Another work week about to begin - wonder what this one will bring.  The last two weeks were quite 'pleasant' as I had the same route every day - gave me a chance to really learn it and get it done in a timely manner - in fact Friday I was back to the depot by 1:30 p.m. - a record for me - of course for the regular carriers it was considered late - most of them had already left for the day - but I was tickled that I got back so early.  Meant I had time to do the one flyer and get out before 3:30 - in fact I was home by 2:45 p.m. - YES - that is what I like.  Only drawback last week was that I injured myself.  Wednesday I was back to the depot by 2:00 p.m. and ended up falling flat on my oh so expansive backside - but in the process I managed to wack the back of my left hand - badly swollen - thank goodness nothing is broken - but the worst part was that when I fell I managed to do more damage to my hamstring -where it attaches to my hip - so my right butt is extremely tender - walking is not a problem - but sitting - OUCH - and the route I had was a driving route so I had to drive the vehicle around - Thursday was a challenge - Friday I got smart and took some Ibuprofen before I headed out and it was not so bad.  But sitting at the computer is a challenge.

The weather here has been great - a couple of days of rain - but it was not a heavy rain - a nice 'gentle' rain - so did not get soaked while out delivering the mail.  The day it rained the most - by 1:00 p.m. it had quit and the birdsong was fantastic - I do so enjoy being outside and being able to listen to the sounds of birds - something that I really do miss in Egypt - temps have been in the low 20's - very nice for me - I sweat profusely - so the temps is good - they are forecasting 26 tomorrow - gonna be a hot one for me - but such is life.  My arms are nice and brown - I am being very good and putting my sunscreen of 110 SPF on my face every morning and when it is sunny I wear my Post Office 'sunhat' - so my face is still fairly pale - and I do need to get busy and start wearing sunscreen on my arms - but I do so like to be brown - I know I know - it is not 'healthy' - but I think it is more attractive than being pale.

This weekend Marian took off for a doctor's appointment on Friday - she had had an ultrasound on May 6th - and when she got to Edmonton on Friday she found out the appointment had been changed to May 27th - asked me to mark it on her calendar - and lo and behold she had already made the change - DUH - guess one should check the calendar.  She left Matthew and his buddy Daniel here - as Matthew was scheduled to work.  When I got home from work on Friday he and Daniel were still hiding out in their room - had done nothing yet - they were supposed to be working at 5 - but that had been changed to all day Saturday - after some 'haranguing' Matthew came down and did the dishes - sort of - and vacuumed the living room - jobs that his mother had left him with.  He got about 1/2 the dishes done and ran out of room - so I told him to come back in 30 minutes and then the dishes could be put away and the rest of them could be washed.  So about 45 minutes later I called him down to finish the dishes - he came down and did most of them - left  a few behind - never ceases to amaze me how pots and pans are not considered dishes - what are they???  When I got up Saturday morning (around 8) the house was empty - so I finished cleaning up the kitchen and made myself something to eat.  The boys did not arrive home until 2:30 this morning - one wonders what they were up to - guess I will find out when they start moving.

Yesterday was a very quiet day for me - had planned to head out and do a bit of shopping - but by the time I could go - my get up and go had left me behind - so I just schlepped around - watched some of the shows that I had recorded last week and the week before.  Head to bed around 10:00 - had had enough TV - but still have more shows to watch - so may spend some time this afternoon going through a few more of them.  Must admit this ability to tape them is kind of nice - I know the technology has been around for a long time - I remember setting my VCR to tape shows - but this is so much easier. 

Today I got up around 8 - and came downstairs and cut up celery and carrots for munching on during the week - as well cut up radishes, celery and onion for making egg salad or tuna salad for the week - made myself a salad for the rest of the day and had a bacon and cucumber sandwich and salad for breakfast after munching on a couple of oranges and some watermelon.  Plan is to head out for a walk - go to the ATM and get some money - I have no cash on me - and I do not use it often - but it is nice to have some on me for those occasions when a credit card is not feasible.

At this time 29 years ago I was labouring to give birth to Miles - yep today is his birthday - he was officially 'hatched' - had a c-section - at 12:01 p.m. on May 14, 1982.  This began one of the 'best' adventures in my life.  I am so truly blessed, honoured, lucky, fortunate, etc., etc., to have been 'chosen' to be his parent.  I do believe he got the short end of the stick in this choice - but hey it was his choice to make and I am so glad he did.  We certainly had our ups and downs - but mostly I remember the ups - he was a great kid - learned quickly - well most of the time - he was a relatively easy baby - made being a mom quite 'easy'.  He liked to sleep - never had to fight with him about going to sleep - he would fall asleep anywhere - I remember one time we were visiting my maternal grandparents - I put him to sleep on the floor - he was not very old - I don't think he was six months yet - but I knew not to put him on a bed - so I placed him on a blanket on the floor - went to check on him and there he was - GONE - he had skooted under the bed and he was peacefully sleeping - at Laverne's - his long time sitter - she would find him sacked out on the stairs or on the kitchen floor - always had his blanket with him - he did not have a specific blanket - but he always had a 'receiving' blanket to snuggle up with. 

He has always had a very tender heart - although he tries to 'bury' it - I remember we went to visit my sister Marian - she was going through a divorce and was pregnant - we found her in tears - and he just climbed up into her lap - wrapped his chubby little arms around her neck and told her he loved her and it would be all right - he was not yet four.  His curiosity was just what was needed - we all need to see the world the eyes of a child - brings us back to 'reality'.

Along with his tender heart is a very strong streak of stubbornness - I remember him sitting with my dad for ages and my dad trying to get his to say Dog - Gog - he would be on my dad's knees and my dad would say duck - Miles would parrot back duck - then door - back would come door - working their way through quite a list of words that began with D - and then dad would say Dog and back would come Gog - OMG - what a hoot.  There were certainly times his stubbornness stood him in good stead and other times I sure do wish he had been a little more 'maleable' - but looking back I am grateful that he was stubborn and did not 'follow' others - kept him out of a lot of trouble.  Although I am sure he got into more than his fair share - a lot of which I doubt I will ever know about.

Fast forward to 1992 - when I 'met' missionaries from the LDS church - after quite some time of teaching I took the challenge to be baptized - told Miles I was going to be baptized - I had always met with the missionaries when he was not around - and he informed me that I was not being baptized without him - so for the following couple of weeks it seemed as if the missionaries lived at our house - I had to have the remaining three discussions and Miles had to have all six of them - we were baptized together in October 1992.  In May 2001 he left on his mission - one of my online friends asked me at this time why Miles had joined the church - and you know I had never given it a thought.  I then asked him when he was in the airport in Denver on his way to Houston - and was informed that he had been praying for years for the missionaries to come and find us - WOW - so it was all his 'fault' - amazing testament to the power of prayer.

He served an honourable mission and when he came back we had some bumpy times - choices I had made led to a rift.  A rift that broke my heart - but thank God it is being repaired.  I can feel the distance drifting away - this past February when I ended up staying with him and Shani - it felt almost 'normal' - was great.

He married a wonderful young lady - Shani Ellison - am so grateful that she joined our somewhat 'strange' family - she and Miles make a great team - it is heartwarming to see them together - they have what I 'wanted'.  Now they are on the verge of a new journey - this coming August/September they will begin the journey of becoming parents to twins - I can't wait to watch them grow and adjust to this new role.  I have no fear that Miles will be an awesome father - as he is an awesome (but not perfect) husband - he worries that he does not have a role model - the flip side is that he has had no bad examples to work through - he has a clean slate - he can chart his own course as a father - his children are so fortunate to have 'chosen' this family to come to.

So, Happy Birthday my baby boy - you will always be my baby - and I will always be 'emotional' about you - it is with great delight that I prepare to watch you as you start on this new journey.  All the best - and I love you the most.