It's Christmas Eve...oh boy oh boy!!

Deep down inside, I am a little kid at Christmas. I love the music and play the "all Christmas music" radio station from the beginning. At one time, my husband said "they play the same things over and over again." I think that was his hint for me to change the channel. I didn't. I for sure need to listen to it when decorating the tree and doing some baking. And now, it is Christmas tomorrow. The gifts are all wrapped, the champagne is bought and chilling! I even get tempted to head to a mall just to soak up all the hustle and bustle of the season...Tempted..not crazy!
  Right now, we are having major subzero temperatures. -25C..brrr. This is the one time of year when I wish we had a fireplace to cozy up to. But, we chucked that out when doing up the renos of the house. The smart people in Television land, made a channel that shows a fireplace. Complete with the odd scene of a hand coming in to stir up the logs.  They say the temps are going to remain this cold for a few day ahead. Ugh! Lots of Coffee and Baileys and/or hot chocolate and baileys. Seeing a theme here?
    I have kept the presents from under the tree because I have a certain, nosey lab that would love nothing more then to open each and everyone one.  I guess her argument would be she was inspecting them making sure everything was OK. This is driving the kids crazy. We need to put them under the tree. The tree looks bare! So, after I make the gingerbread cookies, I will put them under the tree and then stand back as the kids go through them. No matter how old you are, it is always exciting to see a package with your name on it. The temptation to just have a peek is overwhelming. Maybe the gifts aren't under the tree to keep ME from being nosey! haha.. As per tradition, we open one small gift tonight then do the rest tomorrow. I shall have some champagne and orange juice  and prepare to watch the Queen's message!

 I would like to wish you all A wonderful Christmas season. Or Happy Holidays or whatever you call it. Seems to be quite the discussion around here as to what is socially acceptable.
 Enjoy your family time!!

how nice

  Here I sit on my laptop beside the tree. That's nice, you think to yourself. Across from me are my three kids. 18, 16 and 15. Again...that's good.  What is good about that is they are sitting together on the couch watching a scooby-doo movie on my daughter's laptop!  Hard to believe only a few short years ago, I thought they wouldn't get along..I mean EVER!!  Since there are 3 of them, there was always two that got along and the 3rd sort of left out in!  Secretly (guess not a secret any longer) I thought maybe we should have had 4 kids. More of an even playing (or fighting) field then. But, who is to say that maybe 3 wouldn't gang up on the 4th. I remember when they were a lot younger sitting in the livingroom listening to them fight over a piece of Lego. I listened to this for awhile and finally I just had to ask "How can you possibly tell this tiny, grey piece of lego is yours?" "We can just tell and I know it is mine..!"  at which time the fight began again. When they became teenagers, well just looking at one another "a certain" way would set them off.  Holy crap they would yell and fight.  But, today, I see them getting along and dare I say, they are finally friends!  It is very nice to see and I thought I would share it!!

No topic..just rambling as I do from time to time...

I have my tree up rather early this year. It could be because last year we were in the thick of things with renovating our kitchen.  I had a double mattress behind my couch  and a large tv in front of the window. Oh wait, that sounds like I have a bed usually in my kitchen. That takes breakfast in bed to a whole new meaning.  While we were doing our kitchen, why not knock a few walls down and work on a bedroom as well. THAT is how all this furniture got into my livingroom.  Anyway, there was barely enough room for anyone to walk around. Now, for me this was horrible, cause I love decorating with my Christmas things.  I decided to make the most of it by hanging stockings on the large TV and putting a quilt up to cover the mattress. Worked great until my husband decided to move the TV to the bedroom we were making. Oh, but  where will my stocking hang?  They made it to the mattress. The Quilt was used to cover a table that didn't belong.  In other words, my livingroom looks like a tornado went through it. It was not the "homes and garden" type decorated room. I made the best of it. BUT this year, nothing is out of place. OK, I do have some stuff that doesn't belong here, but that is pure laziness on my part. With the giddiness I get this time of year, I decorated like a mad women!!  Tree is up, everything has a proper home and no mattress needs hiding! Yipee!!  Tomorrow my daughter comes home from University!  So looking forward to carrying on with traditions  like baking our favourite Danish Pastries.  I have done some baking and have tortured the boys by putting half of it in the freezer.  My mother used to do this and I always told her I wanted to be a freezer when I grew up so I could get all the baked goodies.
    I have one decoration outside. We do not put up lights or buy big blow-up Santas to put on our front lawn. We live in the prairies and there is always a wind blowing. I have a small flag that goes on a metal pole in the garden. It is small and I have been lucky it hasn't been taken off it's pole and blown across the prairies!      I am even ready to wrap gifts and put them under the tree. I think I might hold that off for a bit. I don't want the dog to get bored and start eating the paper, as she does!

Visions of........running around my mind

Here I sit on my couch, feet up looking out the window at the snow lightly falling.  I am also lucky enough to have a view of the mountains, OK not right this moment..cause, its snowing. BUT when I can see them, they are beautiful. I have various "winter" decoration put up around the house. I don't call them Christmas decorations, because those won't be put up until officially December. That's my rule. I have gone shopping for gifts, hidden somewhere (just in case one or all of the kids read this).  I am well into the spirit of things, complete with music playing in the background. What thoughts are running around in my mind now? Bet you can't guess!  No, it isn't thoughts of sugar plums or anything like that. Sigh, what is going around in my mind that I desperately want to do is.....Go to Zurich and attend the Robbie Williams concert!!  I am such a fan! One summer, while in Scotland, I found out he was doing a concert in Glasgow..3 days after we left! Argg. 3 days!!!  I wanted to change my flight. Could I write to him and ask if he would mind doing it 3 days earlier then scheduled? That wouldn't be too pushy.  So, I now see he is doing a concert in Europe. I figure since I know people in Switzerland, why not kill two birds with one stone. Go visit my friends, and take part in his concert. I have even gone ahead and "clicked" the attend button on his facebook page. Like pressing that will result in tickets to Switzerland and his concert.  I do torment myself sometimes with stuff like that.  My other argument is he will never do a North American concert. They just don't really know who he is here. I mean his new CD came out and right off the bat is cost $12.-! A great deal for me, but not so much for his ego??  So, Robbie, if you happen to read this, how would you like a pure, crazy (not jail kind of crazy lol), will sing along to every song Canadian fan at your concert??
  In the meantime, I shall continue to listen to his music while sitting on the couch watch the snow fall.  Life is good!!

gray matter...

    I am thinking of letting my hair go gray! I have been colouring it for years and years. I am not even sure what my natural colour would be right now..oh wait, yes gray!  I have had such a battle with the colour of my hair over the years. My ideal colour would be a nice, mellow blonde. Not harsh because I have just about the whitest skin known!  But, for some reason, my hair turns a shade of red when I add a blonde shade to it. "just use an ash tone, that will get rid of the red", says loads of people over the years. That just didn't work. Eventually, the ole red would come out. So, what can a girl do, but colour her hair red!!  Yes, I did that just with the image of being sultry with my red locks. Colour set, rinsed, time for the big reveal. YIKES!! What had I done?  I hate red hair! (no insult to those born with red hair or that happened to love red hair). I just don't like it on me for some reason. So, next would be turning it dark to bring out my blue eyes. Did I mention the darker I go with my hair, the bluer my eyes look AND the paler my skin looks, so I seem to walk around like death warmed over! Sigh.. What is a person to do? Well, one can stop colouring her hair once and for all. That is where I am at today. I did what anyone would do, and that is to consult with the experts that live in google land.  They said to buy temporary colour and have it wash away gradually in 24 days. Eventually my natural colour will show through without anyone noticing. I am certainly not worried about anyone noticing my hair colour change. I have gone from red, to bright blonde to almost black in the same year! I think it is almost expected of me to change the colour of my hair every few months.
  Now the question remains, will I look much older than I am, if I turn gray. (side note...I debated to spell it "grey" but it looks too funny.) I am very young at heart. Almost immature, according to my kids. I know a lot of my friends have gone the gray way and look wonderful. I think I will do the lighter, temporary colour route and see what happens. Wish me luck! And to those that have gone gray, any tips? How did you go from colouring to natural gray? I shall keep you posted.

On your mark, get set, GO!!!!!!!.........

I was witness to a crazy sale yesterday! Huge line ups. There was a line at the door waiting for this store to open up at 8am. We were there just in time! You could feel the tension and anticipation as the doors were being opened. Was this the opening of a brand new designer purse store? Perhaps my fav, Fluevog shoes were opening up a new store..no, we were at a hardware store that was closing! Yes, the tension and giddiness was from all the men that were there. When the doors opened, I was instructed to head off to the right to look for the deck railings we had come for. "Mad dash" wouldn't even come close to describing it. Men and their wives/partners  were running all over the place. I have to admit, I did briefly stop to look at patio furniture. BUT, I soon refocused to the task on hand. Bingo! Found the railings!  Now, where was my husband? As I scaned through the railings I noticed they aren't in the colour we wanted. We wanted white. These were beige. Hmmmm. Oops excuse me, Taupe! Finally, my husband made it and saw the colour as well. We stood for a second and decided since they were 50% off, we were going to love the Taupe.  "You stay here and I will go grab a cart." I stood there and realized I was being circled by other men thinking maybe Taupe will be the colour choice. Now, do I throw myself on top of all these railings and do-dads that go with it? What is normal when men go to a sale? One man actually had his hands on one of the railings. Awkkk. How long does it take to get a cart? I see him and he is with a cart, but has taken a turn down another aisle to look at screws. I eyeballed him and said, with my eyes, get over here, we have competition for these railings. Hey, it worked! He came over and the two men started to casually grab things before the other one. The other man was asking my husband questions about what he might need. He came with a list, my husband came with a list. He was supposed to get white, but changed to Taupe, same with us! I thought this was going very well, until the man went to put his goodies in a pile nearby. My husband leaned over and said "I wish that man would just F*@# off". Oh, this is turning nasty! The other man returned with his list to grab more things. They were both looking for some attachment. They couldn't find it at all. We stood there looking for it and the man took his stuff away. I picked up something from the shelf and my husband grabbed it and said "Yes, Yes, this is what we are looking for. Quick, hide it on our cart so he won't see it." Then he made some sort of evil laugh noise. Good god! We got our things and went to stand in line..and stand in line...and stand in line. 1 hour and 1/2 later  we left the store. We piled all our railings and he went to get the truck to load it. While standing there guarding the pile, a women looked it over and said "oh new curtains for the house?" "No, railings for a new deck." Then she said "Nothing for you?". I told her "this is for everyone in the family".  Along came our truck. I noticed he was kind of blocking someone from getting out. I informed him of this and he said "I don't care, he can get out." Man this sale brings out the animal in men. Of course, I am sure I wouldn't be any better should I be at a shoe sale or purse sale. Mind you, I would have left the husband at home.  Anyway, we brought our goodies home, proud knowing we saved 50%! We unpacked the truck. Looked at all we had and made a list of the things we still had to get. Since this was a store closing, they didn't have everything. List was made. The next words out of his mouth, stunned me! "Let's go back to see if we missed getting anything." Seriously? Waited for the "ha ha I'm kidding" to come out..nope. We got back into the truck and went back to that sale. Thankfully, it was only a 25 minute drive there. We actually did find more things and the line up wasn't so big. Then we went to another hardware store to buy screws and order the remaining parts that are missing. In 2 weeks we should have all the railings up. We are putting off ordering the glass for now. Have to let our credit card calm down a bit!

What?!

Went to get my nails done today. It was a great day of spending it with my daughter. She is off to University at the end of the month..sniff sniff, and we decided to spend the day just the two of us. She is very much a tomboy and wasn't having any of that nail stuff. But, she was happy to sit beside me while I got mine done. We were standing at the counter to ask about getting them done,  when I noticed a lady seated, getting her nails done. She stared at me like she knew me from somewhere. I had never seen her before. We were told to come back in 45 minutes. So, we went shopping. Upon our return, the lady continued to stare at me. My inside voice was saying "what are you staring at?". Being the lady that I am...I hear that snicker from those that know me...I didn't say anything. I was getting my nails done and chatting when I asked my daughter if she noticed this women staring at me. It wasn't a hard core stare, just a glance from time to time. In order to glance at me, she had to swing her body around to do so. Strange. After mentioning it, my daughter did notice it. She leaned over and said "maybe she is jealous of your nails!". Hmm that's not it. She is getting the same thing done. (Here would be a good place to mention I get the ole fake nails put on)  " I know, she is admiring your shirt and is probably wondering where you got it?"  I pondered that thought, then came up with another one. "Oh god, I bet she donated this top to the second hand store that I got it from and keeps thinking it looks familiar!" THAT, my friends, would probably be the reason I was being stared at!! Wouldn't that be funny?  I never did find out, but that lady's staring soon got replaced with 3 workers standing around my little table talking with the women that was doing my nails. They were not speaking English and I got a bit paranoid that this was her first time doing it. In the end, it all turned out lovely. I now have nice "natural" looking nails.

that 4 letter word!

Got your attention didn't I? Well my, now not liked, 4 letter word is RENO(S). and I am not talking Reno Nevada!  Mine has to do with the many renovation projects we have going. We have been doing renovations on this house since 2006 for that is when the bathroom window leaked! Of course, my husband wasn't home at the time. The water was pouring down the bathroom wall and collecting in the ceiling of the kitchen. I phoned him a panic and he said I had to put a hole in the ceiling and put a bucket under it to collect the water. Oh, I put a hole in it alright. Got a screwdriver and went to town! Who knew I had that much frustration built up?!  When my husband got home, he sort of mentioned that maybe I went a bit too crazy with opening up the ceiling to let water out. That, my friends, was the start of our renovations. We replaced all the windows in the house, and while you are without windows, you may as well take down all the siding and put on more insulation. New basement windows required us to build up the frame a bit better and larger. THAT caused us to notice that the insulation under the window was soaking wet! Rip down the drywall in the basement to find that cause. While the walls were naked, we may as well build a bedroom down there!  Can you see this pattern that has emerged with us? It is never ending. We also decided to make our kitchen larger and rip out the already cracked tiles. The only way to make our kitchen larger, would be to take down the wall between the family room and kitchen. Our goes that window, out goes that large stone fireplace.  I am happy to say, the kitchen is done! Well almost. The small bits and pieces need to be done, like the floor trim. Our renovations have moved to our front deck! In order to do the windows in the living room, we needed to tear down the front deck. It was full of rotted wood anyway. Now, we are building a new one. I am at then end of my renovation, tattered rope about now. The sun is beating down on our little heads in the afternoon and  the snipping at each other is in full swing by 3pm!  When all is done, I am going to stomp my feet until I turn blue, demanding a nice beach vacation! Not too much to ask for the past 6 years of blood, sweat, tears and swearing!  Now off to the local hardware store for more bits and pieces for the deck. Yup..still smiling!!!

What?!

I told you things happen to me that people often think couldn't possibly be true. Well, yesterday I had such an event! A friend of mine and I were standing waiting to enter a show. It was hot and we were glad to be standing on some cement steps out of the heat and there was even a bit of a breeze. We didn't mind the wait at all! As we were standing there my friend suddenly hopped up one step towards me. She looked at the lady that was sitting down on the next step, and asked if she wanted her to move. I guess this women had been crowding her. The lady just said "no". So we chatted some more and then she decided to move to the stop above me, leaving the step below empty. Well, that was great for this other lady, cause she moved closer to my step and kind of sprawled out. Here comes the weird bit! I was standing there talking some more and I felt someone grab and hang onto my ankle. It passed and it took me a second to realize that wasn't normal. But, not to worry, cause the moment came again. Yup, that is indeed someone hanging on to my ankle. I looked down and saw it was the lady behind me. She said "sorry" and turned her back to me and talked with her family. My friend was killing herself laughing at this, cause it only happens to me! I put my right foot up onto the step ahead of my and then realized that I better put it back down or else that lady would take more of my space. OMG, she had. There, where my foot was, was her hand. Really? Are you kidding me? So, I put my foot down near her hand and slid it more to the right as to move her hand along out of the way! That was the weirdest wait I have ever encountered. Dare I blame the heat we have been having? OH sure, why not?!

Photo...gone..

Sorry, but couldn't stand the large photo..it was kind of in your face. I will some day figure this all out and post photos that aren't larger then life! :)

Stinkin hot!

We are currently having a bit of a heatwave. Not only does this cause some major thunderstorms at night (which i hate..seriously..I hate those things), but it also causes this chick of the menopause era to swelter to death. I swear, the ceiling fan can't go fast enough sometimes. The windows are open, until the dogs in the neighbourhood start their barking fest, and the coyotes join in! My poor dog, is panting more then I am and has a fear of the ceiling fan. So, she doesn't know where to go at night. We are a good team, she and I. I tried to help her by putting a nice cool cloth on her head. She tried to get away from me and ended up smelling, well, like a wet dog. We do live near a canal that we could walk to and dunk her in (bad grammar..I know), but the walk back to the house would be just cruel. We would both be sweating and frankly, gross by the time we got back to the house. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the warm weather, but I don't do well in the stinkin hot weather. Bring me more Spring like temps or even Fall like temps. Those are nice to cope with. My internal temperature guage has never worked properly. I seem to take on whatever the temperature is. If it is cold, well, by golly, I get cold! Funny talking about how I can't cool down properly in this heat, and yet, my photo is of Palm Springs. Must be because everything there is air conditioned, not the outdoors obviously, but everyone has a pool! There's my solution! We have been doing a lot of renovations, why not add a pool to the mix. Hmmm, I see my husband is sitting on his tractor digging an area which is to become our front porch, why not head out there and suggest he do some more digging in the back yard. Couldn't hurt. By the time we have the hole dug and the pool put in, I will be writing about how it is -30 and bloody cold!! Can't win! Keep cool everyone!

Photo

Like the photo?  I told you I would play with this blog and see if I can download photos. Didn't realize just how huge the photo would end up being. Have to adjust that somehow. Anyway, the photo was taken when we were in Palm Springs. I love that place. I suggested to my husband that we retire there. (bloggers note...not that we are nearly old enough to retire!), and he said there were too many golf courses, not enough archery ranges!  I have been very lucky in life because I have traveled and seen so many places. Each one of them, I seem to want to live in. (bad grammar..I know..sorry mom).  My favourite place is also Scotland. I can picture myself living in a small village and everyone knowing everyone. Much like the TV series Doc Martin. Full of quirky characters. I know that series isn't filmed in Scotland, but some place like that must exist there. I have been to the tropics, as well. Got completely roasted sitting on the beach. I have a photo, which I will NOT be posting, of me in a bright pink bathing suit and my arms and legs matching the colour perfectly. That was a very long plane ride home I can tell ya.  So, enjoy the photo, cause it may change again soon. I am restless like that.

gardening for dummies

You know what is sad?  I will tell you. I just went out to the garden to fetch some salad. That isn't the sad part believe me. The oh so pathetic bit is me standing there looking at a row of plants wondering if it is actually for us to eat! Why aren't there labels at the end of each row. I know what the typical salad leaves look like and I know he planted some funky purple/red coloured ones, but man, this one that is growing rather tall, has be stumped.  I did what anyone that is lacking the garden gene, would do. I picked some leaves and smelled them! Hmmm doesn't smell like lettuce. Honestly, why wasn't I really paying attention when he brought me out to the garden a few weeks ago, to impress me with what he planted! Serves me right. Ok, so I did the next best thing..ask the kids. They might have been listening to him. My daughter said she didn't know. My son said "looks like weed". NOT THE SMOKING KIND!!  Well, I already know what that kind looks like. From picture books, of course that other people had. Phew.. Moving back to my garden.  I decided to pick some anyway and wave the white flag and text my husband to ask what it is. I have kept it away from the other salad just incase it is a week of some sort.
  I admire people that love gardening. They say it is so relaxing to weed  I would love to be in that mind set and even had a friend send me a book "gardening for dummies"..side note..I wonder if that book might have a photo of my tall "salad". Hmm, might have to go look for it sometime. Anyway, (sorry I tend to get side tracked with my thoughts, but I do manage to come back around.)  Personally, I just can't get into it. I get bit by mosquitos! I have been known to run around squealing when there is a bee around or, god forbid a spider!!! eeek..  Well, just as I am writing this, my husband text me back, and I quote "taste a leaf and if it tastes bitter, then don't eat it.". Hmmm I vote for not tasting it. He comes back in a few days, and he can taste the leaves! Sounds good to me. I shall keep you posted as to what on earth it is. I should really get the hang of submitting photos on here and maybe those that read this can tell me all kinds of info involving various kinds of plants I have around here.  Have a good weekend!!

update.

So, are you impressed? I found some cool design things to use as a background. AND I did that without any teenagers within30 meters of me!! Some day I will add photos as well.

men/women..we sure are different!

I know, I know, we all know there (3 "knows" already and I have just begun...) are huge differences between men and women. Yesterday, I got to experience one first hand. That didn't come out right. That made it sound like I have never seen a man before, or talked with one before, OK. let's start over. Yesterday, I asked my teenage son to phone his dad to take steaks out of the freezer. I, myself, had a brain freeze and totally forgot to take them out. Since, we were driving I got him to call. Have to make an impression on the new driver after all and not use cell phone while driving. SO, he phones home and asks his dad to take the steak out of the freezer. Simple, yet, that required lots of questions from the other end. He first asked if they were in the top freezer or the one in the basement. Basement, says I.  What kind of packaging are they in. Oh good god..they are steak man, figure out it for yourself (said my inside voice). I told him exactly what basket they were in and what the packaging would look like. Then I remembered something and said " Oh, let your dad know, our youngest won't be home for dinner". Now, here comes the difference between the sexes bit." "dad, Adrian won't be home for dinner". I then say " because he is going to an after school party and won't be home probably until late. You see his friends are celebrating that it is the last day of school, so why not party". While I am saying this, my son says "ok, bye" and hangs up the phone. I then said "Ah you didn't tell him what I was saying! He doesn't know why Adrian won't be home for dinner. I was mid sentence and you hung up."! To which my son said "I told him he won't be home for dinner, he said fine and that was it."  I almost felt like I should phone my husband back and explain things, give him reasons as to why things were the way they were. Didn't he want to know why he wouldn't be home for dinner? Is that just me? Is that the nosy part of my personality that would want to know all the details about what was going on with him?  Not to worry, my friends, I did finally get to explain why he wasn't home for dinner, because during dinner he said "where is he? When will he be home? Who is going to get him?"  So I got to use all of my words and then some!  This using less words then women thing has been around for ever. Here I thought, I might be able to change a bit of that by training my sons to talk more. Express themselves more. When I ask "how was your day?", I would like a detailed account of actually how their day went. Not the usual "fine" answer. I feel I will be beating my head against the wall. I have a motive for doing this. Not the beating my head against the wall, but for the chatting. My daughter leaves for university in the fall and I will be in a house of nothing but men! Hey, now might be the time to teach my dog to talk. She seems to listen to every word I say. I have informed my men, that they will need to improve on their communications skills when she leaves. I am thinking that just isn't going to happen. And so, I present my blog! This shall receive most of my ramblings in the future. I just need to make it prettier. There must be a way to make it nice to look at other then some typing. I will work on that the next time I visit. 
      

Hello, first blog ever.  For me that is, not to sound like I have suddenly invented the whole blog thing that is. Don't want to come across as some know it all! This whole blog theme is going to be random stuff about my life. Quirky things that may have happened recently or years ago and I have thought about recently. Everything that has happened, does actually happen to me. For example, when I was getting my hair done, the hairdryer got caught in my hair!  I don't have hair that goes down past my knees either. She was blowing away, chatting as they do, and suddenly she went to pull away and my hair followed. My friend laughed her head off but I sat there with a hair dryer in my hair. What did the lovely hairdresser say?  "hmmm that has never happened to me before". Imagine that! Care to get the hairdryer out of my hair? She did, but not without taking some of my hair with her.  Getting the picture of what my blog is about? Good! 
  Hmmm I think I should have studied the "how to blog" section more closely. Now I am wondering if I have to put in the date this was written  or will it put it in automatically. For now, I will write in the date and if by chance, it shows it up at the top, then so be it. This is a learning experience right?! Today is..hang on I have to look that one up...June 27!  (2012) Last day of school for the kids!