Happy New Year!

My friend Jen and I went on a little adventure to shop in Chinatown today. At the Garden Bakery (10019-106 Ave), we bought fresh baked buns filled with Bar-B-Q pork, curried beef, ham and cheese and coconut cream filled dessert buns. Then we shopped at Lucky 97, a Chinese supermarket on 97th Street. I bought two teacups with lids, green tea, jasmine tea, Bar-B-Q pork, raw shrimp and several prepared frozen dim sum items. Jen bought a cute little teapot with a couple matching tea cups and several kinds of tea.

When we headed out to Chinatown this morning, we didn’t realize the celebration of Lunar New Year was taking place today – it was a special surprise! Loud drums and cymbals played while Chinese dragons paraded through the store followed by an outdoor display of dancing dragons and LOUD firecrackers!

The place was packed, both indoors and out and we were right in the middle of it!

My Corner of the World

This is my magical little corner of the world. This is where I play, where I learn new things, where I keep in touch with you. The dream of selling my graphic designs has even come true in this little corner. There’s always something happening here - and always a bit of a mess. I chose not to organize it for the picture but to show you the reality of my happy place. :-)

Another Favourite

January 29, 2009

I visited my Aunt Gladys a few times in the last few years. During one of those visits I was hanging a couple things in the closet in the guest bedroom when I noticed several beautiful paintings tucked away - in the closet. I asked Auntie Gladys who painted them and she shyly admitted that she did. I oohed an aahed over them and, although she kept insisting they were "nothing", she let me choose one to keep! I was thrilled - and this painting is one of my favorite things!

My Favourite Mug

This coffee mug was a gift from Christine when she was 6 years old. I was in the hospital to give birth to her little brother Adam (who will be 26 in July). This mug is old and worn but I’m attached to it. I’ve enjoyed thousands of cups of coffee and tea from it and it’s still my favourite all these years later!

The Day After

January 27, 2009

Little Bear is recovering well and mostly back to his normal self today. He still has a small bump on his cheek but it's supposed to clear up with the antibiotics he continues to be on for the next few days.

The Big Day

Today was the big day for Little Bear. He had surgery to have his abscessed tooth removed this morning. I stressed about it all day and could hardly think of anything else. I phoned the animal hospital around 1:20. The surgeon and technicians were out for lunch but the receptionist went to check on Little Bear for me. She said it looked like he’d gone through surgery fine, he looked good and he was up and about.

I thought Little Bear’s face would be terribly swollen but it looks no worse than when we took him in - just a little bump on his cheek. He can only eat soft foods (we have to add water to his dog food) for two weeks and he’ll still be on antibiotics for another week. We have to take him back for a routine check-up on February 6th. The cost of surgery today was $679.89.

When we got home, Little Bear wanted to go outside, wanted to eat and wanted to drink. After he had those needs taken care of, he’s been very quiet. I think he’s stoned because he’s not quite himself, he's a little nervous and jittery, sleeping heavy but with his eyes half open (which is spooky) but I’m sure that’ll wear off soon enough.

My picture today is one that the vet-surgeon gave us when we met with him today. It’s the inside of Little Bear’s mouth showing his missing tooth. He has stitches in there but they’ll dissolve.

Guard Dog on Duty!

Little Bear will sometimes sit and keep watch in front of the narrow window by the front door, intently watching for any movement and listening for any sound. I think he feels that it is his duty to keep us safe and in doing so, he will bark threateningly at any movement he sees or any sound he hears. If nothing is happening out there, he’ll eventually relax and fall asleep on the rug or move to another spot in the house, often upstairs to the bonus room.

On workdays when it’s time for Ken to come home, Little Bear will sit at this window in this posture as well, as he waits for Ken to arrive.

(My photo today was inspired by my nephew Shayne's picture of the day - thanks for the idea Shayne.)

Saturday Mornings

Most Saturday mornings, my son Adam comes by for a visit. He always calls ahead to see if I’d like a coffee and unless I’ve already had enough morning coffee, he’ll stop by Second Cup and treat me to a Caramel Corretto (“a tempting blend of creamy caramel and mellow vanilla, topped with caramel drizzle over foam”), and occasionally a fast-food breakfast bun as well. I normally drink my coffee black but I LOVE Second Cup’s Caramel Corretto; it’s a special treat once a week. Now that Michael has moved back to Edmonton and is sharing an apartment with Adam, he comes over for the Saturday morning visit as well and it was Michael who treated me to coffee yesterday morning, and also a breakfast sub from Subway! Thanks for the treats boys!

I’ve been updating my photo albums recently (pictures from 2002-03) and the boys were interested to see some of these old pictures for the first time.

Meds for Little Bear

In preparation for Little Bear’s dental surgery on Monday, he has to be on antibiotics for three days; three pills each day. Anyone who’s ever had to trick a dog into swallowing a pill knows this is no easy assignment! When I gave him his first pill this morning, I broke it in half and tucked each half into a small cube of ham. I threw the piece of ham to him thinking he’d gulp it down as he normally does when you throw bits of food his way. No such luck. Little Bear loved the ham but found the pill and spit it out!

I picked up the pill, tucked it into another cube of ham and threw it to him again. Again, he didn’t gulp it down but chewed it but this time I could hear the crunch of the pill being chewed along with the ham and he didn’t spit anything out – hooray, success! He did the same thing with the second half of the pill, chewed it up with the piece of ham. I certainly hope the rest of the pills are this easy to get Little Bear to swallow, but I have a feeling he will forever be suspicious of ham now just as he is suspicious of cheese since he was on antibiotics a few years ago and I used cheese for this trick.

I might have to be inventive and find something else to tuck the pill into over the next couple of days. Any suggestions?

The Kitchen Sink

I have a dishwasher and use it regularly (which is usually 2 or 3 times a week for the two of us) but there are a few dishes/pots I wash by hand. Washing dishes is one chore I actually don’t mind doing.

A Good Book

I don’t read as often as I once did but I still enjoy a good book every now and then and I’m almost finished a good one. My favourite genre is true crime; my favourite author is Ann Rule. I believe I’ve read every book she’s written over the years.

Just Looking

I’m not a girlie girl. I don’t have a purse to match every outfit; in fact, I don’t have a purse to match any outfit. I have one basic black purse that goes with everything and anything. However, my basic black purse is getting a little old and worn and I could use a new one – a larger purse, one with plenty of room for my new little camera!

When I went on my break this afternoon, I did a little browsing. There were a couple larger purses that I liked but going from a mid-size purse to a large one is a big change for me and I always find change difficult, even if it’s only a purse! I’m only 5’ ½” tall, I don’t want a purse that will drag on the ground when I carry it and I don’t want to look like an old lady with a big old bag!

I wish Christine was here to help me decide; she always has good advice for me.

A Visit to the Vet

In early December, Little Bear had swelling on one side of his face. It didn’t seem to bother him and went away in a couple of days. The swelling appeared again just before Christmas. I booked an appointment for him but by the day of the appointment, the swelling had gone down substantially again so I cancelled the appointment.

The swelling came back last week so I scheduled another appointment for Little Bear. Once again, the swelling has gone down substantially but there is still a large enough bump that we took him to the appointment; it was this afternoon at 3:20.

Little Bear has the nicest doctor; I’m sure he’s the best vet in the city! :-) I was shy to ask if I could take a few pictures while he examined Little Bear but I really wanted this to be my picture of the day, so I dared to ask in spite of being shy about it - and he said it was fine!

It turns out Little Bear has an absessed tooth, when the swelling goes down it means the pus is draining and he’s swallowing it (ick). The tooth needs to be pulled; he has to be put to sleep for the extraction. We scheduled the appointment for next Monday (the soonest available date). While Little Bear is “out” they can also clean his teeth – at an additional cost. But Little Bear’s doctor said the cleaning wouldn’t necessarily guarantee that he would be free of future dental problems.

Our estimate for the surgery…$603.07 - $748.21 "range in costs pending the length of the anesthetic and difficulty of each extraction". That estimate is for the extration alone (and that’s after paying for the blood work as part of his appointment today); $880.12 - $1050.72 for the extraction plus cleaning. Ouch!

But, what do you do? We love Little Bear and want to take proper care of him so that he can be as healthy as possible, but I’m so nervous about him having to go for surgery. I’ll be glad when it’s over and he’s back home and I hope he recovers fully and quickly!

Project 365 Goes to Print

I wasn't sure if I was going to print the pictures and journalling or simply keep this project as a digital album but Christine helped convince me to print it. Once that decision was made, I knew I'd have to start early and I'll have to keep up with it so it doesn't get to be overwhelming.

Baked Potato Soup

Last October, Christine sent me a recipe for Baked Potato Soup. I decided to make this soup now so I read through the recipe to add the items I needed to my grocery list before I went shopping yesterday. I double checked the directions as well and noticed that Christine didn’t include any instructions for baking the soup so I wrote her an e-mail to ask…

“I'd like to make this today but I'm wondering why it's called "Baked Potato Soup" when there are no instructions for baking? Did you bake it at all? Pleeeeease reply when you read this.

mom”

I heard back from Christine a couple hours later. She responded,

“It's because the potatoes are baked potatoes. LOL :-)”

In the end I didn't make the soup until this afternoon and actually added a can of corn and changed the green onion to a large white onion. So I guess I actually made Baked Potato Corn Chowder. :-)

Mail From Angele

I just opened the envelope that came from Angele yesterday and took a picture of the contents. It was the newspaper article that I was expecting of Angele’s granddaughter, with her 91 year old great-great grandmother. Wow – how many kids get a chance to meet their great-great grandmother?! And the surprise is another newspaper article - of my cousin Carol’s grandson. Angele knows these kinds of things are little treasures to me because I am interested in family history and also interested to know about my cousins (on both sides of the family), as far down the line as possible. Angele also included a short letter with the package.

Thank you for the mail Angele, I think it made two interesting pictures for me (yesterday and today)!

(Address covered for privacy)

I Have Mail!

A little over a week ago my cousin Angele told me she was going to send me a copy of the Peace River newspaper that has a picture of her granddaughter (and Angele’s grandma) in it and another “surprise” - and her letter is here in my mailbox today!

Our mail isn’t delivered to our door in this neighbourhood, it comes to a super mailbox. When we receive a parcel, it’s put in one of the larger compartments below and a key to that compartment is put in our mailbox. Once we remove our parcel from the larger compartment, we drop the key back in the mail slot in the upper left hand third of the super mailbox (where we can also mail letters).

Although Angele sent an envelope and not a parcel, she wrote “Photos, Do Not Bend” on the envelope, so the Canada Post delivery person put it in the parcel compartment.

I’m excited to see the picture in the newspaper - and I love surprises. I’m dying to know what else is in the envelope but I haven’t opened it yet. Clue = it might be a photo, but of who or what? I'll try to wait until tomorrow to open Angele’s letter, when I have another picture to take and I can share my surprise with you!

Lunch

Once in a while, my friend Jen (who also works for DOJ) and I go out for lunch. Today was one of those days; we went to Ricky's downtown. I had a cheeseburger with fries, which I love with gravy, ketchup, vinegar and pepper - and I won't be offended if you say "ick" :-). I'm not sure which burger Jen ended up with, she was trying to choose between a mushroom burger (her favourite) and a veggie burger - and she had salad on the side instead of fries. Speaking for myself, the lunch was a 10/10 and enough to keep me going for the rest of the day.

I Traded

I traded cameras.

I asked Ken to return the camera he bought for me on January 1st so I could purchase a different one. Don't feel too sorry for him though - it wasn't a gift that he picked out for me. We chose the cameras from the Best Buy flyer and he went to pick them up; the money came from our joint funds. He paid by VISA though (for rebate points) so only he could return it.

I bought this new point and shoot at McBain's downtown today. It's still small enough to fit in my purse but has more features than the A590 IS. It was $30 less expensive at McBain's and this way, if it has to be returned, I can do the honors.

Ken is happy with his A590 IS though so he's going to keep it.

The Best Slippers

I LOVE these slippers and since the beginning of this project, I knew this was one of the pictures that I wanted to take.

My sister Marilyn gave these slippers to me on November 29th, 2008. I don't see Marilyn often but she came to the family Christmas gift exchange that we had at my sister Darlene's home and brought these slippers with her. I didn't win them in the gift exchange game that we played though.

Marilyn brought them as an extra gift for me. Maybe she doesn't know it, but her gesture was special and meant a lot to me. Marilyn bought the slippers from the Hutterites in Smoky Lake. I love that they're homemade, that they're soft and cozy, and I imagine very warm - and I love the colours. In fact, I love these slippers so much that I haven't worn them yet - because I don't want to ruin them! I thought I should at least have a picture of the slippers before I start to wear them and guess what? Now that the picture has been taken, they're on my feet for the first time today, keeping my toes toasty warm.

Brrrrrrrrrr

I had other ideas for my picture today but I thought I'd like to show you what it looks like outside this afternoon. We're in the middle of a blizzard. It's not very cold, the current temperature is only -1C but the snow is coming down like crazy - and it's very windy!

I hope everyone driving gets to where they're going safely. Ken is out snowboarding and Adam is just leaving Edmonton for Calgary.

Movie Night Snacks

Tonight is movie night for Ken and I. On movie nights, we skip supper and have snacks with our movie. I tried a new cheese fondue recipe tonight and it was delicious!

Grocery Shopping

Even though it was -25C this morning, it became necessary to go out and get a few groceries (I went down to a part-time work week 16 months ago and LOVE having Mondays and Fridays off). This was my first trip to the grocery store in the new year. I snapped this picture of my cart before I headed to the checkout counter, probably the first time I've ever taken pictures in a grocery store. It was fun! :-)

My View

This is the view (facing north) from my desk at work (a limited view because of the size of the lens on the camera).

This is Where I Work

I work on the 20th floor of the TD tower, in the concrete jungle.

You'll see more of my work environment (from the inside) in the days to come.

A New Microwave

Several of the numbered buttons on our microwave hadn't been working for months. That proved to be a bit tricky, but we managed to get by, using the buttons that did work. Setting the clock proved to be especially challenging and could only be done when the time coordinated with the working buttons!

On the afternoon of Friday, January 2nd, I put a cup of coffee in the microwave to reheat it for a minute and ten seconds. About 15 seconds later, the microwave stopped working. I tried again, selecting "Quick Minute" and again, about 10 seconds later, it just stopped. After limping along for months, the old microwave had finally given up the ghost and needed to be replaced.

Ken found this microwave at Home Depot on Sunday, January 4th and I would have rather used one of the pictures I took of him unpacking it and setting it up – but I’d already posted my picture of the day. :-) Today I took more pictures of the new microwave and the box it came in…and this is the one I chose for Day 5 of Project 365.

Oh and, by the way, getting through two days without a microwave is more difficult than you can imagine! How did we ever do without?!

A Special Ornament

I'm planning to take down the tree and put the Christmas decorations away today. I thought I'd take a picture of the tree before it's disassembled but instead, I decided to focus on one of my favourite ornaments.

My precious granddaughter, Ashley, made this angel for me in 1999 - she was 5 years old.

My Son Michael

Michael moved back to Edmonton on December 28, 2008. He visited at Auntie Cathy and Uncle Barry's house for the first few days and moved in with Adam on January 1st.

Adam and Michael came over for a visit today and it was the first time I've seen Michael since he's been back. Before today, the last time I saw Michael was in July when Adam and I went to Grande Prairie.

A New Camera

In order to be fully equipped for Project 365, I wanted to be able to carry a camera with me wherever I go. My digital rebel is too large and cumbersome to be able to carry around conveniently so Ken went to Best Buy and bought me this small camera yesterday. They were still on "Boxing Day Sale" for $50 off, so he bought one for himself as well. He bought a 4GB card to go along with each camera, so we'll both be able to take tons of pictures - everywhere we go (he's doing Project 365 too)!

The cost of the two cameras and camera cards was only $281.36, including GST.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

This is the view from our bonus room. It's cold -24C (and quiet) out there and I'm looking forward to staying inside all day...where it's warm and cozy.