MY MONDAY

Sunday night, when the commotion was going on, I managed to send a Facebook message to Line, warning her that it was already 2 AM, that I didn’t expect to sleep much, that I would not be at the office before noon. Contrary to her morning routine, Line didn’t open her Facebook, so she was one of the MANY who called me around 8:30 AM. I had been in bed all of 3 hours. My mind was too full to allow more snoozing, however, so I got up and drove to the office. There were things that required my attention, and it was better than sitting at home and moping.

The girls told me they liked the haircut, and my daughter also gave her approval when I saw her later in the day. Her home is the ‘drop-off’ place for people in the area who need to give me papers but don’t want the drive out to the bush. I had stopped on my way from work, and she admired the ‘coiffure’ while we sat chatting. It was a short visit; by that time I was dragging butt and was so looking forward to getting back to my own house and making it an early night.

Suzie’s sister reached me on my cellular as I covered the last miles. She will be driving to Detroit with me on Thursday, and we hadn’t spoke, except through Suzie’s many calls, to confirm the travel arrangements. Poor girl was beginning to wonder if I really wanted her along or not, LOL! I told her I’d have shown up at her house at 4 AM Thursday morning, honked the horn outside, and yelled ‘All Aboard!’

With that settled, I fielded a couple of more phone calls, one of which was my brother. As I had guessed, his missing the appointment for the lung scan means that today there will be no hospital. He does have to return tomorrow for the results of his biopsy, so this will be my last day at the office before my vacation. I have absolutely nothing ready for this trip – there was no time to shop, to pack….so these next two days are going to be a hustle. Last night was impossible to try preparing anything– I was sleepwalking by 9:30 PM.

Bud woke me at 3:30 AM. His breathing was not good; he was in pain. I’ve given him his medication and he’s resting easier now. There’s some work I can do before leaving for the office this morning, so I’ll get to it. Man, I’m really, REALLY looking forward to the time off!!

Have a good one, folks. It’s to be sunny here; very warm, but one of our few days of summer left, so no complaints from yours truly. After my 6 hours of uninterrupted time spent in the arms of Morpheus, I’m SMILING! Sending it your way!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

ASSERTING ONESELF!

I’m working from home this morning. My brother, Bird, has to be at the clinic later today for a lung scan, and driving into and out of the city twice in one day is time consuming, and costly (gas). Once again I am thankful that my little computer dude was able to connect my home outfit to the office server – I’ll only make the trip once.

I have plans to leave for Detroit next Thursday, spend the long weekend with Suzie, then make the return drive on the following Tuesday. As usually happens when I schedule days off, events occur making it nearly impossible to take them without feeling harassed or guilty. This time the hospital decided to participate; they called last week and gave my brother two appointments. One is on Tuesday, for the results of a biopsy (from a lump on his tongue); then another on Wednesday, for the results of the lung scan. He requested that both be done on the same day, but no, it’s not possible. Because the clinic is in the city, it involves distance, waiting rooms, and rush hour traffic. Each appointment takes up nearly a full day, so it means no office work will be possible.

To further complicate matters, one of our clients called yesterday, panicking because the government is now on his doorstep. Although we had warned him more than once that delays will only be tolerated for so long, he, like many owners of small businesses tend to do, decided that his hands-on jobs were more important than paperwork. Now he’s in trouble, and turning to us to get him out of it. We will; that’s part of our service, but it requires dropping everything else to handle the tons of documents. It also needs to be done quickly, and we’re already short-staffed; the employees return in mid-September.

Not so long ago, I would have cancelled my vacation to stay and take care of the problem. I eventually realized that, by doing this, I was never getting my much-needed holidays. The consequences were inevitable. I paid for it, both physically and emotionally.

Will I change my plans? Nope! The doggie caretaker is organised, Suzie’s sister (who is coming with me) has scheduled her days off and, most of all, I have sworn to myself that never again will I let myself be brought to my knees because of work. Anyway, it defeats the purpose. The short, but necessary, vacation is far less harmful that the climb back up the hill needed after running yourself ragged.

How’s that for asserting myself? I can feel an invisible hand patting my back with approval. It must belong to Kilroy – he’s been telling me for years to smarten up, LOL.

I’m not on vacation yet though. My break is over so I’ll get back to the numbers and phones. Hoping your day is interesting and fun; sending you a SMILE to help it along!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

WHEN HONOUR EXISTED....

It is quiet at the office, not only because of the lay-offs, but because many companies are on vacation, running at half-staff, so the calls are far and few between. I note that, as happens each year, it is also an excuse to delay paying invoices. A lamentable habit adopted by businesses now-a-days. There is not much honour in it, but running on credit has become a way of life.

I can remember hearing my grandfather argue with the man at the creamery (he sold milk from his jersey cows there) when payment was not made on time. It provoked, and still does, a chain reaction. If my grandfather didn’t get paid, he couldn’t pay his own bills; it was a situation he abhorred and, although a man of few words, he made sure the creamery pay-man felt the brunt of his disgust. He received his money; he wouldn’t budge from the place until he did. I can’t remember them ever trying that with him again. Being a strict, non-nonsense Scotsman, he’d have accepted the first time as a mistake; a second try would result in him stubbornly taking his excellent milk to another factory, no matter how much further away it would be located. It seems honour has flown; shy-locks and fast-talkers, who would have been shunned in those days, are now the norm, and in most cases, admired by today’s society. Scary.

And are those not serious thoughts for a sunny Friday morning? LOL! They’re the only ones I have time to write about at the moment. I did another 8 hour snooze night, so am pedaling to get to the office on time.

Have a great day, y’all! No use looking back when it’s forward we’re headed. No matter how difficult a moment seems, it’s always easier if you meet it with a SMILE! I’m wearing mine – don’t forget to put yours on too!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

SHOW & TELL: VACATION

Sunday – a beautiful morning. As I slip quietly out of bed, I glance through the French doors where Grump-puppy is keeping vigil on the gallery. He turns his head; he has heard me. Good. That’s part of his job, after all. Bud doesn’t move, seemingly blissfully unaware, but I know he has heard me too. Why move when the youngster is gung-ho is prove his stuff? No fool, Mr. Bud will save his energy. He’ll use it to show off, pushing rocks twice his size up and down the hills, when his human steps outside.

Tomorrow I go back to the office. The short week of vacation is over. Let’s see….how did it go? MMM…Monday was a lost cause – my leg was swollen and painful, although I did manage to read a whole book. Tuesday was the event at my doctor’s office, certainly not helping my mood, but that was offset by the cuddles from the grandsons. Because I didn’t sleep many hours the first 2 days, I spent most of Wednesday morning in bed, only rushing to get dressed when I received the call that one of my associates was on his way to my house. Yep – that was for business which couldn’t wait, so I worked, albeit from home, Wednesday afternoon into the evening. On Thursday the phone started ringing early - more office things needing an immediate response – and this went on until Thursday night. I took a break by going to one of my ‘used-to-be-favourite’ restaurants for a late supper, only to find that its 5-star meal has fallen to a 1-star category, but still charging the same high prices. How disappointing! Friday morning was a funeral, and the afternoon spent taking my bro, Bird, to the hospital for x-rays of his lungs. We think he has developed pneumonia again and, because he knew I was on vacation, he waited until he could hardly breathe before calling to tell me about it – the dummy! Back from the hospital I fell into bed, and slept for 14 hours!!!! Man, did I feel good when I got up yesterday!! I did some writing, some washing, then went to visit Suzie for a couple of hours, stopped off to see how Bird was doing and chatted there for a bit, then came home and hit the sack again, sleeping another full 8 hours! I awake to bright sunshine, my leg is far less painful, and this vacation, although on its last day, is beginning to look much better. LOL!

Okay, so I’ve learned my lesson. The next time I book days off, I’ll visit the doctor a month BEFORE the allotted period, I will unplug the phones, I’ll tell all and sundry that I am going to Timbuktu, then keep my head down. Right now, at this very moment, I’ll stop my whining and get my butt out into this invigorating mountain air and join my doggies, who are waiting patiently for my company.

I hope you are enjoying the day too, y’all! I’m sending out my SMILE, humming “My, what a beautiful morning…” Sing along with me, and please send that smile on….

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

AND WHAT DID I DO TO YOU?

The swelling in my leg was getting worse, and painful. Because my doctor’s office is a 45 minute drive from home, I called his receptionist early Monday morning, explained that I must have lost the prescription for the anti-inflammation medication, and could he please fax another to my pharmacy? “The doctor isn’t in before Tuesday,” she told me abruptly, “and you’ll have to come to the office if you want another prescription.” When I repeated my request for the fax, she answered that it would be a long time before that would happen. In other words – if you want your prescription anytime soon, lady, get your butt over here and pick it up, and arrive before 2 PM., or go without. Her attitude on the telephone left much to be desired. Oh well, everyone has a bad day now and then.

Needless to say, I spent another sleepless night. Tylenol took away some of the pain, but not enough to be comfortable. I was pretty grumpy by the time I limped into the doctor’s office this morning, but the two receptionists seemed even grumpier. Hardly looking at me, one of them told me to sit and wait; she would ask him to write it out between seeing two patients. When I asked how long I could expect to wait, she replied, “He’s not going to interrupt his session with a patient just to make your prescription.” Still bewildered by her surliness, I reminded her that I had travelled a long distance, and that a fax would have been easier for all of us. Her response was “It’s not our fault you lost your prescription!”

Okay. I couldn’t argue with that, but one doesn’t lose things on purpose, and her attitude was totally lacking professionalism. I limped over to a chair, wondering what I’d done to merit that kind of treatment. They see me once a year, for Heaven’s sake, and it’s just in and out. Maybe the $1.00 long distance fax charge was too big an expense for the doctor’s office?

During the next 40 minutes, two patients, one after the other, went in, then out, and I still hadn’t been called. I could feel my temper rising. “If they make me wait for one more,” I fumed silently, “they had better have a damned good reason!” It was 5 minutes before noon when one of my objects of displeasure waddled out from behind the desk and locked the waiting room door.

“It’s lunchtime,” she stated shortly. The three of us still sitting there glanced at each other. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thinking that, with her size, missing a lunch would only do her good. I saw an elderly man peer through the small window in the door. Of all the bloody nerve! She had locked it right in his face! It was too much for me so, looking neither left nor right, I limped over and opened it to let him enter. The poor fellow thanked me, and then shuffled over to the desk. He told the receptionists that he had just finished passing tests at the hospital and needed to pick up a paper before returning to pass some more. They grumbled something about it being dinnertime, but did give him his paper.

Maybe they were worried that I’d let someone else in, because I heard my name called. The receptionist who had talked to me on the telephone the day before busied herself near me, changing paper on the examination table. My doctor, a nice young chap, smiled when he saw me. “I’m sorry, I must have lost the prescription you gave me,” I told him, as I lowered myself to a chair beside his desk.

“No, no!” he replied. “It was me who forgot to give it to you. I noticed after you had left, but figured you would call and we could fax it over to your pharmacy.”

WHAT!!??

I turned to look at the receptionist. She was keeping her head down, but I knew she could hear every word we were saying. Just in case her ears were as bad as her attitude, I raised my voice when I told the doctor what had happened and how rudely I had been treated. It was evident he was embarrassed by the situation, so I stopped short of stating that any employee in my office would be severely reprimanded, if not dismissed, in similar circumstances.

Eh bien, all’s well that ends well. My growling had already subsided during my long drive back, my prescription safely in my pocket. The weather was great, the truck windows open, and I was on vacation, after all. How can one stay upset? I stopped at my youngest son’s home to give my daughter-in-law her birthday present, and any residual anger was blown away by the many sweet hugs and kisses from my two little grandsons. I’ve started the medication and, hopefully, will not have to spend the rest of my vacation days limping!

I sat outside on my gallery, a cool drink in hand, doggies at my feet, and admired my mountain view as I thought back over the event. I suppose I should count myself lucky even having a family doctor, or easy access to medical help. There are many who go without, and need it more. Dealing with sick people on a regular basis must make it difficult to stay in good humour. However, you know what you’re getting into when you choose that type of profession…..

The result of my musing was definite. “Yep,” I said out loud to my doggies. “Excuses aside, if any employee at our office did that, I would CAN her ass!!” They both wagged their tails. Any decision I made was good with them.

Was it important? Not really. So enough with the complaining, and bring on the SMILES. Life is good.

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

VACATION - & HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAY!

Today is my daughter-in-law’s birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAY!! She is the beautiful mama of my two youngest grandchildren, Nalou & Bali, a terrific artist, and a sweet person. I hope my Jo has planned a good time for his lovely lady!

Saturday I started the long-awaited vacation. It was a sunny, hot, ‘about time it’s summer’ day, and besides washing clothes, I spent most of it reading a book – a nice, thick book about a nurse’s experiences in World War II. I did run quickly into the pharmacy to pick up the anti-inflammatory medication for my leg, only to discover that I had either left the darned prescription with the doctor, or lost it when putting the other papers he gave me (for tests) into my purse. Today I’ll have to call him back and ask him to fax it over. I also need to call the clinic to set up the appointment for x-rays.

Yesterday Suzie and I went into the office and cleaned the area for the stagiare who will be starting this morning. It was some hot in the city, I’ll tell you! There was a man painting the stairway in the building entrance and Suzie, wearing her famous high heels, grabbed the wall railing to keep from falling. Her expression was priceless as she stared at her hand full of yellow, oil paint. I was laughing so hard that I could hardly make it up to the top of the stairs, LOL! It didn’t take us long to finish up, and we headed back to the country. As we turned onto Route 50, the change in the air was noticeable – it was so much cooler away from all the asphalt & cement of Montreal. We dropped some empty boxes off for Shan’s move, and then went to Suzie’s house. I only stayed for a few minutes before making my way home – I was ready for a sleep. Toiling in that kind of heat sure saps away energy!

And today? This morning I am preparing work for the stagiare, which I’ll send by e-mail to the office. Then Shan will need my truck at some point today – her automobile has a brake problem so will be in the garage. She needs to pick up the cheque for her house sale from the purchaser’s Notary to drop it off at the bank. Later this week she will be signing the papers to finalize her new home, then it’s moving time. I have phone calls to make, and will start on my list of housecleaning. You can be sure I’ll take time to laze occasionally on the gallery, and to play with the doggies. It is vacation, after all! Later this evening I’ll drop in to give May her birthday card and gift, at the same time get some ‘granny-hugs’ from the little dudes.

One priority of the time away from work will be to catch up on sleep. If that needs to happen during the day, so be it, even if the housecleaning takes place at night. I’ll turn off the phone, and snooze until my body & mind begin to feel normal again. A week should be long enough to fix me up nearly as good as new, before going into the rush of autumn’s workload; and a rush it will be. It has already started.

The Weather Network is promising a day of sunshine again. I hope you can all get out and enjoy it! Don’t forget those SMILES! My own is already all over my face – no rush hour for me this morning! Yipee!!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

A POEM FOR MY CHILDREN

One of my favorite authors on my writing site posted this poem. I just had to copy it and put it in here so my kids could read & get an inkling of what I'm planning, LOL! I did ask permission of course. There was no title, so here goes:

When I'm an old lady, I'll live with each kid,
And bring so much happiness....just as they did.
I want to pay back all the joy they've provided,
Returning each deed. Oh, they'll be so excited!
When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.

I'll write on the wall with reds, whites and blues,
And bounce on the furniture wearing my shoes.
I'll drink from the carton and then leave it out.
I'll stuff up the toilet, and oh, how they'll shout!
When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.

When they're on the phone and just out of reach,
I'll get into things like powder and bleach,
Oh, they'll snap their fingers and then shake their head,
And when the mess is done I'll just go to bed!
When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.

When they cook dinner and call me to eat,
I'll not eat my green beans or salad or meat.
I'll gag on my cabbage, spill milk on the table,
And when they get angry I'll run . . . if I'm able!
When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.
I'll sit close to the TV, through the channels I'll click,
I'll cross both my eyes just to see if they stick.
I'll take off my socks and throw one away,
And play in the mud 'til the end of the day!
When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.

Author unknown.

I bet they're already searching the phonebook for Seniors' residences, LOL!!

I left the office last night, feeling guilty because there was still so much left undone, and I'm supposed to be on vacation. I do have to go in this weekend and clean out a space for the new 'stagiare' who is starting on Monday morning. I think I'll grab Suzie and take her up with me. We enjoy the time together, and it goes much faster with two of us, especially Suzie, who is a champion in that kind of thing.

I didn't really want to accept any stagiares while I would be away, but this student was stuck. A certain number of hours working in an office is a required part of her course, and it is up to the students to contact a business where they can practice working in an office environment. This particular lady had been promised a spot in another place, then was contacted at the last minute and told it had been cancelled. She needs to complete her 4 week stage by mid-September, or no diploma. These students work for free, so there is no cost involved. However, because they are just learning, there is a certain amount of time involved for training and supervision, and none of us at the office has alot of time to spare. However, the employees all agreed that everyone needs a chance, and we have accepted as many stagiares as possible for the month of September and October, and it does give us a leg up on reliable candidates for the placement agency. Still, it's gonna be rock & roll in the office for those two months!

My vacation plans? Massive housecleaning (going through my mom's stuff and giving away what needs to be gone), supervise the staining of the huge gallery, helping my daughter finish the packing for her move, and putting some order in my home office. One whole wall is shelved and crammed full of books and Cd's, all helter-skelter. There are also x-rays to be done, my truck left for its tune-up, and a visit to the optician. Mmmm... maybe I should have scheduled off a month or two, huh? Actually, my mind is set that whatever gets done will get done; what doesn't, won't - a very relaxed, non-intensive agenda.

It's a beautiful sunny day, and I'm going to eat my breakfast outside, sitting on my swing, gazing at my mountain. Ahh - life is good.

Have a nice one, y'all! Give someone your SMILE today - if nothing else it will make you feel better!!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.