Out with the old, and in with the New....

It's New Year's Eve today, and as I reflect on the end of the holiday season, I am again amazed at how quickly it has flown by. Despite both Erin and I being sick for pretty much the entire time, it has been simply wonderful. Kids really do make the season much more enjoyable, and I really enjoyed Christmas before she bounded into our lives!!

We have had a pretty relaxing week to be quite honest. Gord fiddled around with all of the new electronics we received from Santa, and he figured out how my video ipod works - very cool! I plan on loading it up with music tomorrow.

So what did happen this past week you ask? Well, I decided I felt like getting out of the house on Wednesday, so I drove in to Ottawa to check out some of the after-Christmas sales. I was disappointed and came home with nothing. It was still nice to get out and about on my own. Erin has developed a passion for going out and looking around, and as much as I love taking her places with me, I have to admit the odd day to myself is nice!

On Thursday we got a call from Gord's brother Andrew inviting us to dinner, because some of Gord's brother Douglas' family members from Elliot Lake were down for a visit. We missed them earlier this year when they were down for March Break because we were lounging down in the Dominican! So we decided to head back to Ottawa to pick up a couple of staple supplies from Costco. That new Costco in Kanata is fabulous. Even when the parking lot is full, it never seems crowded. I don't know what they did, but whatever it was, it was done right! We had to pick up and bring dessert, so we got it there too. We had a great visit with my sister-in-law Shelley and two of her boys - John and Scott. I can't believe how big both of them are. I guess you notice that more when you don't see them very often! Of course they thought the same of Erin, who they haven't seen since she was one!! The kids were all playing with a new video game - I don't get the facination with video games - that was interactive so they were pretty much absorbed with that! Erin simply loves her Aunt Rita, who is fabulous with her, and spent much of her evening being carried around and read to by Aunt Rita!! I always feel bad that Erin demands all of Rita's attention, but I think Rita enjoys it!!

Friday brought a visit from one of my former favourite bosses Scott and his lovely wife Lyne. I haven't seen Scott in a few months, so it was good to have a couple of drinks and a good visit with them. Whenever I see someone from Nordion, it always brings back good memories of some wonderful people I left behind, and it also reminds me that I made a great decision for me both personally and professionally to leave. I have done my best to stay in touch with the ones I miss the most, and as the old saying goes, life is always changing, isn't it.....

Erin received some money for Christmas and decided she wanted to buy some new clothes for her barbies with it. We took her to Smiths Falls to pick some stuff out and she enjoyed herself as always! Gosh, it sounds like all we did was shop this holiday!!! Acutally, we also played games for countless hours and just relaxed (Erin and I took a few extra naps trying to get over our colds). Erin's honorary Aunt Dee came over for dinner last night. Erin was thrilled to have someone new to play barbies with! We had a nice quiet evening of dinner, drinks and watched season 1 of 'The Office' - Santa brought that to Gord - we are both big fans, so Seasons 1 & 2 of both the US and British version showed up under the tree!!

So that brings us to today, which as I said is New Year's Eve. As I promised to Erin, I am taking her to see Charlotte's Web this afternoon. Gord is cleaning up the basement in preparation for taking down all of the Christmas decorations. We are planning on doing that tonight after Erin goes to sleep. I figure that will be easier and we will start the New Year fresh!

The New Year always brings some resolutions doesn't it. I haven't really thought about it too much. I suppose the regulars always come to mind - eat better, get to the gym, etc. I have one new one and that is to sign up for lessons to learn how to play my acoustic guitar that Gord got me last year. Other than that, I can't think of anything more!

Next week takes Erin back to daycare - I can't believe how much she has been talking about going back and how much she misses her friends - and us back to work. Erin wants to go to gymnastics this winter, so I will register her for that on Tuesday - they have a place in Smith's Falls, so not as much driving!! January is likely to be a fairly quiet month. I have a conference to attend later in the month in Toronto, and we have been talking about a family ski trip with Jo and Chris, but nothing is firmed up there. I'll check back soon though with new pics, including an updated one of Minnie with her new Christmas bell and collar!!

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope it is filled with good times for all of you, and more wonderful adventures for Erin and Minnie!!!!

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas....

Okay so I got to experience my first ever green Christmas. It was still Christmas, but I have to admit that the next time I experience a green Christmas, I am hoping it will be on an island!!

It's Boxing day today, and we have finally seen some snow. I'm not convinced it is going to last beyond the day because it is above freezing, but it somehow makes the season a bit more festive!!

I am not sure I have ever seen Erin quite so excited in my life!! It literally took until 9:30pm on Christmas Eve for her little body to finally say 'enough - go to sleep!!' We had a great evening though. I picked up some take-away Chinese food for dinner. It was odd though in that Christmas Eve was so warm I didn't need a jacket! We lit candles around the house, had dinner, and talked about Santa's arrival down our road, and of course the order in which he was going to deliver toys to everyone! We tracked Santa both on TV and on the Internet. Erin was excited to see him flying over top of Buckingham Palace!! Everytime she heard the wind blow, she swore it was Santa. We don't have a fireplace (we are intalling one next year - so Santa can come in the conventional way - ha ha, I'm kidding!!), so Erin didn't know how he would come in the house. We decided to leave the patio door unlocked so he could come up onto the deck and bring her presents into the house that way! We baked cookies and cut up apples to leave for Santa and his reindeer. Once the wild girl was finally off to sleep, 'Santa' got to work! Santa Gord put together the Barbie house that Erin saw in the toy store and I went to wrapping and unpackaging. I have no idea who came up with the bright idea of torturing parents by packaging toys in a way that want to drive you to drink, but I'm thinking about starting another blog on that subject - there has to be a parent's lobby group out there somewhere to deal with the distress we all feel when taking 500 twist ties off of a simple little toy..... The stomach flu has been making it's way around the neighbourhood, and I was it's lucky victim on Christmas Eve. There I was wrapping presents and dropping my head into the toilet. Not particularly the most wonderful Christmas vision, eh? I think Gord and I finally nodded off sometime around 1:00am.....

Christmas morning woke me up before 6:00am. Erin was still snoozing away, but the dog got me up and I couldn't get back to bed. I decided to see what movies were on TV, and sat down and watched 'Click' - I love mindless Adam Sandler movies! When Erin finally woke up around 7:30am, we were greeted with a very sick little girl with a high fever and a nasty cough. We gave her some tylenol, and then she came bounding out to see what Santa brought her! She was pretty funny this year. Last year she would open a present, then want to sit and play with it. I thought it would take forever to get everything opened. This year was completely the opposite. She would take a gift, unwrap it, look at it, toss it aside and get something else!! Once she had everything opened, then she went back to play with everything! By the way, the Barbie house was a big hit! I think her favourite toy though was of all things a Nemo view finder. Yeah, you guys know what I am talking about. Those plastic binocular-like toys where you put a circular film strip in and you click the big handle? They are still pretty neat, and she loves it! Despite all of the high-tech stuff out there these days, I guess the simple toys are still the most fun!!

Santa was good to Gord and I as well. Gord received an XM Satellite radio and speaker docking station, and I got a video ipod. Very cool....

We decided to have dinner at our place this year, so around 10:00am, Gord and I started in ernest, to put preparations together for dinner. I picked up a huge turkey (30 lbs) and I was just glad we were able to squish the big bird into the pan!! Erin helped me to set the table (see the pics of her great work?!!), and Gord went and picked up his sister and mother in Ottawa. I guess that was the good part about no snow, at least it was a good day to travel anywhere. Everyone started to arrive shortly after 3:00pm. I was really happy to see my sister-in-law's beau Bill come out (Patricia had to work, so I hoped he would come), and her daughter Jane, who is home from Edmonton came as well. All told, there were 15 people here and I think everyone had a good time, and certainly enough to eat! My fridge is packed! Mmmmmm...... turkey leftovers!! Everyone left just before 8:00pm. Erin asked if she could play with some stickers as I began the thankless clean-up job. By the time I brought a sticker book out to the living room from her room, she was out like a light. Gord had brought his sister and mother back to Ottawa, so I had a chance to get the place cleaned up before he came home. When he came home, we found that Erin's fever had returned - she is just fighting a cold - so we gave her some more tylenol and put her to bed. I was pooped, so it didn't take me long to crash myself.

Erin woke up in pretty good humour this morning. She is really congested, but you know, this is a good week for her to be a bit sick, because we are both home and there is no more big plans for the week, so everyone can relax and rest. She is sleeping right now. I gave her somed medicine for her stuffy nose and had her take a nap to help her get better. Gord is out braving the electronic stores to see what Boxing day goodies are on for good prices!

Like I said there are no big plans for the week. We will have the odd visit with friends, and I have promised Erin to take her to see Charlotte's Web at the movies. I love Christmas holidays!!

Enjoy the pics and I'll check in before we bring in 2007 (I hope!!).

Christmas Eve and catching up....

As Erin has reminded us every five minutes.... 'SANTA COMES TONIGHT!!!' Yes, we have a very excited 3-year old on our hands. I am amazed at how much more fun Christmas is with a little one who really 'gets' the magic of this season!

So, I guess I have a bunch of catching up to do, considering the last time I checked in was December 3rd. The actual weeks have been a blur for the most part. Work has been very busy, but still very fun, and therefore the weeks go by quickly. Now for the weekend updates...

December 9th brought a few of the folks from Gord's work together at Boston Pizza for a kids present exchange lunch / party. Wait, I better back that day up. That day started with Gord being invited to join an early morning hunting expedition (well, in the fields around our places!!). He was given a brand new, never used black-powder gun to borrow from our neighbour Dave, and he was able to 'bag' the big one of the fall. Sigh... not my thing, but he and many others around here enjoy the sport and act responsibly about it, and well, I'm sick of hitting them with our cars, so.... Back to Boston Pizza.... we had a great time with everyone. The group Gord works with are a super bunch and everyone along with spouses and kids all get along really well. Erin received a Little Mermaid tea set, which she loved. The next day brought the neighbours and some other friends out for Erin's Christmas Cookie decorating party. This was my kind of party, as the only food allowed to be eaten were sweets!! I have put up a bunch of pics from the party!

December is a very busy month for birthdays. On the 13th, Erin's Aunt Elaine celebrated her 50th! We (her sister Eleanor and Patricia, myself, and sister-in-law Rita) went into Ottawa and took her out for dinner at le Bifteque (sp???). I think she enjoyed herself well enough, and that's what counts. The 14th brought Gord's 38th birthday. I worked from home that day, so was able to whip up a cake while working. Erin decorated the cake after I picked her up from daycare and it was just delightful! We had a quiet family celebration, just the 3 of us, with pizza and cake! Strangely enough, I got really sick that week, and couldn't make it in to work on Friday. I brought Erin in to daycare in the morning, came home at about 7:30am and said I would just lay down for 30 minutes or so, then do some work. Well, I woke up just before noon. Hmmm, I guess my body was telling me something! That evening, North Bay grandpa arrived, car full of presents for Erin! She had a great visit with him. Gord brought home our favourite take-away Chinese food (too much eating out that week!!), and had a relaxing night. Saturday morning arrived and the early afternoon brought the Merrickville Santa Claus parade. It was a much warmer day than it was last year, and of course we haven't had any snow to speak of yet. The parade was great, and Erin knew many of the participants! We saw Emma and Erika, Richinda, Bonnie and Amy, Andreas, Uncle Andrew and Uncle Alex, not to mention many of her friends from her daycare - boy did I get in trouble from her when she discovered she could have been on the daycare float.... next year!! We next went over to the community centre, where the volunteer fire fighters put on a little party for the town kids, and we even had a visit from Santa himself!! We also got a chance to have a quick visit with Gord's sister Allison, who was down with her family from Toronto (Tottenham, to be exact). We came home after the party, and North Bay grandpa said his good byes and headed home. We next hopped back into the car and headed up to Ottawa for dinner at Jo and Chris' place. We had a great meal and a great time. Erin, Aidan and Cole all exchanged gifts. Erin was excited to receive a really cute pig purse and a 'Beauty and the Beast' finger puppet theatre! Sunday I braved the mall and finished my shopping all up!! All in all, a very busy but very fun weekend.

Last week continued to be busy. We were invited to a potluck dinner at the community centre with the staff and other families from the daycare. We found out a bit ago, that Erin's preschool teacher Ann has decided to leave (she has been with the daycare for 20 years). She is going to take some time off to be a full-time grandmother! Erin and her class put on a little show and sang to us! Erin got a bit of stage fright, but was fine with me sitting on the stage next to her! She'll have to get some tips from Patricia!! The 21st brought Gord and my 10th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately Gord spent it at the hospital with his mother - she is fine, just some side effects from her treatment - and didn't get home until about 10:30 that night. He did get me a beautiful anniversary ring though. I spent the evening at the fine eating establishment of McDonald's with Erin!!

My boss was good enough to let me get away early on the 22nd, so I picked Erin up, and took her for a hair cut. We came home and ate some chocolate (isn't that what you are supposed to do at Christmas?!!). Yesterday I went in to Ottawa to drop my ring off to be sized. I also spent the day dropping presents off and picking up food for Christmas dinner, which we are hosting this year. When I came home, Gord told me poor little Erin was sick all morning - the works, vomit and fever, topped off with a big cough. She was sleeping when I came home, but the fever had subsided and she was in good humour. She is fine today, so I suspect she had a short bout with the stomach flu that is merrily passing it's way around to everyone! Gord left shortly after I came home and went to finish his shopping.

So here we are now on Sunday. Erin and I have been listening to Celtic Christmas music and wrapping presents! Tonight will be some take-away food for dinner, followed by going to bed early in preparation for Santa!!! I'll be sure to post some pics from tomorrow morning up soon to share with all of you.

To everyone reading, I wish you all a wonderful Christmas holiday and check back soon for more adventures!!

Will wonders never cease.....

I can hardly believe it myself, but here I am posting 2 days in a row!!! Erin is working away at some art projects, so I thought I would take a few minutes to check in. Believe it or not, a lot can happen in less than 24 hours!!

Last night Gord and Erin went to my neice Anestasia's 19th birthday party. We decided long ago that since she was now legal, the only suitable gift would be some booze!! I went to the liquour store yesterday afternoon and picked her up a gigantic bottle of Corona in a gift pack, and a six-pack of holiday shooters. Just what the new 'I can now drink legally' girl needs!! I guess they had a good time. Erin absolutely loves her Aunt Rita, so Gord tells me Erin spent most of the evening with her. Rita is absolutely amazing with kids (that's why I think it comes naturally to her daughter Emily too) and I don't think Erin minds being doted on too badly!!

I think I mentioned yesterday that I was taking Dee out for a belated birthday dinner (to make up for the one she had to pay for herself!!). We went to the Brigadoon restaurant in Oxford Mills - one of my favourites. If you have been, you know what I am talking about. If not, you should make a point of getting there one day. Dee called me from Ottawa yesterday to see if we could add a couple of more people to the reservation - hey, the more the merrier when you are eating good food and drinking good wine!! So we were joined by her friends Liz (who I have known for some time now) and Terry. We had a great evening. I'm glad we had an early dinner reservation because we were not out of there until about 7:45pm. I had a fabulous chicken dish, Dee had prime rib, and the other girls had a different chicken dish. I think I am going to take Gord there for our anniversary coming up in a couple of weeks. We then all went into Merrickville for the annual Christmas in Merrickville event. They run activities all day and the shops stay open until 9:00pm. We took a stroll about and picked up a couple of things, then Dee and I said goodbye to Liz and Terry and we went back to my place for a bit. Erin was sleeping by this time (as was Gord - a little tired from all of the fresh air pheasant hunting earlier in the day!!).

A little TV - glad to see the Senators won again - then it was off to bed for me too!

This morning Erin and I made some cookies - check out her serious face in the pics!!! She actually likes to eat the raw cookie dough better than she likes to eat the actual baked cookies!!! Gord is skeet shooting right now, and I expect he will be home soon. Not much more exciting in my weekend, other than to pick up some groceries and to do a bit of work work tonight.

Anyway, enjoy the cookie pics, and until next time.....

Time to Catch up yet again....

I have managed to go the entire month of November without posting - shame on me! So it's now December 2nd and here I am with weeks of catching up to do.

Last time I was on was October 30th, following Erin's Halloween party - I'm now planning for her Christmas one, how bad is that!! At any rate, Halloween was a hoot this year. Erin was definitely into going door to door and getting heaps of candy! She was dressed as a scary kitty this year - check out the pic of my scary kitty!!

November came in without too much fuss. Work is busy for both Gord and I as usual. I still love my new job by the way. Hmmmm, can I still call it new anymore? I've been there 5 months now!!

November 9th saw Dee's birthday come along. There's actually a pretty funny story about that evening. I stayed in Brockville and made plans to take my 'old' pal (I'm older than she is, I guess that doesn't count!!) out for dinner. So we headed to a favourite pizza place of hers and had a great dinner. I go to pay the bill and pull out my debit card. The gentleman at the counter politely told me they didn't accept interac payments. Strange, but okay. So I pull out my mastercard. Nope, they didn't take that either. Well, that's the only credit card I had, and well I just never carry much cash, so Dee was left to pay for her birthday dinner on her own!!! Nice friend aren't I?!!!!

Erin was busy at daycare with fall crafts and Remembrance day activities. I'm very jealous as on November 10th she got to have a pyjama party! I picked her up some cozy fleece pj's and I guess the kids had a blast. It was pretty funny picking her up that afternoon, and seeing all of the kids playing outside in their pj's and winter coats!

Sunday November 12th brought Lloyd, my father-in-law's birthday. He turned 88 this year. Wow!! For those wondering, he's still having his challenges with memory - but I'll tell a bit more of that story a little further on. Most of Gord's family was over to bring gifts and well wishes to Lloyd. Actually, that week also brought Gord and his 2 brothers together - big deer hunting week (they only ended up with one - I think we have hit them all with our cars by now!!), so it was nice to have a few visits with Gord's brother Douglas who lives up in Elliot Lake for his winters and in Pickle Lake (the end of the northern road in Ontario) for his summers, along with his family.

I honestly don't remember too much more for the week of the 13th. Minnie continues to get LARGE and tries to break into the house almost daily!! I never imagined goats were quite this witty / pain in the butt-like.

So, fast forward a bit now. As anyone who keeps up with my blog knows, my father-in-law has been deteriorating in terms of his memory over the past few months - I am still amazed at how fast it has happened. He is at the point where he really can't take care of himself any longer, and my mother-in-law Jean (more to come on her story), isn't able to care for him either. Everyone in Gord's family knows that it's come to the point where alternate living arrangements have to be made. In the interim, and until a more local space is available, Lloyd has moved in with my sister-in-law Eleanor and her family. Eleanor doesn't work outside of the home, so is able to provide more attention and care for him. As well, right next door is Gord's brother Andrew, so there are few more hands to help. The arrangement seems to be working out okay. We all just want to make sure Eleanor gets some breaks periodically because I can't imagine it is easy. Lloyd has pretty fair heath at this point, it is just some of the smaller tasks we take for granted that he needs help with.

So now I turn to Jean's story. Last year Jean was diagnosed with breast cancer - right about the same time my sister-in-law Patricia was as well. Jean went through a tough bout of treatment and either late this spring or early this summer, underwent a clean bone scan - meaning the medical folks said at that point she was considered cancer-free. Well, a few weeks back Jean went to the hospital with troubled breathing. The doctors took a bunch of fluid off of her lungs. The fluid was biopsied and the cancer is back. On the 20th, she found out she is terminal with only a few months to live. She is in Ottawa now with my sister-in-law Elaine, getting care. She starts to receive chemotherapy in another week or so. As you can all imagine, it's been a bit of a tough ride for Gord and his family.

So, in trying to keep things going, we figure out how to move on, don't we.

Erin picked up quite a bug in the month too. She ended up with a stomach flu and an ear infection. Thank goodness for a brief go of antibiotics! She was back to herself in a couple of days.

On the 25th, my work hosted a kids Christmas party at the high school in Prescott. Erin got to catch an early visit with Santa and he even brought her and the other kids presents! Erin was thrilled with one of those magnetic drawing tablets. Erin and I went to see Happy Feet at the theatre in Brockville on the 26th. The animation is fabulous and the baby penguins adorable. The story line was a bit mature for little ones, but Erin liked it just the same.

This week came and went faster than the speed of light! I wrote my accounting challenge exam on Friday - I think I did okay - never have I aimed for only a 65% before!! I guess it's good to aim low when you don't get accounting!! Today Gord is out pheasant hunting. Erin and I went on a bit of a tour this morning - post office and to a fabulous furniture store in Richmond - I am having a pine cabinet made for the dining room! Today is my neice Anestasia's 19th birthday. Gord is taking Erin over for dinner - we are getting her a case of beer (now that she's legal of course!!) and I am going to take Dee out for the make-up birthday dinner tonight!! We are then going to tour through Merrickville - it's Christmas in Merrickville today, so all of the shops are open late, warm apple cider, etc. It should be fun. Erin and I started to do a bit of decorating around the house yesterday and today and will continue again tomorrow.

There is a pile of stuff coming up for the month. Next Saturday we are meeting some of the folks from Gord's work, families and all, and going to lunch and having a kid's present exchange. That should be fun! The next day, Erin is hosting a cookie decorating party for a few of her friends. We are going to have nothing but desserts! On the 13th, comes Aunt Elaine's 50th birthday! On the 14th is Gord's birthday. On the 15th, North Bay grandpa comes down for a visit. On the 16th, we are going to the Santa Claus parade in Merrickville, then into Ottawa for Christmas dinner at Jo-Ann and Chris' place. It keeps going.... On the 21st is our 10th wedding anniversary. Then we hit the weekend before Christmas. We have nothing planned - except wrapping presents and relaxing!! We are all off for the holidays, so hopefully we get a bit of snowman making snow and some time to spend at home with the ones we love.

Until next time....

And there goes another two weeks...

It is a wildly windy Sunday afternoon and Gord and Erin are outside for a play so here is my quiet moment in between loads of laundry to catch the past two weeks up!

Well Gord had a successful trip to Denver. Erin and I had a pretty uneventful week (week of October 16th). I had a business trip to Kingston on the morning of the 17th, which made it a bit of a hairy start to the day, as I had to do the whirlwind drop-off of Erin to daycare, then drive to Kingston for an 9:00 am meeting. I was there at about 8:40 am, so not too bad! Gord was home on the Thursday, so Erin was happy to see him! It was nice in that his flight was in fairly early in the afternoon and was actually on time to boot! How often does that happen anymore?!!!

We had our friends Elaine and Ray out for dinner on the evening of the 21st. Ray completed a black duck carving that I commissioned for Gord and it is amazing - I'll have some pics of it up soon - the battery on the camera quit on me, so it's charging up right now! All in all a good evening was had by all.

The next week brought a short business trip to Toronto for me. I was off on Tuesday afternoon by train for an HR Law conference on the 25th. What a fabulous conference! Believe it or not, but that was my first night away from Erin since she was born! Of course I have been out and not gotten home until after she was sleeping, but never a full night away. I have to admit (selfishfly of course!) that it was nice to have an evening all to myself. I stayed at the Royal York downtown, had fabulous room service and did a bit of shopping at the Eaton's Centre - for Erin of course!! As I said the conference was amazing! People laugh at me when I say that I had a ball listening to judges and lawyers talk about employment law all day, but it really was interesting! I took the train home that same night and met up with some great people and we chatted (and drank - gotta love Via 1) all the way back! I stopped drinking before Kingston though, because I did have to drive home! It was great to see Erin the next morning and she loved her little treats from Toronto.

So fast forward to Saturday (yesterday) and a big Halloween party that Erin hosted for some of her friends! We had 8 kids over (and their parents) and had a ball! Erin was Cinderella, and we had Varya as the little girl vampire, Rys as the friendly lion, Aidan as a monster, Cole as the dolphin, Shyra as a beautiful princess, and Emma and Erika as 'darn-tootin' cute cowgirls!! The house is all decorated with sensor-activated skeletons, spiders, and goblins, as well as a fog machine and a steaming skull, all of which helped make for a great evening! Gord gutted 8 pumpkins for all of the kids, and the highlight was the big carve-off - check out the pictures, the kids created masterpieces from the big orange gourds!! I also got a cookie decorating kit that brought out more creative genius in the kids - not to mention sticky fingers!! Another great night indeed!

Erin has a busy week ahead. There will be a Halloween party at her daycare on Tuesday. I will be picking her up early on Tuesday to bring her home to change - she is going to be a cat for the actual Halloween night - for the Halloween party at the community centre in Merrickville, followed by some trick-or-treating at select homes! Then if you can believe it, it will be November. Erin is already begging me to start decorating for Christmas as soon as Halloween is over. Someone is a little anxious for Santa's arrival this year!!

Anyway, I will take some pics of Erin the cat and the black duck carving to post next time. Enjoy the party pics and have a great week!!

A quiet Sunday afternoon

It's 2:40 on Sunday afternoon. I just convinced Erin that she was in bad need of a nap and she bought it!! So before I got into anything else, I thought I better check in.

It was a pretty uneventful week. I guess I should backtrack a bit to Thanksgiving weekend. We went to Eleanor's for dinner and had a nice time. It's been getting a bit tougher at these holidays because everyone is really concerned about my father-in-law Lloyd. Most of you who read the blog are aware that age is really starting to catch up with Lloyd and he's starting to have a hard time remembering things. It's pretty sad, but he does manage to keep a smile on his face despite not always understanding what is going on around him. I find myself thinking back to something he told me years ago when he had his heart attack and that was he had no fear of passing on because he had lived a life he was proud and satisfied with. That statement does manage to bring some peace to myself and Gord during this tough time. Everyone is really trying to make things comfortable for him and that is to be commended. I can imagine a handful of you reading this are teary-eyed now, so I better leave the topic for now.

So, dinner was very nice, and my sister-in-law Allison from Toronto was down with her two kids and we got a chance to have a good visit. Monday brought the actual holiday and a beautiful day to boot! I have posted a few pics of the day. Gord, Erin and I spent a good chunk of the day outside before heading to Elaine's in Ottawa for dinner. That was a nice afternoon as well - I really didn't have to cook much that weekend!! Dinner was excellent and Erin always enjoys a visit with Aunt Elaine!

The start of the week brought a nice cold into my life, so I have been sick most of the week. I've still got a bit of a cough, but I am on the mend. I worked from home on Thursday so I could get a bit done while taking a rest as well. I was talked into a late lunch with Dee in town though! Liz came out for a visit, so we had good food, good conversation and a nice stroll through town. The weather is a bit more seasonal these days as it has been rainy and much cooler - typical fall days.

Gord was up bright, or should I say dark and early this morning. He had a 6:00am flight out to Denver this morning. Yuck! He called from Detroit (the first leg of the trip) to say hello and to let us know he made it half-way. His flight landed in Denver (flightarrivals.com is a great site to track flights!) a few hours ago. There is a shooting club near the airport that he made plans to visit, so he doesn't lose out on his Sunday skeet shooting!! His boss is in Australia for the week, so Gord went to Denver in his place - not sure if that was the better part of the deal!! So it will be just the girls until Thursday evening when he returns.

We went for a nice long walk this morning. Erin decided she needed to bring a number of teddy bears out for some fresh air!! Of course Minnie decided to join us on the walk. You know, I got thinking as I was walking along - in fact when one of our neighbours stopped to have a chat I mentioned it to her - that no one down our road would be surprised to see us 'walking the goat', but I wonder what looks we would get from people just taking a drive in the country! The 'hillbilly' and 'redneck' comments would be just hilarious!!!

So that brings us up to now. It is going to be a busy week ahead with being both the drop-off and pick-up person for Erin all week. I have to go to Kingston on Tuesday morning, so it will be a whirlwind drop-off that morning. Next weekend we are having some friends, Ray and Elaine, come out for dinner. Ray is an amazing wildlife carver and has recently finished a black duck that I commissioned for Gord. I can't wait to see it! I'll post some pics of it next week.

Until next time.....

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Gord is off shooting and Erin is playing with some of her little princess toys, so I thought I would take some time to post some of the pics from Maine.

The trip to Maine was just great. Even though Erin was sick, we all still managed to have a great time. The town of Freeport is just lovely and the shopping is great. The weather was amazing. It was in the 80's for the entire time and there wasn't a cloud in the sky for the whole trip. The pictures I have posted are outside the 24-hour LL Bean store and a couple of Erin with her prized moose (there are 3 in total she scored while we were there - why isn't the plural of moose 'meese' like it is for goose to geese?!!).

Well a few days have passed since I last checked in and as usual life continues to be busy. I was very happy to see the end of the week. By Friday afternoon I was pretty tired (that'll teach me for being up at 4:00am and posting to the blog!!!).

Erin has decided that she doesn't want to do the group swimming lessons. The place is just packed during her lesson and even I will admit it is absolute pandemonium. They have a new program running and it's just not very organized. So Erin and I will do some solo swims for a while until they get more organized. She is pretty freaked out by the crowds, so we thought it best not to force it.

I managed to get out of work around 2:30 on Friday afternoon, ran a couple of errands, then picked Erin up from daycare a little early. On Saturday I took Erin to see 'Open Season'. That movie was pretty good. I would give that one 8 out of 10.

So it's Sunday morning now and I should get at it. Erin and I have both been a little lazy to start the day. I am not sure what we are going to do today. My sister-in-law thought she might do something for dinner today, but we haven't heard from her, so maybe I'll revert to plan 2 just in case. I know she had a lot on the go this weekend, so it's really no big deal to us. Tomorrow we have plans to head into Ottawa for a visit with Erin's Aunt Elaine. Erin will get to go for a swim in the pool at her apartment. Then I guess the work week starts back up again. At least it's a short week. We don't have too much going on this week, so hopefully it will be uneventful and go quickly. Gord is off to Denver for a few days next Sunday, so it will just be the girls until the following Thursday. I am thinking of seeing if Jo and the kids want to meet us at Saunder's Farm for a Halloween outing. I will take Erin regardless, but it's always more fun to have friends along!!

Anyway, enjoy the pics and until next time...