Down or Up?

It's been a long time since I last posted, but really there isn't much to tell. It's the middle of the winter, after all....
Mom spent Valentine's weekend with us, after a couple of weeks of the home being locked down so that no-one could leave or come in. That's got to be hard on anybody, let alone the elderly.
Working four days a week, with some of them as very long days, took its toll when I came down with a cold halfway through the month. My voice, especially, felt the effects as I've done a lot of teaching!
John decided to be done with driving for a living. His boss has the last two big trucks up for sale, and asked John to use his pick-up for hauling again. But the pick-up needs a lot of work to get it up to top form again, and we can't afford a new vehicle, and the work isn't guaranteed, so he's gladly saying good-bye to the road.
But that does mean no more trips to Dartmouth in the truck! We'll have to work that out another way....
It's also been somewhat of an adjustment having a husband home every day. I get to cook more often, which is probably a good thing, but the down side of that is that I'm tired when I get home at 5-6pm....
And speaking of vehicles - my car decided to stall the other day and refuses to start again. The upside of that is?
Some of the brighter notes of the last weeks include newly-fallen snow, but the down side of that is the slogginess of the driveway, and a very low battery in the camera when I wanted to take pictures of the snow on the trees.
Other bright notes include watching and playing with the little ones - and that doesn't happen often enough. Busyness topped with an hour's drive is the poor excuse!
We were there yesterday; the guys finished off a couple more shuffle boards, one of which is going in the auction at the school bazaar next week; while I attempted to ease the care/supervision/playing of the girls for Katrina (she went out with her friends Friday night!). Petra decided she needed a haircut, so Oma had the honour of cutting her beautiful tresses a couple of inches shorter. Looks cute. (And Katrina has the pictures.)
The month of March will bring more activity: I've set a goal of finishing Maria's first scrapbook before the family comes during March break! We'll have a houseful at the end of that week; it's too bad that Michael can't just hop home for a bit - he is missed!

modern is good?

Something struck my eye in the MSN news-page today, as I waited for the work-related site I needed to open up. There's a new book out called "The New American Diet" by Steve Perrine and Heather Hurlock, published by Rodale. Amongst the diet information, it also goes into the wonderful things that BPA or 'plastic compound bisphenol-A' does to our bodies. This is the same plastic that got so many plastic bottles off the shelves a while back.
Seems this plastic is also found in many food product containers - like beverage cans, plastic-lined tin cans, plastic-lined lids to jars, soup cans, canned fruit and fruit juices, baby food jars, baby formula and more.
I just checked it out on Wikipedia; the hazards affecting growth and endocrine system and throid and cancer, etc,are too numerous. The recommendations for us to follow are in the section 'human exposure resources'. Basically - DON'T!
The old-fashioned way of preserving and preparing foods from scratch is looking better than ever. Couple that with the 100-mile diet, and we might have a food revolution underway!
P.S. did you know that many of our fruits and vegetables shipped in from around the world are ripened with a gas? It's a wonder that we are as healthy as we are, or put it another way: it shouldn't be a surprise then that we're as sick as we are!

a good start to the week....

The seminar on Saturday went really well, and excitement was generated over knowing what God has given to all believers.And we're planning to run a couple more seminars over the next couple months.
Sunday's visit to Stevin and Katrina's was fun - we hadn't seen all of them in 3 weeks! (Well, actually, John and Stevin worked together in Dartmouth a few days.) Naomi showed the gap in her mouth before we were even in the door!!And after some sleuthing on Naomi's part, it was concluded that the Tooth Fairy is real, after all. You see, the Tooth Fairy had left a note, but noone else could reproduce the 'N' with a curl at the top of the up-stroke!
But the work week began the moment we arrived home. John got ready to leave for Indiana, but had to get the big truck out of the ice first. It took the winch to free it up. And then he tried to bring his stuff up the hill in his pick-up - but he chose to go up Sunset Lane.
The lane gets very icy when the weather gets milder. And sometimes you need to back down the lane and make a 'run' for it, to get up and over the hill.
True to form, the pick-up (which has 4-wheel drive that needs repair) didn't make it over the crest, and so John had to back down again. In the dark. No feet on any pedals. Guess what happened. Not even halfway down, the tires sensed less traction and went their own way, and the truck slid into the snowbank - on the west side of the lane.
The west side is the steep side.
I was the one who was allowed to 'steer' the truck as John tried to pull the truck out with the tractor and chain. I put the seatbelt on, in case the truck decided to roll! It didn't roll; but it did go deeper into the snowbank and into the trees. So a couple of hours after the whole thing started, we left it there.
John arrived home late this afternoon, and we decided to try to get it out. Much of the snow and ice has melted with the rain and the mild temperatures we had yesterday.
It took an hour, but it's out!!
At work on Monday, things simply picked up where we left off last week.But this day had me outside with road tests. In the rain. Not finding the truck we needed. And when we did find it, it was in water. And then it started stalling due to one or another engine problem. I finally ended the road test in the shop, when we left the truck there. The afternoon's road test went better. But it was still very wet out!
It was indoor work today. I did have a short breather this afternoon, and I actually left a half hour early! (and arrived home minutes after John did.) But! The next 3 days will be long ones.
It's only Tuesday.

Challenges!

The last two weeks have simply flown by in busy-ness, and challenges in learning and teaching new things!
Last week's plans for work changed dramatically when I found there was to be no orientation class to teach after all. But a new project of training a few drivers on electronic logs did begin! And what a challenge that is, when they dig in their heels in objections. I don't normally get headaches when I do what I enjoy, but today was another story. When a co-worker said she had some Advil, I didn't refuse it!
Last Saturday, I attended an all-day Scrap-Fest, hoping to get several layouts completed. A few were done, in between workshops on learning how to make cards, and more.
John flew out to Dartmouth a few days after we drove home from there - this time to help Martin with the house on Cottage Lane. He arrived home again last night, but he had to fit his flight in with my schedule! I love you, John, but I must admit I enjoyed taking care of just me with my full days. :) Actually, it's good to have him home; it's hard to sleep when you have chilly feet!!
Tomorrow will be a first in a very long time - I'm leading a workshop at church. There will be about 15 people 'discovering their gifts'. I've even put together a power-point as a teaching aid as I tried to absorb the necessary information to impart!
Yesterday, I discovered why we wear coats in the winter: it's cold out there! There was a fire alarm at work, not a drill. All except 3 people were able to grab their coats before going out into the colder-day-than-the-mild-weather-we-ve-had-lately-kind-of-day. I was one of them. I was too far away from my room when the alarm went, and of course, you're not supposed to go somewhere that's been evacuated, etc.... Turned out that a water pipe had burst in the warehouse, causing the alarm to go off. We were permitted to go indoors about 10 minutes later, but did have to listen to several more minutes of alarm before they were able to shut the water off.
All in all, the last weeks are showing me I'm either still young enough to tackle new things, or I'm not too old for challenges. Well, really, you're not supposed to stop learning and doing. Just wish it didn't all have to happen at the same time....

And the reason for going to Dartmouth was...

- Baby Nicole who is a beautiful addition to our family. She's a beautiful baby, and seems to enjoy cuddling. But then, most newborns are easy to cuddle. She is working out her schedule slowly, and everyone is adjusting slowly to another little person in the house. We're not sure who she looks like - she has fine features and she is just herself. John did say though, that she has her Mommy's features.
I attempted to take several pictures of her with her eyes open, but as you can see, the flash was too bright!

Maria loves her little sister, and is quite gentle with her. She loves to wrap her arms around her and then give her kisses. Maria's kisses consist of her kissing her hand and then putting her hand on your mouth. So that's what Nicole gets, too!

Maria was so much fun to be with! We read books, and more books, and went outside every day. She manages to walk around the block quite well! And even bundled up in her snow-suit, she loves to crouch to look at things on the sidewalk.

Saturday morning, she came with me to go shopping for a new teapot for her Mommy, and to get a bouquet of flowers to celebrate Nicole. We put pigtails in Maria's hair before we left, with the assistance of Grandma's entertainment while on Skype, and this is the end result: too cute!!

Opa arrived on Thursday evening, helped Martin on Friday and Saturday morning, and we left Saturday afternoon - but of course, we had to pose before we left!

It was fun to watch Maria as she learns new things. One of the things that she learned was the "woof-woof" of a dog. The cocker spaniel she's holding in the above picture is her new 'hoof-hoof', which I couldn't resist getting for her when we saw it in the store!! She also knows "moo" for a cow, but I'll leave that purchase for Grandma when she comes.... ;) The house may end up looking like a zoo - with stuffed animals that is. Because of course, there is now another little girl to have fun with as she grows!

I thoroughly enjoyed the week, cuddling a newborn, chasing after a toddler, and taking care of some of the things that make a family and a home work. Being an Oma is very special!

P.S. The ride home was quicker than the trip out, but it was definitely colder. Brr, was it cold! Because of that, John didn't want to take the chance on a truck that wouldn't start in the morning if we stayed at a motel, so we pretty well drove all night! Another Saturday night all-nighter!

Airport Night Life

I should have flown out on Friday, when I first discussed coming to Dartmouth. But it looked ok for standby on Saturday evening, too, so after the Triemstra get-together at Stevin and Katrina's, I got a ride to the airport with my brother Terry, and had no problem whatsoever with seat availability. All passengers boarded, the airplane taxied out to the tarmac, but while we waited for the green light for take-off, we received the wonderful news that our flight was being cancelled!!!
The Halifax airport was receiving high winds, making it difficult for smaller aircraft. Back to the gate we went, everyone got off, and told to make other arrangements.
When flights get cancelled, a huge backlog of passengers gets created, making standby next to impossible. It didn't sound like Ottawa was going to have any extra flights put on, but there were a lot of seats available on the 7am from Toronto. So, I took the 9:45pm to Toronto, where I spent the night in the airport.
It gets quiet in the airport at night - I was quite surprised! I stayed in the terminal as I didn't have baggage to be picked up, and certainly didn't want to spent mega $ on hotel fare for a few short hours. A flight came in at gate 126 around midnight - it seems it too had been affected by the storms in the Maritimes. Many people went to the customer service desk before they left for wherever.
So after they left, I think I was the only non-employee around. Everything was closed up except for Tim Horton's, and the only other people around were the cleaning staff. I had wanted to curl up near gate 126, but the carpet was steam-cleaned that night, and it wasn't completed until 2 or 3 am., so I spent time in the seats at gate 124, instead.
I did get about 1 1/2 hours of solid sleep in, but the rest of the night wasn't too good. And then a flight came in at 4 am, and then people started showing up for departures.
Flight 2020 was supposed to leave at 7 am, but guess what - it was over-sold! So all the "cons" were bumped off, and the attendants had to figure out what to do with all of the passengers that had come in due to the cancellation in Ottawa. About 20 were sent over to another flight that left at 7:45ish. And then check, and cross-check for passengers and matching baggage and who was actually there, and who wasn't. The "cons" were able to get on, but my name was the last one to be called. (a con is a person who flies on standby, including pilots and flight attendants) I called Martin at 7:50 as I was running down the ramp into the plane, to tell him that I was able to get on after all.
We taxied out as the winds and snow was starting to pick up in Toronto, and then had to wait at the end of the tarmac because of some administrative issues. Great! While we waited, some mechanical issues arose, and back to the gate we went. We were permitted to stay on board - what else do you do with over 200 passengers?! -while they did something to the engine on the right wing. Whatever was wrong with it got repaired and it got refuelled (with fire-trucks standing by!!) and away we went. Time - 10:20 am. I remember thinking that I could have driven the distance quicker!!
We landed safely in damp weather at 12:10 (1:10 local), and after the captain welcomed us to Halifax, applause broke out in happy relief!
And I was even happier when I saw Martin and little Maria waiting for me!

Oma of 5!

Five grandchildren. Five little girl grandchildren. Wow! What a blessing it is to be an Oma of 5!
Nicole Grace was born yesterday afternoon in Halifax, NS. Although she arrived a month early, her birth weight of almost 7 lbs is not that of a preemie! Praise God for this note of joy this last week of December! Congratulations Martin and Emily and Maria!

Jello!

On Saturday, we braved the freezing rain conditions and went to John's sister's home just outside Ottawa, for the Geertsema get-together. While thinking about what kind of dessert to bring for the potluck lunch/dinner, I spoke with Martin who wanted to make broken glass cheesecake for their Christmas dinner with friends. Aha! I thought - the kids love jello, and cream cheese - let's see if this will go over with them. It did! Naomi's comment to Opa:"Oma sure makes good jello!"

Merry Christmas!

We visited Upper Canada Village's 'Alight in the Night' last night - it was beautiful! Here's a picture of our Ontario family - we really missed the ones who live in NS and AB!

Merry Christmas to all of you from all of us! We hope you have a blessed season and a very blessed new year when it comes!!

Fun and Games

We had lots of fun together last weekend. Michael flew in from Lake Louise via a short vacation in Hawaii; Martin, Emily and Maria in from Dartmouth. We shared our gifts on Saturday morning, and started what we hope will be an annual sjoelbak tournament. As you can see, John and Stevin have done a very fine job in constructing the sjoelbak boards! (They made more than one!)Sjoelbak tournament underway!

Martin took the trophy home - a shuffleboard puck crafted into the top of a piece of wood, and trophy winners will have their names engraved onto sections around the sides.

On Saturday afternoon, we spent time in the community indoor pool (family bath? the water was warm!).

On the first Sunday of Advent, we sang several Christmas carols during the church service, which was all decked out for the season.

And for fresh air that afternoon, we went for a walk in the park. We put David's camera on the tripod and we have a new family photo or two (check David and Stephanie's blog), and then took the kids over to the playground. We suddenly had more than 4 little girls as kids; the grownup boys had fun too!

Opa enjoyed watching the antics of all ---

Maria discovered a new way to have fun ---

We ate well, but we certainly didn't go overboard with snacks this year. And Stephanie made jello for Naomi and Petra - always a hit with them!