The Wonders of the Potato

Last night, I found one more use for the potato. Yes they make great fries as well as mashed, baked or boiled potatoes. They can be used for art work - cut the potato in half, make a shape, put in the paint and place on the paper - Viola!!! You have art work. Did you know they are great for light bulb removal?? One of my kitchen light bulbs went out and I did the normal thing of removing it. Unfortunately, it broke in half, making it difficult to remove the remainer of the bulb. Melissa, a co-worker, told me about using a potato. Last night, I had her husband Trevor come over to teach me how to turn on my fireplace pilot light and to remove the bulb with a potato - both were sucessful!!! It is great to have neighbours that live close to help me out.

Being Proactive..

In September I finally was fortunate enough to find a family doctor in Calgary - and he is only like a 20 min walk from my house which is nice too. That appointment was a meet and greet really to see if he would take me as a new patient. When he accepted me as a patient I asked him to check a facial mole that I had noticed changed colour. With my mom having had breast cancer and my sister with bone cancer, I wanted to take a proactive role to ensure that if this was becoming cancerous that I will deal with right now instead of later. Today I had my appointment with the dermatologist. It was the right decision as she too agrees with taking a proactive role and I will be having the one facial mole that had changed colour removed next month. Since it is near my hairline - my bangs will cover the scab heals. The other 2 facial moles which the doctor said are benign, can be removed but will have to be done by a plastic surgeon requiring a couple of stitches as well. The dermatologist said that if I wanted those moles removed that she can refer me, which after talking with my mom tonight, I will probably do. It is a good feeling having encountered two physicians who listens to their patient and agrees in proactive treatment when looking at a patient's family history especially with cancers. Funny thing, my current family physician was the third physician I had asked this question to - the other two physicians took the "wait and see approach". So being proactive in your health also means being persistent if you feel it is a concern to you.

Tomorrow should be fun....

As I write this blog, the snow continues to fall. It's been falling steady since lunch. Don't know if it will work, but I just went outside and shoveled my pathway as well as my part of the sidewalk. In addition, I brushed off the snow and scraped off ice from my windows that had already built up since arriving home. My hope is - that the bulk of the snow has already fallen and that I don't have to spend too much time tomorrow morning doing the brushing and scraping. Now the joy is going to be the drive to work - the roads are going to be an absolute mess. Calgary doesn't have the same snow removal routine like Thunder Bay so I am predicting the drive will be a tad hair-raising I think with the icy roads. Unfortunately there is no way to avoid the big hills down to the hospital. Praying that I just arrive safe and sound to work without any accidents. Just grateful I got my snow tires on last month, that is for sure.

On a happier note - I received a phone call from my coding supervisor this afternoon asking if I would work evenings next week at the Peter Lougheed Hospital to help with the Sept backlog. Our health region are under going a huge conversion to a regional computer system as well as changing our chart numbering system to allow us to keep up with the growing number of Calgary's population. It is PLC's turn this month to do the conversion. Ours will be in January. Anyway, we have to have all our Sept data entered, checked and corrected by next Friday. It has been a while since I have worked evenings, but this is a great opportunity to code different charts as the PLC have services that FMC doesn't have. Last week, I replied to an email that our boss sent out to all the coders if anyone would be interested in becoming a trainer in either the daycare or emergency services. Since most of my coding working experience has been SDCs, I decided to put my hat in for the SDC trainer. My boss' reply was that she was happy that I had applied. If I am given this opportunity, one of my responsiblities would be to travel to the different urban sites to train the coder destinated for that site. As we received at the scrapbooking retreat last weekend, it is nice to receive affirming comments (a couple of my coworkers have mentioned that I would do a good job as trainer) - your head does seem to raise at bid more naturally. Another great affirmation - a hug - no words need to be exchanged. When I dropped off Sara on Sunday, Ethan heard that I was at the house, and he came up the stairs and before I saw him come into the kitchen I heard him say "Lola" - he wanted to give me a hug! Then as he headed down the stairs for his nap, I heard him say "Bye Lola". Makes you feel so good. Thank you Ethan for brighting my day with your hug.

My Frosty Tree

It was my turn to drive Melissa, Sara and I to work. On the drive home, the median on our street had trees covered with frost. I was commented to Melissa how I love seeing the frost on the trees. She shared that having small white lights that actually reflect blue would look really beautiful at night time. I would agree. So before the sun went down, I took a photo of my tree still with frost on it's branches. As you can see most of the snow we received earlier in the week is gone now. 

What a View!!!

On Sunday, this was the morning view from River's Edge Lodge. Simply Awesome!! I was so excited to see how well the photo turned out. This is definitely one of the great perks of living near Calgary - you cannot beat the view!! This type of view I will never get bored looking at. You just feel God's beauty around you that is for sure. 

Morning View at River's Edge

On the Saturday, I was the first one up to begin another day of scrapbooking. My body was still on work time, so I had scrapbooked for almost an hour before the sunrise finally appeared. Just before breakfast, I went outside and took these photos from the lodge at River's Edge. It was so tranquil as the frost settled on the trees and you can see the dips of the valley. The snow had arrived earlier in the week too. What a great way to begin one's day. 

The New "Canadian Quilt"

On Sunday I asked one of the staff to take a group photo of us. Here are the ladies that attending the scrapbooking retreat. Back row - Kathryn, Sarah, Denise; Second row - Laura, Christie, Linda, Brenda, Sara; Bottom row - Shelley and Dale. Dale had a wonderful idea - before Sunday lunch we had to write an affirming statement of each of the ladies there. It does make you feel good inside when you read a note stating something positive about you. Thank you Dale and the rest of the ladies for your words. Thank you Denise for providing this opportunity for doing our albums and the time for fellowship too. Now if you are wondering about my title - in the movie American Quilt, it had a bunch of ladies sewing a marriage quilt for one of the main characters. While sewing the quilt, it provided the ladies to have fellowship and share what is going on in their lives (and other people's lives too). For me, scrapbooking is the same thing. It joins women together for fellowship and sharing while capturing memories to be shared with family generations to come - so that is why I called it the new "Canadian Quilt" (since I am from Canada). 

Work and Relaxation

Here is a photo of a family affair - Linda (closest) with her sister Brenda and Linda's daughter Christie busy at work on their albums. Linda is working on a family album for her children, Christie is doing an album of her daughters and Brenda is doing one on her trip to Newfoundland. I can't wait to see that album - I have always wanted to go to Newfoundland. I've seen the CBC miniseries Random Passage and the scenery is rugged but beautiful at the same time. So one day I will like to see it for myself.


For us avid scrapbookers, the hours passed and before you know it, you are thinking how stiff your shoulders and/or your back feels. Here Denise is giving Sarah a shoulder massage. We all agreed that at the next retreat - we should find a person who does massage but also enjoys doing scrapbooking too. 

Scrapbooking Sisters

This past weekend, Sara and I joined some other ladies from church for a scrapbooking retreat at River's Edge Bible Camp near Cremona and Water Valley area. The drive Friday night was a tad hairy with thick fog - but we survived. Had our laughs as we passed the turnoff to the camp. We are blaming the fog on that one. It was a wonderful weekend getting together with others who enjoy the same thing - preserving the moments we share with our loved ones. This is the first time in some time that I have sat down and do scrapbooking. It was a great productive weekend. I have all my pages done of the story of my house build ready to show my mom and friends when I go to Thunder Bay at the end of the month. Plus I was able to begin on some Christmas presents too. The staff at River's Edge treated us like queens. The meals were incredible - no worries really other than on the first night our rooms were a wee bit on the cool side. Thanks Sara for letting me share in a great weekend. Can't wait for the Spring retreat.