Strange life

David told me something scarey yesterday. The highlight of the day is when the Postman comes and they talk for a couple of minutes. You may know that the Post office has introduced a new parcel delivery system, whereby the actual postman will be delivering parcels, instead of having a special truck come out to try to deliver them to the house. This has caused hate and discontent within the Postal system, and there have been wild cat strikes in a couple of areas of Winnipeg. Since they are wildcat strikes, other union members can be brought in to voluntarily do the job. Our mailman has actually been doing other routes, working into the evening--at overtime rates, of course, although he says that he had declined some weekend work. Yesterday, when he came around, at noon, on his regular route, he was wearing a Kevlar vest and had a communication device of some sort with him.
Serious stuff when it hits your street.

chocolates

Pati here
I favour Brandy Beans myself. They're cheap, and because that makes me suspicious, I have to test every one in the box myself, just to make sure the quality is there. Gotta get my thtills wherever I can.

Hail Caesar!

The other evening I decided that I wanted a caesar. I pulled my clamato out of the fridge. Lo and behold it appeared frozen. I gave it a shake to confirm, and the clamato started to frizz up! It started to ooooze out of the top. I ran to the bathroom and put the bottle upside down in the toilet. I started to loosen the cap that the clamato had already started to oooze out of. It started to fizz more and as I loosened the cap, the clamato suddenly exploded. It burst out of the toilet and struck me in the chest. The clamato overflowed the toilet, (all over the seat and toilet), up the wall, over the vanity... over the floor and all over me. What a mess!!!! After recovering from the shock of being hit in the chest by a plastic clamato container I cleaned up the toilet... the walls.... the floor.... the vanity.... my self...... I then had a 7-up!!! And you wonder about all the fun and excitement in my life!!!

Be- That makes sense

The news item about the Wpg snow clearing budget failed to mention that the budget extended to year end only. Glad you cleared that up and remembered from Daddy.
I was unable to see any part of the Grey Cup yesterday - neither CBC nor CTV carry big sports events anymore - most are on cable or satellite such as TSN now. I tuned in the radio to see if I could pick it up on either AM or FM but still no luck. It has been a few years now since any CFL has been broadcast although CTV has NFL every Sunday! It seems inevitable that we shall have to look at getting Bell or cable installed. The rabbit ears are not going to work for us anymore within a years time when everything switches to digital.
I went to Mothers today on my own. Harry not well so stayed home. I find it is the most draining experience every time I go - I guess this is what they call "burn out" - I come home and need to revitalize myself somehow. I usually go for a walk. This afternoon I went to the bank and them cruised around the Home Hardware store not really looking at anything in particular! I cancelled my violin lesson for tomorrow but we'll still go up to North Bay. Mother wants chocolates for gifts and they (only Pot of Gold will do) are on sale at No Thrills.
Well, short note for tonight. Have a good week. Take Care

Snow Budget

I remember Daddy complaining about this issue. All of the neighbours used to sound off to him whenever Winnipeg ran out of snow clearing money in November or December. It seems that, while most of the world functions from September to August, Winnipeg budgets from January to December. Come January 1st, we'll have a whole new year of money to spend. But it was a rough stretch. David had to get the snow blower out 6 days out of 7. It just snowed and snowed. Not that I envy your isssue with snow melt running into the basement, Beth.

Finally I'm having some time at home. Cathy lent me some Kraft Canada magazines, and I've been working my way through them. I was desperate for some new ways of cooking chicken. I copied off those recipes I thought might work ( sorry Cathy, some of your page markers got lost in the process) When I got them all together in a looseleaf, I realized that I was looking at chicken, pasta, and tomatoes in just about everything, just changing the flavour of salad dressing used for the marinade. So, I've decided to use the recipes once or twice a week and stick with old stand-bys the rest of the time. I did try the broccoli salad recipe Cathy gave me, and seemed to end up with a lot of filler and not much broccoli--not that I minded. Next time, I htink I'll use fewer raisins and sunflower seeds. It doesn't taste right unless the bacon is really well cooked, either.

Otherwise, I spend time in the studio or on the computer. I much prefer doing work processing on the desk top, especially when that's where the printer is. But, ergonomically, it fits better. This means scheduling around poker tournaments, and football games. I got a big job off my mind yesterday. There is another on on the horizon, but I need approval from my partner on the first one before starting that.

So two more days that I don't have to go out. Glad I stocked up at the library. ( Procrastination??)

Saturday

It's a good thing I wasn't supposed to be at the craft sale at 8am... It was after 10 when I crawled out of bed. I really must need more sleep than I am getting during the week. I wasn't asleep, but I was "dozing". We won our usual at meat draw last night, but Kristy and Rodney dropped over afterwards. They have been fighting for custody of Rodneys daughter for a long time now. She left her moved in with them last March (ran away from her mom's) but a family judge ordered that at 12 she is too young to know what she really wants. She now has one week at each place. We read on facebook how unhappy she is at her moms and I really feel bad for her. Rodney and Kristy both want her so much. Her brother left his mom's when he was almost 15. He was going to stay until Jen was old enough to leave with him, but he couldn't stand it. Enough of the sad stuff. Let's talk about the lovely weather we are all having! The snow has stopped now and we just have "pea soup" fog outside. But that's okay. The snow is supposed to come back tomorrow. We did our "dickens reading" at the personal care home on Tuesday night. It was okay, but it is disconcerting to have your audience wheeled out because they are asleep! All in all, though. Whitemud is discussing having a number of 15 to 20 minute plays (comedies) to present there occasionally. Most of the residents enjoy a good comedy, but they can seldom get out to one. The Manitoba Association of Playwrights has a number of short plays (10-20 minutes) that they have submitted to ACT for possible production. Some of them would be great. Work is work... I go in and I come home. We had an office meeting last Tuesday and I found out (at the meeting) that we are having staggered hours. Patty starts at 8:45 (taking her coffee break before she arrives) and Deb leaves at 4:15. I am now working very hard to be out of there by 3:45. I knew Patty was starting late, but I had no idea that these staggered hours were in place. No more screaming, though, so that part is much better. I asked when were were going to switch jobs again (so the 3 clerks can fill in for one another) Deb said she would not learn my job... she didn't want to and Patty said she already knows how to do everything. So much for keeping on top of things. Patty complained about some of us (read Cathy) doing our own little projects so that we did not have to help with other things.... Little did she know that Elizabeth had asked me to work on the problem titles (score one for Cathy) Time for brunch! Have a good weekend

Be - "long time ... no hear"

rest assured though that I am indeed "here" Finally got to see the Doctor on Wed about my GI issues - yes, I still have my GI issues. She tells me that she had a bout of diarrhea in the summer that lasted two weeks! So is this supposed to make me feel better? Anyway, several specimens were collected and taken off to the Lab on Thursday morning. I should hear back from Dr Monday or Tuesday. The directions on the bottles suggested putting saran wrap over the toilet hole in order to ensure the specimen was not in contact with urine or water. Now, can you imagine someone with water diarrhea even attempting to defecate onto a piece of saran wrap? Or even having time to drape the hole properly prior to performing the act.....? And Patty you thought you had problems cleaning your bathroom! Well, I guess thats enough about my little issue.
I heard on the news tonight that Winnipeg has already spent its winters budget on snow removal just in November - I wonder about who, and how the financial people could not be on top of this - its not as if Wpg never gets a good share of snow each year - no wonder they had roque front end loaders filling in Findlays driveway! They didn't know what else to do with it (haha)
We had to go to North Bay yesterday afternoon to deliver something and got stuck in a freak freezing rain - we came back home on the highway about 60 kph all the way - all transit buses and even salt trucks were pulled off at one point. I was very happy to reach Sundridge in one piece. Highways all around the city were closed, and according to news, many fender benders. Now we are in the middle of snow squalls expecting up to 40 cm by tomorrow. Must be the storm you folks in Manitoba sent East to us.
We are continuing to experience computer problems - one reason I haven't been too active on the blog . Harry bought a fancy new keyboard thinking that was the problem but as I write this note I see that it has not improved - still needs "one key at a time prompting" in order to get a complete word written. Then the printer wouldn't print in colour so the "computer man" told Harry to clean the cartridge head by going into settings and printer. So you know who got that job - apparently I have a Masters in Computer Application from MIT. Long story short ( and you wouldn't want to hear the details anyway) we now have two new cartridges in the printer -one colour and one black and white and Harry has his colour printing back.
Well, it is time to quit for tonight as tomorrow will come soon enough. Hope all is well with you two. Take care.

Housework can be hazardous to your health

With all that has been going on, combined with my natural tendnecy to procrastinate, the house has turned into a pigsty. So yesterday I made a list of things to do, and one was scrub out the upstairs bathroom, even to the point of cleaning out the cupboards and washing the floor. We even decided to replace the shower curtain--the one we mended with shipping tape when you were hear last summer, Beth. In hind sight, we maybe should have just mended it again--the tear wasn't any worse than it had been then. Everything went well until I tried to re-hang the shower curtain. It took about 5 tries to get it up. Next was to scrub the tub. This has become a major problem ever since my fall last summer--I can't kneel down and put any weight through my right knee. So there I was on 1 1/2 knees scrubbing the tub and down comes the shower curtain. David --playing on the computer--heard the noise and came to see what was going on. He found me scrubbing away with both the shower curtain and tension rod on my shoulders. Once I was down there, there was no way I was going to even TRY to get up, until the job was finished. Needless to say, neither the cupboards nor the floor were touched yesterday.

I'm sitting here with my morning coffee, while David is out blowing snow. The newspaper says that we have exceeded normnal snowfall for the month by 75%--all in the last week. We've had heavy snowfall every day and the streets are just awful--plows are barely keeping up with the bus routes. Getting into our street and then into our driveway has been "iffy" at best. I've been glad that we live so close to the corner, neighbours further down have been having a terrible time with it. So I heard the roar of the machine and thought it was loud. Took a look, just in time to see a frontend loader drop a huge winrow across our driveway, while David stood with his blower and watched. We have to go out, but it looks like it might be awhile.

I refuse to shop on weekends this close to Christmas. It has been said that the intersection of Regent and Lagimodiere is the busiest and most dangerous in the city, and much more so during November and December. So I either have to do my once-a-month shoppng today or Monday. Amber and I are sharing the cost of a gift for Darren this year, and she has made arrangements to get it today. So we need to hit the bank and then meet her in St. Boniface around noon. ( We're meeting a guy at a certain street corner at 12:30. Hm-m-m??) I imagine it will live at my house until Christmas. After supper, we are supposed to go to her house for an informal family birthday party for Samantha. She already has her gift, so we just have to get a card.

Tomorrow I have another class--this one on silk painting. You'll be glad to know that there are no others scheduled in the New Year--although I've seen a couple that look interesting.

Run, run, run..

Got most of the Christmas shopping done yesterday. We had a good idea of what we wanted to get, and then the problem was getting to the right store to buy it. Nasty slippery roads, and behind every steering wheel--an idiot! Shopping for clothes for teddy bears is a challenge, especially when one of those bears is a frog. The frog got a pair of black trousers, and a white pin striped shirt with a built in black vest. The bear--who is multi-coloured but mostly pink-- got a very nice off-white party dress. They offer "frequent flyer" points at this store, so Amber got those, as well as a $10 gift card, purchased for $5-- they sure know how to keep you coming back. Loren's children live for Chapters gift cards, but they're getting older and their books cost more, so we had to bump up the price this year. Jessica will also be getting pink "Princess" pyjamas, and Smantha a little outfit in lavender--she rarely gets "new" clothes.

Then out for supper. So nothing got done around here yesterday, which means working our butts off today. I'm having coffee with my friend Carolyn this afternoon. She's in town to teach and to visit her oldest daughter, Katrina, who has been fighting cancer for about a year now. As far as I know, things are going well, but I guess I'll find out this afternoon. And this evening I have a one-off beginners acrylic class with a different teacher. We're doing a small landscape, and will be mixing our colours--something we don't do in the series of classes I'm taking. So this will be a chance to learn another style. But the series of classes was advertised as being for advanced students, so this may be a good chance to get back to some of the basic techniques.

I envy you somewhat Cathy, being able to hear live music, and enjoy the social atmosphere you experience at the same time. You and Jim have active social lives, even if it's just people dropping in to finish a mickey. We never experience that, and I'm seeing our social skills getting rusty. I have to believe this socialization is part of small town living. You have to make your own culture etc. , and I know you do this actively. Keep it up, as you will need it when you retire.

Country Life

is mostly dealing with snow. From nothing to soooo much in such a short time. I had my meeting last Sunday. My instructions were to buy Subway for lunch. Well, guess what has closed in Neepawa! We had meat and buns, but nobody minded and most of it went. Another meeting on Wednesday that lasted until 9:30 pm We usually meet at 4:30 or 5:00 for this one, but it was the AGM so it was at 7:00. I should have been in bed. The Evening Grosbeaks fought over the food for about 10 minutes after Pati & Dave left and then they all suddenly took off and never came back. We still have sunflower seeds left. I wasn't sure after reading how much they can eat. I worked meat draw on Friday. We won our usual. Whitemud Blues was playing so we stayed for a while. I found myself dozing off, but Jim didn't want to leave yet, so I went next door and started on the office. I got it all cleaned on Friday night so we don't have to face it this weekend. We will have to shovel snow again on Monday. I find I look forward to weekends so that I can catch up on my sleep. It is not unusual now for me to sleep to 9 or 9:30 on the weekend. I guees I just don't get enough sleep during the week. Next Saturday is the Christmas Wish sale in town. I though I would be there all morning, but somehow they missed me on the schedule. They only asked about coming at 4:30 but I can't make it then. It's been a long time since I didn't work a shift. Usually I am there from 8am to noon. The Parade of Lights is on Saturday night. I always enjoy watching that. Sunday is the Dickens Reading at VCC and a Grey Cup Party at the legion. We'll see how much I do. I didn't win the lottery so it is back to work on Monday

Another day down!

The sale is over at the Hydro Building. This morning was quiet, and we figured that would be the whole day, but it picked up a little in the afternoon, and I came away with a little more than expenses--enough to do a small bit of Christmas shopping. We hope to get out for that on Monday. Tomorrow I'm helping out at the large art sale. I had originally signed up to sit at a raffle table, before finding out that there was a scheduling clash with the Hydro Building sale, so now have to work the cash desk. OMG!!

Some things are mixed blessings. David and I were a little concerned about Amber and the children coming over tomorrow, especially with me being away in the afternoon, and the unanticipated need to cook a turkey. ( Life is full of surprises) Amber phoned us this morning to tell us that both girls have measles, and maybe it would be best if they gave dinner a miss tomorrow. Oh Yeah! Too Bad! I hate not seeing them, as missing means that we don't see them for a month, but I have to confess that this time it suits me.

So a quiet evening. We aren't even going to try to unpack the stock until tomorrow. I sure hope there's somethng on t.v.

Have a great weekend.

Be - yes, life goes on..

and I have missed most of this week. On Tueday I got sick and have been not well since then. gastrointestinal in nature and I'm now well into my fourth day with diarrhea which is untoward. I normally do not get ill so this is uncommon for me - I'm thinking some sort of bug or food poisoning but cannot think what could be the culprit. Of course, life goes on including the regular trip to Mothers Thursday and my Eye appt Friday. As it turns out I had laser sx in both eyes again. He tells me that the vitrius in both eyes is still pulling badly and a high risk to tear anytime. Oh, good!! My pupils are still not back to normal size yet but much better than yesterday - I just gave up trying to function and went to bed were I stayed until this morning. Harry has gone to an auction and I'm trying to clean up a bit.
Thought I'd write a quick note to let you know I'm still here. Sounds as if Patty is having the most fun right now - good for you. Unless you are holding out on us Cathy???? Take care

Day one down--

Not a good day a the big new Hydro building. We are there again tomorrow and I certainly hope it's a better day. The sale ended at 6:00 today and then it was off to the quilters' guild meeting where it was "Member Vendors" night. I had some hand dyed fabric and took along my little purses. I ended up selling more there than I did all day at the other sale.

They are still putting the finishing touches on the Hydro building. The washroom that was made available to the vendors was still under construction. So either we had men in the ladies working on things or we had men walk into the ladies while there were people in the cubicles. Ask me how I know! One poor lady is from Thailand and would never dream of speaking to a strange man or asking him to give any consideration to her needs. She seemed to spend most of the day trying to get in there, when the men weren't around. However, by the end of the day it was nice to have a toilet paper dispenser rather than having to pick up the roll from the floor.

So for supper I've had two cookies, a piece of cake and Southern Comfort. Maybe life doesn't get any better than this. Since the building opens at 8:00 tomorrow, my Southern Comfort and I are now off to bed.

Just coasting

Friday and Saturday is the craft show--the last one I've signed up for at this point. This is very much on my mind, but at this point, there is nothing I can do to get ready for it. We'll get everything together Thursday evening, pack the car early Friday morning, and then hang on, sit tight, and enjoy the ride! As well, Friday evening is the quilt guild meeting, and I'm sharing a sales table with another lady. I don't have much to sell this year, but am taking a bunch of my hand dyed fabric--priced quite nicely, if I do say. Yesterday we were out to Beausejour to pick up sandwich boards from the artists' co-op to lend to the Crafts Museum for the sale.

Tomorrow is a painting class. I'm apprehensive about this one. She showed us an example of what we're doing and it scared the pants off me. IMHO far beyond my skill level. I know I should just just suck it up and do my best, but with what I saw, I wouldn't even know where to start. I can't believe that I'm thinking about not going. I picked up some books on plants and leaves from the library, and I've tried to plan some sort of picture using them as references, but generally, I'm not happy. That was an experience in itself. I asked the reference librarian for books with pictures of leaves. She found me gardening books, landscaping books, books on weeds.etc, even a couple of books out of the children's section on photosynthesis. In retrospect, I should have asked for books on identifying trees. She was off and running, and pulling books and muttering to herself. Finally I took the books she gave me just to stop her performance, or we might still be there.

On the other hand, today was our monthly Tuesday Night Stitchers that Used to Meet on Wednesday Afternoon meeting. We had a new lady join us today, and we had one of our better meetings, I think. Mind you, three out of the five of us were quilting.

So we wait to see what the weekend holds.

Be -Makes you wonder if you really should...

Sometimes the odds seemed stacked against one doing things they want eg violin - I have persevered with great determination to go to class every week and try to get in a bit of practice in between. I was doing great this week until Sat when I sliced the top of my ring finger on left hand -the one that needs to press the strings. I had a time to stop the bleeding and get a steristrip in place (a bandage that acts like a stitch) Try to play the strings with bandages on and pain with the slightest touch. And my lesson is tomorrow. Oh well, I am not a concert violinist so I guess it really isn't the end of the world! Today we were the entire day at Mothers - she had a Doctors appt for 2 pm for physical and flu vaccine and it was a challenge to get her ready and there in time. Creates some interesting verbal exchanges - enough said! On Saturday we went to the North Bay Annual Art and Craft Christmas Show. We have gone most every year and I enjoy it - however this year seemed to be less than exciting. I did buy two wooden tree ornaments - one saying Simplicity and the other saying Faith. Maybe speaks to my state of mind these days? I just returned from another evening of curling - I have a good time inspite of not really being very good but it is an outside activity balancing the other aspects of my life. Hope my eyes will behave! Time to watch the news and then to bed. Hope to write again this week Take care

Be - I was one of the Grosbeaks at Cathys

Well, maybe not really but my spirit was there with you all. Wouldn't it be a dream if we were all together walking Cathy's trail. I have always loved that walk. So it was a week from h--- for me. The only bright spot in an otherwise horrible week was to see Michael in his "Sunday going to meeting" dress uniform with white leather belt and white gloves leading the Volley team at the Remembrance Day Ceremonies - both at the North Bay Arena, and then again at the Algonquin Regiment Cenataph. Makes a poor old Mother very proud!
This computer is still functioning almost at a halt and requires me to take a second or two just to type one letter - perhaps one reason why you haven't had a note from me recently (among other reasons) But it always boosts my spirits to be able to log on and see all your news.
Believe it or not, I just walked up to the LCBO and bought a bottle of sherry and just mixed a drink 1/2 sherry and 1/2 ginger ale. Remember that was what we were given at home the odd time. And when done here I shall go and practice some violin. Perhaps I shall be a bit more chatty in the week to come - next Friday I go to the Eye Surgeon - good thing as I have lots of floaters and wouldn't be surprised if he does a bit of laser. If so, I plan to quit curling as it may be a few weeks again before I can participate and likely not a good activity to continue with retinas that like to tear and bleed all the time. More to come - Take care

Home again

after a flying trip up to Cathy's to pick up the poultry she and Jim had bought for us at the Colony. I had awoken feeling pretty rotten, but the day picked up nicely after Cathy gave me a T3, shortly after we arrived. Cathy made a very nice soup for our lunch, but it was drive up, eat and come home. Just before we left there was a flock of about 10 Evening Grosbeaks at the feeder. They were beautiful! I've never seen them before and I think they deserve a prettier name--Golden Grosbeaks, maybe. My book says that they love sunflower seeds and can empty a feeder in a very short time. Sure hope Jim was ready with refills when they were needed. The birds sure weren't shy about coming when there were people there,but a little more cautious when the dogs were out. Cathy and I talked about recipes, and bored David to tears so he ended up watching TV with Jim, and then we all took a walk to look at the swath of devastation through the bush. All of us really feel that it must have been a small tornado that almost touched down. We were stopped by a RCMP check on the way out, just west of Headingly, right by the scale. We waited in line until the officer came to us, and then he just told us to wait a moment and then signalled us back onto the highway. The people that were pulled over onto the shoulder were all young men, so, for once, we were glad to be over 50!

Stopped at Dollarama on the way home and picked up some real cheap acrylic paint. Then I made four more pieces in the same technique as my class from Wednesday. So far, they look better than the three pieces I did in class with the very expensive paint, but I have to wait until the first layer dries before I can put the finishing touches on them. This is a technique where you squeeze some paint on and then spread it with a credit card. Then you look for figures in the swirls, and do a bit of brush work to bring them out. Except, during class I couldn't see any figures. Another student found some peppers in mine, and then we looked at each other, and she said " Alright, I know they're really penises, but I didn't want to say that". This from a very proper lady whom, I believe, may be older than I. Maybe not so proper, she talks about travelling with the "man I'm seeing", and is still wearing her wedding rings, so who knows.

A meeting out in Selkirk tomorrow afternoon. I've done a little preparation, but it may still turn into contentious meeting. I'm not looking forward to it. Thank Goodness, I still have a little left in the mickey of Southern Comfort I bought to take to the Retreat.

Good night all.

Quick review....

this is just a quick note, since the entire blog I posted on Saturday disappeared! I was glad when Saturday came. We went to meat draw on Friday and won our usual. We had only been home for 1/2 an hour when Jim got a call from the Legion. A friend of his son's ex-wife's mother was there and wanted to meet him for a drink. So back we went. She had come from Dauphin with 4 other women for an old time dance but the dance was over sold and they were sitting in the hallway. They figured the clubroom was a better place to drink. It was going on 11 before we got home again. Saturday was the annual legion banquet. It was okay, but the roast pork was really dry, and there were sure a lot of protocol mistakes!! Even I could spot them. Sunday, dispite our good intentions we did nothing. I sat outside in my shorts and t-shirt and read a book. We were going to haul some more wood out of the bush. There is a whole section that got hit with the wind the day we lost the tree in the shelterbelt. It looks like a small tornado touched down in the bush, bounced over the house and hit the shelterbelt! I did talk to Kris on Sunday. A couple of people had stopped me on Saturday and asked it it was my son who had won?!?? Not a country station listener I knew nothing about the contest. He won a $5000 shopping spree at the Brandon Mall. You phoned in over a couple of months and the 80 people that got through had to be at the Mall on Saturday for the final. It was last man standing as people were eliminated when called. Guess who stood there the longest!! Okay, today is Monday and back to work... there is a casting call tonight for the spring production, a rehearsal tomorrow for the DIckens reading and an ACT meeting on Sunday. THat's all I remember right now. Enjoy the week ahead

Birthday challenge

All the portends were good, schedules came together, and we had money in the bank--so today we met Amber and the girls, and treated them to lunch at McDonalds ( the one with the BIG playland), and then a trip to "Build a Bear". Both girls had gift certificates from Day Care, and Grandma and Grandpa added a bit. This is a store where the bodies are already made. You choose wich bear you want, and what extras you want with your bear ( noise thing-y's in a paw, or maybe music). There are three or four types of hearts to put in your bear. Then you run the machine to blow as much stuffing as you want in, and a helper stitches up the back ( the lacing is already in place and she just has to draw it up and tie it off) Then you take your bear to a special "massage" table where you can run a machine to blow off any extra stuffing and there are brushes to give your bear a brushing. Then you get to choose clothing including footwear, and hats and underwear--all at prices comparable to adult clothes. I was blown away with what was available. You the register the birth via a computer,-- so that when it comes time to pay you don't notice grandparents collapsing in price shock--as the clerk gives you a birth certificate with both your name and the bear's. Samantha actually picked out a green frog, instead of a typical teddy bear, and refused to have any clothes, although she spent some time considering boys undershorts. Jessica picked a multi-coloured pink bear, but had been warned that there was a budget, so all she took home for her bear was a purse--with pink sequins. But now Grand parents have a real good idea of what would work for Christmas--along with the required pyjamas, of course. The trouble is that Amber has a strong views of what is acceptable as the girls.

Needless to say, we both came home and collapsed. When it came time to leave McDonalds, Samantha refused to get out of the play structure--one of those things with towers and tubes etc--somewhat like a maze they have for gerbils--I'm sure you've both seen them. So Amber ended up climbing up into the structure and actually having to crawl through one of the tunnels--high in the air--to catch the little monkey. She is as stubborn as both of my children put together. When she doesn't want to do something, she just holds her ground and refuses to move. Amber says that she can walk away and disappear from view and it doesn't make any difference--scare'y!!

But that is one thing to stroke off the "To Do" list.

Be - apparently no reprieve

I was out in the blowing snow this morning putting tarps on some of the outside furniture etc. I should have had it done earlier but honestly thought the snow accumulated would disappear and we would have some nice weather for a bit more. That may happen yet, but not anytime soon. Took the dog to the South River Park and it felt as if I were in a bitter winter storm as I walked along the riverside trail. I think the dog was as happy as I to get back to the van. Would you believe that I got out the Christmas Cards today to get organized and ready to get them made out and mailed. Mike gave me the trilogy set of "Back to the Future" and as yet have not had a chance to view - it might be an idea to do the cards while I watch. Somehow it seems unacceptable here to just sit and be doing nothing. The other day we bought Brandy to soak Christmas cakes - there was a little bit left and I had a hot milk and brandy before bed - wow it was delicious - alone my stomach cannot take it, but I was so surprised to enjoy it with hot milk. I believe I had a much better sleep as well!
So, the weekend is here. Hope you both have a great weekend. Enjoy your visit with Jessica and Samantha Patty - I put a card in the mail to Jessica on Thursday so it should get to her in time. Then I'll send one to Samantha as well. Take care ....

More beaches

There was a further article in today's paper saying that, yes, the beaches were down to stones and rock. Damage is in the millions. They are describing it as a "non-tropical cyclone".

Things remain quiet around here. The studio area remains a disaster. Every day I try to do a little bit more, but the mess never really goes away. An emerging problem is the paintings I seem to be accumulating. They just hang around making a nuisence of themselves.

I made up a recipe for my chicken and soup casserole. It was quite good, but I can't remember what I put in it. Today I'm going to try rouladen. It's been awhile since I made anything like that. For the most part, I've been eating veggies. The diuretics I'm taking have had a negative effect on my digestion, and I'm really trying to push fibre. It seems to be working, and I've even lost few pounds--so that can't be bad.

Amber and the girls will b eover for supper on Sunday. Both girls have birthdays with month, and Amber had promised ot send a "gift list", but I haven't seen it yet. I guess I better get on her about it. We haven't seen them for ages, and we're both looking forward to it.

Beaches

The only pictures were of damaged and flooded cottages and the torn up boardwalk. The article said that there were 2metre waves going right over the board walk and into the sand dunes, so I'm guessing that a lot of the sand was drawn back into the lake. It said further that the other beaches in that area had lost most of their sand. Victoria Beach is the one where no cars are allowed and you have to park and walk in. Most people have wagons etc for hauling groceries and luggage. The year I remember Dad and Mr. Martin rented a cottage there for a week, but Mom stayed home. I think it was before Cathy was born, or while she was still a baby. I can see Mom refusing to do something like that if there was a little one. Of course you're sore! The heavy work you usully do uses totally different muscles than curling. I hope you keep it up. The socialization is much more important than the actual game.

Be - Thoughts of long ago

Isn't it wonderful that we have flashes of good times from long ago. I often think about happy remembrances - I guess it takes the "dismal" out of my daily life. I especially remember the Lake - at Boundary Park we walked and picked hazelnuts off the tree. I believe it is to Victoria Beach where you drive towards it and at some point on the road you look ahead and all you see is water. I cannot picture Grand Beach without the sand dunes. Did the water rise to cover it all, or was the sand swept back to the lake, and if so, what is left of the beach area - is it now rocks? It was to Patricia Beach where I remember going more frequently with Mom and Dad. Equally beautiful with long sandy beaches - I guess it, too, must be damaged.
I went to curling last night and actually played for the first time. I also had a terrible fall trying to sweep - it happened so quickly and I was flat on the ice. Caused a great commotion but fortunately no damage except perhaps my dignity! Besides that, I was able to throw the rocks and sweep not too badly after years and years (how about decades) of being away from it. Today though, I have to admit I am a little sore. I wonder if I made a wise choice to sign up for the league when I could really hurt myself, but it is nice to get out and see people. One lady asked me if I was new to the area, and I responded, ...no, I was new to getting out !
The snow is still thick on the ground after the storm on the weekend and I wonder if it will go away, or is this the real start to winter. We only had 22 kids at our door Hallowe'en night - we had candy bags made up for 160 - in years past we have had well over 100 but things are changing. Of course, it was also below freezing and snow on the ground which was likely the major reason. So today we dropped into Mikes with bags of little chocolate bars, and licorice nibs. He said with all his friends, and at work, he could "move it".
Harry spoke with Mothers Red Cross homemaker tonight and after over two months off, she will be starting back again tomorrow. So part of my "duties" will be removed, but apparently NOT the bathing. Mother will not allow anyone to help her except me. She cannot manage safely alone, nor is it safe even for me to assist her in and out of the tub so I refused to help her do this. So I brought a bath bench and faucet hose with attached spray and for the first attempt with this method, it worked out so now I am designated to assist her regularly. She refuses to have the homemaker help her, so it leaves little choice for me.
Well, bed time. Hope all is well with everyone??? Take care

Storms

Was reading in the paper about the damage done to places on lake Winnipeg by the recent storm. It seems that, at Grand Beach, both the board walk and the sand dunes between the boardwalk and the lagoon are heavily damaged--the sand dunes gone--and, my memory says they were huge. Victoria Beach and those beaches in between there and Grand Beach, were damaged as well--most of the sand gone. The paper said that this has happened before, and that the sand beaches tend to rehabilitate themselves without human help, in about 10 years. Gimli was hit too. These places were part of our childhood. I remember spending a week at Victoria Beach with Dad and Mr. Martin and Ron Martin. I think you were there with us Beth. And there were many holidays at Boundary Park in Uncle Tom's cabin. All of this reminiscing makes me feel old

We were out to Wal-Mart again today to se if we could find another sweat jacket for David. he really likes the fit of the one we bought a few days ago. So he now has three of them. But while we were out I saw several old men. Some of them were just wandering around looking lost, and a couple of others were quite debilitated and pushing shopping carts to appear less so. It doesn't seem fair that life has to end with a loss of dignity--and that it seems to hit men worse than women. Possibly because so many men base their self esteem on physical ability.

Boy! Have I ever taken a dismal pill today! But I also spent time this morning looking up recipes on the internet. OMG! When did I turn into a boring old woman? Does anyone have a recipe using Campbells Mushroom soup and chicken and mushrooms,that doesn't have broccoli in it? Maybe I'll just have to make one up--that includes wild rice.