Yep... the holidays have finally arrived!! It is Christmas Eve Day as I'm typing this and, as most of North America is aware... there's a heck of a lot of snow on this continent at this time!!! Only the southern States seem to have escaped having a White Christmas!!
Now, on the one hand, I am NOT complaining! It has been years since we have had an official White Christmas here in the Vancouver area. I love it and think it's very... well, festive!! But can we talk some of the realities here??? Here is, yet another picture taken outside my living room window (I only have pictures taken outside the window because I have been snowbound in my apartment for the past 4 days!!)
You will notice where someone has tried to clear the driveway going down to the underground parking... well, a half hearted attempt because once they got through the snow, they hit 2-3 inches of ice and realized they weren't going to get far fast ;)
Here is another view, looking to the left:
They did say that this snow that is coming down would turn to rain by noon... hello? They have 10 minutes to change... and so far, it doesn't look like it's going to stop snowing for hours yet!
But, I have got my Christmas chores and tasks done! I managed to get my gifts wrapped and they are ready to get packed into the car. I, like everyone else I know, have really cut back on the gift giving this year. Due to the economy (ok, that gives me a good excuse) and just the fact I don't have a lot of excess cash, I had to do some major cutting. But what I did buy is wrapped and ready to be delivered:
Doesn't it look pretty? A little corner of gifts all gaily wrapped :) Of course, that does not include the laptop that is sitting under some of them!! Hahahaha... have just been too lazy to find a home for the laptop so it just sits around on the chair or the couch (grin).
Oh, and let's not forget the Holiday Baking I've been doing while being snowbound at home!!
This isn't all of it, but a good chunk of it! There are 5 dozen butter tarts, 8 dozen Cheese Crisp Cookies, 4 dozen Pecan Butter cookies AND a perfect Cheesecake :)
Then, let's not forget the laundry... usually I don't get that done until after Christmas, mainly because I'm running around and have totally forgotten :D
Yep... Mommy's little laundry helper!! Ok, so she's not doing such a great job of folding and putting stuff away, but she's quite content to just supervise! LOL!!
So, there you have it. Now, as I'm typing, I'm looking out at the snow just falling, falling, falling. It's now noon, so time for me to get dressed and start loading the car... and then, I'm going to make an attempt to get out to North Delta. Keep your fingers crossed for me that the roads are doable... it's a long drive to get stuck somewhere along the way! It's times like this that one wishes Vancouver were not built on hills!!
Assuming I get out to N. Delta, I will be staying the night there at Dad's and doing the family Christmas in the morning/early afternoon. Then I will be out in the elements again to drive home and get the car back into the covered carport. Tomorrow night, I'll be joining Steve and friends for Christmas Dinner... but for that trip, I'll take a cab! :) Surely the roads will be much better for Boxing Day when I'll attempt to get out to the Piercy Boxing Day event, which is out towards UBC.
Now, I can't remember in the last post if I mentioned that I will be having the Lung Ablation procedure next Tuesday. I will be going to my friend Nancie's on Monday to spend the day/night with her. Bridget will be coming with me. On the Monday, I will have to be at the Royal Columbian Hospital for my pre-admission appointment, so while I'm there, Bridget will be at work with Nancie. Then, when I'm ready to go, they will pick me up and we'll go back to Nancie's house. First thing Tuesday morning, Nancie will take me back to the hospital.
Now, according to the radiologist, I will have to stay for a couple of hours after the procedure, for observation. According to the gal who called me about the appointment, she said I will be staying overnight. So I'm not really sure if I'll be staying overnight at the hospital or overnight at Nancie's after the procedure, but I won't be coming home until the morning of the 31st ;)
Ok... time to get a move on! Once I'm ready to go, it will be time to get Bridget in her snow gear
She's ready for her walkie out in the snow!! Thank goodness for our neighbour, Toby. There is no way I could take Bridget out walking in this stuff. My feet are just not stable enough!! But Toby takes her out for their walks. Bridget, like all the other dogs in the neighbourhood, was really having a problem with the ice they use on the sidewalks. In this cold weather, it's natural for dogs paw pads to crack. But then when they walk on the salted sidewalks, well, it would be the same as us having cut feet and walking on salt!! So these little boots protect her pads from the salt... and she has no problems now!
Here she is out on her snow walkies, wondering why I can't keep up!! Hahahaha!! "Come on mom! Let's run in the snow!!" :)
Now, isn't she just the cutest?? Now that we have the "salt on the paws" problem resolved, she really does enjoy being out in the snow!! What she doesn't like is when the temps dip below -10C. Then she starts to complain about being out for more than a few minutes :D
Well, I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas, and here's to a brand new year that is almost upon us!!
Hugggggs,
Cheryl
