything that is high in fat, and am not having caffeine, or anything carbonated, deep fried, or overly processed.

A Painful Weekend

My Weekend
Both of my Saturday and Sunday evenings this past weekend were spent moaning in bed, sadly, not in a good way. I couldn't really figure it out, but my stomach really hurt! I had assumed it was related to what I ate, especially the first night because I had followed an early fish and chips dinner with a bag of potato chips. I then went into a few hours of abdominal pain, similar to what I have felt with food poisoning, menstrual cramps, gas pain, or indigestion in the past. So I figured it was something along those lines and spent time lying on my stomach, or back with my knees up, waiting for it to stop. It didn't stop and I ended up throwing everything up. It was pretty much the same story Sunday night again.

Monday Morning
I was able to get to sleep both nights but awoke to the same pain on Monday. By this point my back was hurting so I had an early morning soak in an epson salt bath hoping to feel better. Jason was really insistent that I not go to work but since I couldn't figure out the cause of it I didn't think there was any point staying home, I also wasn't contagious. Hoping that just being in the office environment would prevent me from making my exasperated pain noises. Shortly after dropping Jason off at the Subway Station I was screaming in the car from the cramping, shooting, pain in my stomach/chest and back.

An Amazing Boss
I barely made it to my desk before having to retreat to the bathroom and then my car, the pain had continued to build and at this point was excruciating. I called Jason, who contacted my doctor's office and left work to come get me. My boss brought me my purse that I had left at my desk and was quite concerned to see me hunched beside the car. We waited for Jason and she kept me company as I paced, huffed, groaned, and gritted my teeth. The theory was a possible muscle spasm in my back. Jason was able to get me an appointment right away to see my doctor, whose clinic is conveniently close to work. My boss drove me over and we met Jason there.

At The Doctor's Office
"You seem quite uncomfortable," was my doctor's opening statement, a phrase that I proceeded to use throughout the rest of my morning. By the time she was seeing me I was dripping in sweat, a new added feature of embarrassment beyond the crying and other physical and verbal reactions to whatever was going on. It was difficult to lie down on the examining table, and extremely difficult to straighten my legs. There was no way to determine what was going on because I was "too guarded." All my abdominal muscles were flexed from the pain. She decided to send me to the emergency room because she was concerned it was something that needed to be diagnosed faster than doing outpatient testing, blood work, etc through the clinic. She thought it might be a stomach ulcer.

At The Hospital With My Husband
My first experience in a Toronto Hospital was a real eye opener. St. Joseph's was a lot different from emergency rooms I have been to in Ottawa, Brantford, or Paris. However, they still did a great job, and I got to call Jason my husband which is still quite a thrill. I was seen right away by, first a triage nurse, fast-track nurse, and then doctor. The doctor had the same issue that my physician had, my stomach was too firm to feel anything and I was in too much pain to locate the exact location of discomfort. It basically hurt between my shoulder blades, the center of my chest, and around the perimeter of my stomach. She sent me over to the normal waiting area with a request that the nurses there give me pain medication, take a blood sample, and send me for an ultrasound. She wanted to check quickly that it wasn't appendicitis.

The Morphine Drip
My care at St. Joe's came to a halt and I sat with Jason in a waiting area for a long time before someone got a chance to fill the doctor's orders. It was very busy. The pain slowly subsided and I wanted to return to my normal clinic and solve the issue as an out patient. Jason made me stay. I was given an IV, blood was taken and a bag of morphine was attached. (I didn't really need any pain medication at that point, the 'discomfort' had fallen from a 9 to a 3, however I was scared of everything starting to hurt again so I didn't decline the drugs.) They got me into the ultrasound area soon after that.

Ultrasound
The technician told me that she couldn't tell me anything and I would get the results from the doctor; the ultrasound really confused me because the wand was only moved over the top right portion of my stomach. Not where I would think the actual stomach was, and definitely not near where my mom has her appendix scar. I didn't ask questions, I was too tired and she had made it clear that she wasn't able to give answers anyway.

An Answer
We were sent back to the same waiting area and I worried it would be another long wait but it didn't end up being too bad. The doctor called me over, open the chart, and simply answered, "Well, you have multiple gallstones!" I was very glad to have an answer, even if I had no idea what it meant.

Sunday 2 October 2016

In Memoriam In The Program

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.


In Memoriam Page
Wedding Program 2016
Photos by myself and Stephanie Beach Photography
Layout by me using Canva

One of the pages in our massive wedding program was dedicated to my dad. You can see it below. It included my favourite photo of Dad that I took in Portugal, a photo taken by Steph that was included in her Photo Essay after Dad's death, the poem When Great Trees Fall by Maya Angelou, as well as the poem we had read at his funeral by Henry Van Dyke, which I have included below.


Gone From My Sight 

 I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side, 
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts 
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. 
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck 
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. 

Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone." 

Gone where? 

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast, 
hull and spar as she was when she left my side. 
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. 
Her diminished size is in me -- not in her. 

 And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone," 
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices 
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!" 

And that is dying...

By Henry Van Dyke, 1904

Saturday 1 October 2016

You Can Creep Her

I posted a couple of weeks ago that Two has an Instagram account.I have realized that since her account is public you don't even have to have Instagram to see all the pictures! So I have included a link to them over on the left. Visit her profile often, there tends to be a new photo daily and all the comments with them are written in her 'voice.' If you click the photos you can read the comments.