Calvin and I hosted the third annual Christmas party here at the house, and it was the usual rowdy crowd so it was a lot of fun.  As soon as Luke arrives, the mood goes up and the party begins as he’s the most social human being ever born.  Calvin made two batches of his whisky punch and people brought their own booze as well, so vehicles were left, and cabs were taken home.

I noticed a lot of full but opened cans of beer this morning which I just dumped down the sink, recoiling at the stench.  I’m not a beer or wine person as I realize fermented liquor isn’t good for me, yet when I drink distilled liquor, I’m perfectly fine.  Drunk, but fine.  I took a couple of Gravol prior to hitting the bed at 12:30 and then woke up at 8:00 feeling pretty darn good for all that occurred the night prior.

Mom thought she was sick the other day, but when I arrived it was evident it was a crabby mood and nothing further.  She’ll be 99 in February so it’s easy to understand why a person would be cranky, especially as the body and mind start to let you down.  I’m 69 and already a wreck with my bum knee so I hope to God I’m not punished with that kind of longevity.

Mom likes to torture the people at Shoppers Drug Mart for some reason.  When they ask her if she has enough meds at home she says yes, then she calls them and asks why they didn’t deliver her medication, and they reply because she told them not to as she had a lot.  It’s kind of fun as I’ve had to make some of those calls on her behalf, and it causes a lot of bewilderment.

Here’s something insane I like to do.  I look for Dean Martin Christmas specials from the 1960’s and 1970’s on You Tube and enjoy them as my gramma and I watched all of these.  Granny had a serious crush on Dean Martin.  She’s been dead for 35 years and I still miss her so much but this way we spend an hour together and it’s wonderful.

I’m now making a chaja cake, which I saw on the Great Canadian Baking Show, because tomorrow the crones are coming for dinner as it’s Donna’s birthday.  We like to do a combined Christmas and birthday get-together, usually here, which is nice as why decorate if no one’s going to see it?  And especially this year as Calvin did a fantastic job on the outdoor lights.

Once that’s over I can concentrate on the last batches of cookies and any wrapping plus getting the groceries together for Christmas Day when the nice Hamiltons will come for dinner, as they often do.  Fred will wear his Christmas vest, all beautifully appliquéd by Julie with Christmas trees, lights, and everything else related to the theme.

Luke solved a lot of Christmas present fear and loathing by telling me what he wanted and then ordering it on Amazon, and I picked out stuff I would like and so we’ll be getting things that could be of some use.  Mom’ll get a glut of chocolate, which is her most prized gift of all. 

And so we’ve come to the last blog of 2023, and I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, and thanks a lot for your readership, it means a lot to me.  Let’s all hope for soul enrichment in 2024. XO

Don’t we all just hate the image of a person who sits around watching T.V. all day?  I remember when I grew up there’d be retired folks who had the set on from morning until night, and I thought oh brother, I’m never gonna be doing that.  So imagine how proud I felt for not being addicted to the TV but then realized sitting at the dining room table watching You Tube on a laptop is just another new monkey on my back.

From psychologists explaining narcissistic personality disorder to Piers Morgan trashing Meghan Markle, I find it nearly impossible to do anything but hunt for an intriguing new link and click on it.  I’m hoping this is somehow winter-related, and by spring I’ll have snapped out of it and have a more manageable heroin addiction or something like that.

And it being December, it means I fill my maw with especially bad things such as those Dominos, little chocolates made in Germany.  They’re like a mini petit fours, and have a layer of gingerbread, one of apple jelly, and then one of marzipan and the whole thing is coated in chocolate.  Then there’s the dreaded maraschino chocolates which 98% of humans hate, but sadly, I am one of the 2%.

Though difficult, I’m waiting until December 14 before allowing myself to buy egg nog, as then it’s time for that delicious liquid punched up with a nice bit of whiskey.  It’s almost a miracle to have lived this long when you think of the long list of somewhat questionable foods and drinks I’ve imbibed.

Because everyone has everything, I think giving less to them and more to the poor is a better option for me this Christmas.  I was at the Gospel Mission thrift store with Elsa the other day and I saw the staff talking to a young woman who was crying.  I heard them say to her “you just take whatever it is that you need” and she was thanking them through her tears to which they said no thanks needed.  I had to walk on by in a terrible hurry as I could’ve cried right along with that woman.

For overweight, spoiled people such as myself, I can easily hum along to “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” while browsing the aisles at Superstore, but I imagine if you’re at rock bottom, hearing that must be galling.  I always think there for the grace of God go I, and all of us really, given how life can turn on a dime.

Calvin and I put up the Christmas lights, he did the bulk of it, and as a reward I’ve made a large vat of boeuf Bourguignon for him. We have new neighbours across the way so I hope they like our efforts.  We’re having our annual Christmas party in a couple of weeks so the guests will be pleased, I’m sure.

I wouldn’t be able to have a fruitcake business with today’s shocking prices.  Two containers of cherries at the bulk food store came to $46.00.  That’s for seven small fruitcakes, then add the pecans, chocolate and brandy and each one would be about $20.00 to make.  But this is one of mom’s favourite things, so she gets all seven fruitcakes for herself.

Habits vs addictions, I mean how do we really know which is which?  I can’t stop going to thrift stores despite knowing there’s no room in this overly-full house for one more thing.  I might sort this one under addiction as I know one day I’m going to find that one-of-a-kind treasure.

I enjoy cat ownership because of the insane things they do.  I have a bag of bulk dog treats, you know like small milk bones, on the counter in a plastic bag.  Now if I put these treats into the cats’ bowl, they wouldn’t just be insulted they’d be angry.  However because they seem like contraband by being in a bag on the kitchen counter, Iris sneaks up there to eat a piece whenever the mood hits.

My body’s decided eliciting sharp pangs of pain from various areas would be fun somehow.  First of all you may recall I injured my knee ligament almost two years ago and it’s acted up now and then ever since.  Now I have stabbing pains in my ear drum so at night I sleep with a frozen gel pack and pillow on the bum knee, and put my right cheek on a heating pad. 

If this is aging, I don’t really like it.  I had a free liver scan at Okanagan Clinical Trials, just to see how things were going, and it turns out it’s still okay.  Hard to believe after everything I’ve put that organ through, though the nice testing person said I have to keep things under control or I’m going to develop a fatty liver.  I immediately returned to my daily supplement of milk thistle as God knows, anything further may be quite difficult.

Here are two interesting German customs I think about since my trip.  One is after 25 or 30 years the cemetery is like, okay, OUT! I’d asked where my great uncle’s grave was, and they said oh that’s been dug out long ago.  I said what to they do with the leftover bones, and learned they’re thrown into some sort of a ‘bone yard.’  I said to Heilke, better to just be ash then, right?  So much easier to mulch into the ground.

The other fascinating habit is the airing out of the homes.  You open a door and a strong wind whistles past your ears fanning your hair out behind you and it’s bloody cold out so you say, what in the name of God in Heaven are you doing, and they reply, “Airing.”  Lueften in German.

I should probably have my mental health examined by a professional due to my 2-hour decision to spend thousands of dollars on new French doors.  One of them seems to have lost its seal as water vapor will form between the two panes, so I thought may as well have someone come and give me a quote on new doors.

When the man arrived, I said to him just so you know I’m in no hurry and so won’t be deciding on anything today.  He smiled at me in a kindly, salesperson-like way, and began to talk about the integrity of their doors, and soon his hypnotic flute was making me sway back and forth as I rose from my basket.  When he left, he shook my hand and thanked me for my order, and I felt dizzy and weakened from the hypnosis.

But suffice it to say, I’m getting new doors and I’m not going to worry about it because then I shouldn’t have invited the door and window person in. How many times have you heard me say I’m just going to the SPCA or on-line to look at cats or dogs, that’s all.  Certainly not bringing home an animal today, and how many pets have impulsively been  brought home?  I believe this is what’s called being a push-over.

Mom and I got into a scuffle but that’s been resolved, so that’s all to the good.  Gord resigned his position as caregiver, and Luke quit his job too, so now Luke returns to the role of gramma’s caregiver.  Interesting times ahead.

Imagine my surprise when both Lufthansa Airlines as well as the Deutsche Bahn didn’t run on time.  Years ago a person could set their watch by the trains, but no longer.  My flight to Vancouver was delayed by 40 minutes which made me a bit nervous as I had a tight turnaround in Frankfurt to get the train to Stuttgart.  I needn’t have worried, as the train was also delayed, so all was well.

On my return the train was stuck in one of the stations longer than expected so it was running late, and I thought oh no, but should’ve known.  As I ran to the gate for my Lufthansa flight home, I learned the flight was delayed by two and a half hours.  I chatted with people and we’re all pretty much like beaten mules, just shrugging, and taking the punishment.

But I’m happy to report all the time between the actual travel was excellent.  I stayed with mom’s cousin Doris, who is 92 and I’m very pleased to tell you we polished off two 26-ers of vodka in the two weeks I was there.  I told the relatives vodka and orange juice is called a screwdriver, and the translation for that tool is a schraubenzier, so we would say would you like a schraubenzier and enjoy our joke.

Speaking of adorable things my cousin Heilke drove me around to the very cute towns nearby.  Southern German is beautiful and in the fall driving through the deciduous forests was magical, sometimes spotting a castle perched high atop a hill. It had rained quite a bit so the farmer’s fields were the most vivid shade of green.

My gramma was a fantastic cook and I grew up eating Schwabisch food, and so I adored all of the things I got to eat there.  Spaetzle are a hand-made pasta which I ate on a couple of occasions smothered in dark gravy.  I got to eat my mom’s cousin Hannelore’s sauerbraten and also her Zwiebel kuchen.  Heilke’s best friend Monica invited us for coffee, as did my Schiller relatives, and we were presented with the most wonderful tortes.

I think my favourite part of the trip was having coffee in the morning with Doris.  As an homage to that memorable time, I’m going to return to the old Melita coffee filter method my gramma used and which I substituted with the French press.  We simply can’t get the kind of bread you can get in Germany.  Doris and I would eat this ambrosia untoasted, slathered in fresh butter and topped with jam, sipping our marvelous brew and enjoying each other’s company.

Have I mentioned how large my stomach is on the photos?  I was disappointed in my hair as well, but decided to ignore the negatives and focus on the positive.  For instance, I was almost able to cope with my carry-on but caved and bought two sweaters at a second-hand store, and I also managed to get two and a half kilos of chocolate into my suitcase.

As it turned out, at the Ritter Sport Factory store one can get a whole bag of assorted chocolates cheaper than by buying them individually so I thought why not?  Though I must say the times I had to heave that bag into the overhead compartment and act like it was the prescribed weight was no picnic.  All in all, a wonderful trip.

I’m sorry, but over five months of heat is starting to annoy the hell out of me.  Though it’s lovely to see the dahlias blooming away, it’s tiresome to be watering like a medieval peasant week in and week out.  Every time we’re told it’s going to rain, it doesn’t, so on top of heat we have drought.

The City of Kelowna is up to its usual antics, and I’m trying to get people to sign a petition to stop them from spending a quarter of a billion dollars on an improved rec centre.  There’s a group called kelownaconcernedresidents.com who have spearheaded this, and I feel for them as to get 10% of all citizens to vote no on this is a tough go when only 30% care enough to vote civically.

I was in Osoyoos last weekend and made a faux Thanksgiving dinner that included a stuffed and roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, yams topped with marshmallows and brussels sprouts.  In other words, the usual fare except no turkey as the group was too small for that.

Mom’s all excited about my upcoming trip to Germany as she knows at nearly 99 she’s never going to see that country again.  I’m excited about the food I plan to eat as I was raised on southern German fare thanks to my gramma who was such an excellent cook.  Sadly that skill skipped my mom, but it seems one that I have acquired.

I’m going with carry-on so I have to figure out how to get 25 Ritter Sport chocolate bars into that small suitcase upon my return.  I suppose some can go into my purse, a few into coats pockets and then some spread about in the bag.  My friend Petra queried why I would bother when London Drugs carries them, but I explained to her at the factory’s store near where the relatives live, you can get dozens of varieties, most of which are not available in Canada.  Pity.

I have a bunch of old German stamps my grampa bought when their money was being devalued after the war, and I wondered if I should haul those along but have found out most dealers aren’t interested. And really when I need all the room for chocolate, if no one buys the stamps I’d have a conundrum on my hands.

I had the former gym women over for coffee last week, and no one eats anything at these events though whoever hosts it either bakes stuff or buys it.  I decided to outsmart the women and made only two items.  Either they could have freshly made pumpkin pie or else nice healthy seed crackers. Guess what they ate?  Yup, they said no thanks to the pie and nibbled on a few crackers but predictably, I had a piece of pie.

They also own really well-behaved dogs who go to dog trainers, and so my pups are always a bit of entertainment.  At one point they both raced to the door barking furiously and the women said oh is there someone at your door?  I said no, I think someone must’ve moved somewhere in the neighborhood as they’re very sensitive to sound.

I’ve checked the long-range forecast in southern Germany and of course now it’s nice and warm but around the time I arrive it looks like clouds and rain.  I have no idea how to dress or pack for that given I live in the Sahara Desert.  I told my cousin I’m not packing an umbrella and will borrow one, because as we know, there’s no room in my suitcase for stuff like that.

When friends come over and look down at my flower garden they go wow, that’s beautiful, and I say only from a distance.  It’s a disaster close-up due to weeds and also just the interplanting that causes terrible overcrowding issues.  Then the other day I was looking at myself in the magnifying mirror and went Gaaah! And I thought my god I’m so much like the garden, only good from a distance.

Such are the ravages of age.  Though speaking of age, yesterday when Elsa and I were hunting for treasures I found a beautiful, vintage Dalton bowl embossed with fruit that cost $2.00.  People who’ve eaten here know that I’m not normal near China and of course don’t need another bowl, however this one sparked a beneficial and much-needed cupboard clean-out as I searched for a place to put it.

I’ve saved my grandmother’s chipped and stained coffee and tea pots for decades, yet when I looked at them yesterday, I realized they’re not worth keeping.  I have a lot nicer mementoes of my gramma than that beaten-up stuff.  You wonder why your karma’s stuck at times, then you clean a couple of shelves of greasy old dirt and suddenly the improved feng shui helps you move forward.

Apparently that’s what happened as I decided I need to go to Germany to see the relatives a few weeks ago but was unable to book a flight.  I’m frightened of how tired a person can become on international flights when one cannot sleep so I had made grandiose statements such as I don’t care how much it costs, I’m getting a lie-flat seat.

I am not getting a lie-flat seat as they’re over $7,000.  This caused me to abort the search entirely, and finally I called a travel agent at Lakeside Travel in Osoyoos and she’s booked the whole thing for me.  I’m biting the bullet and paying a lot for a Premium Economy seat as perhaps the extra space will allow me to sleep.  If not, I wasted a ton of dough as right now I could fly economy to Europe for $600.

Another treasure I found at thrift yesterday is a small pillow that says I AM RETIRED.  Then under that it says Don’t ask me to do a damn thing.  I have it sitting on my couch and it’s not only a nice match in colour, but the perfect note in case anyone has any smart ideas about what I should be doing. 

Though I have plenty to do around this house and yard at all times, and I just finished painting the railing around the front porch.  A nice handyman had replaced the rotten spindles and railing, and so it needed to be painted, and I figured really, how hard can this be?  I guess I should’ve thought of Marie’s dad who said to her, “If someone hands me a paintbrush, I’ll know I’m in Hell.”

Did you know there’s virtually no way to get paint off concrete?  I had to throw out the clothes I was wearing to paint, and also noticed I got white paint under a few fingernails which actually looks quite nice.  The next time something needs painting would someone please remind me that I have the skills of a blind bat?

Calvin was hungover the other day and I provided him my tested remedy of two Advil and one Gravol which he reported as being helpful.  Though time does ravage one, it also provides a lot of life experiences which can help in mentoring the young.

It was excellent timing for Judy to have her gym women’s get together yesterday.  This is a small group of us from the Woman’s Place gym, some former and some still current members.  Judy has a lovely pool and since it was her turn to host, she said let’s meet in the afternoon instead of the morning and make it a pool party.  Hurray!

It was still hot and sunny, albeit a bit smoky around the edges yesterday, but today we had clouds and now I see a few drops of rain.  I sure hope it amounts to a lot more than that given we’ve had the horrendous fires due to the drought.  It must be such a strange feeling for the tourists who are lah dee dahing about on holiday while thousands of locals are losing their minds.

During the height of the fires when West Kelowna was burning down and it made the news all over the world, I was contacted by a friend in New York and relatives in Germany all going are you okay?  I had to reply not only was I okay, but I basically knew as much as they did as all I could see from here was white sky and so had to follow the news for updates.

Though so far from the actual fire it was amazing to see burned pine needles littering the deck and smudges of burnt embers on the driveway and carport floor.  Years ago, we had cedar shakes but now at least I have an asphalt roof which is somewhat better, but one likely needs a metal one in this new environment.

A week ago, I was in Osoyoos and sitting in the dining room of mom’s house with Gord her handyman and all-around caretaker.  He was looking toward the willow tree and said oh there’s a deer over there and I looked and said no, that’s a bear!  Luke was heading over and Gord went out and said there’s a bear under the willow, so he walked over smartly and came into the house.

We sat around pounding back drinks and then the usual walkers appeared here and there, and we said should we warn them, and then went nah, that bear’s not gonna charge out and hurt anyone.  Later it wandered across the road and Luke said that’s one of the juveniles that was born this spring.

My laptop was acting scary so Calvin ordered a nice new one for me, and Lenovo informed me UPS would deliver it on Friday.  I sat at home all day waiting for the delivery then around 5:00 went out to the coop and at the gate was a note “Sorry we missed you.”  Yeah, sorry I don’t have a couch and TV at the gate, eh?

You probably know intermittent fasting is all the rage these days so lately I tried to fast for 14 hours and eat for 10.  Well.  Did you know you can still gain weight if you eat twice as much during a shorter amount of time?  I think the point is not to eat like a horse but to eat normally and yet that’s something I’m still working on conquering anyway, never mind giving me a time limit.

Elsa and I were at Costco today because she has a card and so once in a while there are items I want to buy.  We noticed an awful lot of moms stocking up on back to school stuff and what looked like kids’ lunch foods.  It made me so very glad I have nothing to do with back to school anything.

In the summer when I make jam I think of my dear granny.  She made dozens and dozens of jars daily in her un-airconditioned kitchen in Osoyoos and these were then sold at the fruit stand.  The season began in July with cherries, then went on with apricots, plums and finally peaches.  I still make apricot and peach jams just the way she did.

It’s her birthday today.  She was born 124 years ago in Germany and came to Osoyoos in 1950 with my grampa as they hadn’t seen their only child, my mother, in 11 years due to the war.  I believe it was quite a shock for them coming from the bustle of Europe to the tiny little town of Osoyoos, but they didn’t complain.

We had a “too many cooks spoil the broth” situation in Osoyoos just now with the peaches.  There are 19 trees of Glow Havens between mom’s house and the modular.  On the BC Day long weekend Luke and Jan came to Kelowna with about 80 pounds of peaches, half of them quite green.

I said what the hell are you doing?  These aren’t ready until the end of August, why did you pick them, to which Luke replied that they will ripen.  A small fight ensued whereby I said they need a certain ground colour to ensure ripening, and asked why in the name of God in Heaven he didn’t just leave the small green ones to ripen?

Luke alleged it was Jan’s fault as she hadn’t thinned enough.  I said to both of them next year just leave a lot of space between each peach so they’ll get big.  He said he had to pick the small green peaches as they were breaking the branches, and I said whatever, they’re not ripe and I’ve lived on a farm and you haven’t.  Luke said he knows, and I don’t.

A week later I was in Osoyoos and mom was going berserk as she thought the peaches were ready and she was freaking out that they would drop and therefore go to waste.  She said phone a bunch of people and get them over here to pick.  I said I can, but wouldn’t it be better to wait a bit?

Nope, mom wanted those peaches picked so a bunch of people were contacted and the trees were stripped.  Luke came home from work one day and went what the hell??  I said that’s what happens when gramma gets a bee in her bonnet.  But I do hope next year we can thin properly and perhaps even wait until the fruit is fully ripe.

The dogs were pretty proud of themselves as they caught a rat that had been living in the chicken coop.  About a week ago I went in and lifted one of the nesting boxes and a brown object darted past me, up the wall and into a space up there.  The dogs were stymied and kept looking up but I said to them you know you’re kind of disappointing as hounds go.

A few days after that we went in and I lifted the end nest box and again, zoom, the rat ran the length of the coop and straight up the wall.  Again, the dogs were thwarted.  Finally a couple of days ago I think they formed a strategy as I heard screaming and then saw a dead rat right where it would be about to scurry up the wall.  They must’ve figured out you have to get the rat prior to it reaching any heights.  Good dogs!

It only took 33 years, but I think I finally got the hang of vegetable gardening.  This year everything’s doing really well, and I’ve even managed to grow cantaloupes which is a total miracle.  The one thing I have in huge abundance is cucumbers, so I make myself a cuke salad every day.  Grated cuke, drained, then add oil, vinegar and salt.

I’ve been cooking like a mad person, because as you know, I made lasagne and butter chicken for the visit with the nieces and their families.  I figured with that kind of a choice, everyone should be happy and they all seemed to be fine with the food.  This was followed by Margaret’s visit, and the day she left Alison arrived.

Alison and I are an incredible cooking duo so happily took on the task of making the après memorial dinner for the Ya Ya’s.  Now there’s just six of us left so not a challenge for us at all.  Alison made Ina Garten’s panko-crusted salmon which was well-received.  I made mom’s apricot crisp which we served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Mom was shocked and perturbed to be shooed from the party, but we wanted to be able to reminisce about Rhonda, and our high school days, in peace.   We marvelled at her widower, Ron, who spoke for an hour at the memorial.  I was the last person to speak and read my one-pager which hopefully had a couple of laughs for people, and I mercifully didn’t make an ass out of myself by crying.

Marie took me to Earl’s for a belated birthday lunch which was fab however after that we walked through City Park, and it was so damned hot I thought I would die.  Not as hot as the ruins at Tulum, but very close.  Marie said one day we should go to the beach and swim and I said, “I’ve never swum in Okanagan Lake.”  I’ll fly to Mexico to swim in the Caribbean, but I won’t swim in my own lake.

Tomorrow Elsa and I will be busy treasure-hunting, and then one day this week I really do need to have a squished ring cut off my finger.  How it happened is quite hard to do as I managed to drop a large watermelon directly on that area of my finger.  I could’ve dropped it anywhere, so you see the skill involved in this.  In any case the ring is flat on one side and no longer turns so it has to be removed, repaired, and re-sized.

The small town of Osoyoos is battling a forest fire right at this moment, however it seems to be less of a threat than it was a day ago.  Mom, Luke and Jan live north of town so aren’t in the evacuation area which is good as I’d hate to think of what would happen.  The three of them would go, hey, mom’s got spare bedrooms and surprise! we’ve been evacuated and here we are.  Hurray, more cooking!

Remember how I had a fit in the spring because all of my dahlias came out of storage mucky and rotten?  So I bought quite a few, and was given a bunch, and this year my garden is looking better than it has in a long time and I have a very wide variety of dahlias to boot.  It’s funny how sometimes a terrible event can end up being a godsend in disguise.

Just like the other day when I realized I’d have to stop at a liquor store on my way home from Osoyoos as I was out of tequila.  I was too lazy to do so, and then when I got home was thrilled to discover I had a bottle I hadn’t seen.  No stop at the store yet I was rewarded with sweet elixir.

It’s over 30 degrees and has been for quite a long while, so I spend my days lugging hoses around, watering and weeding a bit while I’m at it.  I have a bumper crop of everything this year, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans and figs.  I think it’s from the long, hot summer plus the gallons and gallons of water.  A win-win for my plants, but less so for everything else as we appear to be in a drought.

Because of the intense heat I do all of this garden stuff in the morning, then spend the afternoons inside the air-conditioned house doing things like ironing Calvin’s work shirts, repairing Louie’s stuffed donkey as he likes to tear out the stuffing, baking, cooking and writing this blog.  I know most landlords don’t iron their tenants’ shirts, but as I had two boys it just makes sense to keep going with a third.

We have a big Schiller shindig set for this Wednesday as Julie and family plus Sunny and family will be coming to Osoyoos.  I’ve already made and froze butter chicken and am now making meat sauce as I’ll also make lasagne so people can eat whatever they like.  I made a pound cake, and will buy raspberries and make a custard for a raspberry trifle.

But then the next day when I get back home Margaret’s arriving so I bought some nice foods for us and when she leaves on the 23^rd, Alison arrives so will be cooking for her, too, which I love to do.  I just feel so discouraged about the size of my gut and can see there’s no way to deal with it now.

I had a nice birthday party with the Crones at King Taps on July 12^th, and then a birthday dinner at mom’s in Osoyoos on July 13^th.  It was so damned hot we had to eat inside as it wasn’t possible to sit out on mom’s deck.  But that’s pretty much how my birthday always is, hot.

I met my pal Ralph from UBC days for a farewell lunch as he and Pauline are moving to Sooke to be with grandkids.  I asked him how they came to that decision, and Ralph’s one of these adorable people who basically takes you back to Genesis and then forward from there but I don’t think he ever did get right to the part as to why they decided to move.  He loves to talk, so it’s quite relaxing to just listen.

I’m currently watching a reality show on Netflix called Alone set in the Arctic, which is quite fascinating.  So far two people have spent quite a bit of time vomiting, one from eating a muskrat and the other from salmon eggs.  They have to hunt for their food so you can imagine after ten days without any a medium-rare muskrat would hit ya the wrong way.

It’s Rhonda’s memorial next week and all six remaining Ya Ya’s will be attending, so that’s really nice for Ron.  He asked us to write something, or to speak if we want, and I think I will try to write something however as I’m a crybaby I can’t really see myself up there, but who knows.

I recall sobbing on the bed the day of our graduation from high school as I was the valedictorian and was emotional about my speech.  Luckily I had mom who told me in no uncertain terms to suck it up or I’d make a total ass of myself.  I did the speech, no tears.