Coming home

I'm flying back to Calgary tomorrow and so very excited. Cannot wait to see some good friends. To make a real home cooked meal or 7! To enjoy the fall air. To snuggle up by the fireplace. To stock up on books at the library. To have more than two pairs of shoes to choose from. To use my hair straightener. To go to a grocery store. To enjoy fresh fruit. To snack on veggies. 

Yup pretty darn excited for all those lovely ordinary little details that I used to take for granted. It will be good to be home. 

I love fireworks

It's a Good Day

So now that I have a little distance from the situation I should share that Dad didn't exactly have a little accident. Rather, he rolled the full grain truck. And for those of you who know trucks it was a tandem - for those of you who don't this truck is bigger than a 5 ton but not a semi - somewhere in between. And for those of you who know farmers, you can only imagine the variety of tools, objects, buckets, etc. that might also be in the truck - for those who don't imagine what your vehicle looks like after a road trip and then add in the odd hammer, screws, nuts, bolts and on a good day some heavy wrenches and ratchets. Oh - and on this fine day - a grocery bag of mail.

Dad had an army of angels with him that day. When so many other freak accidents turn out fatal . . . God blessed our family so greatly and kept him in the truck cab with a few cuts and bruises, a broken back and a broken bone in his shoulder. Nothing that time can't heal.

As you can well imagine, I just couldn't bear to put this in black and white last week. Our family's emotions were too raw. My heart breaks for all of you that have experienced this and even more for those who were not as fortunate as we were.

And today, well today is a good day. Today - my incredibly fantastic sister (who has been a rock through this whole process) got to take the vehicle to the city and load our bruised and broken pops to bring him home. The first step in a  long recovery but an important first step.

Welcome back to the farm Dad! I know mom missed you!!

It hasn't been an easy few weeks for mom and dad. Mom had her hip replaced just 4 weeks ago and is just starting to get a little more mobile. She has been doing fantastic with her recovery and I am sure is so relieved as well now that Dad is home.

Grandpa's little house hasn't had so much activity since the last Berkan Christmas was held there - I am sure of it . . . Kim will be leading exercises every day at 9 if anyone wants to join in . . . canes are optional.

Love you: Trevor, Kim, Joshua, Rhyder, Chase and Hunter - thanks for making room for Mom and Dad.

Love you mom and dad; be good for Kimmie now!

Cherry Certs

As I mentioned, last week was a touch trying (perhaps the understatement of my year) and what made it extra hard was to not have anyone there with me. 

I don't really have any friends in Pittsburgh per say... My client has some really nice people but none that I have established a relationship with outside of the office. Jimmy was at home in Calgary. And my family was working through Dad's accident in Saskatchewan. 

It never felt so good to get home to Calgary as it did on Friday. To have full access to phone and email. To have a support network I could reach out to. To have a hug... Lots of hugs. As you can well expect, this Monday had never been so hard to leave. 

I was at the airport buying my regular bottle of water for the flight when I noticed cherry Certs. The package promised me they were the 'original' mint. Without a second thought I plucked the package off the display, paid for my items and immediately proceeded to unwrap the certs and pop one in my mouth. I was not disappointed in the least. 

It immediately took me back to simpler times. Riding in the car with Aunty Shirley on the way to church or errands. At a random red light she would dig in her purse, pull out a package and pass them around. 

It isn't a hug or a friend in Pittsburgh but it is a little taste of family and friends back home in Saskatchewan. 

Wishing now I would have picked up a second package...

A few tidbits

I'm constantly learning new things about myself. Revealing new truths in my little brain about who I am evolving into and often times evolving through. This week was no exception...

This week I realized how much knowing the little details helps me to cope during times of duress.  Weird I'm sure but that's okay. It's me and we all have a little weird in the person we know as me. 

With pops' little accident there was so many unknowns that we were dealing with over the first little bit. And as my mind was trying to wrap around that I found myself asking or wanting to ask the dumb questions... Are the sheep okay? How did the truck look? What ditch? What was the truckers name? Has Dana changed any in looks since i last took the school bus with him? Where is mom sleeping? Who is coming in to visit? What was dad wearing? What was Trev wearing? Heck, what was the whole family wearing? What are the nephews doing? What vehicles did they take to the city? I'm telling you they were dumb dumb dumb. And when I voiced some of them I could sense am exasperation/frustration on the other end. I am sure it seemed like I was either questioning if everything was under control or others couldn't believe that as we waited to find out what dads state was I was concerned about the sheep. 

It wasn't that I thought that any of these details were important. It wasn't that I didn't care more about dad than anything else in the world at that moment. But looking back I realized they served so many other purposes. 

They helped me feel connected to the activity and fuss that was happening in the periphery. Being so far away I needed that. Especially as it felt like I knew less than a random person in town. 

They were things that could be open and shut. Questions I could ask that could be answered. I didn't like not knowing so much that it helped to feel like I could know a little bit.

And perhaps one of the biggest drivers,  these questions kept the communication lines open with me. Like a little girl coming up with every reason one could to delay bedtime, I was grasping for every excuse I could come up with to text someone. Anyone. To check my phone for news. To make sure the messages were still going through. Rather than waiting in silence I could fill the void and not wait completely alone. 

So weird hey??

But alas... That is the fun of life. We grow. We mature. And as we get to know others... Often the biggest revelations are about ourselves. 

Summer Drives

Summer was getting into full swing and Jimmy and I took the opportunity to sneak away for a little date. A drive has always been one of our favorite summer dates and this day was no exception.

We headed out with thoughts of honey, a baseball game in Okotoks and lunch at the Chuckwagon Cafe. Although we didn't stop for honey we did start with the most delicious meal. The wait was a touch longer than we anticipated so we took advantage of the sun and our to go coffees and soaked it all in. I will say that Jimmy declared it the best eggs Benedict he has ever had! Big claims people but every bite lived up to it!

We had a little time before the ball game started so took a meandering drive over to Okotoks. We saw some of the devastation left behind by the river. For much of it, it would be too hard to capture on film or is too personal and I surely wanted to respect others pain by not photographing it. This Winnebago however sums it all up. Who knows where it came from but to be discarded by a river in such a manner is just a small example of the fury it released that weekend.

Being that Trevor and Kim were in the planning stages on sheep, these sweet little faces and freshly shorn bodies and all the fun memories I have of Aunt Emily's sheep when I was little ... Well... I couldn't help myself... Aren't the alpacas the sweetest?

We finished off our date with a favorite summertime past time of ours, some local baseball action. Now that Calgary doesn't have any teams, we have found a new place to grab a hot dog, sit in the sunshine and listen to the crack of the bat!

Such a perfect date Sunday!

The minivan

So I realized at the airport this morning that my sparkly diamonds were missing from my left hand . . . alas in my rush out to the door to catch my flight I had left them safe and secure in the jewelry box.

Jimmy and I giggled via text over the fact that it was a free week off for me - joking only - of course.

Then I land in Pittsburgh and go to pick up my rental  - well - it appears that they are incredibly tight on cars and offering me a complimentary upgrade . . . to a bright red minivan . . .

No worries at all now Jimmy - I will just look like another hockey mom car pooling the pick-ups!

Where was the fancy mustang I was upgraded to last week?

Elk Water

We had the most delightful time with the family at the lake again this year. It started with the facts that Jimmy and I did not get lost on our way (as we did last year), we were much better organized and so only had a couple stops on the way out (one year - maybe one year we can figure it out so that we have no stops) and as I was a year into Structure I was able to take Monday, the first off!  The only down point was that Dad wasn't able to join us until Sunday (but when he did . . . he came in with his smile flashing - oh yes he did)!

And it was a fantastic weekend indeed. The lodge mom rented was lovely, the boys were full of giggles and snuggles, and the weather was indeed beautiful for the end of June. We ate like kings (Kimmy put together the most yummy of menus), we found a reason to have ice cream every day, we hiked and played soccer, roasted hot dogs and went for drives.

So alas - you don't really care about my ramblings as much as you want to see the photos especially when they include my adorable nephews so here you go.