Good Riddance To 2006

Good afternoon!
Well, here we are, the last day of 2006...and, good riddance. I am looking forward to a whole new year. It seems not so long ago that we were going from the 1900s to the 2000s, certainly doesn't feel like 7 years ago! The years are just flying by, time flies when you're having fun, that's so true. Life is too short dammit! (Just ask the Madass dictator, Saddam...I call him Madass, read it somewhere years ago lol).

Anyhoo....our plans for last night, didn't work out. The night before, Little R had slept over at D.W's place, and they ended up at the hospital in the wee hours, because D.W got something in her eye! The doctors had to flip her upper eyelid inside out, to get whatever it was, out! Eeeeewwwwwww.....So, that meant they were all up all night. I didn't sleep too well myself that night. Everyone was a bag of poo all day yesterday, and they have out-of-town guests at their place, who keep changing their plans, can't make up their minds when they are going back home, thereby screwing up everyone elses plans. We ended up having another evening at home playing darts. S.W did stop by for a little while when she came to drop D.W off for a sleepover. So it was me, Hubby and the girls. I won the first game and then I couldn't have hit a barn after that. I did however make one pretty incredible shot, and had to take a picture of it of course lol! The second dart thrown, hit the first dart and stuck right in it! I must have hit the exact same spot. (It kind of wrecked the flight too, note to self: by new dart parts!) We had a few drinks, but were switching from Kahlua to wine, with coffee and pop in between, yuk. Eventually the girls took over the familyroom, threw in a movie and got cozy, so Hubby and I just headed ourselves off to bed. Still trying to recover from the previous couple of late nights and all-nighters, we all slept in until 11 or so.

The girls actually just left a few minutes ago, and Hubby is back in bed for an early nap. They are now going back to D.W's to babysit or something, and Hubby and I were supposed to be heading into town, (actually we have to head into two towns, which are in opposite directions, sigh). Whatever, later...

We have NO PLANS for tonight! Big R found someone else to puppysit P-Dot, so we don't need to stay home. We haven't heard anything about another dance at the Town Hall. I bought a pretty funky noise maker for Little R for tonight. I should have got a bunch of them, since I got it at Dollarama, therefore they were only a buck, I could have, just wasn't thinking at that moment in time. It's this huge plastic hand and when you shake it, it claps, loudly. Quite neat actually. So I don't know what we'll end up doing to ring in the New Year. I'm somewhat disappointed, but don't care to discuss it here, and I'm not really into another night at home, I'd like to get out. But if that's what it comes to, I won't be unhappy about it, we still have fun.

It began snowing as I was taking out the trash yesterday morning. (Got pics of that too lol). I eventually became so famished, I woke Hubby up to take me out for breakfast. There is a little place we like to go to.....it's so cozy, small, with one of those old-fashioned lunch counters with the stools and all, about 12 tables, some with window seats, and an electric fireplace...good food, good service and good prices. We like it. Even the McDonalds in town has a 2-sided fireplace. I don't know if ALL McDonalds restaurants have renovated like this one or not. Anyways, after breakfast, we went into town to do a little shopping. We did go to the Beer Store, where we immediately grabbed a 28 pack of Canadian lol. They'll probably slide nicely this evening. So there is a slight dusting of snow out there, just enough to make it look like winter. They're calling for temps in the pluses and rain all week, sigh.

It's 2:30 now, I doubt we'll make it to town before everything closes up early. Oh well, no biggie, we did our important shopping yesterday. We were actually only going to do some exchanging and returning of Christmas gift purchases that don't fit etc.

"Robert" lost both eyes yesterday and an ear this morning. He is now just a shell of his former self.

I'll sign off for now, probably be back tomorrow....here's a couple of photos...

A Kitchen To Die For

Good morning...

I have a wannabe hang over this morning lol. I'll be honest, to me, beer is beer. I cannot discern the difference from one brand to the next, it all tastes pretty much the same to me. Hubby insists there is a difference, well, whatever, I can't tell. I've always drank Molson Canadian, and thats just because, well, i Am CaNaDiAn! Hubby used to drink Labatts Blue, but switched to Canadian, to please me, I guess. So, when we were at the beer store just before the holidays, to pick up some holiday brew, I suggested we try something new. A while back, the same scenario, but I wanted Heinekin, don't even know how to spell it lol, just because I can, and because its in green bottles rather than brown. That shit was expensive, we grabbed a 6 pack to try it out. This time, money was a little tight, so I said lets try some of this cheapo stuff, what the hell, beer is beer right. After much gawking around, running into R.S and yapping in the middle of the beer store, we decided on Lucky Lager lol. The price difference is like $10 a case. Basically this stuff costs $1 a beer. Survey says...it wasn't so bad. Even our guests didn't mind drinking it. We just finished off the case last night. Since we are having company this evening, and we are out of beer, and the liquor cabinet is almost bare, (and I'm not giving up all my Kahlua this time lmao!), we'll be going to the beer store again today. Now, I'm just wondering what will happen. Should we go for the Lucky Lager again, go back to the tried and true Canadian, or try something else? Decisions...decisions.

Going over to S.W's place always inspires me. When Hubby showed up there to pick us up, and what a pleasant surprise that was!, I dragged him through the house showing him all the nifty little things I had just noticed. We came home and magically figured out exactly how we're going to renovate the main floor of this place. We want to extend the kitchen, its the heart of the home, and in this home it's just too damn small. Now we know how we're doing it and it's going to rock! It's going to be beautiful. I didn't get formal permission yet to post the photos of her kitchen, but I have a sneaking suspicion she won't mind, because she is quite proud of it, and who wouldn't be, it's awesome. And besides, she LET ME take the photos, and she knows damn well that means theres a very good chance said photos will end up here, being posted on my blog. And so, without further ado, I give you S.W's kitchen! Keep in mind, they did this themselves, they built the cupboards and cabinets and the island and the light above the island, the whole thing. And did all the staining of the wood etc. etc.

Isn't that something? I love it. I just love her house, period. It's an older home, which is what I've always wanted, and they've done so much to it to make it their own. It's cozy and warm, inviting, comfortable, beautiful, functional and homey. Here's a shot of the wood stove in the livingroom. I never asked her about it, if it was like this or if they did it, but who cares, it's gorgeous!

Well, hopefully she won't kill me for this hehe. Have a lovely day, I must get up and get the garbage out as today is our first after Christmas garbage collection.

My Hubby Rulz, Hehehehe

Good evening...
Well shit...I FORGOT to take my new medication this morning, lmao, go figure.
But I still had a grrrrrreat day! Little R, Bear and myself walked over to S.W's place and spent the afternoon there. Despite my prediction of today dragging, it in fact, flew. Just as I was thinking it was time to head back home, and hows this for perfect-17-years-together timing, Hubby pulled up in the driveway, woohoo. He got off work a little early, yeah baby. And he so rocks that he made a stop at the old L.C.B.O enroute. Only in Canada eh. So he picked up a few, count em, a few, bottles of wine and a cool Kahlua kit with glasses and recipes. Nice, I KNEW something was missing this year hehe.

So, had a lovely afternoon at S.W's place, fell in fricken love with her house...I've never actually scoped it out before like I did today, and came home with all kinds of mad ideaz for this place, (should enter photos here), but I now know what needs to be done here.

Little R ended up spending the night at S.W's, so the Hubster and I had an evening of one-on-one darts and polishing off the remaining brewskies in the refrigerator...(again, enter photos here). We had a great evening together and as he was heading off to bed to leave me to blog in peace, he pointed out that I had left my keys in the front door, which I also had done YESTERDAY in my manic state, omfg, and I LOCKED it behind myself...hello??? I don't know man...

It was incredibly cold walking over there today, and Little R wore only a vest over a sweater, which were Christmas gifts from Big R, and whined about how cold it was all the way lol. Bear had amazingly good manners in a strange house, he made me a proud mama. There are several Jack Russel Terrors and a couple of cats in that place and he was sooooo cool about it all.

S.W is a SPOILED ROTTEN BIOTCH...LOL, (love ya babes)...she got like EVERYTHING for Christmas, and it made me feel like a 12 year old all over again. WHY? Because we decided to "tone it down" this year. Wait til next year hahaha. But seriously, she got some rockin cool gifts, LOTS of em, but I am happy for her, 'cause she deserves em.

When they were tearing down their barn and we were scrounging their old wood, I just happened to look down and find her engagement ring in the mud, that's me, I find shit all the time, just like that, look down and it's at my feet, but the diamond was missing. They figured the ring had fallen out of her old car when they moved it, and yeah the diamond had fallen out, thats why it was sitting in her old car. When her Hubby saw it, he was all like, "and you agreed to marry me with THAT little thing??" Soooo, guess what one of her rockin Christmas gifts was...a new diamond ring of course.

So then Hubby kicked my ass at darts like 6 games in a row, ugh. And we listened to some really old music, which I FORGOT I even had on the computer, like...Skid Row, Edgar Winter, Lou Reed, Robert Plant, and "I Smell Sex & Candy Ye ah" LOL. It was nifty and peachy keen, wowza.

We brought in a pile of firewood and kindling, but its too wet to burn yet, ugh, 'cause of the SNOW on it. As I was perusing photos from the last few days, I noticed how disgusting the firebox looks without a fire actually burning in it, so I cleaned out the ashes and that's when I realized, WOW, I have actually worn out a set of brand new fireplace tools. Thats a milestone folks...thats a lifetime achievement...thats what life is all about right there. In 3 years I have slain a set of tools cleaning out that thing because we have had so many awesome rockin fires, gotta love that!

Why can't dogs live as long as humans? My guy is so cool, when he goes, you may as well take me too...I would've never believed you could love an animal this much...he melts my heart. And it's the knowing he won't be around as long as people that does me in, it's not fair, 'cause he is cooler than most humans I know...

I'm all out of thoughts...I'm out of here...so here's today in photos...

There's CATS up them stairs...

BFF's man...

Stay tuned for pics of S.W's house and all the work they did themselves and where I got lots of great ideas, pending her permission...have a grrrrreat night...

Bring On The Heavenly Peace, Love And Joy

Good morning...
What a day I had! I was so full of energy! It's been decades since I felt like that. I felt renewed.

I really, really missed Little R. She had a grand time with her big sister. They went shopping. She came home with 2 bags full of clothes, some new stuff (from "real" stores), and some hand-me-downs.

I was all over the place. I laughably did not know what to do with myself, for real. I was in every room, "puttering", I had brilliant ideas coming out my ying-yang, as if I would remember any of them at a later time. I had the tunes blasting, tunes compliments of Big R, the kind of music you hear coming from little tweeked out Honda Civics, the kind of music that, when coming from little tweeked out Honda Civics, the bass makes the road vibrate. I was dancing!! Um, thats great, except for the fact that I DON'T DANCE. I don't know how to dance, I have no rhythm whatsoever. So, more accurately, I was attempting to dance. I almost didn't hear the kid knocking on the door, must have heard it between songs. The kid obviously believed Little R to be home, since obviously I certainly wouldn't be the one in here listening to heavy decibels of Gorillaz.

I had it all figured out, I thought of the PERFECT birthday present for Hubby, he is an Aquarius, born in February, so it's coming up, and damned if I could remember what it was a couple of hours later.

I even spent some time outside with Bear, filled my bird feeders, "puttered" in the garage for a bit. Eeeewwww, there was critters in there! I could hear them scurrying and skittering, and I kept telling them to just leave, but they chose to stay and hide, and every time I moved, they moved, eeeeewwwwww. Brought out a box of books that was in there, (and I had completey forgotten was in there, I'm tellin ya, when you're senile, or insane, every day is like Christmas morning!), and in this box were a lot of weight loss type books, and a set of Golden Book Encyclopedias, get this, from 1960! Talk about low tech stuff.

The satellite was down all day, so I couldn't even watch soaps or anything. I tried to do a million things at once, by 3 p.m I was crashing. I got sooooo tuckered out. I had big plans, big ideas, and I did get a little bit done. I was right though, I did have a great day.

Then it got really dark outside, which helped the sleepy effect, I dozed on the couch for an hour, and then it started snowing, finally. We may just have a white New Year after all. What a difference in the weather from last year. I do not like green Christmases.

I got an email from my nephew, which was totally awesome. The nephew who moved his family down east this year. He has a website for his business and everything! We hadn't really been in touch for a while, after a couple of years of getting together and reconnecting, I heard they were considering moving and the next thing I heard was they had moved. I didn't have an address or anything until I received a Christmas card from them. Apparently the move was slightly abrupt and they didn't have much time for good-byes. It sounds like things are going well for them and I am glad for that. I'm very glad to be back in touch with them too.

As you saw in the previously posted pictures, Hubby received a "Back Therapist" for Christmas, from Big R, thats what it's called, a "Homedics by Charlescraft, Back Therapist". Its a 5-motor seat massager, turns any seat into your own personal masseur, and it has heat too! Just strap it to a chair, plug it in, and go nuts. What an incredibly thoughtful gift. Poor Hubby and his back, man. I also have a photo of him putting me in the thing to test it out hehe. So he put it in his work truck, the guys at work use the truck for picking up parts and whatnot, but he says he won't be keeping it there because they were all abusing his Back Therapist, leaving it on and stuff. I wonder if its compatible with his Foot Spa...or if that would be like throwing a plugged-in, hair-dryer into a bath tub full of water...

Another one of Bears new toys bit the dust last night, the rope bone...it was turned into dental floss and he was gagging on it and had strings of it stuck in his teeth. "Robert" is still hanging in, still got a bit of stuffing in the head and tail ends, the middle is split wide open and gutted. He hasn't gone near his bed since I moved it upstairs out of the familyroom. Another thoughtful gift received was a book titled "Understanding Your Dog", I only read the first few pages so far, it seems like it will be quite informative and good to have around. I did learn from it that howling is a form of socializing or a sign of loneliness. So thats cool, when we get him to "sing" we are socializing, and I suppose that's why he's happy to do it. As far as I know, he doesn't howl when he's home alone, which isn't often anyways.

On New Years Day, SoapNet is showing all 10 episodes of Ugly Betty, peachy, now I can see all the ones I missed. That will run from 10 a.m til 8 p.m, guess I won't be doing much on January 1st.

One more day then Hubster will be home for another 4 day holiday. That should make today drag on, but I am hoping for that same energy I had yesterday so I can keep busy, get shit done, and pass the time quicker, until he gets home and we can enjoy some more heavenly peace, love and joy.

Well, enough of my chattering and blathering, have a fabulous day! I'll probably be back here posting sooner than later...


Don't I look impressed? Hubby is definately impressed. Very impressive, thoughtful and creative gifting Big R, good job, I'm so proud of you!

I'm Home

Good morning.
I have the whole house to myself today, whatever will I do with myself? Little R went to work with Hubby this morning. He will be dropping her off at her sisters place for the day.
Big R burned a bunch of CDs for me, that was part of my Christmas present. Its all stuff I've never even heard of. She's attempting to broaden my musical horizons. Actually that is what I told her I wanted, new music. I'm listening to some of it now, and wow, surprise surprise, I DO like it. Thanks Big R. And fortunately, Little R received multiple CD cases so I was able to snag one of them for myself.
I guess this new doctor was right on the money with his diagnosis and prescription. I have never before felt so calm as I have this past week or so. No mood swings. No irrational anger. There've been some tears, but its been proportionate. I feel "normal". And its not all in my head, there is no question, I feel better, emotionally. Better than ever. Fuckin amazing, alter the brain chemicals and away you go. Actually, I'm not sure if thats what this medication is doing or not. I believe it alters the brain chemicals, but I could be wrong, I'm no doctor or pharmacist. Too bad lol.
As for the snow...it's been flurrying for days and there is a dusting which blows around endlessly, but no storm. This time last year we were buried, snowed in. It's not even very cold out, hovering around 0.
The combination of relatively mild temperatures, co-operation of the Hubby, getting the house cleaned up and a little more organized, along with the new meds, has changed my whole outlook about this house! I feel at home! I have hope for this place. It will never be a Victorian house, but it is a lovely, sprawling, country house. Whats not to like? Many people have told me I'm crazy to not like it, whenever I've voiced my displeasure with it. Suddenly I can see it through their eyes. Yeah, its not so bad. Just needs some TLC. Maybe a little paint and a new roof. Some insulation here and there. Gawd. If I was here freezing my ass off or in my usual depressed state of mind, I'd be in a total bitch. I wouldn't be too thrilled about being here alone all day, I'd feel trapped and lonely. But I feel a great day coming on. Gonna enjoy it.
Have a great one yourself!

Lazy Daydreaming Day

Good day.

It looks like that snow may have finally found its way here. Its very quiet around the house today with Hubby gone back to work. I think they should get those three business days between Christmas and New Years off. Hubs boss wouldn't agree with me on that. I realise many people have to work on holidays, but I don't consider their business to be that neccesary.

I hung up my new musical clock this morning. Its actually cool, I thought maybe it would sound cheesy or annoying, but it is quite pleasant to hear. It plays a different Christmas song every hour, on the hour. The volume is controlled by a light sensor. When its dark the volume is low, the brighter the louder I guess. Thats pretty nifty I think. I had to open and use one of Hubbys new screwdrivers to get the clock out of the packaging! It was actually screwed into the package, ugh.

Here is a photo of an old tree ornament. This was my parents', as far as I know it's at least 45 years old. I used to have a bunch of them, but they are such thin glass, and have gotten broken over the years, this is the last one...

We used my mothers china for our dinner last night, but I am the only one who even knew my mother, let alone anyone who would recognize her dishes. So it was pretty meaningless, except for me. They too are very old, and have withstood time with grace.
Today is quite a lazy day for us. The imperative housework is done. Not much to do but putter. I still haven't tried out the new Game Cube yet, maybe I'll get Little R to show me how to play that in a little while. I've been rearranging more pictures and stuff on the walls. S.W gave me this interesting platter, it's more of a wall painting than an actual platter.
Little R and I have been daydreaming together about room make-overs. And we played a game of darts, I don't mind playing with her now that she knows how to play properly.
So yeah, just hanging out, putting all the new stuff away. Waiting for Hubbys next 4 day vacation.
Feeling blessed and calm, in spite of it all.
Have a great afternoon.

...And Then, There Was Boxing Day

Yup, it's 2:45 a.m alright...
Since I was up so late Christmas night, Hubby let me sleep in today, like really, til 11ish. I was very grateful for that. He had even kept himself busy while I slept, by doing up dishes, sweeping and other general puttering type stuff. Impressive.
But because I was still asleep I missed S.W when she stopped by with a round of Timmys, sigh.
And so my day began...with a cooling Timmys and a clean kitchen awaiting, and good spirits all around.
The much anticipated, big, bad snowstorm never happened. It has been trying to snow all day and night, with little success. It certainly wasn't a convenient hinderance to Big R getting here early. They arrived around 2.
Christmas night I watched a marathon of Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer. Preparing myself for how to handle Bear and Penelope, who weren't too bad together today. There were moments, but nothing serious. Penelope kind of reminded me of the vicious poodle I saw in one episode of The Dog Whisperer, when she sort of bit my hand. No damage done. Bear did a lot of quiet growling and grumbling and during the gift opening he was pretty excited, he got a rope bone.
Dinner was good, pretty well timed and everything turned out good, even the gravy. I haven't attempted making turkey gravy, been using canned or mixes, since the year it caught on fire on the stove, back around '98. But it turned out fabulously. Maybe because I was so relaxed for a change.

Christmas Night, Silent Night

Good evening.

It sure did take me a long time to get those previous entries in order. Took forever to upload the pictures. A lot of farting around with editing etc. too.

Now it's 1:30 a.m and I am the only one still up, well, except for Bear, looking over at me every now and then from his cozy corner on the couch.

As Hubby and I stepped outside to go for a little drive about, to look at Christmas lights, it started to snow. As soon as we came home again, it stopped. We were out for about 45 minutes, didn't see any deer this time, however, a possum skittered across the road right in front of us. We didn't see many lights either. There is one house around the corner that has an incredible display, I took some pictures of course. At one house we stopped to take a picture, there was someone standing in the driveway, and he asked us if we were looking for something lol, Hubby told him, no we're just driving around taking pictures of Christmas lights, he said, oh he thought maybe we were looking for our lost dog or something. Heaven knows what he must have really been thinking. Some of the photos turned out pretty good, some didn't, some were just too far away. I'm sure there must be a setting on my camera just for that type of thing. I have so much to learn about that thing still. I even got a shot of S.W's lights! I should take this opportunity, as I know she reads this now and then, to thank her for the lovely Christmas present she gave me. Thank you so much S.W, I love it. Very thoughtful of you to remember me saying I miss having a Body Shop nearby to shop at. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and Santa was good to you. I'm sure we'll talk tomorrow :-)

I notice in the picture of W.S and P.S, they look a little unhappy or something, but I know that it's only because I snapped the picture just a hair too soon, before they were quite ready, is all. They were actually in very good spirits and on their way to the big family dinner at his mom's.

Rest In Pieces "Robert". Bear tore him open this evening and gutted him. He seemed content to just get rid of the squeaker, but then continued on to pulling the stuffing out one bite at a time. In one day, two new toys down and two to go. As I mentioned he's sleeping on the couch rather than his brand new spiffy bed too. What a guy.

Little R had a fun-filled day, ripping CDs and downloading tunes onto her iPod. She seemed so grown up the last couple of days. Hard to believe she's only 13. Aside from the obvious, physical changes, she is maturing in her manner also.

Hubby prepared a nice beef soup type of deal for our dinner. I tossed some Pillsbury Crecents in the oven to go with the soup. It was good. I love when he's home to cook, he enjoys doing it. Me? Not so much.

I really should get my butt to bed, another big day tomorrow. Hopefully the snow won't cause any trouble for Big R getting here. I can't wait to see her! (Hopefully it will actually snow!)

Ok so now I will post a couple of the photos I took this evening...

The first few shots are of the fabulous display around the corner.

The white house is S.W's place.

The next one is lights that look like they're on an evergreen tree, but really it's a maple tree or something. Too bad I couldn't get a clearer shot. Yes, it snowed through this whole excursion, so the snow messes up the photos somewhat at times. And the next one is the fence in front of Little R's school. I just had to show that they actually decorate at the school for the HOLIDAYS. Too cool.

Today was fun, today is done, tomorrow is another one.
Good night and sweet dreams.

Christmas Day In Photos