Weekend Roundup

OK.. it's late Monday afternoon which seems to be the time I decide to blog about this or that. (had to save this to draft and continue it on Tuesday morning) It is long and windy!

I was out most of the day and when we got in, we had to watch the new 2 hour season opener of "24". Plus I needed to rest my back as it was really not all that good.

I am going to work backwards since that is easier to do instead of starting at a place that is kinda vague now. All the pain meds, plus the muscle relaxers and of course the sleeping pills do tend to make a lot of stuff all meld into one glob. Forgot to mention the 4 glasses of Sangria that floated my way yesterday.

Today(Monday) was a slow start since I had to drag myself out of bed whimpering in pain. Monday is the day I take my bone pill and have to wait half an hour before I ingest anything else. So I applied the ice pack for 15 minutes and then the magic heat bag, watch a little morning TV. Frank gets up, makes the coffee and the buzzer goes off. I take some pain meds, make breakfast and keep changing the hot with the cold. Eat and get dressed, out the door on the way to the hospital to get the x-ray.

The new highway from Grenville to Lachute has at last been finished so it only takes us 30 minutes to get to Hawksbury. Getting the x-ray was a breeze, now all I need to do is wait till my doc gets the results and gives me a call.. a week to ten days.

I am wondering how long I can stay in this semi-stupor from all the muscle relaxants I am taking every 4 hours. Off to have a nice lunch.. yumm a western omelet. Back to Lachute to see Ana and do a few errands. Then we head on home.

So on Sunday, I awoke at my daughter's, climb up the stairs from the basement bed and greet my adorable one. She sees me and says, "Gama"! What a great way to start the day. We have to get ready to be on the road to the west island by noon. There are two football games that must be watched and my x-sis in law has a new big screen. We arrive to warmth and great smells. The dinner tonight will be a choice of 3 different lasagnas.

Anyway, we have to eat some lunch first which is a big platter filled with all sorts of yummy things to put on warm crusty bread. The reason for the family get together is my niece's 21st birthday. She and her b/f aren't there just yet so I have a wonderful time yakking with my x-sis in law her b/f and my 14 yr old nephew. Hannah is really taking center stage doing all sorts of too cute to be believed things.

My younger brother won't be attending this party. He has not called me since just after my mother died 2 years ago. We all figure he has decided to disown his siblings and his nieces and nephews.

Hannah goes down for her nap and the earnest football watching commences. The first game is American football. The Pats win and so they then gear up for the Canadian football game. My niece arrives along with some other family members - more food is served and wine happens. Lots of talking and laughing. Hannah gets up and we have more fun playing with her. Old toys belonging to my niece and nephew are pulled out. As you can imagine, there is a lot of squealing. Miniature dogs, rabbits, gerbils, and turtles are examined and lined up for inspection. Cars are zoomed around the floor.

Meanwhile the grups are organizing the main course. I set out the napkins and cutlery in a box, we are eating a-la-knee. The food will be placed on the table and everyone must dig in and find a spot to sit. Along with the pasta dishes, we had Cesar salad and big toasted chunks of garlic french bread.

After the gang had all satiated themselves, watching the Grey Cup was the main focus for all the males. We all assembled in the TV room. Little Hannah had 3 dogs of various sizes to play with. Her Finnegan, Tracy the house dog and Bijou, another visitor. She was so funny. Bernie had her throwing her arms in the air and shouting touch-down. The ham in her really came out. We had her saying the names of every person in the room. Pierre is a hard one to say. When they left, I figured she would conk out on the drive home. Apparently she didn't. We left and took Jessica home. Oh, our home team did not win the cup but it was a good fight right to the bitter end.

Saturday was my babysitting and sleep over date with Hannah. Frank dropped me off just before lunch. Hannah's main occupation that whole day before and after naps was pouring a handful of tiny white pebbles from one play container to another. I was witnessing toddler physics in action. It may seem to a lot of you a mundane and boring thing to watch, but believe me, this activity was a "hoot". I guess this reaction comes along with the mantel of gamma. Jaime and Bernie had a wedding to attend.

The bride is a very dear friend who she has been close to since kindergarten. Sarah is a nurse and she married a doctor. This is the couple who expedited Jaime's Chron's diagnosis last year. I am forever thankful that they saw the red flags in her symptoms and get her to the best specialist in the field.

Hannah and I spent a lovely time together. She went down to sleep without much fuss. I am a very lucky Gamma indeed.

I forgot to mention we had the most wonderfully-delicious birthday cake, after all what is a party without CAKE!

Hannah did the dancing!

It is snowing now and has been most of the night. We have a good 8-10 cm on the deck. This is a GOOD thing. Frank needs to get back to work. The more snow we get, the sooner Avila (ski hill) opens up an he can start earning money again, since I still have more Christmas shopping to do. Apparently there are bargains galore out there and A'h needs to get me some!

Recent photo of my precious one.. notice how short her bang are. Actually, no shorter than mine were at the same age. Her words are coming fast and furious. Even the French ones. I must convince Frank to speak to her only in Spanish.