Homemade Perogies III

November 30, 2009 – Day 334

I made another batch of cheddar cheese perogies today. I kept a few out for supper but the rest are in the freezer for a potluck our team is having at work on December 16th – and some towards Christmas dinner. I’ll still have to make at least one more batch to have enough for Christmas dinner though.

Oh Christmas Tree

November 29, 2009 – Day 333

Adam went to four or five stores yesterday looking for silver tinsel to finish off the tree but he had no luck; however, he stopped at London Drugs today and found some. Since it wasn’t easy to find, I asked him to buy 10 packages for me – which means I should have enough for next Christmas as well.

Adam brought the tinsel over this afternoon and I finished decorating the tree.

Up Goes the Tree

November 28, 2009 – Day 332

When Adam came over for coffee this morning, I convinced him to help me set up and decorate the tree. Other than the angel that Ken likes to put on the top of the tree, I usually decorate by myself – so it was great to have the help from Adam today.

Christmas Shopping - not so much fun

November 27, 2009 – Day 331

Today I vividly remembered one thing I really don’t like about Christmas. It’s the shopping. Even though I don’t do much of it anymore, I dread what I do have to do. Christine and Ian, Travis and Amanda and Ken and I don’t bother with gifts or money anymore. That’s a new thing since last year and I love it. I give my youngest two boys money (and will until they’re married and settled down) and Christine usually helps me shop for my grandchildren. If she didn’t, I’d probably just give them money too. I don’t know what they’d do with money since they all already have all they could ever want – and more.

But I have to buy a gift from Ken and I each for the family Christmas party/gift exchange that’s coming up next weekend – so I went to several stores today to look for something. I didn’t find a single thing that I thought anyone would like.

After a couple hours, I could hardly force myself to put one foot in front of the next to go to yet another store. I was exhausted – partly from all the walking I’d already done, partly from not getting enough sleep last night and partly because I was starving. I was so frustrated that I just wanted to cry.

In the end, I thought maybe I’d buy a movie from either Ken or I so I hobbled (not literally but that’s how I was feeling) over to Best Buy to see what they had for movies. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I couldn’t even buy a movie because some of them are Blue Ray and some are not. I don’t know what Blue Ray is and and I don’t know who has Blue Ray – and who doesn’t, or if a Blue Ray movie would work in a non-Blue Ray machine or vice versa. Ugh!

So even after hours of shopping, I didn’t find a gift for either me or Ken to bring to the family Christmas party. I’m running out of time! What am I going to do?! I suppose we could each buy a gift card to some store but what fun is the party going to be if we all end up exchanging gift cards?!

Healthier Choices

November 26, 2009 – Day 330

My blood pressure has been borderline high and I’ve been on a diuretic for many years because of it. Earlier this year Jen forwarded me an e-mail about how beneficial bananas are for our health and it said (among other things) that a banana a day is good for controlling high blood pressure. Her dad’s doctor also suggested he eat a banana a day. So I started eating a banana – most days. I like bananas so that wasn’t difficult to do.

I have an appointment with my doctor for a physical in December so I started monitoring my bp (I have a machine at home) after several months of neglecting to do so. My doctor likes me to take a list of my numbers to her because I have “white coat syndrome” which is basically anxiety when visiting doctors and that causes my bp reading to always be high at her office. That’s why I bought my own machine. When I started monitoring my bp again a few weeks ago, I was happy to discover that my bp is lower than it’s been in a long time! Now I’m even more diligent about eating that banana every single day.

I’ve also been riding my bike faithfully since November 11th. My interest in making some healthy lifestyle changes brings me back to a book I bought about 5 years ago, after I saw the author on an Oprah show. Back then, I added most of the “superfoods” he recommends to my diet, I was riding my bike regularly – and I lost 30 pounds! Unfortunately I fell back into poor eating habits but I’m realizing now more than ever that healthy food is like good medicine. Maybe it’s because I just turned 50 or maybe it’s just that something has “clicked” but I really want to be healthier. I would like to lose a bunch of weight but for now I’m just going to focus on eating healthier and riding my bike at least 3 times a week.

Lunch at Ricky's

November 25, 2009 – Day 329

Jen and I went for lunch at Ricky’s downtown today.

Christmas Party Invitation

November 24, 2009 – Day 328

We received the invitation to the family Christmas party from Shayne and Sandy last week. This is the third party we’ve had: Christine and Ian hosted the first one in 2007, Darlene hosted the second one in 2008, Shayne and Sandy are hosting it this year and I’m hoping to have it at our place next year. It’s always a lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to it but I still have to buy the gifts for the gift exchange though and I don’t have a clue what to pick!

Shayne and Sandy both say they’re not creative but I think they made beautiful invitations!

To protect Shayne and Sandy’s privacy, I’ve blocked some of the info on the invitation for this web version.

Homemade Perogies II

November 23, 2009 – Day 327

I usually make quite a few perogies at this time of year. Other than the three I ate for lunch today, the batch I made (about 70) went to the deepfreeze. They are especially for the third annual family Christmas party/gift exchange/potluck that is going to be held next month; Shayne and Sandy are hosting the party this year.

3D

November 22, 2009 – Day 326

I went to see “A Christmas Carol” with my sisters Darlene and Cathy and my nephew Stephen this afternoon. It was the first 3D movie I’ve been to in my life and discovered that you really do have to wear special glasses to watch the movie (I was never sure). It was quite a thrill to see things coming at you as if they were real and in parts of the movie, objects or people appear to be right in front of you; it felt as if you could reach out your hand and touch the thing or the person. I didn’t realize until Cathy told me after the movie that Jim Carey played several of the roles. I knew he played Scrooge - and he did an amazing job.

We went to Moxie’s for dinner afterward. Darlene generously paid for my meal for my birthday (which was yesterday).

I don’t go out like this very often so it was really a magical afternoon! Thanks for inviting me along Cathy. :-)

Fifty Years

November 21, 2009 – Day 325

I turned another year older today. I am now FIFTY years old! It’s hard for me to believe that the years go by so fast and here I am, almost old! I say almost because I don’t feel old, yet I know how old fifty is to someone in their teens, 20s or maybe even 30s. When you’re that young, it seems like you'll be young forever.

I have made mistakes along the way and I have regrets but I also have been richly blessed and have much to be thankful for. I have a wonderful husband, awesome children (including the in-law children) and grandchildren. We have a well-loved dog. I am in good health. I have a good paying secure job, and am able to work part time. I live in a house that I love. I have enough hobbies to keep me from being bored for the rest of my life. My dream of selling my graphic designs has become a reality. And hey, I don’t even have to dye my hair yet! I do have a small tuft of grey hair on each temple though and I imagine more will come in soon enough and when it gets noticeable, you can bet I will be dying it.

The real celebration for my milestone birthday was in July when my children, grandchildren, my niece Michelle, Ken and I camped in Cold Lake. Tonight was low-key; Ken and I watched a movie and ordered pizza. We were trying to figure out when the last time was that we ordered pizza and we’re sure it was over a year ago, so it was a real treat.

It was a good day and I’ll just keep on keeping on with a song in my heart and a spring in my step for as long as the good Lord sees fit.

Preparing for Christmas

November 20, 2009 – Day 324

My sister Darlene’s gorgeous Project 365 mall Christmas display of November 17th inspired me to go out and get a picture like that of my own. Well, the only real mall I was in today was Northwood and they are still putting their display together! I went ahead and took a picture though because this represents to me where most of us are at with Christmas – in preparation mode.

Photo Display

November 19, 2009 – Day 323

City Center (west) had a display of gorgeous photography featured today. I don’t know how long the display has been there or how long it’s going to continue but there were some awe-inspiring photos featured.

A Surprise

November 18, 2009 – Day 322

Adam phoned me last night to say he had a surprise to bring me. He’d spent the weekend in Grande Prairie so I thought it must be something from Travis and Amanda - and it was. Travis has been learning to bake cinnamon buns and pizza buns so I thought it might be something like that. I didn’t expect another rooster! :-) He’s a great looking rooster – and a big one! I’m not sure where I’m going to put him yet but he’ll eventually have a place to roost.

Lunchroom Group Potluck

November 17, 2009 – Day 321

This is the group (and me…behind the camera) that had the potluck lunch together at work today. Even though there are two floors of people who work for the department in our building alone, there are not many lunchroom regulars. Unfortunately a few of other lunchroom friends couldn’t make it to our lunch today. Laura was sick, Apryl brought food but I think she had a meeting to attend and I don’t know where Amanda was. Hopefully they can all make it next time because the food was excellent and it was fun - it was hard to get a picture with everyone smiling though!

Homemade Perogies

November 16, 2009 – Day 320

There is a regular group of us who eat together in the lunchroom at work and we decided to have a potluck tomorrow. I spent a few hours in the kitchen this afternoon making perogies for my contribution. I love potlucks, it’s fun to see what everyone comes up with and I enjoy sharing my food.

Bonus Room View - November

November 15, 2009 – Day 319

Even though Rabbit Hill has made enough snow for Ken to be out snowboarding today, we don’t have any snow at all in the city. He’s happy to have snow - and I’m happy to not have snow! I took this picture at 4:20 in the afternoon and it was already almost sunset.

Snowboarding Season Begins

November 14, 2009 – Day 318

Ken was surprised and thrilled to discover online this afternoon that Rabbit Hill has made enough snow to open for the season today. By the time he found out the hill was open, it was too late for him to go out today but he went through his snowboard gear and got his things ready to go out tomorrow – his first day of snowboarding this winter.

The Neighbour's Christmas Lights

November 13, 2009 – Day 317

Our neighbours straight across have started turning on their Christmas lights. They look so pretty and make the neighbourhood feel so Christmas-y.

For What Ails You

November 12, 2009 – Day 316

I wasn’t feeling well today and some of these products helped me get through the day.

Try Try Again

November 11, 2009 – Day 315

I bought this recumbent exercise bike at Costco several years ago – hoping that it would inspire me to get more exercise. I rode it faithfully at first and off and on again over the years but eventually fell back into the bad habit of not exercising. I got on the bike to go for a “spin” today. The first thing I did was update my personal information in the bike’s electronic database and I was shocked when I saw that my age was at 47 on the bike. That means it’s been at least two years since I’ve rode my bike! It’s no wonder my boys keep offering to buy it off me. :-)

I’m going to try again though!

Canadian Finals Rodeo 2009

November 10, 2009 – Day 314

The lobby in our office tower is decorated for the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) that takes place in Edmonton from November 11th – 15th. There will be a free pancake breakfast in the lobby of our tower on Thursday morning and I think that's a generous gesture on part of the building owners but it’s always busy and crowded and I’d rather just go upstairs to my desk.

Vintage Salt Shaker

November 9, 2009 – Day 313

I’m designing a new kit for the store and I spent many hours working on it today. I took pictures of items that are going to be in the kit and this vintage salt shaker (part of a set I found at a garage sale years ago) is one of the items that I am going to include. The matching pepper shaker will be included as well – but that is a separate picture. The items I use have to be sharp when viewed at 100% in Photoshop, they must not be copyrighted and it’s time consuming to extract each item out of the photograph to include in my kits. I create items from scratch in Photoshop for each kit as well. A lot of work goes into the digital scrapbook kits I create but it’s something I am passionate about - and time disappears when I’m busy designing!

Shower Supplies

November 8, 2009 – Day 312

Just in Case

November 7, 2009 – Day 311

Whenever possible, Ken and I like to pay for what we buy and one of the things we’re saving for is a new(er) vehicle. We’re planning to buy one sometime next year but in the meantime, we drive “beaters”. I’m okay with that as long as they get us from point “A” to point “B” reliably, but Ken didn’t get to point “B” without some trouble with his truck yesterday. He was driving to work and his truck stalled at the lights of a busy intersection during morning rush-hour traffic. We don’t have cell phones (my nephew Shayne recently said “I can't believe I found the last couple on the planet that doesn't have cell phones. Do I win a prize or something?” :-) so Ken had to walk to find a phone. He wasn’t able to find a pay phone (I think they’re becoming extinct) but he kept walking until he came to a car wash that was opening and he was able to use their phone. He called home and asked me to call him a tow truck to give him a boost. If you need a tow truck in Edmonton, you call Cliff’s Towing right? That’s the only company I could thing of – it’s the company I see tow away illegally-parked vehicles downtown all the time, so I looked up the number and phoned them.

For $67, Ken got his boost but until we get that newer vehicle, Ken decided he doesn’t want to be in this same predicament again so he went to Canadian Tire today and bought a mobile booster pack. If he breaks down again and it’s a boost he needs to get going again, he will be able to boost his own battery with this power pack.

Trick-or-Treat (Well...Sort of)

November 6, 2009 – Day 310

Eddie didn’t get a chance to go trick-or-treating on Hallowe’en because he was sick so I offered him our leftover treats. His mom brought him over to “trick-or-treat” tonight. Eddie didn’t want to dress up but I can understand completely – I wouldn’t want to dress up a week after Hallowe’en either. Cathy and her youngest boys (Warren came along too) visited for a while before returning home. It was very nice to see them again!

Finally Opened!

November 5, 2009 – Day 309

The McBain camera store that was supposed to open in the City Center Mall in August finally opened today! I didn’t go into the store today but I probably will go in to check it out one day next week.

Happy Birthday Little Bear!

November 4, 2009 – Day 308

Little Bear turned 11 years old yesterday! We adopted him from Ken’s sister Glenda in the middle of December 1998, but November 3rd was the day he was born. I had wanted to take a picture of him on his birthday but I forgot.

Little Bear’s lump is gone, his stitches have been out for a couple weeks and his hair is starting to grow back. He’s back to his normal self. Ken took him for a follow-up visit (for his ear infection) with the vet after work this afternoon. They looked down his ears with a microscope thing-y and his ears are cleared right up! Ken said she was surprised that they cleared up so well this quickly. I have to use the cleaning solution twice a week until the bottle is empty (probably just to keep his ears extra clean that much longer) but he doesn’t need any more medication.

I am very happy about all that - but last night Ken told me he noticed a small lump on Little Bear’s neck. Since he has just recovered from surgery and an ear infection, my heart really sank when he told me. I don’t even want to acknowledge the lump or feel it right now. As long as it stays small, we can just have the vet take a look at it when we take Little Bear for his annual check up and shot in February.

New Winter Coats

November 3, 2009 – Day 307

I haven’t had new winter coats for a few years so I splurged this year and bought myself two last Friday. I bought them because I really liked them and there was a decent sale going on (I saved $100) – and those were the only things I was thinking about while I was in the store. I wore one of the coats (the black one) for the first time today and it was only as I was waiting for the bus this morning that I wondered how these coats need to be cleaned. It turns out they BOTH need to be dry cleaned! I’m not crazy about that idea so I guess I’ll hang on to one of my old coats that can still be washed in the machine so I don’t have to spend a small fortune on dry cleaning bills this winter.

The Bare Minimum

November 2, 2009 – Day 306

When I was younger I loved makeup. I had several products and many colors of each. There was a time I wouldn’t even take my garbage out without makeup on unless it was dark outside! However, for the last few years I’ve been a minimalist when it comes to makeup. I only have a few products and routinely wear the same color of each. I’ll take the garbage out without makeup - even in the daylight and I’ll sometimes even go to the grocery store without it. I’ve never been to work without my makeup on though.

Fall Back

November 1, 2009 – Day 305

We got to sleep for an extra hour last night because the time changed from Daylight Savings Time to Mountain Standard Time at 2:00 a.m. My cousin Angele gave me this clock a few years ago. I love it because it’s retro but Angele also told me it was Djido’s, so that makes it even more special to me.

Trick-or-Treat

October 31, 2009 – Day 304

We had our first trick-or-treater at 5:50 p.m. There weren’t many kids after about 7:30 so I turned off the lights at 8:15 and watched a movie with Ken. We had 71 kids and about ¾ of my treats were used up. It was fun to hand out treats. I don’t even mind when “big” kids come by – the way I think of it is that you only get one childhood so you might as well enjoy it as long as you can.