Another Weather Warning

It's been a really crappy day. I do apologise for all the misery on here. I'm actually looking around for some humour to post soon.
It seems there is a severe winter storm coming, and we're under a weather warning for freezing rain and ice pellets through the night and into tomorrow.
I still haven't heard from the Palmerston Hospital re an appointment, ugh. Though both my family doc and the specialist have assured me there's no rush, tell that to my innards.
So I sent an email to my nieces husband asking him when would be best to go see her etc. He replied. Sadly, she is in pain. I've heard before that bone cancer is painful. In fact I lost a sister-in-law, my brothers first wife, to bone cancer. This is going to be very tough. I'm just thankful that we did have some fun times together in recent years. We were very close as kids.
Tomorrow is the dinner doo for the 4H Club. I have mixed feelings about it. It'll probably turn out to be a good time. Never been to one before, so not quite sure what to expect.
Well Hubby is home now, so I'm off, but I'll be back...

Living In The Past

Good morning.

Coffee with S.W was nice. Haven't talked much in the last few weeks so it was nice to get together. We both did some venting and sharing.

Emotions are running high in this house these days. There is an awful lot going on. Anyone who has ever been through an insurance lawsuit knows what that can be like. 'Nuff said.

There is a constant pressure living beside the troll and the clown. (Hey "Anonymous", you would probably get along really well with them!) Though I must say, I've become pretty good at not seeing them. Over time it has gotten easier to not even think about them, even when I do happen to see them.

On the other side, they seem to have given up the constant complaining campaign. It didn't get them anywhere. I've heard he has cancer now, so maybe that's become more important to them. Tragic that it takes something like cancer to make people realize they just shouldn't waste their effort sweating the petty stuff.

Anyone who knows me, knows I always get emotional at Christmas. The closer it gets the more emotional I get. There are several reasons for this. I am naturally a sentimental person. It's in my nature, it's part of who I am.
The biggest thing is missing my mom. I remember how it was when she was here and reflect on how it's never been the same without her.
I regret that I never got to learn things from her like baking and cooking, which is a big thing at Christmas.
I remember how much she loved Christmas and taught me to love it also.
There are just millions of little memories. I remember the big dinners with all, or most, of the family there. I was quite young in those days. See, I grew up more or less, as an only child. My siblings are all much older than me. So it was wonderful to have all those people at the house, there was nothing I loved more. My siblings and all their kids, it was great!
Often for the adults, there was a few drinks and then a trip off to midnight mass. My mom, happily giggling as she tripped through the snow, coming or going for midnight mass.
One year, and I must have been very young, we had gone out Christmas Eve to visit, I don't remember who, and when we came home there was a teddy bear sitting on the kitchen counter. No one knew where it had come from. That sealed it for me! I BELIEVED! I'm sure I rushed off to bed that night.

My mom, as I'm sure I've said before, has been gone for 22 years now. It is nice to have memories like that, happy memories.

Eventually, someone else had to take over the Christmas dinner, or get together at least, if the family was going to stick together at all. It was chaotic, everyone was busy, the kids were growing up, many had jobs which had them out working on Christmas. But most years, though it was never the same as having the matriarch there, my sister, Gail, would put on a dinner and cram the whole remaining family into her place. It was never the same and it was never the whole family. But we all appreciated the effort and did our best. Gail and her husband both had jobs that called for them to work on Christmas sometimes, so sometimes they weren't even there.
In October 1995 Gail passed away after a lengthy battle with ovarian cancer. Christmas '95 wasn't very festive.
For the next few years it was scattered, it would be Christmas Eve get togethers at various homes, mainly Gails daughter and daughter-in-law were the ones trying to keep it going. It was overshadowed by them all missing their mom and me missing my mom and my sister.
Then I turned into Clark Griswald and decided we were gonna have an old fashioned family Christmas all together at my place dammit. By now, my siblings kids have all grown, have kids of their own, and some have jobs which require them to work on Christmas. We did that for a few years, whoever could make it showed up.
In 2000, Gails daughter Jane, passed away Christmas Eve after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was only 34. I had the best dinner yet, all planned and in the making. I wasn't informed of her passing until mid morning Christmas Day. Obviously some people just could not come. It was kind of left up to me if I wanted to go ahead with the dinner or not, and I passed the decision off to others, and between us we agreed to go ahead and make the best of it. It was a very very sad Christmas dinner.
In 2001, Gails husband, decided he was going home to Ireland for the holidays. He had just lost his wife and daughter and wanted to go back to see his own siblings etc. He had an early dinner in the party room at the condo he had moved to after Gail died. Whoever could make it, was there. Thats the last time I ever saw him. He died of a massive heart attack, back in Ireland, on Christmas Eve.
Again, it was me putting on the dinner, but actually on Christmas Eve instead of the 25th for whatever now forgotten reason. So there I was peeling vegetables or whatever when my brother showed up for dinner and informed me that my brother-in-law had passed away that day. Another very sad Christmas.

Through all this, I wanted my kids to be able to experience some of the things I experienced i.e a big old fashioned family Christmas. With global warming and all, there was never even any snow for my kids to experience. With all the deaths, there isn't much family left.

I don't think it's all that difficult to understand why I may get emotional this time of year.

As far as my Hubby, well, he has no family, period. Me and our kids are his family. He has his own issues of missing his family etc. What's left of my family, is his family. They really do love him and he them.

I've done my best with my own kids. One reason we moved here was the snow belt factor, we're pretty sure to always have a white Christmas.
Thus far Big R has managed to come up and stay over, but in my opinion doesn't stay long enough.
We really try. I am grateful for the memories I have. I have tried my damndest to create new memories with and for my daughters. Big R once told me she has nothing but good memories of Christmas.
So we do the best we can. We try new and different things. We create new traditions. We struggle through Christmas each year. But it isn't getting easier. Little R is kind of in the same boat I was, living like an only child. It can be lonely. That makes me feel bad for her.

So yeah, shoot me, I get emotional about Christmas. Big fuckin deal.

Let me tell you something "Anonymous". It has nothing to do with living in the past.

Now, stalking and haunting me, someone who's been out of your life for many years, by choice not by death, that's living in the past. To pick this time of year, to pull your shit, assuming it will be most hurtful, is just nasty. But that's you. Your goal is to hurt and upset me. You don't have any family or friends or happy memories. You are miserable and always have been. You like to share your misery. Thats all. Thats you.

Newsflash...it doesn't affect me. Since I don't care one way or the other about you, since you are nothing to me but a small bad memory, you can't hurt me. But thank you so much for showing your true colours to the rest of the world.

You are so pathetic. I feel pity for you if anything. You are vindictive. You are hateful. You are selfish and greedy. You are thoughtless. You are arrogant. You are ignorant. And you know, I can't even think of a single good quality that you possess! You are just a sad waste of human life.

I don't need an analyst, thank you, got one. If you would like to go around analysing people, why don't you go get yourself educated first. Better yet, just find a good one for yourself.

Rather than stalking me and my life, why not go out and get your own life? Rather than continually telling me to look in a mirror, why not take your own advice? Rather than hiding, lurking, waiting, for a perceived weakness to pounce on, to attack me, just....move....on.

And by the way, if keeping a blog isn't like looking in a mirror at times, I don't know what is.

So yeah, have a peach of a day.

If It Wasn't For Bad News...There'd Be No News

Was having a great day here.
Still waiting for S.W. to go for coffee. She'll be here around 2.
Took the dog for a walk in the foggy drizzle.
Came back and checked the email.
Theres a comment from Big R to call my dad.
I did.
It's bad.
My niece got her results.
She has stage 4 lung cancer spreading to her bones.
Not much detail like how long she has etc.
Hubby and I plan to go see her this weekend.
Her son came back from Afghanistan.
Her mom, my sister, is down there with her.
She has plenty of family with her for sure.
There is nothing to say.
Nothing can be done.
It's not fair.
I regret the years we spent estranged.
We rekindled our relationship about 4 years ago.
But the last year has held little contact.
Though I think of her often.
She had a very busy life going.
She has so much to live for and so many who love her and will miss her.
This is brutal.
I'm sad.
Later...

Have A Great Day

Good morning faithful readers.
Let me introduce you to Cathy, er oops, I mean Anonymous.
Always there to kick me when I'm down, or as in this case, when she thinks I'm down. She hasn't been a part of my life for many years, can you imagine why? And yet she seems to think she has a clue what is going on in my life. She is one of the people I am referring to when I do speak of the past, and the people who have hurt me, and the friends who were never really friends.
All I have ever "expected" from her that she finds is asking too much, is an apology. Admitting she treats me like shit and apologising for it. Thats ALL I ever wanted. Some things really do never change I guess.
And Cathy, you are as dumb as a stump, as dense as a rock. You have no idea what is going on in my life. So really you have no basis for any kind of opinion on the matter. That's just you trying to kick me when you think I'm down, like all good friends do. Your ideas and opinions of me have no basis in reality, they exist nowhere but in your mind. Clearly you don't even know me. Which is what makes you seem so stupid, because you have known me for so long and yet you have no clue what type of person I am. But I suppose clearly you are still the same thickskulled loser you always were.

Still feeling ill. This is either my cervical issues or I picked up a bug from some of the snot-nosed brats at the parade.

As life's irony seems to always work out, just after reading the ill-informed comment on here, Little R brought in the mail, and I received a 4 page snail mail letter from MY FRIEND J.C. She is computerless at present so she sent a letter. I'm tempted to copy and post it here for some to learn from. But nah, waste of effort. But let me tell you, that letter cancels out any and all negativity from "Anonymous". LMFAO.

And hey, S.W, if you read this this morning, I'm feeling a little better already LOL, so call my cell when you're ready to have coffee.

Have a grrrrrreeeeeaat day all.

Depression Is A Tricky Thing

Did you know that research into depression only started 15-20 years ago? They don't know all that much about it still. By they I mean the medical community. It's a tricky thing because it's not something you can actually see, with your eyes, like a broken bone for instance.
They don't know what causes it. Why do some people experience depression and others don't? Again tricky, because there are likely several factors involved in the cause, several causes. There are different levels of depression, while one person may feel blue and under the weather, at one end of the scale, and another may commit suicide, at the other end of the scale, and everything in between.
It has been hit and miss, trial and error, with treatments and medications.
The good news is, they are doing research. Always coming out with new drugs. Some day it will be figured out.
Personally, there is no question I suffer from depression and always have. It presents itself in different ways at different times. Something that works for me one time may not work the next time.
I don't believe that's what I'm going through right now though. I really don't feel good, physically. I have a lot on my mind. I am wondering if it isn't my cervical issues causing me to feel ill. Or maybe! it's just something I ate!

Good Night

It's 2a.m and here I am. That's what happens when I slam off to bed at 8p.m.

I did not get busy today, I slept, all day. My awake moments were spent at the computer. I don't feel so good.

I don't know who I am.

I'm a mother of two, but I don't know how it feels to give birth.

I bought a house, but it doesn't feel like home.

I love it here, but I hate it here too.

I don't feel well.

I don't know who I am.

Nothing makes sense to me.

I don't feel anything.

I feel ill, if that counts. I feel numb. I feel lost.

I can remember some of my dreams.

Not sleep dreams. Life dreams.

Sleep dreams are bad.

Playing euchre, online or off, isn't even fun any more.

It's a crazy world. Full of crazy people.

How do you know if a person is crazy?

I don't feel so good.

I'm not sure who to believe.

I've lost faith, in all, including myself.

Where do I go from here?

I have a lot more questions than answers.

I miss my mom. Sometimes very intensely.

I miss my daughters. I miss my sisters.

They're all strangers to me.

I'm lost.

Good night.

No Friends+No Family+No Snow+No Money=No Spirit

Good morning.
It was a lazy weekend that's for sure. We spent Sunday night watching movies which ended with 4 hours of home movies. Hubby gave me a video camera last Christmas, so we have 4 hours of last holiday season from Christmas day to January sometime. Then nothing until this past Thanksgiving. We sure had a lot of snow last winter.
I think its a combination of things like lack of money, lack of snow, lack of good friends, lack of family, which is just dragging me down about the holidays. All the people I believed to be my friends a year ago have since proved me wrong about that. It looks like we won't be seeing any insurance money until the new year.
I'm having health issues and we don't have the money to finish getting my new teeth. Big R is having health issues which I just found out about this weekend. She has a lump or lumps on her thyroid, not a good thing. Hubby is still crippled with pain. The only time he isn't in pain is when he is spaced out on his pain medication. Not sure which is worse. We've given up any hope of ever reuniting with Hubbys family. My family hasn't changed, at least no one died.
My mind changes from day to day about how we want to spend our holiday. One day I think we'll be best off to have a quiet time hanging out together at home. The next day I think I'd like to make another attempt at having the remaining family up for a big dinner. Another day I think maybe we should trek up to my sisters place in Gravenhurst. Then I think we might venture down to the city to my other sisters place to see my father. Then I think perhaps a party with our remaining friends and family and new friends. Maybe a pre-Christmas party. Or maybe save that for New Years. I just don't know what we should do, which leads me back to, maybe we should do nothing. UGH.
It's not too difficult to go through the motions. But I want to FEEL it.
This coming Friday is the awards night dinner thing for Little Rs 4H Club. I was looking forward to that, now it feels like an imposition. It has become just another one of those things that just depends on who you know. We don't know anyone involved. My disappointment over her not winning that award overshadows all else as far as the 4H Club is concerned.
Worrying about money and health matters is overshadowing my Christmas spirit.
I watched part of the movie "Click" with Adam Sandler, Hubby was raving about what a good movie it is after he watched it the other day, I wasn't impressed. That's why I didn't watch the whole thing. I'll give it another chance though when I'm in the mood to sit through another movie.
Today, I'm going to get busy. I am the worlds worst procrastinator. I have a list as long as my arm of things I want to do around the house. I spend far too much time sleeping and sitting at the computer. I wait for Hubby to do the things I want him to do. It's time to just work around the things he needs to do. Maybe some action on my part will motivate him! I'm mainly referring to the basement. It is so jumbled and full of stuff, but its impossible to find anything. There are boxes still unpacked from moving here over 3 years ago, alongside of boxes of stuff we've bought since being here, and boxes of Christmas decorations, Halloween decorations, some boxes of Big Rs storage, and tools, and old electronics, and countless old computer components. There are no shelves (thats Hubbys task, to put in shelving) so its all scattered and piled all over the floor. I am a packrat.
Oh well, gotta start somehwere. The garage is in much the same condition as well as the spare bedroom and the roughed in bathroom downstairs, which has become more of a walk in storage locker. Jeez. It's bad I tell ya. Where did all this stuff come from?
Ok, have yourself a lovely day.

Arthur Santa Claus Parade

Good evening.

After a tour all over Elora, we made it to Arthur in the nick of time. Hubby saw in the paper that there was a parade in Elora as well as Arthur. Since Elora is closer to us we decided to go there instead. Hubby thought both parades started at 7 p.m. We got to Elora just in time to see the very end, we asked another spectator if it was over or just starting, and it was over, it had started at 6. Looks like we missed a good parade too, lots of music and lights. So we pile back into the car, and I thought we were heading to Arthur, as we still had time to catch that parade, but no, Hubby had a different idea, he was heading to the end of the parade route! So after much driving around Elora, coming to road blocks, and finally clueing me in on his little plan, we eventually headed to Arthur, sheesh. As I said, we made it just in time. Honestly I wouldn't have minded missing the first half of it, as it was all emergency vehicles, blaring their horns and sirens, like 20 of them! I wouldn't want to be living in Arthur and needing an ambulance or firetruck on parade night. And I'm glad we decided against bringing Bear this time, he would have been having a nervous breakdown. I'm glad we went, it was worth it. Of course my camera was acting up, new batteries and all, it doesn't seem to like being out in the cold. The floats were all very creative and festive, the whole thing was very well done. Took lots of pictures but most didn't turn out very good. Heres some that turned out decent...

As usual the photos just don't do justice.

Did you know the movie "A Christmas Story" was made in 1983? I did not know that! Big R was born in '83 and I would remember that movie being around then. I'm sure I never even heard of it until the '90's sometime. Its all over the news today because some guy bought the house where it was filmed, has restored it, and opened it today as a museum type of thing. Apparently, from what I read today, it took a while for the movie to catch on, but once it did, it became a classic right up there with "Miracle on 34th Street" and "White Christmas". I know it's one of my favourites.

I'm glad to see there are several new Christmas movies coming out this year. Books too.

Is it just me, or isn't it still a little early for festive lights up and ON everywhere? I noticed a heck of a lot of homes all decked out and lit up during our travels this evening. Ours are up but we weren't turning them on just yet. I don't know, I just don't have the spirit this year. We need snow!

I'm off, have a lovely night.

Yaaawnnn

The reason I even mentioned that email not going through was because it was a very long letter, like 30kb long. It took a long time to compose. A measly misplaced dot is why it didn't go through. A blessing in disguise. It was manic. I'm sure I could cut it back to at least 15kb and still get my point across.

I wish Christmas would just go away, just this one time.

Possibly going to the Arthur Santa Claus Parade this evening. Yippee.

It is a gorgeous sunny day. The Weather Network is calling for snow in 5 days. It also says it's foggy outside right now.

I've been up since 6 a.m, it's almost noon now, I need a nap.

Until later...

Thinking About It Is The First Step

Good morning.
The temperatures are back up in the plusses. Its been sunny and pleasant. Had Hubby home with me for a few days. That was a little nerve racking.
Todays the first chance I've had to just sit at the computer. Had a couple of appointments this week.
One appointment was with my family doctor. He explained things to me a little better than the specialist did. They haven't actually found cancer but are unable to rule it out. If its there this guy will find it. If its there, its small and we're catching it in time. That was a relief to hear. I still haven't heard from the hospital about my next appointment though. But that explains why they are in no big hurry.

I found a tied up bag on my front lawn the other day. It contained a collection of dog poo.

I'm thinking of adding a little thing on here, Random Recipes, lol.

I tried sending out an email yesterday which came back undeliverable. This could mean the address doesn't exist or the recipient has me blocked or I just made a typo in the address. I hate when that happens. I suppose its possible this person has a different email account now since they just moved recently and the address I used was for their business which went out of business. Oh well.

Still haven't even started Christmas shopping. This is so odd. I'm not panicking yet, but I can feel the panic looming just below the surface. Thinking about it is the first step to planning. That's the best I can do right now.

Well, I'm off, enjoy your day.

IF I Did It ???

Greetings...
Read in the news that the book O.J. Simpson wrote, titled "If I Did It", has been cancelled. It had already been shipped out to some stores but has been recalled. The publisher has decided not to sell the book. And Fox Television will not be showing an interview with O.J. Good choice.
I watched that whole trial on Court TV. I was stunned when he was found not guilty. In my mind, it was obvious he did it. That trial was life altering for some of the attorneys involved. Not only the attorneys, others lives were forever changed as well. The guy got away with murder. It would be so very wrong for him to profit from it.
Just another example of what a crazy world it is.
I had a cold and lazy day.
Going to play euchre now.
Have a warm and cozy evening.

Tis The Season Give Give Give

Good morning.
The mail-in vote? It was a disaster.
I had gone over and asked one of the Councillors if we have to vote by mail, if there would also be a regular vote where we could do it in person. She said no, have to do it by mail. I said, "that's lame". She said many people have expressed a positive opinion and, in fact, I was the first to have a negative opinion. She said it was much better for people who work so they don't have to miss any time from work to go vote. Also people who can't get out to vote for whatever reason.
This particular Councillor also runs the Post Office and has total access to the mail. That seems like a bit of a conflict to me. Besides the fact that I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her. I do have my reasons for this, and I'm not alone. Yes, she was re-elected.
Apparently people didn't understand the instructions in their voting kits and did it wrong. I still think it was a bad idea. I'm not sure, haven't been reading the local news much lately, so I don't know what they did about it.
It's just another case of people who can't leave well enough alone. If it isn't broke, don't try to fix it. I'm just hoping they learned from this and will go back to the regular voting in person method next time.

The temperature has dropped, it's been below freezing the last couple of days. It flurried all through the night and we have a dusting of snow on the ground this morning.
Besides the food bank collecting goods at the parade, there were some high school kids collecting winter coats, hats, gloves, etc. for a local youth shelter. I wasn't aware of it and didn't notice them at the parade, I read it this morning in the local news. Now I know what I can do with the closetful of old coats we have, and all the extra scarves, hats and mittens that we don't use. The Salvation Army accepts these things too.
You can also donate food, new toys and gift certificates for Dufferin Christmas Hampers which go out to families in need. Drop off locations are the Salvation Army, Orangeville Mall, LCBO, St.Timothy's Catholic Church and Harveys/Swiss Chalet, to name a few.

Tis the season. The season for giving. And I love to give.

If you have ever had hard times then you can appreciate what this is all about.

I'm off to clean. We have an insurance investigator coming to visit today.
Have a great day.

Santa Claus Parade

Good evening.
Yesterday I mentioned the pageant at the Town Hall and that I hadn't heard anything about one taking place this year. Later, when I picked up the mail, there it was, the bright green flyer. The ex-Mayor and his cohorts will be entertaining us again this year. It seems to me the cost of the tickets went up too lol. I believe they were $3 last year and are $5 this year. I wonder if it will be a better show.
Today was the Orangeville Santa Claus Parade. We brought the dog for the first time. I always want to bring him and Hubby disagrees, I acquiese to him and then we get there and there are hundreds of dogs there, so I say "see, I told you so, everyone brings their dogs!" So this time he agreed to bring the dog. The poor guy...lol, the dog that is.
The parade features police and fire vehicles and they woot woot with the sirens and obviously Bear isn't used to hearing sirens. Then you have the marching bands with the big bass drums and bagpipes etc. And of course all the animals. There were horses of all sizes, dogs of all sizes and even a couple of reindeer. Not to mention all the other hundreds of pet dogs watching the parade. He just didn't know what was going on. It was quite cold out there too and I think he was cold. He started out happy and excited but ended up trembling with his tail between his legs. He barked once, at one particular dog, who was walking with the SPCA float. This evening he is crying out in pain when he moves. I think he has arthritis.
As is one of our little family traditions, after the parade we come home and start putting up our Christmas lights. I don't really care how much energy those new LED lights save, I hate them. They just aren't the same. They aren't Christmassy at all. The colours are off. They aren't bright enough. The blue is super bright, jumps out at you, and the green is pretty much invisible. The others are just blah. At one point I told Hubby, the new lights will be yard sale items next summer, and he said "no way, you just need to get used to them." Once we were done and we walked out to have a look from the street, he agreed. I think the problem is that we got the multi-coloured ones. I could see them looking better if they were all one colour, maybe. Surprisingly, he then agreed to hang old-fashioned, energy sucking, outdoor lights around the trailer sitting in the driveway, to add that touch of redneck class...and that it does.
The parade itself was pretty good as always. The floats are always creative. I'm guessing the theme this year was "A Country Christmas". We saw a few people we know in it which is fun. I took a picture of almost every float and every band etc. I'll post a few here...my favourites...






















These photos don't do justice. Not sure why they look so far away, didn't look that way in the camera when I was taking them. There are a lot of details you just can't see. The one with the snowmen was cool, there were actually people in some of the snowmen waving their stick arms and dancing around. The guy in the one-horse open sleigh was our Mayor, he's the guy behind the Christmas Pageant, and has now moved up the food chain to become the Warden of Dufferin County.
There were displays from all types of businesses and organizations, including the food bank, and damned if we didn't forget about it this year. Last year we had a bag of food to give them, but forgot to bring it, left it sitting at home by the front door, ready to go. This time we just completely forgot about it. I felt like such a shmuck when they walked by with their nearly empty shopping carts. Oh well, we'll just have to take extra when the school has their collection for it.
It was a good day.
I'm relaxing by the fire, watching the weeks worth of The Y&R on SoapNet.
Think I'll play some euchre now.
Have a fabulous evening.
XOXOXO

O Christmas Tree...

Good morning.
Another ugly day out there.
There's no school today so Little R is still asleep. When she came home yesterday, rather than telling us what fun she had, she was pissed off, and telling us how much she missed because of her group leader.

Since living here, actually it started before moving here, I got in the habit of having 2 Christmas trees. I bought a cheap fake one to put up in our party room in the basement where we lived before. The real one went up upstairs in the livingroom. We did the same thing here, except the real one goes downstairs in the familyroom as that's where we spend our time. Last year I gave the fake tree to Big R, she was complaining that her place wasn't decorated or Christmassy, so I asked her if she wanted it and she gladly accepted it. Her apartment is quite small so it fit well. I missed having 2 trees last year, so I've been on the lookout for another fake one. I can't bring myself to pay the big bucks for one though, so I'm looking for a cheap one. I did see pre-lit trees on sale in a flyer, but come time to go buy it, damned if I could remember which store had the sale and damned if I could find the flyer. I suppose we could have 2 real trees, but that would mean buying another stand and keeping them both watered, ugh. This all reminds me of the hole in the ceiling in the familyroom. Last year when Hubby was taking the tree out of the stand, it was stuck, so he gave it a yank, and the top punched a hole in the ceiling lol. That hole is still there and we both kind of chuckle whenever we look at it. There was a time when I had one big box of Christmas decorations. I now have at least 5 big boxes! One box just for all the lights, one box full of garlands and such, at least 2 boxes of tree ornaments, a box of wreaths, etc. I buy new stuff every year, but I rarely throw anything old away. Hard to believe I haven't even started shopping yet! I don't like doing it at the last minute, however, you gotta do what you gotta do. Last year the Mayor and Town Council put on a show at the Town Hall. I went, and it was really pretty good. I haven't heard anything about another one this year. We have a new Mayor now. They also had a New Years Dance at the Town Hall last year, which we didn't attend, but heard it was good. Again haven't heard anything about a dance this year.
Every year since living here we have gone nextdoor on New Years Eve. Last year I wanted to go to the dance but Hubby wanted to stick with tradition and for whatever reason I have been acquiescing to him more and more lately. Actually I do know why that is, it's because I know I am selfish and have been trying to change that.
I see it is snowing now. Little R just got up. I'm off to start my day. Have a good one. TGIF.

It's An Honour To Be Nominated...BUT...You Lose

It was so ugly out I slept most of the day and that's why I'm here now at 12:45 in the morning. It was just dark, dreary, cold, wet and foggy, yuk.

Little R received a Christmas card the other day. It was from the 4H Club. It was one of those cards that's blank so you can write your own note inside. It was quite the note. The purpose of which, was telling her what an honour it is just being nominated, but, unfortunately, you're not getting the award, someone else is. As usual, I think I was more disappointed than she was.

I still haven't heard anything from the Palmerston Hospital in regards to an appointment for a more indepth biopsy. The doctor himself called me to explain, that it was really too complicated to explain to me, and there is no hurry, (that's a matter of opinion I think), but I do need to go back and the hospital will call with an appointment.
The dentist is waiting for me to make the appointment to get the rest of my teeth pulled. I can't do that until I have about $1500 to spare. Meanwhile, my dentures are ready and waiting and my gums are apparently shrinking. This will just mean more $$ for more adjustments later. Sigh.

My new internet service is great. I even have a slightly faster connection with it.

We dropped off our Christmas Child shoeboxes this evening. We truly enjoyed the whole experience and look forward to making it a tradition. It turns out, in future years, I can get the pre-made, pre-printed boxes from the drop-off center. They are a little smaller than the boxes we used, so we'll see. I wouldn't really want to have to go any smaller, it was tough enough cramming everything into the bigger boxes. It would just eliminate having to wrap them.

Little R went to the Science Center with her class. The volunteer parent in charge of her group is a smoker. Therefore they spent a portion of their time sitting and waiting, while said parent went out for a smoke. That isn't right. And that's one reason I don't bother volunteering. It isn't fair to the kids. And this is a parent who had the cahones to criticise my parenting. A thoughtless individual, who does things for all the wrong reasons, but believe they appear to be doing the right thing. All I can say is, I'm not surprised. I am however surprised that the school allows this.

I'm tired, finally. More to come tomorrow...

Over Packaging

Good morning.
The packaging of these new Christmas lights is ridiculous! The box has a little window showing a few bulbs, I guess so you can see the size and colour. In order to have the bulbs lined up perfectly in the little window, they are all twisted and tied into a plastic rack type thing which is taped and glued and stapled into the box. I swear, it is more work getting them out of the box than putting them up! And forget about keeping the box for storage or anything, because there is no way of getting them out without destroying the box.
Speaking of new Christmas paraphernalia, we got velcro for putting up the lights, very cool, should make it easy, and a velcro kit for displaying cards. I don't know if this stuff is new this year or not, but I've never seen it before.
On that note, it's nice and sunny out there, perfect kind of day for putting up lights outside. Even though I swore not to start decorating until December 1 at the earliest, better to take advantage of the nice weather than to be out there in a raging blizzard trying to do it.
Have a great day!

Lest We Forget (But Oops I Did)

Good evening.
To be honest, on Remembrance Day, I forgot it was Remembrance Day. I notice I even posted an entry that day. Today, I read a thread in one of my groups discussing the tradition of a 2 minute silence at 11 a.m. Someone in the group was in a store when it was announced over a P.A system that it was 11 a.m, please bow your head, pray and be silent for 2 minutes, however a couple of people totally ignored this and carried on chatting away through the whole thing, and how ignorant they felt this was. I would tend to agree. I happened to be in our truck with Hubby going to town at 11 a.m on November 11th. He reached over, turned off the radio and looked at me, and I knew right away what he was doing and we did have (almost) a 2 minute silence. I say almost because, silly me, I thought it was only 1 minute and started yapping after 1 minute. But I shut up again when he informed me. Oops. My point is, there was no one around, no one to impress, it was just the right thing to do. It DOES have meaning. It DOES matter. It's a matter of RESPECT. And we would have done the same thing no matter where we were. It's something we have both done every year all our lives. Not sure why I thought it was only 1 minute though, since it IS something I've done every year for 45 years, other than maybe old age, my memory just isn't what it used to be. I can't imagine having such disregard, disrespect, to yap through it in public. I'm sure Hubby and I both would have had something to say to these folks.
Someone also posted in that thread about a site called Chosen Soldier. I've checked it out and I think this is a great idea. You can send parcels and letters to the Canadian troops in Afghanistan! What a wonderful, tangible way to show your support, gratitude, appreciation and respect!
This week is the drop off time for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Now I'm going to start on a parcel for some Canadian soldiers.
I happened to go out to check the mail just as it was being delivered this morning, so I mentioned the missing mail to our mail lady and she was not happy to hear about it. But what can she do? I'm thinking of buying a new, lockable, mailbox.
Good night and sweet dreams.

A Cozy Evening At Home

Good afternoon.
What a yucky day.
Went to town this morning to do a little shopping. It was a zoo. Sadly, it will only get worse from now until Christmas.
We went to buy some of those new LED lights which were on sale. $5 for a 35-light set. I didn't realise they come in different sizes, they do, these are the smaller ones. Apparently these lights use 80%-90% less energy than the old type. The proof will be in our hydro bill. The box claims they should last for 20 years. What I also didn't realise is, the bulbs are not removable or, therefore, replacable. So once they die that's it. We bought 10 sets and a couple of sets of the bigger size at regular price. We bought a couple last year too. We should be all set now to replace all our old lights. It is a fact that the old lights hiked our hydro bill up considerably.
Currently, Hubby has gone back to town to the computer shop. He is attempting to network our home computers so they can be online at the same time. Being on dial-up makes every little thing a hassle. This coming week, we are getting a second phone line so we can have a dedicated computer line. Yay!
I took a photo of all of Little R's 4H prize ribbons...



Shopping with Hubby isn't fun at the best of times, but when it's a jam-packed-holiday-zoo, he is a real treat to have around. He turns into this trembling, sweating, cranky-as-hell mess. I think his new meds spaz him out too. Can't wait to actually start Christmas shopping, oh the joy. This is so late for me to be starting, I'm getting nervous. Normally I'm pretty much done by now. It's sneaking up on us fast.
That reminds me, when I spoke to my sister last, she had mentioned wanting to put up her lights and decorate and how odd this is. She hates Christmas. Normally, she is miserable about it and does everything grudgingly. She has been saying and doing things quite out of character lately. In the case of her Christmas attitude adjustment, it's a good thing!
Have a cozy evening.

What Skating Rink?

Good evening.
This sign hangs on the fence around the tennis court at the local park...



It clearly states "skating rink". That was one of the little things which weighed in on the pro side of moving here. This will be our 4th winter here and there hasn't been a skating rink at the park once yet. Last year a spigot was installed supposedly for the express purpose of flooding a skating rink. It didn't happen. We've tossed around the idea of making our own rink in the backyard, but it seems like an awful lot of work. Since we've never done it before, we're not sure where to begin. And the way life goes, the year we go ahead with it will be the same year the Lions Club makes one at the park.

It looks like the township may have finally fixed the water problem. After much digging and making a mucky mess that is.

We've discovered more missing mail. Our mortgage renewal papers. The mortgage company called us wondering why they haven't heard from us yet. Also, the other day when I fetched the mail, I noticed an envelope which was taped closed and had a small tear on the flap, as if it had been opened and then taped closed. Definately time to give Canada Post a call.

Ah well, have a nice night.

Because I Can

Good morning.
It's 5 a.m and I really have nothing to say. I'm only posting this because I can.
One of the first things I did when I got back online yesterday was to check my email. I rarely use my Hotmail account any more but I checked it. I do use it, it just isn't my main account. You can imagine my surprise to find an email from someone I haven't heard from in a year. And it had only been sent a half hour before I saw it.
J.C is someone I used to talk to online every single day and then out of the blue she just dropped off the face of the earth. When I phoned her, the number was out of service. At first I was worried something terrible had happened to her. Eventually I figured she just no longer wanted me in her life or something. I had given up any hope of ever hearing from her again. This was very much out of the blue, and kind of bizarre. She included her new address and phone number. I'm very happy about this.
Sunday evening my sister called me. Also kind of bizarre. She doesn't do that, unless she has a reason to call. It is rare for her to just call me to say HI. Anyways, she gave me an update on my niece. It seems after her biopsy the results got lost! How does that happen? So she still doesn't know what's going on. She is being sent for other tests now too. It's not sounding good for her. Of course me being the worlds biggest procrastinator, I haven't called her yet either.
One of my sisters sons is a Level 3 Paramedic. That means he only goes out to life threatening calls. I was stunned to hear some of the goings on with the ambulance service in the city, in the GTA. Like the number of ambulances out on the road at any given time. It is scarey shit folks. Something like 24 ambulances serving over 2 million people. It's amazing they can keep up at all. Also, he spends the majority of his shift sitting with patients at hospitals, waiting, because they can't leave until the patient is checked in. It is all very wasteful. But that's our government at work. Their priorities are all messed up. They waste money and resources like you wouldn't believe.
I'm off to start my day, have a good one.

I'm Back Online

I can't even begin to tell you how ignorant it was to wake up Saturday morning at 5 a.m, make a coffee, come down to my computer, just like I do every freaking day of my life, and find I couldn't connect. After fooling around and trying everything I could think of for a while, I eventually woke Hubby up, he's the true techie in this house. After him fooling around and trying everything he could think of, I finally convinced him to call our service provider. After much holding and confusion on the phone, he was told our account was suspended as of midnight Friday! It seems we are a couple of weeks late paying our bill. This is extemely funny to me since we didn't pay our bill for a couple of years and nothing at all happened, then we paid the whole thing off at once and within weeks they suspend our account. He was also told we couldn't have it reactivated until Monday when there would be someone there in the billing department to do it. We said fine then we'll just go to a computer store in town and get a different server. The only other server available to us here just happened to be down for the weekend!
I was not a happy camper.
So, I kept myself busy and tried not to think about it. I've been a little taken aback by how much I missed having internet service. I am very attached. It is my lifeline. I felt lost.
Saturday evening Hubby made it easy to forget. He woke up from a nap with a swollen upper lip which I could literally watch spread up his face. It was scarey. He had been complaining of a toothache and decided it must be an infection, and that was why he went to take a nap, hoping the pain would have mellowed out when he awoke. So it was off to emerg. once again. It was quite busy, so we were there for about 3 hours. Yes it is an infection and they put him on heavy duty antibiotics. After only 3 pills the swelling decreased.
I couldn't wait for today to come to get my internet back. First thing this morning Hubby was on the phone. Sure it was no problem reactivating our account right away, it'll be up in about 20 minutes. After an hour or so he calls back, he is put on hold for a half hour and then they tell him it will be at least 24 hours. I couldn't believe it. So he said screw you, cancel my account and have a nice life. He again went to town, back to the computer store where they told him the other server was still down and not taking any new accounts until they were finished doing whatever they were doing. He came home and flipped through the Yellow Pages, called the server that is down, and they hooked us up right away! So I don't know why the guy at the store couldn't do it.
While Hubby was on hold forever, another call came in on call waiting. It was the doctor. The doctor who did the biopsy. I have to go back for another one. This time they want cells from inside my cervix. I am freaking out all over again.
And this is why its a good thing when the most excitment I have is a flower blooming. I am so glad to be back online. One weekend felt more like a week.
Have a good night.

A Pleasant Uneventful Day

I have a couple of Christmas Cacti which I've had for at least 3 years, if not longer. They were in bloom when I bought them but haven't bloomed again since, until now. I just noticed it today, but I'm sure it's been there for a while, judging by the size of the flower. One year I even tried putting them in the dark in the fall to bloom for Christmas, but nothing happened. I did nothing to make this happen. I don't even know the botanical name for this plant.
I was just going to say how sad it is that this is the most exciting thing to happen today. Then I thought, "wait a minute, that's not so bad, it could have been much worse. I could've had nothing at all happen or something unpleasant. But the powers that be, made that cactus bloom for me. Something led me to walk over to the window where it sits." It was a lovely little surprise on an otherwise cold, uneventful day.

TGIF

Not sure what the plans are for this weekend. But I sure would like to get something accomplished. The ditch is still full of water which turns to ice each night and then takes all day to thaw. The township guys have been out there every day this week, have made a mess digging out the neighbours ditches, but there is still a river in my front yard. And still a tire in the ditch between our place and nextdoor.
They're calling for snow this weekend, surprise, and there was another snow squall warning in effect today.
We have now received replacement cheques for the ones that disappeared from our mail. I also received a free recipe booklet from Kraft, along with a 2007 calendar with a different recipe for each month. I signed up to receive the recipe book every couple of months, online. It's been great. I've even tried a couple of the recipes!
So there you go, something else, small and seemingly insignificant, which was a pleasant little surprise and made my day a little bit brighter.

Of course I took a picture of my Christmas Cactus in bloom, silly!



Looks like it could use a little dusting! Sheesh, I'll have to mention this to my cleaning personnel.
Have a lovely evening. Stay warm.

Awwwwww....I Love You Too

My Hubby loves me. He brought me flowers today. For no reason, out of the blue. The ground is covered in snow. The roads are icy. He may take a snow day tomorrow.
I had a little nap this afternoon and was awakened just before Hubby got home from work, by sirens. Around here sirens are quite rare. When we lived in the city we heard them so often its not something that would wake me up. Even me the lightest sleeper I know. But here, I woke up thinking "what the hell was that?" Then he came in and told me how icy the roads are and we turned on the scanner to listen in on the action.
And he brought me flowers.

A Red-Headed Snow White, A Wrinkled Sumo Wrestler And A Furry Bumble Bee

The township guys have been out there three days in a row.
The ditch is still full of water.
Actually, it's ice now.
It's been cold all week. I caught a chill spending the evening outside on Tuesday.
The Weather Network is calling for snow tomorrow, but it started here this morning.
Big R sent me some photos...
Here she is with her boyfriend and their puppy.

What A Good Boy

He was such a good boy last night, it was unreal. Hubby had him outside on a leash throughout the whole evening, and he just sat there, at Hubby's feet, motionless, watching. I can't even begin to imagine what he must have been thinking. We figured staying outside and keeping him with us, would be much better than having him barking every time someone knocked on the door. He tried to shake his costume off at first, and I would just straighten out his hat, so eventually he gave up and forgot about it.
I resized the flashless shots of our Jack-o-Lanterns...

I saw my first Christmas commercial on TV a couple of days ago. I suppose now that Halloween is over with, they can start in earnest. What is it, like 55 shopping days away?

Have a fabulous first of November.