Having a place to stay!

Today there was a snow storm (aka blizzard). It made for some interesting driving! Fortunately right after work today, I just had to drive to my parents house to ring in the new year.

At about 9:00pm the snow had stopped and so I helped my sister and my cousins shovel off my parents driveway. My parents have the longest driveway EVER!!! (And I am not exaggerating.) But we finished and went back inside.

I have had a cold the last few days and did not want to lose too much sleep so I left my parents at about 12:15. When I got home, I could not get into my parking stall. The storm had blown snow into my parking stall and prevented me from parking. I could have spent an hour or so shovelling snow so that I could park in my parking stall but I decided against that option. Instead I thought....I could go back to my parents house and sleep there, but there are no free beds so that would require blowing up an air mattress, etc, etc, etc. OR I could go to my sisters house and sleep over there. I chose option B.

It is definitely nice to be able to count on family when you need a place to stay!!

(I will get to shovelling the driveway tomorrow afternoon)

Reading

I enjoy reading occasionally. I am not an avid reader...now. I tend to read everything in sight for 5 days, 10 weeks, 15 months or even 2 years, and then I do not read anything for the next 5 days, 10 weeks, 15 months or even 2 years....lol.

About a year and 1/2 ago I decided to join a book club. I thought it would be a good way to find what types of books I was interested in. I hoped it would give me a variety of books to read (it has). I am currently reading I Was A Teenage Katima-Victim by Will Ferguson. It is a good book. It is also the book I recommended for the group. I have spent the weekend reading the book and I am almost done (I will finish it tonight).

My wrist rest

Does that describe what I think it is supposed to describe? Is that what it is called?

I bought a wrist rest for my computer a few months ago and I really enjoy it. I like it because it is supposed to help with carpal tunnel and also because it has beans(or something like that) in it and it is a lot of fun to play with. Whenever get bored at my computer (or I need a few minutes to think....) I just play with my wrist rest. Isn't that awesome!!

Way to go wrist rest!!

(In case you could not tell, I am really tired and so I am going to bed now.)

Visiting with Family

Today I went over to my cousin's house to visit. It was very nice to get together especially during such a busy season. They were nice enough to have us over for supper as well. It was AWESOME!!

We just hung out and talked for a while and then we played some games.

Coincidentally my niece won a colouring contest and so we went to pick up her prize from that as well. It was AWESOME!!

Taste tasting....

There is a new restaurant opening in my city in the next few days (actually I have no idea when). My sister got an invitation to attend their training (ie. the servers, cooks, bar tenders, etc need to be trained on their jobs in a 'real life' situation). So what they do is they invite people to come to their restaurant to act as patrons and sample the food, service, etc. Today for lunch we were able to go to the restaurant and participate in this. It was very interesting!!

The food was really good and the service was excellent!! I am going to encourage people to go there! Very well done!

Playing Games

I rarely go shopping on Boxing Day. I dislike shopping at the best of times and when you add crowds, it is quite unpleasant. Not to mention the fact that many of the 'sales' last longer than just Boxing Day anyway.

Today I played games. What kind of games? Card games basically. One of the reasons I enjoy the Christmas season is because we spend more time as a family playing games. We do play games at other times of the year but Christmas is the time we play games the most.

It is a very relaxing way to spend Boxing Day.

Christmas traditions

When my grandpa died in 1997, I was apprehensive about creating new Christmas traditions (ie. not going out to the farm for Christmas). However, 11 years later, we do have other Christmas traditions. Our main tradition is Christmas brunch. My family (parents, siblings, cousins, etc) go over to my parents house for brunch. My mom makes cinnamon buns, fruit salad, croissants, crepes, sausage, bacon, etc for brunch. It is very tasty!!

We do not have another meal then until supper. (Although we do snack throughout the afternoon!)

It is a lot of fun!! What a great day!!

Memories of my grandma

It was 14 years ago today that my grandma died.

I grew up really close to my grandparents (and family). My parents owned a house not too far from my grandparents farm so we spent most summers out there as a kid.

In my family the tradition has always been (for as long as I remember anyway) to open our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve. I remember many Christmases spent out at the farm opening our gifts (then playing with them) on Christmas Eve. I cannot imagine doing anything different. We also put on a few plays for our grandparents, parents, etc when I was younger. Mainly the plays consisted of us acting out a Christmas song. One year we did a play to Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer.

Grandma died at about 10 after 4 on Christmas Eve 14 years ago. We opened our presents about 2 hours later. I am grateful that our parents allowed us to open our presents so soon after. It did not become a bad memory for me. I still love Christmas Eve and I feel closer to grandma every year on Christmas Eve.

I am looking forward to creating more memories tonight (especially with my niece)!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Ready for Christmas

Most years I procrastinate in getting ready for Christmas. I hate shopping in crowded stores. I hate crowds. I am also usually pretty busy so I tend to leave at least some of my Christmas shopping for the last few days before Christmas. This year though, I was ready a few weeks ago!!

It is so nice having the last few days before Christmas to just relax and enjoy the Christmas spirit. All of my presents are wrapped too!! How awesome is that?

Now all I have to do is bring my presents over tomorrow night. YAY!!

My mom

Today is my mom's birthday. She is very lucky to have her birthday so close to Christmas. She is usually able to see all of her children on her birthday. This year it is debatable though as 2 of my sisters are stuck in the Winnipeg airport. (Oh dear!!)

Today we had another birthday celebration with the family. In case you could not tell, my family is pretty close.

I cannot imagine my life without my mom. I find it very sad when I hear of people losing their parents while they are still young. I find that my mom still teaches me and there are still some things I need her for. She is the voice of experience. Where would I be without her?

Family...all squished together!

We had lunch today at my cousin's house. There were 30ish people over there. They do not have a lot of room so we were a wee bit squished but it created a more social atmosphere.

It was awesome though....talking altogether like that!

There were some eye witness accounts though of some very flat people leaving the house today but I believe we all made it home safely so yay!!

Dancing/partying the night away!!

Today my uncle got married (for the 2nd time)! It was also the first time I met his wife. It was a lovely marriage. They picked the date in October (I believe) and so they did not have too long to plan. It was a very relaxed wedding and if we forgot something 'oh well'. It was mainly just family. (She had 2 guests, and the other 30 people there were my family members.)

It was a great time though!! I got to see a lot of my relatives again (and their significant others), and meet some new people as well.

I think it is probably the only wedding in history where the guests started skipping around in circles to Mary Had A Little Lamb...what can I say? Good times, Good times. (You may have an idea of what kind of a family I have...YIKES!!)

The title of this blog entry may be a little bit misleading though as I left the wedding around 10:30 and the wedding was pretty much done by then. (But what can I say? That is dancing/partying for me now that I am so old...lol)

Boots (with grip)

I mentioned a few days ago that I fell down my stairs while attempting to sweep them. Today I fell down them again but did not seriously hurt myself. Then I went out and got some boots with grip, came back and shovelled/swept my steps again!! AND I did not fall!! It was awesome!!!

We have had really odd weather here lately; not only is it cold, it is also snowing ALOT!! Apparently the cold weather is supposed to last until the new year! I am starting to think Mexico right now would be a really good idea!! (At least I wouldn't slip on ice and fall down the stairs there....or would I?)

Knowledge and experiences

I think you need to have the experience before you can have the knowledge. You can be taught stuff but until you experience, sometimes you just don't understand.

I think I have experienced some things in my life but I know there is still much, much more for me to experience. I am excited to see where this experience and knowledge will take me. Maybe to Rome, or Paris? That would be awesome. I am looking forward to the upcoming years and just seeing what I will experience and see.

Not being in pain

There are some things you take for granted in life. Not being in pain is one of them.

It started out as a typical night. It is actually my aunt and uncle's birthday today so I went over to my parents house for pizza and cake (and good? conversation). It was not that cold out tonight (only about -18 or so) so I decided to sweep off my steps (it has been snowing all day basically). I lost my concentration for maybe a second and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground at the bottom of my steps. I knew right away I had hurt myself (but not too seriously I don't think).

My family is full of 'doctors' and apparently I am one of them. I stood up, determined that I can stand on both feet, finished sweeping off my steps and went inside. Fortunately my original plan had been to take a shower when I got inside and so I did. My leg is swollen. Specifically my knee. It is about the size of a baseball (I am exaggerating). My shin is bruised, and my ankle is swelling as well. I think I can feel all of my toes.

Here is where the doctoring comes in.....

I am going to put ice on it for a while tonight and see if that helps. I am in no rush to run to the doctor or the hospital and I really don't think I am that hurt so I will live....if I get worse or whatever, I will go to the doctor.

(Just think....one hour ago I was not in pain....)

Cold nights, warmer days

After the tempature has been so low the last couple of days, it was nice to go up to -19 Celcius today!! I did not have to worry about my car starting today!! Tomorrow it is supposed to be nice too (about -18 again). That will be nice. Today it is supposed to dip down to about -30 again so I plugged in my car but at least tomorrow will be nice.

It is so funny how you learn to appreciate the little things. There was a wind chill warning in our area all weekend and today was the first day the warning was lifted!! AWESOME!! It was almost as though we were living in Florida for a while (LOL - I am totally joking!!).

Year End

Every year at work our year end cut off is Dec 15. Dec 15 is today! In past years we have left at 10 or 10:30. Tonight I left work at 7. It was awesome!!!

It is always nice when an evening goes by smoothly and you don't have to think too much. It was a pretty decent year end and I am glad it is over now and I can concentrate on Christmas!

Electricity

What is better than electricity? Especially on a day like today. It is -30 here and it is supposed to go down to -33 overnight. Hense, my car is plugged in. I was nervous (even though my car was plugged in all night) that my car would not start this morning....but it did!!

Electricity makes it a lot easier to cope with the cold weather!! (That is for sure!!) I could not imagine having to cope with the cold weather without electricity.

Time after time

You know how you know something but you don't really 'know' it until all of a sudden it hits you? Well, maybe you have no idea what I am talking about...

It occurred to me today that we are going to meet so many people in our lives and although I could not say I have learned something from every person who has crossed my path, I can say I have learned something from all of the significant people who have crossed my path. All of the people in my life whom I have formed a relationship with.

I grew up really close to my grandparents for instance. They were born in 1917 and 1919. By the time I die, I will have met people who were born in 2017 and 2019 (hopefuly). I have learned many things from my grandparents and I am sure I will learn many things from those people born in 2017 and 2019 that I have not met yet. Isn't that amazing? I just find that so fascinating. That we will meet such a wide variety of people in our lifetime. We were young once and knew older people. One day we will be old and know younger people. I just find that so fascinating.

But maybe I am just weird...

GBP

I am trying my hardest to not always write about food. But there are some days when you just have to mention it. mmmmmm

Tonight I had Grandma's Big Pancakes (GBP) for probably the first time in at least 20 million years (or March or April...whatever).

They were sooooooo good!!!!

What is GBP? They are a big pancake that looks like a crepe except it is not a crepe. It is a pancake....but they are big and thin like crepes are. They are fried in a frying pan with lard. Then you put butter and homemade rhubarb jam on them. (So a very healthy choice!!) Mmmmmm. GOOOOD!!!!!!

That is all I have to say....


(hopefully my car starts tomorrow.)

Christmas concerts

Tonight I went to watch my niece in her Christmas Concert at school. She was awesome!!

Her class was so adorable!! She was one of the tallest people in her class but considering she is 4 and some of the others are 3, that is not surprising. The whole concert was only an hour long so it was great!!

My Guardian Angel

It is going to be winter pretty soon. That is hard to believe, isn't it? It already seems like winter where I am from!! We have snow on the ground!! The roads are somewhat icy. You just have to slow down in certain places.

I always hope people are safe but I pay more attention to that detail in the winter. There are so many car accidents that I cannot help but hope that all people travel safely in the winter!! Last night we lost another 16 year old in a car accident. It is just so sad that people so young have to die!!

This may seem weird but I always try to picture their life and how normal it seemed. They left their parents house, walked to their car, got in, started thinking about everything they needed to do that night and....

The unexpected happened....

My thoughts and prayers are with his family....

There are so many times I could have been that person. That person who dies. Why didn't I? It must have been my Guardian Angel. They are there for you not only to keep you safe but to comfort you when they can't keep you safe.

Shopping.....Christmas shopping

I have come to the conclusion that my blog is really quite.......boring!!! Maybe it is because I am not exactly the brightest bulb in the lamppost...(Wait a minute....????). I mean lamp...lol.

Tonight I went shopping with my sister for some Christmas presents. I had thought I had finished all of my Christmas shopping a week and a half ago but I got a couple of children to buy presents for now. Who are these children? I have no idea!! I know one is a 10 year old girl and the other one is an 8 year old boy but that is all I know. They are a couple of children whose family needs some help this Christmas as they cannot afford to buy gifts this year. I had a lot of fun!!

While I was there I saw this really nice skirt that I thought my cousin's 7 year old daughter would absolutely LOVE!! (But I could be wrong....) So I bought it! I had already bought her gift a week or so ago but I did not feel too bad buying her another gift as her first gift is just some books for her and her sister (they are Learn-to-Read books).

Except....

Then I bought a sweater for both her sister and my niece (who I also had gifts for). I love Christmas. I love trying to find the gift people want. It is so much fun!! And it is even more fun when they are children!! And you buy them pretty clothes....(okay, maybe the girls like that!!).

I could care less what I get for Christmas but I love getting other people something!! It is so much fun!!

Praise

Today I had people come up to me all day and tell me what a great job I did. How great is that!!!

I am glad they thought it was a great job!!!

I was somewhat concerned it would not turn out the way I hoped it would! But it did!!! YAY!!!

Can I be any more vague?

Naps?

The last few days I have been really tired......really, really, really, really, really, really tired. (Did I mention I was tired?)

There is nothing like spending a Sunday afternoon.....sleeping?

Okay, I did not fall asleep and have a good sleep, I fell asleep and dozed. But I still woke up more alert than when I fell asleep so that is good.

Safety

Safety?

Seriously?

How bizarre is that?

Safety?

I think safety is something most people take for granted. You assume you are going to be safe as you go through your daily routine. There have been instances in the past that kind of shake up your idea of safety but then as time goes on, you completely forget about it again and assume that tomorrow you will wake up and resume your daily routines. But what guarantee do we have that tomorrow we will wake up?

What guarantee do we have that our world will continue to remain safe?

What guarantee do we have that tomorrow will come?

(Okay - maybe I should not try to be profound.)

Let us drink to many safe tomorrows!! Have a happy tomorrow!!

Doing stairs

The people I coffee and lunch with have been doing stairs for the last two weeks. Every day before coffee and lunch, they do the stairs. Yesterday (and today) I joined them. It was a lot of fun!!

I am definitely feeling it now!!!

(Which is great.)

How many stairs did I do? I am not completely sure - at least a couple hundred, maybe more.

Game night

I just got back from a 'Christmas party'/meeting. It was a lot of fun.

We had the chance to play some 'old-fashioned' board games. I would tell you what they were but I completely forget their names.

It was a lot of fun anyway!!!

lunches from home

I have no idea when the last time I brought lunch from home was. Actually I do remember bringing leftover chicken/turkey(?) from home a few weeks ago but that was actually from my mom and not from me. Today I brought lunch from home again!! It was awesome!!!!

I had a meeting from 12-1 (which actually lasted until 1:20) and then another meeting from 1:30 - 2:30 so it was really nice not to have to worry about lunch.

In other news, I have a potluck to go to tomorrow. Question is: what should I bring?

days

I find it so interesting how time goes by.....

One day you are young, and the next....

I think that sometimes your life can be so busy, you are so busy moving from one moment to the next, you do not realize how precious the current moment is. It hit me today how it seems like just yesterday that it was Christmas and now...it just a few weeks, it is Christmas again.

Sometimes I really wonder, is this my life?

Is this what I was meant to do? Is this how I am going to choose to spend my life? Am I happy? Really happy?

Yes, I am happy. I have had a great life!!!! But it is almost Christmas again and I barely remember 2008. Did I make enough memories to last? Are people going to remember me when I am gone?

Is this who I was meant to be?

Help.....by my mom

I had 300 calendars to sort and distribute over the weekend (and today). It took me all weekend to get organized and figure it out.

Today my mom helped me put them in bags and make sure I had all the correct calendars.

YAY mom!!! Thank you very much!!!!

It is when you know that you can depend on your family for help that you know you are truly blessed!!!