Cousin Danni

In my christmas letter this year I put my blog address and last night Robs cousin Danni commented... HI DANNI!!! I was so excited to hear from you its been so long since we've seen you! Could you leave me a comment with your email address? I do have a christmas card and picture for you but dont have your address so its sitting on the dinning room table! Does anyone have Cory and Marks address' too - their cards are also sitting on my table! This is really neat to be able to talk to all the family who are spread out all over two provinces. Anyways hope you are all well - and Danni hope your family can stay away from needles and hospitals for the holdiays! Take care. Anyone who reads this who sees grandma and grandpa please give them both a hug from us.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Hey everybody, hope you are all just about ready for Christmas too and the next few days wont be too crazy! We finished up shopping for the last few hard ones on our list today and then Katie and I spent an hour or so wrapping tonight. She insists on doing the gifts she bought herself but she is very good at wrapping so they actually look great. She has amazed me with her generosity this year though for gifts. Usually I let her buy for a few people and spend a few dollars of her own money, this year I helped her out with the cost and then let her buy for who and pretty much what she wanted! She picked out stuff for all her aunts and uncles, her grandparents and a few friends and she did it all herself. She knew certain peoples styles very well and was able to choose gifts for everyone and keep within the budget I gave her. If only I could do that!

Here are a few shots of a snowman that Katie and Rob built in the backyard yesterday - the snow was finaly good packing snow with the warm weather we've been having.













Here is a shot of Katie skating - we went to the rink in taylor last week - its great - did I already blog about this, it seems like deja vu? anyways - she loves skating and I had a blast too. I did pretty well if I do say so too for an old goat who hasnt been on the ice in 10 years! I can still do cross cuts and skate backwards! tried a walz jump ( the easiest one) - lets just say it wasnt the most gracefull thing on the ice that day! After a few laps with the bar she agreed to try just holding my hands and she was awesome!

The rest of the pics are a bit blurry so we will have to get more next time!

Well thats about it for now - all is well up here though, Rob has been off for a few days as his truck is acting up again but its in the shop today and hopefully will be fixed soon! The time with him has been great, the paycheck will suck, but thats January so I'll think about that later, lol! Katie said the other day "boy it sure is nice for Daddy that we're up here cause otherwise he would be really lonely today when he cant work". Daddy agreed .

My 100s List

So does anyone know the origin of these lists? For my family who doesnt know the background all of my blogging friends have been posting these 100s lists. Its a list of 100 things about you. I have had such a good time reading theirs that I thought I'd join in and do one too. Enjoy
1. I am 30
2. I am the oldest of five kids, they are 25, 21, 19 & 17
3. Yup - same parents
4. I am proud of all my siblings, they are awesome
5. My mom rocks, she is trully the best mom in the world. She deserves a medal, or money
6. Lots of money
7. My dad sucks. He was not a good father and lost a great family for it
8. I am a good mom
9. I have one daughter who is 5
10. I dont know if I will have more children or not
11. I'm OK with that
12. My husband is a great dad
13. I met my husband when I was 15
14. I will never forget the first time I saw him. I love him with all my heart
15. We are very opposite but we balance each other very well
16. We dated for 8 years before getting married
17. We finished college and bought a house first
18. I am an RN.
19. I love being a nurse
20. I'm one of those weird people who loves trauma; blood, gore, resucitations... bring it on!
22. I havent worked much this year because Katie and I travelled with Rob lots
23. I miss working and will go back soon
24. I forgot to call the director of nursing at the hospital here today to apply.
25. I also do like being at home - its alot of work taking care of a family and a home
26. I like to organize, but am not always organized
27. I love to be sarcastic and witty
28. I am a very open person
29. I am honest. Always
30. I would rather be honest and hurt someone's feelings than lie to make them feel better
31. That doesnt always go over so well
32. I break the rules - ok so I guess thats not really honest is it?
33. Its fun anyways
34. I love chocolate and I love caramel
35. cant really pick a favorite
36. my favorite food changes monthly
37. right now its scallops remoulade from Salty's Beach House
38. I love to travel
39. I have been to Japan, Tiajuana Mexico, Alabama, New Orleans and Las Vegas
40. I wasnt that impressed with Vegas.
41. I loved New Orleans
42. My husband doesnt like to travel
43. I plan to make him travel anyway
44. I love to dance
45. I was a highland dancer for 10 years. I was good at it
46. My husband hates to dance
47. I havent figured out how to make him dance
48. yet
49. I love to read
50. my favorite authors are Patricia Cornwell, Nora Roberts, Micheal Criton (sp?) and John Grisham
51. I am smart
52. I remember numbers with weird ease, I know phone numbers I havent called in years
53. I suck at math however, I cant do algebra to save my life
54. I am very careful calculating drugs at work
55. I am a perfectionist
56. I hate making mistakes
57. I take criticism personally
58. I try not to make mistakes so I dont have to take criticism
59. That backfires sometimes
60. I am blessed with many friends
61. My oldest friend is Jacquie, we met in the 6th grade
62. we can go 6 months without talking and then pickup like it was yesterday. She's great
63. I am short, 5' 1"
64. I am pear shaped :)
65. I hate our society's pressure on body image
66. I think confidence is beautiful, not measurements
67. Its hard to be confident when your measurements are not "perfect"
68. thats ok - I'd rather eat chocolate and caramel
69. I like to be quirky, it goes well with short
70. I am not afraid of bugs or rodents... as long as I dont think about it too much
71. I am afraid of explosive gases and electicity
72. did I mention my husband is a welder?
73.I am not afraid of needles.. but then I'm usually the one giving them
74. I love music
75. I listen to almost anything - Sarah Mclaughlin, Enya, Uncle Kracker, Nickleback, Kid Rock
76. We went to Alabama to see Kid Rock
77. It was very good
78. I like to scrapbook - I can copy the magazines pretty well
79. I wish I was more artistic
80. I cant sing in tune for anything
81. I sing anyways
82. I used to play the piano and flute
83. I speak french, I graduated with a bilingual diploma
84. I didnt enjoy high school, I didnt fit in very well
85. I was very shy, and even shorter
86. I am very empathetic
87. I hate mean and rude people
88. I think child molesters should be locked in a room with the kids parents for 5 minutes before sentancing
89. I love to drive fast
90. I have gotten two speeding tickets in my life
91. My husband taught me how to drive when I was 16
92. that sounds weird - he was only 18
93. I used to be a waitress
94. I have two tattoos
95. I love them
96. I love starbucks
97. my favorite drink is a chai latte
98. I love to laugh until I cry
99. I dont need much sleep
100. I really am happy with my life, I feel very lucky

Playing in the snow

Vayda and Tessa came over to play on the weekend and I got all the girls out in the back yard to play in the snow - it was great!
Jersey was wired - running all over the yard and trying to catch snow the girls threw for her.
The girls climbed all over the play fort and had fun slidding down into the snow. They were dissapointed that the snow was too powdery to make a snowman but had fun making trails through all the deep stuff - it was past thier knees!

We walked over to the school and went toboggoning too but I didnt take my camera - there is a short hill and Katie and Vayda had a blast slidding, Tessa, not so much. She was afraid to go on the sled, and when I finally got her to go down with me we spun backwards and she freaked out. oops. She still had a good time though cheering for the other two!

Entering the next Decade

So as most of you know - I turned 30 yesterday... and no, I dont feel any older!
I actually am kinda excited to be 30 - I have always felt young as many of my friends and most of my co-workers are older than me, now, although I am still younger than them, I am no longer such a "youngun". Maybe its being so short as well, but I often feel like I am struggling for respect- especially at work, so now, ha... I'm old. lol It is so weird how when you're a teenager 30 seems so old and now it seems so young. I actually caught myself calling a 20 year old a kid... I would have been pissed if someone called me a kid when I was 20!
I will always remember this lady I did homecare for years ago, she was 102 yrs old, I remember her talking about her age and telling me that she still felt the same as she did when she was 17 in her head and heart. I didnt really believe her, but now I think I am getting it, I still do feel like the same person- maybe a bit wiser, and at the same time a bit bolder, but just me.
To all of you who are older than me I'm sure you're laughing now saying "well, duh", but to my siblings who are younger than me - cant wait till you're 30 and say "now I know what you meant"!
I do have to do some bragging now... I normally hate to outright brag but..... I got diamonds!!!!! Rob came home last night with diamond studd earings for me! AAAHHHHH!!! made me cry, and I dont usually get sappy and cry, but that did it. lol.
Rob was at camp for 4 days and then on the way home (on nov 30), his truck froze up and stalled out. We couldnt get a tow truck that night, so had to wait till morning (dec 1) and leave the truck and all his tools on the side of the alaska highway... needless to say I wasnt really expecting him to get out and get me much as he was a bit stressed out about why the truck had died and if it would be ok. but... DIAMONDS!!! wow.
ok I'm done now and will shut up. Miss you all and looking forward to a good visit over the holidays.