Merry Christmas!

It's been a bit of a whirlwind chez moi these past few days.

Alex got home from Queen's Monday night and we see him occasionally, when he's not in his man-cave in the basement communing with his electronics, or out with friends, or shopping.   Michael's already on his holiday schedule, which means sleeping until noon, and then going to bed in the early hours of the morning.

On Tuesday, Z and I went to see the Canadian Brass with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.  It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the repertoire, but the guest conductor was a tad annoying and the orchestra and Brass seemed out of sync quite often, as if they hadn't spent enough (any?) time together rehearsing before the concert.  We attended the first of three concerts, so maybe it got better. We had a lovely dinner at Joe Badali's beforehand, a first visit for both of us, and were quite impressed.

Wednesday afternoon, Z took his mom to see The Sound of Music at the Princess of Wales Theatre and she really enjoyed it.  It was one of two movies that she saw in the 16 years that they lived in Beirut (the other being about Ste. Therese) and so she knew the story.  Seeing it live on stage was a real treat for her.  Because she speaks "only" French and Arabic, it's a bit difficult to find entertainment options here in Toronto, so this was a good pick.

On Thursday, we did some dinner prep for Christmas Day and then headed to my brother's for a Christmas Eve get-together with his family and my mom, who arrived from Ottawa this past week.  Neither Alex nor Z had been to their house before, and Alex hadn't seen the boys for a few months, so it was lots of fun. Except that I was starting to feel symptoms of a minor illness that occurs every few months and was a little leery with the impending holidays. We got home around 9 pm and I called Telehealth Ontario (phone-based heath information and triage) to see what my options would be for getting some labwork and a prescription in the morning.  Then I headed off to prep for Midnight Mass with the choir at 10:45.

Christmas Morning dawned and I knew that I had to see someone about my health issue.  I called the walk-in clinics that I'd been suggested but neither were open, so I decided to just head to Urgent Care at my local hospital.  (Urgent Care is a step down from an Emergency Room as they don't tend to admit patients to hospital.)  I spent an hour or so with the family opening gifts and having some breakfast, and then drove over to the hospital.  There were very few people there, and I was able to see someone within an hour.

I was very quickly assessed and got a prescription, but they told met that my blood pressure was sky-high, "stroke-worthy" was the phrase the charming young nurse used.  I have never had high blood pressure before...it's sometimes been moderately elevated but never enough for medication or anything.  So I sat around while they measured my blood pressure numerous times, was encouraged to relax, close my eyes, breathe deeply, etc etc.  It never came down.  So I was given a prescription for a basic low-dose diuretic and told that if I had any symptoms of a stroke etc to head straight to an ER.  And to relax for the rest of the day. And to take my blood pressure regularly, to call my doc ASAP if it didn't come down with the meds, and to call my doc in the next week or two regardless.

I headed home and my dear husband and mother-in-law took care of the entire Christmas dinner, and had the boys do some cleaning and tidying before my brother and his family arrived.

Christmas dinner was a bit of a blur as I was still stunned about the blood pressure thing.  It was a lovely meal, but I had difficulty concentrating on much, to be honest.  The next day, we had some relatives over for coffee, but I spent much of the day lying on the sofa reading the papers and trying to finish a book that's due back in a couple of days.  I took my blood pressure and it had come down quite a bit, but still not within normal range.  I'm hoping that in the next day or two it will be fine, and that I'll have lost 5 pounds of water weight, the only bright side to this whole thing that I can see at the moment :).

Today, I sing at mass and then we're heading to some friends for lunch.   Tomorrow, I am taking my mom to see Fiddler on the Roof  (her Christmas present).  On Tuesday, there's a luncheon for my Aunt Lillian's birthday and I'm hoping to have my brother and his family over again after that.

Prayers are coveted.  I got a Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board for Christmas, something that was on my list, and that should help me get more exercise to try to deal with this blood pressure thing.  I should probably get back to Curves as well.  I have big plans associated with the Happiness Project I blogged about earlier this month, as the first month will focus on energy and well-being.  A little health scare can sometimes be just the push one needs to focus on the important.