Happy Birthday Jerry!

Well today is a big day here, it is Jerry's birthday today! Such a big day that he did not get a card or a present from me, which I think I am forgiven for. He did however get some cards in today's post, and a verbal birthday wish from Brenda (Gemma's sister) last night, and one from me this morning. I am hoping that we will go out for a meal tonight, to mark the day in some way, otherwise Jerry will end up cooking on his own birthday. The other option of course is to get something delivered, I will ponder on that one.

I (Gemma) had planned to go back to work today, but didn't make it. I am just not quite strong enough yet, my chest still get's tight, but have now said I will go back on Monday. This is after seeing the Doctor again, who's receptionist called last Tuesday to say he wanted to see me to discuss my blood results. I feel very assured that, having diagnosed, that the system is good enough to follow up on my situation. However, I asked should I be worried, and she said she had not seen the results, only knew that he needed to see me again. So my Doctor was there last Monday, and sent me to the hospital again, and spent seemingly the whole day getting the results, and then has been away all week. But maybe not away away, as he then gets my blood results back, and feels strongly enough to ask me to come see him. This takes me back to the diagnosis by the doctor at the hospital: I do remember that he said that it is definitely Pneumonia, so that is something that is treatable, and so we will start with that. What he said was that not all the results were in, but this was a place to start. So it has had me pondering for the last four days as to which results were not back in at that time. I know I am not diabetic, and do not have a heart defect, my cholesterol was fine too, they mentioned thyroid issues as being common with such lethargy and weakness, but I don't know if this was one of the results that had not come back.

My Mum and my sister and Jerry tell me not to worry, the doctor just wants to follow up on my progress, that they are just being thorough. But I will say that it has unnerved me, and I spend my day thinking of little else. So I spend my day watching movies, and reading magazines - well looking at the pictures, as I have not felt like reading yet. And this is interspersed with hot showers with my head in the water breathing in the steam: I am being a good girl and doing what the doctor ordered, as this is better than any medication I am told. One thing can be said for this, I am very clean, my hair is very clean and very flat. The other thing that can be said of all this, is that I remain very thin, I weigh almost nothing, less than when I left school, and less than when we moved to France, and that was a thin time that first year in France (55 kilos and I am almost 5' 8"), sorry if I made anyone feel bad about their own weight here, not intentional. So all the things that had become snug, now fit me beautifully, so this is one thing that is good for me psychologically at this time. But I have more clothes that fit the bigger me than not, so a bit of a quandry, I will probably have to wear more belts I think to get around this problem.

The challenge to myself today is whether I can manage to hoover the house, and I will say it, it is in dire need of it, and if I do we can be assured that Jerry will not notice if I do or not. Such things do not worry Jerry, which I love him dearly for, he knows he did not marry a housewife. I sadly almost have a nervous breakdown over cooking, so Jerry sensibly cooks to avoid that situation, and whether I do household chores is way down the list of priorities. Jerry's logic is - why clean the floor if you are going to bring in more snow on your boots, and Oliver never wipes his feet, so you clean it and it get's dirty again. Whereas my logic is that you really have to do chores when you really begin to notice how bad it is getting, hence the need to hoover.


So what as this to do with anything, especially Passive Solar Living! not a lot really, but it is a blog about life, and working towards the goal of Passive Solar Living. And one thing we have working out from the above, is the need for a Mud Room, which will hold all our boots, and Oliver's Muttlucks, of which he has 3 left, not so clever when he has 4 legs, but there you go, what can you do. We are probably also going to add a building to the back of the house, for storage, as this will be very much open plan living, no room for clutter - I mean who are we kidding. Anyone who comes to the house will find almost no doors, and everything in view, so an impossible situation, I think Jerry will have to hire a housewife type person, so there is a need to budget for that into the total cost.

Having this additional building at the back of the house, will give us an ideal corner for morning breakfasts , exactly where the sun will be rising, with a woodland view. In fact the view from any side of the house is of trees, so hope you all love trees, we will let you pick a tree to talk to even, anything is possible.

Where I go back to work next week, Jerry is on Spring Break, and plans to go to the lot with a Level, and start making out the site. It is not ours yet, but they are happy for us to start moving forward with our plans. It all depends on how much snow is still on the ground up there, as there is plenty down here in town still. The general view is that winter was longer this year, and at least 12 degrees lower than normal, I think -18 yesterday. I am glad I have not had to go out in this for sure. It does look beautiful out though, you look up and see the sunshine and a Carolina Blue Sky, and then you look down and see how deceived you can be. We call it a Carolina Blue Sky in honor of our dear friends Dianne and Mark who live in South Carolina, and Dianne I practically live in the wonderful quilt you gave us when we came here. And thank you for yet another book box from the library of Lone Wolf. You know Jerry needs to build another bookcase, and maybe we need a library added to the new house plans.

And finally, all this talk about my health, and how fragile life can be has caused me to change my attitude about my jewelry: I will no longer keep it for special occasions only. I now choose a different ring to wear every day, and make use of the little I have, because although none of it is immensely valuable, they all mean something, and deserve to be worn.

And finally, finally, I would like to make a mention to all our friends in France who have fastidiously written to us in French, as we do to them, and we miss them very much. So for all that we were driven out by rich English people, who don't realise or don't care how much they are disliked, we have retained the friendships we made, even after moving all this distance away from them. It is truly lovely to receive letters and cards with all the news. But everything happens for a reason, and without the past and it's events, we would not be here writing this, and looking forward to a better future in Canada.