Twas the Night Before New Year's

....and all through the house.....

Wait! No! Not again! I'm not doing that again....at least not THIS year. Maybe next year (which is very quickly approaching....tick tick tick goes the countdown). That will give me a whole year to work up to the 12 Days of Pre you-know-what.

The day was spent shuffling around the house, gathering some of the Christmas decorations, and storing them til next year. We also went out to see what the stores have left over from the pickings (not much from what I could see, but I WAS able to score a few deals on some baskets). For dinner, I made my special ribs, and we have a special dessert. Maybe we'll head into downtown Sleepy Hollow to see what's going on, or maybe we'll just get into our jammies and read and ring in the new year quietly. Don't know yet.

2006 was a good year. We didn't have to fight for our jobs, we had some great sailing, I started to venture into the blogworld (where I met some really great people), we linked up with old friends and met new friends. Mostly, we had fun doing whatever it was that we were doing. If we can all manage to have some fun then it's all worth it. Because it's a long life (some would argue otherwise), but whichever way you look at it, try to have some fun along the way. It certainly makes things more palatable.

Whatever your plans are for this evening, I wish you a safe evening full of fun and laughter and good times.

I'll be here tomorrow if you should decide to stop by.

Cheerio!

Where Oh Where Did I Go?

Hi everybody (anybody?). I feel as though I've gone into hibernation for awhile, but I've been having fun doing it, that's for sure.

It's been a busy week, full of celebrating, and travelling, and visiting, but the past few days I have had a bit of time for myself, and have been diving into a new hobby...scrapbooking. I have my scrapbooking SL to thank for this new attraction.....there's also a link to her site on my sidebar. For while now, I had been thinking of trying to make my own cards. I never seem to find exactly what I want at the card store, and then when I do, I end up paying mucho dinero for just a card. So, while we were in Montreal, we visited her store, her lovely store that makes you feel like a kid in a candy store. She helped me to purchase enough supplies to get me started, and boy was I ever glad to have her help.

When I first got everything home, I only sat at looked at my loot....terrified as to what to do with everything. Then, last night, I got into it.....until 1:30 in the morning! So far I have made 2 cards. Now, I am not sure that they are up to my SL's standards, but they are a first attempt. Even if they are not up to standard (yet) I still enjoyed making them.


I'll post them later (once the recipients have them in their hot little hands), so you'll have to be patient, but for now you can check out her site

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2006
I'll be back in a few days (going to visit with family).

Merry Christmas...with Peace

Great Balls of Fire....

Merry Christmas Eve, everybody. There is never a dull moment in my life, I swear, and when the 12 days pf pre-Christmas were complete I was worried that I would be out of blogging ideas. NOT SO!

My Sweetie's family had a small dinner get-together tonight, and there was a little excitement of the unwanted kind.

The coffee was being made. I was sitting in the family room. SL and step-SL were chatting in the kitchen. They came to ask people if they wanted coffee, and during that instant, the candle-lit Christmas decoration that was on the dining room buffet caught fire!

SL let out a sound that everyone associated with TROUBLE! The decoration was indeed on fire with small flames burning. Luckily, someone acted quickly to put out the fire, and all that I saw was the black smoke, but if everyone had been in the family room at that particular moment, that candle would have been totally unobserved by anyone, and we could have really had bigger problems on our hands.

I guess we must have had angels watching over us tonight.

On My 12th Day of Pre-Christmas

Well, my fine feathered and furry friends, it's finally here. IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!! And you-know-who arrives tonight!!! We're down to the wire, too, for the pre-days of Christmas.....and the countup....(can you see that I'm stalling for time here??) My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas! , My 2nd Day of Pre-Christmas, My 3rd Day of Pre-Christmas! , My 4th Day of Pre-Christmas and My 5th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 6th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 7th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 8th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 9th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 10th Day of Pre-Christmas, and My 11th Day of Pre-Christmas. This of course all leads up to the 12th and final Pre-Day of Christmas.....



On My 12th Day of Pre-Christmas, my mental scrapbook gave to me,
12 things to be thankful for
...11 hours of gift wrapping
......10 gestures of goodwill (or close to 10)
.........9 hours of volunteer work
............8 hours of pole-vaulting kitties
...............7 hoards of humbugs
..................6 pesky telemarketing calls
.....................5 HOURS OF TREE DECORATING
........................a 4 dollar Charlie Brown tree
...........................3 truckloads of food
..............................2 pooped people with tired bodies
.................................and a brand new king size bed.

The 12th Day of Pre-Christmas. It's finally here. Can you believe it? I can't, but it is here. We are going to be spending part of it doing a little road show with the various parts of families that we both have, so, as Willie sings 'On the Road Again........' and that's where we'll be. Maybe I'll be able to blog, and maybe I won't, but you'll for sure have the 12 Pre-Days of Christmas to giggle and think about.

For this final pre-day, I was thinking about how lucky I am, and thankful. People make a lot of our world go around, otherwise we'd be living in a vacuum (or a goldfish bowl).

Here's why:
*~* Thankful for my cousins (we're not numerous, but we have buckets of love).

*~* Thankful for my married family (it's just like having siblings!).

*~* Thankful for our long-time friends, friends that were once neighbours and then became friends).

*~* Thankful that we have great sailing friends (this is a whole community in itself, and we are so lucky to be a part of it).

*~* Thankful for my number one gym buddy Lutador (you know who you are!).....

*~* Thankful for all of the other gym buddies, of which they are numerous, from Combat to Cycling to Pump to Attack.

*~* Thankful for our great neighbours.

*~* Thankful for our political buddies, to whom we have grown quite close.

*~* Thankful for my WW buddies, and 2 really fine leaders (you know who you are too!).

*~* Thankful for my blogworld buddies (I feel like I know you all so well, and we've never even met).

*~* Thankful for my 2 adorable, almost human kitty kats, BJ and CoCo.

*~* Thankful for My Sweetie, because none of the above would be possible or as much fun if he weren't part of it.

So, to anyone who is reading this post, whether you're part of the above or not, MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you.

Merry Pre-Christmas!

On My 11th Day of Pre-Christmas

Wow, man!! In less than 2 days it will be Christmas!!!! WOOHOO!!!! I hope that everybody survived so far. If not, well, too bad. My brain STILL hurts from all of this!! To recap, we have My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas, My 2nd Day of Pre-Christmas, My 3rd Day of Pre-Christmas, , My 4th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 5th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 6th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 7th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 8th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 9th Day of Pre-Christmas, and My 10th Day of Pre-Christmas.


On My 11th Day of Pre-Christmas, my shopping gave to me,
11 hours of gift wrapping
...10 gestures of goodwill (or close to 10)
......9 hours of volunteer work
.........8 hours of pole-vaulting kitties
............7 hoards of humbugs
...............6 pesky telemarketing calls
..................5 HOURS OF TREE DECORATING
.....................a 4 dollar Charlie Brown tree
........................3 truckloads of food
...........................2 pooped people with tired bodies
..............................and a brand new king size bed.

Well folks, it's all done....and it's all wrapped and ready for Santa to come and pick it all up and deliver it (humour me ok?). We went out for a wee bit today, to bring some things to the local Goodwill, to do some last minute shopping, and then to come home and put on the Christmas music and wrap everything up. This is when it all begins.

I think.

You see, I have memories of how my Christmas's were in the past, but they are a little different now for me. Some of those traditions have changed, and with that I have found it necessary to replace them with new ones. This year, these were in the form of charitable work give back opportunities (gosh, that sounds like my corporate side coming out....eeek!) and scaling back the spending just a bit, allowing for a change of perspective. Because Christmas means different things to different people. And that's cool. We're all different, so that's how it should be. For me, it's both a joyous season, yet a sad season. That's just the way it is. But it is also a thankful season for so many wonderful friends that we have, and for the family that we are both blessed with.

Merry Pre-Christmas

On My 10th Day of Pre-Christmas

Oh, gosh, we're almost at the end of this thing!! Remind me NOT to do this again NEXT year!! My brain HURTS!! To recap, we have My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas, My 2nd Day of Pre-Christmas, My 3rd Day of Pre-Christmas, , My 4th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 5th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 6th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 7th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 8th Day of Pre-Christmas, and My 9th Day of Pre-Christmas.

On My 10th Day of Pre-Christmas, my community gave to me,
10 gestures of goodwill (or close to 10)
...9 hours of volunteer work
......8 hours of pole-vaulting kitties
.........7 hoards of humbugs
............6 pesky telemarketing calls
...............5 HOURS OF TREE DECORATING
..................a 4 dollar Charlie Brown tree
.....................3 truckloads of food
........................2 pooped people with tired bodies
...........................and a brand new king size bed.

Now, I realize that there was a bit of negative vibes during some of the pre-Christmas days,and some of those negative vibes will continue to exist throughout the year, but today I encountered many individuals who were in the holiday spirit (I also encountered some real ding-dongs, and you'll be sure to pick those out I am sure!). I think I might be able to get 10 things from these pickings, but we'll just have to see now won't we?

Some of the nice things:
The polite store clerks, who are still friendly even though they must surely be tired by now.

The many happy people wandering around the stores in their Santa and elf hats (but boy do they look at you funny when you call them an elf! *hey, I'm not the one wearing an elf hat*).

While at McDonald's, I was trying to release 2 little ketchup cups from the dispenser that didn't want to dispense. Out of nowhere, the gruff looking man beside me handed me 2 cups from the dispenser that was closer to him. No smile or anything, but he did something nice.....then he proceeded to have the same trouble for his own cups.

While at the card store, this lady and I had been chatting while waiting in the seemingly long lineup at the cash. We finally arrived at separate checkouts, and did our business. As she left the store, she silently wished me a Merry Christmas. YES! No Happy Holidays. No Season's Greetings! No politically correct bool-kaka! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! *sigh*

I was purchasing some cute little plates that were marked down. Real cheap but cute....with Santa..... and elves.....and candy canes. When I got to the cash, the biggest plate had no price tag, and the clerk didn't feel like going to hunt down the correct price, so she rang it up at 84 cents...the same price as the tiny little plates, and said Merry Christmas!

Some of the dingdong things:
Today was garbage pickup day, and it was also windy outside. We noticed that our green recycle can had been blown into the street, about 6 feet from the curb. We also saw the garbage truck approaching to collect the remainder of the recycle stuff. We figured that when the truck arrived, the fellow would move the can out of the road, but NO WAY! The truck drove right up beside the thing, the guy got out to do his job, then he got back on the truck and drove away, leaving the container in the road! DUH!

The finger fight that My Sweetie got into at the mall (I wasn't there for that one, thankfully). There is an awkwardly setup stopping arrangement at the mall, where one direction has a stop sign but the opposite side does not. My Sweetie was on the side that did not have a stop sign, and the truck facing him had to stop, except that they rolled it.....just as My Sweetie was moving to turn. They could have collided. My Sweetie pointed a finger (not THE finger) at the sign. The truck pointed THE finger at My Sweetie. Then My Sweetie returned the favour. HO HO HO and take that!

And, as usual, we continue along the pre-Christmas journey, and my friends, sometimes that journey is just like a box of chocolates (and we all know how that one goes).

Merry Pre-Christmas!
Thanks to ma-petite-cousine for the cute picture.....I thought I'd use it here.

On My 9th Day of Pre-Christmas

To recap, we have My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas, My 2nd Day of Pre-Christmas, My 3rd Day of Pre-Christmas, , My 4th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 5th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 6th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 7th Day of Pre-Christmas, and My 8th Day of Pre-Christmas.


On My 9th Day of Pre-Christmas, my warm heart gave to me,
9 hours of volunteer work
...8 hours of pole-vaulting kitties
......7 hoards of humbugs
.........6 pesky telemarketing calls
............5 HOURS OF TREE DECORATING
...............a 4 dollar Charlie Brown tree
..................3 truckloads of food
.....................2 pooped people with tired bodies
........................and a brand new king size bed.

Today left me with sore feet but also with a warm heart. I did something that I have always wanted to do, but never seemed to be able to for one reason or another. I spent the day shopping for toys, and I didn't spend a single cent.

Every Christmas, for about the past 25 years, the local area gets together to form Santa's preparation area, where elves organize a shopping spree. Volunteers get to 'shop' from the pre-organized tables of food and toys, tables that are piled high with donated toys for tots from some very generous and kind people. I was able to spend 9 hours helping out with this 'shopping for tots' exercise. It was way more loads of fun that I even thought it would be, I met some really nice people, and I have never ever seen so many toys. So many Barbie dolls, Bratz dolls, trucks, cars, puzzles, all waiting to be picked up for some needy child. So much food.

All of this work culminates tomorrow night, when the Christmas hampers will be picked up by or delivered to needy families. I am planning on returning for a 3-hour shift tomorrow morning.

This season gets so caught up in a frazzled buying cycle. We just get caught up in so many other worrisome parts of the holiday, when in reality, this is what it's all about. The kids. Kids that maybe won't have anything under the tree. Kids who maybe don't even have a tree. Families who may not have enough to eat. Kids who get to share Christmas with one parent or the other. Just kids.

Now, don't you think that it was totally easy for me to get through the day. There were times that I became very teary about what we were all doing, becoming emotional at the whole experience. Then, as quickly as it came, I got over it, and returned to shopping for that 6 year old boy with special needs, or the 2 year old girl who has part time parents, or the 3 month old.

Tis the season to be jolly, yes, and it is also the season to share, and be kind, and to be thoughtful, and to give back for all of the wonderful and lucky things that most of us are blessed with.

And, as usual, with that in mind, I bid you all a good night.
God Bless....

Merry Pre-Christmas!

On My 8th Day of Pre-Christmas

Okay, so we now have My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas, My 2nd Day of Pre-Christmas, , My 3rd Day of Pre-Christmas, , My 4th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 5th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 6th Day of Pre-Christmas, and My 7th Day of Pre-Christmas.

On My 8th Day of Pre-Christmas, my brand new king size bed gave to me,
8 hours of pole-vaulting kitties
...7 hoards of humbugs
......6 pesky telemarketing calls
.........5 HOURS OF TREE DECORATING
............a 4 dollar Charlie Brown tree
...............3 truckloads of food
..................2 pooped people with tired bodies
.....................and a brand new king size bed.

Eight hours of polevaulting kitties! What's up with that? It's so easy (like taking candy from a baby! - another musical brain worm for those of you who remember).

Last night was the sleep from hell for My Sweetie. Now, apparently, as I am told, I snored through the entire thing. But I do remember waking up the odd time to sound of the growling bear, which was My Sweetie snarling at either me or the cats or both. Why? Because CoCo was trying to get on top of the bed so that she could have some quality time with her Mommy and Daddy.

The new bed is a few inches higher than what we had before. This makes it a little more difficult for the kitties to get up. Since BJ has a bit of arthritis in his hind legs, we placed a little stool at the bottom of the bed for their highnesses, and BJ uses it, but CoCo? No way Jose!! She prefers to run toward the bed then leap to try to get on top. Of course, there is always the lovely sound of kitty claws on fabric. EEEEk!

I am not sure what is going to be on tap for tonight. Probably more leaping through the air kitties, but that's just what they do. They are animals, and My Other Sweeties.

Right now I have to go downstairs and wrap a giftie for someone that I don't know. I think it's for hubby's secret Santa thingy.

I am officially on vacation as of tonight.....YAY! Tomorrow morning I am going to be doing some local volunteer work for Christmas. But I'll be back later on in the day.

Ciao amigos and amigas.....
Merry Christmas!

On My 7th Day of Pre-Christmas

Okay, so far we have My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas! , My 2nd Day of Pre-Christmas, My 3rd Day of Pre-Christmas! , My 4th Day of Pre-Christmas, My 5th Day of Pre-Christmas, and My 6th Day of Pre-Christmas,

On My 7th Day of Pre-Christmas, my eyeballs gave to me,
7 hoards of humbugs
...6 pesky telemarketing calls
......5 HOURS OF TREE DECORATING
.........a 4 dollar Charlie Brown tree
............3 truckloads of food
...............2 pooped people with tired bodies
..................and a brand new king size bed.

Seven hoards of humbugs eh? What on earth could that be about?

*memories of the Sixth Sense run through my brain*

I see humbugs....I see humbugs everywhere, They don't even know that they're humbugs.

heh heh (oh yes they do!)

I am a happy person. There. I said it. It's out in the open now. I am not a humbug. Bah no way!

But everywhere I turn, I am surrounded by humbugs (now I would much prefer the minty candy version of the humbug rather than the human version, in all its gruffness. A little more fattening perhaps, but much preferred).

Where am I going with this? (can you tell that I am really stretching the pre-Christmas limericks now *sigh*?

So, tonight we went to do a bit of shopping. Now, most of my so-called shopping is done. There is not a lot that I do anyway, but whatever I had to do is basically done. My Sweetie, however, who shall, for the purpose of this post be referred to as Mr Humbug, has left all of his shopping to the last minute...or the last week - give it a few more days---he'll be there on Sunday with the hoards of other humbugs, trying to gruff their way to the top of the aisle for that special something.

But beware. The humbugs are also driving their vehicles, and because they are not too happy being anywhere outside of their lazy boy chair right now, the driving status is RED, meaning beware and don't p**s anybody off. They are driving through red lights, and doing the proverbial ankle biting at pedestrian ankles (zzzzzip around that corner you cad!!).

The humbugs are also, and double beware here, serving you at the cash. They have already seen the humbugs approaching, and they know the routine. Right now, most of them have booked trips to Mexico, and I wouldn't blame them (having worked in a retail environment at Christmas many many years ago).

So, the next time that you need to do some shopping, it may be tomorrow, it may be tonight during the retail stores 24 hour shopping marathon, remember the Humbug....and know that they are out there...waiting.....for YOU!


Merry Pre-Christmas!

On My 6th Day of Pre-Christmas

Okay, so far we have My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas! , My 2nd Day of Pre-Christmas, My 3rd Day of Pre-Christmas! , My 4th Day of Pre-Christmas and My 5th Day of Pre-Christmas!

On My 6th Day of Pre-Christmas, my telephone gave to me,
6 pesky telemarketing calls
...5 hours of tree decorating
......a 4 dollar Charlie Brown tree
.........3 truckloads of food
............2 pooped people with tired bodies
...............and a brand new king size bed.

This must be busy season for telemarketers.

Today, I was trying to get work done, for the job which pays me to work from home. But it seems that there are people out there who do not want us to do anything except answer the telephone. I think I counted 6 telemarketing calls today. There are two that are noteworthy.

One of them starts with s chirpy female voice that goes 'Hello......'. This is a pre-recorded message that operates on your voice prompt, In a polite world, this voice prompt is usually 'hello', but it could very well be anything that you prefer to scream into the phone at that particular moment *insert onscenity here*...*please*.

The other call that I receive on regular basis is from a collection agency. They always ask for the same person, and this person is not at the number that they are calling. When I tell them this, they usually sound a little dumb, not too with it, and a little disbelieving. But eventually they hang up. Only to call again, and again. Now, I have called them back at times, because they have left a message on my phone, to ask them to remove me from their dial list. They tell me that they have done this, (but they lie) and they end up calling back again and again. Now, I did a little Web search on these guys,and found an article written about the *ahem* company, where people have been asked for credit card info etc before anyone would even talk to them. I was fortunate enough not to have been asked for that. They would have heard my phone being hung up if they had asked for that.

The other calls that enter my hovel are from people selling time-share properties and they offer you a weekend away so that you can go and listen to them blah blah. Sometimes, if you are lucky enough to actually speak with a person, you probably have to say 'NO' a few times, firstly to indicate that you are not interested (you aren't are you?) or else because they are a little hard of hearing, and didn't hear you say NO the previous three times.

Oh well, tis the season I guess, and everybody needs to make a living.

Now, it's always better to leave on a positive note, and with that I leave you with one of my two mini sweeties.).

Merry Pre-Christmas!

On My 5th Day of Pre-Christmas

Okay, so far we have My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas! , My 2nd Day of Pre-Christmas, My 3rd Day of Pre-Christmas!and My 4th Day of Pre-Christmas! (like you could have counted already eh?)

On My 5th Day of Pre-Christmas, my stopwatch gave to me,
5 hours of tree decorating
...a 4 dollar Charlie Brown tree
......3 truckloads of food
.........2 pooped people with tired bodies
............and a brand new king size bed.

Today, we spent about 5 hours decorating the tree(s), and other areas of the house that needed some holiday seasoning. Nothing like doing it and then overdoing it.

The Charlie Brown tree looks perfectly at home here now, I must say. You can see for yourself how it turned out. In fact, you can hardly even tell that it's a tree! But, it is exactly how I thought it would be. It has decorations that belonged to my Mom, so it is sort of like a memento tree. It's just too cute and precious for words.

The bigger tree, which has a nice spot in front of the living room window, also turned out quite nice. It's not as thick around the middle like some of the other trees, so it fits perfectly. It also has a mixture of childhood decorations, as well as decorations that we have collected over the years. It's a bigger memento tree.

Now we also have set up a little village... and the manger...
and the angel corner...
Our house now looks like a Christmas theme park. All we need is a train running around the main floor, and we'd be all set.


All of this reminds me of when my Dad used to decorate at Christmas. He'd go absolutely crazy with outdoor lights and things. But inside, he used to draw and paste and cutout huge arts and crafts displays that he would set up on top of the mantle. I remember one year he had created Santa's village, where he built a little house and had an inflatable Santa placed inside to welcome the little bears and animals that would come to visit. Of course, the mantle was also where the budgie had his cage, and that became incorporated into the theme, and was completely decorated as well. It's always nice to know that I am old enough to have memories, but not too old to forget them.

And, as usual, with that in mind, I bid you all a good night.

Merry Pre-Christmas (and I thought I'd keep the before picture of the Charlie Brown tree...just because).

On My 4th Day of Pre-Christmas

Okay, so far we have My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas! , My 2nd Day of Pre-Christmas, and My 3rd Day of Pre-Christmas!

On My 4th Day of Pre-Christmas, my garden store gave to me,
a 4 dollar Charlie Brown tree
...3 truckloads of food
......2 pooped people with tired bodies
.........and a brand new king size bed.

It's pretty late, I know. We just arrived home from a Christmas gathering in the big city. So, after a long drive home, we are both a little tired. To be honest, I was having a little trouble with the 4th day of pre-Christmas. But, I knew that if I gave it enough time, eventually an idea would surface. So here we go.

We found a cute artificial Christmas tree. One that has some mini lights already attached, which is a good thing, and the tree is a narrow sort of a base which means that we should be able to find a nook somewhere for it. Yay us! All hail the tree!

And I wasn't kidding about the Charlie Brown tree either. While we were at the garden center, they had a humongous sale going on. At first we were going to buy a potted tree that we could have brought inside and decorated tor Christmas, and then planted in the Spring, but the tree guy didn't recommend doing that. He thought that the tree could go into shock with the temperature changes.

There went great idea number one.

Then, while My Sweetie was trying to glean other ideas, I had spotted some little table top trees at a ridiculously low price, $4. I immediately thought of the Charlie Brown tree theme, and thought that I could put some memento decorations on it. So it now has a new home.

So there was great idea number two.

Then finally, because we didn't really want a real tree, we spotted a neat version of the artificial tree, one that wasn't 7 feet tall with 700 attached mini lights. This one is about 5 feet tall but it not a bushy type of tree. It is designed for small spaces (though certainly the price was not!). In any case, it seemed to be the best compromise.

There was idea number three accomplished.

So in the past few days, we went from tree fiasco, to having no tree at all, to having 2 trees.

Tomorrow we look forward to decorating both of the trees.

And, as usual, with that in mind, I bid you all a good night.

Merry Pre-Christmas!

Friday's Feast - One Hundred and Twenty Two

Friday, December 08, 2006
Feast One Hundred & Twenty One
Appetizer
What was your very first job with a paycheck?

It was a summer job when I was 16. I worked in a distribution center for a large retailer, putting price tags on clothing. It was hard and hot work, but it was a great experience.

Soup
Did you ever lose something really important to you?

I had a favourite suede jacket that I used to wear in college. I had it a long time, and it was well-worn. I wore it everywhere. Then, during exam time, instead of putting it on the back of my chair, I hung it on one of the hooks on the classroom wall. When I left, I forgot it. When I finally remembered, and went back for it, it was gone.

Salad
What is the best Christmas present you ever received?

The Christmas oranges and grapefruits. I still miss them.

Main Course
Tell about a favorite "hang out" place for you and your friends when you were in high school.

We didn't really have a place like that. I had to travel about a half hour, by public transit, to get to high school. It was in the downtown core, in a particular part of town where there was no real 'hang out' spot per se. So, I would basically go to school and go home.*sniff*

Dessert
Name something that always brings a smile to your face.

My Sweetie and kitties.

On My 3rd Day of Pre-Christmas

Okay, so far we had My first and My second My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas! and My 2nd Day of Pre-Christmas!

On My 3rd Day of Pre-Christmas, my now-gone-home-dinner-guests gave to me,
3 truckloads of food.
...2 pooped people with tired bodies
......and a brand new king size bed.

So, just exactly how much food do we have left over from our little gathering last night? Well, we could package this grub together and ship it off to feed the needy in Africa! Now, to be fair, we actually came out alright, last night, with a balance of everything that was needed. No one starved, and no one was wanting for anything. We had plenty.
We also had plenty of veggies left over, and I do believe that one CAN have too many stirfry dinners. I am a huge veggie lover, but if I consumed all of the veggies that we currently have in the fridge, I would either be growing a cute little bunny tail and floppy ears, or I would be sitting in the loo for an inordinate amount of time (note to self: TOO MUCH INFORMATION!).


The problem came when people were leaving. Nobody wanted to take anything home with them, including the dishes that the food came on.. They kept saying you keep it and eat it, Dear or you can donate that cheap little plate to Goodwill. I think because we are both relatively slight of build, that we probably looked as though we could use a little extra meat on our bones. (Note to self: Self, I says, you have to keep exercising and not stuffing so many of those delicious little homemade shortbreads in your wee mouth, or those little dark chocolate After Eight chocolate mints).
Now, I DID do a Cycling class tonight, which probably burned off at least one of the darling little shortbread cookies :-(....and if I can manage to roll off of this chair, I will prepare to spend a hopefully glorious night of sleep in the new bed (which arrived this morning, and which the cats have been exploring and scouting out spots).

So tonight there are no more sleeps until the king size bed arrives. It is done. It is here. All hail the arrival of the new big beddy!

And, as usual, with that in mind, I bid you all a good night.

Merry Pre-Christmas!

On My 2nd Day of Pre-Christmas

Okay, so yesterday was My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas...wheeeee!

On My Second Day of Pre-Christmas, my pot luck dinner gave to me,
2 pooped people with tired bodies.
.....and a brand new king size bed.

Author's Apologies: Sorry that this is so late. We just finished cleaning up, and now have some spare time.
.....and thank you to everybody who stopped by for yesterday's post! Coolio!

Our little hovel hosted a pot luck for 13 close friends. To the rest of the world, this may not seem like such a big deal, right? Except that we both worked a full day (and fuller week) and then had to prepare and set up etc. Thank goodness we didn't have to clean the house as well (thanks to the extra help that I receive every two weeks). Add to this that I had been on the phone from basically 8 o'clock this morning until 3 o'clock this afternoon, and I had not even showered at that point. When I finally did get to shower, it was time to jump into the get ready for the guests mode, and pretty lickety split too I tell you.

This was our first really big gig in this house, and we were a little hesitant at first, but once we actually got down to it, things weren't so bad. The evening turned out to be a success. We had ample amounts of vegetables (and homemade shortbread, the way that my Mom used to make), and nobody went hungry.

So tonight is one more sleep until the king size bed arrives tomorrow. And with that in mind, I bid you all a good night.

Merry Christmas!

Thursday Thirteen - My Third One

Thirteen Things about Masgblog

13 of my favourite magazines:

1. Canadian Yachting




2. CanFitPro




3. Cooking Light




4. Crossstitch




5. Cruising World




6. GAM




7. Home Renovation Style



8. House Beautiful




9. Majesty




10. Nutrition Action




11. People




12. Royalty



13. Sail

On My 1st Day of Pre-Christmas

A few days ago I provided a little teaser post about The 12 Days of pre-Christmas

Pre-Christmas can mean different things to different people. Now, with my blog, everything that I write about is true. These things actually happen (or happened as in the past).

So, with that in mind, I will endeavour to create My 12 Days of Pre-Christmas, one day at a time.

Please feel free to join in whatever way you feel that you can. And above all....have fun with it! That is key!

On My first day of pre-Christmas, my mattress store gave to me,
A brand new king size bed.

Yes, a marvelous new bed, king size, with camel duvet cover, pillow shams and bed skirt, sage colored sheet sets, and thermopedic pillow. The cats know that the new beast arrives on Friday, and they are trying to squeeze out every last living cuddle on the old mattress. Gosh knows how we'll all manage with all of the room that will become available, but My Sweetie and I can hardly wait. We've been counting the number of sleeps that are left until the new bed arrives.

Now, there is more to this story, of course.

One might wonder what happens to the old bed. Well, it's going to charity, and while we have brought things to charities before, this time it's a little different. This time the charity has a face. We know someone who has a need for a bed and a mattress, and even the sheets, no matter how old. When I was first approached about this, I was a little uncomfortable about it, but then it just made sense, and there was no question about it. This is what we would do. This person said that they shop at the charity stores, and while the mattress store would have picked up the mattress and donated it to a charity, the needy people who come for those mattresses actually have to pay something for them.

So we both come out happy. My heart is warm knowing that the bed will be put to good use, and by someone that we know, and we've also made someone else happy.

Merry Christmas!

Cracker Jack

Did ya ever have one of those days? One of those days that just goes on and on, one big bang after another? Well, my friends, today was one of those days. And it certainly ended with a big bang.

Work had been pretty hectic, as is the case when the holidays approach, and people take time off. It becomes time to tie up loose ends, and cram stuff in before everyone heads out for some down time.

But I digress.

Because it was a hectic day, and because we have some entertaining to do this week, I will be missing some exercise classes. I decided to do a different one tonight. I had tried this particular class once before, and it didn't appeal to me. I should have listened to my first instinct which was to not go, but I thought I'd try it again. Give it another shot. Be a good sport.

So I donned my workout gear and headed off to the gym. Now, the outfit that I sported was not one of my favourites. It was never one of my favourites. The leggings had shrunk in the wash, and I felt like a geek with long legs in my water wading spandex. I felt like a Star Trek officer in those pants.

Little did I know that was only the smallest of my problems.

The class was sort of fun, but it wasn't the athletic, full pumping type of exercise that I am used to. Needless to say, I will not be doing this class again. However, there was a follow-on pump class that I had intended to stay for. So, when the first class was over, I started gathering my equipment together to get my place, but then one of my buddies (bless her heart) said the words that everyone dreads hearing.

You have a rip at the back of your pants.

Crap! How could this happen? I didn't feel a draft! There was no funny feeling going on back there. How did this happen?

Now my adrenaline was pumping, and I felt that I was going to throw up.

You see, the rip was about 6 inches long. And, it's not like I could just hide my rip under a t-shirt. It wasn't long enough. And, to make matters worse, I was wearing skimpy underwear underneath!!!! Actually, not much underwear at all. Actually a thongy thingy. Crap! So people didn't just get to look at pretty flowers through the hole! They got to gape at so much more!

Oh man what to do. What to do. So I gathered my water bottle and towel in one hand, and tried to keep the rip closed with the other hand. One hand covering the hole, and walking backwards. oh man. I rushed out of there so fast, called My Sweetie and told him what happened. I was crying, he was killing himself laughing, trying hard not to split a gut over my split pants.

I was so embarrassed. I was mortified. I wanted to crawl under a rock.

Then My Sweetie said 'well come home and show me how bad it is'. Now I really didn't want to show it to anybody. Not even me. When I arrived home, and showed him, he said it wasn't that bad. But it was. I knew it was. Heck it was obvious to the people standing at the back of the room.

I tore the living daylights out of that spandex thing. AND I got rid of some similar pants, other similar leggy things that I always hated...due to the short legs....so they are gone!

Can you guess what I need for Christmas now???

Four More Sleeps

Four more sleeps until what you might ask? Well, four more sleeps until our new king size bed arrives. Now I know this might seem an odd time of year to buy a new bed, but really, is there ever a good time to buy a new bed? Probably not. We've had the current bed frame for about 20 years. It was a water bed frame sans water bed. The mattress is only about 7 years old.

But it's time for a new mattress. And for something just a little bit bigger.

Now a sane person would ask why two relatively small people need a king size bed? Well, it's the kitties fault. You can blame them for the expense. The bed is really for them, not us. The same way that the house is for them. We merely have the joy of sustaining it and maintaining it.

Back to the kitties.

We are a family of routine, and these two little darlings certainly have us well trained. They know the routine at breakfast time, which is, they follow me around until they see me heading for the staircase. Then they tumble down the stairs and herd me toward their food bowls.

The dinner routine is a little different. Less herding, but way more meowing.

Now, bedtime, and this is the part that relates back to the mattress and the new bed, requires another ritual. One of the kitties usually scouts out the joint (even though they know it pretty well after all of these years) while the other one starts to find a comfortable spot, usually near me, mommy. Then they eventually both end up on the bed with us, usually in a horizontal position, resulting in either or both of us having absolutely no room at the inn. For myself, when I need to turn from side to side, imagine turning a souvlaki skewer on a BBQ. I feel like a souvlaki on a skewer.

So, four more sleeps on the old mattress and bed frame until the new sleek version arrives. King size mattress and box spring. New headboard. Toe stub preventer bed frame. Camel colored duvet cover with bed skirt and two pillow shams. A duck filled duvet (quack quack). Two sets of sage colored sheets. Two thermopedic pillows.

While visions of monthly payments danced in their heads.

Recipe for Disaster

Ho Ho Ho pfffft! The color red is not exactly the happy Christmas type of red. it is more the type of red which usually accompanies steam blowing through ears.

You may have detected that I am in a somewhat grumpy mood. I wasn't earlier, but I certainly am now. Here's why.

• Take one 7 1/2 foot artificial Christmas tree (complete with 700 pre-attached mini lights).


• Add in two sane adults (okay, sort of sane).


• Mix gently.


• Oh! Don't' forget to add that there is no logical place in this house for a tree that big!!!

This is a powerful enough cocktail sure to fry anybody's tootsies.

Now, this is not the first time that I have been wondering where in the heckers this monster tree was going to go. You see, it moved with us last year, but it didn't go up last year. It sat quietly in the garage, not bothering a soul, but I heard it calling from the bowels of the garage....it said 'Where are you going to put me? Where are you going to put me? There is no place to put me...heh heh.'. Oh yes, I heard it for the past year and a half, and I dreaded this Christmas when we would actually have to force it to stand somewhere, anywhere.

But it didn't. Stand anywhere that is. It's just too frigging big! It's too wide. It blocks the doorways. It blocks the windows. We even tried putting it together with only the two top pieces, so that it would be like a mini tree.

Oh! There was also a casualty. One of the little mini bulbs also fell off, which means that one of the 700 lights is missing, and one of those sections probably won't light. Argh!

It ended up looking like a dwarf tree. Worse than a dwarf tree. With a lot of bald spots.

Now, while it was being moved, and assembled, and un-assembled, and moved, its lovely little green branch thingies were falling all over the place (thank goodness our house gets cleaned tomorrow, because the floor looks like Chuckie has done a number here!!!).

I know what is going to happen. We are going to go to the store, again, to try to find a tree (I only hope it's not a tabletop tree...I really really don't want one of those....and my apologies to those of you who have them and like them).

At this point, I'd even be happy with a little Charlie Brown type of tree. The little tree that nobody wanted..

The 12 Days of Pre-Christmas

The 12 Days of Christmas (yes, like the song). You have all heard of these, with the partridge in the pear tree and the six laying geese. These are supposed to be the activities that begin after Christmas Day. The festivities start on the evening of 26th December and continue until January 6th.

So, with that in mind, I have an idea for the 12 days of Pre-Christmas, starting on Dec 13th. and ending on Dec. 24th.

Now, I am not sure exactly what is going to come out of all of this, but you can be sure that it will be off the wall.

Stay tuned....hey...join in if you dare....