Another Weekend

We have made it to another weekend. This is the weekend we were suppose to be taking our relaxation massage class, but it was postponed till March. So instead we will clean the 'catch all' room down here. It will involve pitching out a bunch of stuff I hope!

It looks like our computer has not been shipped yet, but hopefully soon. It would of been fun to have had the weekend to play with it and get things loaded on it. We are also waiting on a new computer desk for down here and I was hoping they would call and say it was in but so far no luck.

I have been on a 'yarn diet' (and the other kind of diet as well) and have been really good about not buying anymore yarn, but now it seems I am addicted to knitting books. I am currently waiting on 3 of them.

Tonight Crystal is going over to Al's when he gets off work. He has been working evenings this week, so they haven't seen each other. Tomorrow they are going to his parents place for the day and then Sunday he leaves for Winnipeg (if the college staff doesn't go on strike) for 2 months for his apprentice course. I am sure he will be home a few times over those couple of months.

Couple of fun hats.

A couple of fun hats I did from stash. Both were from FCEK Spring 2003

Give it a whirl bag

From FCEK - July 2006

Chemo Cap

A chemo cap that I made from stash. Thought it turned out quite cute.

Mystery KAL Purse

My mystery KAL Purse before felting. Hopefully I will get it felted today.

Gary's top down raglan

This is a picture of the cardigan that I made for Gary because he said his office was quite chilly at times.

Mystery Knit A Long Purse

My Mystery Knit A Long purse. This is to the end of Clue 3. I am really liking this pattern and can't wait to finish it up and felt it.

Mitred Square Shawl

This isn't a very good picture at all of this shawl. It is a mitred square shawl that I finally finished up. Sandra, Sharon and Susanne, you guys might recognize it from the last gtg in Edmonton. *S* I really like the way it drapes over my shoulders and it is nice and cozy. It is made with Sirdar Country Style, Double Knitting.

Time to catch up

Today I put a place on the sidebar to keep track of the articles that I have made this year. I think it will be fun to keep track of them. So far everything I have made is from stash *S*.

This past weekend we went to my Aunt and Uncle's in Boissevain for a visit and supper. It had been quite awhile since we had seen them so that was nice. The weather co-operated and we had a good trip both there and home. In the past it always seems like we have driven home from their house in a storm.

Gary has been tossing around the idea of getting a laptop computer. His computer really has been giving him some trouble for awhile now. He loaded his tax program on it the other day and he can only do a couple of things, then it freezes and he has to reboot and start again so very frustrating. So last night he bit the bullet and ordered one from Dell and now to wait for it to get here.

Today I am putting a money order in the mail to order two sock knitting books. There has been much talk about them on a yahoo group I belong to and I finally had to give in and order. The title is Friendly Socks 1 & 2, and one thing that is kind of neat about them is that there will be patterns published in them of people that I have gotten to know through the list.

Last night I got my Mystery Felted Purse knit up to the end of the last instructions we have so I am waiting on the next installment. I am pretty happy with the way it is turning out. I have a pattern for Mystery Socks that I want to start too, but do have to cast on Gary's Christmas socks first I think.

I am really enjoying this feeling of not having a deadline for things that I am making and just being able to thumb through magazines or patterns I have printed and make the things that I have been wanting to try for quite some time.

This weekend Gary and I take our massage class at the local college. I am looking forward to it.*S* It will be Friday night & all day Saturday.

January 10th

Today would of been my Mom's birthday. This morning as I was getting ready I was thinking about it and was doing the math in my head to figure out how old she would of been. 73 years old! When I stop and think about it, I can't even imagine what she would look like at 73 years old. I guess in my minds eye she will forever be 54 years old.

Over the holiday season I found that she was in a lot of my dreams. I have noticed that when I do dream about her, she is always more or less in the background, watching, and not saying anything at all. I wonder if I was dreaming about her because of going through old pictures?

I know that she does watch over us, and I know how proud she is of Ryan and Crystal. It saddens me that they didn't get to know her better (Ryan was 6 and Crystal was 3 when she passed), and that she didn't get to know them better.

Tuesday

Our temps are dipping down colder than what we have been having. Actually it might be nice to have a cold snap to kill off some of these bugs that are floating around. I have been having so much trouble with my sinus's, and I read that because we haven't had our normal cold weather the allergens are still floating around in the air causing troubles.

Last night I was 'chatting' with Ryan on msn and he told me that he has a new job starting Wed morning. He is going to be working for a company that makes cabinet doors. He did like his woodworking course when he was in highschool, so hopefully he will like this.

Then I got a text message from Crystal saying, "I think I just bought a car!" LOL! Her and Gary were out looking and she found one she really liked. She had gone and played the wish and win contest at the end of December and had won $1900 towards a new car. Then something about the car she was picking her $1900 turned into $2900 and then they have a deal now that if you are graduating they pay your first 2 payments. Gary and her went and checked out what the insurance would be and whether she could afford it or not and got a surprise when it isn't anymore than her cavalier was. So she has bought herself a 2006 blue malibu and it sounds like it has lots of options on it. Now she is wondering if she made the right decision LOL!

Monday

My house seems so quiet now that school is back in. With the older kids at school all day that leaves just the 3 little guys here. I think they were glad to have their playroom back and played pretty well today.

I have started ordering some digital prints from Walmart and so far I am really happy with them. My first order I only ordered a few to see how they turned out. My idea is to get busy and start scrapbooking. (Thanks to Crystal and Tammy LOL) Crystal and I did go through a pile of pictures last week getting them into order of years/events etc. Maybe this weekend.

Not sure if I mentioned this earlier or not, but Gary and I signed up at ACC for a relaxation massage course. I am so looking forward to it. I think it will be so nice to have someone that knows how to give you a nice massage when you have sore shoulders etc.

Top down cardigan knit from stash

Electric fireplace

Our new fireplace *S

Our weekend

Our weekend seemed to be a busy one, and it sure did seem too short. I don't like weekends that speed by.

Saturday we got a little bit of a late start to our errands, but didn't have anything else planned so it didn't matter. We had to go to Canadian Tire and while wandering around there I saw an electric fireplace that was on sale. I have always thought they were kind of neat and we ended up buying one before we left. From there we went to the doctor's so I could get my b12 shot, and Gary came in with me to get his ears checked. When we landed in Victoria his ears hurt so bad and they usually don't bother him at all. He did have a cold that he was on antibiotic for so we just assumed it was from the congestion. They were still feeling plugged so decided to get them checked. Turned out he had a bacterial infection in them so is on a different antibiotic.

Sunday we just did things up around here and had a lazy day. Crystal asked Al to come over for supper and then they watched a movie here.

Stash Reduction

How does one acquire so much yarn!!! My stash has really gotten out of control and it is time to do something about it. So I have decided that this will be the year of stash reduction!

I have finished a top down cardigan that I made totally from stash and have cast on a hat from stash. I have some yarn that I bought for chemo caps (something I am continuing to do in rememberance of Auntie Lila) and will get busy on them. I have a pair of socks (suppose to have been done by Christmas) to make for Gary and they are from stash yarn.

Wisdom Teeth

At Crystal's last dental appointment the dentist told her that she was going to probably need her bottom wisdom teeth out and referred her to a dentist that does that. He could of pulled one of them in the chair, but not the other because it is growing sideways.

She had her appointment with the other dentist and he took some further xrays and then told her that he could pull the one very easily (the one coming in sideways) but the other one (the one that has come through the gum, and the one that our regular dentist could of pulled) was a different story. Her had gotten the additional xrays to check something out. On the xrays from our regular dentist he thought he noticed a nerve right under this tooth, and he verified it with his own xrays. He told Crystal that he could pull it, but there was a chance of nerve damage and it could leave that side of her face numb.

After some thought she has decided to have only the one pulled for now. The other one really hasn't given her any trouble and we can keep our fingers crossed that maybe it won't. Also she is hoping that by pulling the other one maybe her other teeth will shift just a bit and maybe it will move off the nerve enough to be able to be pulled without problem.

So she has her appt for Friday Feb 2 and that will give her the weekend to recover before having to go back to school. I hope that it goes okay for her and she doesn't have too much trouble.

She fought it and won

After Crystal had her accident, the insurance company told her what they were going to give her for her car. She was not happy with their offer at all and told them that she would not accept it. They explained the next step to her and it involved finding other cars, the same as her car, and documenting what they were worth. She spent a fair bit of time online and came up with a few and then Gary contacted a couple of car dealerships and they said they would write a letter for her with what they felt her car was worth. She faxed the insurance with what she had found online as well as the three dealer quotes and they came back and offered her what she was hoping for! So I guess it sometimes pays off to stand your ground!!!

First Day Back

Yesterday was my first day back to work. It was oh so hard to get out of bed in the morning! I only had 4 children so at least they were breaking me in gradually. Today is a full house with 7 here so it is busy busy busy and loud! Today we are having unusually warm weather for this time of year so I know that there will be a fair bit of outside time this afternoon. It will help to burn off some excess energy and also help to keep me sane.

I will be glad when it is next week and school is back in and we can all get back into the regular routine.

It's Over

Today it is back to work! It was so hard to get out of bed to the alarm this morning. Since getting home we have been being very lazy, just doing the things that had to be done and that was about it.

Our New Year's celebration was pretty quiet, just staying home having a couple of drinks and watching some movies.

On the 30th Crystal went with Dustin, Andrea and Al to Dustin's farm to go ski-dooing. They ended up staying out there for the night. She said they had a really good time. When there they went over to Dustin and Al's cousin's place and went sliding. They have rigged up their own tow rope of sorts so you don't have to climb back up the hill which would be nice. She got home aroun 1:00 and said she was showering and then her and Al were going over to Andrea and Dustin's to watch movies.....but that changed. She ended up going to bed for a couple of hours, which she found out everyone did. After supper Gary took her over to Al's and then they cabbed it to Dustin and Andrea's where they ended up bringing in the new year. Al brought her home in the afternnon when he was heading to the farm for New Year's. Needless to say she looked like a tired girl!

Flight and trip home

Our flight home was an up and down affair. LOL! We left Victoria and set down in Kelowna. Because the set down time was very short, basically letting people off the plane and then other's board we did not leave the plane. From Kelowna we went to Edmonton where once again the set down time was short so we just stayed on the plane. From Edmonton it was off to Regina.

We had been watching the weather chanel and they had been talking about a winter storm that was making it's way across the prairies and we could tell that they had had snow since we had left. Just after landing we noticed that it had started snowing. We really did have an awful trip to Virden, the highways had snow sticking to them so we had to travel fairly slow. But the worse was when someone passed us, especially a semi! The just put you in a total whiteout. We probably should of just stayed put, or stopped along the way but we didn't. Thankfully we did make it to Virden safely. We noticed that by the time we got to Virden we were driving out of the storm, so we phoned and ordered a pizza to eat in the car. Picked up the pizza, took Poppa home, got our car, transferred our things and took off for home. Just that short amount of time the storm did get ahead of us and for about 1/2 the way home we drove in bad weather and then just drove out of it. When we got home to Brandon there wasn't any snow at all, although it did arrive here through the night! It was nice to be home, safe and sound and be able to curl up in our own beds that night.

Our last day

We decided that since we had been having early mornings that on the 27th we would just get up leisurely, have something to eat at the hotel and then head over to the apartment around 11 and go out for lunch. We picked Boston pizza for lunch and had to wait till it openned. Lunch was very good and very filling. The rest of the day we just hung out at the apartment visiting and Tammy & Ryan did some packing. Gary and Ryan did go out in the afternoon and got a bunch of boxes so they could finish up.

For supper that night we just had some of the leftovers that we had. Again we didn't have a late night as we had to be up early to get to Victoria to catch our flight home. Our flight was at 9:30.

As always saying goodbye was sad. We really did enjoy our time there with the kids though and I am glad that Poppa said that he would come with us.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day was an early morning as we had to be at the ferry for 6:00 to meet our reservation. We had a good ferry ride over to Vancouver, again this was nice as this was Crystal's first ferry ride and the first for Poppa in a very long time. Our plan was to drive around Stanely Park, but the roads were closed due to all the trees that have fallen due to their high high winds that they have been having. It was sad seeing all the big trees that were down just driving by on the highway. Since we couldn't get into Stanley Park we just headed for Langley to Tammy's grandparents place for their big Boxing Day celebration.

It was very nice meeting Tammy's grandparents, both of which are very very nice people and extremely attentive hosts. Since we were the first ones there we got a chance to visit with them for a bit which was nice. Then the rest of the family started arriving and while we were introduced to them all I wouldn't want to have to put names to all the faces that I met. Everyone made us feel so welcome to their celebration.

Tammy's grandma put on such a spread for lunch! My goodness so much food and all of it so good. And once we had out fill of that out came a tray filled with all kinds of homemade goodies. Tammy's grandma really did her best to spoil Poppa waiting on him hand and foot but I told him that he wasn't to expect that kind of treatment once we left.

Our ferry home was about 8:15 so we left the house around 6:30 and made our way there. Our trip home was not as smooth as the trip over but wasn't too bad. Once back to Nanaimo we just went straight to the hotel, Ryan and Tammy transeferred their stuff to the car and we went up to bed. It was a long day, but a very nice day!

The big day!

Sunday morning Tammy and I went out grocery shopping and much to my surprise the stores really were not even that busy. We got all stocked up, did a bit more shopping and then headed back to the apartment. I made a big pot of potato soup for lunch. We decided to just buy a big pan of lasagna for supper because it was nice an easy and not much fuss. When we left to go back to our hotel we left with promises of being back to the apartment no later than 8:30 because there would be a little boy who would be anxious to get into his present.

When we got to the apartment everyone there was awake and ready for presents. First we all openned our stockings, then Rawley openned his Santa gift and then everyone else openned their gifts. Santa was really very good to us and we got very nice gifts. Tammy had made a scrapbook for us of our trip out in the Summer and she really did such a good job!

After the excitement of the presents we had a brunch of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon that sure did hit the spot. We spent the afternoon playing some games, visiting and just having a good time. Poor Tammy was really suffereing with a flu/cold type of thing and she did go and have a nap which I think she really did need.

Supper was served a bit late, due to a miscalculation on the cooks (me) part, but it did eventually get on the table.

We headed back to the hotel in fairly good time because Boxing day was going to be an early day for us.

On our way.

So much anticipation and it seems like they are over in a blink. We really did have a wonderful holiday season though, totally different for us, but still wonderful.

We drove to Regina Friday night, getting a hotel room because you can never trust the weather at this time of year. I had booked a room in advance because we would be getting in late. When we got up to the room it was the tiniest room any of us had seen. I had booked a double room with a cot. Well the cot was just a mattress to put on the floor and we really had a hard time deciding where there was room to put it. We ended up putting it between the two double beds and it just fit is all.

Saturday morning we got to the airport in lots of time, a case of hurry up to get there and wait. All of us except Crystal got through security just fine. Crystal had to get wanded before they would let her through. Our plane was pretty much on time and the flight was very smooth, which was nice since this was Crystal's first time flying. She really enjoyed it. We had a wait in Calgary so all got a bite to eat before boarding the plane for Victoria. Thanks to a tail wind we got in about 15 mins early. It was so good to see the kids there waiting for us and those hugs felt so good! While we collected the luggage (which all made it on the same flight as us) Gary went and filled out all the paperwork for renting the van. We went to the harbour, but it was pretty chilly down there so didn't really do that much walking around at all.

Decided that we would just head on to Nanaimo and we could get checked into our rooms there and then go to the kid's apartment. There was a problem with our room there, even though I booked it months ago, but we were able to rectify it. Our room there was much roomier than the one in Regina, thank goodness! After we got checked in and got our luggage up to the room Tammy, Rawley and I went off to pick up pizza and the other's went in search of a liquor store. We had a very enjoyable evening visiting with the kids.