01 Wednesday Jan 2014
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the first day of a new year…
been very cold and the furnace seems to be playing a few games… hope it settles down overnight…
mainly a relaxing day watching tv and doing a few chores…
made some lovely biscuits to have with the turkey soup tonight…
ready to head back to work tomorrow…
31 Tuesday Dec 2013
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tonight, I have a glass of Baileys and a fiddle diddle cookie by my bed… if I am awake at midnight I will toast a new year…
no hot tub as it is bitterly cold and I don’t have the energy to go out…
the kids are off at a sleepover party just outside of the city and I won’t see them until some time later tomorrow…
it has been a full year…two wonderful trips and time with all my kids… some down times missing my beloved, but also lots of great opportunities to reminisce with others…
I truly have been blessed… looking forward to 2014 with a goal to enjoy each moment…
to the new year…
30 Monday Dec 2013
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was busy today… dropped Cyndi off to meet a friend for breakfast and we went to Best Buy to pick up a new printer because mine called it quits yesterday… perfect timing as Ron was here to help pick one out and get it all set up…
sun dogs this morning…
got a few great pictures of the sun dogs which were spectacular in the crisp morning air…
now I can print from the desktop, the laptop and even my phone… woo hoo…
we went for one last breakfast at “the A” before I went to pick up Cyndi… after a few errands we got home, made cookies, had a short nap and they packed up all their stuff…
stuffing the bags with all their goodies…
also got a few photos of their Jets gear, lol…
front and back of their jackets…
a quick early supper and some final visiting, and then off to drop them for their trip home…
came home to a very quiet house, tidied up and visited with two friends…
now off to bed… looking forward to a couple of quiet days before heading back to work…
29 Sunday Dec 2013
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barbecue, big girl pants, butter warmers, escargot, Happy New Year, lobster, steak, twice stuffed potatoes
celebrated New Year’s Eve tonight as Cyndi and Ron head home to Ottawa tomorrow…
there is a fairly set menu for New Year’s Eve… escargot in mushroom caps followed by steak and lobster… this year we also had Caesar salad and twice stuffed potatoes…
twice stuffed potatoes, ready for the oven…
nearly forgot to put the potatoes in this afternoon but Cyndi was quick to remind me, lol… had to make a few that didn’t have onions for some special people…
escargot in mushroom caps…
at our house Christmas was always for the kids, but New Year’s was for the adults… for a number of years we went to friends and brought the little kids with us and put them to bed before we began to organize the dinner… not sure that a year has gone by that we didn’t barbecue our dinner… many years later the girls would come by for dinner on their way out to their New Year’s Eve parties…
the obligatory picture…
now we tend to include the little boys in the celebration… tonight, adults had champagne and there was sparkling cider for the rest…
stars of the dinner…
so far only one of the kids doesn’t want lobster, sigh… but it is wonderful to see them test new foods… we had some fun with the butter warmers as no matter where Crystal sits her warmer is always the coolest…
an evening with family while we are still all together…
28 Saturday Dec 2013
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big girl pants, blizzard, cake for breakfast, Canada Goose jacked, Christmas pedicures, memories, snow on the ground
was surprised this morning when I woke up… heard a truck and jumped up to put out the garbage and recycling thinking the trucks were already in the lane… was shocked when I saw how much snow was on the ground… probably was stepping through 5 inches as I dragged out the bins… it would have looked lovely, if I hadn’t needed to go out in it, lol…
snow coming down first thing…
the sleepover party was still sleeping but then Ron got up and went out to shovel, even through it was still snowing… could barely see my footprints as they had filled in with fresh snow…
kids got up and we had cake and milk for breakfast… Crystal and Jeff came over and we girls headed over to a local Spa for Christmas pedicures… thank goodness Crystal was driving with snow tires, because the roads were pretty bad… when we got there the plow was cleaning out the parking lot and we hoped that we wouldn’t be snowed in when we left…
the Spa was empty, very strange as it is usually very busy… we were some of their last clients as most people decided to stay home rather than go out in the bad weather…
happy pedicured toes…
driving home the wind was blowing the snow and we could barely see where we were going… good thing we live so close, lol… we were not going to miss our pedicures…
beautifully cleaned fish tank…
arrived home to a beautifully cleaned fish tank… I think the fish were even happier than I was…
had various leftovers for lunch and the sleepover crowd left… naps were had all around… Ron went out to do some more shovelling and tested my warm jacket…
the shoveller trying out my Canada Goose cold temperature jacket…
finally the sun came out and the wind died down in the backyard and I got this picture…
the sun came out, there is a lot of snow out there…
made some turkey soup and finally had my leftover turkey dinner… then watched some TV… one child is out, the other playing games…
what a memory-filled day…
25 Wednesday Dec 2013
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lovely day…
cake for breakfast, followed by a drive across town for presents… and there were lots and lots of them…
return trip home, and a short nap… then we prepared for our dinner and the kids arrived… took a picture of the table all set and ready…
games played while dinner cooked… Jeff arrived after working a 12 hour shift and we had our dinner…
with full tummies we watched as he opened his gifts… then it was home to bed for them and a quiet night of
movies here…
the big kids are already fast asleep… so dark that I couldn’t find the laptop to write this, lol…
made it through another Christmas without my beloved…
24 Tuesday Dec 2013
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babysitting, big girl pants, Christmas Eve, different Christmas, great conversations, missing my beloved, new day
had a very lovely Christmas eve… Crystal, Jeff and the boys arrived around 2 and we had fun playing together…
Sandi and I…
my sister-in-law Sandi, and her four boys and a girlfriend, arrived around 6 and we ate our way through quite a bit of food…
the spread…
we had great conversations all around… can’t even remember the last time we were all in the same room…
space was filled up…
stories were shared and higher learning discussed… the little boys watched movies and came and went for snacks while the adults had a great time… some of the stories were about the girls babysitting the boys, many years ago… lots of laughter… had to have been at least ten electronic devices in and around the room…
lots of electronics plugged in…
everyone left and Cyndi and Ron tidied up while I wrote this blog… we will be heading to bed shortly and going to Crystal’s in the morning…
a very different Christmas Eve than the usual ones we have had over the years… usually we would all get in our jammies and sit by the fire that George would have going, and there would be people sleeping everywhere as bedtime arrived…
I am missing my beloved today, thinking of all the wonderful Christmas Eves we have celebrated over the years…
but, today is a new day and those big girl pants must be worn…
23 Monday Dec 2013
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out for breakfast with Ron at the Assiniboine…
home for some computer discussion and then off for sushi with the girls…
traffic was crazy and we went to Safeway and the Liquor Store on our way home…
think there might have been MSG in the sushi because my head kind of exploded… took until about 7 before it abated:-(…
put together my offering for our BS gathering and got a pic…
had a lovely time with these friends as we visited, shared treats and thoughtful gifts…
what a lovely day… filled with wonderful memories…
22 Sunday Dec 2013
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got up at 2:15 as the plane arrival time had changed before I went to bed…
the car was outside as we had barbecued and I was going to pick up the kids…
car was covered in frost so took a while to clear the windows and it was very cold out…
drove slowly and got lost a few times on the base but eventually found the correct hangar…
once inside, was advised that the plane had just left Ottawa and wouldn’t arrive until 4:30 am… drove home and watched tv for an hour and headed back… this time I knew where I was going and actually got the kids…
had a lovely day with them in the house… one of Cyndi’s friends came by to visit this afternoon and she’s out with a bunch of her girlfriends tonight while Ron went off for a computer gaming night… Cyndi wore my warm jacket as it was so cold…
it is cold everywhere in the house… right now it feels like -43.5 so I guess that makes sense…
presents have materialized under the tree…
21 Saturday Dec 2013
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Advent, big girl pants, cleaned up the computer room, excited on my own, missing George, steak and lobster, waiting arrival, waiting patiently, wooden figures
today, as I was waiting for my daughter and son-in-law to arrive from Ottawa, I spent some time cleaning up the computer room…
has been on my radar for months, but finally got to it today… my son-in-law looks after my computers when he is here, and sometimes from wherever he is… it has been some months since the desktop smelled like burning rubber and was turned off… hoping that he can perform some magic and bring it back to life…
this, of course, involves having a desk space that he can work on, and floor space to walk around… thus the cleaning binge…
Bethlehem with peace…
also rearranged the wooden figures I pulled out last night… now Bethlehem is on the top of the shelf and across the living room the shepherds are watching their sheep…
shepherds and their sheep…
Mary and Joseph are travelling in another area of the living room and the wise ones with their camels are located somewhere else… across the room a number of northern animals are waiting patiently…
the kids and I had steak and lobster for dinner, but without our guests… they were still waiting to get on a plane in Ottawa… the weather has been bad in parts of Ontario today…
now I am heading to bed to be up at 1:30 am to collect them at the Base… this will be the first time I have gone on my own to pick them up…. I will be thinking of George as I head out… we were always so excited when they came home…
tonight I am excited on my own…
