Happy Ukarianian Christmas!!!  I only know this because I had an email from my friend Carol this morning wishing us all a Merry Christmas.  Carol and I go back a long ways.  We were both Winter Club brats and although she was a little younger than I we had friends who were sisters so spent a fair bit of time together.  I taught her three wonderful boys in my years at Cambrian Heights.  There are always some families in your career that are standouts and the Stone Family is definitely one of those for me!

Had coffee this morning with my friend Pat.  Pat and I go back to my Cambrian Heights days.  We haven't had much opportunity to get together so had lots of catching up to do today!

Came home and had some lunch then Boomer and I picked up Sienna and headed off to Nose Hill.  We did the full loop today and it was much easier than it was a few days ago.  I am noticing improvements every day as to how I'm feeling and with my stamina.

Have had a couple of texts from Kelli in Vancouver.  As I mentioned she is doing her ICU rotation there for the next month which is a tough one.  Long hours and challenging work.  No details but it sounds like she's having one of those days.  It's hard enough to be between hospitals in the same city let alone having to move between cities and provinces.  She has had a tough year juggling her program so that she could be there for me every step of the way.  I have marvelled at her ability to do this but don't for a minute take it for granted knowing full well it has not been easy.   As I was walking today I was thinking about being in the learning stages of my own career.  I have some pretty vivid recollections of experiences I had in my early days that made me seriously question if I was cut out to be a teacher.  Today when Pat and I were talking I said we should have kept a diary of those experiences because they would make a darn good read for people considering going into teaching.  One of my first "sideways" experiences happened during my Junior HIgh student teaching round at FE Osborne.  I was a PE major but they also wanted us to have a classroom experience so I was partnered up with a super organized science teacher.  She made teaching science look easy.  I observed for a few days and then she literally turned her class of grade 7's over to me.  Not only did she turn them over.....she left me alone with them and totally disappeared.  So there I was with a classroom full of wild twelve year olds who had the uncanny ability to sense I was as green as they come.  I had prepared a weeks worth of lessons and proceeded to do lesson #1 in my first 45 minute period.  Well, I completed lesson #1 in about 15 minutes so moved on to lesson #2.  I actually competed almost the entire weeks lessons in 45 minutes!!!  I was horrified but realized two things.  I needed to have a lot more content in my lessons and I had to slow down.  So day two I had a 30 minute movie to show which only left me with 15 minutes of teaching time.  Those were the days when movies came on the big reels on the film projectors.  Well, I got everything loaded up before the class arrived.  I was ready today!  It was going to be much, much better than the previous day.  Settled the kids down then pushed the start button on the projector. Things came to a grinding halt and the film snapped and was flapping around as the projector rolled.  I was madly trying to fix it but was not very good at those technological challenges (still struggle to this day with technology).  The kids were starting to get restless.  The noise level was picking up.  Kids were starting to move around and I had completely lost control.  I finally had to send a student to get my cooperating teacher for help.  I'm sure she thought I was a Loser with a capitol "L".  She was able to settle the group immediately and took over.  Talk about a dog with it's tail between its legs.  I was so embarrassed.  On the positive side things did improve and I did learn from those experiences.  My second round of student teaching was at William Aberhart High School which also happened to be the high school I myself had attended.  Talk about awkward.  All of a sudden you are allowed to go into the staff room, a place a student wasn't even permitted to look into.  Teachers who had taught me insisted I call them by their first names.  My classroom experience this time was Chemistry 30, a subject I barely passed in grade 12, with the same teacher who had taught me......Mr. Appleby.  I kept calling him Mr. Appleby and he kept insisting I call him Rick.  Finally I just didn't call him anything.  I would catch his eye before I spoke to him.  The gym was better but even there things were interesting as I was only a few years older than my students and actually looked a lot younger than many of them.  One day after school I was working in the PE office.  Two students were there on detention doing an assignment for my cooperating teacher.  They were talking as if I wasn't even there and at one point decided they would steal a couple of whistles out of the teachers drawer.  I was sitting at my desk looking at them in total amazement.  One girl looked at me and snarled "I suppose YOU are going to tell the teacher??!!"  I then realized they thought I was also a student there on detention.  I looked at her and said "Actually, I AM the teacher!"  You should have seen the look on those snotty faces.  Totally priceless!  My experiences continued on into my first job at Sir John  A MacDonald.  We had huge classes of up to 75 students.  There were several hundred students at the school and the first report card was a nightmare because I was only just starting to get a handle on the kids names.  I had two teaching partners but the work was quite challenging as the school was a pretty high needs school.  Interviews were much like they are now at the secondary level.  Teachers sat at various stations and parents lined up to see them.  I was soooo nervous because I knew I didn't know the kids as well as I would like to in order to speak knowledgeably about their kids.  I sat at a table alongside my two teaching partners and we had a pretty steady stream of parents wanting to talk about their kids.  Things weren't going too badly until a woman sat down and smiled a smile that wasn't if you know what I mean.  She looked pissed and snarled at me she was very pleased her daughter, Michelle, was doing so well in PE.......EVEN THOUGH HER DAUGHTER MICHELLE HAD NEVER TAKEN PE.  SHE WAS IN A BODY CAST!!!  I was mortified.  I had given this student a grade and I had never even taught her.  Now in my defence, and even I admit it is a weak defence at best, I taught probably  dozen Michelles but of course that did not appease this irate mother.  I know if I had been the mother I would have felt much the same.  Yikes!  That was one of our last interviews of the evening and I was in tears.  All the other staff thought it was funny and proceeded to tell me about the first year the shop teacher came to the school.  He gave a grade to a student who had left the school but was still on the class list.  The staff decided to play a joke on him and sent a fill in parent to interviews.  The teacher discussed the "student' with this "parent".  Well, this went on for an entire year.  He continued to grade the kid that wasn't and sat through at least two interviews with the parent who wasn't.  How mean is that!!!????  The next go round of interviews I was feeling much more comfortable with knowing my students.  We again sat at the table together and I brought some work to do during the interviews.  I was making some posters using a black felt pen.  I only worked on them for a bit at the beginning of the evening and then we got busy so I put it away.  At the end of the evening, I turned to one of my teaching partners and said with a big smile on my face...."Well, that certainly was better than last time." He burst out laughing and said to my other partner...."Get a load of her beak!"  Well, I had somehow drawn a thick black line right down the middle of my nose.  I had interviewed parents all  night long sporting a black stripe down the middle of my face!  OMG  can't imagine what they thought of me!!!!
I could go on and on.....but my point is that I'll bet every one of us has stories just like this....well maybe not quite like this but we all have times both when we are in the learning phases and even once established in our careers when we feel incompetent and lack confidence.  That, however, is how we learn as humbling as it may feel at the time.

So my message to my beautiful, smart daughter is this......you are still learning!  No one expects you to be an expert......you are in a career where you will be learning every step of the way.  So hold your head up......remember.....You are in charge of your attitude!

This is my little reminder to myself!  Don't know what got into me yesterday!  Just one of those days I guess.  I do have the odd little pity party I must confess and yesterday I was thinking about how lucky Geoff and Lindsey were to be going to Revelstoke to ski for a few days, Jenifer's off to Kicking Horse with the girls for a few days of skiing.....I saw some of Lisa's cross country skiing pics from Peter Lougheed Park, I heard about my cousins' awesome trip to Whitefish......and I had a little snap shot of what life was like before cancer!  I'm over it today. Bill reminded me this morning that this wasn't exactly how he envisioned retirement either but we were finding lots of fun things to do.....different things than we thought we'd be doing but still good things.   Went to bed early last night with the promise that I would not wake up a cranky pants.  Well, easier said than done.  The day was not off to a great start.  Was lying in bed when the phone rang.  It was Kelli.  They were just getting ready to leave for Vancouver and she discovered she had no wallet.  She figured she had left it in her car (which I have as we have traded vehicles) so they would drop by and give me my phone and pick up the wallet.  Well, the wallet was not in the car so they had to drive all the way back to their place in Marda Loop to look for it.  Bill looked at me and said "The peach doesn't fall too far from the tree!".   I promptly told him the expression was apples, not peaches and that peaches were boobs. "Well" he said "My point exactly.....you are both boobs!"  Hmmm....sad but true.  Kelli does come by it honestly....Well, she did find her wallet and they eventually did get off but later than they were hoping.  We got our breakfast ready.  Cereal this morning but when I took a bite of my cereal I discovered the milk had gone sour!  So much for that breakfast.  Next choice....raisin toast which I managed to burn!  Oh boy....this day is not going so good but I'm not going to be grumpy right!  After all this gives me some humour to write about today, right?  Took Boomer out and he managed to flush out his favourite coyote.  This is becoming a bit of a regular event for him.  He has learned to listen for the magpies because when they are squawking it often means the coyotes are nearby.  Fortunately just the loner coyote again this morning and he's a runner but one of these days we are going to run into a group and this isn't going to go as Boomer likes it to go.
Am home puttering now.  Kathy and I had planned to get together today but she forgot she had promised her son Robbie they would go out to celebrate the anniversary of his new lungs.  That's a pretty important thing to celebrate I'm thinking so we will put our plans on hold.  We had thought about going for a walk today but that breeze has a bit of a bite to it today!  I'm happy with a shorter one instead and a day of puttering.

8 shots for 8 years....and I thought he was a tea totaler!  Way to go Robbie!  And by the way.....your Mom says I'm beating you on the torso road map!

Do you ever have one of those days where you are just grumpy and have no reason to be so?  Well that's what my day has been like.  No reason whatsoever. Bill says I'm as grumpy as a bear with a bee up it's ass!  He's totally right!  I woke up grumpy!  Before I even opened my eyes I knew I was grumpy.....not usually like me but today it is the sad truth!  Leslie is a grump!

 We went to see the Hobbit last night at the Imax 3 D.  Loved it although I hear it has had very mixed reviews.  Think you have to know the story if you go though.  My kids had the full unabridged taped version of the Hobbit when they were little and they used to listen to it every single night on their Fischer Price tape recorders.  If anyone knows this story these two do....inside out!  Kelli saw it and loved it.  Geoff has not but I told he he had to go!

Got a few things accomplished today.  Ran a few errands this morning, came home and finished off my Hawaii photo book with Kelli's help.  We then headed out for my second walk of the day and ran into a couple who I haven't seen in over a year.  I often run into them at the off leash park and their dog, an Airedale, named  Ben is one of Boomer's all time favourites!  Whenever those two got together they played and played.  Even dogs have friends!  But, like I said I have not seen them since before I was diagnosed so it's been well over a year.  Well today they were down in the ravine walking a mangy. cranky old black mutt. (I kind of recognized myself when I looked at him)   I looked around for Ben but he wasn't there so I blurted out...."Where's Ben?"  Well, much to my shock and sadness they told me they had to put him down last spring as he had a heart condition.  I am so sad.  He was just an awesome dog, full of life and was a huge part of their family.  They have now inherited their sons' dog as he just went through a divorce and believe you me....this dog can't hold a candle to their Ben!  We walked with them for a bit and Linda asked me if I was still teaching.  I told her I had been on a sick leave for the past year.  Well...there was this long pregnant pause.  Sometimes I just ignore that pause if I don't want to share my story but I really like this couple so I told them what I had been through.  Well, it turns out Linda herself was diagnosed with colon cancer a couple of years back and went through surgery and the whole nine yards.  She looks great now but like most people who have had cancer, she has the view that things are good for now....and hopefully will stay that way.  The shocking thing about her story is it is much like mine.  She is a huge health nut....eats well, exercises and is a clean living kind of gal.  I used to see her most mornings when I was out running as our running routes intersected.  We both just shake our heads realizing our experience has brought home the thought that no one is immune to this disease and although you can certainly minimize your chances of getting it by making healthy choices it is no guarantee that you will be spared.

We got home and Geoff dropped by on his way to work.  He says their call volume is up 20% this year over last year.  It is appalling to hear what people will call an ambulance for.  So frustrating!  Mike and Kelli say the same thing.  The other day Mike had a person come into the "Emergency" department because he had a "dry" nose!  That some emergency!

Kelli and Mike leave for Vancouver tomorrow.  Kelli has a month out there doing her ICU rotation.  It's a tough one.  She did buy a new car but it won't be here until March so I'm lending her my Forerunner as I don't have much faith in her old Camray.  It has been a great car but is definitely in it's twilight years!  If anyone is interested in buying an older car let me know.  It would make a great vehicle for a new young driver and Kelli will be looking to sell it in the next couple of months.  I drove her back to her place after Geoff left and traded vehicles but when I got home discovered I left my phone in my car.  The bad news is it's not only my cell, but also my landline so anyone trying to get a hold of me won't be able to until I retrieve the phone.  This is definitely not helping my mood!

Well, I've had my supper....going to go to bed early with the plan I will get up with a better temperament tomorrow.  It's not good when you don't even like your own company and even the dog is looking at you sideways.  (Yes, even Boomer got a blast today when he took off after a coyote on our morning walk).  Then you discover text messages on family members phones saying...."Man she's grumpy today!"  Grrrrrrr......

Well, I've been discovered with the boots.  Walked in from my morning walk as Bill was coming up from the basement.  At first I was able to keep eye contact, however, eventually the eyes travelled down and lit upon the new boots.  "Where the heck did those come from?"  I explained....he just looked at me and said he wasn't at all surprised and he supposed they'd be good for dog walking!  Good to come clean!  However.....ran into three people today who immediately looked at my feet and said "Are those the boots???"

Had coffee with Judy this morning.  As always a great visit!  I always feel like I've had a shot of happy juice after spending an hour or two with her!  She just makes me smile!

From there came home to be here when the furnace guy arrived.  Enmax was here yesterday and said our main circuit board was gone.  It would be between three and eight hundred dollars to replace and new furnaces would run us around $10,000!!!  Gag!  They would get back to us with a more accurate estimate.  Now give me a break....between three and eight hundred dollars!  That's quite the range.  In any case we have been without heat since yesterday because they would not relight the pilot....too dangerous!  They never did get back to us with the estimate so Bill found another heating company who said they would be here at 1 PM today....and they were.  The guy took one look at the furnace and said there wasn't a thing wrong with it.  He said he personally knows of five or six cases where Enmax has done this very thing to people, suggesting they need a new furnace or expensive repairs when in fact there is no problem with the furnace.  When we called Enmax initially,  it was to look at our other furnace as we had had no problem with this one but Enmax said "Oh yes you have had problems....this furnace is pooched."  So we paid todays service guy $84 to relight our pilot and Bill promptly got on the phone to lodge a complaint to Enmax.  Each time he started to tell his story he was told "Oh, not our department....we'll forward you on."  After three forwards with music in between each forward he was told that someone would contact him on Monday to hear his complaint!  Talk about crooked!!!   I'm steamed!

Tonight we are off to see the Hobbit so I had better sign off!

Eighteen days til we leave for Mexico!!! Lots to do before then so the time will no doubt fly by.  We head to Edmonton on the 9th for my follow up appointment with my surgeon.  We are just going to drive up and back and not stay overnight.  Then I have an appointment with my oncologist on the 16th to determine what they have planned for me in terms of chemotherapy.  I am really hoping I won't start until I get back from my trip, however, if they say I should start immediately so be it!  I'm not going to go through all of this and risk having it come back because I wanted to delay my chemo.  Just hoping they think I could use a couple more weeks to recover from the surgery before they start up that regime again.

Had a bit of a rough go yesterday.  I'm not sure if it's related to my surgery or if I had a bug.  There's lots going around right now and I've been around lots of people so thinking I may have just caught a little bit of a bug.  Much better today.

This morning I tackled my photo album project and it's a big one.  When the kids were little I used to stick their pictures in those albums with the sticky pages.  Well, twenty-five years later I'm discovering that these albums are not acid free and many of my photos are starting to deteriorate.  So I am plugging away at redoing all those old albums.  Huge job! Finished Kelli's year one album this morning and now have to tackle Geoff's which him being the first child, is a much bigger job.  It has been a lot of fun revisiting those albums though.  Can't believe how cute my kids were when they were little!

Finished that job and decided today would be the day I would try to do a loop of Nose Hill.  Both Dad and Jenifer have offered to go with me but today I wanted to try it on my own, not really sure how it would go.  To be honest it was a little tough.....it was a bit of a slow go but I finished the entire loop much to Boomer's great delight.  He found two tennis balls and had them both stuffed into his mouth at the end of the walk!  So I did two pretty good walks today....Nose Hill and my trek to the tennis courts and back so am thinking I will sleep well tonight.  If you had told me I would consider this a workout before I got sick I would have laughed my head off!  Funny how circumstances have changed my perspective!

Finished at Nose Hill and did a couple of errands, one of which was to go to Costco to check on a print I had blown up to poster size for Kelli's kitchen.  I wanted to plaque mount it but wanted to see if it was a decent enlargement.  It was totally awesome!  I can hardly wait to see the finished product!  The picture was one I took of a sunflower my Dad grew in his garden.  If you are a follower of this blog you will know that Sunflowers are one of my favourite flowers along with tulips!

"Turn your face to the sun and the shadows will follow behind you."  That is what sunflowers do!

So all in all a pretty good day with the exception of the visit from Enmax.  Our furnace is on the fritz and we are waiting for an estimate on repairing it and hoping like heck we won't have to replace it!  Funny how these big ticket items always seem to happen at Christmas time.  In the meantime we have no heat on our main floor and I'm noticing it's just a little chilly in here.  Could be a cool night and will certainly be fresh tomorrow morning.  Brrrrrr........