As I mentioned a few days ago The Princess was on break this week so she and Mrs. OldGuy went away for a few days. They visited grandma and the three of them and Mrs. OldGuy's aunt spent a few days together.

They went to Chuck E. Cheese's on Thursday and had a bunch of those photo booth pictures taken. They couldn't get a picture all together, best they could do was three at a time, so yesterday I Photoshoped a couple of the pics and put them all together in a frame. You can't see Grandma's hair but for the most part their expressions were captured quite well.

Anyway, at the top is Mrs. OldGuy and The Princess, and at the bottom is Mrs. OldGuy's grandmother and aunt. So that's four generations together at Chuck E. Cheese, complete with a fancy frame.

Posted by OldGuy at 7:47 PM | Comments (2)

March 14, 2008

TGIF

Actually it's been a pretty decent week so I'm not complaining, just glad it's the weekend.

As I mentioned last week (I did mention it didn't I ?), Mrs. OldGuy and The Princess went away for a couple of days as it is The Princess's March break from school. They were going to grandma's in Brockville, with an overnight stay in Kingston last night. They come back tonight so I'm anxious to see them. The Lad and I were alone and we survived the experience just fine thank you very much. We ate, slept, showered, went to work, ate, and even watched a movie and had a beer last night. And we did all this without any help or major disasters. Not bad for a couple of bachelors eh ?

It's been cold here this week. Not much snow but cold. We're supposed to get more snow on the weekend though and once again the 14 day forecast is showing snow here and there throughout. We may break that record yet.

On a completely different note, I was chatting with a co-worker this week and our discussion stirred up a lot of old memories, some good, some bad. This one is a bit of both.

I remember when my mother died. She had heart problems and was living on borrowed time. She was told not long after her second heart attack that she was a candidate for a heart transplant (which she really wanted) but was later told that she wouldn't be getting one after all and that with medication she had a year to live at the outside. She lived for a year and a half, so she beat the odds. She was on a hell of a lot of medication though and in the end it was more the medication that killed her than her heart. See, she was told when she started taking all the pills that although they would keep her alive for a time eventually either her heart would give out or the pills would destroy her kidneys or liver or whatever and everything would simply shut down.

My mom had gone to live with her sister in northern Ontario in her last months, leaving my dad back in Quebec. He simply couldn't care for her anymore as he wasn't doing so well himself and her illness had taken a toll on him too. When she went into hospital for the last time my dad drove the 8 hours to Cochrane to see her, and when he realized this might really be it he called my wife and I and we drove up.

I didn't see my mother alive. By the time we got there it was late at night and we were told she was probably asleep but still okay so we'd get to see her the following day. When I got to the hospital the next morning (my dad had already been and she'd been awake and alert) she was going. The change had taken place in the space of minutes as my dad had gone to see her in the morning and I got there before lunch.

The deterioration she had undergone since the last time I'd seen her blew me away. She'd already been sick and quite frail then but now she was a bag of bones. I sat with her for a few minutes, waiting for her to wake up but she never opened her eyes. After a few minutes she appeared to gasp for breath and her whole body shook for a few seconds. There was a nurse just outside her room so I called her in. She examined my mother and told me she was dying and probably didn't have more than a couple of minutes so if I wanted to call anybody (we were all staying at my aunt's house just down the street) I had better do it now.

I found a phone, called my dad, and in a voice chocked with emotion told him mom was dying and to come as quickly as possible, then I went back to her room.

She appeared to be struggling so I told her I loved her and if she wanted to stop fighting and just go it was all right. Her body lifted off the bed, she uttered a long sigh, slumped back down, then lay still. She was gone.

The next day my dad and I went to the funeral home and made arrangements for her burial. My dad, who was normally a pretty tough guy, who had in fact attended many funerals before this, was shaken to the core. Under other circumstances he might he appreciated my help but he never would have asked for it. This time he did. Anyway, he'd always been the one there for me but now he wanted me there for him. In the end we were there for each other.

When we looked at coffins I think the fellow from the funeral home was afraid to show us anything too fancy because fancy meant expensive. He showed us a couple then left us to confer. I turned to my dad and said I couldn't picture my mom in any of these, they were just too cheap looking, and he agreed. We looked around a bit and spotted a beautiful one, brushed metal in a light bronze shade with silver handles. It looked fit for a queen and we knew we'd found the right one. The cost ? Plenty, but we were burying a wife and mother so cost never entered into it.

The rest of the thing was make sure we arranged for this and make sure we arranged for that. In short, we did what had to be done.

When it was all over my dad told me he'd never seen me so strong.

I'll always remember those words.

He died a month later.

Posted by OldGuy at 5:33 PM

March 8, 2008

Storm of the Century ?

Well, we're getting real one-two punch this time with what forecasters here are calling a nasty jab last night and the knock-out punch happening right now.

The first storm started around 6 p.m. yesterday and ended around 4 a.m. This morning we woke up to this scene.

The second storm started around 12 p.m. today and is expected to last 24-36 hours. This was the scene around 4 p.m. today. That's not a hazy picture, that's what's known as a white-out, and it's caused by heavy snow accompanied by high winds. That picture was taken from my son's bedroom window and those houses are right across the street.

I've lived in northern and eastern Ontario (yeah, Les, I've even lived in Kapuskasing and Cochrane), and northern Quebec for most of my life so I've seen plenty of snow storms but I've never seen one like this. The amount of snow coupled with the high winds and the duration of the storm will definitely put it in the history books.

We're getting the worst of it right now. The snow and wind are simply awesome. I've been watching the storm through the kitchen and living room windows and it's actually scary.

Update 1, March 9th

Remember when I shoveled a path to the BBQ a few weeks ago ? Well, the family helped me do it again after yesterday's storm, and my wife also cleaned the BBQ off completely because she wanted to see how much more snow we'd get by Sunday. Here's what we woke up to this morning. Remember, this was cleaned after the first pic was taken. This snowfall beat the old one-day record, set back in 1947 (50 cms or almost 20 inches) and we're very close to beating the record for one year.

Update 2, March 10th

Well, the official numbers are out and we didn't break the one-day record after all. Although we got 52 centimetres of snow on the weekend it was over two days so we missed the one day record by about 1.5 centimetres. This has totally ruined my day as I was all excited about it ! We still have a chance to beat the record for total accumulation in one winter though so I'm pulling for that as are a lot of people around here.

Hey, we've come this far !

   

Posted by OldGuy at 11:46 PM | Comments (3)

   

March 7, 2008

 

TGIF

 

Indeed, it's good to see another week down. Not that I mind work but I'll take a weekend any time.

So what's new around here ?

Well, The Princess turns 10 in a couple of weeks. Yeah, seriously, 10. She was 6 when I started this blog, 5 when I first started keeping a journal at Castlecops. Hard to believe it's been that long, I never really thought I'd keep at it when I started but blogging and writing is just so much fun I just keep on keeping on. By the way, there are more stories coming, they were on the back burner while I got the arthritis back on track. Got a poem I've been thinking about for a while too. Things are better now so I should get productive again soon.

Speaking of the arthritis, I saw my rheumatologist last week. He renewed my current meds and he's working on getting me on Enbrel. Hopefully that'll work out. In the meantime I feel much better so that's a good thing.

Easter is of course coming too, and my wife and I have our birthdays in April, then The Lad turns 20 in May, so this is always a busy time of year for us.

And of course, there's the snow to talk about. Okay, I know I'm stuck on this snow thing but seriously, this is big news here. Apparently this is the snowiest winter we've had since 1970, and I think we're set to break the record soon. We have another major storm headed our way this weekend and the 14 day forecast is once again showing snow right to the end. Every conversation you hear around here these days either revolves around the snow or somehow gets around to it. Here are a couple of examples (no, I didn't actually hear these but I'm sure they're taking place somewhere):

A man and a woman in a divorce lawyer's lawyers office:

Lawyer: Everything's been accounted for except the snowblower, so who gets it ?

Him: That's mine, there's no way she's getting it !

Her: Yours ?! I don't think so, I get the snowblower and that's that !

Him: You already got the car, now you want the snowblower too ??!!

Her: Uh yeah, I have to be able to get the car out of the garage don't I ? Idiot !

And here's another one, two ladies in a bar:

Lady 1 : So what did Tim get you for your birthday ?

Lady 2: A diamond necklace. What the hell am I supposed to do with that, we never go anywhere. What about you, you and Paul just had an anniversary didn't you ?

Lady 2: A truck, black four wheel drive job !

Lady 1; Oh my God, you're kidding ! He is the best husband ever !

Lady 2: Yeah, but that's not all.

Lady 1: You mean ? Oh God, he didn't ??

Lady 2: He did ! A red one !!

Lady 1: A black truck with a red plow ! I am so gonna come !!!

   

Posted by OldGuy at 9:50 AM

   

March 2, 2008

 

A Good Weekend

 

As the title says, it was a good weekend.

The Princess and I went to see The Bee Movie at her school on Friday night. She spent the whole time with her friends but that was fine as I wanted to actually watch the movie anyway. Also, friends of ours brought their young son (I think he's 5 years old) so The Princess and her friends kept an eye on him while her parents and I sat together and enjoyed the movie.

On Saturday The Lad and I had our guys night. The pizza was good, the beer was better, and the movie was scary as all get out (Thirty Days of Night). The Princess was of course at a sleepover and Mrs. OldGuy was out with a friend.

Today, feeling better than I have in a couple of months I played outside with The Princess and a couple of her friends. The hill they're standing on is where they've been piling the snow that's been plowed in our neighbourhood all winter. As you can see that's one big friggin hill ! The kids played on it for a while then decided they wanted to slide down it so they got their sliding tubes. I decided to join them and I had a lot of fun. That's me getting ready to go down while her friends hold the tube so The Princess could take the picture. The third picture is The Princess in a hole on the same hill. She was walking up the side and the snow gave way. I actually told her to move otherwise that would happen but she preferred to just fall in.

We played for a couple of hours and I took a whole bunch of pictures.

All in all, a good weekend.

   

Posted by OldGuy at 7:12 PM

   

March 1, 2008

 

Thank God It's The Weekend

 

Ever notice how long a regular work week seems after a sort one ?

Yeah, you know what I mean, you work a four day week then a five day week and the five day one seems to go on and on and on ...

Anyway, it's the weekend and thank God for that.

The Princess is going to a friend's birthday party sleepover tonight and Mrs. OldGuy is going out with a friend so it's just The Lad and I at the house. We're going to have pizza and later we're watching "Thirty Days of Night" and having a beer. A real guy's night all the way !

Hey, you know how I've mentioned before that the family always tells me I'm getting old ? Well, yesterday The Princess actually told me I looked young. Yeah, imagine that. I'd just gotten dressed for work in the morning and she said I looked really good today, in fact I looked young. It was the shirt of course, it's one Mrs. OldGuy bought me a while back and The Princess really likes it. Of course the fact that The Lad has one just like it except in a different colour probably helped.

Well, it's snowing here again. We got walloped last night and it's snowing right now. The 14 day forecast is also showing plenty of snow so I guess winter isn't over yet.

This morning I decided to go for a walk while the snow was still fresh and take some pictures. It was actually really nice out and the trees looked very pretty. Anyway, this is the path to the park that The Princess and I go to in the summer (I'm coming back from the park as I took some pictures there too; our house isn't too far up that hill). You can't really tell in the picture but that snow is a couple of feet deep.

Anyway, I have things to do so I'll sign off for now.

Have a great week folks.

   

Posted by OldGuy at 3:43 PM | Comments (1)