February - Gone!

Monday we only worked half a day at the office.  Pat said he didn't feel very good but didn't know what was wrong.  I didn't think it wise for him to be home by himself, so I accompanied him home.  He spoke with his Montreal doctor who had him call in his blood pressure numbers. When she called him back on Tuesday, she said that she didn't think there is any reason to be concerned.  Thank goodness! She did say he needs to be aware of the signs of a stroke!  Only a few more days until we see the neurologist! Hallelujah!

Tuesday dawned and Pat felt better!  Yeah!

Tuesday was an interesting day for me.  One of my tasks is to write the letters that the mission president sends to missionaries' parents, bishops, and stake presidents.  Well, because we are going home in April, I wrote our letter!  That was odd, to say the least.  It made the reality of our quickly-approaching mission end very obvious!

We try to go to a restaurant once a month as senior missionaries.  Tuesday was the night!  The Swensens selected the restaurant:  Au Tarot.  I have walked passed this place many times as I pass it on the way to and from the office.  I thought it was a fortune telling place!  It's not.  It is a delightful Moroccan restaurant.  We had a traditional meal of salad and couscous with mandarin oranges for dessert. It was so good!  Here we all are:  Clockwise:  The Swensens, the Bowlers, Sister Peterson Sister Puzey, The Carlsons, Sister Howe, Sister Anderson, The McGees, and the Evans.  Thanks to Chef Kara for taking the photo!

I took this one so we had a better glimpse at the folks at the other end:  The Carlsons, Sister Howe, Sister Anderson (behind Sister Howe), Elder McGee, the Evans, the Swensens, the bowlers, Sister Peterson, Sister Chatterton, and Sister Puzey.

And the man behind the delicious spread with the man who orchestrated the evening:  Chef Kara and Elder Swensen.

For about a year now, I've been blessed to serve as an ordinance worker in the beautiful, tiny Montreal Temple.  Unfortunately, I've had to miss quite a bit of time as a result of Pat's stroke.  Wednesday I wended my way there.  I had a very difficult time getting out of the garage.  I don't know what was going on, but there was a steady stream of people walking past the garage--I couldn't get out onto the street.  Then, across the street, there were fire engines.  Always something going on in Montreal.  I only have about seven more Wednesdays to serve in the temple before we head for home.  Without a doubt, I will miss this temple immensely!

We witnessed some strange, funny things while we were at the office on Thursday.  This first is this stamp.  One of our sister missionaries went to Canada Post to buy a stamp for the USA.  The forever US stamp is what she got.  Then Canada Post sent the mail back!  That, in itself is goofy because most of the time the stamps are not canceled! Too funny! 

Here's another strange sight: Last night we had about 3 inches of snow.  Across from the office is a large apartment building.  Today we watched as people pushed the snow from their balconies.  They wouldn't go onto the balcony; instead, the stood in the doorway and pushed it off!  This lady is actually barefoot.

This gentleman didn't move from his doorway--he just pushed from that spot. Luckily, there is a roof above the first floor that protects pedestrians from the snow--and anything else that may topple off the balconies.

We have seen some strange goings on on those balconies.  There is one lady who doesn't want the birds to land on her railing, so she stands on the balcony swatting them with a fly swatter.

After work on Thursday, I baked two cakes that I will finish on Saturday so that the seniors can celebrate Sister Randall's and Elder Carlson's birthday.  These two cakes will be the last two that I make while here in Montreal.  I hope to box all of my cake decorating equipment up and ship it home when we go to Burlington next week.  

Fridays tend to be rather quiet days at the office.  This Friday was no exception.  I had a couple of projects that I needed to get done and which would have taken me most of the day; however, Sister Evans didn't have anything pressing, so she helped me.  Got those tasks completed in no time! We also clean the office on Fridays.  We've discovered that by doing it on Friday afternoons we protect our preparation day (Saturday) and by working together, we can get the whole thing done in 30-45 minutes.  Team work! That certainly beats spending 2-3 hours doing it on Saturday.  

The missionaries are restricted to their teaching areas, so that means that we can't invite those that leave outside of Montreal to join us in our apartment for dinner.  So, we go to them.  Tonight Sister Puzey and I drove over to the South Shore and had dinner with Sisters Louder and Lawrence at Boston Pizza. The meal was delicious! Pat didn't go, but the Carlsons joined us.  We had such a good time.  We love these young missionaries so much.  Before they scurried off to an appointment, they taught us about the blessings of the Restoration.  How grateful I am for the Restoration of the Gospel.  They asked what the Restoration had given us.  They answer for me is everything: Knowledge, eternal families, truth, peace--the list goes on and on.

Sisters Puzey, Lawrence, and Louder, Elder and Sister Carlson, and me

On Saturday I decorated my last two birthday cakes for senior missionaries, something I've been doing now for a year.  As soon as everything is washed and dried, it will be packed and shipped home.

Also heard from Marianne that I have a notification for jury duty during the month of April! That might be a tad tricky!

I rarely have difficulty knowing where I am at home.  Here, I rarely know where I am!  I drive as little as possible because the traffic is so horrible and the roads are equally bad. When we go places within the city, we usually are underground, so we don't know what is above ground.  When I drive, I have to rely on landmarks to help me know where I am because, as I have said multiple times, our trusty GPS, Lucy, isn't so trusty all the time.  This is one of the landmarks that I have used constantly:  a large sign for Five Rose Flour.  On Sunday when we were driving home from church, we were stopped at a stop sign right in front of this sign.  I'd been trying to get a photo for a long time--that's a bit tricky when I'm driving!  The light changed just as I pushed the photo button, so I didn't get a chance to get a better picture--maybe next week!

Sunday, February 24--two months from the day we will be released!  How can that be? We made it to and from LaSalle with no incident in spite of the detour that we were forced to take as St. Patrick's was closed! Later in the day, we had a houseful over for dinner.  Sister Puzey, Sister Carlson, and I teamed up again--this time Sister Puzey made the main dish, French dip sandwiches on her wonderful homemade rolls; Sister Carlson made the dessert, luscious brownies; and I did the side, a layered green salad:

 And here we are Sister Puzey, the Carlsons, Sisters Broadbent and Drake, and the McGees:

We finished the evening by having our birthday celebration and then talking with Chris' family, Allyson, Jeremey, Trevin, and Annette. 

One of the advantages of being senior missionaries is that we have unlimited access to our family.  On Friday I received a Marco Polo message from Sarah.  She said, "Mimi, I just counted to 1140 by 10s!"  Not bad for a five year old!  Then yesterday Pat was talking to Marianne. She said that earlier in the week Michael came into their bedroom early in the morning and wanted her to get up.  When she told him that it was too early, he looked at the clock and said, "It's 6 polka-dot polka-dot 3, 4, time to get up!" Oh, how we love these two precious little grandchildren of ours!

Now it's time to post this and get ready for the week ahead.