Good to see you gone (November)

Is it just me or has the last eleven months zipped by?  Here we are on the cusp of December, just a short few weeks away from 2015.  Not to say I'm not looking to January this year but still...

Frankly, I'm glad to see the last of November especially the weather.  Like much of North America we've had January weather the last couple of weeks.  At 6 p.m., it's currently -23C (-9F) only a three degree warmer than our overnight temperature.  But there is a warm-up in the forecast though at least for tomorrow with the strong winds we'll still feel very cold.  From the Environment Canada forecast:
EC forecast: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud near noon. Wind southeast 30 km/h gusting to 50. High minus 13. Wind chill minus 39 in the morning and minus 27 in the afternoon. 
Is it any wonder why I want to get away from it all?

Speaking of the cold, my daughter showed up early this morning because the boiler had gone out overnight at her apartment.  She waited until 8 a.m. to call the caretaker and then came over to the house to get warm.  I probably would have come earlier myself and called from here but I guess she didn't want to get out of bed!  With a couple of cats to cuddle up to, she crawled into my bed and slept for nearly an hour.

I took advantage of her company and together we decorated the Christmas tree.  My son had brought it from the basement and set it up in the living room last night but he's never shown any interest in helping decorate.

It took me nearly two hours last night to get the lights on the tree. It would have been less but I was watching the European women's curling final (Switzerland won) and had to keep stopping to watch the last few rocks of each end.

With D's help the tree was decorated much more quickly. At least for now.  Does anyone else rearrange the ornaments?  I continually move things around depending on the view of the tree.  By the time it is up a week though I should have it "finished". In fact, I think I see a bare spot from here.

As you'll probably I'm not a coordinated decorator. I like lots of color and most of my ornaments have been gathered up throughout the years.

Here are a few of my favorites.

I have six of the birds, two mice and at least four cats on the tree along with the various baubles, icicles and snowflakes.  The cats were gifts, but I bought the birds and mice because they are also bells.  It's good to have a little forewarning when one of the cats (Saku) decides to visit the tree.  The whole thing would probably make a designer cringe but I love the memories.

Yesterday I started my Christmas baking.  I haven't baked a lot the last few years but a friend asked if I would make some for work.  I was just a little irritated...okay a lot irritated...when I discovered my daughter had taken my vanilla extract and my lemon juice sometime since she's moved out.    I had planned to get some groceries sometime this weekend, but the lack of those items had me scurrying out into the cold much sooner than I planned.

Thus far I've made two batches of cookies, mocha snaps and cinnamon sugar, and two bars, one with lemon, cranberry and coconut on a shortbread base, and a fudge bar also on a shortbread base .  The mocha snaps are the only recipe I'd made before but everything has turned out very well.  (I have to taste it to make sure, right?)  I have to say the cinnamon sugar cookies are probably my new favorite. Next up are the chocolate cookies with M&M candies, and another bar...probably something with cream cheese.

I'd be baking this evening as well but the Grey Cup game is on.  It's the last football game for our Canadian teams of the year, and while our Riders aren't in it, it's still fun to watch.  So the mess in the kitchen will need to wait until half-time because I'm not moving from this chair.

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

Friday Funny

If I can find a pair of these I'll be giving it a try!

Random Saturday

Where to start?  Well, since I'm from Saskatchewan and nearly every conversation around here starts with the weather I'll start there.  (Is that normal elsewhere or this just a Canadian thing?)

After a week or ten days - it seems forever - of below normal cold weather and snow, our  high yesterday was 7C (45F).  Not only was it a relief but it melted pretty much all the snow.  

Poor Mr. Bunny has nowhere to hide, but I bet he appreciates the warmer weather too.  From the look of him he's been eating well for the last few weeks - there is still a little green stuff around to nibble on to add to his store.

Unfortunately the warmer temps won't last long (at least long enough for me). We've got a chance of freezing rain this evening and forecast of 2 cms. of snow overnight.  

Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

*****

At work, my mantra DLTBW* seems to be working for me.  Reminding myself that I have no control over the decisions that are made only my reaction to them has reduced my stress level significantly. The change in my attitude is noticeable enough that others have even remarked on it.  

My immediate boss still annoys me frequently as he often demonstrates the Peter Principle, "managers rise to the level of their incompetence".  He would annoy me less if he put a little effort into doing his job.  But he's less than two years from retirement so chances are that isn't going to happen.  Shrug, not my forest, not my fire.

*****

Of course, part of the reason I'm a more relaxed likely has to do with the days ticking by bringing me closer to my trip to B.C.  

First though there is Christmas to plan and organize.   I have a tendency to purchase gifts throughout the year and tuck them away.  The other day I went through my closet and pulled everything out, made a list and found that I was more than half-way through my shopping.  Since then I've managed to pick up gifts for my staff, my son, and a friend and ordered books for my brother and his family on-line.  There are still some gift cards to purchase but I think my gift shopping is very nearly complete.

I've pulled a couple of bins from the basement storage to start the decorating process. My plan is to downsize a bit, anything that is worn out will be tossed, and items that I'm not as fond of any longer will be packed into a box for next spring's planned garage sale.  Or it will be donated to the Community Living charity for re-sale.

I'm not in any rush, the tree will wait until next weekend - it's something to do while the final football game of the season is underway.  Plus I need to clear out the cats' play area first.  They are just a little spoiled!

******

I'm still having some issues with my food intake.  I feel fine as long as I eat small, frequent meals but if I eat too much I pay for it.  Last night we were out for dinner and I took a chance and ate what would have been a normal meal for me; two chicken fingers with Caesar salad and a half slice of garlic toast. At four a.m. this morning I woke up in severe pain.  Lesson learned, I need to stick to less rich food and smaller portions.

******

This evening I'm off to the symphony with a friend. We'll be experiencing Prokofiev's Fifth - I'll be honest I have no idea who Prokofiev was, and I'm not generally a huge fan of classical music.  I had purchased a subscription for the Pops series and these tickets were complimentary.  We'll give it a try but I've told C if we aren't enjoying the music we'll leave at intermission and go for coffee and a visit.

******

It's been a pretty routine week for the most part.  The rest of the weekend will be spent getting housework done in between watching curling (hooray!) and football (Riders are out, boo!).  

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

*don't let the bastards win.

Friday Funny (or not)

Random Sunday

Warning - whining ahead!

I'm certain I've said this before - I don't do sick well.  This week was a real test and I can't say I passed.  It started Sunday, with an upset stomach and sparing you the gory details by Wednesday I'd dropped 6 pounds.

I did go into work for a few hours on both Monday and Wednesday but by mid-morning I was feeling ill again so it was home and into bed.  Oh my, I slept a lot those days and nights

Finally on Wednesday I broke down and went to the see the doctor.  After a cursory exam, he told me it wasn't surgical, that he thought I had picked up a virus somewhere and it should be gone in 5-7 days. Then he sent me to the lab for tests and said he would call if anything was abnormal.  I've not heard anything so I assume all is well.

While I'm not 100% I have more energy and worked a full day on both Thursday and Friday.  My issue is eating, I'm not really hungry and when I do eat, within a few hours I start feeling off, with stomach pain and some nausea.  I've learned very quickly to eat very small and frequent meals.  I'm being careful what I eat, definitely nothing too spicy or acidic.

******
Winter is officially here.  We had small skiff of snow last week.  Then the temperatures dropped.
This morning it is -9C (16F) with windchills feeling like -19C (-2F).

This photo was from last week. The next was taken this morning.

Since I took the photo a half hour or so ago, the snow has mostly stopped and it seems the sun is trying to shine.

From the look of the street we got about a half-inch of snow, so I guess I'll be clearing the driveway at some point today.

(Only 48 more sleeps until January 3....just saying)



******
After a week of not getting anything done around the house I've been trying to catch up.  I've been packing away the fall decorations and pulling out the Christmas bins. I don't plan to get everything done this weekend but I'll get a start on it.

But this afternoon....it's football time!  This is the first week of the CFL playoffs and I'll be hanging out with the cats (at least until I yell!) on the couch.  GO RIDERS!

******
Have a great week everyone. Stay warm and dry!

Long time, no post

It's been awhile.  Not only have I not posted but I really haven't been reading blog posts this week.  I plan to rectify that today....the housework can wait!

******
So, what have I been up to, you ask?  I spent this past week in Saskatoon for work.  We had a full day of meetings, starting Tuesday and ending Wednesday.  I travelled with my friend and mentor C who was meeting another supervisor to mark exams for a process.  They have nearly 250 exams to mark....glad I'm not either of them.

I had a chance to talk to everyone in my group about their work.  One of the members has recently asked to be moved from the group.  Unfortunately he has to finish the work he was given and at the rate he's working it's going to be months rather than weeks.  I had planned to have a performance conversation with him while I was there but the timing didn't work out.  It's not the best option but I'll have to do it by telephone next week.  Sometimes I wish I wasn't me either.

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On the personal front I went to the symphony last weekend.  I got convinced to purchase a subscription this year, for four of the pops series. I didn't think I'd like the classical music as much.  It turns out my friend K also has a subscription so I joined her and three of her friends for the evening.

We went to dinner at a local church fowl supper.  The food was fine but certainly not like the fowl suppers I recall as a child.  The turkey had been cooked and cut up in advance so was cold.  At the small town church we attended, the men carved the turkeys as people were served so at least it was warm.  The rest of the food was in slow cookers but nothing was really hot.

After dinner we headed to the symphony were except for two of the group, we all had seats in very different areas of the theatre.  The evening's performance was music from Motown.  There were three very talented singers who have experience on Broadway accompanied by the orchestra. I really enjoyed the evening.

******
Sunday I finally went out and cleared out the rest of the containers of the plants.  Almost everything was still blooming but were beginning to show signs of the colder temperatures.  This has to be the latest in the season I`ve every had nicotiana, mums, and snapdragons blooming.  But the weather has changed.  We're currently sitting just below freezing, with the forecast for much cooler temperatures later this week.  Tuesday's high is expected to be -10C (14F).

It would be great if the winter weather would hold off another few weeks, but I feel pretty fortunate that it has been a nice autumn and I'll get a break from winter in January. The long range forecast from the Farmer's Almanac would suggest the weather in Parksville will be in the normal range between -4C and +4C with below normal snowfall.  According to my cousin B, they rarely have snow that lasts more than a day.  Now I'm back to being happy I'm me again!

******
As Tuesday is Remembrance Day, I'll end with this image.

From the article, I quote, "Each of the 888,246 blooms in the artwork, "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red," represents a life lost in World War I -- one for each of the British and Colonial soldiers killed in the conflict which began 100 years ago."

It is an amazing tribute.  "Lest we forget".

Friday Funny