St. Nick Has Bit My Ass

I wasn't going to put a tree up this year. We are leaving on the 20th so I didn't see any point. That was before the Christmas Spirit grabbed ahold of me. Funny how that works. Some years I just don't feel it at all. This year it is not even December and it has settled on my heart. Aaah, isn't that sweet?

The Boy made cookies this afternoon and while he was whipping it up in the kitchen, I got the urge to put up the Christmas Tree and listen to Christams carols. So that is exactly what I did. We have those mini lights, you know the kind. One burns out and half the strand is pooched. So I sent Mike to Canadian Tire and he rescued the day. Unfortunately now I have the top half of the tree with normal white mini lights and the bottom with blue-white LED lights. No matter, at least he tried. The kids got into the spirit too and before you could say Jingles Bells the tree was up and decorated.

We made chili for supper so we'll have a rootin tootin good time later tonight! Of course chili has onions so Girlie was not having any of that. She made mushroom soup instead. Onions are the bane of Girlie's life, and mine, since she make it miserable when I attempt to cook with the dastardly things. The kids go to their Dad's for a week tomorrow. I'll miss them that is for sure, but hopefully I can get alot done without them here. For sure we will be having dinner that includes alot of onions. They haven't seen their Dad since I went to Saskatchewan so it is good for them to spend some time with him.

I have been spending most of the last week making Christmas ornaments. They are time consuming as part of the ornament is cross-stiched, but they look so nice when they are done. I plan on giving them to friends and Mike's sister and step-sister for Christmas - along with some tins of baking. I found these incredible tin sets at the dollar store. Solid metallic gold, red and green. The biggest one is quite large and inside are three smaller ones. I plan on filling the biggest with poppycock, and the smaller ones with fudge, almond roca and chocolate truffles. That should make good gifts and I will stack them up and tie a ribbon around them and include the Christmas ornament at the top.

Christ, what in the hell is happening to me. I'm turning into Martha Freaking Stewart. Hell. Next thing you know, I will be making matching nightshirts for all of us to wear on Christmas Eve. Not bloody likely!

Oh, oh it's started - Quick, pull my finger!

Who Knew?

I have been off of work since October 27th. I couldn't wait until I had some time off and I could stay at home. While I was working I thought about all of the stuff I was going to accomplish with my 2 1/2 months off. Organizing closets, fall cleaning, visiting friends. What I didn't count on was the endless hours that are in a day.

So far I haven't accomplished a whole lot. I've done some house cleaning and some baking...enough to gain about 5 pounds. Yikes. So where is the bliss I thought would be waiting for me at home? My day consists of waking Girlie up at 6:30 for her shower, making coffee, having a smoke (I haven't gotten around to quitting yet - that was another thing on my "to-do" list), making Girlie and Boy breakfast, making lunches, yelling at Girlie to hurry up (1/2 hour in the shower and another 15 minutes deciding what to wear), signing notices, shooing the kids out the door to catch the school bus. This brings me to 7:40. Sigh.

Then I tidy up, surf the web, check some emails and drink more coffee. I generally get a load of laundry in as well. So there is my morning. Fulfilling don't you think? This afternoon, I shook things up and made some unbaked chocolate cookies. Now I am back on the computer and it is only 1:15. Good Lord.

So what is on the agenda for the rest of the day, you ask? I plan on making a casserole for supper, possibly lasagne, cleaning the kitchen after the mess I made from making the cookies, watching Oprah and Dr. Phil. This should take me to 4:00 when Girle will get home on the bus. Boy needed his haircut in a serious way so he is walking to the barber shop after school. I gave hime $15 so I hope that is enough. Mike is going to pick him up at 3:30 so they should be home around 4:30. Girlie watches Little House on the Prairie everyday after school so she won't be alot of company until after that is over. Girlie has a sudden fascination with all things Little House. She is reading the series, watching the reruns, pretending her playmobile people are the Ingalls and enacts out various pioneer hardships with all of her playmobile sets. I'm sure she would change her name to Laura if she could. Not that I am complaining. Much more imaginative than Boy, who would spend all his time on the computer or in front of his X-Box if I would let him. He is getting a bit pudgy too. Not that I'm one to talk of course, but I am worried that his inactivity is getting out of hand. How does one go about getting their kids off their behinds and doing something that involves excercise?

I know alot of it falls on my shoulders, so here is what I hope will be a plan for our family's fitness. After the kids are done the dishes am hoping that I can get everyone to go for a walk in the evenings. Even if it is freezing cold and blowing snow. Which it is right now, by the way. Tonight I hope all of us can get off our tushes and take a walk to the library (it will only take about 40 minutes to walk there and back, but it is a start anyway). Let me know if you have any other great ideas for getting my family in shape.

Saskatchewan Part Deux

On my last night in Tisdale I got to see my old friends Sherrie and Brad. Sherrie had been in Calgary for the weekend and had just gotten back that day. She came and picked me up at my Grandma's condo and she took me back to her place. She has two boys and a little girl who is two. The kids were so cute and so well behaved. The oldest boy looks just like his dad and their middle son looks just like Sherrie. It was so nice seeing them again. These are another two people that I had gone to school with right from kindergarten to grade twelve. In fact Sherrie and I knew each other since we were in diapers. We were both curling rink rats groing up together and our dad's curled together quite often. I had a couple of beers at their house and a really great visit. I just wish it was longer. It is hard to catch up with someone in only 2 hours.

The next day, Sherrie's dad drove Mom, Dad and I into Saskatoon to catch our flight. We ate lunch at the airport and then headed into security. We were 5 minutes from boarding our airplane when they came over the intercom saying there had been a security breach and everyone had to go back through security. Aaargh! Mom and Dad only had 1/2 hour as it was in Calgary to catch their flight to Kelowna. Thankfully they pushed everyone through pretty quickly and we were only a few minutes late taking off. They held Mom & Dad's airplane for them in Calgary so they were able to make their flight after all. I rushed to the security section and found Mike's son and his mom waiting for me there. We had barely enough time to get to our gate before our plane took off. We had and hour layover in Vancouver before heading to Prince George. Mike met us there and we headed out on our 4 hour drive home to Smithers. Mike's son and I slept most of the way, so we weren't much help looking for moose and deer, which there were tons of. Oh well, the drive went pretty fast for us and Mike never did end up hitting anything, so all's well that ends well.

Mike took his son out hunting everyday this past week but the only thing that they ended up getting was a grouse. His son enjoyed it though. Spending time with his dad and getting out of the city did him good, I'm sure.

Mike left today to drive him home. They are only going as far as McBride but the last 2 hours are in the dark so I worry as usual. Mike hit a deer on that stretch this summer, so I'm sure he is quite cautious. They will drive the rest of the way to Calgary tomorrow. My daughter is staying at Mike's dad's tonight so it is just my son and me holding down the fort tonight. It feels weird with just the two of us here. I miss Girlie when she's not here, even though when she is at home she talks non-stop and I always wish for a bit of peace and quiet.

The kids all went to see Happy Feet last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mike and I went out for dinner with 2 other couples who are our best friends here in Smithers. We ate at he Ironhorse and it was fantastic. The kids walked there after the show was done and we drove them to Jen and Jeremy's to hang out with all of the other kids while the adults headed on over to the Hudson Bay Lodge. We left there at 11:00 and all went back to Jen and Jeremy's and played a rousing game of spoons. We had so much fun. It has been awhile since we were all able to get together. Hopefully we can see more of them in the coming month.

I'm baaack!

I made it back from saskabush in one piece. Getting there was a bit of a challenge but I eventually made it there. A day late and a dollar or two short. It was a fantastic trip though. My friend Deanna picked me up at the airport in Saskatoon in the middle of a snowstorm. What a friend she is! She took me back to her house which is about 30 minutes from the city. I got to see her new house, well new to me. They have been in it for about 4 years now. I had such a good time there. We went down to the local watering hole in the evening and ate some awesome wings and had a few beers. Her kids are all so sweet and quite hilarious. I was sorry to have to leave so soon as my sister and her fiance picked me up on their way through to Tisdale. The roads were very bad for most of their trip so they were all a little edgy.

We got into Tisdale at 10:00 at night and drove directly to the hotel that Grandma Ida had booked for us. You know how every small town in the prairies has a bar with a hotel rooms above it and you really didn't think anyone ever stayed there. You now know someone who has. It wasn't pretty my friend. We were led up this narrow stairway with carpet that was about 30 years old. As I'm thinking what in the hell have we gotten ourselves into? Anyway we were shown the room. Picture if you will, brown shag carpeting everywhere - even in the bathroom. The bathroom people! That is way beyond wrong! It had old radiator heating that clanked and banged all night. Joy. Anyway we survived the Tisdale Hotel, and how many people can truly say that?

The next day we went and decorated the hall for the 40th anniversary party. Which is what brought all of us here in the first place. The party went very well and alot of people showed up. Mom and Dad and David and Lynn all had fun and appreciated it alot (they had a double wedding with each other so we thought it would be great to do their anniversary together as well).

My friend Deanna came up for the anniversay so it was great to see her again. We ducked out for a half an hour or so and went to Kendall and Layla's and got to see some more people. Layla was having a girl's night out so we had a drink with them, I got to see Kendall and Layla's kids, who are huge by the way. Very tall little lads. We then went back to the hall and finished off the evening.

The next day Deanna phoned and said that they were coming back to town again! Got to love her. I phoned Troy and Laura and Kendall and Layla and told them that we would all meet them at the Star City bar. Layla couldn't come but Kendall and Troy and Laura and Deanna and Denis and I had fun anyway. I stayed at Deanna's parent's house. Her brother is building a huge beautiful house out at their farm, so Deanna and I sat in the construction zone and drank some more and talked and talked and talked. Until 5:00 in the morning! My Dad came and picked me up at 8:30 - I was very tired and probably still a little drunk! We went back to Grandma Ida's and had bacon and eggs. Shellie and Chris and her kids left after breakfast. I was sad to see them go. By this time my cold had gotten really bad. I had a bit of an asthma attack, so off to the emergency room we went. I left with a puffer, antibiotics and steriods! Very worthwhile. It was so good to be back in Saskatchewan. I miss it so much sometimes. I left in 1989 when I was only 19 years old. I haved lived in Northern BC since then but I still call Star City home.

Signs and Omens

My trip to Saskatchewan is not going at all like I planned. First of all, there was no bus service to Prince George in the afternoon. The powers that be at Greyhound figured it wasn't profitable and cut it out. I had planned to take the afternoon bus and overnight in PG and fly out this morning. What do they say about the best laid plans....Anyway, I digress. The only other option was for me to get on the greyhound at 1:45 AM. That's right AM!!! If all went according to plan, I would have arrived in PG at 6:30 with tons of time to spare before I had to catch my flight at 10:30. Unfortunately, the bus gods were not smiling on me last night. I took a taxi into town at 11:00 pm and hung out at Boston Pizza where my friend was bartending. I drank a few beers and ate some appies. When her shift was over we headed to Tim Horton's for a coffee. Then she dropped me off at the bus station, well really, she dropped me off at the 7-11 because the bus station is even open at that ungodly hour. After she dropped me off I found out the bus was running late because the highway from Terrace was closed because of a major accident. The highway ended up being closed for more than 12 hours! After waiting until 3:45, we were finally told that the bus hadn't even left Terrace yet. I just wanted to lay my head down and cry, because at that point I knew that there was no way in hell I was going to make my flight, never mind that I was so tired that my eye balls felt like they were going to fall out of my head! So I quickly phoned the airline and rescheduled my flight. I called the taxi and he took me back home. Where I slept. Like a log.

So now I get to try and do it all over again today. I get on the bus at 3:45 pm and get to Prince George at 9:00 pm, where hopefully, I will sleep like a log once again. I have to be up at 4:00 or so in the morning to get to the airport 2 hours before my flight. Why in god's green earth they make you check in 2 hours before at the PG airport is beyond me. Ah well, the joys of air travel. Perhaps I should be taking this as some kind of sign that I really should not be leaving my cosy little house and trekking halfway across the country. The things we do for family.

Thank goodness my friend that is picking me up in Saskatoon is so understanding. I haven't seen her in 4 years but we have known each other since kindergarten. We both stood up at each others weddings. Old friends are definitely the best kind. I am also a bit nervous to see all my old friends as it has been so long since I was last home. Hopefully they missed me too and will take the time to see me. I will post when I get home in a week and update how my trip went.

Snow

I am beginning to hate winter and it is only the beginning of November. I have a long 4 months ahead of me. Can you blame me, this is what it looks like at my house.

I did get some of the items check off my to-do list, so that makes me feel better. We had a little girl sleep over last night because her Mom had to work at 5:00 this morning. Glad it wasn't me. I can't imagine waking up at 4:30 and having to be awake enough to work at 5:00. Yikes! She was so cute though. It was fun having a little one around here for a change. My son is 13 and my daughter is 11 so they sure helped with the babysitting.

We watched "The Break-up" last night. It was good, but I hated the ending. I so wanted them to get back together. Tonight we are watching "United 93". I hope it is good. Time well wasted in any case.

I still haven't packed, but I finished the laundry so it won't take me long to fill the suitcase up in the morning. I have to be up at 6:00 anyway to get the kids ready for school and off to the school bus. I am hoping to be able to go shopping in the morning for a new pair of pants and possibly a new winter coat. I may just wait on the coat until I get to Saskatoon because the shopping will be a hell of a lot better there. We really have no shopping here. The Sears Catalogue is you best bet for getting anything at a decent price that doesn't fall apart after the first washing (like Saan or Zellers clothes do). Well, the dryer just buzzed so I am off to make up some beds. I never did shovel snow and it snowed again last night with more promised for tonight. Ugh.

Welcome to my Strand of the Web

Okay, so this is my first attempt at joining the blogging world. I really have no idea what I am doing but it looks like fun, so what the heck. Plus, I am a major procrastinator and I needed an excuse not to shovel snow. Or do laundry. Or vaccumn. Okay, so maybe I am a tad lazy too. Ah well, Saturday morning and I have the whole day in front of me with nothing really to do. Don't you love free days like that? Endless possibilities and a to-do list a mile long that doesn't need to get done before Monday?

I have to leave on Monday to bus/fly halfway across the country to attend my parent's 40th wedding anniversary. It looks like it may to into a bit of a gong show, and I can see large quantities of liquor to get through it. My Grandma originally wanted all nine of us to stay with her and her boyfriend in their 2 bedroom condo...What the hell!!! I don't think so. So my sister, her boyfriend and I all sharing a hotel room. A bit better....except my sister snores. Joy.

So I leave on the greyhound at 4:00 in the afternoon and then overnight in PG. The next morning I have to fly from PG to Vancouver to Calgary to Saskatoon. My fiance can't come with me nor can my kids because I am too cheap to get all of us there. Actually Mike (my finance) is out guiding for mountain goats at the moment so he is not even around and my kids will be staying at their Dad's for a week. On the way back through Calgary I am picking up Mike's son and he will fly the rest of the way back with me. He will be staying for a week to go deer hunting with his Dad. See, I really do live in the sticks.