Disaster Aborted

 I talked to daughter about the situation. She was mad. I told her I wouldn’t go if the interlopers insisted on coming. Long story short, she reminded me that the grandkids have no connections to granddad except for these people. The kids need that connection. I caved. I need to put aside my feelings and have them come to make memories with that side of the family. As it is we never go to my home province to visit so those ties are slowly slipping away as us older members pass away.

Myself, my son and his son all have autism. We are all adults so don’t have the communication problems we had when they were growing up. I have a coworker that also has autism. Today, I needed him to do up his timesheet a certain way. He refused. He did finally do it a different way I suggested. He had it in his mind it was going to be lost if he did the entry my way. He must have gone through ten or twenty sheets of paper trying to be “right”. No matter I just changed it after he had signed it and handed it in. It was like trying to convince my son or grandson when they were younger. By the way, the company wants it done the way I have handled it in the past. I also notice that as he gets older (71) he is getting worse.

Now I can start month end. Yippie!

Jean

Well He**

 I looked hard for a nice cottage to rent for my 70th Birthday. We were telling my BIL and SUK about it. If they didn’t invite themselves and daughter heartily agreed. I will not be going as it won’t be the peaceful vacation I had planned and wanted with just my own family. The really sad part is that it was expensive and I am paying for it and I don’t have time to save up for another vacation. Why do people just invite without asking and why do people feel it is okay to invite themselves. My husband is no longer living. As far as I am concerned, they are only my kids aunt and uncle. They are not related to me. I don’t mind seeing them once in awhile for coffee but that is it. His family have no manners as they were brought up in a certain religious society that don’t have manners. 

Jean

February 13, 23

 The past week

No big deal on Valentine’s Day. I brought in a variety of goodies- cup cakes, 2 bite brownies and truffles. I dressed for the occasion. 

Yup, I am a Im an Old Bag but a spunky happy one.

The rest if the week was work and sleep. Wednesday did bring the end of my work week, so what did I do? If is the inside spring clean. It feels and smells so nice. Never mind that we have no idea when the warm weather of spring will arrive. Yup, the Centre Of Canada is cold, though the winter has been rather mild for these parts, it still will be at least a couple of months before I can clean up the deck. I am looking forward to starting garden plants soon.

The current week started with what is known as a Statutory Holiday. In Manitoba’s case called Louis Riel Day. I then worked two days and now am into a four day spread off days off. Today brought the apartment owners in to do an inspection, meaning them taking pictures of each room then leaving. It means they are starting a new apartment project. They wanted to see exactly how each apartment layout is used by tenants. With the pictures, the company can adjust spaces accordingly.

Daughter is off on vacation so we have invited ex BIL and SIL over for supper (dinner) tomorrow night. Haven’t seen them in awhile. A good visit will be had. I am certain that granddaughter will squeeze herself into the do.

It is to warm up soon again. Right now we have windchills of -45C

Jean

3023-02-15

 My first week of working three days was not what I expected. It was a whole lot slower than I thought it would be. I expected some residual work from last year, but none came. I am going to go ahead and day, it is all good. When I woke up Thursday, I for sure thought it was Friday. Guessing it will take a bit of time getting use to the extra day off.

I have a plan to work on one to two homemade gifts per month. Failing fast as I thought I had finished off an Afghan but nope it is in my opinion too short. I am picking out the castoff row and will continue on for another foot or so. I have the next five days off. Hoping to finish it.

Well, I received my first pay with the less hours. They docked me one days pay as the VP gave the wrong working days. That’s quite fine, next pay will be a bit extra. Alls good that ends well.

Yesterday we hit a high of +3C. Within a space of four - five hours we were at -27C, without the windchill. It snowed also which made for blizzard conditions in our area. All the roads were closed most of the night. Back to sun today and cold.

The soap is to add to my gift cupboard as is the Afghan. Sorry for the dark picture.

Three people at work have the new Covid variant. Also going around is the Norvovirus. In addition is a stomach virus. No throwing up with that one just spending a lot of time in the bathroom. Lots of people are back to travelling so to be expected. I try to stay away from people as much as I can.

We have booked a cabin/cottage for a week in summer. The kids are pumped. We usually do a camping trip. I sold my camper last year. We thought we would try this. If it doesn’t work, we will use DIL camper in the future.

I thought January’s grocery spend was low then I found another receipt. I am over by $75. Back to no spend for awhile.

Jean

31-January-23

 The end of January and we are just getting out first cold snap. It is in the -30+C each night and windchills into the -40s. We are going to get a bit of warming the end of the week. This is the time I usually get tired of winter. My mind is on gardening. I always seem to be a month or two ahead of the seasons.

Thursday is Groundhog Day here. It seems most places in Canada and a few in the US have Groundhog Day. If the creature sees his shadow, it means six more weeks of winter. It’s just a fun way to help get through winter. Winter isn’t going away no matter what he does.

It has been confirmed that brother has Alzheimers disease. We have known something was wrong for about five years. My SIL would call but he was always there so she couldn’t tell me. My daughter just came back from there and told me. I will call SIL once I know he is sleeping. At this point she is looking after him by herself six days a week and her daughter comes one day a week to give her respite. They are concerned about how I will take the news. Actually I am okay. It is a relief to know. This is the first Alzheimer’s in the family but we had two siblings with dementia.

I managed to go to the grocery store only twice during January. I was desperate for greens. I also went yesterday but will count that as my February shop. I am under budget for January. If this lot lastsFebruary, I will be under budget also.

As my daughter landed back home, she called to talk on her way home. She hit me first with the news above, then told me my youngest son was just landing in Tampa Fl and would be going on a seven day cruise. His boss is taking the whole crew. They work so hard and this is kind of swan song as my son takes over the reins at the end of this year. I knew they would be going on a trip at some point but that sneaker did not bother to tell me. Sh his brain doesn’t work that way. He knows I will eventually get the news through the family grapevine.

21-January-2023

 The last couple of weeks have been busy at work. Last  Wednesday we found out that for the next three months we will go to a four day week. For me that means a three day week. It was interesting to see how people reacted. Most were okay. A few not so much. Already they are running out to find part time income. All of them have spouses who are in well paying positions. A few already have part time jobs. What I find interesting is that if they would give up a few things, spend less on fancy foods, entertainment, they would be fine. I work in a research place where the whole staff are food scientists or are production specialist on food. Yet they do not see the obvious. Eat plain, eat less, waste less and grow a garden. All of them are in my children’s generation. Where did we go wrong as parents. In the quest to wanting a better life for our kids, most sadly missed the mark. Over and over my children and those of our friends were taught to be frugal and gave them the skills to live that way. My children thank me. My daughter is frugal to the point she still uses dishes etc that she got from the dollar store, from us or grandma. My youngest son is married to a gal who is super frugal and he is happy to let her handle it all. Yes they do discuss things but trusts her judgement as she was raised the way he was. My oldest son is frugal where he doesn’t spend any more than is needed. He has always been wonderful at budgeting and knowing how to have enough for future needs. I am happy both my husband and I came from very poor households. Every mother had a rag bag in those days. My mother had a rag corner, meaning my aunts and here would go to sales of used items. They would bring home not just home goods but lots of clothes that could be made into other clothes, blankets, towels etc. They hit the jackpot a few times so each ended up with rag corners or in one aunts case a shed. All items were rotated fast or it seemed like it. One time she bought a gorgeous fur coat. That became lining for winter jackets. My mom could look at something in a catalog, go through the corner and voila it was made then next day. She could make a pattern out of old newspapers. Needless to say, I was impressed.

01-06 January 2023

 January 1 - NewYears Day. Not much done just the usual cooking, straightening out,etc. I did spend considerable time knitting.

January 2. - Was  statutory holiday due to News Years being in a Sunday. Other than knit not much else happened as I knew I would have a busy week at work. Simple meals for sure.

January 3 - I was right. Head office wanted everything done yesterday. I ended up working an hour and a half extra. Went for a great walk upon arriving at home. So nice. Quick supper then off to bed. On the way to work I stopped and picked up some veggies and fruit. I have been doing without or frozen. I just needed some fresh.

January 4 - Another super busy day. I ended up working only three quarters of an hour overtime. My head could not hold another number. Had another great walk. So enjoying being outside.

January 5 - Work was really busy and other issues came up. I got the most important stuff over to head office, though I will be sending the documents again as they still need to be checked and signed off by the boss. Worked another 1 1/2 hours overtime. Not sure when I will be able to take it lol.

January 6 - I do not work on Fridays. Mostly because something is usually going on with the grandkids and even if they are older, often need rides or help. I started this when they were small and now with the price of gas and car maintenance it isn’t worth it to drive to the city for work that extra day. I made a spicy casserole out of brown rice, frozen peppers, carrots, celery, onions, leftover chicken some Rotel tomatoes and cheese. I had never tried Rotel tomatoes mostly because we did not have them in Canada. , Once we did get them, they were very expensive. I did get a deal of $1.00 each. The casserole is tasty. I knit, I read and watched a bit of Netflix. I needed a down day. After today the temperatures are on the rise, so will be out enjoying the warmth.

Frugality - Other than the fruit and veggies, I did not spend any money. I even was able to pupil a few shekels in my money can. Next week I will need an oil change and a fill up on gas. 

That’s it for the first week of the year. Oh I did a stock take of my fridge and freezer. I counted up 100 meals of all combinations. This did not include anything in my pantry. I am good for a long time. Yay.

J