Word on the Street!

This past weekend I participated in Halifax's biggest book event, Word on the Street. It's the event's 25th year and while it use to take place on the waterfront, it's now in and around the Halifax Central Library. Friday night I attended the welcome reception for the authors and exhibitors on the beautiful 5th floor where we ate delicious canapes and sipped wine as the moon rose over the Halifax harbour. If you've never been to the library, the view alone from the balcony is worth the trip. It was a fun night even though I'm not great at mingling or inserting myself into conversations.

My room!

Saturday was the main event where I did a quick book signing at the Nimbus tent and presented as part of a "Life Stories" time slot and then had another quick book signing in the main signing area. I thought I would have more time to attend panels but all I managed to do between events was grab a quick snack. I did manage to attend a panel at the end of the day about romance writers of Atlantic Canada which was motivating to me to keep writing the romance novel I've been picking away at.

The event had a great energy to it and while I'm pretty sure I spent more time chatting to other authors than the general public, it was a fun day that required a 2 hour recovery nap once I got back to where I was staying.

So many good authors!

It's me!

It's the beginning of August and Mom and I haven't been on a single overnight hike yet! We're hoping to fix that this week but last summer we had already done three major hikes at this point, including the Fundy Footpath. I know I'm not suppose to compare summers and this year Isaiah and I actually made it to Yarmouth for a week which was great. Also, on the days we had planned on hiking, it rained for three days straight or was 30+ degrees so we wimped out. I'm hoping it remains nice enough into September that we'll be able to go before it cools off too much.

Last week, we spent several days in Mount Carleton hiking, paddling, and looking for moose. Amy and I also spent a lot of time sitting in the shade, dipping in the lake, and drinking iced coffee because it was too hot to do much else. Odin had some practice kayaking and only jumped out once on our first trip. After that, he stayed in the kayak although there were a few iffy moments. I'm not sure Mom and Dad are eager to talk him on a long paddle but he did well going around the lake. The massive amounts of treats he got while he was sitting nicely probably helped.

Odin with his little saddlebags before the hike.

Odin surveying the lake for ducks while I keep us upright.

Our cabin!

Yarmouth!

Isaiah and I had a mini vacation in Yarmouth last week. We stayed at the cabin, swam in the lake, playing many many games of crib, and visited with Isaiah's family. I had a book event with the Yarmouth Coles on the Saturday (called The Spirit of Litera-Sea"). It was nice to chat with other authors who have books out right now and to meet the welcoming, friendly staff at Coles. They said the turn out was better than last year, it was a bit of a rainy/muggy day so that probably helped as well as having all the authors talk on the local radio about their books. All in all, a great time on the other side of the province.

A photo gallery of things we did in Yarmouth:

Played Duck Hunt and Mario World 3

Read

Walked on the beach

Floated in the lake

Book fest!

S'mores!

Temperature Quilt

My temperature quilt is coming along! I'm deep into the yellows and oranges now. I haven't sewn up the latest strip yet but this past week will introduce the first reds of the quilt (high of 25+). I hope we don't end up getting too many red days this summer because I really don't handle them well. I never seem to be able to keep up with how much salt I lose. At least the house stays relatively cool and I've been able to spend the past few days in front of a fan.

Mid-May 

Until mid-June!

The CF nurse in the respirology department of the QEII is retiring and Amy and I are sad. It was her last week this past week - coincidentally when Amy and I both had clinic appointments so we were able to say a tearful fair well. Well, to be realistic, I said goodbye as she was giving me my pneumonia vaccine booster.

She's been the nurse at the adult CF clinic the entire time we've been there. We switched over from the children's IWK CF clinic at some point in our teens. I think Amy had aged out of the hospital but they let her stick around for a bit longer so we could both go to the adult clinic together rather than having different clinic days. I think I was given the choice if I wanted to stay but it made sense to switch over together to minimize the driving for Mom and Dad.

We've been with the adult clinic team in Halifax since leaving the IWK and while physiotherapists, social workers, and psychologists have come and gone, the doctors, nurses, and dietician have stayed the same almost the entire time. The dietician we had had for over 15 years did retire last year but her new one is fantastic and I'm just as comfortable complaining about my diabetes with her as I was the other one.

The new nurse is going to have their work cut out for them. I email or call anytime I feel like anything is wrong and it's always the CF nurse who gets the initial call. Or I'll call to check my blood work, or to change an appointment date, or if my lung function is down a bit. Basically, I've reached a point in my life where I'm trying to stay on top of any health issue and that involves a lot of calls to the CF clinic. The great part has been that I've always felt comfortable contacting them and am always listened to even if it's just to tell me that my magnesium is low. And if I email about every little thing, I imagine everyone else in clinic does as well with all of their questions.

I don't want to say that the nurse is irreplaceable but it's going to be hard to find someone who is as carrying, and compassionate, and no nonsense, and efficient. She's been there with me through it all, all my hospitalizations, my feeding tube, my transplant work up, my cancer diagnosis, basically the last 15 or so years. It's not going to be the same clinic without her.