Saturday, April 28, 2018

Currently



Creating

I have been slowly working on my Pocket Journal. When I have a block of time & some energy (which has been very scarce in the last month) I sit down and put paint to paper. I have been laying down layers and not finishing pages, so much as just getting things built up. Rae Massigman, whose class I took online seems to work and entire page from beginning to end in one go. I don't work like that-I like to come back to the page with fresh eyes a number of times and keep working it. Each to her own, I suppose and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I do what the spirits move me to do.


I wandered into Micheal's the other day while I was downtown. I haven't been in one in ages. I discovered that they are carrying a wide variety of journals and all the associated goodies to go with them. What caught my eye was a small Traveller's Notebook style cover. 

I was looking for something like this at the beginning of the year to use as a medical journal. I got the cover and bought some of the notebook inserts that have calendar pages in them. I've been working on filling in the first 4 months worth of medical stuff. No mean feat-I have had 45 medical appointments in the past 4 months (including a 12 day hospital stay) so you can see why I need a medical journal to keep track of all the appointments, tests, treatments and medications. 

What's nice about it is I can change out calendars at the end of the year and keep using the cover. The journal is 4 inches wide x 6 inches tall and is as thick as you make it. Mine's about an inch thick with just two calendar books in it. (For some reason, the calendar insert books only have 4 months in them, so January-April is in the first one and May-August is in the second one. I'm not adding the third till I need to record appointments for the fall.) I think I will look online for an insert that has all 12 months when it comes time to change them out for 2018. 

Also, their version has a single elastic inside to add the inserts into the binding. I went on youtube and found a video on how to hack this so you can add additional inserts. All I needed to do was buy some elastic, which I did. Problem solved! It's highly likely that I will eventually sew my own version of the covers. I like the idea of being able to make exactly what I want and I certainly have all the supplies and tools to do this and to make my own custom inserts as well. This may be my first summer patio studio project!



Reading

Since I had an optic neuritis attack I have been struggling with recurrent headaches and that makes it hard to read. I haven't picked up a book in 7 weeks or so. This is completely out of character for me, bookworm that I am. I miss reading and am hoping that when I see my othamologist in 2 weeks she can help me sort out whether I need new glasses. (I am betting that I do.) Not sure what to do about the residual eye pain I'm experiencing. (But that's a whole other can of worms.)

I see Stephen King has a new novel out, The Outsider so that will be next on my to-read list. 

Watching

Code Black, which I love so much premiered this week. If you haven't watched it, it's *so* worth checking out. The writing is amazing and just like This Is Us, it makes me cry just about every week. Also the characters of Leanne (Marsha Gay Harden) and Jesse, (Luis Guzman) Daddy and Mama, respectively are just so, so good. I have always loved medical dramas and this ranks as one of the all-time best.



Listening

Alight -Mike Yung
Keep You Dry -Juke Ross
Crazy Love -Juke Ross
Call It Dreaming -Iron & Wine


Anticipating

I am currently obsessed with all things patio. As I mentioned in my last post, I am determined to do a complete patio make over so that I can work outside during the day and we can dine el fresco in the evenings. We get the nicest breeze that seems to come up without fail right around dinner time and its just so pleasant to sit out there and enjoy good food and quality time.

I finally decided on what furniture I want to get to make this happen. I want the chairs to have high backs and be super comfortable, but I also want to be able to fold them up over the winter when we're not using them. Same goes for the table-enough seating for up to 2 guests, with the ability to fold down to accommodate just the two of us and to be put away when not in use. I also want wood, not plastic or metal. After looking online for months, IKEA finally got their summer outdoor furniture stock and I found what I was looking for.

I love this chair, which folds flat.

This table can seat 2 with just one side extended or 4 when fully extended and folds down for storage. We'd never do more than 2 dinner guests at a time, since our patio is a reasonable size, but not huge, so this is perfect.

 I like these chair pads. They look comfy and I like the toggles that help attach them to the chair. Better than velcro, IMHO.
I might possibly add an outdoor area rug as well. This one is inexpensive, which is fine by me, since it would quickly be covered in dog fur. (Which is no biggie. I'd just have to shake it out or vacuum it once in awhile.)

Our condo is having all the patios power washed over the next couple of weeks, so once that's done, I can move ahead with my plan. (For the record, I hate power washing. It's noisy, messy and a colossal waste of water.) No point in setting everything up, only to have to bring it all inside while they work. I think they will be starting on our building first, so hopefully by next weekend it will be done. 

This week the weather has been beautiful-clear blue skies and temps between 23-27C. Thursday was a 27C day and too hot for me, but our patio has full shade all day, so it would have been a perfect patio day. Indy spent the whole morning outside napping and I felt bad when I had to call him in so I could go to a medical appointment and the UBC Health Mentors Symposium.

***
On Monday I was in the city volunteering with UBC, helping Physiotherapists who are already in practise learn about assessing patients who have rheumatoid arthritis. They got a bonus lesson on NMO. I really enjoy working with the PT program-the people are always so nice and very appreciative of having the opportunity to learn from real live patients. It's a privilege to have the opportunity to have an direct impact on the future of health care in our province.

Thursday was the annual UBC Health Mentors Symposium. My students shared what they have been learning about in our group with the other Health Mentor groups and with the faculty. Our presentation was largely about continuity in care across two health regions. My medical team is vast and spread out across two health regions, who don't share information. My group mapped my medical team to illustrate the challenge of this, which I think was eye opening for people to see and prompted some great conversations. I am so proud of my students-they are smart, engaging and funny. My time with them is always enjoyable and I am going to miss them as we are on a break now till mid-September. We have two more session in Autumn and then they are done. Time flies!

No comments: