2009: A Retrospective

It completely blows my mind that 2009 is at a close. For some reasons, I cannot wait to say good-bye to 2009 and welcome a new year, a clean slate, and a fresh start. I do hope that as we embark upon a new year that it brings prosperity, happiness and much love to all. However, there were some highlights to my year as well - and I have some happy memories from this year that will undoubtably last me a lifetime and then some. Here's a retrospective of the good, the bad, and the ugly from the last 364 days:

• January: I kicked off my 'healthy eating resolution', and am happy to report that it was a resolution that I did stick with, and, aside from hopping on the scale post-Christmas-indulging, I've kept off approximately 23-25ish pounds! (those last 4lbs tend to leave and come back at whim. Perhaps it's just the difference between a good poop and not having a good poop ;)). All jokes aside, I am proud to say that I'm really consciously trying to eat more healthfully. The blog helped, but I know deep down I must add exercise to the mix, and I still have a huge road ahead of me yet. Perhaps a segway to changes to come for 2010? We'll see.
• February: We were treated to a fantastic show at the Confederation Centre - Stuart MacLean's Vinyl Cafe, starring the wonderful Matt Andersen, no less :). We also landed ourselves a pair of snowshoes, and had our first opportunity for a little shoein' in the woods. Segway to 2010 --more shoein' in the woods :).
• March: We laughed ourselves silly at the John Pinette show, and the better part of the month was filled with open-housing. As it turns out, we really weren't in the position to take our house hunt any further than looking, but we did have fun doing so. I'm hopeful that our two differing styles & wishes for a home do manage to gel a bit by the time we go at it again ;). I'm unsure if 2010 holds high expectations when it comes to housing, though.
• April: People will laugh when they read this, but I think that it's rather momentous and worth mentioning...a farewell to one of my all-time favourite hours of television with a good-bye to ER. I still miss it. April was also a milestone month for me; I'm happy to announce that another successsful year of regular blogging is behind me, as we celebrated 2 years of blogging together. Thanks for sticking around ;)
• May: A little sadness came into our lives in May with the passing of our dear friend and neighbor George MacKenzie. It's still not the same without you, George. We still think about you often, and miss you a lot. I got Chris a box of clementines for Christmas this year and said it was to thank him for shoveling the walk for me - in dedication to you. Your home is now in the hands of a nice girl. She looks respectable, and I think she'll give your old home lots of TLC. Also in May, more tragedy with the terrible fire that destroyed Sherwood Drug Mart and Maid Marian's diner. Both icons to Charlottetown and local businesses. I'm happy to report that both are full tilt into rebuilding with openings to come very shortly.
• June: Hollywood lost a few famous faces. They say it happens in threes - without much time between, the world bid adieu to Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett & Michael Jackson. June also brought great gladness to me, personally, with a thrill of a lifetime opportunity to see my BON BON! Bon Jovi rocked Magnetic Hill in Moncton, and we were there with big smiles on our faces the whole time. What made it even more special was spending it with great friends. Thanks again, Mark and Rhonda for a true "time of my life" :).
• July: It truly was a rockin' summer. With Bon Jovi in June, July was celebrated with more music with the Festival of Lights where we had a chance to see Simple Plan, Theory of a Deadman and Daughtry. We also welcomed a visit from our dear friend JulieJ coming to see her friends and family all the way from the Great White North. I'm so sad that it'll be two years until your next visit *sniff*.
• August: Lions, winds and guitars, oh my! We took an impromptu jaunt to Moncton for the day to visit the Moncton Zoo. Hurricane Bill tore through the Maritimes - and didn't pack quite as much of a punch as was predicted, but it was a fiercely windy day, nevertheless. And our biggest highlight of the month was the Indian River Festival and front-row tickets to see Matt Andersen. I've not seen him play in a better venue. Here's hoping we bear witness to another go at the church in 2010's festival.
• September: Thomas and Bobbie-Jo tied the knot, and Chris and I were so happy to be a part of their special day. It was an honor and a privilege to see their pledge and witness their love joining. They're a prime example of what true happiness looks like. We were lucky to have some time with Cody & Jool who were visiting from Calgary. We miss you guys terribly! Thanks for the laughs :). And, on a sad note, September brought the passing of Dale, Belinda's step-father. I say the word 'step' loosely, because their love wouldn't have been any stronger had their been blood between them. He put up a long struggle, and the only comfort is that he is out of pain. He will be sorely missed. Patrick Swayze also lost his battle with cancer in September. A heart-breaking loss, for certain.
• October: The Fall Flavours Festival was another hit in Charlottetown this year, and this year, Chris and I took in a cooking class with Chef Michael. It was fun and informative, and it also planted the seed in Chris to aspire to cook like a champ! I've been happily grazing on his variety of tried recipes. I'm a lucky gal. It's a good thing that we have that 'quid pro quo' relationship cemented; he cooks; I clean :). Simple. We also helped stimulate the economy of local artists, having the opportunity to see live performances of Dave Gunning with Jessica Rhaye, Matt Andersen with Mike Stevens, and a fantastic performance in New Brunswick with Matt and friends, including Irish Mythen, the Hupman Brothers, Ian Sherwood, and Thom Swift. Unforgettable on all counts.
• November: Falling in line with the music of October, we welcomed the chance to attend a house concert with the lovely Irish Mythen. It was the perfect way to enjoy a favourite artist. And, on a sad note, we said good-bye to our dear bunny, Homer. RIP little guy. We miss you.
• December: December was a month of togetherness, family and a few challenges, with the unexpected health problems faced by Chris' grandfather. He's still holding his own right now, and is surrounded by family who love him. His final days will be full of love, and that's all we, or anyone else for that matter, can ask for. As hard as it was to witness an integral part of a family get sick, the opportunity for so much togetherness truly helped point out the real meaning of Christmas.

Wishing all of you a safe and happy NYE -- may 2010 be a special year for one and all.

Happy Eve Eve

I will be back to regular blogging soon. I promise. I've caught a cold and I feel like poop. In between snuffing and sniffing and I'll admit, a little whining, I'm trying to get through the days with a semblance of normalcy. I've not yet called in sick at work, and tonight I'm trying to get the laundry done and the house in order. After having just sat down though, I'm kind of wishing there wasn't a load of clothes churning and needing attention. I also have a feeling that I'll be watching the ball drop under a blanket on my couch tomorrow night. BAH! At least there's a cold bottle of Pinot Grigio chillin' in the fridge.

So our white Christmas came a few days late. We had a wintery and blustery night last night. While most of the Island stayed their arse home, Chris decided we should brave the weather and look at faucets. Our current one is leaking and needs to be replaced, and he felt that the decision needed a 'girl' opinion so as to avoid the new chosen faucet clashing with our current sink. Since a clashing sink/faucet combo would undoubtably affect re-sale value when we finally ever put this place on the market, I am glad he thought of me :). Before heading to the plumbing aisles we went for supper at Boston Pizza (we had two generous gift cards given to us for Christmas -- thanks Fred, Belinda & Colleen!!). We also stopped at Walmart and I got my first Christmas gift for 2010. Perhaps this year I will pick up a gift at a time and have stuff bought early. That'd be the smart thing to do...how much do you doubt I will do it? Yeah, me too.

I finally bought myself a pair of winter boots this year. I'm tired of cold, wet feet...and the day when I was attempting to scrape my icy windows and I almost stepped out of my little black shoe I was convinced it was something I *needed* to do. So on the idea from Tanya, I went to Soft-Moc and got myself a pair of those generic "Ugg" boots. They're just like wearing slippers, in fact, it feels 'wrong' walking outside in them because they feel so much like slippers. They're very flat though, so not offering much support. They're great for going from the car to the house but I don't know that I'd wear them out again for walking around the stores. Oh, and my biggest issue? They pull your darn socks off! I literally removed my socks from my feet in between stores last night and went barefoot because there are few things that annoy me as much as the feeling of socks that have slipped off my heels (these were literally hanging by my toe pads when I went to fish 'em out). I gotta say, though, barefoot and all, my feet weren't the least bit chilled :).

Mom & Todd are still in Ontario. They decided to stay in Ontario for a few more days to get more time in with the family. It also may be a blessing in disguise with the added security going on in international airports this week due to that attempted terrorist attack (wtf, eh?). Hopefully by the time they go to leave on Friday things will have settled down.

I guess that keeps you in the know. Happy New Years Eve Eve.

For Brandy

I've found the following post on two blogs that I read on a regular basis, and I'm more than compelled to follow suit. Please read the following, and if you have a blog, post it as well. Brandy needs as much support, prayers, and good vibes that she can get. May the power of positive thinking work for you Brandy...sending all the good vibes and positive thoughts for you that I can muster...

My name is brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He’s a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He’s the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He’s the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He’s a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He’s made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He’s listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He’s recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He’s the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I’m overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren’t sure what’s happening. He’ll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what’s going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as ‘brandy’s hot awesome dude’). If you don’t pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven’t seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I’m throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn’t a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It’s just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven’t already? Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.

A recap -holiday style

I hope you all had a fantastically magical Christmas. It's hard to believe that at this point, it's all over. All that stress and worry, and now, it's finished. I say this every year, but I'll say it again...next year, I will be prepared earlier! There will be NO stress, and I will not darken the door of any mall, shop or corner store 2 days before!

On account of my mom and brother being in Ontario to celebrate Christmas, it was a little quieter this year with less running around. Christmas Eve, we headed over to Chris' parents' house for supper, and had a bowl of some DELICIOUS seafood chowder, and of course topped the meal with a few shortbread cookies (Rose is a bit of a cookie connoisseur and she makes fan-freaking-tastic shortbreads!). From there, we headed to the Bowlans's annual Christmas Eve party. I don't know how Rhonda does it every year. Her house is wall-to-wall people yet she's mingling amongst them all, taking care to ensure she has a moment with everyone, all the while serving up a host of delicious appetizers - most from the oven, along with plates and plates of desserts, hot cider on the stove, and she even had a bottle of wine *ahem* for me (I do hope someone else helped finish it off). Thank you, once again, Bowlans for a fantastic, holidayrific evening! After mingling at the Bowlans we headed back to his parents' for another visit & picked up our prezzies and then headed on home to crash.

Sleeping turned out to be a bit of a challenge, I'll admit. I 'blame' the fact that the bed was so freaking cold I couldn't warm up, and therefore, could not get to sleep. However, I do suppose that a teensy bit of excitement was potentially part of my sleep issue as well. I'm like a little kid - it's pathetic! :). Who doesn't love getting to open presents? After a bit of tossing and turning, we finally decided to rise out of bed by about 10am. I made us coffee and we had breakfast as we opened our stockings. Chris seemed to enjoy all of his loot, even managing to not complain too much when it came to the new Old Navy jeans and t-shirts (he claims to have boycotted ON on account of their hideous mannequin ad campaign). A few of the highlights for him were the Wii Super Mario Bros game, the new Matt Andersen CD from his Phoenix performance, and the picture I framed of him and his granddad (I even saw a little tear). I guess Santa Amber did ok.

Santa Chris also faired out rather fantastically. He brought me a pair of silver hoop earrings, a Bon Jovi coffee table book that is drool-worthy, a cool CSI game for the Wii and a converting device to convert slides to digital format. Probably my most favourite of the gifts were the heart shaped "two hearts, one love" diamond pendant (soooo beautiful), and by far the biggest cry of the season was when I opened up the small album that he had filled with converted pictures (from slides I had saved) of myself and my Dad from when I was a baby. He'd used the converter to see how it worked. I still tear up just thinking about it. That's just one of the examples of how thoughtful of a guy Chris is...and explains just how special he really is to me, and how much I love him. Thank you so much Chris...that gift alone made my Christmas. xoxo.
We made our way to Chris' parents' house again for Christmas dinner and visited for a few hours (even getting a chance to say hello to Chris' granddad on the phone which was super special). Thereafter, we headed to Rustico to see the Christmas lights. It was lightly snowing which made it much more Christmas-y. For any non-local readers who may have stopped by, Rustico is a little fishing community and they go completely Griswald for Christmas. It's insane, but neat. I wouldn't want to pay their electric bill though.

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

From our house to yours, wishing you every happiness this holiday season. May the magic of Christmas stay with you all every day of the new year.

Have a holly, jolly Christmas....

Wouldn't you know it, just when I thought I was 'done' I realized I wasn't quite that close. Tuesday night I made a quick stop home after work to have supper to fuel up for the impending crowd fight, and went onward to a few more stores. After having wrapped everything up on the weekend and seeing Chris' prezzies under the tree I thought I had scrimped on him pretty badly - especially seeing as two of the few boxes there contained things he really won't like or enjoy (you know those essential things that everyone needs but would never put on their Santa list). So, my main goal of the Tuesday venture was to stop by a few places for a few more things for him. I succeeded rather nicely - and will elaborate more when things have been unveiled :). I also managed to snag something that is wrapped under the tree for "Chris and Amber" from "Santa", that I absolutely LOVE!

So with that, I can finally say that I am officially DONE. *Phew*

Done, that is, with the present-buying, wrapping, and that sort of readiness. What I wasn't finished with was groceries and spirits. Last night, I braved Sobeys and the beer store... This is where the post could go sour.

It's amazing what stress during the holidays can do to people.

"Pardon me, sir, you're heading toward me. Um, HELLO sir! I'm right here! Excuse me while I go out of my own way to avoid your smashing your cart right into mine!"... "Um, ma'am...would you and your three children mind making way for my little cart? You're taking up the ENTIRE AISLE". I literally had to go back to the same aisle three times to get what I needed on account of there being just no semblance of organized traffic or thru-way. And it never failed, my entire shopping trip at Sobeys, I ended up behind the same family of ladies - it looked like 2 adult daughters with their elderly mom in tow. I think they were British. British Mum stood in the middle of every freaking aisle. I had to say, "excuse me" to her FOUR times (four different aisles). I should have invited her over for tea. As I headed toward the check out I walked by the same mother with the three children walking aimlessly down the main aisle by the checkouts mumbling to herself, "this just isn't good. It's not good at all!" A rather impatient couple butted toward my checkout girl with a, "How much is this?" before I was even able to key in my pin number to complete my transaction.

I finally made my way out of there only to be thrown into moving car traffic akin to the grocery cart traffic. Three people cut me off and I was nearly side-swiped TWICE when people attempted to make the merge lane longer than it really was. Thankful to still have my life, I made my way to the liquor store, filled my basket with beer, wine, Baileys & a little bottle of spiced rum, and then back home to clean the kitchen and make ice for the Christmas spirits. I'll ignore the fact that my dear Christopher complained* about the fact that there was only a case of 12 beer waiting, and OMG....."I got cans??!!". I'll not bother writing about my utter lack of Christmas spirit at that very moment. Oh, maybe I just did?

*He insists that his tone wasn't complaining. He insists that I only 'inferred' complaint due to the fact that it was at the tail-end of a SH!TTY day and a SH!TTY night of shopping. Whatever.

After several cups of coffee with a splash of Baileys I'm in much better spirits.

Deck the halls...

So Friday night I opted out of a work Christmas gathering to muckle onto Chris when he had a free moment to breathe and obtain his help for making our home 'festive'. We had a beer, ordered take-out pizza, and started the labor-intensive decorating. I lost his help to Home Alone on the tv pretty much after the tree was standing and lit, though. I'm probably a better decorator, anyway, truth be told :). By the time the tree was done and other little festive accessories were out we had a decorated "mess", with all the boxes and stuff in the middle of it all. I really should have taken pictures. So it was about 1am before I had cleaned up the messy part and could sit and relax for a bit.

Saturday I had a brief stop at the mall (it was insane!) and wrapped my remaining gifts, and even a few for Chris' family (how great am I?). It was much nicer wrapping with a lit Christmas tree and the yule log channel on in the background. Saturday night, Chris and I attended the Annual Saturday before Christmas Party at the Ostridge's. Merriment, good eats, and great times spent with great friends were a perfect combination. Thank you Ostridge's!! We love you :).

Chris' grandfather is now home. He has his oxygen tank that he can take with him, which helps keep him mobile around the house. They are not treating the cancer. He's spending his last days at home. His grandmother knows that she has her husband home until she has to call 911... We are going to get over to Truro to see him at some point, but the doctors have ordered a quiet Christmas for Charlie, so the family has to visit in small groupings. I hope we get over there in time :(. In all likelihood, this will be Charlie's last Christmas, and Chris' mom has expressed the fact that she 'doesn't expect that he'll last very long'. I'm glad that he's home.

Please, in all the hustle and bustle that comes with this holiday, take a moment to count your blessings. Search for the true meaning of Christmas, and keep your family and loved ones close by.

O Holy Night

The tree is up. The gifts are wrapped. I'm finally able to sit down and relax, and having an opportunity to see this has cemented my "Christmas spirit". Always a favourite before, I love this song even more now. Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us all, Matt.

Sleep deprived

Disrupted sleep + failure to check alarm clock to ensure set to go off + amazing ability for internal alarm clock to wake self from coma-tized disrupted slumber = how my morning started today. Let's just say that I am not a very happy camper when I don't have my usual double-hit of the snooze button. Couple that with a sore throat, runny oatmeal and coffee that tasted like metal and there you have how my day started.

The pros:

I made it to work on time

I did not slip on the icy walkways/roads (I'm TRYing!)

Fortunately, I remained adept at looking at the glass half full today, and the rest of the day didn't follow suit in how it started (huge sigh of relief!).

Last night, I had a wonderfully delicious time at the Annual Girls Night Christmas Exchange at Julie's. The food was enticing, but the company was much better. Thank you for hosting Julie, and thanks for the lovely time, girlies! *Muah!* Even though I ate enough to feed a small army last night and felt sure that I didn't need another bite of anything rich, sweet, or chocolate, I have to admit feeling the happy come back when Craig treated the staff to a bite-sized chocolate, peanut butter chip, skor bit delight. Oh the holidays. I had my very first Scotch cookie the day before yesterday, too. Another true sign of Christmas. The only thing missing? I've not had one Quality Street chocolate yet. Perhaps that's why I'm having such a hard time preparing? Doesn't chocolate solve everything after all?

As this post seems to be going a little bit on the up and down scale, let's go down now shall we? I returned home to find 3 piles of kitty puke. Awesome. Apparently Zoe also puked 3 times yesterday, too. Now I'm worried about her to go along with the rest of the stress that's going on right now. Dear Universe - you can stop now. Please?

Fa la la la la.....blah.

The days keep on slipping by...the tree isn't up yet. There are no decorations on display. The only thing I've managed to accomplish is to get the cards in the mail. I hope to get the tree up this evening*, but we'll see. Put it this way - I'm not holding my breath!

Sunday night I joined Angela, Laurie Anne, Shelley, & Maria for supper at ESM. It was lovely to see them all again and it was a nice break - just what I needed. I had yesterday off, and though there wasn't any Christmas prep accomplished, it was a productive day nonetheless, including shopping for some much needed groceries, putting said cards in the mail, and doing a major clean up of the house. Lana, God bless her heart, popped over last night at suppertime and made Chris and I supper - complete with appetizer, main course and a delicious cheesecake for dessert. You're such a sweetheart, Lana -- thank you so much, again. We love you...xo.

*pre-post update: in all likelihood, no tree tonight. The Picture Guy (ie, Chris) needs help sorting orders. If we slam through those, sweatshop-style, who knows what we might have room for. Otherwise, we might get 'er up by next week.

Hope your prepping is going a bit more smoothly :). Ready or not, the day will come, and in the larger scheme of things, does it really matter whether or tree is up and twinkling? No :). In your own hustle and bustle that is the season, do keep in mind the true meaning of Christmas....

Still praying for Charlie...

Our little Christmas miracle has dimmed slightly...although he beat all odds coming out of a massive heart attack, Chris' granddad was just diagnosed with lung cancer. FU#K you cancer. FU#K you. He's still in hospital. I'm unsure whether they'll treat him or not - he's 89 years old and just had a heart attack. Would you even want to start a cancer treatment? All I know is that my heart is breaking. I'm sad myself just because I love that man dearly. I'm sad for his family. The patriarch of the Wilkinson family is very ill ... and may not come out of this one. I'm so sad for his wife... her partner in life. I'm sad for his sons ... I know what it's like to watch helpless as your dad lays sick in a hospital bed. I'm so sad for Chris ...he worships that man and it kills me to see him so sad. There's nothing I can do to lesson the pain.

Give your loved ones an extra hug - and tell them that you love them.

Keep fighting big Charlie - we love you...xoxox.

Say it isn't so....

It's two weeks til Christmas Eve.

Just thought I'd get that reminder out there.

{Holy EFF it's 2 weeks til Christmas Eve}

My cards have been started. As in, paper has been cut. Some have been folded. About 12 have been stamped, and nothing is glued together. At this rate they may be delivered some time in February. I have pretty much all of my shopping completed, save a few phone calls and waiting for delivery for a couple of items. I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm going to be promoted to Chris' personal shopper, however... So, if you see a rather lonely-looking lost soul wandering aimlessly through the malls on the 24th of December, give me a wave, ok?
We might get the tree up on the weekend. Maybe it'll be the weekend of the 19th. As a compromise then, I suppose it'd be alright to leave it up til Easter then? What do you think?

Merry Thursday.

I *Heart* the Den

Easily one of my very favourite hours of TV.

And Brett Wilson is my very favourite Dragon. If you're in the dark - look it up, and watch it. I guarantee you'll enjoy yourself...and save a slot every Wednesday night to tune in - like I have.

Checkin' in.

I'm still here - busy as a bee so lacking in posting. Sorry m'lovelies. Christmas is still all packed away in the office closet. My shopping is not yet complete, and my wrapping is still not yet complete. I cut paper last night to make my cards. It'll likely take a few more nights before they're actually constructed and ready to be signed. We have Chris' work Christmas party on Saturday night, and Sunday night I'm scheduled to meet my scrap gals for a bite...somewhere in there I hope to get the tree standing... and Chris is beyond busy with the Picture Guy stuff .... We might be ready by Dec 24. Bah!

Chris' Granddad is still doing well. We haven't heard the results of the echo cardiogram yet - but I'm going on the fact that 'no news is good news'. We're all still keeping good thoughts, and are thrilled that things have turned around like they have. Thanks to all for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers...xo.

Happy Hump.

Praying for Charlie

Well I'm now at the very end of my vacation. I didn't get as much done as I'd planned, but under the circumstances, that couldn't be helped.

Friday morning, Chris got a call from his mother - his grandfather had taken a massive heart attack a few hours prior. It didn't look good...and the family were preparing for the worst. Suddenly, my measly plans of tying up my wrapping and starting the Christmas decorating seemed rather minuscule, and the bigger job of being someone's girlfriend took over. There was no question - I had to go with Chris to be there for him. He's really close to his grandfather, and was taking the news pretty hard. We got ready and on the road as quick as we could.

En route, we had a call from Chris' brother Shawn - their dad had called him to let him know that Charlie Sr. was doing a little better. He'd been taken off his ventilator, and was remembering things. We headed straight to the hospital - to ICU. Charlie Sr. was really drugged up, but he seemed to recognize Chris (off and on). The whole family took turns in and out of the family room and being at Charlie Sr's bedside. Apparently, he had actually flatlined in the early hours of the morning, having to be resuscitated...

The family received a Christmas miracle, though...for Charlie Sr. beat all odds, and to the surprise of his doctors, and us all, he's now doing amazingly well. He's got a long road ahead of him, of course, but for an 89 year old man who just recently suffered a major heart attack, he's doing fantastic. He's got great color, has total recognition of all of us and his surroundings, a great appetite, and a strong will to get out of there and live a long life yet! He's a stubborn old bird, and I think the worst thing he may have ahead of him may be being told he has to take things easy and rest more than he's used to. He's having an echo cardiogram tomorrow - this will reveal how much damage his heart suffered. Hopefully he's got a long life ahead of him yet. We love you, Charlie, and we're praying for you -- keep getting stronger...xo.

So we were in Truro from Friday onward to today - just getting home at about 6pm. The Maritimes received the first snowstorm of the season today as well. It made for a tricky drive home - but the scenery was spectacular, and just a little more Christmas-y. Here's hoping that your Christmas season is filled with its own little Christmas miracles, too.

Relator - LISTEN!

I heard this song for the first time the other day on Ellen, and I just love it! I didn't know Scarlett Johansson could sing - the two of them share a great vibe together - and I think I enjoy this so much that I'll have to give the rest of the album a listen, as well.

Listen to it -- and tell me you didn't move your hips and shoulders to the beat!

Wherein I pray for a stoppage of time

How'd it get to THURSDAY already? :(

I want a recount.

If I was working this week I bet you it'd still be Tuesday.

Baraghhhh! I suppose I should get a bit of laundry done; Chris told me he was out of underoos this morning. I opted to not wrap a thing yesterday with full intentions on getting up early with Chris, making coffee, and getting to work on my wrapping. That was before I found out he had to be out of the house for a 6am shoot. I quickly reneged my offer. The result? I'm just rolling out of bed now. The coffee hasn't been made, and I've done nothing save wiping the sleep from my eyes and having a pee (truth be told the urgence of which the only thing that roused me from my slumber in the first place).

I have a scrapbook class this evening, too,...

Better get at 'er methinks. Happy Thursday. May the next 3 days pass s-l-o-w-l-y......

On cravings and balls

It started with a mild prodding based on a fellow FB'er's status message re: getting Chinese for her birthday supper. It intensified with the increasing hunger in my belly. It became clearly evident that my craving needed to be quelched. I needed eggrolls. When the King of Queens started and the first scene panned to Doug participating in a eggroll eating contest, I figured it was a sign from a higher power.

So the following MSN exchange ensued (bear in mind that the two of us, yes, were in the same house. Yes. We do live in a small home...within shouting distance between rooms... yet, we still communicate via MSN between our respective laptops. Call it nostalgic. Or lazy.). I've taken the liberty of censoring the bad words:

A: I'm craving eggrolls
so. Chinese?
or at least eggrolls?
....
You have just sent a nudge.
....
A: hellllooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
C: go get'em
he in the freeezer should be tossed
A: who's in our freezer?
f#@k that seals it
KoQ has an eggroll eating contest
how many do you want?
....
answer me - I'm hungry
I'm not getting you any...
....
You have just sent a nudge.
....
You have just sent a nudge.
C: lol
the rattle thing does nothing on mac
6:38
Amber wants your attention!
that's what it does
not even a beep
no rattle
nothing
A: ANSWER
C: If you're going, I want five.
A: anything else?
C: nah
I'm good
A: sure?
what about beef & broccoli?
C: yep, been a rough gastrointestinal day.
no f#@king way (Chris really hates broccoli)
A: and 5 eggrolls will help?
i'm getting a half order of shrimp rice then
with mine
you're SURE? cuz I'm about to call it in.
C: I want six.
{muffled sound from the bedroom - just as I click the phone after thanking the nice lady for my order}
A: pardon? {"BALLS"...in a rather pained tone...}
you didn't type it
C: and chicken balls
A: I asked you THREE times
no balls foryou
I ordered rice and 9 eggrolls.
thassit
C: (I believe he's copied this at this point because he SWEARS he was typing it to me as I was on the phone - not sure where the original went on my chat window, then...)
nothing more.
rolls and balls
rolls and balls
rolls and balls
(then he starts new typing) oh now.
oh no.
oh well.
no balls for me.
unless you called quick
'cause they'd add it quick
cook in the same fat
do it
call'em
I can't call'em they won't believe me
A: what?
C: call for balls
chicken balls
me wanty
quick, add 'em
i'd do it for you
redial
chris wants balllllllllls!
A: NO BALLS FOR YOU
C: BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS!
A: They said it'd be ready in 10 mins
NO balls.
C:callllllllllllll!
A: you're not getting balls.
C: f#@k sakes call!!!
A: tooooooooooolate
no
it's too late
C: eff you.
A: you're tooooooooolate
C: it's not too late.
A: what?
:O!
C: eff you.
it's not too late.
even 5 minutes would be fine
call
say chris wants balls
balllllllllls
{my hunger becomes my weakness}
A: 1/2?
C: full balls
FULL BALLS!
A: good thing I love you
arsehole
and I don't think you need a full order at all.
you'd better eat every freaking ball.
well, I might eat 21
oops
C: i love balls
i love you for ordering my balls
A: I mean 1 or 2

Incidentally as I was typing this the Dragon's Den was on, and the first entrepreneur was pitching a ball bra (he didn'g get help from the Dragons). And incidentally, Chris only got a half order of chicken balls. And, I ate 1.

My craving was sated. And, Chris still loves me.

Oh the weather outside is...

Our first snowfall ladies and gentlemen...

Good thing I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon for the winter tires. It'll be my first winter with snow tires on. Chris bought them for me. He said it's an early Christmas present. I guess he cares about my safety or something.... awwww.

Drive safely!

Continuum

So Day 2 of vacation - and I got out yesterday to pick up a few more odds and ends, and I think, aside from Chris' gifts, I'm about finished (counting on the fact that I'm still leaving his family up to him). I have the Ontario gifts wrapped, and while Mom is going to try to stuff Fred & Belinda's in her luggage, I still have to send a box away for Cathy. I hope they make it there in one piece. Today I have successfully avoided more packing so far, but have to get back at it. I'm going to try to have Todd's & Mom's wrapped by tomorrow as well.

Tonight, I'm joining the girls at Pat&Willy's for a bite to catch up and to celebrate Erin's birthday! It will be so great to see everyone. I'll try to come back with a few pictures.

Tomorrow, I have a nail appointment in the morning, and then an appointment for an oil change, inspection and winter tire change in the afternoon. Chris has maneuvered our appointments to sync up so he'll drop me off at Mom's in between so I don't have to sit at the garage (and this year I'm opting to take it to a garage instead of the dealership -- perhaps that ought to save a dollar or two?).

Ok so now you're up to date in the mundane that is my life....I have oodles of stuff to pack...bah!