The New Year, Flu and You.

I don't think I've had the flu for about 5 years. Maybe longer, I can't really remember the last time I was hit with such a powerful virus. This flu really packs a punch. H3N2 or whatever its called has hit Ontario and Manitoba pretty hard. It is day 5 for me, my head still stuffed, coughing, etc. Now I consider myself in fairly good health. I'm 51 years old, work out fairly consistently, manage stress pretty good and eat healthy. If I indulge in a dessert it is a homemade paleo one, so a healthy lifestyle is important to me and my family.

Even with that said, this flu bug has taken  5 rounds out of me. I can only imagine what it is doing to people with a compromised immune system or a senior. Unfortunately the impact has filled our emergency rooms to the rafters. I also had the flu shot this year and what I've heard is that the flu may have been even worse if I hadn't had it. I also work in a hospital setting, constantly washing my hands or using hand sanitizer, for fear of passing along a virus.

Ironically my dad had the flu first and as I was over at his apartment bringing him Benylene and Fisherman's Friend I wasn't as diligent with hand washing away from work. My bad, as it came back to bite me!

This was just a great reminder for me to do my part and be super diligent with hand washing as well as staying healthy so if I do get a virus my body is capable to fight it off without heading to a hospital ER. What bothers me is the individual who doesn't take responsibility for their own health. Hand Washing, getting daily physical activity, eating healthy and managing life's stressors is your part.

The problem I run into in my work, are people that don't have an awareness of their own behaviour. They are blaming, denying, running away from, etc and not looking at their part. This lack of emotional awareness is not only visible at flu time, but all year around.

Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for all the guys and gals who do work in our emergency rooms, quick care clinics and all the health care workers who give their all every day to keep people as healthy as possible. I just don't get why the government doesn't see illness prevention as a priority to keep people out of the ERs.

Maybe all of us need to be more emotionally aware of the part we play in keeping our community healthy. From government to teachers to parents to businesses, what are you willing to look at to make a change to a more healthy environment for 2015.

Finding Balance

The silence within oneself is often deafening to some. To sit in silence or clear your mind is such a re-energizing journey yet so hard for most people. Being okay with yourself and just your thoughts or  being mindful of the moment can be like chaos. Imagine being still in fast paced environment.

I worked with a group the other day, where life is fragile and stress is high. The majority felt it was chaos without hope,  yet one girl I spoke with said it was chaos within the calm. When I asked her to explain she said there is calmness I feel, a confidence, a strength within me and the challenge is how to keep me this way while working in others chaos.

It kinda reminded me of my recent visit to New York. The droves of people, the lights, the busyness 24-7. Sarah even commented at one point that she felt rushed and hectic because thats what she felt in others around her.

Yet as I watched the locals and fellow tourists scurrying around I felt a sense of calm, a sense of my place in the big chaotic picture. It truly is easy to get caught up in the moment, to feel the energy, see all the lights, hear all the sounds of the hustle and bustle of New York and the challenge is always finding the balance.

Its like a teeter totter that you are the only one on top of. You walk slowly to the middle and too much one way will slide down to the ground , too much weight the other way and bam the board hits the ground. I don't think its finding that perfect middle spot that is the answer as perfect doesn't exist. Its the fluidness of finding the back and forth balance that makes life fun.

So go find the peace within to help you sway to and fro to live , appreciate, love and be happy in your life whatever the chaos around you. Keep your body, mind and soul healthy.

Life is change!

Change after 53 Years.........

Imagine living in the same house for 53 years. For an 82 year old thats more than half his life. In today’s world most people will move approximately 10 times in their lives. For my dad move number 2 is the last move he’ll do....according to him!

After 53 years of the coffee pot being in the same spot, your shirts in the same closet and the ticking noise of the old kitchen clock are gone.

Would the change be hard? Would you be totally lost? Would you find everything you needed?

The answer for my dad was YES to all above. The move was hard for the first few days.  Why? Because patterns become so engrained it is hard to slowly dig new paths in your brain for the new patterns to flourish. It takes time, but learning new routines, hearing new noises and changing the closet arrangement is refreshing, renewing and as my dad put it, I feel alive again!

Change can be difficult or easy. It depends on how you approach it. We fear the unknown of change, whats on the other side but until we walk there, we don’t know how great it can feel.

So even though my dad has had a lot of changes in the past year, he has embraced them. Things are so different for him, yet you walk into his apartment and look around, so much has remained the same!

Summer fun...

The beginning of summer, temperatures weren’t great but by the time Neil and I were on summer holidays the temperatures were into the high 20’s and 30’s for 3 weeks  straight.

Couldn’t have asked for warmer temperatures at the end of August and beginning of September. We tried to take advantage of the heat with lazy days on the beach at Gimli, relaxing on our deck with a good book, lots of morning bike rides and afternoon naps, 

Packed up dad and moved him to his apartment, lunches at new restaurants, mini high school reunion and dinner parties. Summer vacation was a welcome and perfect break from the yearly routine we got ourself into.

Yesterday was a Johnston family picnic in the park, a beautiful sunny day and best way to end off the summer!

xo

FOURE

A few weeks ago, my husband and I decided to trek over to the golf dome and hit some balls, take in a mini golf game and hang out watching the hackers and smackers and some really good golfers.

I asked my dad if he wanted to go with us and let him know we were bringing a few clubs too as I was dying to see if my back would take the twisting motion. He thought it would be a good idea if he tried too. He enjoyed the drive to the golf dome, noticing the new buildings and amount of traffic. It was a Saturday afternoon, but to him it was just another day.

We pulled up and decided to leave our clubs in the car while we scouted out the place and practiced our putting. My dad was nervous, so I pointed out the washrooms upon entering just to be on the safe side (hey he is 81 and nervous). We entered, payed for our game, picked our color of ball and started playing. 

My dad did pretty well. Of course there is no real talent needed on the putting course as my husband found out, scoring not one but two hole in ones! The putting eased my dad back into a place he used to frequent often and enjoyed the challenge and chatter of the old guys afterwards.

My husband ran back to the car and grabbed our clubs as dad and I made our way to the hitting area. We all stretched and twisted with our clubs and took a few practice swings. My husband and I hit a few balls first then my dad stepped up placed a ball on the tee and proceeded to tell us he was going to take it easy.

After the first swing connected on a 200yd straight hit, there was no stopping my dad. I didn’t see his face as I was still staring at his hit, jaw dropped as this guy just hit his first tee shot in 4 years with ease. My husband said the smile on my dads face, holding back tears of joy were priceless. 

Just like riding a bike, says dad. Sometimes you have to just keep remembering how fun the ride was and take that risk to get back on! One more experience that was so good for my body, mind and soul!

All Sides of Spring

The upside, downside, right side and wrong side, all sides are showing, it only depends on how you see it.

Spring is in the area, temperatures still cool, snow almost gone. Babies being born, lots of new bunnies too, new relationships forming, springtime is love, tree buds are starting to show their side.

My husband said he feels a transition, an awakening, feels in limbo until his next move. Spring of energy and its hard to harness. Running more to keep it in check.

My dad is cleaning and packing and can’t wait to move. His defiance of old, one more spring to show.

Me, I feel calm and at peace. Much more right now than in a long time. Spring brings new hope, new dreams, new intentions. Slowly warming to new ways of old. Smiling at coworkers, we’ve uncovered the next, whatever it looks like is still a long spring away.

Whatever your spring feels and looks like, its right for this time. if you want change, know why, be wise, seek thought, focus and act because..................

Summer is just around the corner.

Ask the Expert?

Have you seen the commercials “ask the expert” where someone really messes up a home project? I’m sure the commercial is way more funnier than that of my life but there are times........

So last weekend my husband and I decided to replace the old bifold closest doors in our bedroom with modern, mirrored, sliding glass doors. Now this wasn’t a spur of the moment idea, as we had talked about making this change for years. I think 12 years to be exact. The bifold doors opened up into the room and took up so much space the matching night stands to our bed couldn’t be used and the small closet bifold when opened blocked the entrance door to the room.  Yup so finally we were going to make a change.

With measurements in hand Neil and I trudge down to Rona in the middle of a February snow storm to get our doors. Yes I know its already April! As I was saying with measurements in hand we pick out the doors we both agreed on, well compromised on. But they are nice and sound easy to install, thats the key right. 

So as we hunt for the doors we realize the size we need is not on the floor. We ask the clerk, who checks the computer, goes to a back room then comes back and says they are out of that size, they would order them for us. 

Well why not, we’ve waited 12 years whats 6-8 weeks longer going to do. So the clerk fills out the necessary 45 copies of whatever ordering slip he needs and we pay in full of course and will now wait patiently for our doors.

Two weeks ago we pick up a phone message that our doors were in, Yippee!!! 12 years and 8 weeks later we are getting new closet doors. So last weekend bright and early Saturday morning we rip out the old doors, well it was like unclick them and angle them out and unscrew the old tracks, but RIP them out sounds soooo much more weekend reno warrior like! Besides we had on old clothes, Neil had his tool belt on, my hair tired back, CSA approved shoes on and ready. Maybe the title should have been Nerd and Nerdier?

It took all of ten minutes to RIP out the old doors, sand down the frames and prep them for primer. With the coat of primer on both closet door frames we’re ready to unwrap the new doors.

Neil is standing in the larger closet opening and says, this isn’t going to work. What’s not going to work I ask. The way the sliding doors sit on the track we won’t be able to open the drawers to the old built in closet unit. Oh crap!!! Well we always said one day we’d put a new closet storage system in the large closet. I guess this is the time!

With a few good whacks with a hammer, the original closet organizer is history. Yeah new closet doors and a new organizer! So off to Ikea we go and left Ikea empty handed, yes people actually looked at us because we weren’t buying anything! Try exiting Ikea without paying for anything! Go ahead try!

So back to good old Rona, where we found all the components to a new closet system that looked good, was functional and we weren’t taking out a 2nd mortgage to buy it. Of course by this time its lunch and coffee time so since we’re out.....

Finally back home. Now the old closet system is gone, but the wall behind the system was never painted. So back to the primer on the wall, the first coat of paint on the door frames and both of us sitting on the bed looking at the hole in the flooring where the old unit sat. 

Hmmmm well I guess we’ll just have to cut extra pieces of flooring and place them in the hole. Well if we had extra flooring pieces to fill the hole that would have been a good idea. So Neil cuts mdf to fit the hole and I pull out the primer one more time, wait an hour and paint the wood to sort of match the floor color, if you close one eye and stand more than 3 feet away with the lights off. Yup it kinda matches.

No more work for today, time to shower, eat and head off to a par-tay! There is always Sunday to finish. 

Sunday morning we sleep in, have a nice breakfast, fresh ground coffee and catch up on the news. I do manage to get a second coat of paint on the closet wall and floor before our noon hour yoga class. Boy we could really use a good stretch. Out for lunch then back home to start assembling the new closest system.

Without giving all the details of putting the IKEA like furniture together, cutting the new hanger bar to make it fit and wondering what the extra screws were for, it was 9:30pm and a new closet organizer was built and installed, the wall in the closet painted, the hole in the floor fixed and painted and the door frames almost finished.

Okay the closet doors, well they never left the box! Maybe when Neil and I said weekend reno warriors we should have added, “one weekend may not be suitable for the Johnston reno projects”.

The good news as of today, Thursday, all painting is done, the closet doors installed, baskets bought for the closet system, all clothes returned to the closet and the weekend reno warriors learned a lot. We didn’t swear or get mad when we realized all of the faux pas. We laughed and teased each other and shopped and shared food all during the project. When done with love any project can be good for the body, mind and soul. 

Hmmm what to tackle next weekend?

ps--- when you take the wrapping off new doors and there is a little package of screws attached to the wrapping, its not a good idea to throw them out, cause it could take you about 20 minutes to find them................. 

With peace, love and lots of luck of your next reno project;

Cathy and Neil