What's Happening in your neck of the woods? Friends...

Afternoon all, lordy was up all night, couldn't sleep, tummy yukky so thought I might as well be up doing something than tossing and turning all night..lot's accomplished..amazing what one can get done 5 hrs. before you normally leave for work..lol

went to the kitchen, made coffee and then decided I'd put the lights on the Christmas tree so it would look pretty, lo and behold, this is what I saw..our 1st. snow...almost picture perfect!
Wonder if I'll say that when I've 5 feet of snow in same location...

Carol, that arrangement is stunning..
Ann, are you over the ill effects of the needle? sure hope so...

It's still tender, but not as much as yesterday.

I've heard Ann of quite a few people getting it and not feeling well afterwards...guess it's the same with all needles..guess sore is better than that flu right?

All the snow melted..boohoo..looked so pretty this morning..just kidding..could do without any major downfall till almost Christmas, that way it would make for a short winter..remember last year..omg it last 5 months...

So what are you all up to today...shopping/baking/feet up and resting?

Well Bettypauze, I am at work and have a minute to pop in.
The only time I was sick from the shots was for pneumonia then I shook all night and couldn't get warm. Nothing has been a problem since. I thought because it was a "dead" virus it would not make you sick? Who knowns what to believe these days!
I't was a bit windy today and just now the wind has died down.
I'm off for a Christmas dinner with the retired Bay Ladies. Even though the company tossed me out, the girls have been including me with get togethers and that is fun!
ann

Caught you, Ann!! Playing @ work!! tsk tsk tsk (like I can talk? LOL
Awfully nice of the Bay Ladies to invite you for the Christmas dinner!

Well, it's off to make dinner, then my DH heads out to bowling & I get the house to myself to CLEAN!! I know it sounds weird, but Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy!!

Cya later!!
♫♪~Susan~♪♫

It feels like December out there. It's about 0*C, no wind, and a moon so bright that it's casting shadows.

Lilypon... I was at Butterfly gardens today, and heard that Curtis is home in Sask for his annual hunting trip. I'm hoping he brought you some prezzies!

Snow with all the trimmings here .. meaning, shovels and scrapers and mitts and gloves .. altho .. it really isn't THAT cold as of yet .. who's to say the snow won't melt !!!

it's -15c here........ rather nippy!!!

We're not having snow, at the moment, but we have some from Friday/Saturday, so it's slippery. I drive in 1st, and it's a lot better.....

Take care, ev1!

Susan

Morning all...

Taking a coffee break ..I'm absolutely excited at the fact that come next Wednesday I'll be completely free of all workshops, be able to tidy my craft room and put my feet up..not sure what kind of fuel I'm working on but lordy they should harvest it for cars...be hard to wind down..

Just packed my car for projects needed at portrait class tonight, it's quite mild, at least it feels mild, had heavy rain all night so even though I think it's mild there may be some road ice..the other morning when all was melting you just couldn't count how many accidents there were..people still want to drive much too fast..

Ann, do hope you enjoy your Christmas outing with the Bay girls..how kind they are to include you... always fun catching up on everyone isn't it..

"M" do hope your snow is melting..how's Lorna doing? is it taking a bit to get used to another person in the house?

Susan, enjoy your 4 hrs. off and shopping today..take photo's of the pretties you buy...

Better run, gab later

Didn't buy pretties - chocolate covered Belgian cookies (16 boxes) and Scottish Shortbread cookies (10 boxes) are for my boss to give to different areas/clinics.

Mind you, I also bought a Christmas Tree and decorations for the office. It's pathetic that people decorate their own small areas (and most of them not visible to many others), and nothing is in the Common Area. So, green fiber optic 4 1/2 ft Tree, decorations, Angel topper later......... I'll slip into the office on Saturday, after we come back from Edmonton, and set it up! So There!! LOL

And I came home and put empty decoration boxes in the shed in the backyard and tidied the deck a bit.
And tomorrow I have off waaaaaaaaay early too, so gonna come home & clean some more. Gosh, all this crafting meant my house went to @*^_)*(&-19(((
I can't have anyone coming in to look after my cat, with Christmas Decorations up no less, and see a mess!! So There, again!!

Had a lovely lunch with Drs who took some assistants out to a Vietnamese restaurant. I'd ordered a beef noodle dish (wow there was a lot), and got it pretty quickly. Strange thing tho - all we got to drink was water - they never asked if we wanted anything else to drink. The lady who booked the restaurant took our orders ahead, and never put anything to drink I guess - except for me. I ordered Vietnamese Coffe, but IT never came either. They were busy, and it was too noisy to get anything across to them anyway.........

Say, can anyone tell me the legalities of this: My DH pays child support to his ex. He sends the cheques to Maintenance and once they record them as rec'd, they send them to her. She sent them to her financial institution and they cashed one for her last month. She now says she closed that account, and they returned her cheques to her. She says she lost December's....... Do you think we're bound, legally, to give her another one?
btw - a few months ago she called and said she didn't have a cheque from us, and wanted us to re-issue one. I tried to get back in touch with her, but she never returned our call. The original cheque went through........ we hadn't issued a replacement, so she was telling a Huge Fib (LYING)! Today I asked her if this was the same type of issue as the other one where she had a cheque and said she didn't.

I'm going have my DH get in touch with Maintenance and see what our liability is for her losing a cheque. I don't think we have one. Maintenance recorded receipt of it, and handed it to her. Just because she's a Ditz doesn't mean we have to pick up the "ball" for her, does it?

Having a lovely day, and hope everyone else is doing the same!! ^_^

♫♪~Susan~♪♫

I'm thinking the legalities aren't all that important to the kid/s. Maybe DH could issue another cheque, minus the cost of putting a stop payment on the previous one? Wouldn't it still go through Maintenance? as a precaution.

Last evening was volunteer appreciation event at Lougheed House and we were served a sitdown dinner by the staff! Very nice evening, Chairman of the Board and lst Exec. Director there. Nice chance to wear the new dress I bought last winter! Startled most people who have only ever seen me in costume or in jeans!

Fancy spent most of the day at the vets having her teeth cleaned, a couple pulled and a small tumor removed from her lower eyelid - it is benign but figured we might as well take it off while she was asleep, has a couple of sutures and back in 2 weeks to remove.

Finished getting all the Xmas decs up except the tree. I have an angel collection I use at Xmas and just getting to be too many so this year instead of plants in the hangers by the windows there are angels!

Carol - I love your angel collection - have to say though, that the large one on the table is my fav, and the 2 small ones also on the table are next!
There's a woman at work who loves angels, and I gave her a pic of Guardian Angels which she put in a black frame and hung it at work. It looks rather good in a black frame.

The large angel was the first.Got it at Chintzy's - thought it was too expensive when I first saw it and eventially went back to get it - it is paper soaked with a glue and formed.Cant remember the year, probably early 90's - now I put a date on them .
The two little gold and white ones are two of this years angels.
Initially I was only supposed to buy 1 a year but that rule went out the window long ago. Here is the circle of angels I found at JYSK last month.
I counted yesterday, I have 30 now.
You can see all my angels in my Garden Blog under Christmas Angels.

This message was edited Dec 4, 2009 8:14 AM

what a unique way of displaying your angels...I've several myself, will take photo of them if you wish...

Sounds as though we're all in the Christmas mood..I actually got told NOT to say I was all ready for Christmas by a friend last night...she hates shopping, not that fond of Christmas so guess I was annoying her..will have to call and apologize today! Guess I get babbling and don't know when to stop...

Susan..not sure about the legistics either...did the $$$ come out of the account? if it did I'd contact the agency and let them investigate, if not, as Carol said, put 'stop payment' and re-issue..a lot less of a headache AND kids won't do without...

Busy making a list of what I need so I can shop on the way home, having people over tomorrow evening for son Jeff's 40th..because of all the woodcutting I've been doing this past month, the dust particles have made their way upstairs..other than dusty, no cleaning...

What to feed everyone is my question...think I'll purchase finger foods, veggies/dip and do you think it would be terrible of me to order as much pizza's as I need for the group around 10pm or would it look like I didn't much care about their eating? guess I could break down and cook..

Believe me - the kids won't do without..... I would not do this to kids. Bob's still paying even though one of the "kids" has a job, doesn't live at home, and is over 18.

Hate to sound snarky, but she doesn't need anything from us - she makes enuff that she put 50% of her earnings into RRSPs.
She's pulled this stunt before, and I don't trust her further than I can toss her (she's a big woman).
She even called once, without her lawyer's knowledge, and told us the judge wanted more documentation to "up" the monthly payment. We called Bob's lawyer who, with me sitting in his office, called her lawyer and put him on speaker phone. To quote her lawyer "she must have been (big pause here) mistaken ".
To put it bluntly, she lied - she's been caught so many times doing that. When she & my DH were together, she used to file "his" bills, comfiscated $$ given to her in trust for her disabled brother, and ran up Huge clothing bills. When the law caught her, they took away their property (several acres) to pay for it. She used Bob's credit card, maxed it out and didn't make any payments. She's "good" with her own $$, but don't let her think she has access to anyone else's $$.........
I don't feel sorry for her - she's making her bed, and the "kids" both have jobs (although only one is at home). She's a scam artist.....

Susan

the weather network is saying you folks in AB are getting hammered, the drive home is thought to be a mess. Safe drive home for all of you.

Everything is white here, no, not snow just deep frost.

Yes it is really bad here- started to snow about 730 , was going to take the dogs out about 930 and realised it was blowing pretty good, now at noon it looks just terrible. I cancelled all my plans for the day which involved driving to several places! Dogs keep wanting to go out but bet they wont stay long so I need to hang by the door. Mailman made it to my door - with a gardening magazine! Not even going to try to shovel the walks until this stops as the wind is really bad.
Good thing Fancy's dental at the vet was yesterday!
Sure glad I have a choice whether to be on the road or not!

Susan, how terrible for both of you..guess you've dealt with her antics more than once and know what she's like...overwhelming I'm sure..

OMG Carol, don't you just want to bundle up near a fire, put your feet up, Christmas music on and enjoy the snowfall..not much else to do until it stops...better find my shovels..not sure where I put them, know I'll be needing them shortly..lordy, wanted at least 2 to 3 more weeks of no snow and her it is...

Carol - It's a lot worse than your picture when I was travelling on John Laurie Blvd in the NE ....
It's a veratible white-out in some places, and I'm thinking if that's what it is in the city, what about the rural roads - #2 northbound......... which is what we'd be taking.
I'm going to talk to Bob about it, cuz even though his truck is very stable (with a 500 lb block of metal in the back!) what about other drivers, and the visibility!
I'm just not sure......
Susan

Betty - I spoke to Bob's lawyer, that dealt with the divorce, and he says let HER sit on it and get worried. We can contact Maintenance Enforcement, but if they got the cheque, then it's up to her to take care of it once they pass it to her.

Shutting down, always nice to get off at 3pm on Fridays

Everyone please be safe, don't want to be taking any chances with storms...

Susan, if it gets stormy, come back home...
If you do make it, enjoy

Yes the pic does not of course show the blowing snow but at 7am this morning there was no snow! And it is still coming down. I am thinking to get out and remove some snow - it will be easier in the long run. But I will think about it for a long time I guess!

Susan I would stay off the highways!

From the AMA:

Highway alert: R C M P in the Calgary area are asking motorists to stay off of the highways. The Queen Elizabeth Highway 2, northbound and southbound is closed between Calgary and Airdrie because of a motor vehicle collision. Highway 2 at the highway 7 intersection near Okotoks is closed due to a multiple vehicle pile-up.


This message was edited Dec 4, 2009 1:46 PM

Glad I don't have to drive anywhere. Not nice at all.

The cat wanted out the front so I opened the door and he took one look, turned around and headed for the back door, expecting ait to be different. LOL The storm seems more intense now.

This message was edited Dec 4, 2009 7:17 PM

Well i t certainly has not let up has it? I went out about 4:30 and shoveled the front sidewalk, now it is all covered in again but I'm glad I did it as it was pretty deep. The dogs have gone out several times today and don't mind it although they are not staying out long.

My dog groomer is supposed to come tomorrow morning - hope she makes it because she had to cancel last Sat!

And wouldnt you know it when I got groceries yesterday I didnt get milk because I had enough to last until Sunday and it has gone off and I can't drink it! I hate being without milk!

I have not chimed in for so long you may not remember me! I do lurk though. Just got in from the opera, left two hours early just in case, and the roads were not too bad. I arrived at 5:45 for my 7:00 performance. Everybody is staying home I think. WAY better than last Friday, when I spent four hours doing a 30 minute drive. But what a lot of snow! The minute I finish shoveling you can't tell it has been done!

CHA CHA CHA CHILLY here in Thunder Bay .. please keep the snow OUT WEST :-)

Seems I am a 'lurker' as well these days .. life has become way too busy here, and add the Christmas Season to that and you have 'pseudo mayhem' most days.

Take care all and enjoy your weekend~~

Well it appears the snow has stopped but still very windy. About 8 last evening heard a strange noise out front and when I looked out the windows exneighbor Jim was out with his snowblower.Still owns the property down tht estreet from me and uses the garage as a workshop ( he is a finishing carpenter) So when there is a storm like this he arrives and does the sidewalks from about my place(mid block around and down the block behind me as far as neighbor Maries, including the walks into the house and then he goes down the back lane, clears out her drive and around my car! Good thing too - I had already shovelled the walk once and now this morning it is totally filled up again! I cleared a circle run in the snow in the back for the dogs but it is almost filled in this morning . No paper either but thats OK would prefer they are not on the road. My groomer also cancelled again! Wind chill is apparently about -20.C

Ive been waiting all month for Fabricland to put their quilt batting on sale - I need a lot for the dog beds. So they have a 3 day sale, 50% off this weekend! I have a friend who lives near one store - will see if she can go get it for me. It is usually $12/metre so half price is not to be ignored!

Yesterday was "Come Sing Messiah". I've played in the orchestra for 15 years, I think. CAMMAC runs it. It's held in one of the largest churches in Ottawa - capacity c. 1000. About 800 people come with their own copies of Messiah and sing and another 200 are in the audience - in the balcony. They hire soloists and a small orchestra and conductor and it get better every year. A lot of the singers now attend brush-up sessions on Saturday in November.

Because rehearsal time is limited - 1 hour with soloists and for the Overture and Pifa and another hour to do choruses with choir, the finesse isn't always there but the spirit sure is. I attach a picture of the event take about 3 years ago. The church was even fuller last night - back in the corners where there are empty seats in the pic. because they were asking singers to put their coats UNDER the pews to fit more people in. This is absolutely the BEST way to start off Christmas.

Ann

Hi All
For those of you who are wondering if Susan made it to Edmonton for the Christmas party:
you will be happy to know that she made and gave me a call this am. Roads weren't very good but the big weight(metal in the back), 4x4 and DH made the drive safely and slower than normal with Susan co piloting.
I seem to have a bit of a cold and after chatting with Susan first thing thought I may make it to the "Mall" but after a couple of hours have decided that it's best to fight this thing at home so my second conversation with Susan was to give my regrets.
Snow is blowing here and our "stuff on the ground" is being blown around.
I think I finally realize Christmas is just around the corner!.
Ann

Thanks for letting us know Ann. I was thinking that they had attempted the trip, so it's good to know that they made it OK. Hope your cold is a short one.

Sunny and cold here. Just a light snow covering still.

Hello ~ ~ to everyone else. Hope your weekend is fine.

Good to know Susan and hubby made it .. but .. sorry to hear Ann is getting a cold ... better now than 3 weeks from now ..

Got a new larger Fiber Optic tree today .. LOVE it .. also had Lilly's pic taken with Santa .. AND, she has been promised LOTS of gifts !!!!! Left a food basket donation in payment for the pic .. the folks doing it were wonderful young people.
SHhhhhhhhhhhhhh .. Santa is a GIRL today LoL

Attaching her pic ..

~M~

Just ONE more ...

I was so impressed with these 'kids' .. when we arrived they already had a half or a half ton full of non perishable goods
from donations made by pet owners ..

LOL...you'd never know!

Ann .. my MOST favourite Christmas event is, The Messiah, Handel created a dream with this music. You are SO priveledged to be able to bring it's intensity to others .. enjoy and cherish your gift ..

~M~

Took a short trip out this afternoon to get milk for both my neighbor and I . Snow was so deep and rutted in the back lane behind my house I didnt think I would get out. And the corners are the same. City does not believe in cearing side streets or in hiring private contractors to do it. Roads are clear once you get out of your neghborhood! Still quite windy but no more snow - still the wind keeps blowing it over the cleared sidewalk!

JUst reading there was a big fire in a north neigborhood that burned 5 homes and one of the fire trucks got stuck in the snow!

A friend who lives near the fabric store went over this afternoon to get my batting and they had closed 2 hours early! She will try again tomorrow.

Ann there is a sing along Messiah here too but I have never gone,

-28ºC for tonight. BRRRR!!

Can't see out my kitchen window.

eeewwwww.... and I'm complaining about a windchill of -10. Living on the coast has spoiled me...