People watching at the hospital

I spent a little bit of time at the local hospital today. I happened to be sitting at the coffee shop near the front door for about 15 minutes. Not a magazine or newspaper was to be had, so with coffee in hand, I people watched.

It wasn't hard to do. I was facing the main door. And quite the cast of eclectic characters came forth.

One young gal came in wiping her eyes. Boy I can relate. I've been there before when worried about someone having gotten hurt. I felt empathy for her and shot some good luck vibes her way.

There was the older lady that came in with her daughter. They had a lot to talk about in a pleasant manner, so looks as if their day was going ok.

Then there was the really thin fella with some kind of IV bag tied to him. That had to be awkward. But I could tell it was all old hat for his mom and himself as they made it calmly to the outside door.

None of this was old hat for me. At all. I feel totally foreign in a hospital setting. I don't fear it, it's just that I haven't frequented one all that often. I've been blessed with exceptional health all my life, so when I do go into one, there's always a lot to take in.

And this one guy had me doing a second take. On either side of him were police officers so I inspected a little closer. He was handcuffed. AND his feet were shackled together. He was doing a pretty good pace for shuffling along.

When he walked past, we made eye contact. I had to wonder what he was thinking. As for me, I felt this coldness sneak around me and I actually shivered. And then I thought. The image of him wouldn't go away.

How on earth could someone mess up so bad in life to warrant earning this kind of loss of life? What did he have to look forward to when he woke up each morning? Where are the hugs and laughter from family members? There's so much life to live! And here he was, chained up like a common criminal from a TV movie. I didn't even want to think about what he had to do to achieve where he was.

I felt off. I suddenly morphed into the loss of his life. It felt like I was falling into a bottomless chilly dark well.

I took another sip of coffee and decided right then that I need to really enhance upon Cody what kind of awesome life we lead. We have each other, we have for the most part great health with only minor glitches, an awesome home, wonderful things to wake up to, and someone to hug before turning in for the night. Suddenly, I missed my boy very much. It was time to go.

Bless all those good folks that work at the hospital and take care of the hurt masses. They are special indeed. And I was sure appreciating them today.

It never ceases to amaze me how everyone carries a different strength throughout life. Want to also appreciate a nurse, doctor or volunteer at the hospital? Go sit in front of the main entry. I guarantee you'll know exactly what I mean within 15 minutes.

An island full of homework

Oh... the house is so quiet! With two 9 yr old boys inside of it. Why the quiet you ask?

There's something that makes me just giddy about seeing this awesome island being used for something so substantially useful!

What can I say? I'm in love. With them and the island. I simply have it all today.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom is one sweet lady. We celebrated her 82nd birthday today with some family members at the local Dairy Queen, which is her favorite fast food place.

Mom is very much loved by many. She has the type of personality that makes you feel she's been waiting for you all day. You most definitely know you are loved, when you're around my mom.

When Cody was first born, Mom use to frequently come and visit for weekends. We lived about 45 min from each other at the time so it's not that it was a terribly long drive. However, our visits were always about spending quality time with each other. She enjoyed coming and staying at the farm I had at the time, and grasped the opportunity to be a part of Cody's upbringing. The two of them would wander around the property, creating pictures out of rocks, picking moss off old trees, finding long lost toys embedded in the vast sandbox. They always found ways of having creative adventures together without having to go too far.

Times are a little different these days. With renos that continue on with my house, as well as single parenthood, added restraints have reined on my time. However, Cody and I love to go to visit her once a week if we can, to enjoy her company alongside a dip in the clubhouse pool and hottub. Different location, but same good company. She's always got a smile and warm hug ready for our arrival and always there for our eventual departure.

One of the most endearing things I find about her is when we drive off after a visit. She will stand on the road and wave until we are out of sight. Each and every time. During one of our visits, as we were getting ready to leave, I coaxed her to go ahead inside to stay warm as it was stormy outside. After ensuring she was in safe and sound, off I turned towards my truck. As we drove down the road, I quickly glanced at my mirror. I just knew. And I had her pinned pretty well. She was out on the road, waving yet again. Even if we hadn't turned to look, she had and was. Is that love or what?

My mom is my biggest fan. And she couldn't be a better friend. Having her for a Mom is simply icing on the cake.

And Mom, if you happen to read this on another's computer, we love you and are proud of everything you do! See you soon!

Love, Donna & Cody xoxo

Typical conversation with my 9 yr old son

"Mom, you always talk to yourself. You go hmklhjdkalkdfh."

(try and not care what he said. I'm still in my morning fog)

"Mom, you always do that with your mouth. Mom, what are you doing with your hand? Mom, why do you walk there all the time?"

"Urm.." (the mercury is arisin')

"Mom, you always blah blah blah blah (insert another annoying observation, most anything will suffice and probably be fairly accurate)."

(I gotta blow) "DON'T WORRY ABOUT WHAT I DO. GET READY FOR SCHOOL AND DON'T LOOK AT ME."

"But yesterday you laughed when I said you did something when we were at school."

"Yeah, but I was awake then. I'm sleepy and sick today."

"Can I say more stuff when you're awake and better?"

"Yeahyeah, whatever... just hurry up! "

"YESSSSSS!"

(I hid my snicker)

Me at a loss of words? Impossible

Here I am noticing I haven't written anything on this blog lately. And I realize I don't really have to, however, generally, I'm just not at a loss of words. Ever.

No matter what I do, I seem to morph the tiniest little things into massive stories. Perhaps not the kind to tell your grandchildren about, but nevertheless, stories generally come easy for me.

Anything can instigate a story. It might be the phone ringing constantly or the crunch of gravel as I walk down the dyke. My head is always spinning with a million things that come out of nowhere.

So what's my problem? I guess nothing. Here I have nothing to write and I'm writing about that too...

I think I'm overdue for a good long dyke walk again. Those walks having me dreaming and thinking and spying on backyards (did I say spy? I meant glance as I walk by) and generally, I have lots to say after a dyke walk.

I think the walks force one to think. We're so easily entertained by our beloved electronic devices that we don't take the time to think from our own selves. It's just way too entertaining reading about or watching others via TV. Thinking is good and ought to be practiced more often.

I also like thinking when I'm working on a project that takes a good long while and it's something I can basically do in my sleep. Staining woodwork components for my staircase was a pretty good example of that one. A whole lotta thinking outside that smelly room was being done right about then. Gardening is a good quiet place to escape within your own thoughts too. But the ground is still too frozen, so strike that one for now.

And apparently I think alot. Out loud even. Cody commonly comments, "Mom, you're talking to yourself again. You said.. giweroiq[oqw[poeoieruui". (I just did a spell check on this one.. it wants me to change this gobbledeegook to 'gerik.' My version is much better) I generally snicker and agree. I verbally play back some stuff I've gone through. No idea why as it's gone and all. But I do it and I get caught alot. While shopping in public too. A few eyebrows have raised my way as I mutter nothings to myself. When caught, I coach myself that I'm not all THAT weird. Just a little, er, eccentric perhaps?

I'm not that nerdy, so I wasn't even sure what eccentric truely meant so I wikepedia'd it.

Eccentric (mechanism), a wheel that rotates on an axle that is displaced from the focus of the circle described by the wheel.

Yup. Sounds like me to a T.

Anyway, I'm glad I could share this insightful post. I have no idea how it can be of help, but if you can find one teeny little thing that clicked for you, I salute you. Big.

What did I get out of this? I think it's that the wheel doesn't fall far from the axle. Unless you're stuck with a bad Costco buggy of course.

The dog dash

Whenever the weather cooperates, Cody, our dog Jenna, and I enjoy walking to school. So off we went this fine AM. It was one of those weird days where there were very few clouds and lots of blue sky but the sky continued to spit nonetheless.

Cody fussed abit about getting his head wet from the sprinkle, but I sort of, well, ignored him really, and moved on. No sooner did he stop complaining about he rain, he was dragging his feet through large puddles, just because. So much for staying dry.

As we approach the school, Cody suddenly goes "shhhh!" and stops. He peers around a tree to the left. Ah, I get it. There's a small stretch of sidewalk where we pass an open field with 3 dogs inside, only being held away from us with a chain link fence. When we walk past this stretch, the dogs furiously bark up a lung or three, watching Jenna happily jaunt past them. But Jenna also gets caught up in the bark-o-war, and although she doesn't bark back, she starts pulling on the leash and jumps up and down like a rabbit, dashing, stopping, going back, just, silly dog stuff that nearly yanks your arm off when attempting to hold onto her leash.

This isn't the first time Cody planned the 20 yard doggie dash. The dogs are generally on the other side of the field as there's a small barn they hang at. Much to Jenna's glee, Cody will suddenly bolt as fast as he can to the other side of the field. As if on cue, the dogs spot Cody and Jenna at the tail end of their sprint, and as aghast as they can possibly be, they surge forward in full yelpfest, thinking that'll stop the passing intruders. The end of the fiasco always has the dogs nearly running into the fence in massive protest, while I'm gulping for air from laughter.

Today was no different. We approached the right tree when I heard the "shhhhh" once again. I curiously stood back to watch today's installment, not really expecting anything to be different, but amused all the same.

It appears Cody has gained abit of confidence in knowing he'll beat the other dogs. Like all other days, he started the dash. Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee spot them and off they go. Cody had gained abit on them today so he bravely slowed down near the end of the dash, and started imitating the dogs.

"ROWRWROWEROEOWEORWEOWOEROWO!" He jumped up and down like a monkey powered on batteries on a trampoline. (My first thought was where'd the energy come from as he had complained the whole walk that he was tired.) Jenna jumped up and down like a rabbit. The dogs went FRANTIC.

There's still that element of the dogs crashing into the fence that's kinda freaky, so right before they did so, Cody disappears from their sight.

And all is quiet.

Except for me. I'm on my knees on the sidewalk, pulling my giggle act. That was some fine entertainment there!

Every morning we go for this walk, I forget about the dog dash. And every day we get there, I look forward to it. Today's show had that extra creative actor element attached, leaving me wonder how he'll top that one.

Daily dog dash is regularly scheduled at approx 8:10 AM near the local yokel school. Free viewings are weather permitting, not including puddles.