Coming soon...

It's a couple hours early here...but it's midnight somewhere, right?

Happy New Year to all who stop by, whether by choice or circumstance. I hope 2012 brings happiness, contentment, and joy to all!

The countdown begins in earnest

To 2012 - 25 hours 35 minutes

That's exciting on it's own merits...but what's even better is:
To my vacation 12 days 7 hours 15 minutes (until my flight leaves Regina to Miami)
I bought my traveller's cheques today at CAA and picked up a travel book as well. It's just about time to start thinking about packing!

Can you tell I'm getting excited???

Tired Thursday

Too tired to think, so not much of a post...just a cute picture of Sasha under the tree

Less than a minute later, Saku came along and chased him away, brat!

Someone's going to get what for!

Check out this link at Youtube.com

Apparently someone in the City of Montreal decided it would be a good idea to have the operators of the sidewalk snow clearing crew practice in advance of a possible storm. The news article I read suggested they were salting the sidewalks at the same time but the clip doesn't seem to indicate this.

I'm just shaking my head, we fight to get our residential streets cleared, even twice a year, and in Montreal they practice? Apparently, based on comments on CBC news this isn't an unusual situation in many cities across Canada. All, I can say is at least they aren't using the street plows and trucks to clear the imaginary snow!

It couldn't last

It's just after lunchtime and this is the view from my front window

I'd hope we'd not get snow until I left on my holiday, wishful thinking and not very kind of me! Thankfully the forecast is for less than 1 centimeter today with a couple more expected later in the week. I can live with that!

Saku has also decided that Christmas is officially over

Without gifts under the tree he was able to pull the skirt out from under it, it's now in the middle of the living room and makes a great spot to curl up.

The house is no longer tidy...I'm feeling lazy and it shows. I ran the dishwasher this morning and there are still dishes in the sink. I got one load of laundry done yesterday, then pfftt! But the cats are still cute; here's Sasha and Sami sharing a spot on the couch.

Tomorrow I'm back to work, back to my routine, and back to counting down the days to my holiday! Just 16 more sleeps!!!

Boxing Day madness (or not)

Boxing Day sales in Canada are supposedly similar to Black Friday in the States. The last few years, my daughter and I have taken advantage of being in the city to do some post Christmas shopping. We've done well in previous years; just two years ago I got a 42" Sony Bravia HD television for $800 (prices have dropped since then but it was a great deal at the time!) Normally, however our puchases range from household items (toilet paper), entertainment (DVD's), clothing, and Christmas ornaments, bags, and wrapping paper. We expected more of the same this year.

We got away from the house just before 7 a.m. and headed to our local Walmart. It wasn't opened yet! And there was a line up of 50 people or so waiting outside. We decided to head to the larger super Walmart store in another part of town. We were very disappointed in the so-called sales. Last year was great, cat food, cat litter, Christmas items, electronics were all on sale. This year there were only a few Christmas items,some electronic items (and not the SD cards I needed for my camera) and grocery items.

We went for breakfast then, filled the car with gasoline, and then headed to a nearby mall. We were a little early as the stores didn't open for about 15 minutes but that gave us time to wander though the mall window shopping. Again, the sales weren't as good as last year. My daughter found some delicates at La Senza and we both bought some clothes at Ricki's. I did really well, as everything I bought was 70% off - I got two pairs of dress slacks, a pair of capris, a t-shirt and a sleeveless satin top for $75!

Our last stop was Chapters. I'm stocking up on books for my holiday, with the criteria of cheap and lightweight. Cheap, so that if I leave it behind that's okay, and lightweight so it doesn't take up too much room in my luggage. I have thought about getting a Kindle or a Kobo but my worry is that I might leave it behind accidentally and then there is the need to keep it charged. Plus, I'm still a page turner...I like the feel of a book in my hand. Besides 'm always several years behind the next newest thing - why change now?

Anyway, we were home by 11, well before the malls and stores get incredibly busy. I'm settled into my easy chair watching Law and Order re-runs, while doing laundry, drinking coffee, and enjoying the rest of the day. Life is good!

Twas the night before Christmas

Not very original but it's the best I can do! The day has been great - it started out with sleeping in. None (that's right), none of the cats woke me up to feed them breakfast so that when I woke at 8:30 a.m. they were still curled up on the bed sleeping. After feeding them, I started a pot of coffee and headed back to bed to read my book. It was wonderful!

After a lazy morning, I made mini-quiche for tomorrow's breakfast and cooked up macaroni for tonight. Our tradition for Christmas Eve dinner over the past few years is homemade mac & cheese and cocktail weiners. It's not very fancy but it's something my adult children ask for year after year. My daughter and I just ate, my son is working until later (he's works retail) so I'll warm up a plate for him when he gets home.

I hadn't planned to do any shopping today, but when my daughter asked me to help her wrap her brother's gifts today, it dawned on me he probably hadn't gotten her anything. So it was back to the stores, which, as it turns out weren't nearly as busy as I thought they might be. I managed to keep the gifts hidden until I could get them wrapped and put them in my son's bedroom for tomorrow morning. He owes me big!

Now I sit here with a glass of wine on the end table beside me, a Christmas movie on the television, and cat curled up on my lap. My life is truly blessed!

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and all the best of come here by choice or circumstance. I hope that Christmas 2011 is the best ever for all.

Best laid plans

What is that saying? Life is what happens when you're making plans...or something to that effect. You could say that is what has happened over the last week.

As I've mentioned several times in the past few months, my friend K and I are planning a winter holiday. In fact, we're scheduled to leave for Florida in less than 3 weeks. Well, that is to say, we were scheduled to leave.

I need to back up a little so bear with me. Last January, K and her partner J were on a bicycling trip in Cuba. Two days before their trip ended, K hit a pothole on her way down a hill and was thrown from her bicycle. She spent the remainder of the trip in a great deal of pain, her arm in a sling and suffering from major road rash.

Upon returning home, K was admitted to hospital for surgery to insert a piece (sorry, I don't the medical term and she calls it her radial arm) in her shattered elbow. Less than a week after surgery, she and I were on our way to Ft. Lauderdale for our 14 day Southern Caribbean cruise.

As K said, she could recuperate as well on board ship as she could at home. I will tell you, the Princess personnel truly did provide superb service, and met every need. Our waiter Alan even cut up her meat for her every evening!

For the past eleven months she's been going to physio in order to gain mobility in her arm. She was able to start golfing again in September, and went skiing earlier this month. Things seemed to be going very well until last week.

She had a dental appointment on Monday, nothing unusual, but when she woke up on Tuesday morning her arm was swollen to twice it's normal size. She wasn't able to get in to see her doctor so waited until her physio appointment on Thursday. The therapist took one look at her and told her to get to the emergency room.

It was quickly determined that she had an infection, as a result of reaction to the plastic piece in her arm, and required immediate surgery to remove it. They kept her in the hospital over the weekend and early this week she saw the doctor for infectious diseases. He informed her she had gotten a blood infection and needed to have a PICC line placed so she can get daily antibiotics intravenously.

She asked him how long she would need to get the antibiotics as she was leaving for Saint Lucia on January 12th. His response, "No you're not". She called me later that day to let me know of the change in plans. Frankly, my immediate reaction was stunned silence. So many thoughts went through my mind, shock, dismay, disappointment, and then a realization that although she can't travel, I still can.

When I found my voice, and expressed, K told me that was exactly her thoughts...I was not to cancel my holiday. I've a few days to get used to the idea of travelling solo and done some research on the 'net about Saint Lucia and the resort I'll be visiting. There are certainly some feelings of nervousness but they are overwhelmed by excitement. This is going to be an interesting trip, a time for reflection, relaxation, and an opportunity to meet and make new friends!

Christmas, thy name is exhaustion

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas! I love the decorations, the tree, the music, the smell of roasting turkey, cookies baking, the joy and excitement in the eyes of small children, and the time I get to spend with family and friends. I can't even say that the season is too short because it seems to start shortly after Rememberance Day (in my home) and the week before Halloween (in the stores).

But somehow, for some reason, all of the events that are a part of Christmas seem to get crammed into the week or two prior. All the school Christmas concerts, Christmas parties at work, or family get togethers (all of which I enjoy) are packed into a short time frame. Perhaps if I were younger it would show less, but I'm not and it does, so I'm grateful that this year Christmas falls on a weekend. I plan on sleeping in on Christmas Eve as late as the cats will allow! My workplace will be closed until December 28 so I'll have 4 straight days off...total bliss!

Tomorrow I have a late lunch planned with my peers, then it's home to prepare dinner for my brother and his family. They'll be here after deNiece's dance class around 7:30 p.m. I'm taking the easy route having bought a family sized lasagna from M&M Meat shops...they make entertaining a lot easier! With garlic bread and a salad and homemade cookies for dessert we're set.

Tonight I had Saku's help setting up the table

My daughter ran the vacuum and we did some picking up to make things look less lived in. As my mother used to say, "Don't mind the mess, it usually looks worse!"

Finally, I have a success to report. I wrote earlier that I needed a slipcover for the couch because Saku had trashed the back of it. After messing up my first order - I got a loveseat slipcover, not the couch - I got the right size. Doesn't it look nice?

Between the new slipcover and the wave cat scratcher he's been leaving the couch alone, hurray!

In case I don't get back here before Christmas, I want to wish those who visit here a very Merry Christmas! I hope Santa brings every joy and happiness to each and everyone!

I'm dreaming of a...

Brown Christmas...unlike the ones I used to know. In the part of the world I live in, we would normally have significant snowfall by Christmas. This year we got our first real snow in early November but since then, we've merely had a few flakes here and then.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining! We've had one other brown Christmas within the past 10-15 years. That year it was so warm the golfers were out on the links between Christmas and New Years. Totally unheard of here!

The forecast for the upcoming week is for more of the same. No major snow storms and temperatures slightly above normal. For Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we should see highs of around -5C (23F) and lows around -10C (14F). Though there will be no golfing, it will seem positively balmy!

Countdown

To Christmas 10 days

To my winter holiday 28 days

To my retirement 7 years, 112 days

The first two events are coming up so quickly, and the way time flies by as I get older, so is the last event!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

I found one, an ess..like the one at Katnip Lounge...maybe this will keep Saku from scratching the couch! Thanks Trish for the suggestion.

Perfect Christmas gift for the recently divorced woman in your life

No lie...this is available on Amazon.com. Not only that, but it comes in 7 different colors! There truly are people in the world with a sense of humor more sick than my own!

I cannot tell you how happy knowing this makes me feel!

Thanks to Dr Grumpy for sharing this find.

Guess who's on the naughty list?

Nope, not me, at least not this time. This comes from a story on CBC news:

Writing an obituary for one's mother would be, for most people, a heart-breaking task - but for one U.S. man, it seemed a quick ticket to time off work.

Police say Scott Bennett, 45, submitted a phony death notice about his mother to the Jeffersonian Democrat newspaper in Brookville, Penn., in an attempt to secure paid bereavement leave.

His gig was up when his mother, quite alive, paid a visit to the paper to correct the mistake.

Sometimes I just don't understand people (especially this kind of people). What on earth could have been so important that he would fake his mother's death in order to get some time off work? What did his mom say to him when she found out what he'd done?

Now he's facing charges for disorderly conduct, his reputation at work has take a huge shot, and if I were his mom, well...let's just say he'd have to come up with a kick-ass Christmas gift!

At the very least, I suspect this guy will find his stocking is full of coal this year!!!

My boring life

I know I shouldn't say that...because every time I do all heck breaks out. But I had a truly relaxing day, didn't get the vacuuming done but the house looks good, and I'll finish the last few tasks in the next couple of evenings.

What did I do today instead? Well, I did get my Christmas presents wrapped and under the tree. Had a little help from Saku as you can see,

While that task was underway I watched a couple of Christmas movies. The one I would recommend is Santa Baby. I'm sure it's been around for years but I'd never seen it. (Oh, and by the way, there weren't that many gifts to wrap, I just took my time!)

I think Saku has the right idea...it's time to just hang out and enjoy the Christmas tree. Oh, and watch more Christmas movies too!

Hi ho, hi ho

Another busy day, it's only just past 7 p.m. and I'm ready for bed. That won't be happening as there are four dozen cookies yet to be baked. Plus I plan to get some presents wrapped this evening. I'm willing to exhaust myself now in order to have a few days of peace before Christmas arrives.

I started off the day with an apppointment with my esthetician to get my nails done. L has been taking care of my nails for over two years now, and today, she was able to convince me to do something special. Each of my nails has a tiny little star in the corner and the polish has sparkly bits through it. It's very subtle, which I appreciate, and I love the look since it adds a bit of Christmas sparkle.

After the appointment, I did a little shopping, first to Sears to return to a sofa slipcover I'd ordered on line. At least I thought it was a sofa slipcover but it turned out to be a loveseat cover. So I took it back and ordered again, this time making sure I had the right SKU number. I need to slipcover the couch because Saku has taken a fancy to the back and it looks like this:

It was either a slipcover or new furniture and until I break him of the habit of scratching it. I tried that anti-scratch spray and all it did was encourage him even more. Any ideas from the cat folk out there?

Once I got home, I got busy in the kitchen. I made a meat loaf, put a roast in the slow cooker, baked 4 1/2 dozen shortbread cookies, cut up a toffee bar square, made sugar cookie dough, and mixed up a batch of buns. At about 3 p.m. I sat down for a cup of coffee and realized I had a tanning session booked for 4! Somehow with everything going on, I picked the perfect time to take a break, as the buns were ready to go into the oven when I go home.

There's something good about a busy day. I'm tired, yes, and glad the day is getting closer to an end so I can crawl into my bed and relax. But I feel a sense of accomplishment and that's a good thing!

The buzzer just went off for the second last tray of cookies so I'm almost done. Now if those presents would just wrap themselves!!!

Time flies.....

Whether you're having fun or not! I had a miserable day yesterday, therefore no post as I wasn't wanting to pass my crankiness on. I won't get into what was going on as it won't mean much to anyone who doesn't work with me. Plus a day later it doesn't seem to matter quite so much.

I had a much better day today. Even though I wasn't going to work I was out of bed by 6:30 a.m. In fact, I had woken at five and wasn't able to get back to sleep. I put a pot of coffee on and then relaxed and watched the news and weather.

By 8 a.m. I had the dough ready for a large batch of cookies (almond crescents). Several of us are having a cookies exchange next week so I needed to make 10 dozen cookies. I rarely make a batch that large because I like to try different recipes. However by the end of next Wednesday, I'll have 9 other types of cookies or squares to share with family and friends. It's a great idea even if it's a lot of work!

It took until lunchtime to finish shaping, baking, and cooling time to get the cookies done. After lunch, I put together another recipe of Dundee cake. This recipe turned out amazing. These cakes are basically a lighter version of a fruit cake and although I've never made a fruit cake, I assume this is easier. I made the mini cakes in the muffin tin as the recipe suggests though my bake time was about 5-10 minutes longer. I had to do a taste test (is there any wonder I look as I do?) so I had a mini-cake for dessert this evening. It was great! I know my friend K will enjoy them; now I just need to finish a batch of shortbread for her partner J.

Tomorrow should be the final baking day. After that I have gifts to wrap, a little more decorating to do, and the house to clean. I also have an appointment to get my nails done and a tanning session. Wanna bet I don't get everything done?

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday baby

Today marks my daughter D's 30th birthday! How quickly time has passed; it certainly doesn't feel like 30 years since I held her for the first time. I'm sure my memories are no longer as clear, but I can recall feeling pride and fear at the same time in those first few moments.

I was only 22 years old, a single mom (by choice and circumstances) and about to embark on the biggest adventure of my life thus far. Come to think of it, after her birth, the changes I experienced were mostly a piece of cake.

She changed my life for the better. This morning we were talking about the milestone she has reached and she mentioned that she hasn't achieved some of her goals nor is she where she thought she might be at this age. I told her, in my experience, life is what happens to you while you're making plans. My advice is not to live with regrets but appreciate what brought you to where you are now. Although my life is far different from my expectations when I was young, I wouldn't have it any other way.

My only question is, why is it, that although it's her birthday, I feel older?

MIA

I think this is the longest I've gone between posts except when I've been away. I haven't been anywhere but I've been busy!

Christmas truly arrived at our house this weekend.

I haven't found the tree skirt yet, but I know it's in one of the tubs in the basement. I'll have to find it soon so the cats have a place to sleep under the tree!

Sami is enjoying her favorite spot on the couch and paying no attention to the Christmas decorations around her.

Saku enjoys the special Christmas pillow!

Sasha enjoyed a nap on Mom's bed but wasn't getting too close to the Christmas Teddy...he's new.

I learned something this weekend...clean the house AFTER you put up the Christmas decorations and do more Christmas baking, not before!