Happy New Year!

So, another Christmas in the books. It was really nice to stay home this year and have Mitchie and Nyk (and their respective boys) here. Chaeli was the star, of course, and she was so good about the presents. She was so excited when she was allowed to open something but she didn't bother with anything until we gave them to her. She's just so much fun! We all ate too much and we were all spoiled with gifties, so it was pretty much perfect.

Mr X and I got up early Saturday morning and did a bunch of last-minute stuff -- baking buns and making dip, chopping veggies -- then mid-afternoon we headed to Prince Albert (about 2 hours away) for dinner with some of his friends and co-workers. We had a great time, but it was kind of sad. Mr X isn't going back to that job in the new year and as much as we made promises to get together with everybody we all know it probably won't ever be the same. It's sad -- those guys meant so much to him over the past couple of years.

Mr X started his new job yesterday, even though he wasn't supposed to start until January 2nd. We just don't do days off very well, either one of us. I was pretty happy to get back to the office after 4 days off, too. Anyway, he has a very nice company truck and gas card and says everyone is friendly so hopefully this will be a good fit. It really is so nice to have him home every night. Puddy, our chocolate lab, loves MrX so he's just in dog heaven now with his dad home every night. Puddy always moped around for a few days when Mr X would go up to work and he looked so surprised tonight when his dad walked through the door yet again. It's just fabu!


It looks like we won't be going North for NYE. Neither one of us feels like travelling and we just get 3 days off, so we're going out for dinner on NYE with some friends, two other couples. It should be fun, and we won't have to stay out too late. We're so old. hah. And hopefully sometime this weekend we'll get our house and tree un-decorated and back to normal.

Gah. Tonight Saddam Hussein was executed. I'm actually kind of surprised how sick this all makes me. I'm not a capital punishment fan AT ALL. Even though he was an evil, horrid man, I still can't find justification in the death of anyone. It's so barbaric. Who decides? Who carries out the killing of the accused? Who is accountable for the lost life? Sick. It makes me sick. There are so many people who have been responsible for the deaths of many people (GW Bush, perhaps?) over the years; who decides who should die for those deaths? What about Darfur? Who are we executing over the travesties of Darfur? Bah. Mr X thinks I'm crazy. Maybe he's right.

Happy New Year. I hope next year the world is a safer, friendlier place to be.

It's December the Whateenth?

Eeks. I just realized today that Christmas is less than 2 weeks away. I am so not ready. My life revolves around other people's real estate closing dates; Christmas was not even on the radar until it dawned on me while I was out shovelling tonight. Apologies to my sister; cards are still on the kitchen table -- might be late.

This weekend Mr X wants me to meet him at the family farm (3.5 hours from here) to go skidooing. I will probably go and it will definitely be fun but there goes another 2 days of Christmas preparations. And I'll need to buy presents for his family like tomorrow so I can take them along. Oh well, I think I'll take a day off next week and drag Mr X around town to finish it all off. I have the stocking stuffers, the baking, some presies, but I still have a long way to go.

Then, next Saturday we're going to Prince Albert, about 2 hours away, to do a dinner with some of Mr X's friends and co-workers. That will be fun, but I'm going to have to be totally finished preparations by then. Hah. Bon chance.

One of Mr X's friends has a fishing lodge up by Flin Flon and has invited us to go up around New Years for a couple of days. We can dogsled and snowshoe and skidoo and hang out by the fire. I am so not a winter-outdoorsy person, but Jimmie is fun and I think it might be a good time. Mr X went up there last New Years and had a blast. On New Year's Eve on their reserve, everyone comes out of their homes yelling and shouting and shooting guns into the air at midnight. Mr X called me when that was all happening last year and I thought he was in the middle of a riot. He had so much fun though, and I may get in on it this year. (But I do wonder; where do the bullets go when you shoot 50 guns into the air? How odd.) He's going to miss those guys so much if he doesn't work up there next year. So am I. We'll still see them, but not nearly as much. :(

Hah. I just looked up from my laptop and I'm surrounded by fur. We have a sectional sofa and it's covered with 2 dogs and 3 cats, fast asleep on each other. I'm almost falling off of the edge. My old crabby cat, Lazee, is sleeping on the sofa back but the rest of the critters are on the cushions, all cuddled up. I can't see where Smokey (cat) ends and Charlotte (dog) begins because they're both black. Even Puddy, the chocolate lab, looks happy and he doesn't usually appreciate sleeping with a cat touching him. Aww, so cozy.

Work has been so much fun these days. We have an articling student with us now, and he's such a breath of fresh air. I've worked with him before and we laugh at the same things that no one else gets, so it's just a blast. Also, a couple of my fave clients did mortgages with me this week, so I've been doing lots of visiting with fun people. I'm not supposed to get chummy with clients, but sue me. I can't help it sometimes. It makes the experience more fun for all of us. No one really wants to go to a law office, but we legal people are not all money-hungry grouches. Actually most of us aren't.

So anyway, my mantra tomorrow....shop, shop, shop. I hate shopping so it's going to take some effort. I can doooo it!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

What a fun day! Chaeli-Bean was over for a visit and it was beautiful outside, so we spent some time out in the snow. Here she is, bundled up in the backyard. That's Charlotte eating snow behind her. I took her for a walk down the block with her sled for awhile, too. It's amazing that she can even move with all of these clothes on.

When we came inside we baked a bunch of goodies. I have to take stuff to work on Monday because we're taking turns bringing Christmas munchies. Way to sabotage the old diet, but it's fun!

Tonight I went to Shoppers to start on my stocking stuffer shopping. I'm avoiding every other store because I can't stand crowds, but I guess I'll have to brave it eventually. Mr X is home next week so perhaps I'll take a day off and we can power-shop until we're done.

Chaeli and I sat at the piano and played Christmas carols today. I sang too, but she just played. She hogs the keys so I just played at the high end. Today is the first day she saw our tree and decorations and she was so cute. She kept saying, "Ooooh" and gently touching things, but she didn't seem to want to wreck anything. She's so good! I don't know what we ever did without her -- she just makes life so much more fun.

Yesterday I closed Nyk's house deal, so it's official -- she (and the Bank of Nova Scotia) owns her home. She just called and she's busy tearing shelves down and changing things to be the way she wants them to be. I'm just about exploding with pride for her -- she' s just 21, but she really has it together. This summer we'll have a work bee and paint her brown trim to something more palatable, fix the fence, plant flowers, make it perfect.

Mitchie is off at a wedding with her boy tonight. I don't seem to see her much these days but she's happy and looking like a million bucks so it's all good.

I can't believe how lucky I am to have my girlies all here, living in town. I hope we never, ever move away.

Where have I been?

Wow, it's been ages since I've been on here. Blame it on Mr X. He's been home keeping me occupied.

How fun to see all the comments here! I really appreciate them. Yes, sistah, bring on Janna! (Janna's my very cool niece, by the way, who I, unfortunately, never get to see anymore.) This blog is very sparsely advertised because I want to feel comfortable to say whatever I want to say, but fun people are always welcome.

What have I been doing over the past couple of weeks.... well, I moved into my office at work. I absolutely love it. I have 2 computers (one with internet, one without because my boss is afraid everyone in the free world wishes for access to our top-secret information), a fake plant, a Christmas tree, and a wall of windows which I expect to enjoy even more in the summer. My new desk doesn't arrive for a couple of weeks, but it looks great in there anyway. It's so nice to be able to do my work in peace, without all the distractions of The Pit. People come in to visit me once in awhile, which I love, but usually I'm on my own.

Work has been ssssooooo stressful lately. I think 90% of my co-workers are peri-menopausal (men included) and the crankiness is really getting to me. We had our staff party on Friday night, just a dinner, and I knew from the first sip of scotch that the Time Had Arrived. Fortunately, the dinner was quick and by the time we headed out the door the 2 scotch straight up and the 1/2 bottle of nasty house wine hadn't quite found its way to my brain yet. We strolled across the street to a bar to meet Mitchie and her boyfriend (Mr X, our articling student from work and I) and the fun began. Partay! We danced, we laughed, we drank, we went to Bar No. 2, drank some more, and eventually found our way home without anyone getting hurt or too humiliated. It was perfect. I feel much better now. I dont' remember too much of what actually happened, but I do know I met Nyk's man's mother on the dancefloor. That was fun.

Mr X went all Clark Griswald on our house and we have possibly the most-decorated yard on the street. Or even in town. It looks tacky, overdone and just beautiful. He has one more shift before Christmas, then who knows what will happen with our lives. He's talking again of quitting his job so he can be home more. I'm scared because I'm a big fan of financial security, but we'll be okay, whatever happens. He always manages to bounce back. It really will be nice to have him home more, so we'll just make it work.