This weekend was very busy. Sharm invited me to a jewellery party on Friday night but it was the end of the week and I was wiped or more to the point, I took the time to re-energize because it was going to be a busy weekend, so I didn’t go. I think I was in bed by 9:00pm. That’s very early for me but I think I still needed to get over the remnants of the flu.

Saturday morning was off to my treadmill and universal gym for a good workout which I really needed. Sahana and Sabreena came over at about 2:30pm and they spent the night. I think Sabreena was in this world before because there is no way that a child of 3 could know that much! Of course they wanted dhall and roti for dinner so that’s what they had.

Karran went to the hospice and took some milk cream and bread for dad. Mom and Auntie Bauline went to the hospice on Saturday morning and they said that dad was doing okay and his lips were a bit less swollen. They had lunch with him and came over to my place for dinner. He didn’t want them to leave when they were ready to go so he decided to call Sister Leila to see if she had returned from her vacation in Florida. Their house is now listed for sale and I don’t think mom wants to move but like I said previously, I talked to them over two years ago about downsizing and again early last year but they did not want to do anything about it so now it seems like a lot of stuff is happening at the same time – as it is. The house is in pretty good shape and mom takes pride in her home so there is not a lot of stuff to get ready for selling. That’s a good thing.

I made shrimp and fish etouffee with rice and some boiled & fried plantains. The etouffee was sooooo good. You can search the internet for a good recipe or you can do what I did which is to use a mix that Sunita got me when she was in New Orleans in October. There is a company called Louisiana Fish Fry that sells all kinds of spice mixes. I’ve used their gumbo, etouffee, creole, and jambalaya mixes as well as some of the seasonings. The website is: Louisiana Fish Fry

Yesterday I took Auntie Bauline to the airport and went to the hospice to visit dad.  She said that she was asking mom how I find the time to do all that I do.  I should familiarize her with Brent’s theory about me.  He thinks that there are really two of me because I cloned myself and when one of me is sleeping, the other is awake but I make sure never to show both of us at the same time.  If I didn’t know better, I’d think the same thing!  Thanks Brent for presenting that theory.  Makes a lot of sense to me. 

I made some chicken and vegetable soup and some chicken fiesta and rice yesterday morning so I took some of that for him. He was sleeping when I arrived but woke up soon after. His lips were definitely less swollen than they were last week. The doctor increased the dosage of steroids and it seems to be helping but now that his face is less swollen, I can see the hardness of the tumours more clearly.

I asked how he was feeling and he said that he was having difficulty breathing. I asked if his chest was hurting when he breathed, but he said that his head feels heavy as if he is not getting enough oxygen in his nose. I told him to flush his nose with his syringe. He had already done that 3 times already but he did it again while I went to make 2 cups of tea for him and me. When I brought it back, I told him to sit and have his tea and he quietly asked, “what do you want to talk to me about now?” I had to chuckle while I said that I simply wanted to visit and I had nothing in particular to talk about this day. I would prefer just to come and visit but between he and mom not always cooperating, I am the one left to deal with whatever is going on.

Just as I was leaving, Sophie and Darwin arrived and they stayed with him till he ate dinner. He wanted milk cream and bread for dinner. That’s more like dessert, not really dinner but we are obviously indulging him these days. What the heck. Life is uncertain so eat dessert first! Dad tried eating the milk cream but I think Karran forgot to scald the whipping cream and skim off the cream so it didn’t taste the way he wanted it.

For some of you, this may sound like eating pure fat but when we were kids, this was a treat which I dare not eat these days if I think about the number of calories and saturated fat, but he wants it so we give it to him. He was bigger things to worry about than saturated fats once in a while, so if he wants to eat cream and bread, then cream and bread it is. I called mom when I went home. Karran left the balance of the whipping cream at her house so she said that she would prepare it the way dad likes it and take it over for him this morning.

Sharm brought over a carrot cake when she dropped off the kids so we had that for dessert. Sabreena was telling me “Nani, Katie Perry is coming to town and I want to get some tickets to see her. I only got tickets to Yo Gaba Gaba but soon I’ll get tickets to Katie Perry.” The kid is 3. I don’t even know if I ever went to a concert at 3, let alone wanting concert tickets.

The babes had a feast of dhall and roti for dinner and Sabreena wanted barley soup for breakfast. I was almost tempted to make some for breakfast but by the time they had breakfast, they wanted sweet roti and eggs (Sabreena wanted a “mini amount”). They told their mom that they had fun in the space bedroom. The room has glow-in-the-dark stars and planets on the ceiling and walls and the kids love them. Those were left over from when Sub was into her astronomy phase so after the room was repainted when she moved out, I put back the stars and planets because I thought the grandchildren would like them when they slept over.

Sunita called on Saturday night to say that Izzy lost another tooth.  She’s now up to two.  She didin’t want her mom to tell me because she wanted to surprise me in August when I see her. Her mom told her that her new tooth would have grown in by then.  She’ll be 8 in May and she lost her first tooth about a month ago in school. She was so excited to bring it home but dropped it somewhere and lost it. She was crushed because the tooth fairy would not know that she lost her tooth.  Sunita called Mike and by some miracle – because the tooth fairy knows everything – he got a letter from the tooth fairy at his work and he brought it home for Izzy.  The tooth fairy told her that she is everywhere and knows that Izzy lost her tooth and that everything will be alright.  How about that?  The tooth fairy brought her $5 and another $10 from her Lola and Lolo.  I just have this question: How come the tooth fairy doesn’t give you money when you lose your teeth and have to get dentures?  She’d better be prepared for me if I ever have to get dentures.  For now, she can keep me in toothbrushes and floss.

I mentioned in a previous post that mom was supposed to move in to my home on Sunday but when I asked her yesterday if she was ready, she said that she still needed to do a few more things so she is moving this afternoon. Not sure if she’ll have another excuse this afternoon. We’ll see. Her room is ready. Karran brought over a full bed, complete with linens on Saturday so that’s all set up and ready for her. I ordered some room darkening shades because she complains about not being able to sleep. The room already has dark shades but hopefully these will be close to hotel-type shades that will block out all the light at night.