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