Kristen's Bedroom

Plans are coming along nicely for our new/old home.

Last week I painted the bedroom in the basement which will be Kristen's. I made a quilt for her and we needed to find something that would match the bright colours that we chose.Thank goodness for the internet. I was able to send her pictures of the wall colour for her approval before I proceeded.

Complaints

Every year, around this time, I complain about the weather. It is friggin' cold here and I'm sick of it! Why did I choose to live in a northern climate? Why oh why?

The Dogs Welcome Yvonne

Happy Birthday Michele!

First we toasted to your health.

And we baked a cake

Fianlly, the happy birthday song as only we can sing it in 12 part harmony.

Poor Jed

A few days ago I was thinking that Jed was looking a little skinnier than usual so when Yvonne said the same thing, I thought that I'd better check it out. Dixie's collar seemed to be kind of loose too.

Turns out that the food that we're feeding the dogs is "lite." Poor things.

Now they're getting more food and I'm starting to add some yummy used canola oil to their kibbles. Problem with the additional food is that the amount of poop they produce has increased exponentially. Bleah.

I wish I could loose weight as easily as dogs. But I would not want to poop as much as dogs. Bleah.

Dinner at DeLuca's

For dinner last night, Anna cooked.
Pizza with Ricotta cheese and Cacciatore sausage; bruschetta with Sundried tomatoes. "You gotta hava da sundried tomatoes becausa dey da beste."Pasta with Tuna Sauce. "Ya gotta usa de tuna ina oil becausa de flavour isa mucha better."This is not a very good picture of the delicious Veal with Mushroom and Pepper sauce and Potatoes with Herbs, Parmesan and Caciocavallo.I'm sure that I took a picture of the Tiramasu for dessert but I don't know what happened to it. You'll have to take my word for it that it was both beautiful and delicious.

Random Bits and Pieces

Went to church yesterday morning. I don't like religion, but I love going to church. The music, the videos, the sharing and the chatting afterwards is like balm to my soul. What a great community of people we have.

In the afternoon, there was an adults against the teens hockey game. The weather was gorgeous, the ice smooth and there were a lot of people out. There were a few guys, not part of our "group" who joined us. They had a blast too. Wes' glasses were the only casualty.

People are asking me if I've started packing yet. Truth is, I haven't. There really isn't much to do. We got rid of a lot of stuff when we first put the house on the market and the rest of the stuff is what we use.

Carolyn is doing great. As a matter of fact there is a good chance that she will acually go to full term! That is great news, especially considering that we thought this baby could very well have been born as early as Christmas. Carolyn has been taking great care of this baby. She'll be a good mom.

We are going to El Salvador in March for 2 weeeks with Habitat for Humanity. Should be a great time. Except if Carolyn goes overdue, this baby might be born while we're away! I hope she comes before we leave. It will be hard to be so far away with all the excitement and wonder of a new baby in the family.

I chatted for the first time in my life on facebook with Kristen last week. She's having a marvellous time in South Africa. What an experience for her!

I chatted on the phone with Michele last week too. It sounds like they are also having the time of their lives.

Tonight was Monday night dinner. Our numbers are dwindling with several family members out of the country and a couple away at school. The food and conversation is still good though.

I don't know how to end this dull, boring post so I'll just stop.

We've been talking lots about our move from this old house, to our new old house. While I'm excited and happy that we are finally getting on with our lives the change of leaving this place and moving into something else can be a little overwhelming.

Our plan is to share a house with my sister Michele and her husband Rob and their 2 sons. Rob and Michele already own the house and we plan to change it into 2 separate condos. This will require extensive renovations, while we live there. That's the overwhelming part. What do we take with us and what do we store? Where will we all live when Rob and Michele get back from their trip? I find that I worry more than I ever used to. I know that worrying about all of this will not help but it's hard for me not to obsess about this stuff. I used to be so easy going! I thrived on chaos. No more! Now I worry.

I know it will all work out and I can envision the time when I will be relaxing in my new home, acknowledging that it was all worth it and grateful for such a peaceful, beautiful home.

I'm also looking forward to living so close to my sister that all I need to do is walk up the stairs to borrow a cup of sugar, curry paste or some quinoa. She's got a lot of interesting stuff in her pantry.

Yes, it will all be good. I've survived some pretty chaotic times in my life and I know I'll survive this one too. Actually, I want more than to survive. I want to enjoy this time.

It's all in the attitude, isn't it?

Cooking Class

For Christmas, I got a gift certificate for cooking classes at DeLuca's, an Italian grocery/bakery/wine store in Winnipeg. Last night, Wes and I went to our first class. Mmmmm.

It was all pretty authentic Italian food. Most of the products they used had been shipped from Italy. And chef Anna was pretty adamant about what to use.

"You must use Italian anise seed. It's much better."
"Parmeggiana Reggiano is the best."
"Don't use half and half."

The Tortellini Bolognese Style soup was absolutely delicious. I think my favourite course was "Farfalle with Cream and Mushroom sauce." Ingredients are whipping cream, butter, mushrooms, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

There was no calorie or fat information with these recipes although all the fat was skimmed off of the broth for the soup. Good thing.

We are signed up for 3 more classes this month. Yum, yum.

Sold

What are we toasting you ask?

THE SALE OF OUR HOUSE!

Yvonne's been busy

Once everything is in place, I'll let you know what she's going to do with all these sweet things!

Black wool with penny buttonsOut of Africa

Vintage Quilt

Michele's Curtain

Chelsea' Idea

Wool with penny buttons

i just watched the inaugural address.

Wow.

Barak Obama's speech was one of incredible hope. I was inspired as were millions of Americans, I'm sure. He has a huge job ahead of him and people will begin to criticize him as soon as he opens his mouth on his official first day. But today, there is hope.

The benediction was also inspiring. The man who spoke it (I didn't catch his name) had such a vision for the world and for peace. If there were more Christians like him, this world would be a much better place.

The best part of the whole thing? After the speech, he turned to his family and Malia, his eldest daughter nodded her head and told him that it was a pretty good speech. I don't read lips but I could swear she said, "You rock dad."

Finally!

This past weekend, we accepted an offer on our house. It was a good offer and we are confident that the condition that is on the offer will be met before too long.

The people who bought our house fell in love with it as soon as they came through the front door. We saw them twice this weekend (!) because they wanted to show it to their daughters and then they wanted to be here while the home inspection was taking place. It is obvious that they love this place.

They need to sell their house before February 22 but we are confident that will not be a problem. It is a sellable house and the Winnipeg real estate market is still going strong. Not as hot as it was a year ago, but strong nevertheless. My gut tells me that even if their house does not sell, they will still go ahead with the purchase of this house.

Hurray! Eight months and almost 50 showings. Sleepless nights and then trying to remain optimistic. It's finally happening. We need to be out by March 29.

Many people have asked what our plans are for our next place. Michele owns a big, rambling old home in St. Boniface and we are splitting that house into 2 condos. Wes and I will own the main floor and basement, Rob and Michele will own the second and third floors.

After all the major renovations are finished, it will be a great place for us. In the meantime, I expect that there will be a fair bit of chaos in our lives for the next six months or so. Stay tuned for updates!

How cold, you ask?

Colder than the North Pole (-27C) and the South Pole (-26C).

The headlines in the local paper claim that the Arctic blast can't defeat Winnipeggers. Well, I'm pretty close to defeated, let me tell you.


Brrrr.

Adventure of a Lifetime

Kristen left yesterday for South Africa and things are mighty quiet around here.


The bedroom's a little too neat.

The Blackberry's been turned off for a much needed rest.

The schedule.

Family Photo

My dear sister Michele and her family have left Winnipeg for a trip of a lifetime. Much preparation has happened and finally, Monday morning they were gone. Jed the dog has been left behind and he is a little sad about that. I can't believe that for the next 6 months I will be the owner of 2 dogs. Imagine, in only a couple of short years I have moved from being a dog tolerator to a dog lover!

I will post some pictures for the benefit of Jed's family.

This is Jed's praying pose. He has been praying a lot. There are several possibilities as to why he spends so much time in prayer:

1. He wants his family home soon, safe and sound
2. He is concerned about the souls of the people he loves
3. He wants a doggy treat

We are trying to help Jed remember his praying trick but it has been very difficult to teach Dixie the same thing. So, when we practise Jed's praying, we practise Dixie's staying. Neither dog seems to notice a difference between the two words and they are both happy with the treats they get as a reward.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

December 30, 1954 54 years later, 5 children, 5 children-in-law, 18 grandkids, 5 grands-in-law, 2 great grandchildren and 1 as yet to be born great granddaughter.

Phew! Quite a legacy, I'd say.

Christmas '08

Ahhhh....Just got home from our annual getaway at Pinewood Lodge. This has become a highlight of my Christmas holiday. This year we spent 3 days in the beautiful Whiteshell Provincial Park, cross country skiing, playing hockey, swimming and just hanging around. Every time I come home, I feel like I've been away for a week.

Christmas was lovely too. We had our own children here on Christmas eve and then had Christmas brunch with the extended family which is a new tradition that we started a few years ago.

Lovely, just lovely.

Here's my great-nephew Gavin having fun in the pool with his dad.

Some of our group of 20.No trip to Pinewood is complete without a few games of Monopoly.

Somebody wanted to view the house today. Christmas day.

Our agent wasn't able to contact us as we had our cell phones turned off and anyway, I would have said no way.

Is no day sacred anymore? I understand that not everyone celebrates Christmas but they must know that December 25 is a day like no other in our Western culture. I feel sorry for our agent because she's the one who had to deal with this today. She sounded tired when I called her.

I can't wait till we sell this flippin' house.