Well, we had our first experience with the doctor. Very interesting. I've had a sore throat, and decided it was probably strep so I should go to the doctor. There is a "walk-in" clinic that recently openned nearby, and the neighbors said they were good. Well, they took my name and I didn't have to fill out any paperwork, they weren't concerned that I didn't have the Alberta Healthcare, and they called me back to the office before Mason and I could get our jackets off. They didn't even ask me what was wrong. There was no blood pressure check, no weigh in, no temperature check, nothing. The doctor was the first person to ask me what was wrong. He said he thought it was a virus, but did a strep test anyway. Then he said the test results would be in by Friday. Guess they don't have the rapid strep test. He said they would call in a prescription if it were positive..... To my pharmacy, which meant I had to go look up the pharmacy when I got home, just in case. Then he handed me the bill. I thought I was prepared. I saw the bill and said, this is for the whole doctor visit. He said yes, that's what Alberta Healthcare pays us. It was $32.36 (Canadian of course.) No wonder they don't have any doctors here. I assume that also included the strep test. They say all of their doctors are moving to the states. I can see why. Although, I guess I'd gladly pay the other $60 to have gotten my strep results in 10 minutes. I mean, surely I'll be dead by Friday. I did find something at the store called Strepsil. Antibacterial throat lozenges. Maybe they will work.
And these are just pics of Mason's bath tonight. His favorite thing to do is take a bath. And every time he sees a camera he says "Cheese!" and wrinkles up his nose ans squints his eyes. Even if he doesn't even know the person holding the camera. He's also learning how to talk up a storm. Too bad no one speaks his language. We're learning though. Beee means Ball. Cookie means I want to eat, not necessarily a cookie though. Cuck-ooo means cup or milk or water, or something indicated beverage. Bu means book, and we have to read it over and over again. Ka means sock. Car sometimes mean shoe, but sometimes car (his shoes have a train on them). Key means key, but sometimes it means car. And then he has the real English words: puppy, bye-bye, mommy, daddy, baby, outside, nite nite (not to be confused with no nite nite, which means I want my blanket, but I don't want to go to bed) and he sometimes gives kisses when asked. But sometimes he shakes his head no so vigorously you would think we just asked him if he wanted to eat dog poo.
These pictures are to show the freezing condensation on the inside of the windows. About half-way up the foggy part is ice! Mason picks it off saying "no, no" the whole time. (That's his word for snow.)
This is the snow on the sky lights. Its starting to slide down so you can see a whole at the top where you can see through. Of course Frank didn't get to see them all covered again. He's been in Houston enjoying the weather, the food, and my family!
And do you see that strip of almost concrete at the bottom? That's where I shoveled at 8 this morning, and its almost covered. And the side to the left is where Frank had shoveled just a few hours earlier. And supposedly we are having "light snow flurries" today. Can't wait to see when it snows.
This is the snow falling the other night. You can't really see it, but it was coming down pretty fast.
Mason wasn't too thrilled at first, but after he got his coke cup with ice in it he sat very quietly for a long time. And he loved the bull riding. He would cheer along with everyone else. And if you notice in that picture that is both the ceiling and the wall behind Frank. We were 5 rows from the top. Rexall Place holds about 16,000 people, so we weren't all that far from the bottom either. Its where the Oilers play Hockey. And this pictures shows the size of the field. The barrell racing even took up the whole arena!
Afterwards we went to "Farm fair" (the livestock show) and Dodge City (the shopping place.) It was pretty crowded so we didn't really get to look at much. It was a fun day. Of course when we got home I realized that I wasn't feeling as well as I thought and have had to spend today recuperating again.
And these are just pics of Mason's bath tonight. His favorite thing to do is take a bath. And every time he sees a camera he says "Cheese!" and wrinkles up his nose ans squints his eyes. Even if he doesn't even know the person holding the camera. He's also learning how to talk up a storm. Too bad no one speaks his language. We're learning though. Beee means Ball. Cookie means I want to eat, not necessarily a cookie though. Cuck-ooo means cup or milk or water, or something indicated beverage. Bu means book, and we have to read it over and over again. Ka means sock. Car sometimes mean shoe, but sometimes car (his shoes have a train on them). Key means key, but sometimes it means car. And then he has the real English words: puppy, bye-bye, mommy, daddy, baby, outside, nite nite (not to be confused with no nite nite, which means I want my blanket, but I don't want to go to bed) and he sometimes gives kisses when asked. But sometimes he shakes his head no so vigorously you would think we just asked him if he wanted to eat dog poo.
Well, it snowed again last night. And this time we got a little more. The kids have been out playing in it all day. They put on their snow suits over the pajamas and took off. It has been barely below freezing, so I'm not sure if the snow suit was completely neccessary, but at least the neighbor kids wore theirs too.
Well, the kids got all dressed up and went out trick-or-treating last night. Mason road around in the wagon and ate chips and candy. 
