053 PARTY TIME

Even though my birthday was May 31 and Father’s Day is not until June 19, and throw in trying to coordinate a Housewarming Party, we chose June 11 to combine all three celebrations into one.  Between me having friends over and the schedules of all three kids, this was the day that worked best for the celebrations.  My cousin Beth and her beau Denny were able to come as well, which made it a great time.

Initially we were going to have a big housewarming party and invite everyone at once, but we decided to break it up into several smaller celebrations.  This was Beth’s first time here as it was for my daughter Tamara.  It’s tough for her to get here as she doesn’t drive and taking a bus from Surrey is a long arduous journey, even though it’s essentially just across the Fraser River.  In this case she was able to catch a ride with cousin Beth.

Everyone began arriving at 1:00 PM and various treats were brought to augment my supply.  Beth brought some tasty shrimp wraps and ironically Caitlin was going to bring the identical ones but at the last minute changed her mind and brought her special meatballs.  Karl brought Spinach Dip with Sourdough Bread.

Tamara’s boyfriend Stephen could not come because he was working.  Caitlin’s boyfriend Trevor could not come because he was at an event with his Dad, but Karl brought his girlfriend Lisette.  So when all was said and done we had 8 people here.  The plan was to have a BBQ and make use of the deck, but the weather didn’t cooperate and we had a chilly damp day.  If this had been done at the old place, I never would have been able to accommodate that many people.  Everyone fit fine here though.

Eight though, would probably be the limit as it was a little crowded, but it all worked out.  I provided burgers, hot dogs and Bavarian Smokies for dinner and then at 5:00 in the morning I made my first ever potato salad.  Earlier in the week I made 50 peanut butter cookies on Wednesday, 80 Milk chocolate chip cookies on Thursday and on Friday made a scratch bake Angel Food cake.  The chocolate drizzle was done early Saturday morning.

We had lots of visiting and touring of the house, for all to see.  Everyone had their fill of food and when it came time for presents, Beth and Denny gave me an awesome platter, which will be great when I finally make a roast beef or a turkey.  I didn’t have a serving platter before now.  The kids got together and bought me a Fitbit which works great.

The day after the party, I managed to get 10,687 steps in.  Monday not as many as I had physio on my back and I am supposed to walk Toby right afterwards to keep my back loose and then I must rest for the day, to let my back heal.  I have to avoid sitting for too long, so I crawled into bed, cranked on the air conditioner and cuddled up with Toby, where we fell asleep for 90 minutes.

The physio is already paying dividends as I can now walk up and down stairs normally.  Beforehand I could only do one step at a time.  I also could only bend over and touch my shins halfway between my knee and ankle.  Now I can bend over and touch the floor with my fingertips.  This is after only 5 Spinal Decompression treatments.  My physio is confident that we can get me pain free, very soon.

The day after treatment is a bit rough as well, since all the muscles that were used to being tense are forced to let go and as a result I’m pretty stiff and sore the next day.  It feels like I have had a workout, which is exactly the way I am supposed to feel according to physio.  At this rate, I might become the hockey player that I was only 2 years ago.  I can’t get much lower than only two goals, so it has to improve.

One thing that did happen, is that the smoke alarms kept going off, even when there were no appliances turned on.  One time it happened when we were all sitting in the living room eating.  I phoned the company today, and they are sending someone to check them tomorrow.  He’s pretty sure that it is a buildup of dust and told me that I am supposed to take them down and vacuum them once per month, which I was not aware of.

Anyway, it was a great day.  The last guest to leave was Caitlin at about 7:45 PM but that was only because she stayed behind to cut my hair for me.  I am so enjoying my new house; I cannot put into words how great it is.  It is amazing to have the room, the furniture and facilities to accommodate having people over.