Meeting at the Watering Hole

Our water outage saga continues. It has been almost two weeks since it all began.

Our water has been off, then back on, then off again. Then on again. Off again. On again. Again and again and again. 

I found the green tag deeming our water to be safe to drink three days ago. All our spare water jugs were replenished with safe drinking water and our back up water reserves were full.

Then the water went out last night. And stayed off. 

I have discovered one thing during our water shortage. It takes 8 litres of water to flush our toilet. I emptied two, 4 litre water jugs this morning to do just that. Emptying that much water at one time made me feel a little vulnerable so I decided to take a stroll down the block and utilize the safe water supply (up to this point, I had been refilling our jugs at my aunt's but had no plans to go there today).

As I made my way to the water trailer and back, I spoke with three (yes!!! three!!!) different people. 

First was a City employee (who is working today fighting with this water dilemma), who had no idea our water was off. He said the other end of the block had no water but ours was supposed to be working.

Second, was someone from the area who is also dealing with water outages on (what sounds like) the opposite times of our on again/off again water outage. 

Then came a third from (who knows how far) down the street. They had just about given up on finding the water trailer when they spotted me coming home with my full jugs. When I pointed out where the trailer was located they decided to go home and drive.

I just looked out the window to spot a small group of other neighbors visiting on the street. 

After almost a year of relative isolation and staying-at-home, I cannot tell you how happy my heart feels to be meeting up with neighbors at the local watering hole.

The best things in life are free (and unexpected).

Here Comes the Sun

Sunrise is coming a lot earlier these days and seems to be kick-starting me into guilt much sooner than has been usual.

With the sun, comes a renewed sense of motivation. Or is it just guilt when one does not act upon it?

As per usual, I am having regular flashbacks to my daycaring days. I remember how the sun shining into the kitchen spurred me into action. Sunlight is not forgiving. Dirt, dust and grime shows up best when the sun is beaming in on it like a laser.

These days, our kitchen collects more dust and cat hair than anything else. Perhaps I should waking up a little earlier so I can utilize that sun superpower to my advantage. Open up doors, windows and blinds and deal with all the dust and cat hair it reveals.

Working from home comes with many advantages. One of them is the ability to make up for lost time on one end of the day or week. As long as the work gets done, it doesn't matter when I do it. 

Maybe I could fool myself into house cleaning if I cleaned on a week day and worked on a weekend. 

Maybe I could vacuum before I start work.

Maybe I could work fifteen minutes worth of dusting into a lunch break.

Maybe I should do something, rather than sit here and write my wish list like some mystical being would come and wave their magic wand and make all my wishes come true.

No matter what way I spin it, I am so happy the sun is waking me up and stirring my thoughts into action. 

Here comes the sun! The rest is up to me.

Three Bonus Days

February was quite literally the shortest month I have ever experienced. 

Not only was the month cut short by the extra two to three days we are accustomed to, but two of those precious days were Saturday and Sunday. All of my month end deadlines had to be met on or before February 26th.

It was a marathon. When I woke up on the morning of the 26th, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. All my February deadlines had been met.

Then I woke up to March. More deadlines, a never ending line up of work-to-do and continually playing "catch up". A sense of weariness washed over me.

Then I counted the week days March has in store. I have 23 week days to complete the jobs I have on hand. Three bonus days!! 

Eureka! I felt as though I had struck gold.

March marks the beginning of the end of winter. I well remember how I felt when March rolled around when I was daycaring. We would find ways to navigate the mud and grime from the melting snow and we would go outside as much as we could. I would quite literally park myself in a sunbeam and soak up all the Vitamin D I could endure.

March feels different this year.

It marks the one year anniversary of when most of us were impacted by COVID-19. It celebrates the beginning of the end of what could have felt like the longest winter in history. Not only is spring on the horizon but vaccinations and a ray of hope is emerging with the sun.

March will bring its share of surprises, unexpected weather and events. We never know what tomorrow will bring. But can I be very selfish for a moment and add "If you are working within the world of accounting, deadlines and numbers ... you have three extra days to complete your job this month. Yee haw!!"

Then ... we will wake up to April. The month where spring is in the air, the hours of sunshine are far exceeding those of moonlight, dreams of summer are on the horizon and (yes) income taxes are due to be filed.

Deadlines make the world go 'round. It is the world's way to help us appreciate those bonus days whenever we can.

Breathing in the Moment

 I woke up in a deeply feeling mood this morning. 

The kind of mood where I can hear the world speak to me through my daily meanderings through various blogs I follow.

I found the answer to the question "Why did you keep going back to your marriage?" within a blog post written by Allison Fallon: "There are moments where I am wondering what I have done wrong and why nothing I tried would fix any of it. Fix him. Fix me so he could love me. Fix me so I could love him."

That's "it"! That is exactly it. Written by someone who has walked a parallel walk. Someone who has the ability to put words to my thoughts. Precisely. Exactly. 

This is why our world needs artists. Those who can create, write, sing, paint and illustrate the world as they feel it so we can all find our connectedness within the thread that is woven into the art.

I am growing weary of this tired little life I am living. A life that feels wrung dry from the demands of my paid vocations. 

I am nourishing myself with potato chips, sweets, home renovation shows and Netflix. "Hope for Wildlife" has become my oxygen source. Watching a caring group of people rescuing, loving, reviving, saving and setting these living, breathing beings back out into their habitat is fueling a small spark I feel within me.

I admire Hope Swinimer's undying devotion to her passion. How caring for a robin that had been attacked by a cat was a step towards a future that has impacted the world around her, those who work with her and thanks to the marvel of television, spread the word to millions.

One incident. One person. Igniting the passion within.

I truly believe we all have a spark within us, just waiting to catch fire. 

I have had a hard time fanning the flame within me. I am a shell of the being I am capable of being. It feels as though my flame has been extinguished.

Then I have a morning such as this. A day where the world is reaching out and touching me. Truly, all days are just like this. The difference is this morning, my receptors are open to taking it all in.

If only my day job(s) didn't have to get in the way.

Perhaps that is why my daycare worked for me for so many years. I could wake up to a morning such as this and run with it with my little daycare crowd. We could go outside and breathe in the wonder of the world, stand in a sun beam and just marvel at the smallest of things...

It Ain't Over Til It's Over

 Need I say more?

P.S. During our 16 hour window of running water, we managed to shower; wash a load of clothes; run the dishwasher and have a bath. The end. The saga continues ...

Waterless

When I heard of the winter storm and ensuing power outage in Texas last week, I couldn't help but put myself in their shoes. What devastation a three day power outage would wreak in the dead of a Saskatchewan winter. I cannot begin to fathom the ramifications. 

So when our water stopped running unexpectedly a few days ago, instead of feeling frustrated, I simply felt grateful.

I always keep an extra water supply on hand. It started as a way of helping our extra fridge not have to work so hard to keep the fridge cool by filling the empty space with several 4 litre jugs of water. This very water has been a godsend on more than one occasion.

As our lack of water situation unfolded from one day into the next, we felt destined to believe we would be without water for the entire 48 hour period (the maximum amount of time on the notice that was hand delivered after the fact).

I had packed a few empty 4 litre jugs with me when I went to visit my aunt yesterday. After checking one last time before I headed for home to hear our "no water" situation had not changed, I filled my jugs anticipating the need to flush a toilet would soon become a necessity [the warning "You have ONE flush left - use it wisely" had been heeded and utilized].

By the time I got home, our water had been restored. The sound of running water and flushing toilets was music to our ears.

In all, we were without water about 31 hours. All I could think of during that time is "What if we had been without power during that time? Or both power and water? And had to deal with freezing pipes and cold and safe guarding ourselves and electronic belongings from frigid temperatures?" 

Running water is a convenience we have come to take for granted. Power has become a necessity during our Saskatchewan winters.

May I simply say "thank you" to all concerned that keep things running as expected? This is huge. We are so very fortunate. I am grateful for this opportunity to be reminded of the fact.

Deadline Overload

Ever since I've been working from home, I have been driven by deadlines. Deadlines to file information, to pay bills, invoicing, payroll, month end, year end, GST and PST to name a few.

The months have been flying by because I just don't seem to have the ability to catch up. It is taxing to always feel like you are behind on something.

The backlog has infiltrated life outside my home office. Personal goals and deadlines are last in the priority of claims. I feel like a superhero when I simply keep up with laundry, cat litter, restocking groceries and fighting the never ending battle of cat hair in some manner.

Don't worry about me. Oh, no! I could write the book on self care. When I have free time, I sit in it and just let my brain relax watching my favorite TV shows, lose myself in a Freecell Solitaire marathon on the computer or sit back and savor a phone-coffee-date. I can calm the stress waves coursing through the recesses of my mind like nobody's business.

Except ... I somehow forgot about the deadline to purchase an RRSP. Me. A person who worked in the banking industry for almost 30 years. RRSP time was the busiest time of year for us. No holidays could be booked. We had to have all hands on deck. RRSP time was marked in my mind in permanent marker. Or so I thought.

I somehow confused the expiry date of an investment and the deadline to file income tax with the RRSP deadline. There was something niggling in my mind about this date. But I kept assuring myself that my investment matured long before the April 30th tax deadline. I was fine. No need to panic.

Then came Sunday.

I had indulged myself in all the TV and solitaire I could manage for a day. I wasn't in the mood to start a big job. So I installed my income tax program and plugged in my numbers. I would calculate my taxes with and without the RRSP contribution for comparison. It was then and only then, when I realized my investment expiry date had nothing to do with the RRSP deadline. I had ONE week to make an appointment to take care of this matter.

I have been meeting and beating deadlines for the better part of a year. And I almost missed my own. In fact, as I tried my best to make an appointment to tend to this matter, I may have just missed it altogether. 

"Trust the pause" is my motto. There could very well be a reason I missed this deadline. Only time will tell.