Pete’s Musings

So after supper last night my sister blurts out “I’m pregnant!” Shocked, but not really surprised, I reply “well that didn’t take long!”. LoL. Her hubby has only been in the country 2 and a half months! Anyway, after that wore off, I was excited at the prospect of seeing another baby around. My niece and nephew are great, couldn’t have turned out better. But they are almost 12 and 14 years old now!!! Hard to believe, but there it is!
Recent picks of Nick and Sarah: Read More »

Some good news last week from my doctor … results from my blood test shows that my LFT (liver function tests) are all NORMAL. And really low on top of that. ALT 17 AST 18 ALP 96
Even last fall when I was excited about reaching normal, they weren’t this good (they were in the 30’s). So that’s great news, meds are doing their job and Read More »

Looks like I’ve been a bit remiss in my blogging. I guess I’ve been a bit preoccupied with all the goings on around here. I’ve been to my doctors, things are looking ok. My liver enzymes are dropping and so is the evil prednisone that goes along with them. My blood pressure is good. And I’ve been following my blood sugar also, which seems ok. Gets a bit high after supper, but not too high that it’s dangerous. Important thing is that it’s normal in the day and not high all the time. It seems to bounce back fairly rapidly too, so i’m producing plenty of insulin. It’s just the prednisone that Read More »

It’s April, this month marks 3 years since I returned to Canada after my postdoc and PhD in the US. That’s a long time. And what a mess it’s been for the most part!

When I returned to Canada, I was burnt out from research and in a depression of sorts. My intention was to take a few months off and just relax, something I never did between all my other major life changes (i.e. between my various degrees). At the same time, I figured that I would be able to stay with my sister for a short time, help out a little bit with her kids (who were still in after school daycare at the time!) … all this while myself getting settled back in Canada and start looking for a job.

Well it certainly didn’t turn out that way! The first few months were fine. Getting to know the kids as their unique personalities started to develop, spend some time with them, have fun. Made the decision to move in with my sister, finding a nice place to live closer to her work and where I could be around, but still independent. That didn’t last too long. I quickly became wrapped up in all the household disagreements and troubles … then I started to get sick. Read More »

I think I posted before that on last friday I had 2 fainting/weakness episodes after brief abdominal pain, Bloody stools the day after. Then all seemed ok on Sunday with normal stool and feeling ok. No such luck. Took shower at 2 pm or so and had another episode, but this time the pain and rest of it did not pass after 20-30 mins like before. Didn’t pass for over a day.

Called ambulance immediately on Sunday of course (had enough of that crap!). Good thing too. By the time they arrived I was white as a sheet, barely able to move and in intense unrelenting pain. Blood pressure was something like 67/29 … Read More »

Ya so … we had a bit of snow in the St-Jean/Montreal Area last week. A good 3+ feet of dense snow in the fields. Pile that up on the sides of the roads and you have this:

That’s a lot of snow. We would have been stuck inside for days, but luckily we had a guy to come clean the yard, and this young chap to finish the rest.

As you can see, the snow bank is just over my nephew’s head and he’s as tall as I am (almost). That’s our house, it’s a bungalo … but you can’t see any signs of the lower level! Nick, my niece (Sarah) and the rest of the kids in the neighbourhood had a ball playing in it all; making forts, snow fights… the whole deal. Reminded my of when we were kids and getting this much snow was the norm. Turns out though that we haven’t had this much in such a short period since 1973! We have pictures of my sister and cousin Suzy playing on the snow pile at the old homestead (at age 4?) … and that was one huge pile!

Anyway, it was a warm day today and a lot of it is melting. Enough to clear the roads, which is good (neither I or my sister has snow tires!). I guess there is a new law coming into force soon in Quebec requiring snow tires for 6 months of the year. I like the idea, though it’s a bit too long to require it by law. Nov15 to Apr15 … could safely shave off a month or at least 2 weeks on either end of that. Sucks ’cause no money for tires here! Will be lucky to pay car registration in March - that’s like 240$ I think. Will try to save up for it, but it’s going to be really hard! but what else can you do eh?

Anyway, I’ve got to log off here and go spend a few more hours with the kids. They are leaving tomorrow for almost 2 weeks to stay at their dad’s. No Christmas here. I don’t miss the presents (I don’t get much or any anyway!) nor do I miss the rush to cook a huge meal or the dishes! Oh how i hate dishes … I waste my life washing dishes. 2-3 times a day, plus loading and unloading dishwasher. grrrrrrrrr. Plastic plates and cups … ya, that’s what i need! Along with some free delivery coupons! lol.

I went back to sleep this morning and had a good nap, For one of the few times I can remember in the past few years, I had a dream! And it was as weird as you would expect. Thought I would share, and then analyse it for fun. (what else is there do when it’s -14C and 1 foot of fresh snow outside!) Read More »

Lost another kitty yesterday. Little Chester was hit by a car Read More »