Now that is worth a laugh or a fart in sympathy. hahaha

LMAO pinga!  That's hilarious!  Sometimes a guy's just gotta do what a guy's gotta do!! Nice of him to report on it - what's up with those men & farting!  They are ever so proud!! 

I'm off to do a little gardening this evening ... good for my soul after a very hectic week at work.   And then I'll take some of those pancakes birthstone, if there are any of the special gluten-free ones left :-) 

And hugs to all who are weather bound, be safe. 

Pinga, I'm sure some of your coworkers had a good laugh afterwards!

lol, and this man, who says he is deaf, heard his name called from across a large room by a young woman who was not facing him....hah.... busted! those hearing aids work quite well.  selective hearing indeed.

glad I could make you laugh

LOL Pinga! I am reminded, somehow, of the Walter the Farting Dog books - has anyone read any of them?

My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the floods in BC and Alberta. May you all be safe.

Walter the Farting Dog was written by a local man.  Funny!

Pinga, you have the gift of making your frustrating story sound funny. It's good to be able to laugh at it. Otherwise you might have to cry. Underneath I can see what a trial it is to deal with your father and his moods.

To upthread a bit-yes galine break was in Turner ValleNo liaons and tigers are not in Courthouse tho Zoo is flooded in Calgary-all animals are safe in zoo.

There is an awesome video of a young man and his cat in High river-he drove back for his indoor cat-suddenly his truck got flooded and he escaped thru the back window-his cat was quite the swimmer and they both made it to shore-a happy video in the midst of devatation=a friend left after the water filled her walkout basement-it took 1 minute to fill!

Other friends are evauated-one friend has offered a place to stay for those iin need-here's praying for some sunshine!

and Seeler-there are routes around the washed out roads. Your trip will be fine!

Tabitha - It will be awhile before I reach Alberta and BC.  I'm looking forward to seeing you, and others along the way.  I expect that the flooding will be over - but oh, the damage!   I live on a hill and am safe (except for that freak pre-Christmas melt a few years ago).   But NB rivers flood every few years; usually earlier in the spring with ice jams and/or heavy rains addint to snow melt.  Last year the village of Perth-Andover upriver on the St. John flooded quite quickly after an ice jam.  We drove up a few weeks later and people had furniture, mattresses, appliances, sheetrock and all sorts of things piled out by the curbs awaiting clean-up.  Some houses and other buildings were completely destroyed; others moved to higher ground.  And every now and then someone comes in to our church in the capital city downriver looking for help, having lost their home in Perth and trying to relocate.    It ain't fun!    Kind thoughts and prayers are going to the people of Alberta and BC at this time.  

Pickles and me! Such a homie

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My granddaughter and her dog Pickles

We love Walter the Farting Dog around here!!

~ 4 kids + a daycare :)

Welcome back BAT!  Hopefully you'll be around for a while :)

I haven't read Walter the Farting Dog.  I might have to check it out sometime!

Beautiful great-granddaughter - and the dog isn't bad either!

Actually, Crazyheart, when I read the title "Pickles and Me" and saw that you were posting, I wondered "Is she trying to pull my leg?" I expect to find you looking good when I drop by, but I don't really expect a teenager!

I'm glad the fart story made you laugh, folks.  Yes, Seeler, there is a lot of suckign breath and sometimes I get so frustrated that I actually say something...

Yesterday was addressing a desire to have a phone you could talk to and it would call you.  We went to the store, had wonderful staff, but, the message kept coming back "i can't feel the buttons".  Sigh, you can have a phone that you can talk to (smartphone) or you can have a phone with big buttons (landline), it is hard to find one with both.  Frustrating trying to understand what the real concern was.  Turns out it is about, if I fall or am in the backyard and get sick, i want the phone to call you.  

Lots of challenges, financial and family-related regarding his home, an agreement of care, and $$.  Found out last night from one of the key parties that the date given me as July is really June 30th to have it all together.  This person knew that I was headed to travel today, and was planning on doing all the work the first week in July.  Nice.  Hard not to see sabatoge in that one..but, doing my best.  I have now cancelled my trip .  I ma hopeful, though, that in a week, one of the hardest things to deal with regarding my Dad will be done...and put away.  Not looking forward to this week.

Pinga - my prayers are with you. May you make it through this week with grace and may you feel surrounded by love.

CH - cute pic!

Today was Celebration Sunday at church, which involves a celebration of the children and youth ministries and the church picnic. The picnic was an indoor affair this time around due to the weather. The good news is, we seem to have sent our warm dry weather eastward, where they need it more than we do.

The picnic involved good food, good friends and a fun puppet show. No games this time around - by the time the puppet show was done, everyone wanted to head home.

Pinga, would one of the cellphones intended for seniors suit your Dad's needs better?

I have googled, but do you have an idea of one chemgal?

you may have one that i haven't looked at, or that bell didn't offer

(ps, I really need a phone that is good for a senior, someone who is visually impaired, and hard of hearing

The main one I know of is the Jitterbug phone.  I don't know of a service provider in Canada for it though.  I'm sure there must be something, I'll see what I can dig up.

http://gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/cell-phones-for-seniors-question-fo...

The doro mentioned in that link keeps coming up.

That was the one that I was just looking at....i will dig around, chemgal.

Thanks, much appreciated.

His friend has a blackberry curve, which works well because he is visually impaired, but, is not that old, and so, seems to be able to learn the functions.  not sure if dad could...

My grandparents share a cellphone that my parents bought them years ago.  It's not a seniors phone, but their eyesight and hearing aren't too bad.  The phone is rather basic, and they looked for one with the biggest buttons in the store.

They don't know all the functions, and don't need to.  They can call someone, hangout and learned they didn't need to move the phone back and forth from their ear to their mouht.  My parents did add contacts which my grandparents weren't happy about, but they are there in case a bystander needs to contact someone.  They do actually use it!

Pinga,

I think it's essential to consider the person the phone is for......

My Mum is 88 and finds a cell phone too confusing. But luckily, she is in a retirement unit and she has a call button beside her toilet -and another she's supposed to wear round her neck in case she has a fall.

My MIL was in her nineties, and before she was assessed as incapable of looking after herself independantly, we (the family) paid for a "Vita Call" -which she wore around her neck. She had a fall, and broke her hip when we were on holidays - but the Vita Call connected her to the ambulance service. She'd locked the house - so they had to break in and take her to hospital........ The Vita Call folks had our cell phone number and rang us.......

If your Dad won't , or can't, manage a cell phone perhaps you have a similar service in Canada?

Already I have difficulties....... I asked my grandson to switch off that text thingie that wants to "guess" what I'm about to say. (it clearly has tremendous difficulty in understanding how my mind works)

More thoughts..........

It's often difficult for seniors to admit to bafflement with modern technology.....They were once the ones who instructed you - and the change of roles in not often welcomed, due to pride.

I have trouble reading cellphones that have large buttons - I still need my reading glasses.

But, for me, that's not the problem. The problem is a confusing array of functions that I don't require in a cell phone....... I don't think I'm alone.

Pilgrim - you are not alone.

My father is an anomaly. He is 84 and has a flip phone. It was his idea to text me when I was in Ontario last summer.He has always had a geek side though I suppose, since he was a Ham Radio operator when we were growing up. He seems to have decent vision or at least decent glasses, or both. Pilgrim, we do have a similar service here. I don't know what it is called, but it is easy to find. Pinga should be able to find out about it fairly easily.

We do have those things, it's called LifeLine.

That's not what he wants, though.

thanks everyone.

LifeLine is a great thing - sometimes it's worth it to get a rep to come to the house to demonstrate - many folks think they know what's all about, but they do not - so seeing exactly how it operates is very helpful.  They do have a range of about 300 feet & operate out in the yard.  There is even one now that automatically senses when a person falls & if they do not move in a specified time period it will autodial without the person having to anything at all!  Men often like the 'wrist band' call button - looks more like a watch - rather than the 'necklace' style fob.  Maybe it doesn't have to be either/or - but both/and - or Lifeline until a suitable phone can be located?  Most are monthly contracts.  Sometimes positioning it as "I'll feel better if I know you can easily get help" rather than "you need this" can be helpful.

So stressful for you pinga ... hugs & gentle thoughts coming your way. 

Another thought - our local Seniors Centre has a 'friendly call' service for those who live alone - a volunteer calls daily just to say hello & make sure all seems fine.  Some folks who are isolated appreciate that & can chat with folks outside the family :-)  (bonus!)

I loved this post on "Rock the Bible" today.

Good thng for me to help with positive energy and conversation

1. To know you are loved and to love others.
2. To know you are forgiven and to forgive others.
3. To know you are appreciated and to be able to show appreciation to others
4. To find closer and say good-bye in meaningful ways

It dawned on me that if I spend time doing his funeral service with him and documenting his music requests it will help him with #4., and in a way #3  (It is something he wished a while ago during depression, but, probably a good time to do it)

Thanks Carolla and others.

There are some things going on which I can't really talk about, but, should help relieve stresses which are chronic and hurting him.It wiill be good to have it behind us so that we can move on with other items.  
 

Good morning PInga - sounds like you need a hug too.  As much as we laugh, those #4s and the 3,2,1s sometimes need our attention and honor.  I can't imagine that it is easy to bring up or work on his funeral service.  Maybe it is easier now than setting it aside any longer. 

Thinking about you, Pinga.......and sending you a virtual hug.

Just dropping in quickly.  I seem to share so much bad news, it's time for some good!

Chemguy just found out he'll be getting a decent-sized raise.  After some delays because of the situation in Alberta, our mortgage has been approved.  The raise is easing some of that knot feeling in my stomach with making such a large purchase even though I know we could afford it before his raise.

Lots of work to get done in the next month, but it's for good reasons!  Now if you all will just contribute to our furnish the house fund, we'll be set .  lol I think it's going to take us a while to funish it to where we would like it.

how wonderful is that chemgal.....i am happy for you.

Things are also moving along on this end.  I am trying to remember to separate the financial aspects of a situation from teh family/love part of it.

Times are challenging, but, the movement to remove the challenge is good.

Thanks Pinga!

Glad to hear you got things started.  I'm horrible at those types of conversations.  I had Chemguy bring up the will thing with my parents.  It sounds like they are just as bad, as they haven't really set anything up.  I can see a few possible situations happening in the next few years where it might come up, so I'm going to procrastinate on talking to them about it more.

Chemgal - that's the best situation - to get the mortgage, and then the raise!  Wishing you low rates and willpower to sock away some extra cash, while you sleep easy.  Worth a happy dance!
 

What a day!  My girl graduated, and we were all surprised - she won an award for English!    These are up & down days, and today was Up all the way. 

Yeah chemgal! and furnishing can take time. Nothing wrong with starting with cast off or goodwill furniture and upgrading as you go!

Youngest is celebtarating tonight. Grad parade prom and then an all niter at school called dry grad.

And to make his mother happy-math tuor booked for Tues-he'll get the self study done

and he's applied for a bunch of jobs-he needs 100hours in one place to get work experience credit.

 I'd be really pleased if physics was the only course he needed to pick up in the fall!

Or exercise balls, right?  lol

We pulled out the stuff from the storage room today.  I knew I had a bunch of empty shoe boxes way at the back.  Filled up some of those.  Found some exercise balls.  One was used for a while but was put away.  I had picked up the extra because they were cheap and I thought they might not last super long and wanted the backup.  We really don't have furniture for the tv area.  I think we'll put our current beat up stuff in the living room until we buy something for there, then this old stuff will go to the tv area.  In the meantime for tv we will have exercise balls, yoga mats, and maybe the 2 small ottomens can go there too.

Interior design really isn't my thing.  Luckily, we like the paint colours, the knobs on the cabinets and all that other stuff that often gets replaced, so we have a starting point.

It will be the opposite of what we have going on right now.  We only put filled boxes into the storage room, so we have a bunch of boxes for dishes, glasses, etc. plus all the big ones scattered everywhere.  Chemguy was joking that he won't be able to get out the door tomorrow morning.

Sorry, I'm rambling, it's time for bed!

it's good to hear your joy, planning in your writing, chemgal

Accomplishment for today:  I found the package of TP!

Nice one Chemgal - believe me, we are all very glad you did!! 

Update - my daughter GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And she feels good!  And she graduated with an award!!  It is as if the stars shifted, and the fates aligned.  Hopefully we have some smiles around here for a good while.

Happy Dancing for Birthstone!!

Packing boxes for Chemgal!!

It's going to be a busy long weekend I think :-) 

Pinga - I was at an event today at work & picked up a card from the LifeLine folks - they now have a mobile app that looks helpful to people trying to coordinate care etc. - and it's FREE!  Thought you might be interested.   Here's a link to the website - http://www.lifeline.ca/content/english/medical_alert_service/how_lifeline_works/carepartners_app

(I must say, it was nice to see the sample appointment was "Take Mom to OT" :-)  

Just curious ... did anything get organized as a get-together with Pilgrims?  She should be arriving any day now ... personally, I think she just wanted to see the Pride Parade again 

Thanks, that is great.

I agree Carolla, and I didn't hear if we could get together, but she said she would contact me.

Yay Birthstone - congrats to your daughter! You must be so proud of her!

Chemgal - how exciting life is for you right now! When will you move?

It's a time of transition around here. Yesterday was the last day of school, so today we had a "Pro D Day." I worked one on one with a child that I had never worked with before, but it went really well. Fortunately, I have known the child for a couple of years now and he likes me - I've just never had the opportunity to work with him before. We spent the morning at a local playground and the afternoon reading, making crafts and playing games at the Centre. We ended it up with a big Canada Day BBQ for all of the families in our day care and school aged care programs. We have over 200 kids in all of these programs, so you can imagine how many people were at the BBQ!

Day camp starts next week!

We're waiting to see if we can get a few extra days in the apartment.  We have possession on July 31, and are hoping we can go and clean all the carpets before moving our stuff in.  There's still quite a bit to do before we get the keys!

Tabitha and Birthstone, it sounds like both your kids have some great things going on now that grade 12 is done!

Somegal, that sounds like quite the BBQ!

Just to clarify-grade 12 cermonies were attended but 3 courses reamin to get done!

He will get to them. Fatigue/anxiety and depression are all seeming much better. Seems the current drugs are working.

He's been applying for summer jobs-to complete work experince credits and I hope he finishes math this summer. Tutor is arriving Tues.

Yay! Summer is here!

lol So our storage room is nice and clean and 75% empty.  Ditto for the shelf in the closet by the door.  DId the same for the closet in our bedroom, except we pretty much filled it with the empty boxes for stuff we'll want to use this month.

Somehow trying to organize everything has just created a huge mess, along with a bunch of dust.  I'm amazed at how often some people move without going crazy!  I think we'd be pretty happy if we lived until our 90s and died in the same house!

Yes packing! My hint is to label outside of box with room and contents-tho at the end I just wrote room and etc!

Designate a corner of living room for packed ready to go boxes.

The task seems overwhelming but is finite!

You can do it!

I am also packing, Chemgal.  Went & picked up 3 boxes from lcbo.

Dad has decided to give some of the china to their designated homes.  Good to do for multiple reasons.

His tools are also being dispersed in the next few weeks.

Yours will be more at once, but, I am aware of how much people accumulate in a lifetime.