Advent…

30 Monday Nov 2015

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tomorrow is the beginning of Advent…

yesterday I sent home Advent calendars for everyone… there was a Starbucks one for my daughter… Kinder Surprise ones for the little boys… a Lindt one for the oldest grandson, and a box of Russian Mints for my son-in-law…

  
usually they have to share so the little boys were very pleased…

I arranged for a friend of my daughter in Ottawa to pick up a fancy Lindt calendar for her…

  
and we also got a Star Wars one for my son-in-law there…

great fun to arrange the surprise for her because she sends calendars to a number of people every year… she has been sending them to me since she moved away… I’m still looking for the magnetic covers that go on top of muffin tins that she sent four or five years ago… I put them away very carefully, sigh…

this year the little boys got a parcel in the mail from her so they will have chocolate and another treat each day…

  
on Saturday the youngest helped fill up the drawers in my reindeer calendar with chocolate raisins… this year I won’t be having any of these, so when they come over on the weekends they will share all of the days that have passed… one in particular is very large, so they are already anticipating opening up that one, lol…

last year I got a lovely collection of different sized boxes, which I managed to save and remember where they were… they were picked up on Saturday and I am hoping that the Advent fairy comes by tonight with the collection of filled boxes…

a friend recently asked how I was managing my new food regime… and wondering what I was missing most… as I thought about it I realized that I’m not really missing anything… I still have chocolate, just much less often, and in smaller amounts… I eat everything, but try to plan the not-so-good items a bit farther apart than previously and in smaller quantities… the biggest change I have made is to plan my meals out the day before… this helps me keep on track and I don’t get surprised with a meal arriving and I haven’t got any idea, so make poor choices… and finally I eat lots of vegetables at every meal… most days it works great… now and then, not so much…

I don’t want to take drugs for diabetes if I can possibly manage it, so that really encourages me to eat well and get on that treadmill or take a walk every day…

tacos…

29 Sunday Nov 2015

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boys slept in until eight this morning… then happily watched cartoons on tv until their mom arrived about 8:30…

we went out for breakfast… second day in a row for me, lol… today it was Perkins for eggs Benedict… the 55 plus portion for me, which is just the right amount…

more shopping and found these adorable battery powered salt and pepper mills… had to bring them home… they are so cute…

  
now I have to figure out where to put them because they are too tall to fit in the cabinet where the old ones were, lol… but I can get rid of the older ones…

for our supper tonight we had tacos… only the little boys and their daddy came, but everyone loved them and had at least three each…

  
I used a ground vegan product instead of meat… very tasty and easier than cooking hamburger… no one even noticed the difference… we also had some refried beans, which we adults enjoyed… the boys don’t like beans of any kind…

I love feeding them tacos because they always eat well and there aren’t any complaints… there is lots of lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, avocado and sour cream to go with the soft and hard tacos that they like…

tonight they had milk with their supper… I usually offer juice boxes because I don’t think of drinking milk as I really dislike it, but they think of it as a treat, ugh…

another of their favourites is Subway sandwiches… they would choose that over burgers nearly any day… 

wonderful that they enjoy healthy foods…

project…

28 Saturday Nov 2015

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out for breakfast and did a bit of shopping with my daughter…

had a nap and watched some figure skating and skiing on tv…

ordered supper in with the kids and saw the Snowbirds out the front window… they were here as part of the Grey Cup celebration I think…

  
watched my grandson find all the purple rocks in the coffee table… “there are a lot Grandma”…

  
he told me all about the birthday party he had been at this afternoon where they got to hold frogs and lizards and snakes… got the bed ready and our project done…

  
hardest part was getting the cardboard off the chocolate covered raisin container…

we worked very well together and had fun counting and talking about nice things we could do for others during Advent…

  
project complete and one of us is in bed watching tv… 

not me this time as I am waiting for his brother to arrive from a different birthday party… 

frost…

27 Friday Nov 2015

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last night I was quite excited to look out and see that the solar powered lights glowing…

  
that means the sun had been shining during the day…

  
really enjoying the sunlight as much as possible… today I was commenting on the sunlight streaming through the office windows…

was very pleased tonight when I arrived home and looked at the garage windows… had to get out my phone to take a few pictures…

  
a few years ago I was at a friend’s house and got some amazing shots of hoarfrost on her garage windows… so these pictures reminded me of that special evening when we decorated her living room for Christmas…

  
frost is amazingly beautiful…

as I walked up to the door my phone chirped with a text from another friend who had just cuddled up on her couch with a crocheted blanket I had made for her a year or so ago and wanted to tell me how she enjoyed it… 

lovely memories to finish off a long week…

red…

26 Thursday Nov 2015

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been getting lots of compliments on my hair lately…

  
made me remember back to the first time I coloured it…

had been working in a very toxic environment and was trying to wear red every day… red is a colour that makes me feel strong and I really needed to find strength wherever I could… didn’t have that many red clothes so I decided to have a little bit of red put into my hair…

never been coloured before, but I was desperate to feel some type of protection…

it was just a tiny bit at the front of my head which could hardly be seen, but I had red on every day… helped make me feel stronger as I struggled to get through those very difficult days…

not long after I got out of that bad spot I decided to put purple in my hair…

tried a few systems that I put in myself, but the colour would wash out with every shampoo…

eventually found a place that used allum and had my hair professionally done… seems silly to dye such short hair but it lasts a long time and doesn’t leave any colour behind on towels or pillows, lol…

have tried having a tiny bit in and other times there has been a lot… outside in the sun it always looks amazing…

my hairdresser did a great job this time and it looks very nice…

does make me giggle when someone says “I like your hair” because I don’t even think about it anymore… it is just part of me…

interesting how we get to a certain place in our lives…

break…

25 Wednesday Nov 2015

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two fun treats today…

got to watch a parade go by the office with horses and carts and lots of people dressed beautifully…

 
police cars were blocking Donald Street…  
 
it was getting colder, but everyone kept walking along…

  
assume it had something to do with the Grey Cup Celebration… didn’t get out quick enough to get a good shot of the horses…

lovely little break in the day…

then I had dinner with two dear young women… don’t get out often to eat, particularly on a week night… and it was excellent to be able to spend some quality time with these amazing individuals… they both give me energy… 

went to Carbone Coal Fired Pizza on St. Mary Avenue and had salad and thin crust pizza… yummy… I really do prefer the thin crust versions…

on my way home I stopped for gas… it was around six and there was a lineup… crazy… but now the tank is full… both my dad and George always said it was best to keep the tank at least half full especially in cold weather, so I’ve followed that direction…

when I got home I made a pot of Chocolate Rocket tea… at the restaurant I thought the wait person said they had green and red tea… wasn’t sure what red tea was, lol… apparently he said green or red rose… sometimes I don’t hear that well…

but the Chocolate Rocket was just what I needed…

now for some tv…

moon…

24 Tuesday Nov 2015

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really looking forward to the weekend… and it is only Tuesday…

went to aquasize tonight and had the teacher who really works you… I was exhausted but did make it through the whole class without giving up…

tomorrow there will be a full moon… usually means more phone calls, walk ins and odd happenings… 

took this shot of the moon on Saturday… picture doesn’t do it justice…

  
a few days ago I took this picture of the most adorable glass frames…

  

I know a number of people who would love these, lol…  

stash…

23 Monday Nov 2015

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had a wonderful evening with some amazing women…

a delicious dinner where we shared stories and updates on our lives… followed by a few chapters of a very interesting book with some thought provoking questions…

these women have been with me for many years and through many experiences… some quite amazing and others very difficult…

at the end of our gathering out came someone’s stash of fabric for a quilting project… many of these women are serious quilters…

  

I have been a fabric collector for a number of years… I have gathered it, but don’t actually make things… use it for decorative purposes… 

haven’t been in a fabric store for at least five years, but I must say that looking at the stash did make my fingers itch a bit… 

my life has changed and I don’t have a need for fabric at this point in my life, but do enjoy seeing what’s out there…

enjoyed the moments…

headache…

22 Sunday Nov 2015

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managed to get a few chores done around the house but that is about all…

bit of a headache hanging over me today… tried sleeping, but that hasn’t done anything to alleviate it…

happy I did the running around yesterday although the headache was there too…

looks lovely outside, although overcast… for a good portion on the morning it was snowing so there is a new dusting of snow over everything… always looks so clean afterwards… too bad the sun hasn’t come out… 

  
the critters have been out and about since the first of the snow… there are little footprints everywhere… not sure if it the bunny, squirrels or cats…

bit of sun might make my head feel a bit better…

think I will make some chicken soup… 

purple…

21 Saturday Nov 2015

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so happy to get my hair purpled today… was supposed to have happened on Monday but something came up and we had to rebook…

my hair has been too long since last week and I have really forced myself not to go and get it cut… colouring is much easier the longer the hair is…

  
waiting for the cooking portion to be complete… as I left the house in Charleswood I watched this deer in the next yard…

  
so pretty… and the sunlight shining was lovely too…

popped into the Safeway store and picked up groceries… good sales today… had six or seven bags which included some items for Christmas…

got home, put everything away and had a short nap…

  
feels great and looks good too… a couple of people commented on it as I was shopping…