One of my closest friends said to me the other day..."don't even try to tell me the countdown has anything to do with Christmas, it's all about your leave in January." Uh...I have to admit there is a lot of truth in that!
We had another work function in Saskatoon this week, so I drove with a couple of our employees on Wednesday and back again Friday. The program was good, and best of all most of my staff were able to attend so we spent a good couple of days together. A few of us were able to get together for dinner the first evening without the rest of the group. We went for Mexican food - if you're ever in Saskatoon, check out Las Palapas on Victoria. The food, drinks and service were all very good!
On Thursday, several of us joined the rest of the managers and employees at the German Club. We were a fairly large group and had reserved the dining room so we could wander between tables after we ate. Certainly different food from the night before but also very good. Later a few of us met in the hotel lounge for a couple of beer and to watch the end of the San Diego-Denver football game.
All in all, it was a good event for the employees to get to know one another and to hear the same message from management. My boss put a bit of a damper on it for me, when he announced that I would be planning next year's event. Little does he know, but I have no intention of planning an event for the employees. I'll coordinate it but the ideas of what they want to hear/discuss/learn will have to come from them!
After getting back to Regina on late Friday afternoon, I ran a couple of errands before going to dinner with friends. One of the couples who attend infrequently have a four-month old son. He provided the entertainment at dinner, cooing and chewing on his fingers. Though when he was ready to go home, he certainly made everyone aware!
Yesterday was furniture haul-away day. While the old stuff is only six or seven years old, Saku has done a real number on it. (I recently got the cats a real scratching post - which Saku will use).
It also didn't really fit with the color scheme of this house, which is gray. While gray is a neutral color, I never really liked the contrast.
A few weeks ago, I went out to see if I could find something new and reasonably priced. I picked a couch and chair in contrasting colors that I would fit well in the living room, and best of all, could make payments without interest for a few months.
The junk removal guys were here by 10:30 in the morning and took the old stuff away. The living room certainly looked bare!
The ottoman is still here - I'm going to try to recover it myself, because it is still in decent shape, and it will save me a little on costs.
Ta da! Here is the new furniture in place. My son told me I did it backwards by having the couch upholstered in blue and the chair in gray, but I like it.
The chair is much smaller than I remembered and although it fits Sasha and I, it isn't a good chair to work on the laptop from.
So I'm at the dining room table instead. That's probably not a bad thing, since I tend to spend a lot of time at the computer - maybe I'll get more housework done this way.
Speaking of housework, the list of chores are long and plenty. I also need to get outside to take care of the last remaining containers and the leaves that have gathered. Our forecast for later in the week (by Halloween) is that dreadful four letter word sNOw. It probably won't last but the thought of it makes me shiver.
Is it any wonder I'm counting down the days until January 3rd. That's 69 sleeps if you're wondering!
Have a great week everyone!
