illness | Mama Cormier

…sorry for my absence but all is well

The holidays and the weeks leading up to Christmas were very busy and then I was down with a cold that really had me flat on my back or curled up on the couch for days.

As you know our kitchen renovation started in earnest at the beginning of November and it was mostly finished in time for Christmas dinner. Leading up to that day, it seemed like we would never have our house to ourselves again. Even before demolition started we spent days clearing out the cupboards, boxing up items for the new kitchen, items that were to be given away and items that were to be tossed. Most of the boxes ended up in the basement but a few were in the living room.

Demolition started the first weekend in November. All the old cupboards, counters and some of the old appliances were removed and sent to the transfer station for disposal. A few days later the flooring company sent a crew and the old floors were removed, new plywood laid now and sanded and then the new floor went in. As we sat in the finished part of the basement, sawdust rained down on us through the ceiling. Three days later the floors were 95% done. Only the new air ducts that matched the floor had to be made and installed.

Later in the week the painter came by and prepped the walls and ceilings and three days later we had a fresh coat of paint on newly plastered ceilings and the walls at the back of the house. Now the electricians came by and started ripping out holes in the basement ceilings to snake new wiring to the kitchen. More dust and sawdust in the basement. This was the biggest part of the job for these guys and it took them a full day. Since then our main guy has made numerous trips to work on some of the smaller details, especially after the cabinets were installed.

The last week in November the kitchen cabinets were delivered and two days later the installers arrived. It took two full days to put the cabinets in place. Now the counter guys had to come by and take final measurements for the granite countertops. There was a bit of a delay because the counters that we had ordered were held up on the west coast because of a ferry strike. Instead of waiting indefinitely we decided to choose a different countertop that was in stock. In the meantime I had to go out and pick up a new sink that would fit in the new space.

Once the counters were in place we were ready for the new appliances and lo and behold the oven was out of stock, even though we had paid for it back in August. After a bit of a fight over the phone and online we finally decided on a different model that still looked like the one we ordered but it was cheaper because it had one less feature. Chances are we wouldn’t have used it very often if at all.

One last thing that we needed was a new light fixture to go over our dining table. My daughter and I took a trip to a lighting store close to where she lived and we found the perfect light. Now it needed to be installed but when the electrician came back I needed him to hook up the oven and get some of the outlets above the counter to work. When that was done we were able to cook in the kitchen. He still needs to come back to install the task lighting but I knew that I could wait for that. In the meantime my husband tried to install the light himself but we needed our neighbour to help with that.

Now you might think that I’m in the clear but after seeing how nice the floor was right up to the front door I didn’t want to re-install the old railing above the basement stairs. I looked into redoing the stairs and railings using the same company that did the floors but the price was way above our budget. When I couldn’t get them to bring down the price enough I went back to my handyman, friend and neighbour to price out the cost if he did it. Together we went to the lumber store and found flooring treads and railings that matched the new floor perfectly and the best part was that it was all on clearance. Rod worked right up till December 23 to get it all done and the final cost was still less than half of what the flooring company wanted.

When our family from London, England finally arrived were able to host our Christmas dinner in the new (almost finished kitchen). As of today we still haven’t put any photos or artwork back up on the walls. Kevin wants to make sure we have a plan that works for both of us.

Three days later, when the stress of the kitchen was over and our son left with his family to join his wife’s sisters in an Airbnb downtown (a family reunion…everyone flew to Toronto) I could feel that Kevin’s cold had caught up to me. I hung in there to celebrate Brendan’s birthday on the 30th but on January 1st I was down for the count.

More to come …..

….every year for as long as I can remember I’ve struggled to get ready for Christmas

I used to blame being a full-time teacher as the problem. December is always a busy month with interviews, concerts, parties, more assemblies and when there’s time shopping for Christmas presents.

Now that I’m retired things haven’t gotten much better but for very different reasons, especially this year. One thing that has helped somewhat is being able to do 80% of my shopping on-line. The one thing, however, that I didn’t count on was illness.

Twelve days ago my sister from Calgary came for a three day visit. Our first day started off nicely with a lunch with both sisters and my Dad that I wrote about in my last post. Dad had been under the weather with a cold and cough but he felt he was up to a short visit to our local ‘seniors’ mall where he wanted to use up his credit at one of the retail outlets. It’s not really a senior’s mall but there is a high high proportion of white haired people that sit around the mall drinking their Tim Horton’s coffee. So Cathy, Dad and I drove to the mall and tried to find Dad something from the store that would fit him. He had a credit in the first place because this particular store doesn’t give refunds, only exchanges or credit towards other merchandise. Unfortunately, Dad is a large man and the merchandise fits on the small side. I think between the two of us we exhausted our Dad by making him try on at least a half dozen sweaters or more.

In the end we weren’t able to use up his credit in this particular store but the manager assured us that in another mall there were three different stores that would honour his credit voucher. Before we left the mall we went to the drug store and bought Dad some cough syrup to tame the rattle that came from his chest. When we got home he excused himself and went down to his apartment in the house and sat in his special chair to rest.

Later that night while while watching TV we heard my father call us from his basement apartment. When we went downstair we saw he was in distress so we called 911 after consulting with TeleHealth. Very quickly a firetruck and two ambulances arrived at our door. I couldn’t believe all the people who were trying to fit into my small house with all their special equipment. To make a long story shorter it was decided that Dad should go to the hospital due to his age and low oxygen levels. The fire department left first when they were sure that Dad could walk out of the house on his own and the one paramedic team handed over the reigns to the other team at shift change.

In the end Dad stayed in Emergency in an isolated room for fours days until they were sure that he wasn’t contagious. We waited for a single room in the hospital but all the beds upstairs were full. On the fifth day a room opened up but the attending doctor felt that Dad was well enough to go home and rest there. Turns out he has RSV, a respiratory viral infection. It is very common amongst children but can be quite dangerous for people in their 90s.

So with going to the hospital every day and having my sister here, nothing much got done. Cathy did volunteer to help me put up the Christmas tree but when she left on the fourth day the tree was still outside. I didn’t even have my door wreath up.

Once Dad got home I had a new set of responsibilities. Ironically while my Dad was in the hospital my neighbour next door was also admitted and she has a new cat. Now I had to feed the cat and take in her mail and go shopping for my father. A few days after he got home I took him to the bank and while he was there I treated myself to a Christmas planter to put in front of the house. Things were starting to look up.

I was on a roll. My husband helped me bring in the Christmas tree and we got it set up in the living room.

The next day I pulled the old door wreath out from under the stairs and decided it needed a bit of cheering up. I put a new ribbon on it and added some white flowers to freshen it up. Then I added some battery powered LED lights for fun.

This whole time I could feel that I had a cold coming on. Not surprising with all the illness that had surrounded me in the last week but I felt well enough to go to a party Monday night and to make bread dough at the Inn the next day. I knew I would only be there for a few hours. That evening I even attempted to bake some cookies and I packaged up a small gift for the bakers that I work with.

From here things went downhill very quickly. That night I woke up with a very sore throat; something I don’t experience very often and in fact the last time I felt that bad was when I was in high school and I ended up with Strep throat. The next morning I texted my baking friends and told them I wasn’t coming in. My husband drove me to the doctor and sure enough the tests came back positive for Strep throat and a sinsus infection. I left the office with a few prescriptions and headed straight for the pharmacy and then to bed.

Since Wednesday I’ve been taking it easy and doing things in small spurts but I was surprised how much could be accomplished with taking baby steps. I managed take all my decorations out and over the next three days I slowly started to place my treasures around the house and put lights and ornaments on the tree. Late Friday afternoon my oldest daughter arrived and helped me finish the tree and together we strung the outside lights on the Yew in front of the house.