A Little Break

[On my way to town]

Today (Wednesday) I had some small errands to run at the mall. I took some photos along the way. The top photo is the main thoroughfare through the North Shore of the city. You can see the mountains in the background . The very large building on the left side of the photo is a Full Gospel Church.

[Getting closer to the mall]

[Looking across the street to a 2nd mall]

I made my way to the yarn shop in this small mall. I was looking for red yarn to mend a sweater sleeve of mom's. The salesclerk recommended red embroidery thread and I accepted her recommendation, happy to be on my way with a beautiful shade of red thread.

I also felt very hungry as a I passed by a place called "Senor Froggy's", a local Mexican restaurant. I decided to stop and have a taco and some Mexi-fries. Here is my window view of the busy traffic from my table.

Once I placed my order, I quickly grabbed a few small pots of salsa for my Mexi - fries. I was so hungry (I was having a low blood sugar attack) that when my order arrived I forgot to take a photo until half way through so this doesn't look so appetizing.

The snack break also gave me a chance to enjoy this casual restaurant's decor and furnishings. I like this new location for the restaurant. The former location was just across the street but this new place feels much more spacious with it's very high ceilings.

[There are all kinds of lovely plates adorning the walls].

[And tin frames]

After my snack of Mexican food, I dropped by the dollar store to get some colouring books for my niece who will be visiting for lunch. She has asked for two colouring books. I purchased 6 of them so my mother can ration them out to her over the coming weeks.

I am not sure if I've mentioned it before, but my niece is autistic and her current obsession is the Australian Band, INXS. She has "ordered" an INXS t-shirt as she has virtually destroyed the one she bought at the INXS concert just over a year ago.

I called Wal-Mart, an American mega bargain store, to see if they had any INXS t-shirts for sale. The young lady I spoke to said Wal-Mart does not carry them so I looked for merchandise on the INXS website. Wouldn't you know it, their website is under construction!

I then searched on line and found that most INXS t-shirts for sale appear to be located in the UK. It prompted me to decide to make a t-shirt. I called the local pharmacy about photo transfer services for t-shirts. They provide the service but sadly, this procedure cannot be done on site.The job order will be sent out of town and it will take up to two weeks to get the t-shirt. I've decided to wait until I return home later this week to place my order and send the t-shirt by express post when it is ready. This will be a nice surprise for my niece. The trick will be to find just the right photo for the t-shirt. I'm thinking this one below might work. My niece only started listening to INXS when JD Fortune joined the band (he is no longer with them) so it seems like an appropriate photo.

Dust on the Bible

I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.

Psalm 77:12 (NIV)

I'm tired tonight. Well, technically it is morning as it is almost 1:00 a.m.

I am happy to report that after all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. mom and I are finally making progress on other tasks.

As many of you know I've got to find a new place for mom to live and so we are preparing as best we can as well as looking for a new apartment or senior's residence. I had a call back from one apartment today but was unable to make the connection. Then I accidentally erased the stored numbers in the phone! So now I'll have to hunt down a local paper and see if the ad is still there. Mom isn't ready to move yet, we are just checking out real possibilities that will enable her to live a more independent lifestyle than currently so we are making a shortlist if you will of appropriate places.

Since I wrote my last blog entry I have been busy. The cable man was here today to provide a better cable link as mom has been missing half of the channels she buys. I guess the problem was an insufficient cable connection so that has now been remedied. I also ordered another 6 or so channels for mom so she will have something better to watch after I go home. Now she will get to watch family shows like Reba re-runs and country music shows as well as all the home and garden shows and have access to CNN news.

In the living room, I dusted furniture and generally straightened things out. I dusted and polished the living room shelves, the television, other electronic equipment and armoires. After dinner, mom and I made haste for the master bedroom where we sorted through a few baskets of clothing and dusted all the laundry baskets, tables and various sundry items. To help mom keep her focus on the work, I played a Kitty Wells gospel CD. I also played an old Carter family album later remastered for the CD. When mom was a young woman, Kitty Wells was her favourite singer and she has also loved the Carter Family so these tunes were just the right thing to put her in a happy mood and help spur her on to sorting. For years, Kitty Wells held the title, the Queen of Country Music and her sound is pure and clear. If you haven't listened to her I would recommend her album called "Dust on the Bible". Here are the words to the song of the same name and a picture of the young Miss Kitty.

"Dust on the Bible"

I went into a home one day just to see some friends of mine
Of all their books and magazines, not a Bible could I find.
I asked them for the Bible.  When they brought it, what a shame!
For the dust was covered o'er it, not a fingerprint was plain. 

Chorus
Dust on the Bible, dust on the Holy Word
The words of all the prophets, and the sayings of our Lord.
Of all the other books you'll find, there's none salvation holds
Get the dust off the Bible and redeem your poor soul. 
Oh, you can read your magazines of love and tragic things
But not one word of Bible verse, not a scripture do you know.
When it is the very truth, and it's contents good for you.
But it's dust is covered o'er it  
And it's sure to doom your poor soul.

Chorus
Dust on the Bible, dust on the Holy Word;
The word of all the prophets, and the sayings of our Lord.
Of all the other books you'll find, there's none salvation holds
Get the dust off the Bible and redeem your poor soul.

Oh, if you have a friend you'd like to help along life's way
Just tell him that the Good Book shows a mortal how to pray
The best advice to give him that will make his burdens light
Is to dust the family bible trades the wrong way for the right

Chorus
Dust on the Bible, dust on the Holy Word
The word of all the prophets, and the sayings of our Lord.
Of all the other books you'll find, there's none salvation holds.
Get the dust off the Bible and redeem your poor soul.

We also managed to sort through a few tubs of clothing and decide what to giveaway and what to keep. I then sorted through the bed linens and transferred what she will keep from a laundry basket to a nice wicker basket which I had originally purchased for clean bath towels but has now served several useful purposes. Mom can't sit and work for long but we managed to put together a total of 4 giveaway bags so I feel like we are making some progress at last. Tomorrow, I hope we can sort some of her personal papers..about 2 big garbage bags full and one large leather electrolux vacuum cleaner storage box. I also have to do all my laundry as I am running out of clean clothes. I have cooked some beef brisket tonight so we have something ready to eat tomorrow and I won't have to spend as much time in food preparation.

The rest of the week we will be busy as my niece will visit Thursday and the nurse attends at the apartment on Friday to provide some much needed medical attention to mom. That means any further sorting will need to be accomplished Thursday and Friday evenings as well as the weekend.

Kamloops is a very dry and hot city. Consequently, it is very dusty and is surrounded by hills of dust with little vegetation on them.

The song "Dust on the Bible" seemed very appropriate to listen to for all the dusting I was doing. It was a great reminder not to take God's Word lightly.

~~~

This book of the law shall not depart out of they mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then shalt thou have good success.

Joshua 1:8