Days 12 and 13: Brighter days and Brownies

I accidentally stayed up way past my bedtime last night and opted to go to bed rather than blogging. I think it was a wise choice.

I took Friday off work. I was worried that it wouldn't seem like a day off but it actually did. Only issue was that I kept thinking it was Saturday instead of Friday. Oops.

Started my day by sleeping in, then had a late breakfast and did two load of laundry. Kristina came over and we went for a walk in the gloriously awesome sunghine, maintaining a good distance. After the walk, it was too nice out to go inside so we sat across the street from my building (a meter a part) and chatted for almost an hour. We talked to an elderly woman who lost her husband in January and she's been dealing with suddenly being alone and now the whole social distancing thing. She decided that going for a walk was a good idea and we told her it was. Yes, I'm alone but I've had years of practice at it. Being alone was very new to her. I think she appreciated having someone to talk to, even just for a few minutes. I'm glad we were able to make her smile and even laugh a bit. I hope we brought a bit of joy to her day.

After Kristina left, I read for a bit and then ordered pizza for dinner as a treat. I've got to say, my bank account is looking a whole lot better since this social disancing thing started. I'm resisted the urge to shop online and I'm only ordering in once or twice a week. And I have enough pizza now to feed me for three days!

A lot of perfomers have been doing live online video steaming performanaces. One of my favourite bands, the Barenaked Ladies, performed one of my favourite songs, Lovers in a Dangerous Time (their version) the other day. It was awesome. Made me smile and think back to a few summers ago when I saw them perform live. It's awesome how music works as a time travel device. You can see the performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DbChOUotfo

The weather wasn't as nice today. It was supposed to be sunny but that never happened. It stayed overcast but it was on the warm side and no rain so that was nice. I spent my morning doing more laundry and baking birthday brownies for Kristina (from scratch!). My apartment still smells like brownies, which is pretty awesome. Her birthday is tomorrow and I know it sucks that we can't all get together and go out to celebrate. Heck, I couldn't even get out to buy her a gift, but I could bake her brownies so that's what I did. I have a stash of birthday cards here so I was at least able to give her a nice card.

I've been going out only once a week, to stock up on groceries. Kristina asked if I wanted to go with her today, so that I could go to different stores that I've been hitting up. The trick was how to do that while keeping our social distance. Being that we both live alone and have both been following the government's call for social isolation, we figured that the risk to each other was minimal. But we still took precausions. Public Health says for those taking a Taxi or an Uber, you should ride in the back seat and keep the window down a bit to ensure fresh air is moving. So that's what we did. Kristina drove and I sat in the back passenger seat. It seemed a little silly at first but we got used to it pretty quickly. We both had hand sanitizer and used it as soon as we got back in the car after shopping. I had lysol wipes in my purse so I gave Kristina one when she stopped at the Costco gas bar to get gas for 59.9 cents a litre! As soon as I got home, I washed my hands and used a wipe to disinfect the tap, door handles, my cane, my keys and my phone. The ritual continues.

Today almost felt like a normal day. Except for the riding in the back seat, not being able to go out and eat and not being able to give my friend a birthday hug part. And now I'm re-stocked and will stay away from the stores for another week, possibly longer. All depends on how long my milk lasts.

I've got to give credit to all the people working in grocery stores. We stopped at two different stores for groceries. Both places had people spraying the carts and wiping them down for us. Both stores had tape on the floor near the cashes to help with social distancing. Both were wiping down the cash area after each person. Both places had plexiglass to protect the cashiers. I have to wonder if this will become a new norm gong forward. I can totally see the plexiglass being left up at the cashes. Kind of makes sense really. And I didn't feel like it took away anything from the interaction or made it less "personal". All the employees we encountered were quite cheerful (except one but I'm noing to dwell on the negative) and I thank them for that. We're all stuck in a tough situation and seeing that others are still being cheerful and helpful is heart warming.

Not sure what I'm going to get up to tomorrow, but I do think some folding and putting away of clean laundry is in my furture. We're in for a lot of rain and a possible thunder storm tomorrow. Sounds like a good day to curl up with my book and a nice cup of tea.

"Our greatness has always come from people who expect nothing and take nothing for granted - folks who work hard for what they have, then reach back and help others after them." - Michelle Obama

Day 11 - Dead mouse, thunder and a Happy Birthday

If it wasn't for the fact that I've been numbering my blogs to match the number of days that I've been doing the whole "work from home", "social isolation" and "social distancing" thing, I'd have no idea how long I'd have been at home. It's been nine work days.

It was a grey, rainy, dull kind of day. Work was quiet. I did chat online with a few co-workers and we were able to review some documents via email so on the whole things are working well and we're saving trees in the process.

The rain cooperated and let up in time for me to go for a walk at lunch, without getting wet or having to take my umbrella. On the way out of my driveway, I saw a dead mouse. Thankfully, it wasn't a real mouse. I truly had to do a double take. The cardinals were very vocal again today which is beautiful to hear. But so were the crows. Not sure what had them all riled up. I kept looking to see if there was a hawk or something larger in the area but I didn't see anything. Just a couple Vs of geese returning home for the season.

The "dead mouse" I found at the end of the driveway

My walk and I are a bit funny. Thanks to my knee, every single step I take hurts. It's mostly a dull ache or throb unless I step funny or am not paying attention and twist suddenly, then it's a very sharp pain. When I first start walking, everything from my waist down hurts. My lower backs, hips, knees, legs...feet were ok today. But I keep moving, because I know, it will all loosen up. Sure enough, by the time I've hit the halfway mark and I'm on my way back home, all the pains are gone, except the injured knee and today my lower back wouldn't stop for some reason. My head feels clearer, my sinuses are clearer, my breath feels stronger and I feel more energetic. All of the positives out weigh the pain from my knee. I don't forget it's there, but enjoying my time outside helps me focus on something besides it.

This afternoon we were graced with a single roll of thunder. Apparenlty there was some lightening too but my back is to the window so I didn't see it. Sure heard the thunder though. It was one of those good ones that you can hear rolling across the sky.  Guess there was a single storm cloud passing by. Thunder storms are one of my favourite things. Nature can be really cool sometimes.

Today is my niece's 8th birthday. I do feel bad for her that she didn't get to have a party and see all of her friends but she didn't see bummed out about that. She was more excited about the fact that she got an ice cream cake for her birthday and got to have it for lunch. The simple joys of an 8 year old. We did a puzzle together over video chat, which was as difficult as it sounds. LOL. We got it though! She's a pretty fun kid with a very incredible imagination. I hope she never loses it. I'm sure it will serve her well later in life. It amuses me that she's inherited the stubborn streak that runs in my family. My brother is going to have fun with that when she's older. It was nice to be able to see and talk to her.

Had a quick video chat with my parents too. They had a rather large bunny in their yard this afternoon/evening. They've been throwing leftover veggies and fruit out into their garden so that might explain the size of the rabbit.

I have tomorrow off. Not sure what I'm going to do other than attempt to sleep in. I'm sure I can find something to keep myself occupied. I don't need geoceries yet so I most likely will not venture out to the store, though a Bulk Barn run out we nice. It's not necessary though so I'm not sure if I'll attempt it or not.

I definately feel better today. I'm hoping for some sunshine tomorrow to help keep my spirits up.

"I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Where the Hell Am I??

Ok. So where the hell have I been? I haven't blogged in over a month and I've had several people point that out to me and some even tried to demand that I start writing again. LOL. While I'm glad to see that people are actually interested in the crap I write, I needed a break. And that was for a couple of reasons.

The number one reason is: I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my right hand and yes, I'm right handed. It was so painful I could barley hold a pen or an eating utensil. Using a can opening made my hand feel like it was on fire and typing not only hurt, but made my fingers go numb. In fact, just typing these two paragraphs has made my thumb and pointer finger go numb. Thankfully, the pain is more or less gone. The doctor gave me a note for an ergonomic assessment at work (got a new keyboard tray and wrist rest) and I'll be getting a new split keyboard. I'm also sleeping with a brace on, which really seems to be helping. If everything goes well, I won't need surgery and things will correct themselves.

The number two reason for not blogging is that I needed to think some stuff through. Birthdays do that to me.

Speaking of birthdays, I had a great one. I went home for the weekend and my family threw my great aunt an amazing 80th bday party and the included me in it. I got balloons and a horrible necklace and personalized chocolates. It was fantastic. I got to see a lot of family I haven't seen for a very long time and a very special family friend too. I felt very, very loved. I really do have an amazing family. I'm so blessed and lucky to have them. I miss them all very much, especially my parents. But this is two bdays that I've been home for that my mom has gotten out of baking a cake for me. LOL.  It was a great visit and I had some good train karma on the way back and ended up and a 4-seater all to myself. I had to laugh. While looking out the window, I saw an old guy on a riding lawn mower and he waved at the train as it went by.  I waved back.

Things returned to normal when I got back. I went out for a belated bday dinner with some co-workers. I had a giant ass glass of wine. It was a very fun night. Then the post birthday blues came to visit and sadly, they're still kind of kicking around. They're nagging me at the back of my head. I know that the vast majority of them are unfounded and I now I'm leap years ahead of where I was five years ago. But there's still some major disappointments there. Things I haven't done, goals I haven't accomplished. And I'm mad and frustrated with myself and I'm a little sad.

And the universe is playing tricks on me too. So not impressed there. Work's been really stressful too. I thought we were supposed to slow down in the summer. It sure doesn't look like that will be happening. And it just seems to me that the bigger our office gets, the less people seem to know how to do stuff themselves. Example - I called in sick today. I woke up feeling like crap. I was achy and my eyes were puffy and swollen. So I took an Advil and went back to sleep. Anyhow, I was checking my work email later in the day and I got an email from one co-worker, saying that there were window cleaners doing our windows and maybe I should send an email to the staff warning them. WTF?? They're window cleaners, not terrorists and THERE'S BEEN A NOTICE IN THE LOBBY FOR A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!! Shit. People really don't pay attention and OMG, I have much more important things to do in a day at work than worry about shit like that.

In case you're curious, it's taken me just over 2 hours to write all of this. I have to keep taking breaks because my fingers keep going numb.

Ok. Just take a deep breath and keep going. Everything's ok. Just be patient and the Universe will bring you what you need when you need it, not when you think you need it. Just now I think I need to plant my ass on a beach in Bora-Bora for a week. But I can't afford that trip in this life time so I guess I'm just going to have to take some more Advil and head back to work and keep heading for that light at the end of the tunnel.

Good Night.

Sarah

My very awesome birthday cake.

Happy Birthday from a Grateful Mind

What a wonderful day it's been!

My morning started off with my mom calling to wish me a happy birthday and telling me all about a humming bird she saw in the backyard. It's pretty early for humming birds, so this really was something special. Mom said that it was a sign of good luck for me since it appeared on my birthday.

At work, a lot of my co-workers wished me a happy birthday and Xtina gave me a lovely candle from Bath and Body Works. One of our newer staff, MA, make strawberry shortcake for my birthday, which we ate out of red solo cups, which was awesome. In the afternoon, my co-worker and I had our last French class for this session. We both passed :) So we celebrated with some cupcakes that I baked. After class, the pair of us had coffee with our teacher and thanked her for making class fun.

After work, I met up with NB and we went out for dinner. We caught up and decided that we're far too young to be this old so there must have been a mistake somewhere along the way!! We split a free dessert which was served with a sparkler in it. That's as close as I've come to blowing out a candle today.

Right now, I'm doing the dishes and trying to think if I forgot to pack anything. I'm heading home for the long weekend and for a party for my great aunt, who turns 80 tomorrow. That certainly puts turning 35 into perspective. I'm really looking forward to getting home to see my family. I haven't seen them since Christmas. Plus I get to do some celebrating, which is great. I usually miss all the family parties.

LOL. I just discovered that the Google Doodle for today is Google wishing me a happy birthday! That's pretty freakin' cool. Guess it helps when you have a Google profile. Awesome.

Since I still have a sink full of dishes and I should have been in bed 11 minutes ago, I'm going to borrow someone else's wise words tonight:

"Pleas'd look forward, pleas'd to look behind,
And count each birthday with a grateful mind."
~ Alexander Pope

Good Night!

Sarah

Saying Goodbye to 34.

In just over a few hours, I will hit the mid-point of the current decade of my age. Technically it's more like 14 hours since I was born in the evening, but you get the drift.

5 years ago, I was miserable. Even though I go to go home and see my family for my birthday, I was very unhappy. Almost nothing in my life had turned out like I planned. And that made me very, very sad. But here I am, just 5 short years later and almost everything seems so different. I'm happy. I'm once again heading home to see my family and I'm excited about it. I'm really looking forward to it. A lot of those same plans I had 5 years ago still haven't worked out, but it doesn't bother me anymore. You know the old joke "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans"? Yeah, I've kind of learnt to live by that one. Just roll with it. Stop worrying so much.Have faith that the Universe isn't going to drop me on my ass. Let go of the past and the negativity that goes with it. Smile more. Smile for no reason. Love. Just love everyone you can, as often as you can. And stop beating yourself up when you think you've failed. Not every failure is an end or a failure at all.

I've grown so much over the last 5 years that I can hardly believe it. Here's hoping for many, many, many more years of wisdom and happiness. Goodbye 34, you've been awesome!

Good Night!

Sarah

This photo should be a clear indicator to which decade I was born in!

There's A Mystery A Foot!

Two more sleeps and Michelle arrives and I'm on holidays for 5 days. I can't wait.

Work was really good today. I focused and got through so much stuff. For the most part, I was pretty much left alone to my own devices today, which allowed me to plow on through my "to-do" list. I'm certainly less stressed as a result.

Wish I could say the same thing about my apartment. LOL. It was tv night so I wasn't really focused on cleaning. I did get the dishes done, along with 2 loads of laundry. But I still need to sweep and mop the floors and dust a shelf. Good thing I don't watch anything special on Tuesday nights. Michelle was right. Tomorrow is going to be one very long day.

Last night my dad did something a little 'odd'. He asked a woman I went to high school with (and haven't seen or spoken to since roughly 2000) for her phone number. When I asked him why he's requested it, he said "no reason". My dad is a horrible liar. Mom's pretty bad too. But the older I get, the better my BS detector gets. So I knew something was up. Today in the mail, I got an invitation to my great Aunt's 80th birthday party. I've already bought my train ticket to go home that weekend so I was planning on going. It also happens to be the long weekend in May and my Aunt's birthday happens to be the day after mine. The party is a surprise party (so if anyone reading this knows my aunt, shhhh, don't tell her!), but there was a note written on the back of my invitation which says "P.S. It's a surprise for Sarah too. Haha". I quizzed my mom on this and she's claiming that she knows nothing. Which isn't true. My mom;s like Wikipedia - she knows everything even if some of it's made up. So now I don't know what the heck is up. Are they messing with me? Is it s joint party? Screw it. I'll worry about it after Montreal. I've got enough to think about already.

And now I'm off to clear the clean laundry off my bed and get some sleep.

Good Night!

Sarah

Sunny Saturday, Spring Cleaning and Strength

I haven't been in much of a blogging mood lately and frankly, I've been too damn tired. So I decided I'd better log in tonight and get some words on the screen. Thanks to Daylight Savings Time, I'm going to bed an hour later than planned. To off set this, I shall attempt to sleep in an extra hour tomorrow morning. Not sure if it will work but it's worth a try. My mother tried to tell me that clocks go back an hour tonight instead of going an hour forward. I think she was just trying to find a way to sleep in an extra hour tomorrow.

I had a pretty darn good day today. One of the best I've had in a while. The sun was out and that seemed to be the key. I stood on my balcony in the sun for a bit this morning and it felt glorious. I'm in spring cleaning mode too. I had originally planned to stay home and just clean all day but this afternoon I decided that it was too nice to stay home all day so I escaped for a bit.

Before I left, I managed to get the dishes done, a load of laundry done and some dusting done. I then went downtown, had a Beavertail, walked around the market, taking in the wonderful sunshine, stopped at the butcher and bought a beautiful New York Strip for dinner and then came back home. I did some more cleaning once I was home. I tackled the greasy vent cover that's in the hood over my stove. Thanks to Pinterest, I got it clean without any effort. Just some boiling water and baking soda. Amazing. I also got the burner inserts clean that way. My stove is spotless (for now). I got the toilet cleaned and my bookshelf dusted too. I was on quite the roll. I really do love Pinterest. I was standing in the kitchen, holding the filter and trying to figure out how to clean the damn thing when suddenly, magic words popped into my head. They were "go check on Pinterest". I'm so smart! The answer was there and it worked and now I have a clean filter. Yay!

Tonight I watched the movie "The Other Guys". It was horrible. So I watched the first half of Mall Rats to make up for it. I'll finish watching it sometime tomorrow. I'm hoping to continue my cleaning spree tomorrow.

Adding to my good mood today was that I booked 2 trips this morning. Nothing overly exciting but I'm happy about them. The first is in April. I'm going to Montreal with my old friend Michelle. We're taking the train from my house, which is awesome since I love taking the train and it's a great trip from Ottawa to Montreal (and faster than driving). The best part is that I used some networking skills to get us a LUXURY hotel room for a very budget friendly price. I'm very excited. I can't wait to see what kind of shenanigans we get up to when left to our own devices in Montreal. This is going to be great.
The other trip I booked was just a train ticket home for the May long weekend. My bday (a kind of big one) is one the Thursday before the long weekend and my Great Aunt's 80th bday is the Friday of the long weekend, so I'm heading home to go to her party. I'm really looking forward to seeing my family. I haven't seen them since Christmas so this will be great. I hope the weather is nice.

Since it's actually 12:34am instead of the 11:34pm that my clock says, I really should get to bed. I have a lot more cleaning ahead of me tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be warm but cloudy and maybe some rain in the late afternoon. Perfect cleaning or book reading weather. I have a couple of books that need to be read so we'll see what happens. I found a very yummy sounding scone recipe on Pinterest too that I might attempt. LOL. This truly was a good day. I'm starting to feel like myself again and I really don't have the words to explain how amazing that feels. It's more relief than anymore. The days are getting longer, the shadows are weaken. Step by step, I'm walking back out of the darkness and into the light again.The birds chirping this morning is the kind of sound that makes my soul smile. We're not totally out of winter's grasp yet but we're close and I'm experiencing a strong sense of relief and accomplishment. I've made it through another winter in one piece, coming out into spring, just a little bit stronger than I was when I went in late last fall.

Good Night!

Sarah

My favourite sign of spring: Lily of the Valley

Sleepy Thursday

After all of my excitement yesterday, you think I would have passed right out. But no. Firstly, my hot, soothing bath backfired. I was too hot afterwards and couldn't get comfortable in bed. Then I tossed and turned for what felt like hours. I kept waking up too. I think the sound of the plows going down the road might have been the culprit there.

This is what I woke up to this morning:

I am truly not impressed. Even more so since it's STILL FUCKING SNOWING!!!!!! We're supposed to get another 2 cm tonight and 2cm tomorrow and 2cm Friday night and then a 60% chance of flurries on Saturday and a 40% chance on Sunday. Give me a break! We're already pushing 30cms over the last 24 hours. The damn snowbanks are as tall as I am. Crossing the street has become an extreme sport because you either have to climb over said banks or risk traffic going around them. Stupid weather. This is the most snow Ottawa has seen in 4 years. I guess we were due. Thankfully, the buses were running better this morning and this evening. Hopefully they keep it up for tomorrow. I hope the snow crews come by soon and remove our snowbanks too. I'll have to take a photo of the ones out front tomorrow. It looks like the front of the building is being eaten by giant snow monsters.

Trying to wrap my head around some travel plans for mid to late spring. I'm going to Montreal in April, I just need to pick a weekend and then I'm thinking of going home in May for my bday and my Great Aunt's bday. Mine is a semi-milestone and hers is a major milestone. I haven't seen the family since Christmas (and still haven't forgiven my rat fink brother for giving me the stomach flu at Christmas) so it would be very awesome to see everyone again.

Today is my mom's birthday :) By the sounds of it, she had a pretty decent day, except for the part where my brother broke in and ate all the chips - LOL. Thankfully mom came home and stopped him before he moved onto the cabbage rolls and chocolate cake. This is mom celebrating her bday last year:

It's safer for everyone if you don't ask me to explain that photo. All I'm going to say is that it was my Uncle David's fault. End of story.

I'm very excited by the fact that tomorrow is Friday. I've only worked 2.5 days this week (had French this afternoon) but it still seems like an insanely long week. I did a lot of cooking this week, so maybe that's why it seems longer. I dunno. I made some very amazing Monte Cristo Chicken Cutlets for dinner and a pineapple angel food cake for dessert (1 box angel food cake mix, 1 20oz can of crushed pineapple: just mix the 2 and nothing else. Bake for 25-30 mins and enjoy. So flippin' good!). Guess I was feeling domestic this evening :)

I really need to get some shit together this weekend. I need to mail away 2 bday cards and I have to mail home bday gifts for my mom, brother, nephew and niece. And I might get around to mailing a crazy belated bday and Christmas gift to someone else I know too. Canada Post is going to love me.

Ok. It's sleep time. I keep pausing to think of what to write next and I almost nod off. Oops.

Good Night!

Sarah

More snow from this morning.

And I'm Back...Sort Of

I haven't blogged the last couple of nights because I've been sick and am battling a sinus something or other. I was winning until this evening. My right sinus, having grown jealous of the left one causing issues all week, decided it was its turn to cause problems. Which it did on my bus ride home. And most of this evening. Pain. Then dripping. Then more pain. I haven't taken any medication for it today but I foresee some being taken before bed tonight.

I've been a trooper and made it to work every day. I thought about calling in sick today but I was actually feeling pretty good this morning. It wasn't until late afternoon that my sinuses re-grouped and attacked. Stupid sinuses.

Today is the 5th of February and I just realized that two of the 3 calendars that I have in my apartment are still on January. Oops.  I should do something about that. I think I'm hiding from the month. February is insane for me. It's a short month but there are 9 birthdays in February and only 2 of them fall on the same day. This includes the bdays of my step niece and nephew, my brother, my grandma and most importantly of all, my mom. WTF? Inane I tell ya. And so far I've only bought a gift for my niece. And I'm late sending a bday card to my great uncle. His bday was Jan 30th. I'm pretty sure there's something called "St. Valentine's Day" somewhere in that mix as well. Fun times.

Today's catch phrase at work was "Read The Email". It was used by 2 separate people to address questions from two other people in separate incidents. I love it when someone takes the time to send out an email and then no one bothers to read it (or doesn't read it all the way through) and then wastes someone else's time asking questions that have already been answered in the email.  The result is usually several co-workers silently dying of laughter while listening to the exasperated email sending trying to tell the question asker to go and read the *&^%$#@ email.

My lungs are attempting a revolt so I think it's time to go and get ready for bed and kill the revolt with a little cough syrup and sinus meds before hitting the hay.

Good Night!

Sarah

I can't wait for Spring!!

Dinner Out and a Return to Chaos

Well holy shit. You decide to take one night off blogging and you'd think I killed a puppy or something. Everyone's a critic.

It was a good day at work. It was my last day covering for Finance too. I'm back to my regular job tomorrow and the chaos that goes with it. I've really enjoyed the last week and a bit. It was rather stress free and a nice way to ease back into work after being off for almost 2 weeks.

With the help of Xtina, I also pulled off a great bday gift for Stephanee today. I can't say what I bought her just yet, in case she reads this tonight. It's her birthday tomorrow. She'll find out soon enough :)

I had a very lovely dinner tonight. I met up with one of my best friends and we headed out for an "adult dinner". No, we didn't go to the strippers. It meant that we went to Milestones, without her 8 month old son. This was her first time spending any real amount of time away from him. And her husband's first time being home alone with the baby for any real chunk of time. I've heard some horror stories from friends and co-workers before about people not being able to leave their babies for more than 5 minutes and one woman who didn't leave her kid alone at all until after it's first bday. I can't imagine doing that. Thank god my friend was much more relaxed than that, but I knew that she would be :) It was a bit of a short visit for us but it was great none the less. We got to catch up and I loved hearing about how amazing her son is and how he's growing. It's amazing watching her eyes and face light up when she talks about him. Her and her husband are amazing people and they're awesome parents too. But there wasn't ever any doubt that they would be.

Seeing as I'm returning to the chaos that is my office tomorrow, I should log off and get to bed. I'm going to need to be firing on all cylinders tomorrow. Plus it's Steph's birthday and I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees her gift. Tee Hee Hee. I might need to find a cake too.....

Good Night!

Sarah

It's not my bday yet but I needed a cake photo.

It's A Wonderful Life

So I'm thinking that the Christmas spirit might have found me.

After a very productive morning, I braved the cold to do some more Christmas shopping. And it was fucking cold out. Still is. It was the stupid wind. Cut right through you. It was so bad that when I topped at Mark's to look for a gift, I ended up buying myself new, warm mittens because my gloves weren't keeping my hands warm enough.

Anyhow, I was in Canadian Tire and I took a tour though the Christmas decoration section. It was so beautiful. Shiney and sparklie and it made me smile. I also caught myself humming "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" as I wandered the isles. They have some pretty cool lights now. I have to admit that I'm still not a fan of the LED lights. The old school ones are prettier and the colours are better but some of the new ones are interesting and fun.

After Canadian Tire, I bought a wonderful fruitcake from the Lions Club. It's a dark one. My favourite. My mother is quite the fan of fruitcake too, so maybe I'll see if I can hold off eating it and just take it home with me at Christmas and share it with her.

Now I'm at home, resting and relaxing and watching "It's a Wonderful Life". The original one, in black and white. I'd forgotten how long this movie is though. But it means that I must be getting in the Christmas spirit. I'm even thinking about decorating. I didn't put up my tree last year. Didn't really decorate either. I got to visit my family at Christmas so I figure that I don't need a tree here. But I think I might put mine up for me this year. We'll see.

Back to the movie for a minute. Watching this old movie reminded me of a family friend, Mr. B. Today was a very special day for him. He turned 100 years old today. Amazing. Simply amazing. I can only imagine all the things he's seen and experienced over the last century. He lived through 2 world wars (and fought in the 2nd one), lived through the great depression and the cold war. He saw the development of cars, television and computers, not to mention cell phones and the internet. I can't fathom it. All the people he's met, all the memories he's made. It just blows my mind. I wish him nothing but the best and I hope he has many more happy and healthy years ahead of him.

I'm going to sign off and go and see if George Bailey can sort things out and see if Clarence can get his wings.

Good Night!

Sarah

Christmas at home 2 years ago.

Domestic Sunday

I think I can count today as a productive Sunday.

Before breakfast, I ran over to Walmart to pick up the filter I forgot to get yesterday and then ran into Metro to get something to cook for dinner. I ended up with a very nice roasting chicken. I came home and threw a load of towels and socks into the wash. Once that was done, I made breakfast. Ok, it was brunch by this time but whatever. It was good. Turkey bacon and pancakes with real maple syrup. Awesome.

This afternoon saw me attempting to find the floor in my bedroom. The theory being that it had to be there as it was what was most likely holding up that very large pile of clothing. I was right. There was a floor. I got most of it done. Lots of clothing hung up, folded up or put into a bag for donation. I also have a HUGE basket full of laundry. That's the downside to cleaning.

I alternated my floor hunting with the doing of dishes, just in case floor hunting was too boring. I also had to pause from all the fun in order to get my chicken into the oven. I have to admit that one of my favourite things about cooking is how awesome my apartment smells while I'm cooking. After getting my fine poultry friend into the oven, I was back in the bedroom. I got the bed cleaned off and all the random shoes/flip flops/slippers moved out of the way and then I changed the sheets and made my bed.

I'm quite looking forward to getting into bed tonight as the sheets are brand new. I bought them yesterday morning and washed them last night. Not only are they super soft, but they smell awesome too. Climbing into a freshly made bed, with fresh sheets is one of those simple pleasures in life.

I made mashed potatoes (with the skins on) and boiled broccoli and cauliflower to go with my chicken. It all turned out very well and it was very good indeed. And now I have left over chicken to take for lunch this week.

While I was waiting for dinner to finish cooking, I did find the time to finish doing my nails, which look pretty kick ass if I do say so myself.

It's been a pretty good and rather domestic day. I think I'm going to read for a little bit before crawling into my awesome bed. But before I go, I want to wish my dear, sweet, slightly insane but I still love you friend Michelle a very, very, VERY happy 35th Birthday. I hope it was a good one :)

Good Night!

Sarah

Cake from my 30th bday party :)