its almost over

and quite glad that it is.

its been a fairly busy christmas season for us, and i'm not too sad to be heading back into the routine of everyday life once more. the kids are back to school on monday, and i'll return to a much more normal work life as well.

the weather here has just been something else over the last month. i don't remember having this much snow since i was a kid. and it just keeps on coming down. the streets in town are not in great shape, and i almost got myself stuck in our back alley this morning when i was just a bit too far over off the packed snow. i really need to take a picture to document this abnormal weather. it is just odd!

in other news, and another almost over topic... i am down to my final 3 pounds of my weight loss journey. even over christmas i lost 1.6lbs, which i was totally not expecting. i still had a few glasses of red wine, ate turkey, and had a few bites of holiday baking. no deprevation happened here! i think the big thing for me was that food was not a focus. because i've been eating so low-key for months now, it really wasn't a big deal to not stuff myself until i was uncomfortable. and i still enjoyed it. but i am enjoying my size 8 clothing far more!!

we also in the final countdown for our winter getaway. we're heading off to mazatlan in 20 days. i'm so looking forward to the sun and warmth, its not even funny. i've had a very hard time staying warm the last while... i guess its when i no longer have 37 pounds of fat on my rear end, there is no longer the polar bear effect! the kids are pumped, they only have 2 weeks back at school before we head south.

and, of course, the year is almost over. there have been good things for us the last year, and i hope that the good karma continues. both dh and i have jobs we both love, and that financially has put us in a good position. we should have our reno starting soon on our house. (oh no, that STILL hasn't begun!) the kids are happy and healthy. we're blessed to have great friends in our lives, as well as other positive people surrounding us.

so, to you and yours, a very happy new year, and thanks for taking a peek into my life (as sporadic as it may be). may you also be blessed in the new year.

64 cups, 2 hours and 1 doorknob

for a quiet wednesday, tonight was a good night.

the kids have curling each week, so after making cheese panini's for 3 hungry little boys, i dropped them off at the rink. j doesn't curl until 5:30, so he stayed home to get his homework done. b always brings his buddy from out of town to walk with him,and today there was an extra little boy, but given the weather, i thought a ride over was a good idea.

so anyways, after having wrestled with getting our back door open and closed all day today, i was getting frustrated. when dh wandered in the back after picking j up at 7pm, he closed the door and the knob came right off in his hand. oh yes, that doorknob has been giving us issue for months now. and we had an extra one we had found at a garage sale in the summer as well. it just hadn't been replaced yet.

now it has. after dh couldn't find it in the garage and had a bit of a meltdown (i think he was hungry!! and dinner was sitting on the table!) he replaced it. yay!

so there's the doorknob.

2 hours - the time it took dh to complete a normally 35 minute drive to work in the city. i'm quite glad i stayed put today. the wind and blowing snow were just a bit much for me this morning going to the dr's office, let alone taking on the highway and the treacherous city streets. something like 360 accidents reported between 7pm last night and 10 am this morning. craziness!

after a phone call last week from the school about supplying some treats for the bake sale tomorrow while the christmas concert is going on, i did up a few plates of goodies from my slowing growing stash of baking. i ended up baking off the refrigerator ginger cookies i had put together last weekend as well. and then i thought i should make some caramel popcorn.

now i must say, this is my downfall. and i've been putting it off until now for that reason. i love love love sweet salty food. caramel. oh my. and now that i am so close to my goal, i didn't want to have that temptation in the house.

so i made it. 64 cups of ooey gooey luscious carmelly goodness. and i was good. i only had a taste. ok, maybe 10 single pieces. but that's all. no more for me. some will go to school tomorrow, some for the neighbour, and the rest will end up as snacking goodness over the next week.

but that 64 cups will not end up on my a$$...

i've worked to hard for that!

randomness

oh yes, again, its been a while. so, to update, here are the points of interest in no particular order:

- its freaking freezing outside. gotta love alberta in the winter, although it is far earlier for a winter storm and wind chills of -45C than normal. brrrrr!!

- i am nowhere near started OR finished Christmas shopping with only 12 days to go. i am never this late getting at it!

- a personal journey started about 3 1/2 months ago, i'm working on losing the 40lbs that has been hanging off my a** for the last 13 years. i'm so close, but seeming rather stuck the last couple weeks. down 2 up 1, repeat. less than 10 to go, but its a bit frustrating.

- christmas related, with work, christmas was SO over for me by the beginning of november. i've been working on superbowl and family day weekends for the last month. really. that's probably what half my shopping problem is. i'm already in the future. my sense of time is somewhat warped!!

- 36 days until we head to mazatlan for 10 days. so looking forward to it. we'll be going with the kids, another couple and another mom and her 3 girls. it'll be a fun trip!! we've been talking about another family vacation to mexico, maybe in the summer again. we had such a great time in cancun, and my mom would also like to go there again too...

- my parents are off to puerto penasco for 6 weeks at the beginning of january to officially kick off my mom's retirement. they're driving down, taking grandma, and their molly dog is going as well (oh yes, a 5 day trip with a 160lb rottie will be FUN!)no, she's really a great traveller (the dog) and i'm sure it will be just fine.

- our next non-family trip i'd like to go to either huatulco or acapulco. just that little bit further south. although the beaches in the mayan riviera are far better. and the water's warmer. dream a bit with me!

- i won! really! $500 smackers in a work "contest". for a display. i never win anything, so it was a BIG shocker to me. just in time to buy ridiculously outrageous new bathing suits. like really - $100 for a little piece of material?? drives me crazy. its not cash, but for a gift certificate. i chose the mall. gotta love it.

- still loving work. its going well, and i think our company will ride out whatever recessionary issues there are with few problems. everyone has to buy groceries, and the little food luxuries are things people don't tend to skimp until things are really bad.

- oh yes, the battery died in my beast today. despite all the coddling we've given it up until now, this cold snap was its demise. so dh will bring one home for me tomorrow. oh happy day!! then all the crazy lights won't flash at me in inopportune times any more!

- 3 christmas parties in one week last week. need i say more? diet havoc. cleanse starting tomorrow. come on 10 pounds!!! go away!! LOL

- the boys both had bits to do in the last community theatre project. j had a great part, and b did the lighting. it was really cute, a production of "father knows best" or for the newer generations, the original of the movie "cheaper by the dozen". well done, well attended. and it was a family affair in all - dh and numerous rounded up friends help build the set, and i became part of the costuming crew, sewing one of the girl's outfits. (i *DON"T* sew!)

- attended a family reunion/birthday party for one of my aunts the beginning of november. my dad's side of the family is huge, so lots of visiting with various relatives.

- my parents went to egypt in november. trip of a lifetime. its on my list.

ok, i think that's it in a nutshell...

and once again, i really need to get on this again. life prevails...