Craft Time!

So every year around this time I get a hankering to do some crafting. I love making stuff and really the only point I can see to it is to give it away to people, so Christmas is the perfect time to get creative. I ventured to Micheal's after work yesterday and was all geared up for some frolicking through the aisles and to start my Christmas craft plan. Then the power went out, I was in the store maybe two minutes. I was one of those ridiculous shoppers I used to roll my eyes at, who had to be asked to leave because left to my own devices I would stay there shopping by emergency light, squinting at thread colors and making my choices oblivious to the fact that I couldn't actually buy anything because the registers were down. I was so bummed, but I went back today after work and shopped. I actually left with a reasonable amount of craft items, as in only two projects that I actually could complete before the holidays.

My first big project is a sampler for my friend's baby due January first. I made one for her first child and figure the second needs one too. Well, in the past three years it seems like everyone has stopped selling those prepackaged cross stitch kits. I found them online, but for some reason I am not a big online shopper. I think it's mainly to do with the fact I hate waiting for shipping. I want it now, and I don't want to play the purolator delivery game. So I found a pattern I liked online and painstakingly copied it from the photo onto  a piece of graph paper. It took a few night's of work but I have a pattern I can now use to create my masterpiece. I had a lot of fun in the floss aisle picking out the colours I wanted to use.

Of course while I was there I checked out the Christmas aisles for some project ideas. Not a lot was out just yet but I did find some ready to paint ornaments I just couldn't pass up. Then of course I needed metallic paint.

This is what always happens at Micheal's. I actually did good by only buying the ornaments as impulse purchases. I only did so by avoiding the scrap booking aisles completely.

In other news I have shoveled three times in the past three days and it is still snowing. It's not a whole lot coming down, but it's the sort of thing if you don't keep on top of it, it will become a ginormous job. I am over it already. Oh winter.

Photo Blog

It's been a busy week. Biggest news: New Car is finally mine! It came in last week and we drove to Edmonton to pick her up. Behold her awesomeness:

And from the rear:

Also while in St Albert we got in some time with my sister and brother in law. We went out to their pub and sampled some bacon on a stick:

The verdict: over priced and under cooked. However the spicy chocolate dipping sauce has opened a whole new realm of bacon possibilities. Bacon and chocolate, who knew?

Back home and more photos of the car, this time at night:

I added the race track LED's because, well look at them! Another necessary feature, lighted cup holders:

This is what happens when you can build your own car and add any feature available. But on dark morning drives to work guess who is going to know exactly where to put her coffee cup. It also makes a bottle of water look pretty snazzy.

So tonight's dinner is baking in the oven, and it is inspired by dad. His recipe card makes me smile:

I don't really follow the recipe as it is super versatile, add anything. But it is always delicious.

And that's about all folks. It feels like a busy week, and it's only Tuesday. Not a lot of writing time, but pictures say a bunch of words and stuff, so that makes up for it. It's snowing. It's going to snow all week. One more car photo:

We need a garage. Poor car.

A Real Post

Whew. All weekend my intention was to sit down and write a real post. But somehow this whole two days off wasn't enough time to really get around to it. All weekends should be long, all weeks should be short. Pay needs to stay the same. I don't even know what I did this weekend. Yesterday is a blur of going around town looking for a cross stitch sampler kit - for my friend who is expecting a baby, I made one for the first baby and feel like the second one deserves as much - and I failed to find one. Then I went to dinner. The day was over. Today I did even less, I met Derek for lunch and researched vacation packages. I broke my dryer doing laundry (it squeals and obviously needs a bearing or greasing or both). Now the day is pretty much over. The only good thing is my back no longer hurts. Ah, that's right, I spent a large portion of yesterday on my back watching netflix doing stretches to try to make it feel better. Getting old sucks.

Last night's dinner was at the Acropolis, a Greek restaurant in town I've never tried. I met up with my friend Julie and a girl she works with. I am horrible with names, but the new girl was delightful. I like meeting new, awesome people. Our dinner was also very enjoyable. It was very drawn out, in what I am chalking up to as a European style of dining, not poor service. We were there over 2 and a half hours. But the wine and the conversation were both enjoyable and I also had the best creme brulee for desert. Blow torches make a meal much more fun. Our scallops were also flambeed. It's rewarding when twice during a meal the whole restaurant looks at your table because it's got fire.

After dinner my car battery was inexplicably dead. I had gone out the passenger door - I was wearing new boots, but driving in sensible shoes (Dad approved) and scooted over there to put on the boots so I could lean out onto the sidewalk not into traffic - so I wouldn't have gotten the warning tone about the lights on. However when we boosted the car the lights weren't on, so they were not the culprit. So that leaves a dome light or gremlins. I am leaning towards gremlins. I really need new car, it will be smart enough to defeat gremlins. I added that option. Also three cheers to Julie for having booster cables and having used them before. I've only watched and let her take charge - haha so to speak. Christmas idea for Kristina - booster cables.

Today all of our snow melted. There were dying snowmen on a few lawns. We are back into that fall season and I can rush out to buy salt, washer fluid and a new scraper hopefully before the next dose. I just checked and that's Saturday. 5 - 10cm. eep.

Just Sayin'

What is up with people at Tim Horton's? Literally every time I go there the drive thru lineup is 6-12 vehicles long. I park outside and go in and there is at most one person in line. I play a game where I see who is last in line in the drive thru, and thus who I would have been behind, and then see where they are when I am leaving. Usually they've moved up a few spots, sometimes they are actually at the order speaker, but they are never gone ahead of me. How can you be so lazy that you'd rather spend an extra 10 minutes in a line up than to have to walk into the store and leave your vehicle?

A new Tim's is opening 3 blocks from our house, it's going to be walk in only, no drive thru. I am kind of hoping that means that it won't be busy, people would rather drive the extra 5 minutes to wait in line another 15 minutes for their coffee than to have to get out of their cars... I guess we will see!

By the way, if you ever drive by a Tim's and there is no one in line at the drive thru, that is what is referred to as a "Tim Horton's Miracle" and despite the time of day or the purpose of your drive, you are obligated to go through that drive thru just because you can.

Slowly going crazy...

So today and yesterday I spent my time at work doing the one thing I hate the most as a cabinet finisher: Glaze. For those of you not in the high end kitchen cabinetry know, a glazed door looks like this:

See all those dark lines in all the recesses of the door's profile... yeah, that's all done by hand. The whole door gets covered with the glaze then someone painstakingly wipes off all the excess leaving pinstripe lines in all the crannies. For two days. Needless to say I am seeing lines now in my sleep. It drives me nuts. It also stresses me out because it's so easy to mess up a line and you get to start all over. I start to wish I could just take a sharpie and draw the lines in there instead.

On days like today I just have to remind myself that the level of stress is nothing compared to that of working layaway at Christmas, or returns after Christmas, or trying to manage a staff of 15 people more intent on singing nursery rhymes over the intercom than helping you serve customers. Heck, all retail sucks, as does the general shopping public. OK, bring on the glaze lines!

It snowed today, and for a first snow of the year it was a bit overdone. We had to brush a few centimeter's of the stuff of the vehicles this morning. It stayed on the ground all day despite some afternoon sun. The only place it's not is on the roads and in the driveway. Otherwise I would have had to say mother nature had gone too far. As it is now, I can just say that it was a good reminder that it's October and I can probably safely put away my sandals. I should probably dig out some mittens. I let Niko run out the back door to see her reaction when her beloved grass was covered in white, priceless! Nothing is better than throwing a cat in a snowbank.

Boot Photo Shoot

OK. I finally got in some needed retail therapy. My friend Julie and I went shopping for sushi, boots and Halloween related items. Yes folks, after weeks of preparation I am finally the owner of a brown pair of boots to round out my boot collection (well they are quite dark brown, I could also fit a light suede pair into my life I suppose...). I hurried home to try them with the newly acquired skinny jeans, then needed to take some photos...

 Full length in the squiggly mirror

 Up close, I love, love LOVE how they actually fit my skinny calves, a rare treat!

 I include this picture to remind myself that posture is important when rocking the boots, otherwise your belly sticks out a wee bit like so.

 I like them equally pant in or pant out

 Another side shot

 And looking down

 Remember folks, if Derek asks we've owned these babies forever, been in the back of the closet all along dear!

 A self photo as it's a good hair day. But wait... no smile?

There we go! smiling, but with crazy eyes... hmmm.

And well then the camera batteries died and the photo shoot was over. I also bought my halloween costume for a cool $14. I am now the proud owner of cat ears and a tail. I will dress in black (with black boots) and voila, costumed. Photos of that later I guess. For now let's just all scroll back up and enjoy the boots one more time...

Thankfulness

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving with the traditional feasting on roast meats and potatoes smothered in gravy. Today I laid in bed enjoying the holiday and extra day of weekend, and although it's overdone, decided I needed to document all the great things in my life I am thankful for. 'Cause there is a lot. and heaven knows we don't take enough time at all in our normal lives to really sit down and think about it. That is, after all, why this whole holiday exists, isn't it? Actually, now that I think of it, it's one of the few holidays left that isn't over commercialized and exaggerated to make us spend money on worthless crap. Other than turkey's that is, and turkey's really are delicious.

So to start off, I am thankful for mornings like this. Mornings I can spend lazily in bed til I choose to get up, surrounded by my furry family. Nothing beats snoozing a few more minutes listening to the purring of my cat Dave. He had respiratory issues as a kitten and now has the loudest purr I've ever heard on a cat. Then there is Niko who loves to be cuddled. She obviously has abandonment issues that now make her needy and she loves to feel protected. Also she is queen of making biscuits, that kneading action cats make when they are super happy and content. And then there is Cuddles, with her soft puppy ears that are so soothing to pet, and how she stretches out beside me, long dogging it up. This morning we were minus Derek, who had to work, so we stretched out extra exaggerated and between the four of us took up the entire king sized bed. Until someone has to pee, and then we get started with the day.

 It's hard to find photos off all three napping together, but there are plenty of Dave and Niko

This is a great example of Long Dog. Long Cat is well known on the interwebs and in real life, but long dog is quite a bit rarer.

I am also thankful of my loving husband. He has a great job and contributes way more to the financial well being of the household than the other four of us combined (the animals clearly have income, how else do you explain the gifts they give each Christmas?). He puts up with all of my quirks and crazy, and he knows how to fix just about anything. Also he always has a project, or an idea, and he actually follows through on it, successfully or not. I also enjoy his arms. 'Nuff said.

Getting married in front of the liquor cabinet

I am thankful for the rest of my family, near and far, and my in-laws which I completely lucked out on. I am thankful for having a handful of really great friends from high school and university who I know will always be there, and for a handful of newer friends here in GP, who like us somehow ended up in Northern Alberta away from everyone back east. Adult friends are definitely harder to meet and maintain, and so when you find them they are a rare treat. 

I am thankful for all my stuff. Not in a shallow way hopefully, but in a way that I appreciate what I have and realize how much easier it makes my life. I am proud of what Derek and I have accomplished, our home, our lifestyle, and what we've surrounded ourselves with. I'm thankful that we are both healthy, have stable jobs we enjoy, and that we work schedules that somewhat align to allow us time together. 

Well, at risk of this going on forever, I will cut it off here. I am definitely thankful. Right now, most of all about this day off of work which I can now spend with a friend I haven't had time to catch up with in the past two weeks, eating sushi and boot shopping. Which is an amazing way to spend a holiday, ooo, now that I am not in retail I am thankful for holiday shopping :) I am also thankful for leftovers, I think hot turkey sandwiches are almost better than the original meal...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My Car Exists!

Hubby called today (hehe, wasn't lying about avoiding phone calls) and it's in the "final stages of production". OMG happy dance... Now the question is, which will come first, the car or the snow? I am thinking a cold November morning will be a lot more tolerable with heated seats and a heated steering wheel!

First new car I've ever bought. I am a wee bit excited.

In other news, I am exhausted and it's only Tuesday. I love long weekends, like the one coming up, but it's so much more enjoyable when it's the Friday that's the day off, not the Monday. Then all week you look forward to the day off. With the Monday off you miss out on that. You get the short week yes, but the extra day of weekend is already behind you.

Did I mention car? eeee

UPDATE: It was most definitely the snow that came first...