Can You Hear Me Now?

ETA: I changed the Phantoms video at the bottom, because I realized as much as I love “Target”, it doesn’t have Jerome on harmonica in it, and that’s kind of important to me!

Friday, September 14

The day began, if I recall correctly, with Gaby and Emma going out to get coffee and bagels from Tim Horton’s. (I tell ya, those two were a great help to me and I was lucky to have them there!) I think after eating and getting dressed and everything we went down to the computer area on the main floor. I was under the impression that every time we logged in with my name and room number that I was being charged $7/hour. Turns out, it was free for hotel guests!! Otherwise we would have spent more time online.

Anyway, around 1:00 Gaby and Emma wheeled me outside and we headed to Rob and Cath’s place, which was pretty darn close. They live in a great area (and in the same building as Scott and Stacey, so you can’t go wrong there!) Cath was at work, so us girl’s took over the apartment while Rob made us tea and served a variety of cheeses with rice crackers. With all of his allergies, Rob had a couple different kinds of goat cheese (I didn’t even know there was a Goat Brie!!) for himself and Emma. I ate the smelly cheese. I love EXTRA EXTRA OLD cheddar and blue cheese!

On the way over to Rob’s we had passed by the Rex, where the Hogtown Syncopators play every Friday at 4:00. I knew this, of course, because Terra is was a member and I post her show dates on her website. I had forgotten that I recently took down that particular gig because she no longer does it. So that day I was all set on us going to the Rex at 4:00 to see Terra. (At this point I figured it may be my only chance to see her while in Toronto… turns out I didn’t get to see her at all, which is too bad, because I was really looking forward to hanging with her and shopping!) Anyway, I managed to cry and whine talk Rob into heading down there with us. Once there, we realized that Terra wasn’t joining them, so we left. Which was rude (”oh? Terra’s not with you? Uh - okaybyethen”), because Rob knew the guitarist and he felt rather foolish just walking out, plus they are a great band and any other time I would love to see them. But I really was just hoping to see Terra and we didn’t have a lot of time.

So instead we wandered down to the bus depot so Rob could buy a bus ticket for Cath (or, I should say, so Emma could get it for him at her student discount rate!) where I met a man riding around on his very beat up and tattered scooter. The exact same make of scooter I have at home, but in blue. He started talking to me about scooters and health and the government (”they won’t get me a new scooter because I’m terminal”). He looked pretty beaten down by life (and alcohol).

After that, Rob walked us back to the hotel. We went up to our room to freshen up. Gaby and Emma were going for dinner with Peter at Sneaky Dees, followed by seeing Adam’s band at Mitzi’s Sister. I was heading out with my friend Anna-Marie and her boyfriend for dinner, and to see my old friend Jerome Godboo’s show at Healey’s Roadhouse for his CD release. I sooooo wish I could have been in two places at once that night!!

So the original plan was that Anna-Marie and Edwin would pick me up, and we’d head straight down to Healey’s for supper first and guarantee us a great table. However, Healey’s hasn’t completely renovated (they are in a new location) so the kitchen isn’t open yet! The first plan was to maybe stop in Wayne Gretzky’s across the street for dinner -

but instead we decided to just go into Healey’s, get a good table, order pizza from a place across the street and bring it into Healey’s to eat. The staff said that would be fine! We were also on the guest list, so I thinked that helped.

Anna-Marie and Edwin

The show was fantastic. Seeing Jerome again was fantastic. Jerome’s partner Jane is fantastic. She was handing out packages of bean seeds to everyone that bought a CD! There is a song on it called “Beans”, inspired by Jane’s work, which involves workshops and advice on organic and diversity gardening. She wrote a “Bean Keeper’s” story that teaches children why, and how to grow, rare beans. If you knew Jerome like I do, you would know that Jane is the perfect woman for him! She also used to go see the Phantoms back in the late 80’s… I told her we probably crossed paths back then!

Anyway, you can see pictures from that night in Facebook and watch this clip; I was right in front, so the sound quality didn’t come across on video very well:

Also, for anyone curious, I was very happy to find that former Phantom Big Ben Richardson uploaded a whole whack of old Phantoms videos and interviews up on You Tube! To see Jerome about 15 years ago, check out one of my favourite videos here, One Way Street (then see “more from this user” on You Tube for lots more!!)

So that was Friday! Don’t forget to see all the photos that aren’t posted here, in my Facebook album.

Okay, I am finally getting around to this! I have decided to post the public links to my Facebook pictures, because they don’t show the “tags” I gave people (with their last names) or the comments people have left (with their last names), so it is sort of private. If any of the people in the photos have a problem with that, let me know and I’ll take down the links! It’s just way easier to do that than upload all the photos here. Although, I will upload some here that never made it there.

Anyway.

My flight arrived in Toronto (Wednesday, September 12) a few minutes early, and at a different gate than was originally announced. As I waited for Rob and Emma to get me, I thought maybe they went to the wrong gate? Because… they wouldn’t be late or anything. I called Rob. “Where are you??” “We’re almost there! Uh - Emma held us up by getting arrested for drinking and causing a public disturbance.” Ahhhh, that Emma. I asked him if he knew what gate I was at, and he said “C”, which was the old gate. “No, I’m at gate B. B as in BASTARD.” Heh.

So the car pulled up, and out hopped Rob and Emma for big hugs, followed by Gaby! Gaby is a good friend of Emma’s who came with her from Montreal. Which was great and all, but… there would be 4 of us in the car… PLUS my big suitcase and WALKER… yikes! I don’t know how they managed to do it, but we all fit. Gaby had to become very intimate with my walker in the back seat, but if you recall, she was perching last year in Montreal, so she’s flexible enough!

Rob drove us all to the Sheraton Centre hotel, which would be home for the next few days. Gaby was staying at Lindy’s that night, but would be there with Emma and I the rest of the time. That’s right, I shared my hotel room with two 18 year old girls. They giggle lots. Oh, and they make awesome slaves helpers.

Once we got to the hotel, we said our goodbye’s to Rob until tomorrow, checked in and got settled. Then I needed to EAT something, (my day had consisted of a latte, a small bag of crackers, and 2 shortbread cookies) and since my wheelchair rental wasn’t being delivered until the following morning, we took a cab to Gaby and Emma’s favourite restaurant several blocks away. The Java House has great food at awesome prices and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a place to stop in while wandering around Queen Street West in Toronto (which we should all do at least 10 times in our lifetime).

Gaby had breakfast for dinner and I laughed at how she ate her eggs.

After dinner we popped into the Second Cup across the street for lattes, of course.

Mark (?) made icky, cold lattes. Some people just don’t have the touch, you know?

Then it was back to the hotel, where I crashed. I should have been wide awake, considering I was on Calgary time (2 hours earlier), but no. Long, uncomfortable day on a plane. (Could those seats be any smaller? And why stick me in bulkhead, where the arms don’t go up, and I’m wedged between two metal panels, bruising my thighs and unable to move? “Oh, we like to put our wheelchair passengers in the bulkhead for the leg room”. Well, that’s nice and all, but I need ASS ROOM!!)

Anyway. Emma and Gaby went out while I just lied in bed and rested. The beds in that room were great! Emma was back around 11:00 pm, having left Gaby to spend the night at Lindy’s house. We chatted and slept…

Thursday

After we got up and dressed, we went to explore the food court/mall level of the hotel. The Continental Breakfast at the hotel was $17/person, so we were skipping that one. We won’t even talk about room service prices, but let’s just say that did not happen. Late night pizza-ordering or hot dogs from street vendors at 2:00 am are more our style.

My rental wheelchair had arrived, so we headed downstairs. There were coffee and bagels to be had in the food court!

Where we ate breakfast. Emma texting Gaby to find out when we’d all be meeting up.

I think it was around 1:30 when Lindy and Gaby picked us up, and we went to a little place called Aunties and Uncles for brunch (Lindy’s breakfast, our lunch. He IS a musician, you know).

The rest of these pictures are in the Facebook album linked at the end. I’m only uploading ones here that aren’t in there!

Like these ones, of us driving around the city a bit after we ate. During which, Lindy played us all sorts of music… new stuff of his and Major Maker’s, old stuff he had never released… it was sooooo cool. I even guessed “that sounds like you in about 1998-99…” and I was right! Heh.

Sneaky Dees, an old hangout of mine!

We stopped at a studio where Lindy had to pick up a copy of Major Maker’s unmastered disc to Fedex to LA. I took a picture of the house next door because I WANT IT.

We ended up at the West Beaches where we spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on a patio, enjoying the view and a beer.

More pictures on Facebook

So, that was a perfect day. And it didn’t stop there! Lindy dropped us back at the hotel, and we all got ready for the big night out for Scott Cooper’s CD release show at the Supermarket. Gaby and Emma were the merchandise gals, so they headed down earlier than me to set up. Rob, being the complete and utter sweetheart and gentleman he is, called me. “Do you need a ride to the show? Because I would love to give you one”. Aw. So Rob picked me up, and I left my walker in his trunk so I would just use my cane inside. I knew it would be crowded and tight, and there would be plenty of things/people to hang onto!

Once inside, the first people I saw (and met) were my friend Gail and her boyfriend Loren. Gail and I met through this here blog, and have been emailing back and forth for many months. So it was great to finally meet in person, and we hit it off! The woman started by giving me the rest of her rich and delectable chocolate dessert that she was unable to finish, so, you know, how could I not love her? Loren got us a great table right in front, while I mingled and met a bunch of other people I’d been dying to meet… Coop’s wife Stacey, Caroline, Catherine, Colin… and of course getting big hugs from Scott, Adam, Alex (Scott’s band that night was the same one Rob had at the South Country Fair, except Rob and Scott traded places, and with the addition of Dean Drouillard on guitar. Oh, and Caroline-the-amazing-and-lovely-Brooks on vocals, who also plays with the Good Lovelies, the opening act). Got all that? Lots of people. Lots of amazing music and talent and hotness and they are all good friends with each other and it ROCKS what amazing people they all are. I was blown away. I am sooooo lucky to be able to call them all my friends, too.

Peter Katz was also there to see the show. LOVE him. And I very briefly met Adam’s girlfriend Lisa. Too briefly. And Gail (sorry, I mean her cat, Pollyanna) gave me a Sigg water bottle! And Scott gave me a shout out from the stage! The show was FANTASTIC and Scott’s new CD (”Tiny Increments“) is sooooooo good it almost makes me cry.

After the show there was much talking and hugging and picture taking. (Pictures from that night on Facebook!) We stood outside for awhile discussing the who-was-riding-with-who situation (Peter gave us a ride back) and I’m not sure if you have ever experienced Kensington Market in Toronto during the late night/early morning hours… but all kinds of memories of me wandering through Kensington at 2:00 in the morning when I was 19 came flooding back to me as the smell TOOK OVER MY BODY AND CONSUMED ME TO THE CORE. That is some GROSS garbage on the streets, there. It is truly a disgusting stench on those sidewalks, but part of Kensington’s “charm”, I guess. Ha

So that was Day One. Are you tired yet?

All my Toronto pictures are in this Facebook album. So you even get a look ahead at the coming days I haven’t written about yet! If you’re not on Facebook (or my friend on there) you can still view these, just without names and comments from others!

More to come…

Oh yes, and here is Lindy in Major Maker’s very fun and silly video for Rollercoaster!! Request it at a radio station near you and buy it on iTunes

Okay, here we go, longest entry ever. LOTS of pictures! I had the most amazing weekend, which could have been even better if I hadn’t missed about 6 hours of hanging out with everybody because of my intolerance to heat It reached about 35°C on Sunday and that sucks for me! However, aside from that, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend or greater people to spend it with.

I arrived at the airport around noon, checked where the band’s flight was arriving from, and took a seat near that gate. I TM’d Rob to let him know I was there and where I was. He wrote back that he was in the rental car line-up and would be down to meet us as soon as he could.

I saw a bunch of people wandering by the luggage carousel, so I figured the flight had arrived and wandered to that area, pushing my wheelchair that was loaded with a couple of my bags and stuff. The first person I saw was Scott, who was peering at me as he got closer. I think I “eeeked!” or something as I gave him a hug, it was so great to finally meet in person. Next I met Alex, who is adorable, followed by Adam who is just a teddy bear of a man, and whose muscles would come in handy when pushing me in my wheelchair all over what turned out to be VERY rough terrain at the outdoor festival. (Mine was the only wheelchair there I believe, and I can understand why!)

Anyway, we all took a seat and waited for Rob. It was at this time that Scott presented me with a beautiful pair of earrings from his wife’s handmade collection - “Stacey made these for you last night”. How sweet is that?? I LOVE them:

When Stacey has an online store or something I will definitely link to it - she has photos of her jewelry on Facebook and it’s all beautiful, unique, and funky!

The line-up at the car rental place was so long, I guess Rob decided to leave and go back later, so he met up with us on the lower level. I was hoping our vehicle would be HUGE, because there was more than just my wheelchair and a couple guitars… although Alex would play a cello provided by the Fair and Adam the main stage drum kit, there was still a lot of instruments and gear. We brought everything up to the car rental place where Scott and Rob got in line and the rest of us went off to eat in the food court.

When we got back, they had just reached the service desk. Due to a mess up on the car rental agency’s end (of course), we received a free upgrade to a Volvo wagon. It sounded big enough, but once everything was loaded in, Scott, Alex and Adam still had to sit in the back seat with one of the guitar cases across their laps! I, on the other hand, got the front passenger seat. Just the first example of how wonderfully I was treated all weekend! They even let me have the air conditioning on the whole 2 hour car ride… I, too, sneeze and get headaches from A/C, but it is a necessary evil when it’s hot!

Read the rest of this entry »

If we weren’t in the middle of a heat wave that has turned my apartment, particularly my office, into a sauna, I would be able to sit here for a long time and write a real update. I would be able to tell you about how well my Quantum Release Therapy is going now and the improvements I’m noticing. I’d be able to tell you about how my mom spent the weekend here, and despite the heat, we managed to clean out and organize my closets. I’d be able to tell you about my shift in attitude about myself and my body. I’d be able to tell you that most of my windows are now covered with tinfoil and how attractive that is from the outside. I would be able to tell you about all my new Ebay clothes that have arrived, how much I am looking forward to this weekend, and how cute my cats are (because you never hear that).

However, there shall be none of that talk, because it is just too hot and I can’t sit here for long; I need to lay down with a fan blowing directly on me 234536546757 times/day. I need an air conditioner… there are only so many trips to the mall a woman can take.

In the meantime, here is a video of the Polyjesters from the Lilac Festival in May. It’s a part of their performance of St. James Infirmary (I love it when Jason does the Louis Armstrong impression!) and I get a kick out of the drunk dancing lady.

I am long overdue for an update. Truth be told, nothing exciting is really going on these days so I haven’t had much to write about. So I’ll take notes:

• I’ve replaced getting a latte at the mall with getting Yogen Fruz (nonfat w/bluberries & strawberries), at least for the summer. It’s yummy and refreshing, healthier, cheaper, and I still have my lattes at home so it’s not like I’m missing anything.
• MyEbay clothing purchases are starting to arrive, and so far I am loving everything I bought! I highly recommend Ebay for clothing, especially us plus-sized gals who don’t have the easiest time finding cute things at good quality and prices most of the time. I’ve never seen anything like most of the stuff I’m getting in a store here! This dress was $20 including S&H and is absolutely gorgeous in person.
• Pita has broken two of my best mugs in the past two weeks.
• Pursuit of Happyness is an awesome movie; Jiminy Glick is not. And it had so much potential, if it stuck to “small-time talk show host makes it big and now gets (hilarious) interviews with major celebs”, instead of that whole murder/mystery/David Lynch plot.
• Tomorrow is quite possibly my final Quantum Release session. Kevin told me last week that there is some major emotional blockage he can’t get through, and he’s not sure he will be able to, so no sense in wasting my time and money. I think I may know what he is talking about, and if it is that, I want it to stay repressed forever, I don’t want to remember it! Other than that, I am very happy with my QRT and how much better I feel emotionally, and I hope it rolls over to better improvement in my physical health over time.
• Last time I saw Kevin, Pat the Psychic was at the front desk and I asked her, “so, how am I doing, Pat?” She said I’m doing really well, that I’m releasing a lot of anger and she honestly does not see me with a walker. I demonstrated my walking to her and how I do need the walker, and she brushed it off with a “don’t worry about that - I don’t see you with it. You won’t need it.” I hope she’s right! She also said “July 21 is a really big day for you! Very eventful.” I asked, “eventful, how?” And she answered “For your heart! Really good day for your heart.” July 21 is the day Rob Szabo is here and I’ll be meeting Scott Cooper in person for the first time (we’ve been chatting online for eons). Rob, Scott, the band and myself are driving out to Fort MacLeod for the South Country Fair. You bet your ass it’s going to be a great and eventful day! And when I see Rob and meet Scott, my heart will explode, so there ya go.
• I’ve been doing my usual weekly trips to the chiropractor, meals out with the folks, my brother coming over to help me out with cleaning and shopping, work, etc.
• My brother is coming over tonight, and this weekend my mom is coming to stay with me. Our projects include dying my hair and cleaning out my closets. I need to make room for that new wardrobe I’ve got coming, bit by bit, in the mail. I have a feeling my next Ebay adventure will be selling a bunch of my own clothes I no longer wear!
• My friend Michelle is leaving for Vietnam tomorrow. So last night we went out for dinner and then over to Starbucks for beverages and hung out for a few hours, to get some social time in before she leaves. Have a great trip, Michelle!
• Our weather is SO HOT these days. This weekend we are expecting temperatures around 31-33º C (high 80’s, low 90’s F) which may not sound like DEATH, but it seems so much hotter. Must be the global warming thing. Anyway, it’s great for the tourists who are here for the Calgary Stampede to know that we don’t really live in igloos in Canada.

Anyway, that’s about it. I’ve forgotten any little anecdotal stories that may go along with any of that, or can’t be bothered to type it all out because it’s too hot in my office and I want to get back to my fan in the living room.

I’ll be back for a real chat when it cools down in here! (Bob brought me some sun reflecting paper for my office window that should be up either tonight or by the weekend. Hopefully that helps!)

“What can I break?”

“What can we break?”

Aw.

Sometimes I steal captions because I can’t think of my own.

Yesterday was a crazy full day. My friend Carolyn came by and we went to Starbucks for lattes and catching up. She’s my friend from 6th grade through high school that I have rarely seen over the past 20 years, but we managed to fit in two three(!) visits so far within the last year, so we are doing better! She looks younger, happier and healthier every time I see her. Her family recently returned from a vacation in France that sounded awesome! I want to go to France. But for the time being, I settled for a Starbucks Caramel Macchiato.

At 1:00 I had my 6th Quantum Release Therapy session. As I mentioned earlier, I would decide if I would continue with these sessions after I had completed the six. During my session last week, Kevin told me the emotional *crap* (my word, I can’t remember what he said) that came out of me was so strong, it almost knocked him right over. It was like a volcano erupting. I do have to say, emotionally I feel so much better. I feel very much at peace, and when I was talking to a friend the other day about these quantum sessions and how they are helping me get rid of emotional baggage, he asked me “did you ever try writing an ‘unsent letter’ to your father? That’s a good therapy that worked for you before…” (an unsent letter is when you sit down and write a letter to someone you are mad at or that hurt you, and you get it ALL out, hold nothing back, and then don’t send it… just rip it up or delete it). I realized then, that I don’t need to write one. It’s all gone! I have nothing to say in that letter. It is GONE. And that is when I knew the therapy is working.

Kevin spent most of the session yesterday gently touching my right arm, hand, leg, foot… he concentrated more on the physical aspect. When he was finished, he told me “I think we’ve pretty much rid you of the emotional stuff… there doesn’t seem to be much there anymore, which is why I concentrated more on your physical this time… and although we know your physical health problems are rooted in the emotional, your physical hasn’t improved, so there is obviously some damage there that needs to be addressed.” For sure… even if the emotional crap is the root of my health problems and how they began, I have been dealing with the physical aspects and worsening of symptoms and broken bones and excess weight for many years, and I’m sure there has been a lot of nerve damage among other things. Kevin continued: “Since we have come this far, I really want to see where we can go from here. So, I’d like you to come in again next week, and I will comp that session. Then I’d like you to come in again the following week, and I will comp that session. I also want to do a biofeedback reading on you to check your nervous system. I really want to see if we can improve the physical parts of you now.”

How AWESOME is that?? He’s giving me $390 worth of treatments for free! So I guess my mind is made up about whether or not I will continue. I picked a great day and time for my appointment too, because Access was on time and (almost) direct for me both ways. No long waits!

Next, my mom and Bob picked me up from home and we went for supper before our chiropractor appointments. We went to Bella Roma, which is the best pizza in Calgary, so I always have to get pizza when I go there, even though they have a great menu with lots of other choices. I ordered a medium so I could take half of it home for today. Then it was in to see our chiropractor, thank GOD, because the pain in my lower back and side had spread to my upper/mid back and I’ve been feeling like I have broken ribs or something as well. He gave me a niiiice loooong treatment which consisted of a lot of PAIN and “Owwwwww!!!!” coming from me, but that’s how it goes… he works all those pressure points and gets right into the soft tissue (he’s not just a bone-cracker chiro) and fixes you right up. He said “you hate me now, but you’ll love me tomorrow”, and of course he was right. I’m still sore as hell, but definitely better than I was.

My brother sent me a link to these cookies last night. The BASTARD. “I ate a whole box tonight!!!” he said. And he’s 6′4″ and 190 pounds or something ridiculous like that. Hate!

The latest happenings in my world:

• I looooove my duvet. Okay, so that’s not exactly new, but it is still a thrill for me every night when I wrap myself up in it. Sigh…
• I am completely addicted to Facebook, I love that place!
• Today I had my fourth Quantum Release therapy session.
• My Quantum Release therapy better work, because the money I’m spending on it is the same amount I would spend on a trip to Toronto or Montreal. So… it better be worth giving that up for!!! I only have the $$ because of the *busy* season, and I usually put that towards a fall vacation.
• Access made a mess of my day (okay, that’s nothing new either). They sent a big Handi-Bus (which I’m not supposed to ride on and I’m supposed to be set up for “car only”) and he was late, with a bus load of people and no air conditioning, so I got to my appointment half an hour late all stressed and hot after bouncing around on that thing for an hour, and then they sent my ride to pick me up when I was only 20 minutes into my one hour session, so by the time I was actually finished my session, the car was long gone, so I had to wait while they tried to find another car to come get me. BUT I AM GRATEFUL.
• My friend Shawna from Winnipeg is coming into Calgary, and tomorrow we are spending the day at the Lilac Festival in the Rose & Crown to see the Polyjesters. Kim and Michelle are coming too. It’s going to be FANTABULOUS. 5 hours of Polyjesters!!!! Nothing better than that.
• I still don’t know if my rent will be subsidized, but I have received a couple calls from the organizations involved and faxed them paperwork (that I know they were already sent, but whatever) so at least I know they are working on it.
• Jordin won American Idol and I couldn’t be happier, even if this bitch thinks she’s too fat.
• I am sad that Rosie won’t be returning to the View to finish up her last 3 weeks. I guess the “split screen” effect the producers used during this argument was the last straw for her. It’s not because of Elizabeth, as some think. As Rosie said in her own blog, “split screen - below my standards”.
• There is a parcel waiting for me at the post office. It’s my Twister Sweeper, (two for one, Mom’s getting one too) and it sure as hell better work like the commercial says. ‘Cause it will be a lifesaver for me, if it does!
• The Number One and Two searched phrases that lead people to my blog these days are “Maynards Candy Commercial” and “Major Maker Maynards”. Yeah. That song is going to be released in full this summer, watch for it!! Oh, and it’s Lindy’s birthday today, so a very happy birthday to him!

“We have THREE COYOTES in our back yard! And one of them just had SEVEN babies… OH, what a SHOW!!”
~ random woman at the mall who approached to tell me that.

I went to the doctor today for the full check up. You know what that means, ladies… this is the first time I’ve gone to my new doctor for this; the past 20 years I pretty much had the same doctor who performed that duty, and it wasn’t a big deal at all. No pain, no real discomfort, to be honest. Well now… I guess he was extra special good at it, because after today I NEVER want to go through that again!

I did get him to agree to make a couple referrals for me, so I hope I get into these places soon. One of them is the Clinic for Mind/Body Medicine, which is something I am very surprised and pleased exists through our regular health care (i.e. no extra costs involved). I want them to help me wean off sleeping pills and anti-depressants, it would be so nice to not need that stuff. The Sleepees I bought aren’t working yet, and that may be because my body is so used to needing a drug to be put to sleep, that it has forgotten how to function without them. On a postive note, they have helped me cut down on sleeping pills, and maybe once they really get into my system I will be able to go without medication completely, but then what… I will need Sleepees every night? At $75 a bottle, I don’t want THAT, either.

I have another Quantum Release session tomorrow. One thing I have noticed so far, for sure, is the fact that any pain I was experiencing is gone… my right hip used to bother me a lot, and it hurt to lie on that side for the past couple years. No more! And I’d been having pain in my mouth because my jaw bones pop when I open my mouth (a whole other ballgame I guess, who knows what’s causing that), and the pain is gone. So… Quantum Release works for pain, that’s my testimonial so far. When I notice anything else good, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Oh, and let me complain about Access again. I waited an hour for my ride to pick me up from the doctor, and once in his car, it was another hour and forty-five minutes before I got home. We picked up and dropped off FOUR other people before I was taken home. And that, my dear readers, is why ACCESS CALGARY SUCKS.

But then again, I need to be grateful for the service in the first place… because, honestly, without it I don’t know what I’d do. You know the saying, “I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet”? Yeah. I met a man with no feet at the mall this afternoon… he stopped me to ask about my scooter, and we chatted for a long time. He was a sweet old man in a ratty old wheelchair who lives in a care home not too far from here. His feet were amputated 6 years ago. So, yeah, I’m grateful. Stop complaining!

Yes, so, I went to the mall this afternoon to get a couple prescriptions filled. And I noticed, much to my utter delight, that Shoppers Drug Mart carries the Method Home cleaning products. And cheaper than the website sells them for (and in Canadian dollars, no shipping, etc.) Yay! Of course, I don’t need any right now (except wood polish wipes, I got those) because I still have my old stuff to use up before I move on to the Shaklee products I ordered, but when I need more eco-friendly cleaning products… there they are. I guess in order to use up all my other cleaning products, however, I actually need to clean. Hmm.

The BBQ at Christine’s on Sunday was awesome. The weather wasn’t the best, but the rain did leave us alone for a good part of the afternoon so we did sit outside for most of it. The food was amazing as always, Christine goes all out. She had big steaks for everyone (and there were about 20 of us) as well as HUGE potatoes, salads, cheeses, dips, etc. She skipped making the Jello shots this year… I guess after last year, with Christine needing to be in bed by 9:00, she decided against it. There was still plenty to drink though, however I stuck to water (except for one glass of wine). This year’s “Chum” (token male, there to serve us girls) was the best yet! He works at Home Depot with one of the girls that came. He was very attentive and good at making/keeping the fire going, making and fetching drinks, barbecuing the steaks… Christine even had all her pedicure stuff out, in hopes that we’d all get pampered, but no one had the guts to actually ask that of him. As it was, the guy had to cut my steak for me. I certainly wasn’t about to ask him to pumice my feet.

I was home in time to watch the season finale of Desperate Housewives, so all was good.

Yesterday I worked my butt off all day, finished what I wanted to, and my client even came by to pick everything up around 9:00 pm and paid me on the spot. Woo hoo! Gotta love that.

I’ve still got a TON of work to do before the end of the month. I guess things didn’t slow down after tax season… I think I have taken on more work in the past year than I realized. Or maybe I just spend more time at the mall than I realize. Either way, one supports the other, so I’m okay.

Today was the draw for my house, I don’t know how to find out if we won! They’re not posting winners on the site until May 30, although letters will be mailed out before then… but you’d think for the big HOUSE they would CALL ME!!