Merry Christmas - a day later

I looked about the internet to find a Christmas card to post to the blog.  After a bit of time I realized I had the "purr"fect photo right on my camera.

From my home to yours, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  I hope your day was full of love, laughter and the joy that creates lasting memories.

I'm a day late as I've been playing with the settings on my blog and messed things up a bit.  But I wanted to ensure that my greetings went out...even if not entirely timely.

Have a great week everyone!

Weekend wrap-up

Hooray, I made it through another work week!  Seriously, I'm finding it more and more difficult to go to work in the morning.  IF I could just win the lottery....  Well, since that doesn't seem to be happening, I've taken to arranging meetings/appointments every day, so I tell myself I have a reason to go to work each morning. Otherwise I think I might use up some of that sick leave* I've accumulated over the past 19 years.  Sigh, if I weren't so damned responsible.  On a happier note I took another marble out of the jar last week.  I've finally reached the jail sentence....two years less a day!

Things are going much better at home. Last weekend was Grey Cup weekend - the final game of the Canadian football league championship.  Our Roughriders had a pitiful season this year; they didn't even make it to the playoffs.  The two teams that played for the Cup were the Ottawa Red Blacks (guess what color their uniforms are...) and the Calgary Stampeders (whose uniforms are also the same colors).  It really didn't matter to me who won, though I cheered a little louder for Ottawa because they were predicted not to win. In fact, many sportscasters and fans suggested Calgary would run over them.  Ha!  Shows what they know...instead Ottawa came out strong and by mid-game the Stampeders QB appeared shell-shocked.  Calgary came back but in the end, Ottawa won the game in overtime.

While the game was on, I brought up the Christmas decorations and started on the tree.  I say start because it takes me a few days to be satisfied with the ornament placement.  It all depends on where I sit in the living room.  I think, a week later, I'm pretty happy with it.  Though Saku just knocked one off the lower branches so that has to be moved....this was one of the approximately 90% of the ornaments that are shatterproof.

Since I wanted the tree in front of the window, I moved the cat tree to the side.  Saku still uses it though he can't see out the window.

There are some new ornaments on the tree this year, including the little stuffed animals that I found at Costco in October (!).  There are also a few large green balls and snowflakes that were on sale at Canadian Tire for $1.43 an $0.73 each....I couldn't resits.

The china cabinet has been dressed as well.  It is as close as I come to having a mantel.  I haven't hung stockings for years and when I did, they were tacked up on the wall.


The living room gets most of the attention, though I do have a vase of artificial flowers on the windowsill by the sink along with a ceramic snowman.  The table will eventually be decorated, however since Saku tends to like to hang out there I don't put out anything that he might be able to knock on the floor.  The light about the table is fair game.

The past few years I've hung the crystal icicles (plastic) from the light fixture.  After Christmas I found these plastic snowflakes and added them this year. I love how they catch the light and I leave them up all winter.

These week I also finished a sweater I started shortly before I left on my cruise.  Obviously it is for my grandson, and I expect it won't fit him until he's 6-9 months old.

It is knit from the neck down in one piece to the underarm, then the sleeve stitches are set on holders while the rest of the body is knitted.  With a pick of a few stitches the sleeves are finished.  I really prefer to knit this way as it means I don't have to sew any seams!

I found the pattern on the internet though, and the instructions were a little lacking  There were no lengths provided so I made an educated guess (using other patterns).  The boy's version is rather plain so I decided to add a couple of appliques.  Pinterest is great!  I  found these little cars to crochet.  The pattern had little black crocheted wheels but I din't have any black wool so I added buttons instead.  When I appliqued the cars to the sweater I left the windows open so they are little pockets too!

There is one big mistake that is visible - I miscounted on the rows for the buttonholes.  So I have one more button than I ought to have and the top two buttons are further apart than the rest.  Regardless, as I said when I posted the photo on Facebook, it may not be factory quality but it was certainly made with love.

This weekend has been busy with the usual household chores, some grocery shopping, and...clearing the driveway of snow.  We had some flurries on Saturday morning and while it wasn't much, it needed to be cleared or it simply packs on the driveway.  Besides we're going to get cold weather next week; the forecast is for minus 16-18C (0-3F) daytime highs and colder still at night.  I plan on staying indoors where it is warm as much as possible. (Except when I have to force myself out the door to go to work.)

On that note, I'll close this post, wishing you all a good week ahead!

*I'm fortunate to work where we are able to accrue sick leave.  I have used some over the years, but have built up a bank of nearly 6 months.  It's nice to know it is there, just in case.  When I do retire, it will simply expire - it does not get paid out as some people think.

Weekend Wrap-up

It really was one of those weeks and I must say I'm grateful to see the end of it.

Monday was definitely the worst day.  I was busy catching up on e-mails and messages, and had talked to four of my staff by 9 a.m. when the phone call came.  On the other end of the line was another supervisor from our Saskatoon office.  She informed me, one of my staff had taken a fall on the stairs, was being treated by the paramedics, and she was looking for his emergency information so she could contact his family.

After giving her the information, I hung up the phone and went to inform my manager.  His response?  "Oh that's too bad, you better get started on the paper work." I walked out of his office shaking my head.  

Around 2 p.m. I called G's home and left a message just in case he was out of the hospital.  Shortly after that, one of his coworkers texted to say G had gone in for CT scan but it was looking like he'd be released later that day.

Later I heard from G, himself, and he let me know he had no broken bones, no concussion or brain bleed, however he had a laceration on the back of his head that had needed stitches and was, of course, very sore.  He let me know he'd be off work for a week but would be okay.

What a relief!  It could have been far worse, thankfully he was lucky that day.

*****

The rest of the week was busy, and my boss managed to annoy me several times.  I won't go into the details but suffice to say one of us needs to retire soon!  Since I know I've still got lots of marbles left it better be him.

I worked a half-day on Friday, then headed up to our Target store.  Talking to some of the staff there it sounds as though it will be one of the last stores in Canada to close, sometime in mid-May.  I've had my eye on a new ottoman

(Saku has pretty much torn up the old one), but unfortunately they are sold out.  They are however, getting in new stuff from other stores.  I found a new fleece jacket for just $11 and a couple of cushions for the couch for $16 a piece.  

One of my cousins calls me a bottom feeder for continuing to go back to the store to check out the deals.  Maybe so, but if they had kept the store as well stocked as it is currently, I suspect they wouldn't have gone out of business.  That, and if they hadn't expanded to so many stores in the first place.

******

The World Women's curling started Saturday, the first game was televised at 4 a.m. my time.  I had set the PVR to record it, but thanks to my menopausal bladder I was awake about 5 p.m and got to watch the final seven ends.  Today I'm watching the recorded version; I was fast asleep when the game started and woke up late.  Canada is playing Sweden in a re-match of the Olympics final.  It's early in the game yet, but Canada is up 3-2.
Once the game is over, and my last load of laundry is in the dryer, I'm heading out to take a walk. We've had temperatures above zero (32F) all week so the streets are almost clear.  I can feel safe now walking on the sidewalks.  It's a bit breezy but that will help dry up the remaining puddles.

This is my deck which faces south,  The first photo was taken on March 9, we'd had some melting before this but it was becoming noticeable.

I took this one this morning  - I suspect all the snow will be gone within a day or so.  It's wonderful to see, though I'd be foolish to think that winter is over just yet.

We had snow into mid-April last year; it's quite likely we'll get another skiff or two.  But in the meantime, I plan to enjoy the warmer than normal temperatures!

Have a great week everyone!

Walking in a winter ...

It sure ain't no wonderland!  I had to get some fresh air yesterday, doing errands in the morning didn't cut it as I was in and out of the car.  I got my nails done, got some groceries and had some of my photos from my trip printed.

So I dressed in my heaviest winter coat, pulled on boots, gloves and toque and headed into the cold (-16C).  I took my camera with me to capture the ...barren tundra...for lack of a better description.

I managed to walk about 1.5 kilometers and I probably could have gone further but it was quite icy under the snow.

There is a small creek that runs this area, in the summer the geese flock to it...pretty empty right now.




We actually have less snow now than when I left at the beginning of January.  My son C said with the melting it disappeared pretty quickly.

I have no illusions that more snow (and cold) isn't in our future.  Spring won't be here until late April at the earliest.

Saku was waiting for me as I came up the walkway.  Handsome boy!

These were my two favorite photos from the trip.  The first is hanging above my desk at home, the second will go to the office with me. 

I had this blown up to 8X10.  I think it looks a little washed out but my son loved it.










This one was blown up to 8 X 12.  I couldn't find a prepackaged frame with a mat and I wasn't paying for custom framing.  Michaels had a sale on, buy one frame for the regular price and get the second of equal or lesser value for free.  Of course I took advantage of that sale!

It will be a wonderful reminder of the possibilities for the future when things get stressful at work.


Have a wonderful day everyone!