the aftermath of life

Well, holidays are done, and the earthquake happened. Wow. I can't help it, I am glued to CNN and Anderson Cooper. I think life can get difficult, I think I should be in a better place in life at my age, I think others are getting by better than me with less than me, then I watch tv. What a wake up call that is! I doubt I would have the strenght so many of these people have, I doubt I would have the faith, the resiliance, the fight for life and a better future. Why does it take other peoples trials and sufferings to make me realize I really don't have it as bad as I think? It makes me feel selfish and ungratful. I am not a negative person, on most days, I am not a 'cup half empty' kind of gal, and yet it has really made me realize that I have let myself feel negative without actually acknowledging it. I do have a good life, I have water, I have electricity, and I know where my loved ones are. I can only hope the same can be said for all the people suffering now as soon as possible.

Tuzzi Time

This is Tuzzi, my black lab. She is 10 months old, and keeps me on my toes! We had a sprinkling of snow a few weeks ago, and she pretty much turned into a 4 legged snow plow, she LOVED IT!! Christmas is tomorrow, and in my world, dogs don't really care. In 'other' peoples world, they do, so there are gonna be puppy gifts under the tree. My only concern with Tuzzi and Christmas was wether she would try to eat my Canuck Christmas Balls, but she has shown no interest in the trees, decorations or wrapping paper. I will accept this as her gift to me, not that she knows or cares (remember, this is MY world after all).

A Canuck Christmas

Soooo, the trees are trimmed, well, since they are fake I should say they are fluffed.. The little one is the 'kids' tree, a bit too colourful for my taste but hey, it's Christmas right? Mine is black, white and silver decorations, and of course Canuck baubles galore!! I have yet to find just the right tree topper, so for now it is one of my Canuck hats. Some day I hope to find a Canuck angel, or something along those lines. I might just get crazy and drill a hole in a Canuck puck to stick on, but that is another year, another project for another rainy day.

Gaaaahhhh Christmas!!!!

Sooo I thought Christmas would be simple. I have had crap going on, time has been flying by, not in a good way, and I stupidly said to myself this year, Christmas would be a basic simple easy stress free time, ummmmmmmmm no! I was down to 3 people to buy for, but that has changed. Low and behold, some OTHER people have the time to visit and therefor, expect gifts. Did I mention BAH HUMBUG? I have no clue how to deal with this. I have my grandaughter "secretly" building me a birdhouse, which I LOVE. She doesn't know that I know, and really, it will be a surprise as I don't know the design she came up with. That just makes it all the more special. I am not allowed in the basement as top secret stuff is going on down there, there are drills, sanders, hammers and laughter coming from below, how can Christmas get better than that? I have Santa's workshop at the bottom of my stairs!! Why can't everyone on my list be as happy with homemade as me? Why does an implied price tag mean so much? Am I cheap? No! But,, expected gifts, with a minimum purchase value, do kinda take the fun out of it. At what point do I take a stand and say screw you, here is some macaroni stuck on a string, it's called a necklace, pretend it's diamonds, grow up and get over it!

Screw the walrus I am the chamelion

Sooo, I have been told I am the chamelion. I adapt to what ever relationship I am in. "I sadly think that is true. My first marriage I got my dive ticket and my hunting licence cause that is what he was into. My second marriage, I indulged sports and old time rock and roll. The relationships between, before and after, I have adapted to other interests, where the hell did I go? What do I actually give a crap about? Do I even exist?

Nancy Drew and the Case of the Missing Thong

OMG!! My niece (who is 18) moved in when Tela went home to mom. I thought, hmmm, stress free trading an 8 year old for an 18 year old. WRONG!!! My adorable, innocent harmless puppy HAS BEEN EATING HER UNDERWEAR!!! I blamed the washing machine, I blamed the fact she was messy with her clothes, I blamed an unnamed intruder, but NOOOO, it has been my dog all along eating her thong underwear!! Now, I could blame her for wearing underwear that would take longer to eat than if she wore granny panties, but still, the proof was there,, the thong was there, and my dog was there... I hate solving crimes with unhappy endings!

Going crazy, wanna come? The wine's on me!

Wow, so much stuff can come at you all at once, one morning you wake up overwhelmed, the next thing you know, you wake thinking I lived through that? That's what boxes of wine are for I guess! So yes, there was a death in my life, and moving on is slowly happening. I think because so many other things are going on there wasn't any real time to dwell.
The puppy (Tuzzi) is just over 4 months old, and has started to poop at all hours of the night, leaving me with little or no sleep, it is worse than having a baby needing night feedings! At least with a baby there is some cuddling involved, with a puppy, it is more like poop/bark/play/bouncebouncebounce/bark. On the good side, she isn't biting anymore!
My granddaughter is going back to her mom's next week, school will be out,, yayyyy! I have been helping out at sports day, book fairs etc so it has been busy busy busy, and I was looking forward to having the summer to myself. That is not to be! My niece, who is 18 and totally awesome, is moving in! She unloaded some of her stuff last night, and will be back tonight with more. On the upside of this, she works for a dog groomers, so she knows LOTS about puppies and is great with dogs in general, so I am hoping for some tips on puppies and poops!
My mom is back in the hospital. She is in the beginning stages of dementia, and last Friday I had to call the ambulance, she couldn't get out of her kitchen chair, and was nodding off and not knowing what was going on. They kept her in till Sunday, pumping her full of fluids etc. When they released her, they let her change by herself. Well,, she fell, and they still let her go. As it turns out, she broke her tail bone, and they never x-rayed her at the time, so they completely missed it. I went to see her Tuesday at home, she hadn't moved all day, so I took her to get checked out. Surprise surprise, she is back in again. I don't think they will let her go home again, the hope is too keep her until she is well enough to be released, but from there it looks like it will be straight into a care home.
Throughout this, our reno is done! The painting and trim were done, and now I just need some time to rearrange cupboards etc to get all my stuff in. Lots of it is still in boxes as it seemed pointless to unpack everything till it was ready.
Last week and this week they are working on the fences in the complex, so we keep having to move everything into the centre of the yard. They have finished the power washing, now they are painting. Tomorrow they should be done with ours, and our yard will once again look like something besides a tornado after shot.
Tonight is a huge Aboriginal BBQ, and Tela is pow-wow dancing there, so should be cool, then tomorrow is an awards ceremony at the school where helpers (yay me) get acknowledged. Saturday is a huge complex-wide garage sale, so tons of stuff to do in the next couple of days to be ready for that. Then we have just enough time to get her stuff organized and packed for the trip home. I will be heading over with her for a few days (tattoo time with my daughter, hehe), then back again for hopefully a calm and peaceful summer. YA, RIGHT! Anyways, off to catch up on all the blogs I have been missing out on. It's good to be back!