things to do at the end of the year

One of my favourite things about starting a new year is picking out calendars and agendas and inscribing the events that occur every year. I have been searching for the perfect agenda for a long time. I have used all kinds and I still prefer writing things down - I have not fully embraced all technological gadgets. I will also wait and purchase my calendars after Christmas because they are always at least 50% off.

Last year I discovered the Moleskin Agenda - it is the perfect size - one page per day and easily fits in all my bags. And it was 50% off too.

So, this afternoon I will sit quietly and update it with all the pertinent need to know dates.


This is the one for the bathroom.



This one is for my office. I found it first. So, I get to use it for the year and then I will give the images to my husband for his classroom.



This one is for my husband's classroom.



And here is my new most favourite agenda.

new favourite

meme

1. Occupation - banking
   
2. What colour are your socks right now - bare feet
   
3. What are you listening to right now? - talk radio
   
4. What was your last meal? - chicken cordon bleu, aspargas, scalloped potatoes
   
5. Can you drive a stick shift - my favourite
   
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? - the Deacon
   
7. How old are you today? - 44
   
8. What is your favourite sport to watch on TV?- hockey
   
9. What is your favourite drink? - ale that has been chillin' in the snow (a rare thing on the west coast)
   
10. Have you ever dyed your hair? - ha ha ha - it is a regular thing
    
11. Favourite food?- it changes - right now - french onion soup
    
12. What is the last movie you watched?- the new James Bond flick
    
13. Favourite day of the year?- first day of vacation
    
14. How do you vent anger?- exercise - but only after a few expletives go flying
    
15. What was your favourite toy as a child?- easy bake oven
    
16. What is your favourite season?- autumn
    
17. Cherries or blueberries?- fresh cherries/ frozen blueberries
    
18. Living arrangements?-concientious homeowner
    
19. When is the last time you laughed your butt off?- when I realized my husband and one of his best friends have a very distinct resemblance to Stadler and Waldorf from the muppets
    
20. What is on the floor of your closet?- shoes and dustbunnies
    
21. What did you do last night?-visited with friends
    
22. What are you most afraid of?-becoming incompetent
    
23. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburger?-cheese
24. Favourite dog breed-husky by default
    
25. Favourite day of the week-Monday
26. When can you go for drinks?- I prefer to drink @ home
    
27. Diamonds or pearls?- diamonds
    
28. What is your favourite flower?- gerbera daisy
    

st. stephen's day

Wishing all the Stephens, Stevens, Steves, Etiennes I know a joyful celebration of their names day.
I have to go to work for an hour or so.
It is pouring rain now.
The snow is melting.
We are being warned of floods.
Fantastic.
Such extremes.
Could not the temperature remain cold enough to keep the snow around just a tad bit longer?
Our roof repair is holding up well.
Glory to God for that.
Maybe we will check out a movie tonight.
Anybody seen anything new?
We are still feasting.
For 12 days.
Yesterday we engaged the rescue the cedar hedge operation.
As I look out I see that we will have to implement stage 2.

post feast

I am resting comfortably with a coffee infused with something special.

We are having bumbleberry pie with ice-cream for dessert.
I get to sleep in on the 26th.
We are having a very white Christmas.
I am officially on holidays.
We are having bacon and eggs for breakfast tomorrow.
I get to sleep in on the 26th.
I have 4 magazines to read.
I also have a stack of books from the library.
I get to sleep in on the 26th.
My daughter loves her cell phone.
I am in her good books right now and I am milking it for every mile.
We had a fabulous feast of roast beast with yorkshire puddings.
I am grateful for all that God has given me.

christmas eve

Wishing everyone a joy filled Christmas with their loved ones.

Peace to all.

Dallas

I heard sad news yesterday.
Dallas, a resident of my littlc community fell on the ice and broke his hip. He did not survive the surgery. I was stunned by the news. Dallas has always been here. His story is a tragic one. When he was a young man he was brutally beaten and left for dead. He carried many physical burdens. He walked with a cane. He lived with a brain injury. He had one lung that worked. He survived a battle with cancer. But, every day he got up and walked the streets and gathered bottles. That was his job and his contribution. Every day he walked by our house and we greeted him and he lifted his cane and and waived back. His other hand full of bottles. We left our bottles for Dallas all the time. Others did too. Everyone knew him. He was an icon of "keep on keeping on". That you never give up and you fight the fight. He was inspiration to me every time I saw him. We will miss him.

May he rest in peace.

christmas tree

photo by simply victoria

snowmageddon that wasn't

The snow storm was a bit of a non event last night. Now, they are predicting more snow today. but, so far it looks like our dinner party will be a go. We are having seafood chowder. I have just discovered I like seafood chowder. I just discovered I like seafood - this is the first time I will be serving it to my friends.

We found my daughter's winter coat we had put away last year. This is good news.

They don't really have proper winter footwear. We have hiking boots and we just tend to wear extra socks. They work to get us up to the mountain to snow board but they are not really effective for trudging through the snow.

It is very cold. Colder than I can ever remember here on the coast.

I still have to sew the flannel pj's. That is causing me some concern.

the weather

-13°C

RealFeel®: -14°C

Humidity: 55%
Cloud Cover: 14%

Dew Point: -20°C
Ceiling: 10,806.2 m

Pressure: 103 KPA
Winds: E at 11 km/h

Visibility: 25 km
Gusts: 11 km/h

I am going to walk to work and it will be brutal. But, my car is frozen shut and I didn't leave enough time.

gratitude

tagged by simply victoria

• my husband made it home safe after a LONG commute in the icy winter weather
• for my gas fireplaces which keep the main floor warm and cozy
• for the last day to pack a lunch for my 13 year olds - peanut butter and jam again
• for Starbucks french roast
  
• for the fact that I start a half hour later on Fridays and I remembered
  
• for the fact that the Subaru check up was less $ than I thought
• for the fact that dance was canceled last night and my Honda started and we did the mall thing relatively pain free
• for long underwear
• for the option to walk to work
• for my friends whom I will get to eat and drink with this Sunday
• for my children and the fact that we can laugh together
• for warm blankets
• for hot chocolate

enya and stuff

My thoughts on the Enya CD - And Winter Came are that it sounds like typical Enya. If you like Enya you will like the CD. It is not offensive. It is just lovely background music. It is not Handel, nor Bach but, it is quiet and melodic.

I went through an Enya stage just as I met my husband. He introduced me to Bob Dylan and I introduced him to Enya. I had cassette tapes. Can you imagine?


********************************************************************************************

I am reading a new book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

I read his book The Tipping Point a couple of years ago.

I sense change happening. I have been rereading Thomas Merton and delving into his later writings.

******************************************************************************************

It is very cold here. I am waiting up for my husband as he was chaperoning a grade 12 dance at his highschool and the roads are icy and I am nervous for him.

And so I have Enya on the CD player.

christmas day

borrowed from blackbird

My typical Christmas morning - the parents wake up and turn on the tree lights, light some candles, turn on the Christmas music - usually it is our medieval carols cd, we sit in the quiet and enjoy the time together - then we wake the younger generation by singing O Come all ye Faithful. They wake and we open our stockings - and then quickly dress for Liturgy. After church we come home and break the fast and open gifts.

The best thing about Christmas - being home with my family - experiencing the comfort of the small traditions we have created.

The worst thing - the way the date just suddenly appears... and the battle to not stress about what is not done.

My gift giving philosophy - we give gifts - we are generous with our children as we don't buy them alot of extras during the year - we tend to focus on the Feasts

Shopping destinations - combination of buying local - and the internet for books

Budget - there is a budget - we try to stick to it - we are on track so far

Receiving gifts - nice to receive but I get way more delight from the giving. I love finding something that you know is just right... each year I try and find an ornament that is somehow connected to the year just lived... ie - we are looking for a football themed one for our son.

Decorations - we have simplified this year. we have more flowers - our house lights and tree lights are white - and our ornaments are from years past. we use the same ones over and over. I collect our Christmas cards in a basket.

Theme - we don't change the theme - we love the familiar -

The tree - is a noble fir. It is tall - maybe 9 feet - and droopy branches with lots of open space for ornaments to hang free and catch the light.

My decorating wish- I wish I could get up earlier to enjoy the tree and the quiet in the am - but I am finding it hard to get up at 5.45am.

The menu-after liturgy we come home to meat and cheese - we all choose our favourites - smoked gouda, jarlsburg, dill havarti, hungarian salami, rosemary ham, garlic roast beef...

dinner will be prime rib with yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, carrots in cheese sauce, maybe a salad... we are not real big dessert people....I am sure there will be some chocolate somewhere

The vibe - a quiet time to relax and hang with the family - punctuated by lots of church with friends

Your best time-saver tips - recognize when enough is enough- write lists- make a decision the first time.

The wow factor - seeing true delight in the other

Preparing for guests - clean bathrooms - laundry done

On the day after Christmas I'll be - off kitchen duty. everyone knows that the day after christmas - we make breakfast together - bacon, eggs, pancakes and then it is a day of leftovers and I do not prepare any food. I read my magazines, books, drink coffee and usually stay in my pyjamas...

il niege

It is snowing.
It is the final countdown for Christmas holidays.
We are off to our family trip to the mall/ Chapters tonight.
I am almost done writing my Christmas cards.
The baking has been capped.
Flannel has been bought and prepared.
Pyjamas still need to be sewn.
Had a challenging Monday at the Subaru service centre but I have recovered and moved along.
Work has been busier than expected which makes the day go by quickly - a good thing.
And I am listening to this:

I won I won!

check out LeSophie

I won a lovely photographic image on my birthday no less.

dance recital

the science 8 project

done.
kaput.
ovah.
finished.



the building blocks



the bottom and the truss



tunnel vision



two completed


three bridges

snowfall warning in effect

It is raining now but the cold air is coming and they are promising snowfall by this afternoon.
The bridge project experiment has been completed. The data collected. Now, the presentation board must be created. This will be done tonight. Thank GOD.

Also happening this weekend is my daughter's Christmas recital. She has a beautiful tutu but she is not allowed to bring it home - so no photos of it close up. After the recital we plan to decorate the tree.

My work Christmas party on Sunday evening.

Finish the accounting for the parish council meeting on Monday.

snowfall warning in effect

life and death

44 years ago today I entered this world.
40 years ago today Thomas Merton left it.

The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.

Thomas Merton

cookie day in the city

Today I go into the city to bake cookies with my sister.
We have done this every year since she moved back to BC.
Our youngest, biggest sister will also join us.
I have prepared the gingerbread ahead of time... so we will roll and cut the doves and bake them there. We will ice and sugar them... We are also making Cappuccino Shortbread and some sort of other treat my sister has organized. Mostly it is just a day to be together.

Also happening this day - the daughter needs a nude coloured leotard for the recital on Saturday and new tights... hmm. My only day off is today... so I guess I am going to try and pick that up too... physio at 6pm - pointe class at 7.45pm. Bridge project is almost done - well let's be clear the building of the bridges is almost done... then they have to be tested - data collected and then written in clear and precise english and photos and graphs created and glued on poster board.

All of this has to be done this week. It cannot bleed into another weekend. CANNOT.

update

• our phone line is still not fixed - BUT - the technician was here for 3.5 hours working on the problem and is slowly eliminating the causes. It looks like the line is exposed much further out so he had to abandon his search and will be back in the daylight to continue working.
• 3 out of 4 of us will not be a Liturgy - this causes me some grief
• I am almost done our Christmas cards - It is Dec 7th and this gives me much pleasure.
  
• The toothpick bridge project has now taken over 3 rooms. I will soon have photographic evidence. More grief.
• The project is due the 15th. I have requested that the new deadline be Friday the 12th. That way another weekend is not devoted to the project. We need to get moving on things.
  
• I am working hard on my mind shift and I have to say that I believe I have made some progress. Also delightful.

So little bits o' grief with lots of delightfulness in between. Life is good.

customer service nightmare

For the last month our telephones/ home telephone line has been very static - y. We have been ignoring it as there are enough other ways to communicate but the last few days it has gotten worse and the phone would ring and the call would drop. So annoying. People obviously wondering what was happening and calling more than once. Finally I hauled out the old land line phone - and plugged it in - still static and the occasional dial tone... so the problem is not with the phones..

Then I called to call the provider. A treat at the best of times! They use one of those voice automated prompts....tell me in a few words what the problem is... I say phone repair they say sorry I didn't understand you... then I go straight to the AGENT. I want to speak to an AGENT. AGENT AGENT AGENT!

I get an an agent and she says she will have to transfer me to the correct agent after determining I need to have my line repaired and transfers me to the automated line... oh my good LORD. It is too much for this early. I will have to try again later.

listening to

more good words

Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but
stand your ground courageously. And assuredly, the angel who
guards you will honour your patience.

St. John of the Ladder

congruent

I have heard from several sources this past week that it is not about having MY needs met but rather the focus should be on what I can do for the OTHER.
How can I best SERVE the other?
The sources could not be more different but the MESSAGE was the SAME.
You do not have to hit me over the head.
Time to shift the thinking.
Amazing how life works.

productivity

Jewel Cookies



Oatcakes



Christmas Greeting 09

Dec 1st - br charles de foucault

The writings of br. charles influenced me a great deal in my early twenties.
I was exploring a vocation to monastic life.
My life has taken a much different turn but I still honour and remember this man every December 1st.
It is a good way to begin the countdown to the Feast of the Nativity.

Our Advent Calendar has been restocked with chocolate.
We have found the Christmas music.
I am doing some baking.