WHY I AM LIVING IN VC....

 This was 9 PM Central Time.  -3 degrees.   Vancouver at the same time was 36 degrees. 39 degrees difference.  It's not California, but still feels very good.  (Park Falls was showing -7 by the time I finished this post.)  Ouch.  

                     PICTURES TAKEN THURSDAY AFTERNOON

SPRING WAITING TO 
HAPPEN.....








THE MOTHER OF 
HOLLY TREES.....
JUST TO THE RIGHT OF 
THE COMMUNITY









     After a being awake a lot overnight, it was difficult to get up for water aerobics, but once there I was glad to be with other ladies and to be in the pool followed by the hot tub.  Later in the morning blue skies started opening up and soon the sun was out full force.  After some days of rain and clouds, and a "stagnant air" warning, sun and blue sky were very welcomed.  I went for a walk before the sun might disappear, but we were blessed with sun for the rest of the day. 
      The rest of MY day was spent catching up a little on tons of paper work.  In my heart I would rather be out running around or driving around National Parks with my senior sisters from Indianapolis, but the "real world" has to take priority, for awhile anyway.  I am glad to be settled in enough that there is time to start digging through paperwork and actually getting a system of organizing going here at home.   I am dismayed at being "organized challenged"----AKA "I can't find anything" like phone numbers, insurance cards, unpaid bill notices----stuff like that.   
      Fortunately, also, there aren't any senior Vancouver day trips I am interested in until late March.  Gives me more time to work on household necessities and hopefully get the studio arranged and going.

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FLASHBACK A COUPLE DAYS..........

       Tuesday I got back to water aerobics after having missed since before Christmas.  I was getting pretty tight and stiff.  It is encouraging and "in your face"  observing ladies in their 70's and maybe even 80's determined to continue being active.  It is also quite entertaining and inspiring to listen to their stories and experiences as we soak in the hot tub.  There is coffee time available afterwards, but so far I haven't taken the time for that.  
       Later in the day Handyman Bob came over and hauled out the Christmas tree to the back yard. There did remain a thick trail of dried pine needles through the living room to the back deck.(How to dispose of the dried tree was a dilemma.  Back in Park Falls it would be chopped up and burned either in the furnace or outside come June when one can find the fire pit in the ground.   I-- and Bob--decided to haul it to the backyard until whenever.  I think, come spring or summer,  I will get a  senior village sized metal fire pit for the deck, have Bob chop up the tree and enjoy the smell of burning pine at some point.)    
     Bob had just had several of his teeth pulled and posts for implants put in the day before.  I thought he would show up looking very toothless, but NO, he had a full set of teeth.  He explained he paid extra for temporaries so he wouldn't  have to be toothless the next 4 months.  The brave ex-marine did his duty here and hurried home to rest on his couch.  

   I took some time to make a batch of butternut squash soup.  The squash was a left over edible Thanksgiving decoration.  The soup  is tasty, but has the texture of adult baby food.  In Australia it would be pumpkin soup rather than squash soup.  If one were in the UK one would be deemed silly for eating squash soup, since one should drink it.  Over there squash is actually a fruit drink.  Words can mean many different things to different folks. (When visiting England  years back, I couldn't figure out why they were serving "squash" at a coffee time after church.) 
     
         There appeared a "stagnant air" alert on the weather website.  I wasn't sure what that meant.  The atmosphere was gray, but that was it.  I went outside to try the air quality--seemed alright to me.  It was like a low lying fog.  The alert remains through Sunday, but today (Thursday) was beautiful and sunny.

      Wednesday  I met a friend for lunch and then spent too much time shopping at Freddy's.  It's not that I had much to get, it's just that it "took too much time".  It is a learning experience for me to decide what is a good sale on a quantity I can buy and use before it goes bad and the remains are not a good buy anymore.  (All that is subject to your own poetic interpretation.)  I am still psyched out to buy for 7-31 people.  Don't need all that anymore.  Frozen entrees are getting more and more appealing.       
     I hadn't seen Angie or talked with her since last Friday.  She had said she wanted to go to Bible study with me on Wednesday evening.  She called and came to get me in the evening.  She has been helping out her mom's friend who just had surgery.  I enjoy having her be here, wanting to chat, wanting to go to church with me, making a fuss over me.  I've never had anyone make a "good" fuss over me so I enjoy it.  

        I've taken a little time these past 3 days to relearning another one of my songs.  Piano playing and practice have been neglected since last May.  Time to work up that skill again. 

     This has been 3 good "hanging out in Vancouver" days in the life of Grandma G.

      " Praise the Lord, o my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty."   (Psalm 104:1)