it's Boxing Day in Canada

our king bed

Yesterday turned out very well, in spite of being one of my achey fibro days. The kids let us stay in bed until 09:45, and when we got up Jamie was making pancakes for herself and Em. After the coffee was on, everyone gathered in the living room to open gifts.

The kids got me gardening gloves, magazines, and some garden art, as well as an indoor herb garden. We got Jamie some items for her house, like a stainless steel cannister set and electric skillet, as well as gift cards, costumer jewelry and comfy sweats, for homework nights. The BIG gift had been an iPod Touch, which we gave to her on Wednesday for her 22nd birthday. She was thrilled and seems quite happy with all the apps and subsequent iTunes cards.

Traditionally, Em is harder to shop for; what she wants one day may not be what she wants the following week! But the last year have brought so many changes and this year I think she'll use everything. We focused on fashion & beauty, like the flat iron she's wanted for awhile. Knee high boots with faux fur at the top, a winter hat knitted to look like a cat (ears and whiskers included) and a fuzzy green robe for cold mornings.

Bill and I found it easy to shop for one another this year! He'd recently purchased his first Fender guitar, and I was able to get him a beautiful leather strap and mini-amp, for practicing around the house. He got me a new little Canon! So I'll be able to start posting pics again, yay! He always gets me a biography, and this year it's John Lennon THE LIFE by Philip Norman. I started it last night and it looks like it'll give me some R & R on my time off over the next few days!

Overall, the entire season went well and now that I've had a day of rest I'm feeling much better. Today we're cleaning the kitchen and figuring out what to do with the huge amount of leftover chicken we have in the fridge! We cooked the last of the Hutterite chickens last night (those chickens average 9lbs each!) but weren't hungry enough to have more than a little plate.

Happy Boxing Day!

jamie grows up, em isn't far behind

Emily and friend, Oct 2010

Merry Christmas!

The countdown is on now that there's only a few days left until Jamie's birthday. She'll be twenty-two!! For those of you from journalspace, you may remember that she was sixteen when I first started blogging. Now, she's living on her own in a rental house over by the college; she's working part time at an accessories store and taking several classes, which should be finished by now. She recenty got word that her student loan was approved and that will really make a huge difference! Last semester she and I paid for all her classes with cash so she had to be careful how much she was spending and when her classes were taking place so that they wouldn't interfere with work. Now, she'll be scheduling her work around her classes.

Bill and I are particularly proud of the way that Jamie bounces back from problems in her life, without the use of drugs, alcohol or sex. Not all of her friends and colleagues can say that, unfortunately. Even Bill and I can't say that!

Last winter, directly after the holidays, she broke up with her BF of a year because he just didn't care enough. She wanted someone who wanted to see her every day; wanted to come over for dinner or to just to hang out. She wanted a man who didn't have mommy issues and who wanted to help lift the burdens of every day life and he wasn't it. In the past I may have worried that she'd have low self-esteem and hook up with an abusive guy but I shouldn't have. She won't lower herself for anyone and I love that.

Bill and I are doing well at work, but we have a new area manager and he's been a challenge. He's some kind of wonderboy sent to us from Dubai (through our head offices in Paris) and appointed by the President of the company himself. The first day I met him he questioned my company vehicle (my status does not indicate the need for a vehicle as nice as this) and warned me that the January 15th end date of my contract was "looming."

"Looming?"

"Yes," he replied in a posh, french-and-something-else-accent. "You will have to prove yourself to me."

Yikes!!

Still, things have been improving and I hope that Wonderboy offers me a permanent contract in January. If he doesn't, both Bill and I will be looking for work elsewhere.

Speaking of work, Em is doing an eight hour shift around the house today. On Friday I gave her $80 to do some Christmas shopping and she lost it at the mall (this is the third time out of five Christmasses she's been here) and she's working from 11-7 so that she understands what an eight hour shift is like. She'll get a half hour break at 3 pm, but otherwise she's working right through as though she was actually at a real job. Obviously, we feel she doesn't appreciate what a full work day is like and we want her to experience that. After the first hour, she started watching the clock, lol.

Happy Sunday!

it's all over but the crying

Tokyo; 9:45 am this morning

Merry Christmas!

We're having a very quiet day but to be honest, we needed it. Work has been kicking our butts this past week. It's been bitterly cold (-40°C) and I haven't been able to get a car yet. Bill's truck is now able to change gears (for awhile there it was stuck in first) but has no heat. Brrrr!

Christmas was lovely and everyone gave and received awesome gifts (lots of jewelry, lotions and PJ's all around) but I didn't balance the gifts between the stockings and under the tree so it seemed like Emily had more than Jamie. I always feel so guilty when that happens, but overall everything turned out great.

Tonight we're going to see Sherlock Holmes, then coming back for turkey afterward. No big dinner, since Jamie is having dinner with her BF's family, but we'll be having hot turkey sandwiches with stuffing, mashed potatoes and veggies.

How was your day? I have to admit, I thought quite a bit about all my old journalspace friends today and all the fun we used to have. It's been just over a year since the old site crashed. I enjoy blogspot quite a bit, as well as the new Keep Connected Live site and hope to spend more time there in January.

Leave me a comment as a Christmas present!

gifts of Christmas Past

Christmas gift, circa 1971.

This little sewing maching was one of my favourite Christmas gifts, ever! That would explain how it's survived for going-on thirty-nine years and over a dozen moves. My other was an Easy-Bake oven, but I lost that when Mom & Dad broke up and dad gave away our toys out of spite.

But I digress. I'm sure this little sewing maching would work if I installed batteries, and maybe I should because Bill is going to need a few pairs of pants hemmed, lol.

Here's a Christmas joke:

"Santa, have you lost weight?" "Mrs Claus is looking exceptionally pretty today." "Your toys look wonderful this year."

- Rudolph's cousin, Larry the Brown-Nosed Reindeer

lots to do yet

My feet look like Fred Flintstone feet this morning, lol. I was sitting on the chaise looking around at all that needs to be done - we need to sweep and wash the floors, Jamie has to take her birthday gifts downstairs. I already have a load of clothes in the washing machine and one in the dryer, so that takes care of the towels and my favourite jeans.

I have a few loaves of bead dough rising on the stove (I buy frozen) and when Bill gets home, I'll make him some http://www.recipezaar.com/Newfoundland-Toutons-136412. I think it's nice to have some Newfoundland traditions around Christmas time, because he must miss some of them. After that, I'll be making some food for this evening and finishing up the wrapping.

What is everyone else doing this evening?