Saturday, September 20, 2014

Saturday

It's Saturday today and a glorious sunny day it was.  Though I am feeling much better, I am still having issues with my digestive tract after food poisoning just over a week ago. I didn't realize that convalescence would take so long.

I'm not doing much yet but I have gotten back to regular appointments and errands.

Thursday a friend and I went to a movie called "The Giver" with Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges and Katie Holmes. While it wasn't the best movie I've seen, it certainly was good enough to make a person think about the world we live in. In the movie, people live in a world where there is no colour or emotion, no sickness or war, no pain and no human touch, no books or knowledge of history.  It makes one realize that there can be an absence of all these things for all the "right reasons", usually idealistic reasons.  Yet the world can still be missing something and there can be hardship of another kind like no joy, no love, no touch, no feeling.  With all the warts, flaws, sadness and suffering in our world, it is still a rich world and preferable for most of us to living in a tightly run world of ideals for the common good.  At least that was my take away from the movie. If you see it yourself, I'd love to know what you think of it.

Yesterday, I went for my weekly appointment in the Kitsilano neighbourhood. I called a friend of mine the night before and we planned to meet for coffee and lunch afterwards. It was nice getting together with her and she had some gifts for my birthday which passed in May. It was such a nice gesture and surprise. She also bought me lunch to celebrate her recent promotion at work. We went to a new to the both of us place called Tang's, located at Broadway & Macdonald.  The food was delicious and I will have to go there again some time.  My friend had a deep fried tofu dish with chili and I had a beef and broccoli dish which came with hot and sour soup and pickles.  A nice added touch. The last time my friend and I got together I was treating her and her son to dinner at an Indian restaurant called Nirvana.  We were celebrating her new job but neither of us were impressed with the food or their miniscule portions.

At the post office today I picked up a parcel I've been expecting. It was my new Eurosteam iron (mine is blue not black).  I don't iron that much anymore but from time to time I need a really good iron for ironing cotton fabrics and shirts. If this iron is half as good as the demos, ironing will be a breeze.

I  bought this iron on line at a really good sale price and can't wait to try it out. I'm looking forward to being able to steam out wrinkles in a fraction of time than the usual.

After the post office I went next door to the grocery store and I bumped into a neighborhood friend I haven't seen for some time. It reminded me that the last time we bumped into each other at the coffee shop we exchanged phone numbers.  We both said we should make plans to get together rather than simply bumping into each other all the time.  I am not even sure where I have her number so I guess I should look for it. I'm either very good at keeping in touch with people or very bad.  Also, if I make a few efforts and the other party doesn't reciprocate then I drop all efforts because life is actually very busy and there is always someone else to see or something else to do.

Just yesterday I was also thinking about my former chiropractor.  I haven't been to him for adjustments in years since I worked at a downtown job  Unfortunately he was diagnosed with MS and recently retired from practice because the disease has advanced too much.  He and I promised to get together after his retirement but we haven't done so yet. I guess need to contact him and see how he is doing and whether and when we might get together.  He and his wife are just the dearest people you would ever hope to meet.  I think of him like a dear brother.  His wife is one of the most supportive spouses I've ever met. She gave up a promising career to be her husband's main office receptionist and supporter.  It was always a pleasure to go to the office and have a chit chat with the both of them.  When you meet people like that it is really important to try to stay in touch though it can be challenging in this busy age and time.

It has been raining this week but today the sun came out in all it's glory.   It is supposed to be another nice, sunny day tomorrow too.

I'm going to church and maybe after that I will get out to one of the southern "burbs" along the waterfront. There is a touristy kind of store that I want to check out because it might have some unique gifts.  I also want to take some photos by the waterfront because it will be the last opportunity  before summer officially ends.  If I don't get out that way tomorrow I will have to wait another week or two.  Rain is expected back in these parts on Monday and will likely last for most of the week.

Reminiscing about my safari in Kenya,
  I hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

5 comments:

Jo said...

So Penny, in that movie there was no war or sickness (or any other bad stuff, I imagine) but without color, emotion or human touch, the world would not be good either! Great take you have on the movie! I love that you and your friend treat each other for achievements, such as her job and then her promotion. I love your new iron, and would like to hear how things iron - er - pan out when you use it! I have a very special iron by Russell Hobbs and only Emily and I used it. She has now retired and her daughter, Erica replaced her in my home. I know she probably told Erica not to touch "Matabo's" iron. Rina, who is so careful with appliances, says she won't use it either! BTW I'm one of those strange people: I love ironing! Your chiropractor sounds like our now-retired vet, Danie. His wife, Ina also worked in his outer office and was such a help if you waited with an injured or ill pet and especially when you had to make that awful decision to have the animal put down. Danie had to retire after having a stroke! I hope you get to meeting up with them soon. I reminisced with you on the Kenya photo too. *Sigh* we loved living there... Have a great weekend. Blessings Jo

Joanne Noragon said...

Nothing like a good iron. My sister uses an iron constantly for her quilts and says a quilt is only as good as the ironing job.

africanaussie said...

I am glad to hear you are over the food poinsoning, but it must have been a bad bout to still be lingering. That sounds like an interesting movie. I love that quote, and hope you get out there and catch up with your friends.

tiptoethruphylsgarden.blogspot.com said...

Thinking of you this evening when I blogged. Glad you are feeling better.
It is hard to keep up with friends, so I`ve only ever had a few close ones, but when I do catch up with them,it is as if we just take up where we left off...looking forward to seeing the movie,probably when it finally comes on Tv,haha,Phyllis

John's Island said...

Hi Joyful, Thank you so much for your “welcome back” comments after my break from blogging for a few weeks. While I was away I discovered that I’m really enjoying this blogging hobby and I really do miss a few of the blogs I’m following and one of those is definitely SNAP THAT. I just really enjoy your writing. It fascinates me that as reading your posts I’m often thinking that we share a lot of common beliefs about life in general. In your post here I’m sorry to hear about your food poisoning. That is just awful … Yes, I’ve had that a couple of times and know how discouraging it can be. I do hope your recovery has been 100% by now. Thank you for the recommendation re “The Giver”. It definitely sounds interesting. Lately I’ve been noticing more, from all sorts of sources, about reflections on life. Maybe it’s just that I have time to reflect on life myself more than I used to. But this movie sounds very interesting. Good luck on your new iron. It sounds wonderful. You will smile: I’m likely a typical male … I do know how to do laundry, but never learned how to iron well. And I wish I did know! I enjoyed your comments about running into a friend … your last sentence in that paragraph is pure truth! Lastly, did you make it down to the waterfront and take a few pictures? If so, I hope you will share them with us. I love the waterfront in Vancouver! Thanks again for your blog and for following mine. Wishing you the best in the days ahead. John

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