Opa and the Grandchildren

This video was taken in Aug 08, how cute is that!

But all that excercise sure pooped Opa out!

Roses for my Special day!

A bouquet of roses is something this Dutch girl loves, see how it brightens up the living room,

Thank you sweetheart!

Yvonne 35

Happy 35th Birthday Yvonne, our youngest and only daughter, of whom we are very proud.

Yogurt

                                                     Ted and I love yogurt and eat a dish everyday. We buy the fat free and sugar free kind, but with Splenda. We go for Strawberry or Raspberry flavour.

Was I surprised when I opened a container  of "Shape" zero percent and found it was just plain. I could not tell though if it was fat free. I opened the second container which also was plain yogurt. Has this ever happened to you?

I wrote them an e-mail. This is not such a big deal you might say. It is if you are diabetic like Ted and we also can do very well with out the fat. How can we know if they use real sugar instead of Splenda? I mean, how can we trust what is inside the container what they claim it to be on the out side?

Yeah, I know, it is always the same people who experience these things and they live in this house, hahaha!

Today I have to go to the Hospital for my followup. I used to get a CT Scan, but they have discontinued that. Apparently the scan and dye they put in your body are not good for you, do not disappear. Therefore, I will have an Ultrasound done instead along with an X-Ray and blood work. Well we just go along with the flow!

One thing puzzles me though, when I had an Ultrasound four years ago they never discovered the cancer in my upper bowel. That was detected when I had the CT Scan. I guess I will have to bring that up when I have my appointment with Dr Harris (Oncologist).

This morning we were up before six. I noticed that Ted was very restless(shaking) and I asked him would he like me to make coffee and toast. So I went about making the coffee, hmmm, smelling so good,(almost worth getting up for!) I brought it into the sun room where Ted was waiting. Before eating I just felt I should check the calendar to see what time I had to be in the Hospital, 10:00 am. Then I noticed fasting after 12:00 midnight. What!!!!!! I can't have this "nice smelling first cup in the morning coffee"? What a bummer, I looked at the coffee and a  slice of 12 grain toast with my favorite jam and toasted almonds on top. For that I am not going to exercise this morning, there! No more sacrifices!

By the way, I will have the results next week when I see Dr.  Harris.

Sunday Lunch

In front of the pantry!

Is there anything to eat in this house?

The question here is:

"Who is helping who?"

Alyssa our little artist

# 30,000?

Well, congratulations Yvonne, your gift is waiting at 62 Lucas Avenue.

Sorry JoAn, but you did give it your best shot!

30,000

I wonder who will be reader #30,000 of my blog (since four years ago)

Dentist

What a day I had yesterday! I was at the dentist.

A year ago I saw him during my regular check up and asked him is there any way you could build up this one tooth. He said: "Sure I can do that for you!" He told me the cost approx. $350.00. I wanted to think about it, mentioned it to Ted who in turn told me to go ahead if that is what I wanted. So finally last July I had him fix this tooth (it took him 15 min)and I was one happy camper.

A few days ago a large chunk broke off, I was chewing and thought, hey what the heck do I have in my mouth! I made an appointment for yesterday.

When I sat in his chair, rather condescendingly he said: "Well I told you it would not hold!" I thought, if he had told me that last July I would NOT have paid out all that money. He insisted, that my teeth are very bad and there is not much he can do. I expect a butcher to say that, but not a dentist for goodness sake! He suggested he could try to fix it but it would be my call. I mentioned that I really could not pay again.

While he was drilling (noisily) and muttering, I heard him say something "free", but could not really make out what exactly he was saying to the assistant. He was also busy complaining about that tooth he was now fixing and the rest of my teeth who are a bit loose, while shaking his head.

He walked out of the office right away. Before I had a chance to discuss a few things, what I should be doing. I mentioned that to the assistant (who told me also it was free). I thanked her profusely. She wanted to know what I would've liked to ask him. "Well for instance" I said, "would it be better if I had all those teeth pulled out?" She left and came back, she had asked him. Yes, puling them out is a good idea. What???? I thought, just like that!! I have not had a cavity for a long time, I take care of them.What is he actually saying?

She walked me out and told me to wait in the waiting room. The girl behind the counter called me and told me to pay her $99.00. I said: "You are mistaken it was a free repair, he said so!"

The assistant came back and told me it was the examination that was free, what examination I wondered and said so. What happened next blew me away! She went back to the dentist and he came hollering into the waiting room and told me to get out, he would sent my X-rays to whom ever I want, thus NOT to come back. Ted who was sitting there waiting for me, shook his head, never have I seen such a lack of professionalism in my life. He actually threw a temper tantrum!
I was so embarrassed by that behavior and was glad there were not too many people in the waiting room. I felt so bad the rest of the day.

How can a dentist say, rip out your teeth? They try to save them as much as they can, don't they. His name? Doctor Rick Minuk in Polo Park Dental Clinic. I dealt with his cousin Joe for my partial plates and he too gets very defensive and obnoxious when confronted with a mistake and I have heard that from others.


So, needless to say, I am looking for a dentist to get a second opinion, which is hard after seeing him since 2000.

News

Inauguration, Inauguration, Inauguration, Inauguration------- I-N-A-U-G-U-R-A-T-I-O-N, that is all we hear and see on TV. Uh, I wonder what happened to the war in the middle east. For that we have to go to the Dutch News paper on line, incredible, oh well. I cleaned the carpet today, that is news!

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the dentist to have a broken tooth fixed.
On Yvonne's blog you might have read that Aila swallowed a loose baby tooth while eating her lunch. Aila's real big dilemma was, what to put underneath her pillow? Yvonne told her to go to the glass containers with the candles sitting in small stones, you just pick out a small one, the tooth fairy won't be able to tell the difference anyways, because when she comes it will be dark. I thought that was pretty funny.

What about time?

Have I told you lately how much I love to be home? Every day is a day worth getting up for. Ted and I love our coffee and tea times during the day. We go out when we feel like it or we stay home. It is almost we don't need a clock. Often we get up early , this morning Ted was wandering around at 5am (due to restless leg syndrome) so by 6 I got up and made breakfast. But there are days it might not be until 8am, hey, who cares? In the evening it might get (very) late before we turn in for the day.

Last night around 11:30 I felt like having Hot chocolate milk when Ted looked at the clock and remarked did you notice what time it is? "Yep" I said, and walked over to the clock and turned the small hand back two hours. He than looked at me and said in his "Ted manner": "You are some crazy woman!" I just could not help but laugh and laugh as I walked to the kitchen.

So here we are ready for an other "do as we please" day.All week we planned to go to Walmart to pick up grocery items that are at least twenty percent cheaper than in the grocery store. Friday I said: "Okay, tomorrow 11:00 am we are going."

Actually we did not get away till after 2:30. All that time I was on the phone with three different family members in Holland about family disputes regarding my sister who was operated last week. When finally we were on our way my ears were numb.

All I could think was: "Why don't those people grow up!" The problem is with family it does not matter how far away you are, "blood is thick" and you never stop caring.

My 84 year old sister by the way is doing very well, she has a new heart valve and can go home early next week. Here she is with her daughter JoAnn, my dearest niece.

Finally I can open our window!

They are finally putting in our window as we speak. It is so cold in our bedroom that even the hanging artificial plant is dying, hahaha!

Ted wrote in his blog (click) a few days ago how long this window scenario has been going on. Placing the new glass into the frame is actually taking longer than we thought. I should actually not tell you how the glass broke in the first place, but I will, so that you will be absolutely convinced I am NOT perfect!

The window was so frosted up and shut tight, and being a Dutch woman, I wanted to air out the bedroom. I took my hairdryer, before I go on you guessed it, a crack all the way across the glass. Ted immediately put silicone on the crack and funny enough it being a tri-pane glass, the window never steamed up in between. It has been like this for many years until we decided, when we had the house painted in the summer, we might as well have that fixed. Just in case we plan to sell the house.

So that is my story

How handy!

All that snow

Down memory lane

At this point in time our children were not actively involved in our music ministry yet, we did have to try to keep them seated on the front row though. This was Ina playing with us, she passed away in the early 80's after a long battle with cancer.

What ever the problem was with Paul(ie) it seemed to be solved judging by the next picture. May be sitting closer to Mommy solved it?



Now below is the Go-cart Ron(nie) put together from scraps of old lumber and named "THE RATTLER". I am sure Paul(ie) gave a helping hand! Our neighbours were invited to take a ride for 25c. Vicky my friend actually did go. You could hear her scream a mile away! Except little sister Yvonne, she'd go for free. What a fun time that was! How I loved being a Mommy!

Notice how the boys were always dressed alike?

Results

So we go to the oncology department ground floor of Grace Hospital. Walk in, say hi to the nurse behind the desk who tells us to sit down. We might get asked by a volunteer if we'd like a coffee (and what in it) or a juice. We read for a while and then a nurse calls us and takes us further into the department. Before she tells us to sit down again she needs to weigh us. From where we are sitting we watch Dr Harris walk in and out of the two examining rooms. Patients going in and coming out some with pale faces and what other visible signs they might have.

In the meantime on the other side of this large place you'll find many easy chairs in a circle where patients are getting chemo, bags hanging on poles. Yes Ted was in one of those chairs at one time. The nurses are very cheerful, sweet and kind always ready to put you at ease. They keep the area rather comfortable with nice easy furniture to sit on.

Finally it is our turn, today they were 45 min behind schedule. We are herded into one of the examining rooms, being told to put on a nice 'fashionable' blue hospital gown and we wait, and wait, what will the answer be?

A nurse comes in with a few questions or if there are concerns we may want to tell her. Out she goes and we wait again. Finally Dr. Harris pops her head around the corner, in her hands our file she has briefly studied out side the room . Today she said: "The tests have not been this good!" Whether the results are good or not good, her voice is always the same. While examining Ted she told us (after all these years (over six years) since the last cancer operation to the liver), she doubts if there will be a recurrence but added I cannot say this too loud of course.

We of course are very thankful for the good news. Believe me, when you see the patients there you do not want to be one of them. We thank God for His goodness to us and are very happy to share it with you.

This and that, that and this!

My mind has been a bit preoccupied with the fact that my eldest sister Coby is going to have open heart surgery. Her surgery will be tomorrow 12:00 our time. She is already 84 but otherwise in good shape so that she'll come out to enjoy a few more years according to the surgeon. Because she lives in Holland, as all my other siblings do, everything has to go via telephone and e-mails.

This afternoon we are going to the cancer clinic for Ted's result. I will be sure to let you know what the Oncologist tells us.

For the rest not much happening here. I have been very domestic this week, took the Christmas tree down with that comes the accompanied mess so I vacuumed the upstairs and this morning the downstairs. Of course first I had to move the toys. So it is clean and tidy again and can I relax.
I can't understand why some people want to earn a living by cleaning houses, that would not be for me. If I had the money I would hire somebody!

Good bye for now

When enough is enough!

We were both awake at 6:00 am this morning. Actually, I love getting up early, I am more energetic to do excises and stretching. After that I can't wait to make fresh Tim Hortons coffee and a slice of Multigrain bread with jam and roasted sliced almonds on top.

When I open the coffee can it has to smell fresh. We have found out the importance of looking at the date on the bottom of the can.


The other day we went to the Tim Hortons drive-through to pick up a can, I turned the can over and saw it had an old date. I asked the girl to please give me a more recent date. She looked at me as if I was from out of space. I saw her talking with the other girls who rolled their eyes. They probably thought: "Now we have heard everything, what a nitwit!" Nevertheless, she came with an other can, while looking at the bottom she said: "Ma'am, this one is good till 2015!" We looked at her astonished, because what she saw was the product number. Now I could've rolled my eyes. We took the can did not say anything more. Enough is enough, I did not feel like giving that girl on minimum wages a bad day. We just reminded our selves not to get the coffee there from now on.

Instead we go to Sobey's there is a bigger turn over and we can pick out a more 'recent date'.


I did write their head office though and told them about the few incidences. I received a very, very nice professional letter back, but I had hoped to get a coupon or something after all, one can decaf cost 5.99 and we had several below standard. But again, enough is enough.


I was at WalMart (my favorite store) at the checkout paying with my credit card and took my own pen out of my purse, to which this punky kid told me: "You have to use my pen because it is black!" "Huh?" I thought, "a new rule?" I could have made a stink about that, my pen is a good pen, but...... you are right.... enough is enough.


We can go through live defending ourselves making some one else's miserable in the process, but is it worth it? Think about it, do we HAVE to be right all the time? We cannot change the world around us, better try to fit in and be a blessing. What about the fruit of the Spirit? (Galatians 5: 22-23). Which is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. Why not spread those around?


It is better that people think:"That for sure is a Christian", instead of, "what a jerk or moron!" Remember, the world is watching!

Yes to be truthful, I have not always been biblically correct by acting like a jerk and I think our human nature tends to be such!

A guy who was applying for a truck driver’s job. As part of the oral exam to pass the driving test, the instructor said, “Let’s say you and your sidekick Bob are going down a steep hill and all of a sudden your brakes go out, and at the bottom of the steep incline is a train stalled on the tracks. What would you do?”

The applicant replied, “I’d wake Bob up!”

Puzzled by his response, the instructor asked, “Why would you wake up Bob?”

"Well, me and Bob have traveled a lot of miles together and we have seen a lot of pretty spectacular wrecks, but Bob ain’t never seen a wreck like the wreck that’s going to happen at the bottom of the hill!”

On a personal note!

For me it has been now four years ago since I was diagnosed with colon cancer, had an operation and chemo. Thanks to the good medical system they are keeping tabs on me two times a year. I'll be seeing the Oncologist at the end of this month and get the results of the tests beginning February. This also includes a Mammogram for which I have to go downtown on a different day.

That is all very inconvenient. Years ago I never went to the doctor. If ever I HAD to she'd say, "I never see you!" I replied: " Doctor did you ever sit in your waiting room? It is the most depressing place, all those people with their worried faces ,yuk!" She'd smile and just shake her head! Now we see so many doctors, it is a good thing I am retired!

Also this month I go to the eye specialist who loves to look into my eyes, hahaha! He likes to do that twice a year or more (if I let him!) There is something inside my eye that puzzles him! With that comes additional testing.

Then I see a skin cancer specialist in February because I have some spots on my legs that do not want to go away.

Monday Ted has an appointment with the Parkinson's Specialist. We still can't figure out why he can feel so good one day and lousy the next. Every patient reacts different to the medication (of dopamine). So we go at it a day at the time and not to many activities to worry about. He is not very mobile so when we go out we carry a nice walker in the trunk of the car. A good friend of ours has borrowed that to us for which we are very thankful. That thing even has a seat and brakes. I'll tease Ted not to go too fast else I can't keep up with him! (Hahaaha)

This coming Thursday we get the result from the Oncologist of the tests they did on Ted in December. I am sure it will be okay. He is just a walking (even though it's slow) miracle, God has been good to us. His first cancer (colon) operation was in 2001 and the second (the liver) was in 2002. Not many people live through that.

I feel very good. I try to walk an hour every day on the treadmill (too cold outside), Do I like that? Nooooooooww. But I listen to music on my MP3 or I make some phone calls.
And I do some other exercises as well. I want to be mobile and agile for as long as I can.

Well, this is all for to day. The grandchildren are coming for a sleep over so that Ron and Lynne can go on a date and sleep in. Actually I suggested they do that, else they would not expect us to look after them. Lynne has the kids 24/7 and a break is good for her.

Stem Cells Controversial confusing you?

Stem Cells 101: Adult, Embryonic and Exploitation

For those of you confused about the above topic, please go to Ted's site where he directs you to a very, very educational link.

Babysitting Alyssa

Watching Mickey Mouse is serious business
She is telling me all about it!

She was talking about an ouwee,I could not see anything but I gave her a bandage and that was entertainment for a while.

How do you wake up Opa?
Well, you give him a kiss!

Still holding on to the bandage, hahaha!

Ron and Lynne took the boys to a party on New Years Eve and Alyssa had her first sleep-over at our place. I had no idea what to expect. It has been a while since I had a little one stay over. As it was she went to sleep in the playpen without a problem and woke up this morning singing. When I got her out the first thing she said: "Opa?" (and I think she wanted to know where he was, she talks a lot but it is not always clear). Sjees, what am I, chopped liver? It is quite cute how all the small girls so take to him. I wonder why, I have only been married to him for 48+ years!

Latest Pictures of our Children

Yvonne, Anneka, Aila and Jason Parks
(L to R) Ron, Alyssa, Lynne, Hudson and Evan

Samantha, Paul, Eliana and Jennifer Decock

(and soon to be born Nico)