Out with '08 in with '09

Welcome 2009! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us!

Sorry my posting has been slow, we have been enjoying a lot of family time. Jamie has been off work since the 19th and doesn't have to go back until the 5th. So I will see you then, and yes, there WILL be pictures!!

Merry Christmas

From our house to yours....

Hope Santa's sack is filled with whatever it is you are hoping for!

Christmas Vacation

Busy enjoying the Christmas season! So much going on here, but no time to post! I'll update with pictures and everything when I can!

Donovan's Obsession

Donovan LOVES the Christmas decorations, and he especially LOVES the Christmas Village. Every time we walk out of his room, or up or down the stairs, he points and gets all excited to see it. And every time I turn my back, he scampers up the stairs and tries to plug it in, to see the lights!
Here are a few pictures of the village (sorry, it was day time when I took them, so the lights aren't on, but I will take a few when it's dark and post them too).

So this is the whole thing, it's up on my plant ledge, which is thankfully out of reach for Donovan (well for anyone really) however, that did make it a little tricky to put up! lol

This is on the far left, it is the wilderness/farm/residential area:

This is the town center with the school, Church, and other businesses. Also please note Banff up in the background, it's the highest point in this part of the village.


This side is the Ocean View side, with the light house in the top corner (complete with rotating light at the top of the house!) and the fishing shack in the bottom right corner.

Close up of the ocean sector. lol I know, I know, WAY too much time on my hands....

COLD!!

And I mean really Cold, like this isn't just your normal cold, this is Cold with a capital C. Because seriously people, it's cold out there!

We are in the middle of a deep freeze, actually this post came a day late, today and tomorrow is our little break from the freeze and it was a nice and warm -15'C today! Seriously, I said to my mom when I got to her house tonight, "wow, it's warm out today!" lol, and it was compared to yesterday, when with the wind chill it was -48'C (that's -54ish'F for you Americans in the house).

So Cold, that our snow dog, had to be FORCED outside to do her business. Which like never happens.

So please forgive the lack of posts I've just been trying to thaw my fingers!!

SNOW!!! and a visit with Santa

Well we got quite the dumping of snow here these last few days! Here are a few pictures of Jamie and Ruby shoveling the driveway (and yes, I did put down the camera and help out too).

And of course, the Santa visit. As you can tell, he didn't want to sit on Santa's knee, so this was the best we could do. So it's Donovan's second Christmas but his first visit to Santa.

New Oppertunity, New Challanges

About 6 months ago, before I started working as a travel agent, I posted my resume up on M0nster .ca. Then I started working as a travel agent, and stopped looking on M0nster. I did get weekly (or so) e-mails from them, but most (all) of the jobs that were e-mailed to were based in Calgary (which is about 3 hours away), so I didn't pay too much attention. Plus, I had a job, I was working from home.

I do really like my job, I enjoy trying to help people plan their vacations, and I LOVE that I'm able to do it from home. Although there are definitely draw back, in that it doesn't pay a whole lot, and the pay is random, as I am paid solely on commission. Plus, I have to do my own advertising to get the word out, and drum up my own business.

So where does this lead us?

This afternoon the phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, in fact I was ready to tell whoever was calling me about a credit card that I wasn't interested, when the voice on the phone said something I wasn't expecting.

It was as job placement agency, that got my resume of M0nster and they had a job opening in Medicine Hat at a local Oil and Gas company that they were wondering if I was interested in? Hum, I said, "I could be interested, depending on the job!"

We got to talking, and the job is mostly an office administration position, and is part time. Actually it's only 2 days a week, and the pay is pretty good too! So she asked me to e-mail her the latest copy of my resume, and to fill in an on-line interview (since she is based in Calgary and I am in Medicine Hat, they are allowing me to do the interview on-line).

So here I sit. It's scary to think about going back to work. It's scary to think about putting Donovan in a day home. However, it is also good to think about that, because I do think that it will be good for him to interact with other kids and get to play with more then just me!

I figure that since this job came to me, and I didn't seek it out, it's a good sign. I've sent in my resume, filled out the form, and then trying very hard not to worry about it! It's no longer in my hands. And if I'm offered this job, then I will make my final decision. Although right now, it's looking pretty positive.

Any advice you have to offer would be greatly appreciated!

(ps, I know it's with an oil and gas company, which doesn't really sit well with the environment side of me, but the lady did say that they were quite interested in my degree, and if things went well, there was room to move up in the company and move into a position that would involve my environmental training. But that could just be talk in order to get me to say yes to the job! uggg, lots to think about!)

For Magnetbabe

I give you Ruby in the snow:

I don't know if I've shared this story with you before, but if I have it was probably so long ago that you don't remember anyway.

When we first adopted Ruby from the Shelter, it was February. February in PEI I might add, and in PEI they have SNOW in the winter, like all winter long, snow, glorious snow! We think she was about 4 months old when we got her, which would make her birthday sometime in November.

Ruby was found abandoned in the ditch on the side of a country road not far from where we were living at the time. And in a completely side note, taking us way off track, we think we know who Ruby's dad is, being that there is a male dog that looks EXACTLY like Ruby (so much so that driving home one day I actually pulled the car over to see what she was doing out of the house and on the road, only to find it wasn't Ruby but a male Ruby look alike), and this dog that is a Ruby look-a-like lives VERY close to the place that Ruby was found in the ditch.

ANYWAY..... the point of this story was that Ruby was born sometime in a snowy PEI winter, and we brought her home during that winter, and therefore, she was trained to do her "business" outside, in the winter, on the snow.

That spring, when super genius Ruby was completely trained, the snow started to melt. I didn't think anything of this, in fact I thought that Ruby would be happy to have grass to run around on. But what I failed to consider is that Ruby was trained to go on the snow, not the grass. It didn't take too long before she did number one on the grass, as that is hard to hold in when you really got to go! But number two? Well she searched and she searched until she found the last remaining snow bank to relieve herself on. It took her a good month before she was able to just go on the grass without searching for snow first!

But I swear, if she could smile (which those of us who are pet people know that they can) she would smile every year when the snow came back! I swear, she is never happier, then when she is knee, hip or neck deep in the snow!

Remind me to tell you about the winter storm we had and the snow was so deep she was literaly SWIMMING in the snow. Oh wait a min, I think I just did tell you! lol

Getting Ready for Chritmas

We had a nice snow storm on Sunday/Monday and we took full advantage of it and Donovan got all dressed up in his winter gear as we went out to play!

Of course, he had to make sure to stop and point out the Canada Geese flying over head!

With all that winter gear made it tricky to walk! So we had a lot of tummy time on the snow! Here he is laughing his head off as Ruby was running around and jumping like crazy!

We also set up the Christmas tree, and as you can see, he was a BIG help! Jamie and I both said, that was the most fun we've EVER had setting up the tree!

Snow Baby

We got our first REAL snow fall this weekend, of course it hit as we were driving home from Calgary, so our normal two and a half hour drive actually turned into a four hour drive! But unlike the 13 cars we saw in the ditch on our way home, we made it ok.

Yesterday, the snow was nice and fluffy, and the temperature was nice and warm -8'C. So I bundled Donovan up and took him and Ruby outside to play in the snow. They both LOVED it. As usually Ruby is happiest in the snow, she runs around, jumps and plays like she is a puppy again. I swear, the more snow the better for her.

It took Donovan a while to get used to the big snow boots and snow suit, so he spent a lot of time crawling in the snow, as it was easier the walking, but he still had a great time! This winter is going to be great!

Then tonight, Jamie Donovan and I put the tree up! It was SO MUCH FUN! Donovan really did try to help, and although the ornaments that he put on the tree weren't so much "hung" as "nested" in there, it was still a blast!

Pictures to follow soon!

Travel with Jackie

Just thought I would draw your attention over to my side bar, I have a link to my travel website and also my work e-mail address. If you are interested in booking a trip, anywhere, any kind of trip, big or small, I can do it for you!

I would love to look into your trip and help plan your vacation or give you a price quote, no pressure, no obligation to purchase.

If you have any questions, please either leave a comment, or e-mail me! I appreciate it!

PS. lots of great last min deals at Christmas time!

Road Trip

We went up to Calgary this weekend on a road trip for Jamie's boxing. Donovan couldn't have behaved better, he was a little angel and charmed the pants off of everyone he met!

On little story from the trip...

Saturday night after we watched Jamie's fight, Donovan and I went back up to the hotel room so I could put him to bed, and Jamie stayed down to finish watching the fights and visit with everyone.

About 10pm (Donovan had been asleep for about 20mins by this time, yes yes, it was a VERY late night for him). I hear the fire alarm out in the hallway start to ding.
So I stick my head out the door to see what was going on, and no one seemed to know anything.

"Hum, weird" I thought, and then decided I better call down to the front desk to see what was up. I called and asked if it was a fire, or an emergency or just a false alarm or what, and the guy at the desk said,
"Um, well I don't think it's anything, you should be ok"

So I sat down as the alarm started dinging more frantically, looked over at Donovan sleeping away and thought, do I really wanna chance getting stuck in this room on a "I should be ok"?

So I grabbed the car keys, put my shoes on, and picked up Donovan and his blanket. Went into the hallway, where the alarm was ringing like crazy, down the stairs into the lobby where Jamie was waiting and panicking because "WHERE WERE YOU? WHY DID YOU TAKE SO LONG?" lol and we waited there for about 20mins while the firemen came in and checked things out.

We still aren't sure if it was a small something or other, or a false alarm, but we were sent back to our rooms and everything was fine.

But the really amazing part about this whole thing? Donovan SLEPT through the entire ordeal, the alarm, the going down and up three flights of stairs, and noisy lobby, all of it!

Addiction

Ok seriously, etsy? Did you guys know about Etsy??

I started my own etsy shop a couple of years ago, and although I did have one sale, I've largely neglected it. Mostly because I gave most of my paintings away, and haven't had the time to do more.

Etsy is a place that I usually check out every once in a while, but since November was getting close to Christmas time, I started checking things out a little more regularly, and a little more closely. And it's official, I'm addicted! I absolutely love it! The only thing that would make it better is if I were able to actually feel and touch the things. Because seriously, who doesn't love to touch beautiful things??

Anyway, if you looking for a unique gift for Christmas, or just killing some time and want to browse, check it out. But be warned, once you start the etsy clicking, you might not be able to stop!

Honestly the only thing stopping me from buying something on a daily basis, is that darn thing called a budget won't let me!!

Before and After

Before:

After:

I can't tell you how happy I am to have this finished!

Kitchen Reno

This past Thanksgiving (the Canadian Thanksgiving, so we are talking October here) we started an impromptu kitchen renovation. Finally today, I got my dishwasher back! We are almost done, and I couldn't be happier about that!! Just have to get the water working in the fridge again, and then finish up the last bit of tile and we are finished. Jamie thought we would still be working on it over the Christmas break, and let me tell you I'm SO PLEASED that we are not!

hi

Well that was a bit of a long break huh?

I am still am debating on how much I will be blogging here, I do miss it a lot, so I think I might start up again, but just trying to get the balance in my life so that the blog is simply icing on the cake and not the entire dessert!

I'm off to do some dishes but in the mean time, here are a few pics we took this fall.

Temporarily Out of Service

This blog has been out of commission for a while, please bare with me as I get things up and running and back date all the old posts!

New posts, pictures and templates to come soon!