Should we stay or should we go?

 So one week from today we have tickets to return to Ukraine. Who would have thought three months ago when we booked it that Ukraine possibly being invaded by Russia would be a thing? Garry is quite sure that all will be well, so I am working on sorting and packing. I'm a little less sure, but maybe something will happen before we fly.

Garry has been busy refereeing high school basketball most evenings this week with our son Josh- except Wednesday when it was cancelled because school was closed for yet another snow storm. I spent Wednesday night babysitting some of our granddaughters while mom and dad went to the city. I haven't seen Garry all day, except for when he came to pick up the car, he had his MRI today for his shoulder. The doctor suspects a torn rotator cuff injury that needs repair.

We have really enjoyed all the family time at home, but it's the longest Garry has been in Canada in almost thirteen years.

Ups and downs

 We have returned from our trip west. Last Thursday we were with son Matt and family in Sask, and Garry got his wish to try downhill skiing. I'm excited to report that he was uninjured, even when he took the ski lift up and skiied ( and fell) down. He was getting pretty good at the bunny hill by the end of the day, but I don't know if he'll try it again. Our granddaughters (and son) are really fast going down the slopes, but were nice and hung out with grandpa most of the time.

I thought I'd be smart and try cross country instead, unfortunately my ribs still hurt from falling on my back. I only fell twice, after that I was careful and was getting the hang of it, slow skiing, any way. I said I might try it again someday, but we'll see. My ribs still hurt, as I said. We also played some board games with the grandgirls. 

Friday morning after breakfast we headed out to the highway... the snowy highway, since it started snowing Thursday afternoon, and there was six or eight inches of snow in the driveway.

After Regina the roads improved, we were in Medicine Hat and found Daryl and Molly's house mid-afternoon. We were invited to dinner with Judy, who we met teaching English in Dnepro in 2008. There's where Garry got a gift of boxes of stamps, lots,  like the car was piled full of them.

The next morning we were off as it was getting light out (8 am), driving through the Rockies on Highway 1 to Salmon Arm, BC. The weather was great for driving and we arrived before five, with time changing by another hour.

We stayed with Jack and Trish and Tyler, Sunday morning Garry spoke in church for a few minutes and we met people at Jack's in the afternoon, some who had been to Ukraine and some who were interested.

Monday Garry went ice fishing with Jack while I took it easy and bought some snacks for the return trip. Jack was disappointed that they only caught rainbow trout. We met Ed Peterson and his wife for coffee and went to Neil and Bonnie's for dinner and a farm tour. It was great to see so many people we know from work teams. 

Tuesday morning we had a quick breakfast, took the lunch Jack and Trish had packed for us and left about 6:30 BC time. Unfortunately there was an accident on Highway 1 near Revelstoke and we spent about four and half hours waiting for the road to reopen. 

Eventually the cars and trucks started coming toward us, and around 11:30 we moved about a kilometer, and finally we were on our way.

The drive was sloppy, Garry had to use the wipers often as temperatures were around freezing going through the mountains, with some icy places.

The views were spectacular when the sun was out, but we were only to Banff when the sun went down, instead of Medicine Hat, as planned. We messaged Daryl and Molly when we stopped for gas and food before Calgary that we'd arrive around 10:30 MST. We estimated well, and after a short chat, went to bed.

Wednesday we drove home from Medicine Hat after breakfast on a cold morning, arriving home around eight pm to unload all the boxes of stamps. We had drive thru burgers for lunch, pizza for dinner, only stopping for gas in Sask and a bit in Winnipeg to get home. 

Just ten days until we fly back to Ukraine.

Check-in

 Well our health checks are mostly done, Garry has an MRI scheduled at the end of the month for his sore shoulder, and I need another blood test in a week to recheck some levels. The good news is losing twenty five pounds has reduced both my blood pressure and my glucose levels, so they are at healthy levels now. It also means I had to buy new jeans, every thing I own was too big. I got some today, the kids gave me gift certificates for Christmas. 

Garry often checks in on how things are going in Ukraine, he's talked with Victor, and a couple of our staff members on messenger and through emails. Over the weekend he read the milk production report from the DHI in our email.  He was excited to find we had about fifteen cows milking over thirty liters a day and three over forty. Victor says there are 110 milk cows. We also find out on Facebook, like his photo of Needles.

We delayed our trip west a couple days but plan to leave early tomorrow ( Wednesday) morning.

New year

 

While we celebrated with family here in Canada, the students and staff celebrated in Ukraine. Looks like it was quite a big meal at the new house where they eat lunch. Here are a few photos. They also went on a skating and sledding outing with Oleg and family last week.

Here in St Labre, we had a pizza party, to commemorate the great pizza making contest from eleven years ago, almost every family made a special pizza to share. Max even dropped in to eat pizza with the family. Of course with so many little kids to put to bed,  everyone went home by nine. Garry actually made it to midnight this year, working on his thousand piece puzzle he started. 

When they finished it the next day, there was a missing piece, that finally turned up in the fruit bowl days later. I had to make ollebollen (dutch new year donuts?) as always for lunch new year's day. I also made seafood soup that Max ate the leftovers for several days!

Garry and I had annual check-up appointments on January 5th, but I ended up at the emergency room the day before. Monday afternoon I had booked my covid booster, I got moderna and while waiting in line decided to get the flu shot too. About six hours later I started to feel sick. I had a reaction after every shot, but felt a little heart flutter. When I woke up, I felt bad, and my Fitbit had recorded 80 active minutes while I was sleeping. It takes walking at least three miles an hour on the treadmill to get those. By ten am I got Garry to drive me in because my heart was racing. I spent four hours on a monitor where my heart was not as fast, but irregular. Eventually, with some nitro it settled down. 

So I took it easy for a few days, but am feeling good today, I even did a mile on the treadmill. Garry is planning on taking me on a drive west, leaving on Monday. We had to change our tickets as Austrian airlines has cancelled our Zaporozhye flight home. After an hour on hold, we talked to an agent, and we'll fly into Kyiv instead. We leave on February third.