05/04/09
Apr 26 (Sun): We got back about noon from a lovely weekend getaway in Niagara Falls, back at the same hotel, the Sheraton Fallsview, where we had our wedding reception last year. We booked this back when we found out Andy's chemo was done then I took Friday afternoon off work so we could beat the rush. The package included 2 nights accommodation with a double-jacuzzi tub, $50 dinner voucher for the in-hotel restaurant, "A Cut Above Steakhouse", 2 mornings at the Breakfast Buffet, 2 days of free shuttle-bus around town, and this was our view.
The tub got lots of use! After all, the point of the weekend was R&R - for both the care-givee and the care-giver. It was jam-packed with baths, naps, eating, and more baths and naps.
Friday night after dinner, we went for a walk and found ourselves at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort. We've been there before to the Galleria, but this time we decided to go in to the casino and have a look around, then we played some slots for half an hour. Andy started with $10 and ended up with zero. I started with $20 and was down to less than 5 at one point, but finally found a machine I liked and made a few bucks back.
Back at the hotel, Andy kept a close watch on the lighting of the falls.
Of course, one of my favourite parts of the weekend was the breakfast buffet. So much food.....bacon, sausage, french toast, scrambled eggs, waffles, oatmeal, strawberries, apples, whipped cream, pancakes, home fries...
Cereals, yogurt, grapefruit, pineapple, pears, peaches, oranges, cantaloupe....
Muffins, croissants, and pastries galore.
Saturday, after a soak in the tub (and I brought lots of Epson Salts), the breakfast buffet and a nap, we took the shuttle over to Clifton Hill - a crazy busy, fun to some, part of town.
Out front of one of the 3 wax museums:
We weren't there for the craziness, but to walk down the hill to get to "The Maid of the Mist" ride. This is the dock with the American Falls in the background.
American Falls up close - it still has big ice chunks in the middle.
It's very difficult to get an up close shot of the Canadian Falls from the boat as the mist is so heavy - and it was very windy. The tower in this picture is where we got married, and the high-rise on the left is the Sheraton Fallsview, nicely tucked away at the end of town, away from the noise and chaos.
After some lunch on Clifton Hill, we caught the shuttle back to the hotel for more napping and soaking. Andy was pretty worn out, so we had dinner in the hotel again, this time in "Stanley's Lounge". Afterward, we went for a stroll. It had been 25o on Friday and Saturday, then Saturday it got more and more windy, and then just as we had sat ourselves down on a bench (during our stroll) to enjoy the live band in the open-front restaurant across the street, rain spits started to come down. About 15 minutes after we got back to the hotel, it was pouring, and this morning there was pea soup. These shots were taken when we could actually start to see something.
Since the weather had changed (it was only about 8o), Andy was quite knackered, and I read in the paper that there had been a bad storm with 100 kph winds on the Toronto side of the lake, we decided to head home. Check out this story. Luckily, there was no damage at our place.
Anyone who was at our wedding reception might recognize this next picture. It turns out you can get the giant Manicotti in the hotel restaurant too. This is the stuff that we had as our pasta course, but that mostly filled everyone up (although we had rosé sauce, not red). I ordered it for my entrée on Friday night, but after an appetizer and salad, I could only eat one of the three pieces. Happily, I got to bring the rest home.
Friday, on the way to the Falls, we stopped in Niagara on the Lake at the Box Office of the Shaw Festival and got tickets for a couple of plays later in the summer. We were also looking for some lunch and had excellent timing because a play had just started. We ended up shaded slightly from the heat with the very pretty, very peaceful courtyard, overlooking green fields, all to ourselves. It was a great way to start our relaxing weekend.
Speaking of relaxing, or trying to, I've had a terrible couple weeks with my back. It must be some kind of delayed whiplash. Not only was I having migraines almost daily, but between my shoulder blades felt like someone had torn the muscles into strips. Andy decided it was time I tried a TENS machine - it stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. This is the one we got - "Cefar Easy" TENS machine. It uses regular AA batteries and send pulses to the electrode pads that stick to your skin. Andy's Mum has used one of these for years. I think it's helping a bit.
Apr 20 (Mon): Andy got the camera back today, so now the missing pictures. Early last week, I came home at lunch to find a fairly large box sitting on our doorstep. When I saw it was from Surrey, BC, I wondered if someone had sent us a chunk of a stolen car. It turned out to be a WONDERFUL care package for Andy from Joanne (and Rod) in BC.
There was revitalizing "Whistler Water", 2 puzzles, a toque, a little book of quotes, a Project Management book, and......the wig. Andy's been wearing the 2010 Vancouver Olympics toque most of her waking hours. It's soft and warm and looks really good on her - and she wore the wig to Mom and Dad's yesterday - everyone had a huge giggle! She also got to work on one of the puzzles straight away.
And now to prove that Andy really has fallen in love with the garden cart......
Our hike to Dundas Peak.
Overlooking the Dundas Country Club and Golf Course, with the rail line and Hwy 8 on the right.
Tews Falls from the path on the other side of the ravine.
Apr 19 (Sun): We forgot the camera at Mom and Dad's this afternoon, so no proper "Show and Tell" today (but I'll do my best with lifts from the net). We met Scot, Monica, and the kids there at noon for a kind of really early Father's Day gathering. We each took some food and I BBQ'd burgers. After everyone was done, we brought in Dad's surprise.
It's his very own Wii. He'd asked for one when Mom figured out their tax return - although he called it a "Willy", which we all think is hilarious. So, Scot and Monica chipped in with Mom and got him one. Andy & I then got a second controller and battery charging set. We set it up for them today and even imported the Miis from our Wii. I exported them earlier thinking I would have to save them to a memory stick, but they actually save to a controller, so then I just took that with us and imported from it. When we left, Dad and Scot were playing golf and then when the house was quieter, Mom beat Dad twice at Bowling. Well, she's had lots more practice since we play whenever she stays overnight. When Andy & I got home, we watched the very wet Chinese Grand Prix and tonight it's game 3 of the Vancouver Canucks vs the St Louis Blues in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
Yesterday, we went for another hike, but a little bit farther this time doing 3.2 km. From Tews Falls we walked out to the Dundas Peak and back. It was an absolutely gorgeous day - got up to 24o C, I was in shorts, and Andy even had stripped down from 4 layers to just 2 (today was windy and only 8o). Andy did much better this week with an increased pace and more stamina, but we made sure not to overdo it. We then stopped at Zellers on the way home as they had something on sale that we wanted.
It's 12' x 30" and the water gets about 2' deep. This is our temporary "bag of water" until we get a dipping pond in future years. For now, we just want something to cool off in and be able to float on.
Friday night, we went to Lowes as they had stones on sale that we need for the bottom of our garden containers and boxes (for drainage purposes) and while there we looked at wheelbarrows. We'd been checking them out in flyers and online since the big bag of dirt arrived. I really didn't want a regular wheelbarrow since I have been having a lot of back trouble lately, so I convinced Andy to look at garden carts as an alternative. We saw a couple and then, after much debate, got this one (it was also cheaper than most wheel barrows).
We started assembling it Friday night, finished Saturday morning and since then Andy has fallen in love with it. She's been removing turf from the spot we are moving the roses to and then adding dirt from the bag, so has been hauling stuff around. It supposedly holds 600 lbs although I doubt we will ever try that. I love the big, fat, sturdy tires, and Andy loves the "balanced" dumping feature - once you start lifting the back of the tub, the front wheels move under the carriage, so it takes little effort.
Had a nice dinner out Wednesday night. Kelsey's is just down at the corner, so almost too easy to go to. Andy enjoyed her Chicken Alfredo (she's got all her taste-buds working again), but I was shocked at my Cracked Peppercorn Sirloin Burger and HIGHLY recommend it!!! (but with salad of course).
That's all I've got to tell for now till I get the pictures off the camera. Stay tuned sports fans, and take care.
Apr 13 (Mon): Introducing......the Egg-Head!......the Easter Egg-Head that is!
We painted Andy up for Easter dinner with the family on Friday. It may have been my idea, but she hopped right on it.
As expected, there was quite a reaction when we arrived, but they had done lots of decorating so were in the spirit themselves already. We started the afternoon with the Easter treasure hunt, written by Andy. She created clues and put them in plastic eggs. While Mom and I distracted the kids in the basement, the others hid the eggs. Then Scot & Andy stomped on the floor while Monica YELLED, "The Easter Bunny is here!!!" The kids went berserk and ran screaming upstairs. Grace even ran outside, down to the sidewalk, then in both directions trying to find that very fast Easter Bunny. When they came back inside, they found they'd been left a new basket, with Cadbury bunnies sitting on clue #1.
They then ran frantically around the house finding the eggs, cracking them open, reading the next clue, then on we went through 6 eggs till they reached the treasure at the end - one skateboard and one set of rollerblades, plus some clothes and minimal chocolate.
Then we had some more presents all around - in fact, it was almost like Christmas.
Before dinner, we played the Bunny Game. You roll a die with colours that directs you to build the bunny tower, then you roll to know which colour to pull out using a carrot with a hook on the end. You have to try not to be the person who causes the tower to fall. Monica lost.
Dinner was a yummy group effort. Mom made a Mustard-Glazed Ham, Andy and I made Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, Monica made 5 types of veggies and Grace helped her make a Carrot Cake.
Saturday morning, we went for a "hike", Andy's first major outing to Webster's and Tews' Falls. In total, we slowly walked about 2 kilometres. It was nice to sit by Spencer Creek in the sun, eating our lunch, but it was still cold. Andy needed two hoodies and her windbreaker. The water was running very fast.
It's rare you can actually see the path/stairway through the brush.
On the way home, we stopped by Costco to return something. Andy wanted to have another look at the kayaks we had seen previously. We had been doing some price comparisons online and found that this was an excellent deal. But then when we found there were only two left, we decided to jump in the water, so to speak.
It turned out there were actually several more back in the loading bay, but by the time we found that out we were already committed. In any case, we have wanted our own kayaks for about 10 years, so it's about time! These came with paddles, spray skirts, and car carrying foam and straps. Now, we just need some warmer weather. We never did get all that snow predicted last weekend - only about 1 cm. It's been slowly warming up again and is supposed to get to 17o by Saturday, but then drop again.
Last night, we went to Kathy & Denise's and had a nice, second Easter Dinner. Denise made a turkey and some really good stuffing in her Crock Pot. We were also joined by Carol and a lady named Linda, who we had not met before. She and Denise walk together. Beryl had dropped by too but didn't stay for dinner. We got sent home with leftover turkey and Angel Food Cake.
Today, Andy went to Home Depot in the afternoon. They had a paint and stain sale on for 5 days only! Well, considering they were closed Friday and Sunday, it was really a 3-day sale. We wonder what moron planned that! Andy'd gone over yesterday to find that she had to go back today. Afterward, she picked me up from work and when we arrived home we found this. The Tazmanian Devil had struck.
From what we can surmise, Comet went upstairs, which is a BIG no no. That is Casper's turf and from the looks of things, Comet got her butt whipped. She was bleeding from one leg and just under an eye. By the time I was able to get a picture it wasn't looking quite as bad.
Andy says it's my fault because I told Sheri (at work) this morning that the girls had not had any big blow-outs lately, like when she and Brad house-sat last August. The baby-gate keeping the girls apart has now been deployed full-time till we are over this set-back.
Last week we had our big bag of dirt delivered. Andy managed to crawl out of bed from her afternoon nap to watch the delivery. (She still needs to sleep a couple hours in the morning and a couple more in the afternoon, but today she started working from home for one hour per day.)
We're not going to do a lot of landscaping this summer, but we are going to plant a container garden for vegetables, move the roses from the side of the house to a new bed in the back yard, and move the rhododendrons to a new bed in this area in front of the fence.
And finally, Andy is excited that the rhubarb is not only still alive, but seems to continue growing!
Apr 5 (Sun): This is crazy.....today is +10o, yesterday we swapped the winter tires on the car for new summer tires, our crocuses are blooming, and yet we have a forecast for 15 - 25 cm of snow tomorrow!
Andy finished the sphere puzzle on Thursday and we then noticed.....there is no way to get it apart again! We guess it is staying around a while!
The car is fixed. It went in Wednesday, a used bumper got put on it, and I picked it up again Thursday. They did an excellent job matching the paint colour. One bonus with the bumper being replaced is that the scrape on the side of it that we got some time in the winter when the snow was bad (somebody scraped us in a parking lot) is also now gone. Andy had tried to buff it down, but then there was still a dull, lighter spot in the metallic paint. The rental car I had was a Pontiac G5.
It certainly wasn't my favourite. The back window felt more like a slit and then the wing also obscured the view, plus the small back windows and thick bar between the windows made for overall terrible blind spots.
Friday, Steven came for a visit and brought us some yummy Banana Bread and Veggie Soup. He visited for a while and stayed for dinner, as did Mom, but she stayed overnight. I'd asked her to come when we still thought Andy would be having more chemo, but then we ended up doing each other favours (she drove me to drop off and pick up the car for the new tires, and I washed her duvets in our larger washing machine) and had a nice visit on top of all that. After Steven left, the 3 of us had a game of Catopoly.
Poor Andy has not regained her luck. She kept getting into trouble while Mom kept landing on Catnip (Free Parking). In the end I had to buy all of Andy's properties to help her break even - and free of the game. When the clock ticked down to our chosen end-time, Mom and I counted up our money and were about even - and really it was only 7 minutes after Andy started "living on the streets" anyway.
Saturday morning, the 3 of us had a game of Carcassonne and I'm afraid Andy and Mom had really sore bottoms after that game too!
Speaking of games, earlier in the week we picked up Cadoo for Ben and Grace for Easter. It's the kids version of Cranium.
Today, Andy is very happy!!! We put her new workbench together this morning.
It presented some challenges with the instructions, but we just took our time and discussed our interpretations.
As for Andy's health, recovery continues. She still needs lots of naps but less all the time, and her appetite is very good. Today, I made her another batch of "fatty" chili and another "fatty" meat loaf, all put in the freezer for quick and easy meals.