The Other Shoe Has Dropped.

     A couple of posts ago I told of raising the Christmas tree at our house. It's my job to put up the old artificial tree. It's my wife's job to decorate the tree. I was telling you that sometimes we don't get to putting up a tree. 
     Well, this year the tree is up and it's also decorated!  How about that?

So my wife's decorating job does wonders to my little old artificial tree!

To all readers, have a joyous Christmas season.!

I will be posting during the holiday period as there is so much going on. 

Accidental Salesman

      Today I was an accidental salesman for a few hours!

       Our Nature Center has a bookstore as many nature centers do. They have tables in the various malls at Christmas. Of course these tables are manned by volunteers. I volunteer a couple of times each season for a few hours. It's interesting because people come to you with all kinds of natural history questions or comments. They will have a bird that comes to their yard that they can't identify. Somebody else wants to know about bats. Another person is totally absorbed by craters. I find these interactions very positive and many times I learn something new. 


      However, I'm supposed to be there selling books? Sales are slow but the main objective is to get the nature center book store name out there and hopefully people will visit the nature center. Any books I sell in the process will be completely accidental!

Great Times: Skater's Christmas Party

        I have posted before about how I ice skate on a regular basis from the first Tues. in Sept. to the last Tues. in April. I started this year with a post called "Whee Skating Started Again!"  I really feel that way.

Having fun before the party

        As with many groups involved with an activity there develops a tremendous support for one another. In an urban setting people can sometimes become completely isolated. 



        So today the skaters had their annual Christmas party. We invite all the previous skaters who have for one reason or another stopped skating. Since we are seniors people can find themselves at an age where they cannot continue skating. These people love to join the Christmas party and meet with old friends who they skated with before. They support one another and meet new skaters. All present skaters and past skaters make an effort to meet and continue the relationship which comes through skating.


       So today after skating we had a table laden with goodies and coffee supplied by club members . We meet after skating in a large reception room. Acquaintances are renewed and for many it's one of the major events they attend at Christmas. 

Just When You Think It'll Never Happen It Does

      I have had an artificial Christmas tree since the "early stone age!" When my kids were little I would involve them in putting the tree up. I would ask for pink branch and they would both dive in the box to find a pink coded branch. When they got older my daughter branched off to the decorating of the tree with her mother. When ti kids left home and didn't always come back for Christmas the putting up of the tree was somewhat sporadic.


    So I would ask my wife when she wanted me to put the tree up. I'm a big kid and to put the tree up Dec. 1 would be fine with me. My wife would sat, "I'll tell you when I want it up." So over the years I would wait until I received the request to put up the tree. Sometimes it would be so late it was only a few days before Christmas. One or two times it didn't get put up at all.


     So this year on Dec. 13 I was requested to put up the tree. It's close to Christmas and to me it's just about not worth the time to raise the tree. 

      So I was hiding in the weeds and thinking ,"Maybe this year it'll never happen," and then oops! It does happen and the tree has to be put up.


   

Hooked on Casinos

      Now I don't gamble! So this does not cover a personal story of a gambling problem.


      My concern is the other side of gambling where organizations depend on funds from casinos.


     When Alberta legalized gambling and casinos were set up, charitable organizations complained as it would kill the bingo cash cow. Therefore, the Alberta Govt. set up a system where groups needing funds could volunteer in the casino and receive funds for their efforts. It's a good deal for non profits as for two days of effort you receive $20 000 to $30 000. You only get a casino once every two years so it's popular and why not?


      I am on the board of an organization which has a casino. Why there's a bee in my bonnet is because we've recently been working on two casino reports which we must complete. The first report is an accounting of what we have done with casino money. We have to keep a separate casino account. The people who want the report decided the period should be from part of 2009, all of 2010 and part of 2011. So we had to go through files from 3 different years...not fun! It doesn't make you happy when the report is returned and they want different information.


     Now because we have an upcoming casino, we must file a detailed budget of what we are going to spend the money on and the approximate time it will be spent. Most organizations have one big item to spend their money on and it's done. We have many smaller and different  events. One thing we do is  present about 8 speakers a year. We really have to work to get the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission to accept speakers. 


    So the two days of working at the casino are a piece of cake. The book work is a pain in the butt. You are limited in what the money can be spent on. It would be easier if you could spend the money on any of your groups on going activities.


    Organizations have become dependent on casino funds. Your group is put in a schedule for a casino date.  Other fund raising activities have become less lucrative so we  work hard at participating in casinos.


     So guess what? I will continue working to raise income from casinos???


    

Can I Wear My New Sweater?

      The other day we decided that it was time to wash the sweater that I wear around the house. So when I handed it to my wife I asked her if I should wear my new sweater. She hesitated and had a funny look on her face and then I said, "Or are you going to wrap it up for Christmas?"  She freely admitted yes that's what her plan was.


       For the last few years this has been a routine around here. Something that was bought during the year ends up under the Christmas tree.

      Shopping with me  goes like this. My wife will come home with a sweater. She will ask me to try it on and see if it fits. She will then ask me if I like it. I can't say no or I would hurt her feelings. So then the sweater is kept. It works like this for most of my clothes. She puts the item away and I soon forget about it and that's why it's so easy for her to put it under the tree. So if I have not been part of the decision it leaves my mind. 

the old sweater

     So I don't like shopping! I've told you that before. My wife loves shopping. She particularly likes watching for sales. She also likes looking around thrift shops, garage sales, craft sales and open houses. A place like Coombs market near Parksville, BC keeps her happy for hours.


      So I dug around in the closet and found a sweat shirt of some kind to wear in the house. Sweater problem solved.

How Our Muscles Age

        I read many excellent posts on aging. Topics covered are health, elder care and the  loss of parents, siblings, children and friends. Volunteering to assist elderly people is another large issue that many people are involved in. People become acutely aware of their aging and begin to think of their own end. People look in the obituaries and start to see that many of the people who die are younger than they are. 


       But there's another  factor I would like to look at. That is the process that gradually happens to our muscles. As we age we become weaker and this brings about difficulties in mobility and participating in daily activities.


      Today I listened to a radio documentary on a 92 year old woman who trains and  competes in all track and field  events. She holds world records in her age category in all track and field events except one. If I considered doing long jump my body would be jarred so severely that I may not be able to move again. This 92 year old trains four or five days a week and travels all over North America to compete. She is compared to someone who would be twenty years younger than her.


      Scientists are interested in this woman to see if there is a gene that allows her to  be so strong at this age. They want to know why she is so very strong while others that age are very weak.


     At about age 75 we lose a large percentage of our strength. Muscles are composed of  particles which are like  "trees". These particles are beside each other head to head and mesh with each other. This is what the process of stretching involves. We stretch the little particles to bring about better use of the whole muscle.  As we age the "trees" move further apart. In our seventies the "trees" are actually beside each other and do not mesh. From this point on the "trees" move further apart and we steadily lose strength. Scientists know that his process happens but they don't know much else.


     So that is why scientists are interested in the ninety two year old who competes in track. They want to know if there is a certain type of gene she has that the rest of us don't have that allows her this extraordinary strength. 


     If they find something, it's already too late for me. Getting up from the floor now takes me great  effort!