Opa!

We are having Greek food for New Year's Eve dinner. Lisa is cooking it, and Richard is going to get Mom to hang out. We are going to celebrate her birthday tomorrow (conveniently, when she is cooking prime rib...and making a cake!). And my friend Annie arrives tomorrow for a night, before she flies to Montreal from Kelowna airport. And then to Mexico!

New Year's Eve always makes me feel melancholy. I've been moping around the house today but went for a walk and that helped. We're going to light a fire in the fireplace, and stay up til 2am to try & see the deer that sleep in Lisa & Richard's yard.

2009 Xmas List

Beth has Jim
Geoff has Anne
Theresa has Sandi
Anne has Beth
Will has Lisa
Tim has Grace
Grace has Will
Judith has Henry
Laura has Richard
Jim has Theresa
Sandi has Geoff
Lisa has Allison
Richard has Laura
Allison has Judith
Henry has Tim

Henry suggested he could get Tim a mini-keg of Heineken. We thought this would be appreciated by Tim.

Ferrey Family Fun

We got tired of waiting for Tim to show up so we played Ferrey Family Fun tonight. It was great. We laughed at the cards. At one point Grace went over to Crimson Lake four times in a row! But she won anyway. We have determined that we must add cards with facts for even more Ferrey family fun. Thanks Richard.

Christmas Name Draw

We are going to draw names for next Christmas in a couple of hours so let us know a.s.a.p. if there are any additions or ommissions to the list. So far we have Sandy as an addition!

TEEHEE

I am back thanks to Allison and Anne (the A team). We are enjoying our visit here in Kelowna, lots of good food and company extraordinaire. Soon we are going to Mosaik books to look at the 50% off calendars. Love and kisses from Me. Take care and I hope to be contributing more. Laura

It's December 27

I am awake after doing a night shift. It's not a pretty sight. But now am off for 2 weeks! Hurrah!
Laura, Wilf and Henry arrived only 3 hours late on the 23rd, which was pretty good considering the travelling conditions. Allison arrived 4 hours late on the 25th. I had 2, count them, 2 naps on the 25th. And we had a really good day.
I was going to call in sick last night, but the naps apparently recovered me, so then I had to go into work. For which I feel that I earned my double time, trust me. I have no idea what is going on right now, but there are a ridiculous amount of manic patients. It's depression season-where are all the bed seeking people? Aren't people aware of the shortening of the days.

Irn-Bru Snowman

This is the classic Scottish holiday advert - Irn-Bru ones are the best! I was showing this to Grace and thought I would share with all of you. Such a touching Christmas scene...

Merry Christmas from RMH

Merry Christmas from RMH

Anne is my sister

Merry Christmas folks! I drew Anne's name for Christmas, so here is the video I made for her. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB0lZk8QjSU
It's been a good Christmas so far. I got up at 6:00 and ripped open my stocking. Then I waited and waited for someone else to get up. But then I found Fragle Rock on tv, so that kept me occupied until Auntie Jude emerged from the basement. Present opening was pushed back until 8:30 this year, and it very nearly killed me. Then it was lots of chili cheese dip and watching Extras. I went for a long nap and dinner was nearly ready when I got up. I am now hiding downstairs on the conputer while the dishes are taken care of. Oh, and we sat for about a million years waiting for the timer on Auntie Jude's camera to work. Turns out it wasn't on.

We wish you a Merry Christmas

It is so great to be home for Christmas! Much better than sitting huddled in the middle of the Welsh hills with people I don't really know. And who are pissed off at each other. We've done the usual routine today - Grace up at the crack of dawn, stockings, presents, breakfast of champions, chili cheese dip and punch... next up is a nap! Yay!!

So happy to have everyone here, though. Nothing beats Christmas at home!

Merry Late Xmas

So far, it looks like my flight home will be 2 hours delayed (I can use that time to clean my bathroom before I go)...I am hoping it won't be too much later than that. But am glad I am not one of the people who were trying to travel earlier from Vancouver and have been delayed for days!

In a shocking departure from tradition, we are putting our tree in a different spot in the living room this year. Another shock - we don't need Geoff to get the tree. Mr. Vacation was at work yesterday so we went tree hunting without him. Cut the first suitable tree we saw and were home in 45 minutes tops. Which was good since it was about -30 or something.
So we will decorate tonight, Jude and Anne arrive tomorrow and the holidays will begin in earnest.

See?

Dang, can't post the picture of scummy looking kitchen at rental, which is what the title refers to, as picture is in adobe and can't somehow just transfer over to this. I can't even look at the appraisal because I get angry when I see it.
Trust me on this, you would all be wanting to kick the guy out.
I am giving him the cleaning list today.
On a more festive note, I made perogies last night and could put them outside to freeze as it is still cold here -30 on Sat am. And it is snowing again, another snowfall warning today, 15-20 cms.
Today my plan is to recaulk bathtub, do laundry, and wrap.
And some more packing I think.
Called some movers, they are quite reasonable I think.
Mom and I go grocery shopping tomorrow, then I work for 2 days-hopefully all is quiet on the ward.
I should maybe pick up some stuff for patients for Christmas Eve- but what? Suggestions? Maybe some chocolates? Ornaments?

Queen of the Road

I went to pick up the car yesterday, and given the weather and road conditions I opted for the Jeep Grand Cherokee. My carbon foot print for the next couple of weeks will be large, but I don't care. I love being high up, and I do feel safer with lots of vehicle around me. It has been cold here, and I see the forecast is for much of the same, so I am cheating and parking in the visitor parking lot, so I can plug in the behemoth. Lisa please don't report me for breaking the rules.

Allison and I went to Jack's Grill last night for supper, and it was wonderful. The food had to be about the best I have ever had. Allison suggested we consider eating there when everyone is in town for the Magical Shoe Weekend. I am going to drop off the presents for Kelowna tomorrow, and pickup the Rocky gifts, makes me feel quite Santaish. Still not certain on what day to leave for Rocky, it will be Monday or Tuesday, depending on road conditions.

Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture

It's kind of nice to walk down the hall in the morning and know that there is a kid behind each closed door.
Everybody is on holidays except me. Or that's the way it is supposed to be. However, Geoff went in to work today. I said, that better be triple time. He said Trent really needed him. One of the foremen also dropped off a computer for him to look at. And he has phone calls every day from work. What will they do without him when he retires?

He's lucky

So, we went over to Jamie's and he had cleaned up..and was +++ apologetic and agreed to all our terms, so he's staying. We're suckers. But, his rent is increasing, he offered to give us extra money to redo carpets, agreed to bi-weekly inspections, no more roommates, is getting a housekeeper 2X/month, absolutely no smoking of either substance, said we don't have to give him 24 hrs notice to look (though we would anyway), and will clean according to a list I will give him. So, we'll see. He's aware that he is on, for lack of a better term, probation.
He actually said that if we evicted him that he'd give us some money for cleaning etc. Whether he would have or not is another question, but he sounded very sincere.
We're going over again on the 30th and will keep going over every 2 weeks, I suspect indefinately.
Winter sure is here too. Of course the rest of you will be sneering, but it has been -22 here, and is snowing again-we have I'm sure 2 feet on the ground. This makes me happy though as I like winter. PLus am going to Mexico in a couple weeks, so who can complain? It's supposed to remain like this until at least after Christmas, so it will look suitably festive!
We mailed parcel to Rocky, should be there this week or early next. Except for Tim's gift whioch is still being worked on, but Richard plans to mail it soon-prioity post I am thinking.

They'll be home for Christmas

Roads in Alberta are the pits. Yesterday was travel day for Anne and Sam/Grace. Got up to lots of snow and icy roads-ugh. The plan had been for Will to take the car to Calgary to pick up Anne at the airport, while I drove the newer Ford to Edmonton to pick up the scholars.
Plans changed a bit with the weather, and Will took the Ford with 4X4 and I took the old truck to Edmonton. Highway 2 was awful- there was a huge accident at Red Deer- the highway was closed from the hiway 11A junction on the north side, right down thru to the far south. Radio said there were semis turned over and jacknifed all over. Will had gone ahead of me, so I was worried that he was in the middle of it, but he had made it thru before the pileup (maybe he was the cause). I had the radio on and when I heard the of the accident on the news, and when I went over the overpass and saw a virtual parking lot on highway 2, I kept going and went up highway 2A. It was slick, but open. Lots of black ice though- I found myself spinning out a couple of times when I touched the accelerator to go up hills. I drove 80-90 kph most of the way, and was getting passed all the time.
Roads in the city were fairly good if you were careful- saw several accidents though.
Came home Highway 2 and 12, and the roads seemed to be better- and we got home before it got really dark.
Anne slept a bit when she got home, then after being up for a couple of hours went back to bed, and woke up at 6:00 this morning, so she is well on her way to adjusting to Alberta time.
Theresa is the only one slaving away, as I am on vacation until next year- although there is a long to-do list.
Lisa- if you get to post photos of cats, I can post photos of really interesting and cute things also. This is 05-01-034-08W5- note the neat valves, regulators and transmitters.
I think they are kind of cute.

I will post more photos if I can stretch some moose horns over the level controller.

Christmas Cheer

Another Weekend Gone

But it was a good weekend. As you read from T's post, the Ferrey's plans kept changing, based on weather and work. Will got here on Saturday night, and I had planned to make a nice supper for him, but I woke up on Saturday morning, feeling dizzy, and that lasted all day, along with achy bones, I was not feeling myself. After a brief visit with Will, I had to make way to bed.

On Sunday, I got up and and feeling better, walked over to the store picked up a few things. Laura had called a few weeks ago to let me know they would be in town and we planned to meet for brunch with Allison too. It turned out Theresa and Geoff were coming to town to pick up Will, on the same weekend. I thought with a larger group it would be easier to meet at my place and eat here. I invited Sam and Grace, and George and Kay. I have not seen Henry for a few years, so it was lovely to see him again. We had a great visit together. After everyone had eaten, and the travelers had to get on the road, Grace stayed and visited for a bit. Allison's friend Kirsten had a Third Advent Sunday, get together. It was lots of fun, gluhwein (mulled wine), food, and singing carols.

I am slowly finishing up things for Christmas, gifts are almost ready, the car is booked and I am planning on leaving for Rocky on next Monday or Tuesday. This week, is the last one of work and we are having a Christmas lunch on Wednesday, it is going to be catered, which is a great idea, we don't have to go out and battle our way in the cold to a restaurant, and the cost is only 15.00.

Plans keep changing

It is dang cold out. Our plan was to go Edmonton on Friday to stay at Jude's then pick Will up today. But there was a winter weather advisory out for here last night and Geoff had to work late anyway. So the plan changed to going today and staying overnight one night only. But Geoff had to work again today and the weather is still not good, lots of snow on the roads and very cold. So Will got Jesse to pick him up and we (or I if Geoff has to work again) will get him tomorrow.

Geoff is supposed to be on holidays from now to after New Year's. He had a lot of holiday time left and the company says you can't carry over more than 40 hours. So he put in a request to carry the extra time over, but the head guy in Edmonton said Geoff should plan his vacation time better and couldn't carry the hours over. So fine. He thought he would be helping out by sticking around. Now they will be short one person and if he gets called he is really going to ding them for the hours. The reason he didn't take more time off was because they were putting that new system in. Whatever. He will be so glad to get out of there.

Hurrah!

The deal is done and now we owe the bank a lot of money to be paid back over 35 years!
I am super happy! You should all come visit this summer and see it!
Exclamation points everywhere!
On another note, I think we're going to kick our tenant next door out. His place was Gross, plus he was smoking, plus he's a pothead who can't gather up enough motivation to do anything about it. Richard called him last night to say we wanted to come by to see it again and that we wanted to see it cleaned. Jamie said oh ok, tomorrow? Richard said, I really mean clean, maybe you need to have until next week because we want it really clean, not like it was. Jamie said so are you kicking me out? Richard said, we haven't decided yet.
Loser. I think he sees the writing on the wall though. His response when Richard told him listen, due to the state of your place, oiur assessment probably went down was, well there's no damage, I'm just a little behind on cleaning. Loser ++
We'll have to paint, refloor, and clean it thoroughly for March. We'll give him notice for end of Jan. And see if he actually pays rent for Jan, which in way, if he doesn't, then we might be able to get the work done by end of Jan, or by mid-Feb and be done with it.
The list of things to do grows longer.
But we'll sure be happy in our new place!
What happened to the cabin that burnt?

Fire at the lake!

Yesterday at work we heard on the scanner that there was a fire reported in a cabin at Crimson Lake - about the fifth cabin in. We are the fourth cabin in. So I went out with Stu, wondering all the way if our cabin was burning down. It wasn't ours, though, it was the Bert cabin, which is not next to us, but the one next to that. Lou told me they didn't have it insured. I certainly didn't want our cabin to burn down, but if it had, we wouldn't have to decide what to do there: repair or build new. So we still have a decision to make.
Against my better judgment we went to Red Deer on Saturday to do a bit of shopping since we were going out for supper at friends by Condor anyway. It wasn't very busy in RD, but there didn't seem much that we were looking for either.
Tim was in Las Vegas last week, said it was fun and that he spent a lot of money but not on gambling.
Will be in the city to pick Will up and I hope finish the shopping. I am looking forward to brunch at Jude's with the Longs and Auntie Kay and Uncle George. We have to get home earlish on Sunday since it's Tim's birthday. Good thing Will will be there or it would be just us and Tim, not much of a party.

Could we just wrap this up?

OK, home inspection is done. House is good except needs new furnace, it is original to house-that's 40 years old, probably new hot water tank, and front walkway thingy needs to be redone-as in it's rotting. We'll probably put in a heat pump as air conditioner is 20 years old, and do it all in one fell swoop. We figured on new furnace, and I thought as going through house-hmmm-is that walkway thingy OK? before the home inspection. The deck is OK, it's just the front part that you see in the picture. Apparently it's just plywood-no weather resistant stuff there-other than outdoor carpet. Who built that and thought that would be a good idea?
Now we are waiting to get OK from lender. They have our last few paystubs, letter from employers, have called our employers, have copies of our house assessment from the BC Assessment Authority, we have had an independent assessor come and assess our house. They also have our rental agreements, copies of our bank statements-proving we actually do have money, as well as copies of our RRSP holdings. They know our financial picture better than we do. Of course, seeing all the news stories right now, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. All these stories are talking about how the banks all of the sudden don't want to lend money.
Anyhow, as we were going through the house we were thinking of where to put things etc. I am pretty happy about the whole thing and am finally sleeping better. the kitchen has a convection oven-and a garburator. Like we'll ever use that-all that good compost sent into the sewer. What we need is an automatic composter.
Richard has started packing and I have been allowed to pack a few boxes under supervision.
I just want to wrap this up.
We changed our move in date to January 27 as I was offered a trip to Toronto for work! For a conference on decreasing smoking rates among people with mental illness! But sadly registration was closed, so it looks like it will be later in the year. Which would actually work out much better considering that we would be in the middle of moving. We're going to hire movers, but we all know how I feel about having my life disorganized and in boxes.
I feel terribly unprepared for Christmas and don't know how this will resolve itself given that all this other stuff is happening and it seems that since beginning house purchase I have had to spend most of my time worrying about things. this doesn't leave me enough time to actually accomplish things. But I did review shopping list and felt better as it seems that we actually did a lot of it on the weekend before we seriously started looking at buying a home.
The rest of this week I need to: bake 10 dozen cookies for cookie exchange tomorrow (never mind Allison, you'll be happy enough to eat them). Get OK from mortgage broker and take conditions off of sale of house (could this thing take any longer?!), finish Xmas cards, finish shopping for out-of town people, do some more packing, recaulk our bathtub, go to LES Xmas party, supposed to go to mtg for resident's association today but am going to excuse self based on this list, begin to decorate, clean house somewhat, and then go back to work on Saturday.
Sob.

I can see the light...

I haven't posted in quite some time, and I wouldn't now either, except that I'm taking a break.

Life's going pretty good, in general; classes finished up on Wednesday and as of now, I've written 2 exams. The first was a take-home essay exam for history, which was fine, and I wrote my three-hour management science exam on Friday.

To be fair, I didn't really "write" it, as it was a computer-based exam in a lab. Interesting thing about that exam, the answer key was posted that night, and you could download the exam you uploaded for grading as well as the answers, so you could effectively grade your own test and know your approximate mark right away (not that it tells you much, you have to know the average and standard deviation to figure out where you are on the curve to make sense of it). "Management Science", by the way, sounds much more interesting than the reality, which is building and analyzing regression models and stuff to predict phenomonon like housing prices and salaries. However, I am now fairly good at Excel.

I also completed my business plan and the presentation for it. It's a personalized handbag company called YOUnique Handbags, with the slogan Be YOU. Be YOUnique. I know it's cheesy, but I thought it up at 2AM on the morning it was due, so sue me. I got through the presentation by fudging my financials like crazy and making up a bunch of stuff. I learned too late that this business would never be viable in real life.

Now I have a week off and then exams on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. I've got most of my Christmas shopping done, which is very surprising and well ahead of my own schedule. Work has been pretty slow at CAPS; not much going on this time of year. I have my performance review on Wednesday, though. At Lister, I put together the fall food satisfaction survey, and the responses make for interesting reading. I've had a few end-of-term meetings and such, but that position is basically done until after Christmas.

I got invited to some sort of awards ceremony in January for something or other, so I'm deciding whether to go to that, and I have space for two guests. It's at lunchtime on a Saturday. I missed the first two awards ceremonies I was invited to this year, and I don't know whether it's worth the time for this one either. However, the food will probably be good.

I'm also under pressure to either declare a minor or change my major before the end of the month. I have the form on my desk, but nothing is really hitting me right. Possibilities include accounting, human resource management, marketing, operations management, retailing/services, and management and organization. Or I could stick with International Business, my declared major currently; however, the only reason I declared that was that I thought it had the most possibility for scholarships, and it looks like I got one, so I'm hesitant to switch.

What is a chinook arch?

I was in a meeting the other day, and I looked out the window, and commented that if we were not in Edmonton, I would say it was a chinook arch outside. All I got from around the table was blank looks, one of them I could understand, Jeanne is from Kansas, but rest were life long Albertans, I thought everyone who lived in Alberta would know the definition of a chinook arch!!

We have had a return to winter, temps below zero, snow, I was not all that upset, because it meant I got to wear my lovely new red coat and new boots. Christmas shopping is going along, I have some people off my list, and for most of the others I have an idea, which makes me very happy. This weekend, it will be house and tree decoration, with the assistance of Grace and her roommate Leanna. I am looking forward to it, because I just could not get motivated to decorate last weekend after all the hard work shopping and schmoozing on Saturday. Not to mention getting some help with the decorating is awesome.

This week at work has really busy, only two more weeks and then a two week break. Initially I thought I might go somewhere for the second week, saw a seat sale to New York that seemed a good deal. But after thinking about it a little more, I think I will keep the car for the whole two weeks and start looking at stuff related to the renovation I want to do in the condo. I talked to Allison's fellow co-op member at Schmoozy (Jen), and she gave me the name of a good kitchen designer, and a general contractor. That got me all excited again, so 2010 will be the year of change. Having a car will also allow me to drive out to some of those nice furniture stores in the west end, and see if I can find some living room furniture. So if anyone wants to come iwth me to look, you are more than welcome to.

More Good News! (get it?)

Good news seems to be all around the family this week.  I just found out I was approved on my huge 20 page paper for my synoptic gospel class (gospel means "good news" just a little theological humor for you all...).    I was impressed with my prof- I e-mailed it to him Saturday night, and he got it back to me today!  I guess there are benefits to handing things in early.

It's Ours!!

Hey, we got the house on Blondeaux! Pending financing and home inspection.

We put in an offer on Friday, expiring Sat at 11pm. We offered for $50,000 less than asking. They countered with too high, we countered again going up by $11,000, they said no.

We thought, 'ok, end of story for now, we'll wait and see if there are any other offers, or see what else is out there'

Richard then met with our realtor today, who said he had talked to their realtor and to increase our offer by $1,000 and see what they did. I don't really understand all of how this goes down in real estate-they talk to their realtor, we talk to ours, the realtors talk to each other. At times, it seems like the realtors are interpreters of their clients...'yes, it's true they refused your offer, but they really will accept it if you make them feel better'. 'yes, it's true they asked too low, but they aren't bad people'

I think working in psychiatry is much easier.

We take possession January 28, so feel free to come out and help us move.

Or feel free to come visit afterwards and you can stare at the kitchen with me.

Snowy Owl

Jen at co-op took the *best* picture of a snowy owl on our roof!

__

Apparently it was a guy who works for the Sun. And one of these is in the Sun today. Cool owl. It will pick Magda up and fly away with her.

posting

Sometimes I think I will post, then I think that you all must be getting tired of my babbling. That's why I don't do it more. I must say that I am always interested in all of your posts.

I just want to put in a plug for Sunday naps. I have been taking them lately and I highly recommend them. Come to think of it, I think I am preaching to the choir on this one.

We usually go for a walk after church and then have a nap and it is so refreshing. The last couple of weeks we have gone out to the lake and walked around the trail. The ice is looking pretty good in spots but there are some snowy patches too.
We have been scouting out Christmas trees and have found some good possibilities. It's much easier looking when it's warm and there's no snow.

The Mountaineer Christmas party was on Saturday. It was fun. We danced quite a lot.

Went downtown shopping on Saturday and actually got some done. I'm hoping I can do most of it here. I don't want to have to go to Red Deer, we spend too much money there and I just find it a disappointing place to shop. Would much rather go to a real city.