tis the season

 A little red squirrel is taking advantage of the above freezing temperatures to stash sunflower seeds in a (not so) secret hiding spot. He picks up one seed from under the bird feeder and then runs with it to a spot about 15 feet away (taking the long way there), and then back for another seed. Not sure why he doesn't fill his cheeks as the one by one method seems like it would burn more calories than it gains!

Hmmm… maybe I should take a page from the squirrels method! One bite of cookie, run all over the house, another bite of cookie, more running. Yes! That's the answer 😀 

Carm has gone off for some boxing day sales at Canadian Tire - I stayed home, otherwise I would have stocked up on Christmas tree decorations, forcing me to buy another tree to shoehorn in somewhere. If I could figure where that somewhere is I'd go for it… unfortunately, there isn't inch to fit another tree! If I had millions and millions of dollars, and a huge house with lots and lots of rooms, I'd have a different tree for each room! I’d have a silver tree, a pink one… and so it would go with burgundy, gold, and blue. I'd need lots of rooms and perhaps fewer naughty dogs.

I shouldn't blame the dogs for being naughty as they haven't touched the tree at all but it’s fully out of reach of Lupa so maybe she’s just missing the opportunity! 

Did everyone have a nice Christmas? It's a funny sort of time with so much pressure and expectations. 

We started the fun last Monday at a local restaurant where we met Ken and Francine for lunch, with coffee & cookies back here (that's one dozen gone!). Ken and Carm worked together for years, but I'm glad to say that there wasn't much work talk! Or if there was, I was too busy visiting with Francine to notice 😉 

Tuesday it was snowing and I was freaking out a bit so, Carm drove me in to take Mom to a followup appointment with her radiation oncologist… they are scheduling a scan for sometime in January so we'll keep our fingers crossed… On the way home I drove the snowy roads to get some practice. In the next snowstorm, we'll go out to a parking lot somewhere so I can get a better feel of what slippery roads feel like. 

It's embarrassing to be so chicken about driving in the snow - even as a passenger I get into a near panic attack with icy roads. Somehow I have to get past that and hopefully, some practice will ease my stress.

Carm got the truck Krowned on Wednesday. It’s a 2007 with no visible rust to speak of so far so we'll continue to do our best to keep it on the road - not sure what we'll do when it's life is over, but it's in great shape now with low milage.

Thursday Kari came for supper to help us celebrate Solstice! Almost one more second of light! Bubbles and a slightly traditional scandinavian dinner of meatballs, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Roasted brussels sprouts and carrots rounded out the meal. I got Carm to cut me some Norwegian spruce boughs to decorate the table - so many needles everywhere! It looks a bit like a tree has fallen on the table, leaving a few spots clear for plates. I love it!

Friday morning Carm braved the pre Christmas Costco crowds - he dropped me off at Mom's so that he could get out of there without too much extra shopping… not to mention losing me in the crowds! It's become a bit of a tradition for Carm to get Mom's Costco stuff while I have a nice visit :-)  I'm pretty sure that in the New Year she'll be itching to get out herself - she's started driving herself for some grocery shopping. She's always loved getting out shopping in the crowds :-) 

Gosh! That leaves Saturday… perhaps a lazy day - or not! Dozens of cardamom buns flew in and out of the oven, and for some reason I had two giant bags of carrots that were starting to go bad… I peeled and chopped… some in rounds to be frozen for soup, some grated for Moroccan salad, and the rest for a ginger carrot soup… 

It seemed impossible, but Sunday was Christmas Eve! Trudie, Leo, and Kari came for a quiet Christmas Eve dinner. And then suddenly, with barely time to fall asleep, it was Christmas day! 

Yesterday we mooched around the house for the morning, then loaded the car with a ton of food and gifts - it was Christmas Day and the whole immediate family, (plus Erik's girlfriend Norlan), was gathering at Mom's! It was a great time that passed by quickly… We didn't do a traditional Christmas dinner but instead laid out tourtiere, quiches, salmon, wings, buns, meat dip, cheeses, etc. It was a bit of a grazing afternoon. Instead of the usual gift extravaganza, we did a ‘Grinch Christmas’ gift exchange which was lots of fun! A new tradition was made!

The dogs slept in till almost 10am this morning! Yesterday’s five hours standing at the window, howling and stressing, wore them out… I wish they could learn to settle down when we are gone, but I fear they never will… I end up stressing about them and feeling bad that they are feeling bad… 

I alluded to it earlier, but it's another green Christmas! Yesterday was above freezing which made for good driving for everyone, but it could be April out there… (oh how I wish)... Today is more of the same.

I didn't take even one photo yesterday :-(  Mom took the one of Carm and I.  A few days ago I tried to take a ‘pet portrait’ of the two dogs, but they are not keen on getting their photos take so didn't cooperate beyond staying in one place. Spike was photogenic and was a bit of a poser - I have heaps and heaps of nice photos of him, but Alas! Very few of Adia & Lupa.

Awesome!

“getting together with friends”

“one more second”

“driving on good roads”

“family together”

“a sleep-in”