Switzerland

I've been feeling a lot like Switzerland lately. As in the "neutral party stuck between two warring factions" sort of way.

Have you ever been stuck in the middle of a situation, where you're the neutral party and have nothing to do with the conflict, but are being dragged into by both warring sides and are now collateral damage? 

Welcome to my world. And it's only getting worse. 

Several months ago (and I mean more than 6 months ago), something happened which caused a stunningly huge rift to form between my mother and my brother. Best part? Both of them are in the wrong. My mother technically caused it but my brother could have prevented it so I'm calling it even there. They haven't spoken since, except for when I was home. 

And they both keep bitching to me about the other one, both blame the other one and both are playing the victim like they're up for a fucking Oscar. 

I called my brother back in the summer while my parents were away. I spent 7 minutes on the phone with him (yes, I checked the timer). Not once did he ask me how I was doing, or what I was doing or how my summer was going or when was I coming to visit or how was work....nope. Just bitched about my parents and answered some questions I asked about my niece.

I'll be talking to my mom or emailing with my mom and she'll slide in a "have your heard from your brother lately" and no matter what my answer is, a rant then follows. I can't win.

And of course, my sister-in-law is adding drama to the situation, saying that if this isn't sorted out by Christmas, she and the kids won't come over to my parents' house for our Christmas because it's too much of a tense and volatile situation. To hear her talk, she's making my mother out to be a monster. Yes, my mom has a temper but it's not like she's deliberately mean and when all is said and done, that's still my mom you're putting down and I don't need to hear that!!!!

That's the root of this issue. My brother basically replaced my Mom,Dad and I with an instant family of his own. Right from the get go, it was all about her and her family and my parents got pushed to the back burner. And then my brother has the audacity  to complain that my parents never make an effort to see him and the kids. That's rich. He's never come to visit me. He never calls me to say hello. Hell, if it wasn't for the fact that my niece exists, I'd never speak to him. If I was ever kidnapped, he'd never to be able to tell the cops anything about me, my job or my life here. And while that bothers me, I don't think it bothers him at all.

I found out this week that he'd hurt himself and actually popped a rib. I asked him why he didn't tell me and he just said he was busy. When I mentioned it to my sister in law, she said "I never though to tell you.".

Yup. That perfectly summarizes my relationship with them.  I've come to terms with that and I make an effort because of my niece. My step nephew is pretty cool too but I never get to see him/talk to him.  And my step-niece is a teenager so she's not interested in any of us dumb adults and I get that. 

Anyhow, getting back to the situation at hand. My mother and my brother are cut from the same cloth. They both have the same temper and they're both giant, stubborn assess. 

My mother refuses to apologize because she feels that she doesn't get any respect from my brother and his family and my brother refuses to make contact first because my mom won't apologize and he just keeps saying "it's a 2-way street".

My Dad is collateral damage too. He can't say anything to my mother because she'll yell at him and bite his head off (I have the same problem) and my brother hasn't spoken to him - no fucking idea why. But he's not helping the situation either. He won't reach out to my brother either.

So, here we are. 5 weeks before Christmas and my Christmas is pretty much more or less ruined already. The anxiety knot in my stomach grows bigger every day. I'm not excited about Christmas at all. 

I see my friends on Facebook posting photos of them decorating their homes with their families and talking about how excited they are for Christmas and all the fun they're going to have with their families and it just makes me more and more sad. I went to the Santa Claus parade on Saturday and nearly broke out in tears at 3 different times. I kept looking at all the kids around me, so excited about Christmas and Santa and it broke my heart. 

I don't live near my family. I'm 6 hour away from them.

I'm never going to get to take my niece to see Santa. I don't get to go Christmas shopping and have lunch with my mom or help my parents decorate the house anymore. All I have left is when my brother and his family comes over to celebrate Christmas with my parents and I. I get to bake cookies with my niece and for a little while, I feel normal and not so alone in the world.

But it doesn't look like that's going to happen this year. 

When I lived out west, I spent a Christmas alone. Had some friends over for dinner and had a nice time. I'm starting to think that staying here, all on my own, would be better than going home.  Maybe that will make the knot in my stomach leave. At least I know it would be drama free and I wouldn't have to deal with anyone bitching or getting angry or being hurt and moody. I wouldn't have to deal with any tension.

Maybe I should just say screw them all and take off to a beach resort for a week and spending Christmas sitting on a beach, in the sun, reading a good book. 

Either here alone or on the beach, I wouldn't have to continue to be hurt by two people who are supposed to love me. 

I hate being stuck in the middle of a situation that I can't do one good god damned thing about. It's killing me. I'm anxious, stressed out and will soon be drinking pepto straight from the bottle. 

I also feel guilty. Maybe if I didn't live so far away, things wouldn't have gotten this bad. Maybe if I'd been there, nothing would have happened. 

I wonder if Switzerland ever felt guilty? 

I am honestly, completely, and am totally at a loss as to what to do. 

Bah Fucking Humbug.

Ice Storm, Christmas, New Year's and Merlin.

So it would appear that I haven't written for a while. I haven't written for 2 months and 26 days in fact. I don't know I haven't written. Just didn't feel like it I guess. I formulated a couple blogs in my head but never had the energy or drive to get them out and onto the screen. I guess I needed a break.

I'll bring you up to speed.

I'm still employed. I'm still single. I'm still broke and I'm still going to Curves. So that would be great, not so good, really shitty and fantastic.

Christmas was lovely. Went home for a week and got to spend time with my family. Thankfully, none of us got sick this year which is good, because I still haven't fully forgiven Typhoid Stephen for giving me the stomach flu last Christmas. It's been over a year and I still can't bring myself to eat cranberries.

The day after my arrival at home, mother nature blessed us with an ice storm. Not quite on the same scale at the one that Ottawa received back in 1998, but it was pretty impressive none the less. We were very lucky and only lost power for a very short period of time. 2 minutes the first time and 10 minutes the 2nd time to be precise. The next door neighbour and the one across the street both lost power after a limb from our tree took down the line (that sound you heard was my mother correcting me and saying that it was the city's tree and not ours. Minor detail. It's on our lawn!). Anyhow, the line was live but it was blocking the road so the nice people at the Hydro company came and cut it, thus knocking out power to both houses.

I got to test out my new "winter tracks" when dad suggested that we go for a walk around the neighbourhood and check out the damage. The damn things worked and I stayed vertical while facing a great fear of mine. I'm terrified of ice. We walked in the middle of the road and everyone froze the second we heard a cracking tree branch as a lot of the tree limbs were still falling. But hey, you've got to do something a little stupid every now and then, right? Besides, it was my dad's idea!

Adding to the excitement of the day came in the early afternoon when a tree around the corner caught fire. Ironically, the house where it happened is owned by a Fire Fighter. The cool part was watching the wreath that was hanging on the tree light up and sizzle as the electrical current ran through the tree. It was like a giant, live science demo.

Christmas Eve took on a fun twist when one of my oldest and dearest friends tagged along with us for dinner in order to avoid having to visit her mother-in-law. However, she made the kids go and see her. I'm not sure if that's cruel or just plain old funny. I think I'm going to side with funny on that one. Kind of like our Christmas dinner. We were only expecting my grandfather to come for dinner. But when he arrived, I broke the bad news to my mom as I saw him helping my grandmother from the car (earlier she said that she was too sick to come). Dinner was interesting as, for the first time in my life, we had Ham for Christmas dinner and not turkey. A fact that my mother bitched about, non-stop, for almost a week straight. The kicker? She's the who bought the god damn ham! In the ham's defence, it was delicious and I loved it more than I like turkey so I wasn't upset about the swap at all. Anyhow, back to grandma. She spent most of dinner just pushing food around her plate and saying that she wasn't hungry. Things really got interesting when she asked for some extra strength Tylenol and then her and my grandpa got into a fight over whether or not she'd taken 2 aspirin before leaving the house. My father really didn't say much. Just kept looking at his plate a lot. And my mom drank more sherry with dinner than I've seen her drink in years. It all amused the hell out of me.

Now before you point out what a horrible daughter I am, rest assured that I'm fully aware that karma will be coming back to bite me in the ass over this. One day, hopefully in the really distant future, I'm going to be the one drinking the sherry and staring at my plate while my mom and dad bicker over drugs. Actually, it won't be sherry. It will be Bailey's.

This is a photo of my grandma from earlier in the day...she's hiding from my camera.

Moving on. I headed back to Ottawa just before New Year's Eve. Mostly because I was out of vacation days and had to go back to work. Also because a very good friend of mine was in town and I got invited to his parents' house for a NYE party. This also meant that I *finally* got to meet his awesome wife and see his wonderful little guy, who had the decency to sleep the entire time. I also got to try lobster for the first time and quite enjoyed it. Sadly the night flew by far too quickly but 2014 was ushered in with good cheer and some great people.

Not too much out of the ordinary has happened since then. I do have a bit of a "dating" conundrum going on at the moment but that can wait for another night as this blog is getting quite long. Seriously!? Why can't people just step up and say what they feel? If you're interested, just ask me out. It's not hard. Especially when I've told you that I want to get some face time with you. Clearly that means I'm interested, right?
Sorry, sorry. Just needed to vent a little.

Work is going well and so is Curves. I was there tonight. And now I'm very sore. Especially my back. Hello new muscle groups. Oh, and I've formed a slight addiction to the BBC tv show Merlin. I've been watching it on Netflix. No worries, I just have 1 last episode in season 4 and then all of season 5 to watch and I'm done.  Then I'll have to find a new series to get hooked on. I am behind on my Sherlock and Downton Abbey watching. It would appear that I'm on a British roll.

Anyhow, I have to go and finish doing up the dishes and then I'm going to relax and watch an episode of Merlin.

Hang in there. I might just very well be back.

Good Night!

Sarah

Happy New Year 2014!!!!

Down 2 and Up 10,000

Guess what? At some point in the last week, my lowly little blog cracked 10,000 page views. That's kind of awesome. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I can't believe anyone actually reads my ramblings. I still can't get over how much writing this blog has helped me. It's funny how something so simple can be so effective. I'm truly looking forward to the next 10,000 page views milestone.

Anyhow....It's been a crazy week at the office and it's been a short week too since I had Monday off. For some odd reason, short weeks seem to feel long. I dunno. Maybe it's our desire to get back to the weekend again. I started my new position on Monday. It hasn't been a totally smooth transition as I'm still doing some of the old duties until the new person is fully equipped and up and running. I've been kept rather busy with my new tasks though, so that's good. Keeps me out of trouble that way. My boss reminded me to look into the available training sessions and let him know which ones I'd like to take and if there were any other tools that I feel that I need in order to become an expert with my new position. Sounds like a good idea.

I survived another week of Curves. I even got off my duff and went to the gym on my day odd. Braved the snow/sleet to do so too. I felt pretty great about it when I got home too. As a result of not being at my home club on Monday, we moved my weigh in day to Wednesday. The scale was kind. I lost 2lbs! So I'm down a total of 6.5 in my first 2 weeks. I'm quite happy with those numbers. I just have to keep an eye on the eating plan portion and try not to slide too much. I'm supposed to go out for lunch tomorrow so I'll have to work that into my day. I'm on a quest to find more healthy recipes to try out. Which just gives me a good excuse to kill entire evenings on Pinterest (like I need an excuse). That makes me happy.

While in the grocery store earlier this week, I couldn't help but notice how odd and strange some of the so called "healthy" foods are. I swear to god that I thought they were selling a bag of bird seed in the cereal aisle. I had to actually pick it up and read the label to confirm that it wasn't actually bird seed. It was some sort of muesli or granola. I dunno. It still looked an awful lot like the wild bird seed mix that I get to put on my balcony. It also baffles me as to how expensive 'healthy' food is. For example, 355ml bottles of Pomegranate juice are on 2/$5. Meanwhile, 2L bottles of pop are on 4/$5. Apples are $1.89lb (so maybe 4 apples) where as big bags of photo chips are 2/$3. Sigh. I'm getting low on peanut butter too. I really need that to go on sale soon. The hard part for me is working more vegetables into my meals. I'm kind of a picky eater when it comes to veggies. I only really like a select few: broccoli, cauliflower, raw carrots, mushrooms (cooked), turnip(rutabaga) and brussel sprouts. The turnip that I like is counted as a starch on my meal plan so I can't go hog wild with it. I'm on the fence with cabbage and cucumbers. Some days I like them and some days I don't. I guess the same could be said for celery. I'm not a fan of it cooked though. I'm going to have to get creative.


Maybe while I'm looking for recipes on Pinterest, I'll find some good gift ideas for my parents. I'm struggling to find something to get them and my mother isn't being overly helpful. I ask for a list and my mom gave me 2 items. I told that that didn't count as a list. Sigh. Yes, I know that the spirit and meaning of Christmas isn't about presents and material items. It's just that they give me so much through out the year that I'd like to be able to give them a little something back. To show them how much I love them and appreciate all that they do for me. My Christmas holidays are a month and 6 days away (not that I'm counting).

I need to go and get ready for bed. I work up at 4:21 this morning, got up and went pee, came back to bed and then couldn't sleep. I think I drifted off for about 15 minutes between then and when the alarm went off at 6. It was brutal. I'm hoping that a repeat doesn't occur this evening.

Good Night!

Sarah

Smiling on a sunny day!

Christmas Day and Why My Brother Is In Big Trouble

Merry Christmas everyone! As you may have noticed, this blog is a day late. That's because I was too busy throwing up last night to blog. But more on that later.

I had a very wonderful Christmas with my family. After we opened our stockings,  my dad made us cinnamon buns, which really, really sucked but Mom and I ate them anyways. They were frozen ones that you bake yourself. Not good. So much so that dad threw out the 2nd package of them. LOL.

After that, we moved on the gifts. My parents did something very mean to me. Last Christmas I asked my dad for an Ottawa Senator's Heritage hockey jersey. He being a Leaf's fan told me where to shove that idea.  Needless to say, I didn't get one for Christmas. So I asked for it again for my birthday. Same response, no jersey. So around Thanksgiving, I started to harass my dad for the damn jersey again. This time I got somewhere as he asked me what size and what the Heritage one looked like. I'd pretty much forgotten about it after than. So on Christmas morning, my parents gave me a beautifully wrapped box that clearly contained clothing. I opened the lid and the contents were lovingly wrapped up in pink tissue paper. As the excitement mounted, I slowly pulled back the tissue paper to reveal....a fucking Toronto Maple Leaf's jersey. Apparently the look on my face was priceless. Mom and dad were killing themselves laughing. My exact words where "This isn't even remotely funny". They got me to hold up the jersey and took a picture. My father then handed me a gift bag. Inside, in a plastic bag, was my Ottawa Senator's Hockey jersey. I was much happier to see that :) The Leaf's jersey was my dad's. They thought it would be funny to wrap it up and give it to me. I am not amused. Well, actually I am. That was pretty damn sneaky of those two. I did get some revenge though. My dad had put his jersey on their bed. When he wasn't around, I threw it in their garbage can....twice.

I also got a beautiful pair of sterling silver hoop earrings that I've been looking for for over a year. Mom did a great job on finding those. Mom was the one who got the bling this Christmas. It's a very lovely sterling silver and blue diamond pendant on a silver chain. I helped dad out with that one and he came through with flying colours, which was awesome.

We spent part of the afternoon at my Grandparents' house where we visited with them as well as both sets of  aunts and uncles and I got to see 2 cousins that I haven't seen since last Christmas. After than we came home. Mom and dad visited the neighbours while I prepped the potatoes and broccoli for dinner. We then sat down and relaxed. My tummy was starting to feel a bit "off" at that point. I thought it might have just been left over anxiety from being at my grandparents and all the noise and hoopla that went on their. It was a wonderful dinner and it tasted great. I was pretty full after dinner but didn't feel too bad. We called my Aunt in New Brunswick at 8pm and talked to her for awhile. I was feeling ok then.

At 9 I went upstairs to change into my jammies and shortly there after, I started to feel not so good. My tummy was rolling. It felt like I wanted to burp, but couldn't. Around 10pm the pain started. I knew I was in trouble.

You see, my brother and family were here on Christmas Eve. My brother was sick. He had a stomach virus that had been through everyone in his family and now him. Instead of staying home, he came here and violated our bathroom and slept in my parent's bed.

I fought it for as long as I could last night. I kept willing myself: "You're not going to throw up." But I lost the battle around 10:45. Sadly, it did not make me feel better. In fact, I felt worse. I texted my brother and told him that he's dead meat. He laughed and told me to "walk it off". Jerk. By the time I threw up the second time, I had to find a bucket because I now had stuff coming out both ends. I have to admit that I've got pretty good aim. Puking in a bucket while sitting on the can takes talent. Problem was, I was so incredibly tired and so friggin' cold! All in all, by 1:30am I had thrown up 5 times. The last time was mostly dry heaves which are the worst! I finally fell asleep and slept until 4:30am when I had to use the bathroom again. I was able to get back to sleep and slept until 8am when jerkface called and woke us up. He was calling because he was supposed to bring my nephew over to open his gifts (he was at his dad's place on Christmas Eve).  Dad told them to come over at 10. It was at this point that I learnt that my mom had been up at 6:30am, throwing up as well. I went back to bed and didn't wake up again until 9:30 when typhoid Mary (aka my brother) came into my room to see me. I had some choice words for him. Turns out, he'd also given the flu to his in-laws. His mother in law was sick yesterday (like me) and his father in law got sick overnight.

I know that my parents taught us to share, but this is a bit insane. My brother and sister-in-law left all 3 kids here and went off Boxing Day shopping. Thankfully, my dad hasn't caught it (yet) and he was able to mostly manage all 3 kids. Mom gave up and went back to bed around 11. I stayed up until everyone left at 12:30 and then I left my dad to his own devices and went back to bed. Mom and I finally got up at 4:30.  I've had a good deal of water and some flat diet ginger ale. At 5:30 I ate 8 un-salted soda crackers. I'm happy to report that they've stayed down and nothing new has come out. Mom seems to be doing better too. My brother is still in major shit with us, especially if my dad comes down with it.

I need to log off and do some laundry. My aim might not have been 100% off the get go and I think my sleep pants bore the ill effects of that. Oh well.

I hope everyone had a less eventful night than we did.

Good Evening,

Sarah

A photo of my brother *grin*

Christmas Eve Crazy!

There's a reason why "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation" is my favourite movie. I have had several Christmases that resemble that movie. Tonight kind of took a page from that book.

My brother and his family arrived here at 12:45pm. Shortly there after, my brother made a run for the bathroom, citing a "code brown". He was up there quite some time. He eventually re-joined us. We all visited for a bit and then started to hand out gifts. My brother disappeared again. This pattern kept going and my brother was fading fast. Turns out the whole family has had a stomach bug over the last week or so and it appears that it was my brother's turn. He ended up crawling into my parents' bed and napping for a bit. My niece was asleep in the playpen in one room and my brother was sound asleep in the next room. LOL.

Once they both woke up, my brother tried taking some medication to make him feel better. It kind of worked. He threw up, which made him feel better. He decided that he was feeling well enough to go out to dinner.

It's tradition in our family to go out for Chinese Food on Christmas Eve and then drive around town looking at all the pretty Christmas lights.

So off we all go to the restaurant, with our neighbours joining us along the way. The place we go to is always busy on Christmas Eve, so there's a little bit of a wait for food. My brother and his crew had beat us to the restaurant so they already had a table for us. My brother had apparently already made a trip or two to the bathroom. After getting drinks, he asked me if there were any spare napkins around as there wasn't any toilet paper in the men's room and he'd been wiping his ass with paper towels and "it's starting to hurt". Sigh. I did the good big sister thing and went into the women's washroom and stole him some tp from there. The poor kid really wasn't looking good. So they decided to leave as the food wasn't going to be ready for a bit. Somewhere in the middle of all of this, my grandparents and great Aunt and Uncle arrived. They always stop for Chinese Food too before heading to church.

To add to all the chaos already happening, a woman with a 6 month old baby approached our table and asked if anyone could give her husband a boost as their battery had died. My dad and one of our neighbours jumped up and hurried off to help the guy out. My mother then went over to where the lady and baby were to talk to the lady and help keep their baby calm. While all of that was going on, our food arrived. This left my neighbour and I alone at the table with 5 plates of food. I looked at her and said "Well this has been an interesting evening". She laughed and we dug in. Everyone else returned shortly and the 5 of us had a very nice dinner. After I was done, I moved over to the table where my grandparents and aunt and uncle were and I visited with them for a bit. Then something else happened that really made me smile. The man who my dad and neighbour helped had driven his wife and child home once the car was running again.  He came back to the restaurant to pick up their order. At the same time, he brought my dad and the neighbour each a ziplock bag with home made shortbread cookies in them as a thank you for their help. How sweet is that?

After dinner, mom, dad and I piled into the car, cranked the heat and drove around town looking at the lights. We oohed and ahhed and laughed and pointed out things that were the same as last year and the things that had changed. When we got home, I made a nice cup of hot chocolate and we sat down to watch a Duck Dynasty mini-marathon. LOL. Not exactly a typical Christmas Eve show but it was highly entertaining and they did show a Christmas episode.

As I sit here and write this, waiting for Santa to come, I can't help but chuckle at the afternoon/evening we've had. It makes me smile. I've learnt that there really is no such thing as a perfect Christmas. Something is always going to go wrong. But just because things don't go as planned doesn't mean that things can't be awesome. Because they still were. I got to spend time with both of my nieces. And a nice couple with a baby got to see how kind strangers can be. I got to spend an evening laughing and smiling with family and friends and got reminded of what awesome people they all are. And I got a pretty good fortune in my cookie too.

I really hope my poor brother is feeling better tomorrow and I really, really, REALLY hope that mom, dad and I don't catch it!!

One last thing before I sign off: Before I started writing tonight's blog, I checked my stats. I have published 155 blogs and now have over 5000 page views. Wow. That still blows my mind. Thank you very much for reading.

I need to get to bed now or else Santa won't bring me anything.

Whoever you are and where ever you are, I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas!

Good Night,

Sarah

Oh, Tannenbaum!

I had another good fun day with my parents. My dad and I ran 2 last errands this morning, then we came home and had lunch with my mom and this afternoon the 3 of us went out visiting.

Our first stop was to visit my favourite centenarian (some who's 100 years old), Mr. B. For the first time since I arrived home, I was actually nice and toasty warm while inside someone's house. LOL. We had a nice visit and listened to him complain about not being able to have any coffee because his family bought him a new coffee maker, but he'd run out of coffee for it. It's a Keurig. Apparently he didn't have any K-cups left for it. So he's had to resort to drinking tea. I quite like tea so I didn't see what the problem was. LOL. He then went on to explain that someone threw his kettle out so to make tea, he has to microwave a cup of water until it's hot and then add in the tea bag. LOL. He really wasn't happy about not having any coffee. It was a very nice visit and it was great to see him again. He's pretty feisty for someone who's 100 years old.

Next we visited with my great Aunt and Uncle and I was gifted with a new supply of Duct Tape. White, Silver and Red rolls this time (it's a long story). Steph will be happy to hear this as it means I have a new source of insulation for my air conditioner next summer.

Dad BBQ'd some steaks for dinner and I made broccoli, mashed potatoes and fried onions and mushrooms to go with it. We had fruitcake for dessert. Yes, I like fruitcake. I got all my gifts wrapped this evening so tomorrow should be a very relaxing day.

While we were at Mr. B's, he mentioned that he didn't have to put up the Christmas tree this year and was rather happy about that. It kind of reminded me of my parents and our tree. If they could avoid putting it up, they would. I pouted and up went the tree and that was before I got here. But all of this reminded me of a funny story about how we got the tree we have now.

Over the years, we've had both artificial and real trees. The real trees used to kill mom's plant in the living room. The damn thing would get jealous and up and die. As soon as the tree was gone, it came back to life. Stupid plant. Anyhow, we used to have 2 rather old artificial trees. They were identical. The both had a broom stick like rod with holes drilled in it for the trunk and then what looked like giant pipe cleaners for branches. The ends of the branches were painted so that you know which level of the tree to stick them into. We had one of them up in the basement and I took it out one year - I don't remember how exactly, I just remember falling and landing on the tree. I'm sure it was my brother's fault. Anyhow, the one upstairs was always put up in the middle of the french doors that separate the living room and dinning room.

The side of the tree that faced the living room was my parents' side and they decorated it. The side facing the dining room belonged to my brother and I  and we decorated it. Mom and dad's side had delicate straw stars and pretty angels while our side had every ornament we'd made since kindergarten plus a mish-mash of tacky ones picked up from other people over the years. The handmade ornaments included two gingerbread men that had to weigh about 5lbs each.

One year, after decorating the tree, my mom and I were sitting in the living room, reading. It was nice and quiet as the boys where downstairs. I heard a funny "creeek" sound. I looked around the room and saw nothing so I kept reading. Then all of a sudden, there was a very loud snapping sound. Mom and I both looked up at the same time and looked at the tree, just and the entire top 1/3 of the tree snapped off and fell backward into the dinning room. Neither of us moved for a few beats. I'm sure we were both stunned. I don't entirely recall our reaction at the time, but looking back on it, I'm pretty much laughing my ass off. Seriously? Who else has ever snapped an artificial tree in half? Needless to say, most of the "kid's" ornaments got thrown out that year, including the 5lb gingerbread men.

Mom and dad have already warned me that next year, there will be no tree, just mom's little 2 ft fibre optic tree, as next year is our year to host my grandparent's for dinner. My dad seems to be worried about my grandmother taking out the tree. Can't say I blame him :)

Here's hoping everyone's trees remain vertical this year.

Good Night!

Sarah

A slightly fuzzy version of the tree at Mom and Dad's from 2008

When Shopping Becomes An Adventure Sport

I was awake before anyone else this morning. Partly because I was cold and partly because I was sore. The new mattress that my parents bought a few years ago, for the bed in my old room, is a little on the hard side and my back really doesn't like it. So for the first 3-4 nights here, I wake up in a bit of pain. My mom was up shortly after me. She claims that the reason was that she didn't want me downstairs alone in case I snooped through the presents. Ha! She's the biggest snoop of us all.

When my dad and I got back from shopping yesterday afternoon, we hadn't been outside of the car for more than a minute and I looked over and someone had her head sticking out the front door, trying to see what bags we had. She did the same thing today but from the front hall window this time.

I went shopping with both parents this morning (and we only lost dad once) and then we had a nice lunch together, after which we dropped off my mom at home and dad and I ventured out into the wildest shopping place of the day: Walmart. The place was a zoo. My dad was even blown away by just how bad it was. He didn't think it would be that bad. He really has no grasp on Walmart shopping. The line up for the photo studio was down the Christmas cookie aisle, the seasonal and toy departments were like a giant ring of bumper cars, but with karts, the bakery was sold out of mincemeat pies and the 1 main thing that we went there to find, was no where to be found. Thankfully we were able to find the rest of the stuff we were looking for.

After Walmart, we hit up Shopper's Drug Mart so I could mail off my last present - headed to Calgary. The lineup there was actually pretty short and quick, so that was nice. Next we headed to Zhers so we could get the damn mincemeat pie (which my dad couldn't see, despite looking right at it!) and my dad got my mom some pretty holiday flowers too. Our final stop was Food Basic for a gift card and then we came home.

After dinner, dad started on a wrapping spree which seemed to be a success despite the occasional swearing I heard coming from the dinning room. For me, it was arts and crafts time. My friend Stephanee was making a Christmas tutu for her niece and I decided to make one too. For the record, I hate tulle. That stuff is terrible to work with/cut! Somehow I managed to get it all cut and believe it or not, I made a tutu. It actually looks pretty cute. I think it might be a bit on the big side for my niece though. We'll find out on Monday I guess.

All in all, it was a good day. I have finished all of my Christmas shopping and just have to worry about wrapping everything now. I can sit back and relax and not stress about any last minute things.

I think it's getting close to bed time. My mom got tired of me bitched about how cold it is and she shut my bedroom window this morning. My room is still cold, it's just not damn cold anymore :)

Good Night!

Sarah

Christmas 2008 - this is what I have to do to keep warm at home!

Home!

I know, I know, I didn't blog last night. By the time I even thought of my blog, I was already in bed, all cocooned up in my blankets and there was no way that I was getting back out of that warmth again until I absolutely had to.

I made it home, safe and sound, with no thanks to Mother Nature. When I woke up yesterday, Ottawa resembled the inside of a snow globe. Steph made it to my house and while I was taking out the garbage and watering my plants, she was shovelling out the end of my street where the plow had made a nice pile from plowing the main road. When we were ready to go, Steph had me stand on the corner, in the snow and watch for traffic on the main road. It's 5am and we're in the middle of a snow storm, there's no traffic! But I did as I was told and I gave her the all clear and she gunned it out of my street, through the snow pile and onto the main road. YAY! I then had to run around the snow bank and get into the car.

Partway there, we saw police lights in the distance. As we creeped closer, we saw that both of our lanes were blocked by an accident. Thankfully, being insanely early and a snow storm, we were able to drive in the other lane and go around it all. It was a van vs tow truck crash. Steph said "I wonder who was the cause of that" and her husband and I both said "Tow Truck" at the same time. But judging by where the van was, I think it might have been the van.

We got to the train station at a good time. In fact, we beat the attendant to the station. Most people were huddled around the front door but it was in the wind. I stood by the back door, where it's protected and I could watch the snow fall. I also lucked out since this was the door the Via guy used and I was the first person to be let into the warmth of the train station.

Via Rail has come a long way in the last 10 years. They've introduced seat assignment and are fixing up their cars. But when it comes to holiday travel, Via sucks. The seat assignment goes out the window. They just tell everyone to "sit where ever" This really sucks if you're travelling in pair because it means that you might not get seats together. Anyhow, the boarding announcement said to get on at car 3. So we hustled there. An elderly lady and I had been hiding under a covered area until the train was ready for boarding, so we were one of the last ones to get to the car. Once there, another lady said to go down to where the man was sweeping, car 5. So we trudged through the storm to that car. I was the 2nd to last to get one. First problem - no more room for luggage. Despite Via advertising the hell out of their new baggage policy, people ignored it. So I told the Via guy that there was no more room for luggage. He said not to worry about it and to leave it on the floor and he'd take care of it. This is code for "I'm going to hide it somewhere and you're going to spend 30 minutes in Toronto searching the train for it". Sigh. Next problem, there was only 1 seat left on the train. It was in a 4-seater, with 3 young University guys. Oh hell no. I got back to the Via guy (who was looking increasing frazzled) and said "There are no more open seats on this car" and I put my hand on my hip for good measure. So he said "I can let you onto car 4, there are seats there". So I followed him into the oasis that was car 4.

Those of you who read this regularly know that I never get the new cars on the train. Call it a Christmas miracle, but Car 4 was one of the new refurbished cars. And it only had about 12 people in there. Ahhh. I ended up having 2 seats to myself until Coburg. It was great. I did got back to the other car and grabbed my suitcase and brought it onto my car, which had lots of luggage room still. I sat back and enjoyed the ride. I also gave the Via guy a tip when he came around selling food and drinks later.

Of course, when I changed trains in Toronto, I was back to crappy old cars but I didn't care anymore at this point. The ride was a smooth one and we got into Kitchener only about 4 minutes late. When I got off the train, I looked around and couldn't see my mom. So I waited a bit thinking she was having a smoke somewhere or was late getting to the train. I started to walk down the platform towards the parking lot and I finally see her pop out from the train station. I make my way over to her and give her a kiss and a big hug and then someone comes out the train station behind her - it was my dad! What an awesome surprise!

I haven't seen my family since August. I've gone longer without seeing them but any length of time seems long. So for weeks, all I keep thinking of is that one perfect moment when I get off the train and I get to see my mom and see her smile and I get to give her a kiss and wrap my arms around her. Whenever I was having a bad day or work was really stressing me out, that's what I'd think about. No matter how old I get or how independent I am, the second I get to rush up to my mom at the train station and hug her, everything feels right with the world again. The stress and anxiety of the trip just melt away. Tears of happiness spring to my eyes, my heart soars and my soul sings because I'm just so happy! And yesterday I got to do that twice!!
My mom was worried that the weather here would be bad so my dad took the day off to driver her to the train station, but she didn't tell me. I'm pretty sure that will be my favourite Christmas gift this year :)

After picking me up, we headed to Arby's for lunch and then stopped at a surplus store where mom bought me a meat thermometer and then we headed home. After a short rest, dad and I headed back out to do a little shopping. I got to check out the new Shopper's Drug Mart that was built in town and we ran into my grandparents along the way. I got to make my grandmother's day since she didn't know I was back in town yet. So that was nice.

We had a nice dinner, which mom made. I was just happy not to have to cook for myself for once! And then the 3 of us watched a "Duck Dynasty" mini marathon. OMG. That show is funny and those guys are insane. At 9 mom switched to Ghost Hunters and I almost didn't make it to the end of the show. I'd been running on just 4 hours of sleep. So I made my way to the even colder upstairs and got ready for bed. My parents' house is cold. I've mentioned this before. But the upstairs is down right chilly. It was crazy windy last night (still is this morning) yet the window in my bedroom is open a crack. Mom likes having fresh air. Being way too tired to fight with the window, I left it as is. But damn, it was chilly in there. I nearly froze to death getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The toilet seat is so cold that you don't really want to sit, you're more inclined to just hover. And by the time I got back into bed and tried to get the covers on my again, I couldn't feel my fingers. Oh yeah, no hot water in the bathroom. You have to run the sink for a good 2 minutes before you get hot water. Brrrr.

I was the first one up this morning though and here I am, blogging. Or hogging the computer as my mother muttered and wandered off.

So I should wrap this up and go get some breakfast. Not sure what we're doing today other than braving the mall and Walmart for a few final items. This should be fun :)

Good Morning!

Sarah

The Busiest and Loneliest Time Of The Year

Boy did I ever had a productive day today!

I was awake at 8am and up and moving by 8:15. I did 4 loads of laundry, most of which were dedicates and couldn't go in the dryer so there are currently damp clothes strewn all over my apartment. The up side is that my apartment smell great thanks to my fabric softener.  After all that, I grabbed my mail and headed to the post office where I patiently waited in line. The man before me was sending a money order. Just as his transaction was finishing, the store's computer system froze/crashed. The manager guy said that it would take a half hour to reboot. Nuts to that. So I headed onto stop #2: Walmart.

Before I could arrive at Walmart, I saw a bus coming that would take me to Carlingwood, and there's a postal outlet there. So off I went, on an unscheduled detour. I was able to mail my packages and did a little shopping. I was able to pick up 3 more small gifts there, ran into Xtina's parents, whom I haven't seen in quite some time, had a little chat with them and then I grabbed lunch to go and came home to eat. After watching A Flintstones Christmas and eating my lunch, it was back out the door for my next stop: Bayshore.

Being the 2nd last weekend before Christmas, the mall was predictably insane. I ran into one of my co-workers and his wife there and chatted with them for a few minutes. Then it was off to the eyeglass store to get one of my new pairs adjusting. One of the arms had been digging into my ear. Not so pleasant. But it's all good now! I then went on and did a little more shopping and got the gift for the Secret Santa gift exchange at work. After fighting my way through the crowds at Bayshore, it was off to attempt Walmart again since I got distracted the first time.

I made it to Walmart. Thankfully, it wasn't too zoo-like seeing as it was heading into the dinner hour. I was able to find most of what I was looking for and get out of there without having to spend too long standing in line.

After that, I finally headed home. I ordered in Swiss Chalet for dinner and watched Corner Gas and then got caught up on the last 2 episodes of Elementary that I had missed. Add in killing some time on Facebook and putting some clothes away in my closet and you have my evening so far. It's not thrilling, but it's relaxing and peaceful, which is just what I need.

Christmas is awesome. It's full of pretty lights and shiny things, peace, love and good cheer. Happy memories, laughter and good food. But for me, Christmas is also the loneliest time of the year.

80% of the time, I'm perfectly happy and content with being single and being on my own. But not at Christmas. Heck, Valentine's Day is a cake walk compared to this. Out shopping today, everywhere you looked it was families shopping together or couples walking hand in hand down the hall. Except for that one poor guy that I passed who was standing there all alone, surrounded by about 20 bags. You knew damn well that he was only there to "guard" them and that there was likely a gaggle of females near by purchasing more to the add to the poor guy's collection.

Yes, some of my feelings of lowliness can be attributed to the fact that my seasonal depression is at its worst now, being that the shortest day of the year is only 4 days before Christmas, but this feel isn't the same. It's not depression. It's different. It's like my soul is reaching out and saying "hey, something's missing". More like someone's missing.

My great aunt and uncle had their Christmas open house today. I miss going to that, a lot. I do miss my family and I am very excited that I get to see them in 6 more sleeps. Sometimes I wish I could call up my mom and just go out with her for lunch and shopping, like I see so many people doing. Or pop in for Sunday dinner. I guess not being able to see them very often makes the times I do see them so much more valuable and meaningful.

But getting back to the being single at Christmas thing. Everyone says to me "but you don't have the pressure of trying to find them the perfect gift." Are you kidding me? I would gladly take that pressure in exchange for having someone special in my lift right now. Someone to curl up on the couch and watch movies with on cold winter nights. Someone to share hot chocolate with. Someone to kiss under the mistletoe and to kiss at midnight when the New Year comes rushing in.  You know, someone to share the stupid, sappy, cheesey things with that most people take for granted because they just don't know what it's like not to have those things. Hell, pretty much every Christmas carol or Christmas movie illustrates to point of having a special someone at Christmas. Even Clark W Griswold had his wife at his side as be bungled his way through Christmas. And even the Grinch finds love (in the Jim Carey version that is).

Ironically, as I sit here and write about being lonely, a group of co-workers are out watching a fellow co-woker's band play - to which I was invited. I said no thanks because I wanted to be alone to night. There is a major different between being alone and being lonely. I would have liked to gone out with them but pretending to be happy right now is so exhausting that I didn't think I'd be able to last the night. Maybe if the venue had been closer to my place and I was able to leave whenever I wanted instead of waiting on someone for a ride, I might have gone but I figured it was safer this way. You can be surrounded by 50 friends and still be the loneliest person in the room or you can be in a room all alone and not feel lonely at all.

I didn't decorate my apartment this year (or last year either), mostly because I thought to myself "Why bother? No one sees it but me." Which is very true. I did put up a few small things but I didn't bother with the tree or the lights. I did do something different this year. Every Christmas card I receive, I tape to the back of my front door. This way I see the cards almost all the time and am reminded of the people out there who love me :)

I know that I am loved. And I love lots of people too. It's just that one love, that one special love that I'm missing. And this just happens to be the time of the year that it hurts the most. In a couple of weeks, I'll be fine again. I'll be caught up in the hope and renewal that the New Year brings with it. I'll be back into the swing of things at work, the days will slowly start getting longer again and my loneliness will fade. It always does.

So now, my lonely self and I are going to change into our jammies,  get a bowl of frozen yogurt, pop "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation" into the DVD player and laugh out butt off for a bit. Then it's off to bed to spend the night dreaming of the mysterious Mr. Right....he might not be here at the moment but I have unwavering faith that he's out there and when it's meant to be, he'll be here.

If you're reading this and you're lucky enough to have that special someone in your life, grab them, find some mistletoe and remind them how special they are and how lucky you both are.

Good Night!

Sarah

Christmas light mistletoe

Christmas Lights Shenanigans

The work day flew by and it's about to get very busy 'round the office as the re-newals and re-hires for January begin. Which is good. Being busy makes the day go by faster.

I'm very happy because I got to pick up my new glasses tonight. YAY! Both pairs are great but the one pair is just awesome. They look great on me and I'm thrilled. The fact that I can see better is awesome too. Like right now. This means my eyes won't be so tired which hopefully will mean that I won't be as tired either.

So I had a fun evening tonight. It started with Stephanee asking me yesterday "Do you want to drive around and see some Christmas lights". I decided that sounded good so off we went this evening. Before she left to pick me up, Steph said "I'm just printing off the maps". Awesome. She gets here and as we're heading out to grab my glasses, she says "I printed off the maps, highlighted the maps...and then forgot the maps at home". LOL.

You know what that means. That's right. It's the "Steph and Sarah drive quasi aimlessly through suburbia" show!!!!!

First stop: Taffy Lane in Orleans. Since this street is almost bright enough to see from space, it shouldn't have been too hard to find. Not quite. There is quite the lack of street signs in Orleans. We ended up pulling into a parking lot and reading the map. Turns out, we were about 8 blocks from our destination. Awesome. Away we went. The street was awesome! Steph got the bright idea to get out and walk along the street, which made taking photos better but it's also -11 out, without the windchill. We did half the street before giving up and returning to the warmth of the car. Ahhhh. We drove the rest of the street and one of the other little side streets and then it was off to our next destination.

Here's some of the lights from Taffy Lane:

Barrhaven, in the opposite end of the city from Orleans. Our landmarks this time? One location is "Off Woodroff, then off Tierry". Found this one by accident. After driving around and aimlessly for a bit, we're driving a long a crescent and Steph asks "turn left or keep going". I voted for "keep going" which worked out well as street #2 was on the right around the bend. It was a cute little street. Not as well lit up as Taffy Lane, but still nice.

Ok, onto stop #3 with the directions of "There's a Tim Horton's on the corner". Seriously!??!? After going the wrong way at the Tim's and driving past the same park 3 times, Steph decides to try the other side of the Tim's and we hit gold. We found the house. It's one where the lights are set to music and the home owner broadcasts the music on a low frequency so that you can hear the music through your car radio. It was pretty darn cool and well worth the risk of getting lost in Suburbian hell. LOL.

I'm pretty sure we're the only ones who can turn looking at Christmas lights into an adventure. But it sure was fun :)

Good Night!

Sarah

Very Random Ramblings

I survived the ice today and managed to get to the bus stop and then from the bus to the office all while remaining vertical. That's a very good thing. Coming home was much easier since everything had melted. I had to dodge some really big puddles though. I'm slightly dreading tomorrow though as all that water is going to freeze overnight. Sigh. I guess there's no escaping it unless I win the lottery and can afford to winter in a warmer climate.

I witnessed one of my biggest bus pet peeves this morning: Some jackass taking up more space than he should. He took up 2 of the 4 seats in a 4 seat bench. He was sitting there, leaning back, legs spread so wide that they covered both seats, his bag and coat were on the seat beside him and he had his arms spread out, holding the pole on either side of the 2 seats. WTF? There's no need for that, especially during the morning rush hour. Some people are really very inconsiderate. Sometimes, I'll put my purse or bag on the set beside me, but as the bus fills up, I move them so someone else can sit down. It's not rocket science people.

Seeing as the Christmas season is upon us, here's something new to kill some time with: The Reindeer Cam! Yes, I'm serious. The best part? You can watch Santa feed the reindeer 3 times a day. I have to admit, watching the Polar Bear cam is actually more entertaining. Anyhow, if you want to check it out, here's the link:  http://reindeercam.com/

I'm packing it in early tonight. I've got a busy day ahead of me tomorrow.

Good Night!

Sarah

Winter Weather Woes

I'm sitting here, watching Home Alone and I'm hiding behind my hands like I'm watching a horror movie. It was the tarantula scene - the one where Kevin grabs it off the stairs and throws it at the bad guy. *Shudder* I fucking hate spiders and that was one big ass spider.

Despite the fact that I've watched 4 Christmas movies in the last 24 hours, I'm still not feeling the spirit. I put out the cards that I've received so far this year, finally got around to putting my wreath on the door and I hung up my snowman "Welcome" sign, but that's about it. Nothing overly Christmasy at my place.

I spent the day cleaning and killing way too much time on Farmville 2 and Pinterest. LOL. I did managed to get the dishes done, my laundry folded and put away and got most of the living room clean, including clearing all the clutter off my coffee table so I can once again see it. I also got more Christmas cards written. But now I'm out of stamps.

I really should have got more done, but my stomach wasn't a very happy camper this morning. I think I drank too much coffee or the coffee was too strong or maybe I'm fighting off something but my tummy has been hurting and making odd sounds all day. It's one of those "I'm really glad I live alone" days. I sure hope that it doesn't keep me up tonight and I hope it's feeling better in the morning. The weather is supposed to be supremely crappy tomorrow so having to skate to work with a stomach ache doesn't sound like fun.

Ok. My upstairs neighbour just moved something so big/heavy that I swore he was coming through the ceiling and the entire building shook. What the fuck? It's almost 10pm on Sunday. Who does that? Inconsiderate damn neighbours. I really need to find a better building.

Back to the weather. According to Environment Canada, "A more prolonged period of freezing rain extending well into Monday is then possible, especially for regions near the Ottawa Valley." Well dammit. This is after the 5-10cms of snow that is supposed to fall overnight. Snow I can handle. Rain I can handle. But I can not deal with freezing rain. Ice and I do not get along well at all. I am so not looking forward to tomorrow.

Good Night!

Sarah

Garlic and Ornaments and Planes, Oh My!

Work was just a typical Friday. Lots to do and hyper people everywhere. LOL. Steph came in for a "surprise" visit. I knew she was coming but some of the peeps she used to work with didn't know so that was the surprise part. Especially Giggles. Their reaction was by far the best :)

Steph kidnapped me with the promise of free admission to a rather large craft show and sale. Can't say no to that. But en route to dinner, I got us side tracked. As we were driving and chatting, I suddenly told her "pull in here!". I've been looking for a specific item for my brother for Christmas and figured that this particular store would have it.

OMG. I have to say, that was the most poorly laid out store I've ever been in. Not only could you not find anything, but we couldn't find staff to help either. I'm convinced we could have played hide and seek in there for hours. By some miracle, we found what we were looking for and it was in the "Clearance" section. Except it wasn't marked down. Didn't care. I found what I wanted. Next trick: find the cashier. That was actually harder than you think it should be given that stores typically want you to pay for things. We finally found a till an thankfully, there was a staff member there. I asked her about the shirt since it was in the clearance section but wasn't marked down. She was nice and went and asked a manager. The manager knocked $15 off the price. Sweet. I paid for my purchase and the clerk put it in a ridiculously oversized bag. In fact, Steph asked if she could get in the bag and have me carry her out of the store.

We continued on our way and made it to a mall to grab some dinner. We both must have been rather hungry as it only took us 2 minutes to decide where to eat. This is usually a much longer and drawn out process. While eating, we had a bird's eye view of Santa's Village and got to watch people having their photos to Santa. It was rather entertaining, especially when the two teens girls got their photo done and Santa keep squeezing them in close to him.

Now that we had some food in our system and had the energy to shop and explore, we hit the Craft Show and Sale. It really was quite large. One of my former co-workers was working at a booth there so she took our coats for us, so that was handy. We wandered and explored and bought some gifts and ate a bunch of free samples, a surprising number of which contained garlic. Since we were both going to be in the same car together, we felt it was safe for us to eat the garlic. Nothing's worse than smelling garlic on someone else. But if you both eat it, it's all good! It was very nice and a good way to spend a cold, rainy evening. Even better was that Steph got the admission tickets for free! Before we left, we hit up the bathroom (no great shock there). Since the show was getting ready to close, several women made the same pit stop as us.

While we were in the stalls, a cleaning person came in and she was talking to a supervisor on her walkie talkie. The man said "once we have evacuated the facility..." What now? The lady in the stall next to me said "Well that doesn't sound good." Everyone laughed. I said "I wonder what they're not telling us" and she replied "I don't know but it can't be good. Pee faster!". The woman on the walkie talkie was now laughing at us all. I'm sure the supervisor meant that once the facility emptied out, not evacuated. But still, it was amusing.

Once we got to the car, Steph was getting bottles of water from the trunk and we're just chatting away. All of a sudden, a jet takes off from the airport (which is literally right across the street from where we were) and both of us jump a good foot in the air. Since it was so cloudy, the sound was really bouncing back and it sounded like the damn plane was in the parking lot with us. And it kind of startled us. I guess we were on the jumpy side tonight.

I really need to get to bed. I'm still sleepy from my late night last night and now from my long day today. Sleep is sooooo good!

Good Night!

Sarah

Christmas Lights and Beavertails

I feel like a bit of a rebel. I stayed out quite late this evening, especially since I have to work tomorrow. LOL. It's funny. I'm a grown woman and can come and go as I please yet I still think it's naughty or whatever to stay out late on a "work night". I know, crazy. As I was coming in my neighbour down the hall was heading out to hockey so I guess I'm not all that late.

It was a very fun evening. Myself, Xtina and 3 co-workers all headed up to Parliament Hill to see the kick off celebrations for "Christmas Lights Across Canada". They were very nice.

It started with someone doing a mini-concert on the Peace Tower Bells and then a youth choir sang (they were really good) and there were a few speeches, more singing, and then they lit the lights and some fireworks went off and the capital was all lit up.

We all managed to get candles too, so that we could be part of the "lights" on the hill. I'm pretty sure everyone of us got wax on ourselves and/or out mitts/gloves.

 

 

 

 

After the show, we did a quick tour of the back of Parliament Hill and then went to the Chateau Laurier to warm up and see the Trees of Hope. One of us attempted to turn the hotel into a wax museum but dropping not one, but two candles on the floor, each of which left a nice pile of hard wax behind. And it wasn't me. I swear.

 

Once warm, we opted to hit up the Beavertail stand since the line up on the Hill had been way too long.

So off we went. Despite it being friggin' cold, we all took off out mitts to each the wonderful creation that is the Beavertail. I had apples and cinnamon on mine and it was amazing. I haven't had a Beavertail in about 2 years so it was a real treat. Factor in that I was really hungry and cold and that made the Beavertail seem like the most delicious thing ever.

We then decided that we needed real food so we wandered over to the mall and ate at the restaurant there. It was very nice. They stuck us downstairs next to a group having an office Christmas party so we had a little bit of entertainment along the way. Atleast I think it was a Christmas party. Who knows.

All in all, it was a great evening/night spent with some very cool people. We got to participate in a some very Canadian activities, kept re-lighting each other when the damn wind kept blowing our candles out, player tourist, got a little sticky, had some good food and had quite a few laughs. That's definitely my kind of fun. Except for the cold. That wasn't very nice. LOL.

Good Night!

Sarah

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.

Who knew that blogging could be so Therapeutic?

Wow. 4,026 page views. Incredible. My random ramblings have been viewed 4.026 times. That still blows my mind. I can't believe it. I can't believe that this is post number 129 either. I guess I've been blogging for almost 4 months now. That's pretty cool. And I've blogged every night except for one..the night of the Hallowe'en party. That's a pretty good track record. And to tell you the truth, I think it's helped me a lot. My mind is quieter. I do lie in bed thinking about the day quite so much anymore. I think I'm a little less stressed (well, some days). I think being able to sit here and write what's on my mind and just leave it here on the screen is helping me to deal with things.  Which then allows me to walk away with a clearer head. Who knew that blogging could be so therapeutic?

I had a good day today. I was productive, which means I started to see results in my cleaning/re-organizing/getting rid of crap I don't need/use quest, which in turn made me feel better. My back is a little pissed at me as I managed to stain it at some point but oh well! A little pain in the pursuit of progress isn't so bad. The trick will be carry this momentum through the week with me. If I do little bits and little areas each night, I'll be in awesome form by next weekend. It's all the little bits that seem to add up. Like emptying out and organizing the bathroom closet, then kitchen cupboard, my pantry shelf, dresser etc...I'm also thinking about re-arranging the livingroom but that can wait.

My parents finally got their computer fixed today. They've been having an issue for 2 years now with it so dad enlisted the help of a "computer geek" friend of his to come over and help. Now I don't have to listen to them complain about it anymore and hopefully this now means that they can buy books online and update the library on my mom's Kobo. Now if they'd only get their act together and give me a decent Christmas list to work with....Sigh. Same for my brother and his wife. I think I'm getting them all coal :) Christmas is only 1 month away.

I'm really looking forward to going home this year. I'm happy about going home every year, but I'm usually somewhat apprehensive about it too. But so far this year, that apprehension isn't there. I'm just really looking forward to going home, spending time with my family and getting to relax for a bit. It's not some warm sunny beach in some tropical paradise, but in my world, it's pretty damn close.

I think it's time to turn in. I've got a full week ahead of me so sleep is a good idea.

Good Night!

Sarah

View from the observation deck on Sulpher Mt. in Banff, AB

I Came. I Saw. I Shopped. It Snowed. I Whined.

I came. I saw. I shopped. And am happy to report that I have a good 75% of my Christmas shopping done and there's still a month to go before Christmas.

And I even braved the snow to do it. We kept getting flurries on and off today. I kept asking Steph to make them stop but she just kept patiently explaining to me that she didn't have that kind of power. Dammit. LOL. We did almost get blown away while scurrying between Chapters and Michaels though. It wouldn't have been so bad out if it wasn't for the wind. God bless Steph for putting up with my whining about the damn snow!

For the record, I don't think I've bought so many baby clothes in my life. I bought stuff for 3 different babies today, one of whom isn't even born yet (but will be in early 2013). Some of the sales were just too good to pass up. I nearly bought myself a new Sens shirt since it was 50% off but I was good and refrained from doing so. I have to admit, I had a bit of a good baby buzz going after looking at all the cute baby clothes today. But then there was a baby on my bus who cried the entire time. Killed the buzz. They're cute. Their clothes are cute. But they still scare the crap out of me.

Steph and I tried to solve a mystery in Walmart today. The area between the front doors at the entrance of the location we were in reeked of rotting garbage. And then, once you got inside the store, the entry area smelt like fish. Apparently, the fish smell is quite common. There's a McDonald's to the left of the entrance but we couldn't fathom the filet-o-fish being popular enough to be the cause. The bakery area of the Walmart is to the right. No fish there. And Walmart does not have a fresh fish counter so we're a little stumped on that one. Maybe they spray the area to keep people from loitering? It was rather bizarre. Our next Walmart adventure was to find the present my nephew had asked for. After 15 minutes of searching, I actually had to call my brother and ask which department the damn things were in. Thankfully, we found them and all was good. I still can't even being to explaining what the hell they are, but I hope the kid likes them. And we still don't know what the smell is. It was still there on the way out too.

My poor little phone was getting quite the work out today. I was having 3 separate text conversations at the same time. Steph took to playing the guessing game everytime my phone chimed to let me know that I had a new text message. I even managed to get a wrong number call (happened while we were scurrying in the snow so I didn't hear it ring). It was a little kid calling to tell her grandma that she hoped she had a good day. It was a adorable. And clearly a message not meant for me!! LOL.

The best deal of the day was the 1.2kg box of Catilli Smart Pasta - Rigatoni at SuperStore: $0.94. Really. 94 cents. I couldn't believe it. I bought 3, two of which I donated to the food bank. 1.2kg will go a long way for a family, so that's awesome. And it's the high fibre kind too. I'm sure my box will last me a few months.

I've also decided that some teenagers are truly insane. While I was waiting for the bus home (I wasn't done shopping so Steph left me at the mall when she went to pick up her hubby), two teenaged girls walked by. One was wearing a dress that was so short it barely covered her ass. She had to keep tugging it down every 10 steps or so. No leggings or tights or anything and it was -10 with the windchill. Insane. And I'm not the only one who thought so. Another teenaged girl and her boyfriend were beside me and the girl commented to the guy something about short dress girl being nuts and I think she mentioned trashy too. Or slutty. LOL.

Tomorrow will be a much quieter day. I have to find a place to store all the presents I bought and I need to clean and organize so that I can decorate :) I'm glad that Steph decided that shopping with me would be more fun than watching hamburger thaw. LOL.

I'm not quite sure but maybe, just maybe, the Christmas spirit might be creeping into me. But for now, it's time for bed.

Good Night!

Sarah

Christmas tree that I had in Calgary