A while back I had written that having a bad day does not necessarily mean that everything is bad. Yesterday we had our appliances delivered and the delivery group was fantastic and super professional. We did not have any issues with them or what they did, but in the evening we realized that we were missing some parts. This morning I also realized that some of the induction burners were not working properly and some things seem to not be far too wobbly. I contacted our sales person and told him about the issues, and even though it is his day off he said he would start a service call and take care of it. I appreciate how fast his response was and that he is helping us out with all of this. Good customer care makes quite the difference. Mel and I always try and support local companies. I often get a discount with the local stores, even though sometimes I can get a bigger discount at the big box stores. Xavier gets a lot of custom gear and when you order things you can specify where it goes. I know management at Big Box stores as well and they have offered me larger discounts that I could get from the small local stores. The thing is, if I have questions the smaller family own stores that know me well will answer everything. I have a lot of the staff’s personal cell phones and they always answer me quickly. In the case of Xavier’s we forgot to do something and he recognized it right away and just went ahead with the modification. In our haste, I think i forgot to personalize something with the proper colour. He knew what we had ordered for the other things and corrected it without contacting me, safe in the knowledge that it is what I wanted. At our local bike store we have a great relationship and when Xavier was going to Good Life, it was located close by. I asked if it was pouring if they would let Xavier wait out the rain there and they said sure and that if he needed something to just let him have it and I would pay them afterwards. If one of my kids walked into the store and said my dad said I could buy a bike and he will come pay later they would allow him to do it without hesitation. They know that I would pay even if my child deceived them. They also know that my child would not be foolish enough to do something like that.
Mel’s aunt was in town today for a Costco run as they live North of Timmins with the polar bears in igloos. She had texted me if I wanted anything, and on a lark I said yes, buy me the McLaren RC car if they had it. I was not expecting much, I had told my sister to get it for me as well if she saw it. Last week when I was at Costco I did not see it. She found it and brought it to me today. Mel saw it come in and just laughed. It is quite a lot bigger than I expected but I do not care. In all honesty it will probably not even come out of the box. I just want to add it to my collection. It sparks joy. While I knew that she was going to be bringing it over, I did not know the exact time. As Xavier needs his skates sharpened after every 3 hrs of ice time, he was due for a sharpening as he is going to have a lot of ice time this week. I decided to go get them done on my own after some meetings and I did not realize how tiring it was going to be for me. The weight of his skates is about the limit of what I can lift at the moment. I seriously did not expect to be so fatigued by this quick trip out of the house. I think I was gone for about 35 minutes. What it made me realize however is that I am still nowhere near 100% no matter how much I want to try and deceive myself. Mentally I am out of my foggy haze and things are going well with work related things. It is physical exhaustion that I need to manage and make sure that I eat. Taking a nap right now seems like a great idea.
I can not think of any goals for today that I want to accomplish and if I wait too long it will be hard to accomplish. My goal of increasing weight has not been going well as right now I am 135lbs. Xavier weighs more than I do and right now we can actually share clothing as we are approximately the same size. I might argue that he weighs more. The good news though is that I think that I will be able to eat more, right now I stop eating before I feel too full because I am fearful of throwing up. I think a lot of my energy expenditure is going towards healing so once that is done I think I will be able to gain weight. I will figure out a way to increase my caloric intake while I wait to hear back from the pathology report. I had people offer to go get Xavier’s skates sharpened for me today, but I wanted to test out my limits on my own in a controlled setting. I think I have a better idea of it and will push myself tomorrow by going to his afternoon game. I just do not think that I will drive myself and will make sure that I wear a facemask in order to avoid any potential of getting sick. I do not mind wearing them and I have quite a few 3M N95 masks still. I do have some that are more comfortable so I will see what I can find to wear.
This evening while making dinner, I realized that a lot of our cheaper pans no longer work and that we need to get better pans. All of the higher end ones I bought work from either All-Clad or deBuyer. I am so devastated that I have to get rid of crappy pans and have to get higher end beautiful new pots and pans. I am not sure if Mel will agree, but it must be done. I have been looking for awhile but have not decided on what to get as of yet. I need to get a non-stick small work for Xavier to make his fried rice in, but they are difficult to find. The sales rep called me back today and said that the panels and flue vent would be shipped out to us and once the stove was installed they could come out with a service call because they will not come out if it does not meet those interesting criteria. So hopefully they come soon. It is functional now, just not fully. 3 out of the 5 burners. The fridge and freezer have been unwrapped and put into place but there are a bunch of modifications that we need to do in order for them to be functional first. The outlets need to be raised as the cords from from the top. The other interesting part is that each of them has its own filter that needs to be purchased separately and installed. We need to purchase additional supplies first. I offered to go and then we realized that would not work. I am not that useful at the moment.
I realized today that there are people that I missed working with as I have been barely functional. I am not sure if it was due to the drugs or recovering from surgery but I was slower. I am starting to feel closer to normal now, but still need lots of help around the house. I appreciate all of the assistance that people have provided us and how everyone is willing to come no matter the time or place. Last night when things were not going well and we wanted to move the range back Mel was telling me to call a friend that had offered to help before. She was call him and his son and see if they are home yet, if not tell them to come here. They live 15 minutes away and were willing to come even though it was 10:15. Mel’s father came after with and helped out so I told him he did not have to come. I am lucky that people willing to come whenever to help me out is the norm and not the exception. I am grateful that I have friends who will help me out of situations no questions asked. I am blessed to be surrounded by a community that embraces each other and sees friend requests not as a burden, but as an opportunity to strengthen bonds amongst each other. I know that myself and all of my friends and family do not do acts of kindness expecting anything in return. It is done because we have surrounded ourselves with like minded people who will always provide any type of assistance that they can. A simple task of getting skates sharpened has several people offering to do it. I hope that this is a lesson that the boys understand and are absorbing. When you are in a position to help someone out that needs you, the expectation is you do it to the best of your abilities even if you need to sacrifice yourself a bit. I know Mel thinks that I need to reserve my energy and that I need to make sure that I balance helping out others and my own internal reserves, but I can always find 15 minutes to take a quick nap if it means exerting done extra energy to help out others anyway I can. No matter what condition I am in, if someone requires my assistance I will do my best to help out until Mel and everyone else reigns me in.
Q