The last entry of the decade

I spent a wonderful day with my kids just doing everyday things. I think that is what made it the best. We just watched Robin Williams and laughed ourselves absolutely silly. I spoke with a good friend a couple of times. Now I'm going back downstairs and my family and I will bring in the new year and new decade together!

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate my family and friends and how blessed I feel to have all of you in my life. I wish you health, happiness and prosperity in the year to come.

Much love

Barb

Getting closer.....

The end of the Gregorian calendar year is almost upon us and it feels as though another year has just whizzed by. Does anyone know if the theory of relativity relates to time? You know....the older I get the faster it goes sort of thing? In fact the last decade is kind of a blur. But then the almost 3 yrs since the car accident don't really count do they?

So tonight was funny. Jon & Michelle decided on stir fry for dinner and ran to the store to get a couple of items. I asked what I could do while they were gone and they said prepping some veg would be good. I thought to myself....great! I can do that!

So I got out the vegetables I knew would be good...the carrots and celery, but then I started looking at others, like broccoli & cauliflower, zucchini (which I could NOT for the life of me remember the English word for....kept having courgette run through my brain!!!), jalapeno peppers and garlic. I washed things up and then stood there looking at them because I couldn't remember what to do next. I decided to start with the carrots since they were the most obvious. Once I did them I went on to celery. The further on I got the better it became. But it was still kind of weird.

I did manage to make ginger crinkle cookies without mishap so that was good! At least I accomplished something today!

Well, I'm going to go downstairs to watch some t.v. with the kids now. Hope you all had a great day!

Barbara

oh right.....i knew there was something else.....

I get to see my good friend Carla on Wednesday! I honestly can't remember when we saw each other last. Of course having said that, yesterday I couldn't remember if I'd eaten! lol Now you see, this is the upside of a brain injury....it's just like the old jokes - get to make new friends every day AND hide your own Easter eggs! But seriously, I'm so looking forward to seeing Carla. Life is good! Or did I mention that already today?!

barb

Get a load of THIS!

I finally added a picture to my profile! The reason you ask? Because my son and daughter in law, Jon & Michelle, bought me a camera for Chanukamas! :) Even better because the kids are around I was able to ask my youngest son Sam to take a picture of me. I don't know how everyone else does it.....they take those great 'point and shoot at myself' type pictures that just NEVER work for me. Well, technically they do but they are certainly nothing I would post publicly for all to see!

Ok....that's it....two posts in two hours....I think I may actually be done for now. Or not.... we'll see!

Friends, family and mentors

Please bear with me as I write today because I have all sorts of little snippets of thought running around in my head and I'm hoping that if I write them down, somehow, they will begin to make sense.

I remember my brother Bob telling me in my early teens that friends you choose, family you're born with. I am fortunate in that I was friends with Bob and my best friend is my sister Patricia. Not everyone is lucky enough to have that, I am and for that I am truly grateful. I miss being physically closer to my sister and also to my son Jon and his girlfriend Michelle. I like to think I'm friends with them as well.

This week I've had the to opportunity to visit with a childhood friend who I haven't physically seen for awhile but whom I speak to regularly. Being with or talking to this friend helps to ground me even though I wasn't aware of it until after the fact. I don't know how it is, I'm not sure if I've written about this before or not, but the friends I grew up with in Terrace are a huge and very important part of my life. I have made many great friends over the years both in and out of Terrace but the friends from childhood, those who went through thick and thin with me, it is as if they know a part of me that other people don't. I believe in my heart that it is because they helped to shape who I became but they also see the 'original' me....the child inside. Also, it isn't as though these friendships are stagnant. As I reconnect with people from my youth I learn more about them and even more about me.

I've spoken to many people about the connectedness of my friends from childhood and discover that not many of them have the same connections from their childhood friends. Which has prompted me over the years to wonder what it was about growing up where I did that made it different for me and my friends. I sometimes wonder if it was the isolation factor. We grew up in a geographically distant and during the winter a physically isolated area. In order to survive we relied on each other in ways that people in cities don't have to. We reveled in snow days when the whole town shut down. We built snowforts, played softball, rode bikes, picnicked at the lake, fished together. We partied together and somehow through all the time and geographical distance, we have stuck together. Those bonds are not easily broken.

I'm sure there are more bits and pieces floating around in my brain but they aren't surfacing right now so I think I'll stop for now and continue later.....or not! lol But I did need to get this out while it was there and able to be grasped!

Have a wonderful day!

Barbara

John Tobias

It was with an extremely heavy heart that I learned today of the death of my friend, Dr. John Tobias, on December 23rd. When I went back to school at 36, 20 years away from learning and only a grade 10 education, John was my first professor on my first day. There were many challenges I faced as a mum returning to school and John was there every step of the way, supporting me, challenging me to do better, giving me pep talks...regularly! Sometimes it was just a coffee when I needed it. John acted as one of my referees when I applied to law school and constantly supported me in my endeavours.

Whenever I was back in Red Deer I would stop to visit John and his wife Bea, if only for a couple of hours. When I was in London, Ontario last year I came across a book with one of his papers in it and phoned him at home from the bookstore because seeing his name in print I suddenly needed to hear his voice. I learned so much from John. Some of it was in the classroom, much of it was not. I will truly miss you John. Rest in peace, you've earned it.

Sunday morning

As I typed that, for some reason I thought of a great book written about post-WWII Britain called Saturday night, Sunday morning. I may need to find my copy and read it again. It may take me awhile but hey - worth it!

Ok....so Friday totally sucked. I mean totally.....in terms of my brain. I can't even really tell you what I did other than going to the gym & Dr. G. Oh wait....I also picked up Leo and brought him home for Shabbat dinner. I love that Leo really seems to enjoy our Friday night dinners. I introduced him to an apple pie from Gunn's Bakery and he REALLY enjoyed that. Two full pieces after he'd finished his dinner! He specifically asked me to tell Bernie Gunn how good it was. When I went to pick up Samuel's birthday cake yesterday after synagogue I saw Bernie and passed along the message.

I met a woman at synagogue yesterday who is the daughter of a lady I know named Ann. Well the daughter, Bonnie, and I got talking. She's from Ottawa and knows my really good friend Barbara G. Turns out that she was a Barb's daughter's Bat Mitzvah as well and was even part of the candlelighting ceremony Ally had. It is such a small world. As Ann said, just another episode of playing Jewish geography! The funny thing is that Barbara and I met back home in BC when we were 15 and long before either of us converted to Judaism!

When I got home from the synagogue yesterday I was absolutely pooched so had a 'short nap'. That was the plan anyway...turned into a solid two hours which I obviously needed. When I got up it was time to get ready and head to the Old Spaghetti Factory for Samuel's birthday dinner. His friends Bronwyn, Rene, Rhiannon and Kelly (with her absolutely adorable daughter Melody) joined us....as did our friend Lorna and Sam's dad Hugh. We had a really good time. Sam should get an award for the most creative way to cut a birthday cake award. He cut it according to parts of the words he felt would be appropriate to the person eating that piece of cake. It was a riot! In my case I got "Ha" because he said I am always saying that! :) A good time was had by one and all.

So I have suitcases open on the living room floor to begin my packing. I believe I'll need an extra for presents so thought I would pack now to make sure I don't forget anything! I'm off to the gym at 10:00 with Sam & Rene so I'd better go get ready.

I hope that all of you have a wonderful day!

Talk to you again soon!

Barb

Bad brain! Bad brain!

Today is a bad brain day, just in case the title wasn't sufficient to figure it out. I feel so discombobulated and out of sync it's awful. I hate these days when it feels like I am one step behind in everything whether it be thought or action. I did still drag gedmy sorry butt to the gym but it was a pretty half-hearted workout compared to usual. However, I did go! So I'm cutting myself some slack. Anyway, off to a doctor's appointment, then to pick up Leo for Shabbas dinner and Samuel from school. He's done until January after this! Only 3 more sleeps until we leave for Calgary. YAY!!!!

Have a good day....catch you later!

Barb

Holy Moly!

How has half of December disappeared already??? I'm feeling really good. Better than I have since my accident and that's coming up to 3 years January 12th. The gym thing is working out fantastically for me. I have gone every single day except Saturdays since my first workout on December 2nd. Which means that I completed day 12 today! I am noticing a huge difference in my body and also my mental state. Just the routine of going to the gym everyday has been good for me. That is something that is so different for me as I was never someone who 'did' routines. But now, since sustaining the brain injury, I've come to terms with the fact that I need them. It doesn't mean that I can't vary the routine sometimes, but I definitely need the routine! I find that having one is helping to improve my memory as well since doing something repetitively seems to make it stick.

I've been writing things in my daytimer so that I remember to write about them here. Not big things, just things that catch my attention.

For starters, Winnipeg is having a great winter so far. Sure it's -22C right now (today's high!) with a windchill of -31C but it's sunny and we still don't have snow on the ground! How great is THAT?! Seriously, the sidewalks and roads are bare! I love it!

Now here is something about Winnipeg in the winter. Even when we have cold snaps like this, life goes on pretty much as usual. As I drive to the gym I cannot tell you how many joggers, runners and dog walkers I pass. Even older people (I'm talking late 70s to late 80s) are still going out for their daily walks. Those who aren't up for the outside walking are at the gym. It is packed there every single day and it isn't all gym bunnies and muscle heads either. We're talking a LOT of seniors. Lots of people of all ages and fitness levels. It's fantastic. The seniors don't just use the walking track or the bikes either, we're talking about waiting for them to be done with the Nautilis machines so I can use them!

The Asper Campus has become a huge part of my routine with the gym being there. I go, do my workout then use the steam room, which feels especially good in this weather, then shower, dress and go to Schmoozer's Cafe for my lunch. By the time I'm done there my hair is dry and I'm on my way out the door to whatever else my day holds for me! Life is good.

Also, big news, Samuel and I are heading to Calgary to visit my other son Jonathan and his wife Michelle for a few days. I am SO excited. We leave the 21st and don't get home until the 2nd of January. How great is that? I'll also get to visit with some other friends which I'm really looking forward to.

All in all I have to say that I have a great life and feel very fortunate!

I hope that all of you are healthy & happy!

Barb

Day 6

Well I'm just about to head out the door so I thought I would write a few quick words first. I began at the Rady gym on Wednesday. The hardest part was getting through the door. But once I was there, I have to tell you, I've claimed it as my own! I have gone every day except Shabbat and I feel great. I've taken two of the intro classes already. I did one on resistance training on Friday and then the stretch and core class on Sunday morning. I'm going to do the full workout every second day with cardio and then just cardio on the alternating days. I would NEVER, in a million years, have expected that I would enjoy the resistance machines at all, let alone as much as I do! Anyway, I'm off!

Have an absolutely wonderful day!

Barb

Wednesday Part 2!

I went to the Rady Jewish Community Centre for the first time today. It was so good at the Rady gym....I walked 2.5 miles, 2.25 kms on the recumbent bicycle, 3 x 12 reps on the leg press, 2 x 12 reps on the ab crunch thingy (technical term) and 2 x 12 reps on a back stretching machine. It was so nice to be able to walk on a flat surface safely and not feel so sick from it. Much different than walking outside where my body is constantly compensating for my balance issues. I feel SO positive. I'm going to go again tomorrow, even if it is just to use the walking track. :)

Wednesday

So I decided to write a little bit more about my weekend from the vestibular point of view. I love going to synagogue, however, I find it extraordinarily frustrating that I can't follow a lot of the service by reading. Mercifully most of our service is sung and so parts of it tend to stick in my brain and I sing along where I can and hum along where I can't! :) I've become a lot more comfortable over time and no longer feel the need to hold the books and pretend I'm reading. I find that when I do hold the books I feel an uncontrollable urge to continue trying to read, long after I'm dizzy and nauseous and my eyes go weird! So, I'm being a rebel and going bookless this week!

Similarly, when I went to see the Karsh display in addition to actually focusing on the portraits I tried here and there to read at the very least the name of the subject and in some cases the bio of the subject. By the time I was halfway around I was feeling sick. By the end I was dizzy to the point of needing to sit down and look at a blank wall. Which is pretty tough to find in an art gallery!

So for those of you who know me, you know I can be kind of a gutless wonder sometimes. Today I am working to overcome that! I'm going to the Rady JCC to use the gym for the first time ever. There is a walking track there and I figure at the very least I can use that and it will provide a safe environment to do it in. I mean in terms of falls that is.

So far today, I've had my coffee, some cereal, emptied the dishwasher, showered and dressed. So next on the list is to try and find the phone number for the guy I was taking guitar lessons from. The only thing I remember is that his name is Gary! lol Don't even remember which place he was through. My bad. So that's my mission and once I've completed that I'll head over to the Rady!

Wish me luck!!!

Have a great day

Barb

What a great weekend!

I had a great dinner with Leo and Sam on Friday night. Hugh came down to wish Leo a Happy Thanksgiving, which was pretty nice and Leo certainly appreciated it. Then yesterday I attended Rabbi Lander's "Taste of Text" after services. This session is on the Ten Commandments and yesterday was on 'Honour your mother and father'. I love the discussion that ensued. Never dull!

Then this morning I was invited to attend the Etz Chayim Annual Brunch and Draw by friends. It was so much fun it was great. This was the best turnout they've ever had. Every 25th ticket drawn won a prize....generally $100 and then a couple of them pulled won $200. All of the tickets pulled, winners and losers, are eliminated from the final draw. When it gets to the last 4 tickets they are offered the option of sharing the $4,000 prize or to keep drawing until the last person wins. In today's case the four finalists were quite happy to each walk away with $1,000 each!

Then this afternoon I went to the Winnipeg Art Gallery to see the Yousuf Karsh exhibit. It was really quite good. If you get a chance it's on until the beginning of January! Check it out by clicking here!

Now, I'm just having a relaxing evening! Life is good.

Hope you've had a wonderful weekend as well!

Barb

ThanksShabbas!

Today I am roasting a turkey and making a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for my stepdad Leo, who is American. A Jewish friend of mine was chuckling when I told him and started calling it ThanksShabbas since Friday is the night I make my Shabbat (or Shabbas) dinner and I'm doing the thanksgiving turkey a day late!

So, the bird is stuffed and in the oven. I feel like I should be in a panic with a million things to do, but I'm not. I'm throwing potatoes in to bake and vegetables will probably be canned...make my challah every week anyway. So really, it's all good! How come these sort of days always used to feel like so frantic for me? Why is it that now, not so much?

Ok...so I have to tell you about the funniest thing that happened when I was walking home from my vestibular physiotherapy at Health Sciences Centre on Wednesday. I had stopped in the Hudson's Bay store on Portage and was walking out the door across from the Winnipeg Art Gallery when I saw a young woman putting her child into a vehicle. Her husband was behind the wheel talking on his cell phone. So she put her purse and child into the car, closed the door and was folding up the umbrella stroller to put into the back. As she bends down to do this and I'm walking by the vehicle, he drives off! She looked up stunned....I stopped and I'm sure I too looked stunned....she said "did he really just drive off???". I started laughing and said something to the effect of "someone's going to be in deep shit when he gets home!". We stood together, both laughing, and watched to see how long it would be until he realised that he'd left his wife standing on the sidewalk! Well - he didn't! He drove off and made a turn onto Portage. By this point we are laughing out loud. I asked if the child was strapped in properly and she answered yes....and that he would probably notice she wasn't there the first time the kid made a noise! I have laughed over this for the last two days. Today someone sent me the JC Penney Doghouse commercial and all I could think of was this guy!

Well, off to do 'stuff'.....I hope you have a wonderful day!

Barb

September 23, 2009

Life is never dull. Nope....not ever. The doctor changed one of my meds a few weeks back and my body and brain are still trying to adapt to it. One of the symptoms of brain injury is the inability to go into and stay in a deep level sleep that allows for REM sleep. It's kind of weird for me because I have always been the girl who could sleep through pretty much anything. I remember being 18 years old and my first husband, Gary, and I lived in an apartment in Vancouver. In the middle of the night the fire alarm began ringing, loudly. I didn't even hear it. Poor Gary (wow... that's not something I've said often! lol) was in a panic because it took a few minutes to wake me up I was so deeply asleep. Thank heaven it wasn't actually a fire.

So this whole not being able to get into a deep sleep thing is pretty awful for me. I've never needed a lot of sleep, five or six hours uninterrupted usually sufficed, but it does need to be uninterrupted. Picture it now - sleep & wake up, sleep & wake up constantly throughout the night. For the first time in my life I have to take a sleeping aid in order to be able to stay asleep. I'm not good with drugs however, I am smart enough to know that sometimes they are a necessary evil. The one drug that I was taking for a long time since the injury was beginning to make me feel groggy in the morning no matter how early I took it. Actually, that may be incorrect. It may be that it always made me groggy but the more my brain recovers and I come out of my stupor, the more I became aware of the grogginess. I spoke to my doctor and she changed the med to one that will have less of that effect. Sadly, it comes with another whole set of side effects. One of which is nausea. It's not like I don't have enough nausea to go around by virtue of the vestibular injury, now I'm getting it full time from the meds and I'm on THE lowest dose available. I am cutting the lowest dose of the pill in half and taking that. Anyway, I needed to whine and this is where I chose to do it. That way it's out of my head and my family and friends don't need to listen to it! lol

Thanks for listening....I'll try REALLY hard to make it back here tomorrow to write again.... without the whining!

Have a wonderful day!

Barb

Just when things were looking up.....

Ok....so here is a doozy for you. I have been spouting off to all my friends about how much better I'm beginning to feel and that I am starting to feel like myself again....blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I am even beginning to try to work again. I am going to sell Partylite products and so mentioned this to my vocational rehabilitation counsellor. I also asked her whether we could access retraining monies, if necessary, through the Canada Pension Plan Disability fund as I receive CPP disability income. I knew it was too good to be true. When dealing with someone with a brain injury it should be made really, REALLY clear, that there is an offset. I had been assured that this was not the case. I mean really, I have paid into two separate insurance schemes so the fact that I am drawing from both didn't present a problem for me. However, now I am advised by my adjuster, not directly but through the vocational rehabilitation counsellor, that collecting CPP disability income will put me in an overpayment situation because they (MPIC) will reduce my income replacement by the amount of CPP that I receive. So....remind me why I bothered to apply for CPP benefits again? Also perhaps explain to me why the adjuster, who knows I have a brain injury, didn't ever bother to discuss this with me... oh and if you will, can you please explain to me why it is that although I've paid into the two plans separately I am only entitled to one benefit? Just when my brain was beginning to be able to process things again I come across something that makes NO sense whatsoever to me. That would be like buying disability insurance from Great West Life and at separate policy from Aetna. If you've paid your premiums to both companies, you received TWO payments. Why not here? Anyway, that's my little rant for the day!

Hope your day was less confusing than mine!

Shabbat Shalom

I've only been home for a couple of days and yet, I feel I have accomplished a lot and made some important decisions. I am beginning to feel so much more like myself it's incredible! Incredibly GOOD that is!

Not sure if I wrote about this or not, but while I was in Vancouver, on very short notice, a few of us from Terrace got together for dinner at my friend Gail's home. We had SO much fun! It was wonderful seeing the girls. Even more important was that I seem to have finally (hopefully for good!) come out of my hibernation mode that I seem to have been in for more than 2 years now since my car collision. My friend works for MPIC and she tells me that it was a "collision decision" not an accident. I'm trying to adjust my language!

Today I had a meeting at the Manitoba Brain Injury Association office to help set the agenda for a Board Orientation that we are doing next weekend. Then I went to the care home and saw my stepdad Leo. It was so nice....he seemed so happy to see me home again. I really am very fortunate.

Then I came home and I talked to a few friends who I haven't spoken to for longer than I can remember. We aren't talking just casual friends, we're talking really close friends. I am so fortunate (yet again!) to have such good friends that they hung around just waiting for me.....

Yesterday I did a telephone interview with Brenda Suderman who is a reporter with the Winnipeg Free Press. I guess she interviewed a couple of us for an article about conversion to Judaism and it will appear sometime in the next few weeks on a Sunday on the Faith page.

Well I'm going to go and enjoy the rest of my evening. I hope that all of you have a wonderful weekend!

Shabbat Shalom!

Barb

p.s. I cannot WAIT to go to synagogue tomorrow and see all my friends!

Back home in the 'Peg!

Well we had an absolutely wonderful vacation and now we are home again. I have to say that nothing, and I mean NOTHING, feels as good as sleeping in your own bed after being away for a few weeks!

We (read ME!) did about 5,600 kms of driving over a nearly 4 week period. I have to tell you I am beginning to feel more like myself than I have in over two years now. Of course I've said that before but this time it feels like a huge jump forward. I have been taking my vitamins religiously for the last month and I think those, combined with the relaxation, have done wonders. The upside is that I am actually conscious enough to remember to TAKE the vitamins! lol

It was the neatest thing yesterday.....to be able t o stop somewhere in Saskatchewan to visit family! My niece Christina and her boyfriend Dylan moved to Estevan a few weeks ago and so now they are only a five hour drive from us! How great is THAT?! We stopped and had lunch with Chris and then drove the rest of the way home. I have to tell you, as small prairie towns go, Estevan is great! What a wonderful little city and, like most small prairie towns, very friendly. They have a great little quilt shop too!

Anyway, I'm off to take my vitamins now and get ready to begin my work for the day. The party never ends I tell you!

Have a wonderful day!

Barb

CPR House in Cranbrook

I know what else I meant to tell you......I usually don't stop when I travel through Cranbrook, but my friend Garcia lives there and I hadn't seen her in a long time so we made our plans so we could stop and see her. We stayed at THE cutest bed & breakfast. Not the one that I posted the link for before....and I'm glad because this one turned out to be brilliant. The couple who own it, Don & Rose, moved to Cranbrook, totally gutted this beautiful old Victorian home and then refurbished it. You cannot believe how nice it is. Check it out because if you have any reason to go to Cranbrook, this is the place to stay. The couple who own it are really friendly and Don is a great breakfast cook! We were fortunate to have two couples, one from Vancouver and another from Australia, staying there when we were. The couple from Australia actually stayed for a number of days and did all sorts of things like horseback riding and hiking. I saw Cranbrook through different eyes speaking with them. It was their destination! Who knew?!

Anyway, I'm off now....have a great day!

barb

special kind of stupid....i forgot to include the link! Duh!!! http://www.cprhouse.com/

August 13th already????

So I am sitting in my sister's apartment looking out over what should be considered gray and dismal since the rain is actually coming down fairly well.....but since she lives in the West End of Vancouver, nothing is really EVER dismal! I cannot believe how much the skyline of Vancouver has changed in the last 11 years. Even more disturbing was when I realised it had actually been 11 years since I'd last visited!!!

We've been doing a lot of things....walking a lot! So funny the first day walking....my sister and I were joking about 'Rupert leg'. Something you get when you grow up in Terrace and go to Prince Rupert for the day. The entire city is built on a hill so you get to feel muscles you forgot you owned! Same thing in Vancouver after Winnipeg let me tell you!

There is a lot to see in Vancouver for little or no money. Just showing Samuel Vancouver has been great. Patricia, my sister, took us out on Saturday and drove us around the city so Samuel could see where we lived when we moved here in 1968 (Jericho Beach) then up to Spanish Banks and UBC then along SW Marine Drive. All the nice houses between Granville and Oak....including Angus Drive. Cha ching!

On Tuesday we skytrained it out to the Lougheed Mall and my girlfriend Carolyn picked us up and we spent the afternoon with her and her beautiful daughter Courtney. Yesterday we went to meet my friend Maria for lunch and then walked around the Granville & Broadway area where I used to live. Wow.....things they are a changing!

Tonight is going to be wonderful. Another good friend (I am SO blessed with friends!) Gail is hosting a casual dinner in her home for us and some girlfriends from school back in Terrace, which will include Carolyn & Maria and a few others. I don't think Carolyn has seen anyone since she left Terrace in early 1977.

Anyway, that said I should go and get my butt in gear to do the things I need to do before we leave.

Oh....but quickly, if you ever want to talk about a vestibular injury nightmare it's the SkyTrain. OMG......I think I was actually green by the time I got off! Then once you are off it is either stairs or escalator.....both of which send the vestibular thing totally off the rails! Eeek! BUT, I figure that it is good to do those things because I'm not seeing my vestibular physiotherapist while I'm on vacation.....Yay!

Now the raining is absolutely PELTING down and I'm hearing thunder.........I'm sure there's lightning but it's too gray to see it! lol

Have a great day everyone!

Barb

Bed & Breakfast spots

So if we leave here on Sunday I am thinking we'll just go halfway and spend the night in some cute B & B along the way. So I decided to check out some along the #3 highway and found the most adorable looking place and really reasonable! Check this out

http://www.sagefarm.ca/

How I'm spending my summer vacation!

Ok.....this is pretty pathetic.....It has been an entire month since I have written anything in my blog!!! What's with THAT?!?!

So....here's the quick and dirty. I turned 48 on July 3rd. Had a lovely lunch with my good friend Sara over at Kristina's on Corydon. That was good. Then a peaceful evening at home with Sam. I don't really remember much else.

Then the next big thing was the trip to Montreal. I am on the Board of Directors for the Brain Injury Association of Canada and it was our AGM and conference all rolled into one. We also had a couple of days prior to the start of the conference that were working days for the Board. Busy, busy, busy. It was kind of funny because I am definitely getting better....brain wise that is, but there are still things that can stop me dead in my tracks.....like thinking for instance....the working days, first one was 4 hours with breaks for coffee, fresh air etc....but once it was done I absolutely crashed. The next day I lasted about 4 hours and then the same thing. Went to lay down for a half hour and was out for over 3 only to wake up and be groggy until I went back to bed! I'm a party animal I tell you!

It was very peaceful this year in Montreal. The main reason being that I chose for it to be. Since I knew that the monastery was not technology friendly after my stay last year, I decided to take advantage of that. I didn't take a laptop (now THERE'S a first!) and instead took my guitar and practised it every night. Also, I have discovered that when I feel stressed if I just go away somewhere quiet with my guitar and play it I feel a whole lot better! Of course the only song I have managed to master (I use the term loosely!) is Aura Lee which Elvis reworked into Love Me Tender. The upside is that it is short and people actually recognise the tune! Woo hoo!

Samuel was supposed to have his tonsils out on July 22nd but there was an emergency surgery which pushed back all the surgeon's stuff and cancelled the not so urgent, which was the category Sam fell into. So, we left early for Calgary to come and visit Jon and Michelle. (My eldest son & his girlfriend). They recently bought their first home and it is just lovely. We've been here a week now so before we burn out our welcome we're going to head out either Sunday or Monday for Vancouver to see my sister and a whole whack of friends out there. So of course Vancouver is experiencing, as is the rest of BC, a heatwave. I sense a trip to Jericho Beach in my future!!!

Anyway the oven just beeped to tell me that it's time for my challah to go in and bake. Mmmmm ..... challah....... and olive oil and balsamic vinegar.....Jewish with a twist as I like to say!

Hope all of you are happy and well.

Barb

Happy Canada Day!

Well it is an absolutely beautiful day for Canada to celebrate its 142nd birthday! It is a moderate 21C here in Winnipeg. I can hear the parties from both The Forks and Osborne Village through my windows but sadly I have managed to contract a cold. :( That bites! The upside is that the moment I felt it coming on I gobbled down my vitamins and drank tea. I was in bed early last night and slept on and off until 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. Then got up and made more tea! What can I say? My parents were both British and in my world tea cures all! Of course it works better with some Teacher's scotch in it! But alas....I'll be drinking my Earl Grey straight! I'm off to get another cup.....have a wonderful day wherever you are!

bye for now

barb

p.s. Apparently Tim Horton's has just announced that it is opening three (yes 3!) Tim's in New York City, including one in Times Square.

June 30, 2009

Wow....I cannot believe that we are at the end of June already. It just doesn't seem possible and yet....there it is. My birthday is coming up Friday....48 this year. Great number isn't it? Ok...so I act like I'm 12 but contrary to what people tell me I actually DO look my age! Thank goodness for L'oreal!

I leave for Montreal on Tuesday for the Brain Injury Association of Canada's annual conference. This is the last year that we will be holding the conference in Pierrefonds at the monastery. Beginning next year we will be moving the conference around the country. I think that will be a positive move as it will allow more survivors to attend.

My friends Paul & Beatriz are in Winnipeg visiting from Toronto. Paul and I were in the same class in law school here and I don't think I've seen him in person since 2003. So we got together for coffee this morning and then walked up to the Winnipeg Art Gallery to take in the Fafard show currently staged there. I LOVE the WAG!!! It was nice to go through it with an artist (Paul - pre-lawyer days!) who was able to explain different things to me and I honestly felt that I gained a new appreciation for some of the artists.

After the WAG I went to pick up my stepdad Leo and took him on an appointment. Then I just came home because while I was out with Leo I suddenly began to feel as though I'm coming down with something. Stuffed all sorts of vitamins down my throat and I'm now sitting here with my second cup of hot tea! I don't care what anyone says, tea cures just about anything!

Well I think I am going to go try to get the rest of this tea down me and then make it an early bedtime!

Hope all of you are well and please enjoy the Canada Day celebrations!

Rafi's Bar Mitzvah......or

how two days out can totally exhaust me these days!

My friends' eldest son, Rafi, celebrated his Bar Mitzvah on Saturday at the synagogue and then yesterday was the party. I think that Samuel and I arrived at shul by 9:15 Saturday morning, which is pretty close to the beginning of the first service and in more than enough time for the Torah service which begins at 10:00 a.m. I received the most incredible honour...I was asked to hold the Torah during the prayers. I'm sure I was absolutely glowing I was so happy!

Rafi did an amazing job in leading most of the service. It never ceases to amaze me how Jewish children, especially the boys, seem to undergo this incredible transformation upon attaining the age of 13 for boys and 12 for girls when they take on the responsibility of performing the mitzvot. All of a sudden girls become women and boys become men.

Rafi has inherited his father's voice which has a wonderful deep tenor to it. It is also easily apparent how well loved he is by the confidence and presence which he exudes and that was amply present on Saturday.

We left the synagogue around 2:30 p.m. after kiddush and then did some running around, including dropping off clothes for Grandpa Leo at the personal care home then picking up some shoes for my sister at the shoe repair in Grant Park Mall. We had an evening in, watching some of the episodes from the first season of Gilmore Girls that Jon & Michelle bought me as a present one year.

Then Sunday the festivities continued with a Bar Mitzvah celebration from 11:30 until 4:30 so we actually left about 5 p.m.!

We had another quiet evening and a reasonably early night but just being out those two days left me exhausted! I woke up about 8:30 this morning, got up went to the loo and then fell back into bed and didn't wake up until almost noon.

The effects of my brain injury are resolving but it amazes me how easily I become fatigued. It's not like I was mountain climbing all weekend or anything! Oh well.....c'est la vie!

Anyway, off to the doctor's now to get my prescriptions refilled....they are the ones that ward of the debilitating headaches that have plagued me since the collision....so I REALLY don't want to be without!

Have a wonderful day!

Barb

Entry for June 28, 2009

A plea for help!!!!

The Manitoba Brain Injury Assn is a not for profit group which helps ABI survivors & families cope and provides resources....we don't receive any regular government funding and I would like to encourage anyone who is looking for a charitable association to support to choose the MBIA.....Things are to the point where we may have to close the doors on this very necessary resource, please contact the office for details of how you can help! Remember, every little bit helps. If you cannot support us financially, perhaps you know others who can so please feel free to forward this message to your friends and family. Donations can be made online through the CanadaHelps.org website.

www.mbia.ca or (204) 975-3271

With thanks,

Barb