Monday already!

Time sure flew by this weekend...literally! Friday afternoon, the boys headed to Grand Prarie to visit their cousins. Our Friday night was the Celine concert...still talking about how great it was.

Saturday brought a huge wind storm, complete with a mini snow storm. It was so bad, there was a fatality along the highway that backs our home. Joe was in Lily Lake helping a friend insulate his new garage.

Sunday we puttered around the house in the morning and headed to WEM for some window shopping...okay...we spent some money too! Joe treated himself to a new hat...looks very snazzy in it...and I finally got into Bath and Body Works! And they had a sale on their luscious liquid soaps! I got 3 and 2 linen sprays...what luxury! Then we took in CSI Edmonton @ Jubilation's. Little did we know that that was the last performance in that venue. They will reopen with a new production in a new theatre somewhere else in the big mall. So...time to plan another hot date!!!!

Today is back to the regular stuff...laundry, house cleaning...and oh yeah...visiting with my dear friend Marsha who's out from BC for a week or so.

Hallowe'en and report cards on Friday...it's going to seem like a short week!

What a night

Celine was Incredible!
Review

Catching up!

The house continues to be a hub of activity. I had a job interview - I wasn't looking but someone thought I'd be perfect - it was for data processing ( not a fun sounding job!) and I'm staying home to do my thing! YEA!

Brian is finalizing his vehicle purchase as I type...first day off at home since he made the gentleman's agreement. Kevin is in school and if everything falls into place the 2 of them will be on the road later this afternoon, heading north to visit their cousins in GP.

Joe & I are off to see Celine Dion tonight after a quick supper for 2! Then as an added treat for a great weekend...off to see a Jubilations performance! Cool...only have to cook sometime Saturday! YEA2!

Kevin get's his first report card and his marks are trickling in already....he's going to be a star student! Won't that be a great report to copy and forward to the parents! Yea3!


Does it get any better than that? We are changing our basement area around again...more work for me trying to figure out how to do this...but I'm getting more crafting/sewing area! YEA4!

Happy wishes to Edmond who celebrated his birthday yesterday, to Anne & Derek who celebrate an anniversary today and to Aaron's mom Debra who has a birthday next Wednesday!

This & That

No one has asked but I got a Sony eBook Reader from Joe as an anniversary gift. Poor me...it only comes with 100 free downloads of the world's best classics! I have 20 more picked out...only 80 to go. The unit holds the equivalent of 160 books at once. I am on my third book since last Saturday! Thanks Joe!

And that could explain my not so good eye exam on Friday. Between everything else I do daily, I've been reading every quiet minute I can find. Bad me! My bilateral pterygia has flared up and I am now on prescription drops for the discomfort. Dr G has suggested drops at least 8 x daily and increase the house humidity. Yes our dry AB air has started...furnace has been programed to go on for ~ a week.

Now to top off my busy lifestyle since our household expanded...toss in a phone call for a potential new job!!! But I wasn't looking...I like my quiet time around the house when the boys are away doing their thing! What am I supposed to do? Yes I will make the appointment, see what they need the help with, and then come home and think about it. Did I say already that I like my days the way they are? I get to putter in the garden and around the house, run my errands, read my precious books, do some crafts and I can still jet down the road in case the family needs/wants me...I like my life...I hope the job sucks and the compensation package!!!!

Joe is a happy camper. He took possession of his new work truck...but along with that comes more road trips, many at short notice - IE...Hon, you can carve that roast tonight, can't you? I'm in Red Earth Creek! And because I knew he would be on the road more often and winter is coming as the darkness closes in on us...I got Joe a GPS unit. We went out and about today...in search of a gas insert for our fireplace...and the unit had us going directly to our next destination. I liked how it re calibrated after we couldn't make that left turn on such short notice...heavy traffic wasn't letting us in, so we went on by. I won't worry about Joe getting turned around on some back road half past midnight of a 20 hour day! Who am I kidding, I'll still worry. That's just who I am.

Lilies and more lilies!

Last night was Lily night...with special guest speaker Kathy Strawson. We learned how to scale a lily...which simply means peeling off the daughters so you can create an almost endless number of new identical plants! So if you love your lily...make more. To get us started, we each received a planted scale of our very own, exclusive to us Morinville Mystique! Page down to the end to see this beauty.

Lucky me...I also won a door prize...another lily, won a table draw...another lily...and I bought a couple of yellow ones! Thanks Joe! Oh and it was seed exchange night so... I got some Martagon lily SEEDS! These babies need lots of TLC including undisturbed growing once they sprout for up to 7 years before they bloom! However, we have been assured that these are beauties and well worth the wait. We'll see.

On another front, the house is quickly cooling...the boys are trying to adjust...but we are shopping for warm slippers tonight...and maybe an early Christmas surprise. Stay tuned!

Thanksgiving 2008

Joey aka Optimist Prime

Brothers MacLean

Tired Jonathan and Mommy

Newlyweds Karen and Gary with cutie Harlie

Hostess Lesley and Jeff hamming it up

Cody - dog tired but restful comfortably on a playset intended for Harlie! She'd share.

No photos of Alex...who was so intrigued by a certain baby girl, or Aaron who is nursing an injured shoulder, or Joe who was cook extraordinaire or me...the only one to take a few photos. It was a great weekend - hope yours was as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are heading to Cowtown for our family Thanksgiving gathering. We'll have Heather, Jeff, Jonathan, Lesley, Aaron, Joey, Alex, Brian, Kevin, Gary, Karen, Harlie, Joe and myself around the dining table(s). It has been a full and rewarding year since our last Thanksgiving...hope this finds you all healthy & happy.

My 2 cents worth

I can't keep quiet any longer about the financial crisis going on in our world, especially in the USA. I was watching to Dr Phil while cross stitching and they were discussing how to survive the financial crisis.

Blah blah blah...don't spend more than you make,cut back to the essentials (IE no name brands) pay down your credit cards immediately, re-negotiate with your other creditors for extended pay back time etc. That's all sound advice no matter what the world financial situation.

What got me stirred up was a 90 second blurb with a woman who isn't doing well who said she's lost $175K in real estate value because the prices have bottomed out. Is it just me? You've only lost that money if you bought at the over inflated price, have a mortgage that shows that and now you have a very bad situation.

Since being in our home, which we didn't even pay $100K, we have seen the prices sky rocket to over $369K for the same house, same age and approximately the same renovations done. Does that mean we 'lost $269K? Of course not! That was never ours to begin with, because we didn't sell. Was it an opportunity lost? That remains to be seen. We know a lot of folks who sold high and bought even higher...bigger...better. Yes they have a newer house with all the pretty things that come with it but they also have a huge mortgage that needs to be repaid.

I sleep well at night, knowing we aren't going to be in danger of losing our house, that if interest rates go up, and they will...we are going to be Okay! I hope you are enjoying the same peace of mind in these uncertain days.

Wordless Wednesday

Unexpected treat

Since our household exploded with the nephews arrival, I can't remember having a quiet night when the house is all mine! Joe was on a road trip since Thursday, Brian was due in the early hours and Kevin had an unexpected sleep over with a friend. So after a light supper, I set up my daylight lamp and stitched!

As a 'parent' I'm a bit out of touch - I had some reservations about Kevin's sleepover. Despite living here all these years, I haven't had much interaction with residents of the surrounding areas. But I did what was right and let him go after I got names and phone numbers. It was nice that Kevin could hang out with Brent, especially after Thursday lunch time drama. Reader's Digest version...an unfortunate accident while the boys were heading for S*bway for lunch. Brent had a couple of deeply cut fingers that were bleeding badly. Kevin took off his Kr*ft Dinner t-shirt, wrapped up the hand and they all headed to the medical clinic. Brent ended up with 7 stitches and 2 heavily bandaged fingers. Kevin did a great job of not panicking. I think I'll check into a First Aid course for him - he's only had the quick CPR version that gym class taught.

Not a good sign of the times

I was shocked to read about an entire dictionary staff getting laid off due to poor print sales. Apparently too many are using online sites.

Growing up in a small northern ON town, we lived by the dictionary. Our town was so small we didn't get a library until Centennial year. Whenever we came across a word we didn't know, Dad would tell us to pull out his big green word and we'd look things up. I can't tell how much such a book would have cost in 1957, but I'm sure it was substantial. I don't ever recall there being any dust on this book, it was used - by me anyways - almost constantly. I'm happy to say that I now have it on my bookshelf. But...sad news...it now has a thin layer of dust!

Tattoo or no tattoo

Do you think THIS is a bit over the top???? You have to admire the detail, not sure about the location...I think it would look better as a mural on the wall! lol