Freitag, Dezember 22, 2006

Christmas Cheesiness

Thanks, Tobes!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
BOTH. But not mixed.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Oh, they're wrapped. With pretty bows.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Either/or, as long as they're not those blinking ones.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Damn! I knew I was forgetting something...

5. When do you put your decorations up?
This year it was just before American Thanksgiving, I wanted the house to look pretty when I had both our families over for dinner

6. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
The anticipation waking up Christmas morning. One year I got a Care Bear (Tenderheart) and I cried all morning

7. When did you find out the truth about Santa?
Very late- I was about 11! Still playing with Barbies, too...

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes, several. We have a celebration (it's the German thing to do) at my Dad's that night with sauerbraten and knoedel. mmmm.

9. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
With Angels, I collect them

10. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Developed a special appreciation for it living at Emerald Lake.

11. Can you ice skate?
Of course! Going to the pond in Canmore next week... Wanna come?

12. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Besides Tenderheart? It's Vincent. I get to pick him up tomorrow :)

13. What's your favorite thing about the Holidays for you?
Sitting around with my family, after my nephews have opened all their presents and are playing with their toys

14. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Butter Tarts

15. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Inviting people who have no place to be last minute to come and share in our festivities. Last year it was my sister's friend Craig (in the middle)

16. What tops your tree?
An angel. Used to be a cardboard star covered in tinfoil that we made at Brownies.

17. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Both. My family would tell you I'm always the first to ask "are we gonna open the presents now??"

18. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
O Holy Night

19. Candy Canes?

Donnerstag, Dezember 21, 2006

G'bye Jules, HELLO Vincent

Never before have I felt so poor and so rich in the same moment.

The scene: the food court at the mall. We had just come from signing papers which effectively handed Jules back to her maker (or taker-aparter, as the case now is) and had me named the new owner of the newly named Vincent. The butterflies had fluttered so high inside me I was afraid they would escape through my mouth should I attempt to open it. This made it pretty impossible to even remotely entertain the idea of eating. My love picked up some sushi and we settled in a semi private table towards the back corner, away from the snowflake light and sound display.

I needed to be tucked away, sheltered from the crowds of shoppers all around, not wanting them all to bear witness to my unravelling. I knew it was coming, the emotion so thick it was all I could do to look my love in the face and muster a smile. "Don't you want anything?" he asked gently. "Does frozen yoghurt count as dinner?" I answered.

'Insufficient funds' the debit machine read at the grocery store earlier that evening. Rock bottom hit hard. I thought back over the past week or two and mentally added together my purchases. Stamps, a few Christmas presents here and there, Contacts, Physio... "That's weird" I say, and hand the cashier my poor beat up visa.

Then off to the mechanics we go, to figure out the car 'situation'. Through a series of unfortunate mishaps and miscommunications, not only have I not been able to drive my Jules for the past week, but she is now being forced into early retirement. But, as the universe has decided to smile on me this year, a solution of grand proportions unveiled itself.

A short test drive and a few documents trading hands and POOF! I'm upgraded to a 4 year younger, 6 V stronger feat of German engineering. All thanks to my very own personal Santa Saviour Man, aka Love of my Life.

So there I sit in the metal food court chair and realize I don't even have enough coins left in my purse (or to my name) to purchase the Fruz. Tears of frustration and shame start to well up in my eyes as he takes my trembling hands in his. "Hey", he says softly "we're in this together".

And I accept and believe it. Take a deep breath, tuck the two fives he has layed discreetly on the table into my pocket, and get myself fed. I'll get him back and I've got his back. AND, I'll even let him drive. Every once in awhile.

HNT - the slit



Yes, I'm having as much fun as it look like here, on my 5th martini or so before fondue dinner. I LOVE these boots (even more so now that I got those non-slip pads for the insides) and it took me about 2 months to finally find them.

Cheers! And happy holidays!!

Donnerstag, Dezember 14, 2006

year in rear view

I saw this on a few otherblogs and thought it was an interesting idea (and I think I have done it before as well, but used the first sentence of the first post of the month).

Here, for your amusement, the first sentence of the last post of the month, 2006:

Jan: ... sure, some might say it's getting down to the wire here, but I say I'm just gettin' this party started!

Feb: What a rush it has been... I'm not ready to let go of love month just yet.

Mar: It seems my April fool's has begun a little early.

April: Sitting at the end of my peanut butter and jam packed weekend, wishing there was some way of injecting just a few more hours into it... not believing that it's over already.

May: The Goddesses Gathered for the second time, at the lovely home/studio of Goddess Siren

June: Hotels I have worked in Honey I call my love Hungry for some free timeto Hang out away from here Hardly just beginning Humming a Happy tune Harmony in all things Hugely indebted to you

July: Oh, am I ever a grumpy back-to-work person today, on a Monday of all days.

August: ... so, um, what do you do when you get to the bottom? (Learning to pole dance)

September: Another Friday, another good mood!

October: Update(d) Update Pumpkin: Purchased, yet not carved

November: I love getting Henna'd

HNT - Behave!



Imagine my surprise when I get a one word e-mail from my boyfriend yesterday afternoon with this image attached (victim's identity has been concealed for his protection). "Remember?"

Um, no. Sorry, honey. I have no recollection of this being taken OR who this is! Ooops.

Dienstag, Dezember 12, 2006

Feed 333 org

Besides the decorating, baking, shopping, etc. going on this time of year, 'tis also the season to think about the less fortunate. The ones who struggle on a daily basis to get by, to feed themselves and their families.

I came across this site, started by a woman with an idea, a vision, to do something to help.

Please check it out:



(I haven't seen it yet but happen to know that it's gonna be in my stocking)

Montag, Dezember 11, 2006

mmm that was fun





safe bananas



We had a very exciting day at work today. Our bulk order of banana guards arrived, and hilarity ensued.

Mine is glow-in-the-dark. Cause, you know, you never know when you're gonna be looking for your banana in the dark!

8 more work days, then I'm off for 10!

I love my job and my colleagues, bt I also love having some *extra* paid time off to relax, hang out with family, and get a head start on my 2007 reading list.

Freitag, Dezember 08, 2006


Sassy Girl & her Love
Over the Moon, N.W.
Cowtown, AB
XOX-OXO


This is what my address labels look like (well, sorta, you get the general idea) for the Christmas cards I am going to send out next week.

I was reflecting on where I am right now in life and I realized that I can finally call myself a traveller on that 'path' I have been referring to all this time. Whenever I was asked about how things were going in the past, this would be my generic response. "I feel I'm headed in the right direction to be on the path I want to be".

Well, gentle readers, the time has arrived. We ARE the ones we have been waiting for. For the most part, I'm living in the moment with a grateful heart, regular meditation and excersise have replaced some of my bad habits, I am blissfully creating a home with my equal and loving partner. And so it is.

p.s. TWO hours and I get to leave for the weekend mountain party... Bringing my skis and skates but have the feeling the only 'sport' will be drinking. This will be the first time staying at the fancy schmancy hotel since my ~ahem~ honeymoon 12 years ago. Wow. Weird?

Donnerstag, Dezember 07, 2006

HNT - the lips



... caught in the act at my company Holiday party this past weekend. Hey, at least I didn't drop my shoe in the fountain like last year!

Montag, Dezember 04, 2006

And a Bookworm in a Pear Tree

An e-mail was sent around my place of employment today (by the same lovely soul who started the baking exchange), inviting anyone who might be interested to bring books to lend out to the boardroom Friday at lunch, and 'be prepared to talk about them'.

This prompted a thorough sorting (and categorizing) of my newly-on-display collection of 4 shelves of literary goodness tonight in my study/meditation room. This is in fact the first time *ever* that I have had all of my books in one place, and space enough to put them all in an real bookshelf together. I have often thought about how the eclectic mix came to be, and if I would ever actually get around to reading them all. I had also had the recurring idea to start some kind of book club type of thing, or at least a review now and then (maybe even here).

Well, now I have the chance of sharing a bunch with my coworkers as well as with you, IIFs :) I've picked a dozen or so to bring in (and have artfully inscribed my name inside with my pink glitter pen), and would like to offer up 12 titles I have picked out for this arena. To make it fully interactive, I'd like you to vote on which one should be read/reviewed in which month of '07. Thanks in advance for your help :)

After reading through the titles, I have come to the conclusion that only one single one is fiction (and one of Oprah's picks, actually):

1. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
(winner of the nobel prize)

2. The Four Agreements Companion book by Don Miguel Ruiz

3. The Power of Now ~A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment~ by Eckhart Tolle

4. Spiritual Economics ~The Principles and Process of True Prosperity~ by Eric Butterworth
(the unfinished textbook for a course I took at CPL this fall)

5. A Woman's Worth by Marianne Williamson

6. Fragrant Sensuality ~Aromatics and Nature's Essential Oils~ Valerie Ann Worwood
(Aromatherapy is the theme for my homemade Christmas gifts this year)

7. Aus eigener Kraft ~Gesundsein und Gesundwerden in Harmonie mit Natur- und
Mondrhythmen~ Johanna Paungger & Thomas Poppe
(a German book about Moon Phases and Health)

8. The Voice of Knowledge ~a practical guide to inner peace~ by Don Miguel Ruiz

9. Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
(Self Realization Fellowship Founder)

10. Feeling Good by David D. Burns, M.D.
('The New Mood Therapy' from PENN U, circa 1980)

11. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
(I vote February for this one)

12. 14 Day Herbal Cleansing by Laurel Vukovic
(I like to cleanse 2X/year, this book has great tips for purification techniques beyond just diet)

extra bonus (the bakers dozen version)

13. Strong Women Stay Slim by Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D.
(to help support/inspire my thrice weekly weight training sessions at the gym)


Which one do I read first??

A sign

... this is my 421st post!

So I walk into my gym this weekend which has been undergoing some major renovations lately, and I'm greeted with the following sign:

"There may be a strong smell of glue throughout the club as the construction workers are putting the mats in. We apologize for any inconvenience."
That made for an interesting workout indeed.

Freitag, Dezember 01, 2006

Deck those halls

Have I mentioned how much I love firsts of the month? And Fridays? And Baileys in my Gingerbread Latte? Mmmm it's mixing nicely with my cold medication (teehee) as I try and fight off this cold once and for all to be in good shape for the upcoming partees. First up: my company's tomorrow evening, and we get to stay over in the fancy schmancy hotel across the street. Add staying in fancy schmancy hotels to my favorite lists.

Double that next weekend, when my love's company parties it up in an even fancier (schmancier, if that's a word) hotel in the mountains. Who knows, I may even get some skiing and ice skating in over the two days we're out there. Yes, I'm certainly thick into the holiday spirit this year... I have made my list but have yet to check it twice. There are 23 days left, bring on the baking shopping wrapping christmas card writing cheer!