So I got to see a dear friend of mine tonight. It was really wonderful.

And then my cat finally came inside at 2:15 a.m. He'd been out for over 2 hours. He wasn't even that cold. He's such a funny kitten.

So I got this piece of mail today - at home and at work.

It was in a hand-written envelope with no return address. There was a hand-written note on the newspaper ad inside the envelope as well. I felt violated. This blog entry describes it very well and it was written in June! It just seems wrong somehow. I can deal with my name and address in databases, but for someone to hand write an envelope and a note to me in person gives me the heebie-jeebies.

The past few days have been a blur. Here's a quick recap...

Tuesday
- sleep
- hang out with niece
- shopping trip including the return of a picture, exchange of some cable knitting needles, purchasing of 20 plates for the office, and four fruitless stops looking for iPod skins
- packing
- playing with my niece and nephew
- saying good byes
- long drive home with 2 hours being in the fog

Wednesday
- sleep
- more sleep
- wake up to say good bye to dad
- more sleep
- wake up to pick out arborite and have massage
- shovel the walk
- wait for boyfriend's call
- finally make blog changes
- talk to boyfriend
- more sleep

Thursday
- work
- lunch
- drop recently purchased plates in garage
- work
- recover 7 of 20 plates and trash the other 13 broken and chipped ones despite thoughts of using the pieces for a mosaic
- play with blog template details
- sleep

I'm tired and glad to be sleeping in my own bed.

Lots of shopping with a 7-year-old girl can be fun. Sometimes not, but mostly fun. Especially when she's whining in Home Sense, "I want to be able to buy whatever I want!" I responded that I too wanted to buy whatever I wanted. Then the lady in the next aisle said, "I was just thinking that very thing." Heh.

My frustration level was greatly increased by having to "deal" with a kid on top of my difficulties dealing with that many people while shopping. Good thing most of the stores we went to didn't have much of a crowd. Except Best Buy - that was a mistake and we left very soon. I did get some new towels, cheap picture frames, some new pictures, a new knife set that I like a lot. There was some other stuff too - lots of stuff from Michael's. There were some good sales at Michael's. I really liked this yarn called Wild - so soft!

Anyhoo, off to party now. Home tomorrow to see my kitten and friends. It's been a great week.

Okay, so this morning started with my niece crawling into bed with me and sleeping for a while. Then she woke up with a start and asked me if Santa had been here. So we went to investigate. And indeed, he'd been here. The cookies and milk were mostly gone and the apple had one big reindeer bite out of it. Our next course of action was run all over the house and let everyone know.

First were grandma and grandpa in the basement who were woken with joyful glee of, "Santa was here!! Santa was here!!"

Next was upstairs to wake her brother and parents. My nephew, who is normally quite slow to wake, was disoriented and crawled to the end of the bed saying drowsily and longingly, "Santa... Santa..." How adorable.

We opened our stocking and presents from Santa first. Then we tackled the rest of the gigantor mound of gifts under the tree. The playing with new toys ensued with much joy including karoake and dance competition for the Gamecube with dance pad. Heh. I might have to get me one of those. It was a lot of fun. We also played with Hotwheels, made spin art, knitted a collar scarf for the dog, played Clue Jr. and a nifty game where a pirate steals your coin.

Then there was the food. Lasagna for lunch followed by a feast of turkey dinner prepared by my sister-in-law. Most of the preparations happened while the kids and I were at the park playing soccer and swinging high to the heavens. They got to ride their bikes today and there is almost no snow in Calgary and it was above zero. I didn't even pack my winter coat.

In the midst of all this, I managed a 3 hour nap which gave me energy for the rest of the day.

Now we're off to watch a movie, eat popcorn, and then off to bed. We have a big shopping day ahead of us.

I hope the world has hope and peace.

For Christmas we opened presents, played with our new toys, went to the park, and had lots of fun! My favourite presents were the soft, fuzzy, warm slippers and portable CD player.

Merry Christmas! And God bless everyone.

So my brother asked for help in wrapping presents after we got back from my sister-in-law's dad's house where we had supper and the kids opened some presents. He then indicated that he had to wrap all of them. That didn't bode well. So I agreed because I have never turned him down.

I carted them all upstairs so that our folks could get some sleep. After organizing all the stockings, I noticed my brother still hadn't shown up for his part in wrapping duty. Sure enough, there he was in bed lying next to my nephew. I wasn't going to be in this alone so I woke him up.

He eventually made it downstairs and managed to organize his family's stockings and wrap his present to me while watching two movies. And bad movies, they were. Good thing I was so distracted by wrapping all the other presents myself. Jiminy cricket, there were a lot!

In the midst of all the presents, my niece came downstairs. Uhhh... I thought our goose was cooked! But my brother just talked to her and asked her to go back to bed. And a few incoherent sentences, she went. It was a strange experience because, apparently, she was sleep walking. Freaked me right out, but Santa was real for another year.

I tidied and made it look presentable in the living room, trying not to leave any trace of humans, only the magic of Santa Claus. My brother, of course, didn't make it through the tidying period so I finished that up myself. He was probably already asleep by the time I crawled into bed. Apparently, he went to bed at 4:30.

My doctor told me to ask the kids about their theories around Santa Claus. She had one little boy with this elaborate idea that Santa washed his dirty sooty clothes at his house which is what gave Santa time to put out presents and eat milk and cookies. Then he would go out the front door and lock it behind him. Heh.

So I asked my neice and nephew... Apparently, Santa's a teleporter which is why we don't need a chimney. The rest of the story is pretty standard, but Santa is a teleporter. I like that too.

Yep, it's almost 8 and we haven't left yet. It's going to be a good weekend. We're just getting some presents wrapped and packing. My mom and me consitute the we.

I'm just so excited for Christmas this year.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

It's a crazy busy life we lead and this week, I've spent more than the usual number of hours awake. But all that time has been well spent. It's been the most wonderful week in so many ways. Sure my sewer backed up and my furnace fan needed repairs last week and making that many lasagnas from scratch takes a long time, but when my boss at work mentioned that I wasn't having any luck with my house in the past week, it took me a few moments to clue in to what his meaning was. I had moved past all these obstacles and not looked back to make sure they were still behind me. How freeing!

Tonight at my most sleep deprived and emotional state, I had to say my farewells to the California folk. I cried. It felt so right to have them here and celebrating with them for a wedding, Christmas, and for no reason at all.

I had a few people ask why I was having everyone over for supper. The answer is simple - it was my Christmas gift to everyone. Time together with friends is far more valuable than any material gift and you get to keep something with you forever - the memories of your friends.

"In the animal kingdom, they call this presenting." There are so many quotes that should have been recorded for posterity, but there wasn't a quote sheet for the night.

The happy couple sure was smiley. It was a divine sight to behold. Their radiance filled the room.

I have two men staying at my house right now. When they got home from shopping (for me), they informed me they needed a bucket for the upstairs sink as it wouldn't drain. They wanted to clean the trap. I said sure, but I wanted to take a look first. Immediately, they started emptying the cupboard under the sink. I stopped them before they went too far and asked if they'd tried using the plunger. Uh, apparently not.

After the first plunge where all the clogged water came out the overflow drain shooting all over the mirror. You have to use quite a bit of quick force when plunging for the best effect. This means there was a lot of water shooting out the overflow drain. There might have been some laughter at this point.

Now, I tried a few different things as I realized the cause of the plugged drain was me and my vacuuming on Saturday. I maybe attempted to flush too much water and waste and clogged the drain. But since most of that went down the toilet, the sink blockage might not have been in the trap. I tried plunging the toilet to see if that had any effect, but no dice. Then I plugged the overflow drain with a washcloth, which one of the men was nice enough to hold for me while tried again with the plunging. That seemed to do the trick as I was able to plunge away heartily in the sink. And three or four plunges later - we had drainage.

The man holding the wash cloth made the comment, "Makes me feel kind of useless."

There are certain things in this life that cannot be replaced by anything else. Spending time with friends and loved ones is one of the those things. Most of my time has been spent lately either with the people I care about or preparing for their arrival or seeing them. It is that time of year, after all.

I did a lot of shopping last week. I'm tired of shopping and yet I still have no presents for my dad, brother or sister-in-law. Nothing seems good enough. I have to start wrapping presents this week. Today there were also many hours of shopping, but it was quite delightful with the antics of two fellows from Calgary to keep me entertained.

My brat has been very entertaining the past few days with guests in the house. Standing guard at the end of my bed at night, being all skittish, and looking at me as if to say, "When are these guys leaving? I'm tired of having people in my house. Okay, rub my belly if you must."

I played a new game tonight called Tsuro. I played just one game of it and won. It's a quick game which I like, but it could really get my competitive streak going if I played too many games in a row. I'll have to watch that. I think my boyfriend would really like it.

On Saturday night, there was our company Christmas party. While 5 people cancelled, I was still pleased with the turnout and the neat gifts we were able to provide to everyone. The food was amazing and here is the menu. We started with crab dip with deep fried wontons, neptune stuffed mushrooms and bruschetta. Completely divine. [sigh] I was stuffed to the gills by the time the evening was complete. I think everyone else had a good time as well.

Oh yeah! And my date on Friday night was quite wonderful. It was the first time in a while that my boyfriend and I didn't talk about work or school at all. We forgot the rest of our lives and were just together in the moment. We saw The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. I must say that I enjoyed the movie very much. I was leaning over the seats in front of my with my knees squished against the backs of the seats because I couldn't get close enough to the movie. Audible gasping, sighs, and other such emotional reactions were a part of almost the whole movie for me. And I was so pleased to have my boyfriend in the seat next to me because I always enjoy movies more when I share the experience with someone so close to me.

After my duct and furnace cleaning on Thursday, I awoke today to find it chillier than I would have liked in my bedroom and bathroom on the second floor. The main floor was a little better, but not much. The basement, however, was almost a sauna.

The duct cleaning company was fairly helpful in offering to call a heating place to come check it out and offered to pay for the repairs if it was deemed to be their fault, but I was still annoyed at the implication that it was a coincidence that the fan just happened to stop working the day they cleaned.

My dad is awesome and always receives a phone call from me before I call any repair company. I phoned him from home at lunch and we discussed the possibilities and after some instructions as to what I was looking for, we determined that it was likely a broken wire in the power connection. By wiggling the wires, I was able to generate a slight movement in the fan belt from the motor - 5 inches was the most movement I got, but that was good enough for me to truly believe that it was just a bad connection.

I certainly didn't have time to fix it at lunch so I had to do it after work. I was supposed to have a date after work. Unfortunately, a warm house comes first so I had to fix that first and hopefully, have time for my date afterward.

More advice from my dad came when I had no idea how to strip the large metal cable insulation on the copper wires. Luckily, he gave me a pair of siecutters when I moved in - they have been invaluable. After stripping back the wires and reattaching them to the leads came the moment of truth when I flip the breaker to see if the fan actually comes on. Big breath and ... VICTORY!

And still enough time to make the movie.

I just dropped by some friends' house today. I haven't done that in a really long time. I really miss it. One friend told me that I look happy. I've been hoping someone would tell me that. I feel like me again - with all the basic components still there, just more of the good ones back. YAY!

I had my ducts cleaned today and now my house smells of lovely cranberry. There were some details in the middle I skipped like the haze of dust in my house and the burning eyes and blistering headache and the freaked out cat and the disgusting smells of the cleaning of the ducts.

So I turned on my fabulous vacuum cleaner and added a little cranberry smell and now my house is wonderful. Except the layer of dust on everything.

And now a bit of unsolicited advice, when you have your ducts cleaned in your new house for the first time, don't ask the technician when the last time they were cleaned. You probably don't really want to know. ICK!!

Forget all the other items on my wishlist!!

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas and only a hippopotamus will do.

After a rocky start to the day, I dropped off my boyfriend at the university and started getting motivated. I hadn't done my books in months so after weeks of trying to get myself to do it and the pile getting bigger by the week, I finally did it. Took me a couple hours and I even got stuff cleaned up from 6 months ago. Way to go me! I actually feel like I might get through my to do list before Christmas. [gasp!]

Of course, I haven't thought about work much this weekend and that changes my to do list dramatically. Either way, I think I can do it. It's been a great weekend.

Every day it gets closer to Christmas and today, I found presents on my doorstep!! One for my folks and one for me! My cousin from Edmonton must have had friends coming through so she had them dropped off. I've been smiling all day.

I also got to lend support to a friend in need. A while ago, I was surfing the net and came across this little piece of advice for friends in real need. Usually, people say, "Call me if you need anything." And they really do mean it. They'd do anything. However, having to ask for help is still hard even when people *know* you're in need and typically won't do it. The advice is this; when offering help, offer something specific. It allows you to feel a little less helpless in a situation you can do nothing about. Well, me anyway.

Yep. That's it.

Booyah!

Lots of activity to report this week. While a long winter's nap after work on Monday, I got up to do 4 hours of baking of biscuits and this wonderful cinnamon bread that a friend gave me the starter and recipe for. A diversity week celebration potluck on Tuesday was the reason for all the baking and those in attendance were not disappointed as other dishes were deer roast, sweet and sour ribs, two delicious rice dishes, black forest cake, cheese and crackers, salad, and all other the goodies.

Tuesday evening brought together friends of all sorts frolicking in the heroic land of Paragon City.

Wednesday gave me the opportunity to show a friend who I work with that our office really is a community of extraordinary caring individuals. And I'm so glad my company values their employees needs to be there for each other in hard times such as a parent passing away. The funeral services were moving and I truly felt God's presence. The evening proved to be full of great conversation, pizza, and a dining room table delivery. My dad spent the night and we had a really good visit.

I shoveled the snow today after slipping around town in the car. Shoveling snow is going to be the bane of my winter, but it'll be good for me. I thought about my friends in California as I was shoveling and figured now is the time that they will be very happy to be in California despite not being able to see a horizon.

My mom answered the phone this morning when I called to her the title song. She sang along with me. It was a great way to start the day. She's going to be here visiting me in a couple of weeks and I'm really looking forward to it.

Eighties cartoon watching happened this afternoon. Some room booking confusion put us behind so we didn't have time for the Smurfs, but we did have time for Inspector Gadget, Fraggle Rock, Care Bears, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and a friend's personal favourite, Thundercats. I got way too many of the trivia questions right - they wouldn't let me win anymore prizes. I traded the prizes I did win for the Fraggle Rock DVD. Yippee!! We ate Count Chocula and Froot Loops. All that was missing was the pyjamas.

Spending time with a new friend was good too, although I think I was cutting her off too much. I'll see her again soon, I'm sure.

Sometimes I forget that I've put my email address somewhere and then get cranky when I get a stupid email. Sillier things have happened. However I got a sale flyer today that thrilled me.

Okay, so where does all the time go? I swear I'm almost always busy and yet I don't seem to get anything accomplished.

Let's see, I got my iPod yesterday and I haven't even played with it yet. How bad is that? I also got Mr. & Mrs. Smith yesterday when I went into Future Shop to peruse the iPod accessory aisle. [le sigh] For Christmas, I want iPod accessories. All of them. Mwa-ha-ha...

Today, I went shopping with a co-worker for presents for our Christmas party. We had a ton of fun. Not finished yet, but we have a plan so it's going to be really good. I'm really looking forward to it - the Christmas party, that is. And my tall friend is coming with me to the party. I'm really looking forward to that too.

I have a cat draped across my forearms as I type this. Surprisingly how little one has to move one's arms while typing. He's just so awesome - my cat.

I heard from a friend today that I hadn't heard from in years. It was sort of a business call, but it was still good to hear his voice. He sounds a bit more grounded than he used to be which is good. Second kid on the way, married, and doing well in his chosen profession. I wish him all the best.

A friend of mine watched March of the Penguins the other day. I think I should just own that movie. I think I'd really like it. I've been wrong about these things before, but I've always found someone to give it to when I didn't care for it as much. I'll have to rent Sky High. We watched it in California, but it's been a while.

The weekend went somewhere, but I'm not sure where. I don't think I was home... I was home! I was home all day Saturday, waiting patiently for SaskTel. But no, they needed a bucket-truck. They didn't actually need a bucket-truck. Someone just didn't want to do my install on Saturday. Grrrr... So instead of being out of the house on Saturday, as was the plan, I sat here waiting. It could've been productive time, but it wasn't because I was expecting I'd be able to leave at any moment. Sunday, I was definitely not home. I slept in, but then left. I know because my cat mauled me when I got home that evening. Right now, his head is pushed into the top of my left hand as I type. Cold, slimy noses. Yech!

I think I'll pop in a movie, play with my iPod, and pester my boyfriend tonight.

Monday - visited a friend at her new house. It's totally awesome. I love some of her light fixtures. And I got to sleep late. Tuesday - worked til late. Wednesday - massage, soak and sleep. I was really tired. I guess I'm doing something, except Monday when I must have been kidnapped by aliens.

Obviously, this was in no particular order.