We’re off causing trouble at blogger’s breakfast.

– Debbie was late so poor Dawn was too.
– Dawn brought eggs.
– I’m hung over and expecting bacon.
– Joy’s admiring Debbie’s new camera.
– We miss Drew and everyone says “hi”.

The year before my dad was diagnosed with cancer, he and Drew climbed to the top of Whistler’s mountain in the Alberta Rocky mountains. For most people it’s not too hard of a climb. You take a tram most of the way up and climb the final 800 (or so) feet on your own.

I’m terrified of heights and never made it to the top. About a third of the way up I started shaking and freaking out. I managed to make it within sight of the summit before my journey ended. It was such a slow process for me. My body had no problem making the trek. My mind had a different set of priorities. My brain was convinced I was going to fall off the mountain. I was determined to try and get to the top but the teenage girls I was with at the time demanded to go to the bathroom and needed to be walked back down the mountain. By the time I’d taken them back I was shaking so much I knew I couldn’t manage a second attempt.

Mum only made it about 1/2 way to the top. She too suffers from a fear of heights. I remember how proud dad was that she’d managed to get that far up the mountain – knowing how scared she must have been trying to walk her way there. He kept talking about her fear of heights and how hard it must have been to have managed to get that far.

I can’t remember how far up the mountain my sister made it. So consumed by vertigo was I that I can’t place where she was in the mix.

I remember Drew running up and down the mountain a few times while dad stood at the top taking lots of pictures. One moment he was at the top with dad. The next he was with me. Then mum. Then the bottom with the kids. Then back up at the top with dad. I remember thinking how nice it must be to run around a mountain and not be terrified of “rolling off”.

When I was home last spring I got a small bag of dad’s ashes. We plan to walk to the top of the mountain to release them. He loved being there so much. Mum is planning on visiting when Drew returns home to make the trek. Surrounded by a boatload of women afraid of heights it will be a slow journey. But if dad could make it to the top of the mountain, so can we.

Shaking and squeamish the entire way. We can do this.

What “mountains” will you try to summit this year?

Remember those 4 jobs I mentioned needing to apply for yesterday? Got a call about one of them this morning. The HR manager told me I had the perfect resume. The position was advertized as being permanent but is apparently tied to budget funding which made me nervous. The current budget for their program expires in May. About the time my existing position ends. I think I am justified in feeling a bit leery of possibly entering into a situation similar to the one I’m leaving.

The HR rep asked if I’d be willing to consider the position if their funding was obtained for the next few years. At that point she said she’d be able to guarantee the position would be permanent instead of a short 2 month contract. She said she’d know the status of the funding application by the end of the month and will be calling me at the end of March to arrange an interview if/when that occurs.

Then, a few hours later, I got a call that made me really excited and happy. It’s the call I’ve been waiting for all week. Don’t want to say any more until I’ve got the full details but things could really be looking up. I should know more sometime next week. Until then I’m knocking on every piece of wood I can find.

A bit of (negative) excitement on the family front this week. My sister ended up in hospital earlier this week with really high sugars and severe back pain. After some panic and many medical tests it’s turned out okay. The pain appears to be from a pulled muscle and will eventually heal. As for her sugars, she needs to take some responsibility for her own health in order to avoid a recurrance. She’s been diabetic for about 8 years now so you’d think she’d know better than to skip her meds an abandon her diet. Hopefully she’ll start taking things more seriously now since diabetes can have severe health consequences when let to spiral out of control.

I know. Not a very sympathetic attitude on my part. I’ll get around to changing my behaviour and attitudes surrounding this type of situation if/when she does.

Thank goodness for my best friend and her family. Leaving her when we moved to Edm was a huge loss for Drew and I. Over the years we’d become very close to her family. They’ve always been wonderful us and our family. My sister who remained in the city when we left has reaped the benefits of our friendship over the years. They managed everything while she was in hospital this week and took her in to their home for a few days when she was released. I hope she appreciates how wonderful they are and how lucky she is to know them. I know I do.

Drew included a few shirts in the package he sent me. You might remember the story. Package is delivered. Inside is coated in sticky goop because he sent pop cans home in the box. Frozen, exploded pop = me doing laundry AGAIN and trying to save a soggy letter so I can read it.

I was a little confused at the time since both of the shirts were a size smaller than I wear. Nothing in the letter about the shirts NOT being for me so I figured Drew was just trying to encourage me to wear more form fitting clothing instead of my usual “tents”.

Apparently I was wrong.

When Drew called me last night he informed me that the shirts are intended for him. Not me.

Whaaaa!

I think I’m going to fill his next care package with things for me and make him hold onto them and bring them home to give back to me. Seems fitting under the circumstances.

Me and the paper apparently. I’m busy writing a paper for my MilPsych class regarding psychological fatigue, its effects and mitigating factors. Sure, the paper is about continuous operations in a combat environment, but I’m more than willing to stretch and say I’m suffering from the effects today as well.

I’ve been spending way too much time at the library in the evenings trying to get a handle on all my homework. I’m finally starting to understand Statistics – at least those associated with my class – but am not the greatest at memorizing formulas yet. At least I can seem to recognize some of them. I do know I’m NOT a fan of all the graphing and data entry in this class.

A package from Drew arrived today and brightened my mood considerably. He included a cute little teddy bear, some T shirts, and a gorgeous carved wooden bowl.  Ooh, and a handwritten letter.  Downside of the package was that he also included some cans of pop with Arabic writing on them that froze and exploded some where en route. I’m busy doing laundry at the moment to ensure that the shirts aren’t permanently damaged or stained.

Enough babbling.  Time to get back to my paper.  Due tonight and all that.  Needed this break though. One of the methods for combating psychological fatigue is a change in tasks and writing for my blog as opposed to writing a paper definitely constitutes a change.