HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

I am just waiting for my hard boiled eggs to cool so I have time to send you this blog. First off, it has been an excellent year - I think every year just gets better and better - how can you top this past year. I am only talking about personally, not what is happening in the world.

I have my friends, my family, I live in paradise and I am in good health. I am blessed. It is my reward for everything I have done good in my life.

I wish only the best for you and your family and friends.

This afternoon we are heading out to Axe Lake for our annual New Year's Eve Bash. It is a tradition that a friend on the lake brings up ribs and chicken which he cooks over an open fire outside. He is to start cooking at 2pm so I guess that is when the party starts - it is fun to stand around a fire pit and watch what is going on, having a beverage (I don't have to drive anywhere tonite except to Joanne and Mitch's so I can partake in the festivities) and talking with friends. The fire is going to keep burning until well after midnight. I bought those glow stick necklaces that I have ready to hand out to the ladies (any left over goes to the guys) That way we can find you if you fall into a snowbank or something. Everyone is outside for the evening - he has a party garage that we can go into if we get too cold. He has a big screen TV, poker table, card tables and a bar and wood stove. And it is pot luck so there is hash brown potatoes, potato salad devilled eggs, munchies, appetizers, etc.

We have taken supplies over to Joanne and Mitch's place - coffee, water, cream etc. We don't have to drive on the highway tonite, just walk down to their place to spend the nite. Thanks Joanne and Mitch. Rejean is over there now getting the place nice and warm for this afternoon and evening.

And I even have a New Year's resolution that I do intend to keep!!

Here's To You clink

See Ya Bye

MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIENDS

Wishing everyone a safe and Merry Christmas. Hope Santa was good to you!!!

See Ya By

CHRISTMAS EVE SECRETS

Every Christmas Eve the family gathers at Lise's house to celebrate the holiday. Everyone brings something and each year I bring meatballs. They are a hit and go very quickly. Well I am going to give my secret away right here and now in my blog. Yes, I visit M & Ms and buy their meatballs and the Diana Honey Garlic Sauce. There, now my conscience is clear. I don't have to fake it anymore. But how easy is that? All you do is take a pair of scissors and cut the bag open and dump them in the slow cooker - I usually buy two boxes - and then pour the sauce over them and let the slow cooker do the hard work. I transport the slow cooker to Lise's and provide the toothpicks (oops forgot those this year) then I bring the empty container home to wash. No fuss no muss - easy peasy.

Now I have to go iron the clothes we will be wearing tonite. Let the festivities begin!!!

See ya By

LUNCH WITH FRIENDS - PRICELESS

It was lunch with the retirees yesterday - how nice to see friends and just sit and enjoy ourselves over a nice hot bowl of soup and a beer - just 1 beer tho because of the new drinking and driving regulations. Louise, Evelyn, Anne Marie, Janis and her sister Pat showed up. I was soooo envious of Janis when she showed up in a nice turtle neck sweater - my turtleneck sweater days are sooo over because of my tendency to produce hot flashes - yes, be careful what you wish for. Back in the old days I was always cold no matter where I was or what season it was. I could wear a sweater on a summer day and be comfortable. Not any more. My usual indoor garb consists now of a short sleeve t shirt and a light hoodie thing that I can whip off at a moments notice. I used to say that I couldn't wait for my hot flashes to get here so I could be warm - WAS I CRAZY!!! Now what I would give for those olden days of being cold. But enough about me. All the girls looked great and we talked about how nice it was to be retired and out of the Banking world. Old stories were rehashed and we remembered our friend Debi who had passed away recently. Debi had cancer and had beat it for 17 years!! But it finally caught up with her - I always said that it was her Indian medicine that kept her alive all these years. She will be missed.

After the lunch I sped over to my mother-in-law's place for a dinner of homemade soup, salad and her world famous meat pies - yum yum. Then on to Chris and Egon's to visit and exchange gifts. Mine was a beautiful print of Cecile Youngfox's The Drum Singer. I have one of his in the new bathroom called Drumming Instruction so this picture will compliment it. Beautiful.

Then it was back home to the mansion.

Christmas Eve is here - how quickly time flies. Tonite we go to Lise's for our traditional Christmas Eve event. Food, drinks, meat pies, gifts - a wonderful tradition to keep.

What a great day it was today to spend time with people who mean a lot to you. Friends are one of life's rewards for everything good you have done in your life. I must have been very good in my life.

See ya By

COSTCO

We hit Costco this morning and it was busy - our cart was F U L L. But we only purchased what we had on our list (plus a couple of extras) - at the check-out I like to hazard a guess as to the total of the bill - well I was off by about $80 but in the right hundred - I won't mention how many but they always try and get me to sign up for the Executive Membership - I wonder why????
Then we hit Canadian Tire - the snowmobile helmets were on sale so we tried them on - good thing no one was around to see us. There was a box on the top shelf that we needed so I held the cart and Rejean climbed into the cart to reach it - not once but twice as we also needed another one on the top shelf. I thought they had security cameras in these stores - I am surprised no one came running to tell us to stop. We ended up with two helmets that fit and the price was right. Every time we come to Windsor we spend $$$$. At the Dollar Store my toothpaste is $2 per tube - a bargain I can't beat even in the states so I bought 8. We stock up on everything when the price is right. You have to when you live in the bush.
Tomorrow is my luncheon with the retirees. It will be good to see everyone again - I will take my camera and document the event. Then it is an evening with Chris and Egon - Egon just had arthroscopic (?) surgery on his knee so I know he won't be up and about just yet.
Then it is Christmas Eve and an evening with the family. Traditions like that are hard to miss. We exchange gifts with a $15 limit - it takes the pressure off trying to find the "right" gift. We also do that with the immediate family - we all chip in and give the $$ to a charity then we also have a $15 limit for the gifts to each other. This year I got to pick out the charity up north - there are a lot of families "in need" in our area. We have everything we need and instead of buying each other gifts we may not need, we help others who aren't as fortunate.
Christmas dinner at Rejean's mom's place - she wants to cook this year - I will make the cranberries - boxing day a day of rest and leftovers and then we take off on Sunday to my sister's place in Gorrie. Spend the nite there and then off for home on Monday. A hectic holiday, as usual. Just enough time to rest up for New Year's Eve on Axe Lake - an event I don't want to miss.
See ya By

WONDERFUL WINDSOR

Here we are in Wonderful Windsor - not that I don't like the place because some of my most favourite people are here - it is just that I am away from my home and, really, there is no place like home is there? We arrived yesterday after a few stops on the way down and the weather was ok - it started snowing in Gaylord, the snow capital of Michigan. Just like London, Ontario - if it is going to snow anywhere, it will snow there. AND the tunnel was backed up right to where you make your U turn to join the long line of cars to get to the entrance. They even had a police car blocking a route to the entrance. And then you have to just inch your way into one lane from six lanes after you pay - I told Rejean just to keep inching along and don't make eye contact. He thought there were 2 lanes in the tunnel (old person issues) so he was a bit off in the que. We finally made it and didn't get pulled over for our $107 worth of stuff. We made it to the mansion and no one was here to greet us - Stacey and Andrew were at a Christmas party and Sadie was spending a few nights at Grandma MariLou's. And, of course, this is the first Christmas without Satch, the killer cat who always used to welcome us with a hissssssss. Oh to feel welcome. But we made ourselves at home with a cold beer (that is always available in the bar fridge downstairs - thank you Andrew) and left overs from their Christmas open house yesterday - the chili was made with ground turkey - and it was delicious!! And kept in the Christmas tradition of using turkey. Tons of fruit left over as well - I didn't even look at the deserts.
Today we are heading out to do some shopping at Costco and various other places - I told Rejean to take a Valium because he is going to need a lot of patience out there today. I have about 98% of my shopping done but I found out I have to buy some wrapping paper - you can't transport wrapped gifts over the border (we were yelled at one year for doing so) so I was going to borrow some of Stacey's paper but she decided to put her gifts in bags this year so I have to buy some paper today.
More adventures later - gotta go
See Ya By

THE SHOWER FROM HELL

It is done - we just have some trim to put up around the edges to blend in with the walls. It was touch and go but we got it done. It took about 3 full days to finally complete it. The door kept sagging after we put the hinges on - Rejean McGyvered something to get it to hold the door in place. We also had trouble getting the magnetic strips on the door to meet up well enough to hold the door closed. Once we put the strip along the bottom of the door to keep the water from leaking out, it fixed the problem. All in all, it was worth it. But there was one point when we thought we would have to take the whole thing apart and return it to Costco. The thing weighs a ton. I think the whole package weighed almost 300 pounds - it came in three boxes!! Tomorrow I have to Windex the whole thing - there are tons of finger prints all over it. Then we can finally start to use it. Oh Joy!!!

Dump day tomorrow.

See Ya By