I'm a Little Behind ....

No, not a small butt ! I am a little behind in my posts. I've had the last 2 weeks off (ahhhhhhhhhh holidays!) and have been doing other things. Before that I was at work, trying to finish things so I could leave ... LOL. So what have we been doing ?? Well ...

1: K-Days Parade. I'm sorry, it'll always be K-Days to me. This Capital Ex name they thought of is horrible! They said they had a 'focus group' that picked this name - well they should have asked regular people. I don't like the name at all. But I digress ... The parade was not bad. We were on 103 avenue between 103 and 104 streets, just by the greyhound depot downtown. We took our chairs and sat on the curb, and had an excellent view of everything going by. My favorites as usual were the Pipe bands, and as the RCMP Pipe band was going by they played Scotland the Brave. Sigh. The Military had some cool stuff too, and there was even a fly by from a Fighter Jet! It was so loud you could hear it before you could see it. Not very many floats or marching bands anymore, but still not bad.

2: Trellia's Bridal Shower. It was a nice afternoon with her family and friends, and the girls from work were there too. It was a well planned event, Trellia's bridesmaid Tanya had games and food and there was even a Pyschic! Leave it to Trellia to come up with something different ! I went by myself, and it was nice to have an afternoon off from the rest of the gang.

3: K-Days Midway. We went on Monday at Noon, and there wasn't a lot of people there at that time. We got the kids the pay one price wristbands so they could ride all the rides they wanted to, and they did pretty good. They went on the Niagra Falls ride, and Lisa got soaked ! I got a little bit red from walking around, and the kids played games and came home with some cool stuffed animals. Anthony won himself a basketball that he's played with non stop since he got it. We only stayed for the afternoon, and then came home but it was a blast.

4: We went to the Mountains. We went to Hinton and met up with Becky from work, since she lives there now (I miss her -- I told her her job was still open if she wanted to come back ..) and we stayed there overnight, but popped into Jasper to go to the Miette Hot Springs. Andy had never been there before, and neither had the kids. We all really enjoyed it.
Here's Lisa and Anthony in the pool .. they had a Hot pool and a cooler pool, I could have stayed there all day ! The day after we were here we went through Jasper to Lake Louise, where Andy had to have his mountain breakfast. Oh, was it good! We kept on to Banff, and made it up to the Banff Springs Hotel. We would have gone in to the lobby to look around but parking was unbelievable!
We also saw some wildlife, some deer and elk, we were hoping to see a bear, but missed out. We did see lots of Bear Warning signs though. Maybe next year.

After all of this we came home and just relaxed before getting back into the grind. It was a nice 2 weeks off ... wish I had another 2 weeks.

"Dude, you got a GINGRICH!"

LOL !!

This was too funny not to share ... Betty got me hooked on this comic strip .. "Pearls Before Swine", the main characters are the Crocodiles who are trying to eat the Zebra .. but the call him "zeeba" .. Check it out at http://www.comics.com/comics/pearls/ It's total off-the-wall humor !!

Wow it's Hot ....

We're having a heatwave .... a tropical heat wave ....

I don't like the heat. Not one little bit. It makes my feet swell, and makes me grumpy. At least I'm not at work today, I can imagine what the heat is like in there !! I have the curtains closed, and the air conditioner on to cool it off before Andy gets home. He doesn't like the heat either.

Poor Artemis is warm too. I don't envy him his fur coat today! He's lying on the floor in front of the air conditioner with his feet in the air. I'd take a pic, but my camera is out for repair.

It's supposed to hit 29c today, and 32 tomorrow !! I think I might fire up the barbeque for dinner ... it's too hot to cook !! I wonder if we have any ice left ....

It's been Awhile ....

Wow !

I hadn't realized It was THAT long since I updated. Carrie's subtle hints at work (hey .... you still blog, right?) have finally hit home. What's been happening since the last update you ask ?? Well .....

1. The Playoffs are OVER !

Did we win ? No ..... wahhhhhhhhhh. The Oilers DID make it to the Stanley Cup Final, and to game #7, but the Hurricanes played just a little bit better than we did and won the cup out from under us. I never thought in a million years, we would get as far as we did, and I'm sooooooooooo impressed with our team. The city had a Thank-You rally planned at City Hall on the 21st that I went to, and it was very well attended. Fans from all over packed the area just in front of City Hall to say thanks. Players in attendance were: Jason Smith, Ethan Moreau, Ryan Smyth, Georges Laraque, Steve Staios and hometown hero Fernando Pisani. Kevin Lowe said they were not a team to celebrate failure, and that's why more players did not attend, but they wanted to basically say thanks to the fans for supporting them throughout the playoffs. They did say we would do this again NEXT year ... WITH the Stanley Cup this time ! I can't wait !

2. Another Cancer Scare at our House.

So this time it was My Mom. She had a lump on her leg, about the size of a fist, that had been getting bigger and redder over time. I had to go to the Doctor and dragged her with me to get it looked at. He sent her immediately to a dermatologist, who did some minor surgery and removed a cyst from under the skin of the lump. She also said it was Cancer, and it was the worst possible kind to have. She wrote a letter back to our family Doctor, who broke the news to me and Erin. They sent the lump out for a biopsy, so we didn't say anything to Mom until we had the results back. And guess what ?? It WAS Cancer, but slow-growing and totally treatable! Mom has an app't with a Plastic Surgeon on July 10th that I will take her to, and then we will find out further treatment options at that time. Yay ! Not nearly as bad as we thought it would be !

3. Work goes on. Ugh.

Why do people think that they are the center of the Universe, and if they don't get their way that we owe them something ?? The install business has had some challenges lately, that I think we have remedied quickly and efficiently. I have one customer right now, that thinks that we haven't done enough, and owe her money because we screwed up. (Our install company did .. but that's another story.) We gave her alternatives to figure out her install, we worked within dates she gave us, she said we charged her too much money, we owe her MORE compensation, and she can'tr believe that everyone is booked and can't do her install sooner. I just don't get it. I should be used to this by now, but people like this really bug me. Especially when I went in on my days off to fix her order !! I know, i'm crazy .... and Carrie is soon to leave me to be a Mom (hi Peanut ... Auntie Tracy loves you already!).. and now I think 2 more of my girls are leaving me to move on to bigger and better things. I can't blame them for leaving, but the powers that be are making it out to be my fault .. and why haven't I hired anyone yet ... and I better be making sales plan again this month ... yada, yada, yada.

So there's my update. I promise to not forget to do this again ..... (shhhh Carrie!)

Calvin and Hobbes

Ok. After reading my last post ... I had to find some Calvin and Hobbes to post. So here it goes. This is something my sister and I would have done when we were kids.

Click on the pic to enlarge.

Thoughts from the Mind of Mom

I love reading Stone Soup. It's a comic strip I can really realte to. (When I'm in a really good mood and feeling goofy - Calvin and Hobbes are the way to go. But I digress .....). So I'm reading the comics this morning, and this strip struck me as a conversation piece.

I was reading something the other day that said we were harming our children by trying to be so clean. By not exposing them to 'minor' bacteria, they weren't able to build up any kind of resistance, so when they did come down with something, it really hit them hard. There was a lady on the news the other day as well, that washes down her whole house - everyday - with bleach. They do not touch a shopping cart or anything until she has wiped it down, they do not open doors unless they wear gloves, etc. I think its a little extreme. Of course, her and her kids have never been sick. Not once. Is she setting herself up for something bad down the road ?? Who knows.

You may wonder where this whole thing came from. I don't know. It's just one of those things that comes to mind from time to time, that you just have to run with.

Hey, on a totally different subject .... There's a Delcor truck out in our parking lot. Delcor is one of our service providers at work. They do painting, and ceramic tile installs for us. I'm tempted to go downstairs and introduce myself, and watch them work. LOL. Man I am soooooooo going to have to be re-trained when I go back. All this relaxation is hard to take. And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you .....

Game 4 of the Oilers-Detroit series goes tonight! I'll have to flip between that and Survivor. I wouldn't say I'm a reality junkie, but I like Survivor, the Amazing Race and the Apprentice to name a few.

The Playoffs are HERE !

Wow ! What an amazing hockey game last night. Yes I had to stay up until 12:15 am to watch it but it was sooooooooo Worth it! The Oilers beat the Red Wings by a score of 4-3 in Double OT. I thought the Oilers had it in the bag in the third period, but the Red Wings managed to tie the score just near the end of regulation time.

It was end to end hockey all night, and I have to say, I couldn't turn it off. Andy and the kids went to bed just after 10, but I had to watch until the end. It was almost over when Williams put the puck in the net, thank god it was disallowed because the net came off its moorings at the same time. It would be hard to go back to Detroit 2-2 or even worse down 3-1.

The Oilers play again tomorrow night, puck drops at 7:30, so you know where to find me. Glued to my TV. Literally. I picked the Oilers to win in the first round for the Hockey Pool I'm in. I have 4 entries in though, and most of my other picks are doing pretty good too. I'll update that score after the first round. Go Oilers !!

I am my Mother's Daughter ...

My mom is the pack rat QUEEN. I have discovered, to my eternal shame, that I share this quality with her. Shoot me. Shoot me now.

Man do I have a lot of crap around the house! I have cleared out quite a bit this week, and have more to go. A few bags of clothes and trips to goodwill later, I have discovered that I have a closet! Wow! And now that I have organized it somewhat, I actually have room to store stuff ! I mean store more stuff. Because as a pack-rat (or daughter thereof ...) that's what I do. I store stuff. I'll never wear it again, and I will probably never use it EVER, but I'm going to store it because, and I quote, "You never know when It will come in handy." End Quote.

So, on a lighter note, the lady down the hall is away this week and I'm cat-sitting for her. This is a picture of her cat, Molly. Isn't she beautiful ?? She purrs when you feed her, and she came over today for a play-date with Artemis. They sat 5 feet apart and looked at each other for an hour, before I took her home. It was a typical first date.

It's funny, but when you look at this picture she has that "don't mess with me" look on her face. She's really a good cat. I pop over in the evening and make sure she's got something in her dish before bed, and I take out her brush and give her a quick once-over. She loves it as much as I do. Artemis doesn't like to be brushed at all. Must be a guy thing.

Holidays !!

Wow ! It's finally here ! My week off.

I had originally requested this week for Spring Break, to be home with the kids. But there was a few things going on at work, like Jen being away for Kitchen College, and Coralee being off for surgery, and Trellia just being gone !

We had a big promo the week before, and Carrie was swamped with orders, so I went to Rob (our HR guy) and reworked my holidays. We also had Inventory that week so it wasn't really the best time to go.

Everything worked out great though. Coralee is back and ok, Jen decided to quit and do something else, and Trellia's still gone (pout), but we made some sales, and Inventory went great.

So now I have a week off, and what am I doing on my first day off ? Going to the store to do a site check. LOL. I know, I know "What the heck are you thinking ?!?!" I couldn't set this up for any other time, so here I go. My Assistant Manager Brad is back from Thailand on Monday, so I'll have to leave him a note to fill him in on what happened while he was gone.

My grand plans for the week ?? Sleep .. eat .. sleep .. I'm joking! I'm going to get some cleaning done around the house, maybe paint some walls, and while everyone else is at school and at work, I'm going to get rid of some stuff to go to Goodwill. Shhhhhh don't tell on me! We've been saving to get a house, and i'll be darned if I'm going to pack up all of this crap to move! Oops, I mean stuff.

Do be do be do ... or Life Goes on ...

Things have defintely not slowed down since the last post. We're getting back to normal, except now there's a space where Momma was.

Easter weekend was nice. This was our first gathering without Mom, but Tamara her aide worker came over with her two boys, Timmy (he's 3) and Bibo (I don't think i spelled that right - he's 7) and we all had a blast. We discovered that Betty's cable was on the fritz (someone has disconnected them at the box that comes into the building) so the kids played on the Xbox all afternoon.

If you have never seen Xbox games, go to Best Buy and check it out. The graphics are Amazing ! I was very surprised that they can make a game system with graphics that good. One of Mom's last gifts to the kids was a Playstation 2, and the graphics on that one are great too. (Not that we need anymore game systems - Andy collects them and REALLY needs to get rid of some. HINT!)

We had dinner and the kids all got rowdy, then sleepy, then rowdy, then giggly, and pretty much in that order. I think I was the worst one though .. Timmy and I had quite the conversation about the numbers of things that come in three's. And I think I discovered all of his tickly spots (of which there are quite a few!)

More to come ...

After the Service

What a wonderful afternoon we had. There were so many people that came to celebrate Mom's life with us. Carrie, Becky, Judy and Sherrise from my work came, Shelley and Dorina from Betty's work came, Jeff - Andy's Boss, and some of the neighbors from the building were all there. We have enough food to feed an army! Everyone was so thoughtful and supportive, and even though there wasn't a lot of room to mingle, everyone managed to meet everyone else.

Cousin Wayne was having fun keeping everyone's name straight, the kids were running around eating, and it was exactly what Mom would have wanted. We created a memorial card on the computer like the ones they have at the funeral homes, and had a book we asked everyone to sign with memories of Mom.

Oh and the food ? It was enough for a least a couple of days after ... and it was nice to not worry about what to eat. In a few days we'll start going through closets and such to start clearing things out, and I forsee a few trips to Goodwill. Books and clothes and knicknacks and such.

We're finalizing plans for the niche we're going to put Mom's urn into, and what else we're going to put in there with it, Anthony's going to put in one of his hot wheels, cause Mom always played cars with him. He misses her alot. Just after everyone left for home, we took him over to the Cross Cancer Institute here in the city and he donated all of the money in his piggybank in memory of Mom. It was roughly $60, and it was all his own idea. I am so proud of him !

Goodbye Mom ....

The End has finally come. Thursday March 23 at 11:00 am, Mom passed away. The day before, we thought that the end was near. We went across the street to St. Andrews and Father Vic came over to give her Last Rites. He didn't even hesitate. My brother in law Mark went over and explained that she had been raised Catholic, and baptized as such, but hadn't been practising for most of her adult life. Father
Vic replied "Once a Catholic, always a Catholic" and went to grab his coat and came right over.

He came into her room, and her breathing was so bad at that point, she looked pretty comforted to see him there though. He administered the rite, and everyone joined in the prayer. It was roughly 25 minutes, and he told all of us we had done everything right for her so far. A few people were surprised to know that we were doing this all for her at home, and that was what Mom wanted. To die at home, in peace, surrounded by her family. With dignity. And that's exactly how she went.

Mom's aide worker Tamara was a godsend. She came everyday after dropping her sons off at day-care, and she took the bus across the city to come to us. She usually arrived around 9am, and stayed until 4 when everyone was getting off work. She would do everything for Mom, and often just sat holding her hand, and singing to her softly to keep her company. After Mom passed, I gave her a hug and she said that her prayer everyday when she woke up was that she would be a blessing to someone that day, She was definitely that and more to all of us.

We all went in to say our goodbyes after Mom was gone, and before the Funeral Home came to take away the body. Even Anthony went in to see her before she was gone. I called everyone to let them know she was gone, and so help me those were the toughest phone calls I have ever made in my life. You never think that you'll know what to say, but you always manage to find the right words somehow.

Everyone at work has been so good to me. Text messages to my phone asking if we need anything, and asking when the service was going to be. We're going to have it at home, and we were able to design and print the Memorial Cards ourselves. The cats keep sniffing around the flowers, and we have to put them in the other room so they don't have a nibble in the middle of the night. We went through our photo albums, and picked out all the best (and candid) photos of Mom we could find, and mounted them all on Poster boards so everyone can share in her life with us.

Uncle Gerry got into town today, with his son in law Wayne, and we've been remembering and looking at pictures. We went for dinner (because no one has felt like cooking anything all week !), and no we didn't have sandwiches ! I'll fill you in on the sandwich joke later ... !

More to come ....

It's amazing how life catches you off guard when you're doing other things.

I did have an alternate title for my update but figured this would work better. I kind of like that. So what's new ?? Well for starters, we only have one budgie now. Noel ate something he shouldn't have, namely a little plastic piece off of a little house in his cage, and perished literally before our eyes. So now Kokyto (our little nut) rules the roost. Literally. He has lots of toys in his cage that are rubber (safe and non toxic) that he chews on all day. He has a mirror that he talks to/fights with/snuggles with/beats up, and i've discovered if I move it from behind with my fingers he really does think its another bird! It's kind of funny.

Of course, he's like a kid in the house so he gets treats, and toys and all that fun stuff. Speaking of kids: anyone want a couple ?? Lisa is her teenage self (god help me) and Anthony is the typical younger brother .... "Liiiiii-sssaaaaaaaaa ... I'm in your rooo-ooo-ooo-ooom ...". You get the idea.

Lisa has become the most secretive child in the history of secretive children. I know it's because she's 13, but for some reason, she feels she can't talk to us. When she comes home wearing her friends clothes, carrying her friends binder, with make-up all over her face, we're not supposed to ask because its a secret.

I know I was 13 once (way, WAY back ...) but it's not that tough. She has a better support system than most of her friends, it's a shame she can't open up to us. I'm hoping this passes before I really want to do something drastic .... like being the parent that goes to school with her, and to the mall with her, and hanging out with her friends .. Like the phone commercial where the dad can't let go. LOL. That would drive her INSANE! On the other hand, It might be fun ....

On the flip side of this is Andy's mom. She's been there as long as I can remember. She's dispensed advice, and stood back and watched while we either used it or didn't. She looked after my sister and me for 2 months when my mom had to fly home to Ireland in 1978 for my Grandmother's funeral. She's had 11 kids of her own, so when she offers advice on kids, you know she's found something that works. She's always let us do our own things, go our own way, and has supported us in all of our choices, good or bad. She's also been very health challenged in the last few years, and has finally come to the end of her rope. She has cancer.

The dreaded 'C' word. She also is a diabetic, and has been for most of her adult life. Her kidneys are failing from the diabetes and she undergoes dialysis 3 times a week, 4 hours each time. She's slipping pretty fast. The cancer is in her lungs, and her throat, and its very agressive. It's migrating to her brain. We don't know how much longer she's got. And herein lies our dilemma. Do we do everything we can to prolong her suffering and make us feel better ?? Or we do let her slip away like she wants, to make her feel better ?? The choice is obvious, we let her go. But saying it and doing it, are two entirely different things.

The kids know she's dying and understand. They don't like it, but they understand. The worst is watching Andy and Betty, his sister, and my best friend. They are trying to make all of these decisions, and still get on with their own lives, work and such. They can only do so much. Home care will put her in a hospice, but she can't be participating in any 'active' treatments that will prolong her life. Like dialysis. They want her to stop so they can take her. If she stops, it's over. If she goes, it's over. If she stays home, there's no one to watch her. We're looking at also getting an aide to come in, and basically be available around the clock. More news on that as it happens.

Which brings us to now. I have a day off today, and was just down at Mom's talking to the nurse. She was asking Mom questions, and not getting very much back in the way of answers. She looked at us and said something about Alzheimer's. Which explains how she's talking to people that aren't there. I hope when it finally happens, it's quick. For Mom, for Andy, for Betty and for the kids. I have really good friends at work that are letting me sound off whenever I need to, which has been so awesome.

More to come ....

Funnies to make you laugh !!

1. Jim Baker and Jimmy Swaggert have written an impressive new book. It's called "Ministers Do More Than Lay People."

2. Transvestite: A guy who likes to eat, drink and be Mary.

3. The difference between the Pope and your boss...the Pope only expects you to kiss his ring.

4. My mind works like lightning. One brilliant flash and it is gone.

5. The only time the world beats a path to your door is if you're in the bathroom.

6. I hate sex in the movies. I tried it once - The seat folded up, the drink spilled and that ice, well, it really chilled the mood.

7. It used to be only death and taxes were inevitable. Now, of course, there's shipping and handling, too.

8. A husband is someone who, after taking the trash out, gives the impression that he just cleaned the whole house.

9. My next house will have no kitchen - just vending machines and a large trash can.

10. A blonde said, "I was worried that my mechanic might try to rip me off. I was relieved when he told me all I needed was turn signal fluid."

11. I'm so depressed. My doctor refused to write me a prescription for Viagra. He said it would be like putting a new flagpole on a condemned building.

12. My neighbor was bit by a stray rabid dog. I went to see how he was and found him writing frantically on a piece of paper. I told him rabies could be treated, and he didn't have to worry about a Will. He said, "Will? What Will? I'm making a list of the people I want to bite."

13 Definition of a teenager? God's punishment for enjoying sex.

14. As we slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way.


Enjoy ! (and feel free to share!)

The New Additions

We have a couple of additions to our household ... 2 budgies. Andy's sisters birds have laid 3 clutches of eggs in the last 8 months or so (which is very unusual - apparently they are only supposed to have no more than 2 per year), and they've had roughly 8 eggs hatch. Well 2 of those little 'eggies' are now ours !

They are harlequins, which mean they are mostly white, with little touches of blue and some black. They are gorgeous! And since they have been handled since they were hatched, they are as tame as anything.

Kokyto (ko-kee-to) is the one on the left with the little blue dot on his face and the white tail. His name is Spanish for "little nut". His birthday is Dec. 10. Noel is on the right, and since he hatched first (on Dec.8) he got the Christmas name. He likes to sit on his mineral block on the side of the cage and have his tummy scratched. Their favorite treats are apples, bananas, and kiwi.

We were a little worried about Artemis when we brought them home, but he just sniffed and the cage and went for a nap. He visits my sisters birds all the time, so he's used to them, and they don't really seem too concerned with him either. Once he gets a nibble on the nose, I think that will be the end of it. Of course I hope I'm not at work when that happens ... I have visions of the cage being on the floor, and the birds flying around the house.

Ah, well. When we were at the pet store buying our supplies, we were looking at the birds they had, Lisa has her eye on a beautiful yellow Cockatiel. I mainly had my eye on the price tag on the side of the cage. Needless to say, we have no cockatiel at home. They also had fancy canaries, that were more orange than yellow. They were so unusual! Anthony has his eye on the hamsters. Ever since my sister had one, he wants one. She also has a couple of hermit crabs and a fish tank. We could call it all our menagerie. LOL. I don't think Dad is too fond of the idea though .....

After the Party ....

Lisa's a BIG Harry Potter fan, so that's what we got on her cake. It was good too! White cake with a lemon filling ..... yummy! We always get cakes from Safeway, they are the best.

We also fired up the barbeque for lunch. Our weather has been so mild lately, we were able to keep the balcony door open, and run in and out. We did smokies and hamburgers, a treat from the usual pizza the kids always ask for on their birthdays.

Then we put the candles on for Lisa to blow out. They spelled out "Happy Birthday" and just by coincindence, they totalled 13 letters! She only blew out 5 though, and the girls were teasing her about her 8 boyfriends.

Then she was ripping into presents like there's no tomorrow. She got some more makeup (she's going to have to start her own band to use it all), some movies from Anthony and Emily, and a DVD player from us. Now we'll never see her. LOL. Boxing Day sales are sure a good way to safe on some things.

The kids are still off school until the 9th. Man we NEVER got holidays like they do now. But then they run right until the end of june, which we never did. Give and take I guess.

The next birthday coming up now is Andy's in February. He'll be old. Oops, I mean 43. We got him a Sponge Bob cake when he turned 40, it was hilarious! We'll have to see what we can come up with this year. I should let Anthony pick it out again.

Here are the girls, from Left to right: Erin, Marisa, Nikki, Lisa and Kayla. They could be the next Original "Motley Crue". LOL.

Everyone left around 3pm, and quiet was restored ... until we turned up the tunes on the computer. :-)

Later !

Happy New Year !!!

Wow ... another year gone .... Poof! Just like that. And what a year it was. We took holidays in the summer and went to Vancouver, then camped with Andy's brother in Hope, BC., Anthony finished first grade and started 2nd in September, Lisa's into Grade 8, and today is 13 years old ! Happy Birthday Babydoll! (I'm not old enough to have a 13 year old!)

I always tell her for her birthday she gets a whole new year to do what ever she wants. I'm trying to get her to write in a journal all of the things that stand out, so she can look back and see exactly what happened in the year. I'm going to start one too I think. I usually keep the first couple of pages of the newspaper for her baby book anyway, she she always has the headlines and knows who the first baby of the year is. I've done this for Anthony too .. it's a nice reminder of how things change.

What else happened this year ? The Eskimos are Grey Cup Champs (!), Hockey is Back in town, and I just bought out the lease on my car. Now its officially mine. Yay! Work is still the same, hopefully 2006 will bring new challenges and responsibilities. My anniversary date is April 25, and this will be year #7. The longest I was ever at a job before this one was 5 years, and that was exactly 4 and 1/2 years too long ... LOL.

Oh well .. Lisa is having a sleepover for her birthday. She invited Erin, Nikki, Kayla and Marisa. They're all still sleeping ... bodies everywhere ... sleeping bags all over the living room floor. It's cute. That and potato chip bags, and empty bottles of pop ... you get the idea. I'll have to wake them soon to get tidied up, but until now they're QUIET and that's the main thing.

Talk to you after the party .... :-)

Wow I'm so bad at this ....

Well .... hmmmm .... since the last update things have been totally Chaotic. With finishing the details for the Christmas parties at work, to finishing the last of my own shopping for the family, It's been a zoo. I also renewed the lease on my car, and am hosting Christmas dinner for the in-laws. Plus the stress at work .... LOL ... do I sound like I'm complaining ?? I'm really not ....

We did some last minute shopping on Friday (since it was payday) and got the kids some pj's and stuff. I had to buy for Andy since I hadn't yet (!). Stops included Wal-Mart, Staples, Second Cup and Best Buy. We even got Santa his favorite cookies - Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip. He left us a letter one year saying those were his favorites.

We also had to leave some carrots for the reindeer. Santa always comes in on our balcony and then does the rest of the apartments before going on to the next house. The kids were too excited to sleep, but they got there eventually. I went over to my Mom's for her usual Christmas phone call home. She's from Belfast so its always Christmas morning when she calls. My Uncle answered the phone .. he's been ill but has been feeling better, and it was good to hear his voice sounding so strong. He's going to be 82 in April. My Aunt's birthday is tomorrow - Boxing Day. She'll be 81 I believe. It's also their 58th Wedding Anniversary ! My Uncle always said it was easier to remember one date than two. LOL. I wish we could be there to help them celebrate. One year we will be.

Lisa was actually up before Anthony this morning ! Usually she sleeps in until we hav e to go wake her, but she surprised us this year. She got a ton of makeup under the tree ... and she said it'll last her roughly 2 weeks. Does she wear a lot ?? I'm starting to wonder. LOL. Anthony got army men, and cars. I'll be stepping on those for the next month. Andy got a game cube from his friend, and lots of new clothes since he's lost so much weight. I got Angels from my mom and sister, and from the kids. I love them because just looking at them brings me peace. Sounds corny I know, but it helps me focus on my family more, and the stress in my life less.

I'm just putting my turkey in the oven as I type this, I had a few minutes to kill and thought I sshould update. From our family to yours: A Happy Christmas and All the best for 2006 !!

More to come later !!!

Update .....

YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!! THEY DID IT !!! THEY WON THE GREY CUP !!! OMG what a game !! I have NEVER seen a game like that !! Final score 38-35 Eskimos Over Montreal. WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO !!!

It's been a couple of days since THE BIG GAME and things have calmed down a little. My voice has returned (which is a good thing - makes it easier to talk on the phone) and the victory parades and everything have happened. The pic at the left is my new screen saver ... isn't it great ?? I'm off tomorrow and I heard on the radio today the Esks will be at a radio station here in town with the cup. I might have to go get another picture of it. I took one the last time the Esks won it ... it looks awesome !!!

I have it printed and hanging on my freezer at home. It's sad to see that Jason Maas is probably going to be traded to Hamilton though. He makes his home in Sherwood Park, and on more than one occasion he's popped into the store to pick up a few things. He's a nice guy too.

Ah well ... that's my sports rant for now. Want to hear about my Hockey Pool entry ?? No ? It's pretty bad ... LOL. I'm about 8299 of 8300 right now. But I know its going to turn around ... yeah right. It's all in fun though.

Auntie Carrie said I should put some Christmas jokes on here so here are a couple I've been telling at work:

What does Santa call his Elves? Subordinate Clauses

Why is Santa so Jolly? He knows where all the bad girls live. LOL.

Oh oh ... the girl child is asking if we can do 3-way calling on our phone ..... I'm afraid. She's rehearsing her lines for the Christmas concert and its quite interesting. She's supposed to be playing an 8-year old girl. I told her that should be no problem. She's 12. LOL. Oh look, the evil eye. I haven't seen that for at least half an hour. A new world record.

More to follow .......

Where oh Where Can my blog be .....

It's been an interesting weekend so far. I can't seem to update my halloween pictures on here for some reason. I did promise to post them when I took them, and they are on my system, but I keep getting wierd error messages. They will have to wait I guess. Yesterday we went to the flea market. No big deal, right? Andy was talking to the guy that sells his video games for him. Anthony and I waited in the van for him to come back out, he said he was only going to be a few minutes. When he came back out we figured we would head to Wal Mart.

As we were driving west on 111 Avenue, our tire sensor clicked on. Man I love our van. So we pulled over at 158 Street (by the Fountain tire, which was CLOSED - and you'll see why I say that in a minute ...) and Andy got out to check the tire. Lo and behold, it was FLAT. There was a little piece of metal sticking out of a tread, but it didn't look like anything really bad. Having a flat tire by a tire shop, is a wonderful piece of luck. Of course when that tire shop is CLOSED it turns out to be pretty ironic.

Some guy in an office that was right next to where we stopped probably got a kick out of it. He kept looking at us and shaking his head. So we took down the spare, and called AMA to come and change our tire. This was shortly after 11 am. The dispatcher said they were sending out a truck, and it could be anywhere between 15 minutes and an hour to show up. Just after 12 the truck showed up. We had our tire changed and were off to get a patch for our tire.

We went to Costco, because they are pretty reasonable about fixing flats. The little piece of metal in our tire turned out to be a blade from an exacto knife, roughly 3" long, that sliced through the tread and cut into the sidewall of the tire. "Looks like you'll have to buy a new tire Ma'am." God I hate it when people call me ma'am.

All right, so it's a new tire. No big deal. Oh but wait, you can't buy just one ..... Something about how the tire wears, and it can affect the brakes, you need 2 new tires. On the second day of Christmas, my hubby bought for me .... Of course the tires I picked out were deemed "not very good for ice/snow conditions", if you get these ones you'll get more out of them. "These" ones came to $250.63. How long until we're on our way again? "Roughly 2 hours ma'am. It's pretty busy today."

So we had a look around Costco, and then called my sister to come and get us. It's getting to be late afternoon by this time think 3pm. At 4:30 we went back to Costco and picked up our van. They were supposed to give us back the other tire (which will be our new spare), but they didn't. Looks like we have to go back. Great.

In the evening we decided to take the kids to go see the new Harry Potter movie. It was pretty good. Unless you've read the book, the stuff at the beginning doesn't make much sense. I won't tell you about it, just that you have to go see it for yourself.

Sunday (so far) has started out pretty good. Its Grey Cup day ... wooooo hooooo ! The pot of chili is cooking on the stove, and the beer is cooling nicely in the fridge. I'm all set. Andy's heading out, I'm not sure he'll be back before the game starts or not. He's the sports widow at my house. More to come after the game -- GO ESKIES !!!