Let it Snow!! Let it Snow!!

Well, Calgary got hit with their first mini-snowstorm of the year (though have been told that it snowed when I was in TB last month). So happy to have my winter tires on now (got that done last week), as the roads were quite bad in some areas with the ice covered by the snow. The snow began during the night and has finally stopped. I went to my car this morning thinking that all I had to do was brush off the light snow - NOT! Underneath the snow was that awful ice coating that you have to put some elbow-grease into chesiling your windows. YUCK! I arrived to church just a wee bit late as it obviously took me more time to get the car ready, plus the road conditions weren't the ideal either. After church, I joined so many other people at Canadian Tire to buy that shovel! Every check-out counter had at least one person with a shovel in their hands. Before I left for Megan's shower I did my duty - shoveled my walk way and the part of the sidewalk that is in front of my house. Luckily by the end of the week, it is suppose to be +7c!!! So this snow will be a distant memory soon enough. 

More people to love Logan

Here are a couple of photos of some other people who came to the shower. (L to R) Jessica, Baby Logan, Amanda and Grandma Teresa. I must share with you a story of what a small world this is. Teresa knows both my mom and Jessica's mom from the hospital!!! How cool is that?



I am sure these two ladies will be a great assistance to Megan with babysitting and holding the baby - Margie and Char. The people I didn't capture on film were the kids Ethan and Journey who were napping at the time. Plus Sara, John and Andy. Andy gave a beautiful dedication prayer for Logan before the gifts were opened. It was a wonderful time spent with family and friends. 

Welcome Baby Logan!!!

Last week, Baby Logan Thomas was welcomed into this world. He was greeted by his parents Megan and Mike. According to Amanda, Logan is such a quiet baby, she barely hears him cry from upstairs. The photo is of my roommate Jessica holding Logan as he sleeps some more. I had a chance to hold him too - he slept pretty much the whole time but when he did open his eyes, he has this look of just trying to absorb you as everything is new to him. Congratulations Megan and Mike on your new family member - he is a beautiful baby boy! 

Megan's Baby Shower

Megan is opening the present that Sierra bought for her. She was shopping with her Auntie Amanda and she was able to find some special things that she thought Baby Logan would like. It is a cute pink pig and a milk bottle. Sierra was a great helper too - she made brought all the gifts for Megan and Mike.


Unfortunately, wasn't the best photo of Mike, but beside him is Margie. Margie is a long time friend of the James Family. It was wonderful that she was able to come and join us in the celebration for Megan and Mike and of course Baby Logan


This is the gift I had given to Megan and Mike - a toy with a mirror that matches up with the drivers' rearview mirror. So even though Baby Logan is facing the opposite way, Megan and Mike will be able to still see Logan while driving.


What does any parent need??? BATTERIES!!! We must make sure those baby swings have enough batteries so that Baby Logan can be rocked to sleep. That way too - mom and dad can get some shut-eye too. 

A visit to Three Hills

On Saturday, Amanda and I headed to Three Hills for a visit with Amy. We were very happy to have the fog lift as we drove with the sun finally breaking through. We went up to help Amy to clean the kitchen of her old place she was renting in. We had some good laughs and sharing time too. I got to see first hand how well those Mr Clean Eraser bars work - we through like 4 of them during our cleaning. I think that home is more cleaner now than when they moved in! Amy treated us with Chinese food as our reward. While waiting for our food to arrive, Solomon awoke so we were able to enjoy some time with him. I just can't get over how much he has grown. He is rolling on one side and with the hardwood floors he will be moving around in no time at all. Amy was sad though - the Montreal Alouques beat her Toronto Arougants so they won't be heading to the championship final. It was a wonderful time spending time with the gals.


Solomon is beginning to get his front teeth so he is Master Drooler at the time moment. Here he is with one of his teething toys. 

IT'S SNOWING!!!

This is what I saw outside my living room window on Saturday morning - the snowflakes were nice and big. Luckily, not enough accumulated so by the afternoon it was all gone. Good thing as I have not gotten around to purchasing a shovel yet. This is new for me, but I am responsible to clear the snow on the sidewalk in front of my house as well - Didn't have a sidewalk in Thunder Bay so I have no idea if we had that rule there.

It was great in the afternoon, Sarah W came over with another co-worker Nancy to help make Christmas party invitations for Nancy's husband's office. They turned out so great!! We had an assembly line going - I did the cutting and printing of the invitation instructions. Then Sarah and Nancy did the pasting of the cards. Nancy had used a snowflake stamp and after they cut them out, they used pop-ups to give it a 3-D look to them. Very cool. Inspiration to make my own (we will see though). 

The Gang from SAIT

Here is Maria with her best bud, Cheryl. They have sat across from each other in the outpatient coding area for almost 2 years now. Plus they were in the same grad class for Health Information Management (HIM) course at SAIT. Like the rest of us, Cheryl will miss having Maria around in the office. Thank goodness for the internet and phone so we can stay in touch with Maria. Plus Edmonton is like 3-4 hours from Calgary so some weekend we can do lunch - what do you say Maria?


Here are some co-workers who were in the same grad class in SAIT from the HIM course. Sarah S., Melissa, Sarah W., Maria and Cheryl. Unfortunately, another coworker named Cheryl was away on the day of the potluck but she also graduated with these gals too. 

Let's get shopping at IKEA!!!

Sarah (right) was our spokesperson as she presented our card and gift card to IKEA to Maria. Maria has already found her bed that she wants at IKEA. That is the fun part about moving out for the first time - SHOPPING!!! (from past experiences) It has been great too that coworkers have given extra things they had at home to Maria so she will have a little something to start with in her new place. We are excited for her as she ventures onto this new adventure!!!


A big hug from Maria for Sarah!!!

 

All the Best Maria!!!

On Friday we had a luncheon potluck as we said goodbye to Maria. She accepted a full time inpatient coding position in Edmonton. It is our loss and Edmonton's gain, that is for sure. Maria added a special spark to our office with her cheerfulness and her warm hellos. She will definitely be missed at Foothills Hospital. It was Maria who taught us the Salsa dancing steps at that Keeping the Spirit Alive Workshop last Spring. It was loads of fun and we had plenty of laughs too. I have no doubt that Maria will make friends quickly in Edmonton. Best wishes Maria and remember to stay in touch too! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Wishing all my Canadian friends - a Happy Thanksgiving weekend. Though the temperatures were a bit cool today - it was bright sunny day so that sure warmed things up for us. Always it was wonderful to celebrate the holidays with my second family - the James. I had fun holding the two 4-month old children during Thanksgiving dinner today. While Amy was getting her terrific yams with marshmellows ready, I held Baby Solomon. Once again - giving me plenty of smiles. After dinner, I had the chance to hold Baby Jenna (John P's cousin's daughter). She was a cutie with smiles for everyone - Oh and blowing bubbles too.

It is times like these, that I am reminded how blessed and thankful I am to have friends in my life that have become a part of my family. On Sunday, I was able to show my own home to Jan and Gary Murchison - friends who are like family. Jan and my mom used to work in the McKellar ER in Thunder Bay, so they have known me since I was a little kid. Now that I don't live in Thunder Bay, it is special to have these times together. Thanks to Alexander Graham Bell, I was able to connect with my mom, brother Bruce and my aunt and uncle in Quebec (mom's side) to send my Thanksgiving greetings to them. Left one on voice mail for my dad.

Hope your Thanksgiving weekend was blessed as mine, being surrounded by family and friends that are a part of your family. Plus remembering how thankful we are in what God has given to us in our daily lives. I am still amazed all that has occurred since my move to Calgary. Definitely feel blessed.

Waiting for Dinner

My roommate Jessica and I joined the James clan and friends for Thanksgiving Lunch at Amanda's new home in Three Hills. It is about an hour and change from my place to get to Three Hills. The sun was shining so we had great weather for our drive as this was Jessica's first time going to Three Hills. Sara and Sierra joined us for the drive up too. My camera was running low on batteries but was able to get a photo of some of the people there - (left to right) Megan, Ocean, Peter, Sierra, Jon J and Bradley. If you can see out the window, is Amanda's front yard and the Public Swimming Pool is across the street - how ideal is that! Andy(Amanda's dad) gave a beautiful prayer and dedication to her home too. We know now that future dinner gatherings can be held there - think there were 24 of us there today. Before and after dinner, Char (Amanda's mom) was busy raking up the leaves and small twigs in the yard. It looks great! 

The Guys Quiet Moment

Here John P, son Ethan and brother-inlaw Jon J having a quiet moment after our Thanksgiving Dinner. Ethan had just woken up from his nap and it takes him a bit of time to wake up from it - you get the best cuddling times with him after his naps. This photo was taken in the living room of Amanda's new home. They found hardwood flooring under the carpet they tore out - it looks great. You can see Garron's handwork on the wall - drywall and mudding has already begun. 

Journey's new bunkbed

Sierra enjoying the view from the top of the bunk


Ocean climbing up to join her cousin Sierra


And there is Journey joining her two cousins Ocean and Sierra on the top of Journey's new bunkbed. Journey along with her parent and baby Solomon will be moving into Amanda's new home next month. We were there today to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. I think there will be a few future sleepovers at the new house.

 

What's the Magic Word???

My roommate Jessica was playing a game with Ocean and Journey. You had to say the magic word before her arm would raise so they could leave their seats. She said "PLEASE" - well that was the correct word as Jessica's arm raise and the two girls were able to leave their seats. Watching the trio in the photo below is Natasha (Sierra's cousin from the States).

 

A future opportunity...

As I had shared with some of you, in September I had applied to take part in a national reabstracting study that was organized by my national association (Canadian Health Information Management Association - CHIMA) and our national database association (Canadian Institute of Health Information - CIHI). The point of this reabstracting study, is to recode the charts from last year and see how close the data is to our Canadian coding standards set by CIHI. I finally received word today, that I will not be granted an interview for the reason of not meeting the requirement of 3 years coding experience in working with inpatient charts (acute care). It is funny as that was the reason I had hesitated before eventually applying.

Yes, I am disappointed as it would have been a great professional experience, but in the "big overall picture" - it was all positive otherwise. I found out what computer courses they wish you to have either proficiency in (MS Word and MS Excel) or knowledge in (MS Access). Also the knowledge they wish you to have in understanding inpatient coding and abstracting. For me, the biggest bonus to this whole process - support of higher management. For the 10 years at Thunder Bay Regional, many of you knew the frustrations I had felt from the lack of support I felt from the director of the department. Before applying for this study, I actually emailed my director at Calgary Health Region for her opinion as I had never applied for something like this before. The email I received was shocking for me - but in a great way - My boss told me that she would support me 100% (which meant not worrying if I have a job to return to, as I would have taken a 2 month LOA instead) and agreed that it would be a wonderful experience. This is the first of 5 reabstracting studies over the next 5 years, so if I keep plugging along as I am, I am sure that one year I will have the opportunity to take part in this experience.

As we near the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, I am reminded again how blessed my past year as been, especially professionally speaking. It is a wonderful change knowing that I feel comfortable enough to approach my boss with questions and not afraid to ask their opinions on things such as this study. It just makes you feel appreciate of what you are contributing to the department and to the hospital as a whole. You feel like a part of a team, which sometimes I really did not feel at Thunder Bay Regional. I am looking forward to the 2 coding workshops that I have been registered for at the end of the month. One is on obstetrical and newborn coding and the second is on diabetes coding. Both should be interesting as a few changes have been made to those codes this fiscal year.

I firmly believe - if one door is closed (a negative result), another door will open (a positive result).

The Landscaping is in!!!!

Tree: Thunderchild Flowering CrabTree


When I arrived home on Thursday - there it was - my tree in bloom. Talk about getting excited about little things. I knew that before long my sod and other shrubs would be arriving soon. From what I have read so far, this tree has spring flowers and the berries will be for the birds to eat and in the fall time they will have these bright red leaves on them. Now, if I read my Planting Region map correctly, Calgary is the same region as Thunder Bay, so I will be able to plant some of the similar plants that my mom has in her garden. I have a couple of gals in the office who knows their plants (one even knows their latin names!), so I will have a great resource to use come next Spring, when I begin to decide what to do for the backyard.


Here is the complete view of the front of the house. When Sarah and I drove up my street after work today - we got all excited as all we saw was green - no more dirt - YEAH!!! The landscapers watered the sod really well (helped to that it has rained on and off all day today plus snowed) as well as the shrubs too. My neighbour Kate was happy to see the sod laid down too. It is beginning to look like a home inside and out. The project next year is the backyard and the deck. Kate has a dog so the first thing on her list next year seems to be a fence - so maybe we can work together on that since we are neighbours. How exciting thinking that next summer I can relax on my deck after work as the backyard gets the late afternoon and evening sunshine. Plus I could use my parking pad instead of parking on the street. Right now, I have my list of ideas and this winter I will let reality hit with the price tag attached to them (hahaha) - I am fortunate as a couple of my friends are in the trades and they will be able to give me their opinions on what is feasible and what is not. The joys of owning a home, right?

 

Fall in Calgary

On my drive home on Friday up Shagnappi Trail, I decided to stop at one of the entrances to Nose Hill Park. If I remember correctly, Nose Hill Park is the largest urban park in Canada and maybe North America (someone can correct me on that if you know the correct answer). We had a beautiful day, so I thought I would go for a short trek. Only wildlife I saw were the 6 dogs with their respective owners. I must say that these photos do not do justice of the beauty of the fall landscape as you drive south on the Shagnappi - breath-taking. Especially with the mountains framing the back of the landscape scenery. I was just thinking that this would be a future feat - to walk the whole Nose Hill Park - now that would be the ultimate challenge for me. Realizing that Calgary's weather is a general rollercoaster - this morning I woke up with wet snow on the ground and our high was in the single digits. So one never knows what each day will bring - weather wise at least as it changes so often, so I will take those sunny days whenever I am able.