Merry Christmas to Me and a Stupid Way to Die

I've pooled all my Christmas money together

(thank you to those who contributed xox)

and bought myself a new camera.

It is a Canon Power Shot SX130 IS

I am totally going to have to read the instruction manual.

There is a setting for *kids & dogs*.

The first few photos came out blurry.

It also did odd things to the lighting.

The lights in the Living Room were on but it focused in on Frosty.

It's really pretty outside. It's not windy & it is snowing nice big flakes.

I took a this shot on Auto from my kitchen window.

I HAD to take a photo of this:

There is a reason.

About 30 minutes ago, I didn't feel well.
I felt odd.
Mini panic attack? Hot flash? Irritable belly?
Whatever it was, it passed as fast as it arrived.

10 minutes later, Adam went to the kitchen & swore out loud.
He had a potato in the oven for an hour & the oven wasn't on.
The gas was on, it just didn't light.

This is the 1st place I have ever lived with a gas stove.
I love it. It bakes great. Doesn't burn everything.

With the messed up electrical in this bldg it doesn't always
make the click click click sound and light.

It is for this reason that I asked my folks to buy us a
Carbon Monoxide Detector for Christmas.
They did.
Last year.
I had to dust the box off before I took the photo.
If Adam & I were to die this way, I give permission
for everyone at our service to say we are idiots.

I was going to make myself a note to call my Dad & ask
him to come over & help me install it.
Then I took a closer look & it's a plug-in.
It says it right there on the front of the package.
Oh.....My......Goodness.

Thing is, seriously, the ONLY outlets in this apartment that
are not installed sideways on the base boards are
in the kitchen.

If I put this in the kitchen will it go off every time I use the stove?

Dog Boots

When I take Crockett for a walk on salty Toronto

sidewalks, passersby must think I'm heartless

and that I am torturing my dog.

The salt makes him walk as though he's walking on fire or broken glass.

I've spent the last hour online browsing Dog Boutique catalogues

and reading message boards on http://www.pugalug.com/

to find the best boots to buy for Crockett.

I want them to work. I don't want them to be pretty.

I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever

be the type of person who dresses their pet for fashion.

Coats are critical on really cold days for short haired or small dogs.

You try going outside in freezing weather in your

warm pyjamas to tinkle on snow.

Dog boots have become critical based on the amount

of salt that was dropped on the sidewalks after this,

our first real storm of the season.

I'm hoping I can get him something like these.
I fear the price tag.

Source

I'll definitely post some photos of Crockett modelling his
new booties.


Today's Christmas Joy

We purchased this paw ornament during our Honeymoon
from the store Just Christmas
in Niagara On The Lake

Rain Rain

Rain Rain Go Away

Come Again in April 2011.

I fear December Rain.

It turns into December Ice.

To continue with my Christmas theme,

I really like old fashioned winter/Christmas images.

Specifically Old Fashioned Santas like this one:

Source

Great Couple of Days

The last couple of days have been really great.

On Thursday night I went to bed early and got

 a full 8 hours sleep.

Friday, I woke up without a headache & felt refreshed.

Work continues to be busy (again, NOT complaining)

and the busier it is the faster time passes.

My mood continues to be festive, I'm so looking forward

to Christmas and life is pretty great.

We both woke up early today to get the groceries done early before the crowds.
Too late, Loblaws was super busy. We were home by 11am.
I bought the Red Velvet Cheesecake I've been wanting to try.

My Father In Law came over this afternoon, we had
Chinese food and he came bearing gifts.

Very meaningful gifts.

Adam's Mother passed away in 1991. 

Sadly I never met her, although through Adam, I feel as though I know her.

Adam talks about her all the time, about the kind of Mother she was,
the kind of lady she was.

He has this photograph of her in his office.

In her kitchen, smiling.

One of the gifts my Father In Law gave me was a set of vintage
Cook Books that he bought for Adam's Mother.

They have her name inscribed on the front covers.
The Gourmet Cookbook Vol I & II
Gourmet's Menu Cookbook
Gourmet's Old Vienna Cookbook
and
Gourmet's Basic French Cookbook

They have just increased the value of my bookshelf to priceless.

Source for both photographs.

Adam and I will spend days going through them.
We have decided that once a month, inspired by Julie & Julia, we
will have a lovely sit down dinner with recipes taken from
or inspired by these books.

There are 47 pages in the Basic French Cookbook
dedicated to
PAINS, PÂTISSERIES ET GÂTEAUX.
Translated - Breads, Pastries & Cakes.
I just can't wait to try some of these!

Here are 2 more Ornaments.
I like Snowmen.

Nightmares

I have had a dull headache for the past 2 days that is a

combination of my Bruxism and the dry winter air.

I have a very achy Mandible and sore upper eye sockets.

Extra Strength Tylenol don't work for me anymore either.

I tend to clench my jaw & grind my teeth more when

stressed or if I don't sleep well.

In the past week, for the first time since I

can't remember when, I've had 2 nightmares and I've also not

had a night with a good solid 8 hours of sleep.

Work has been busy (NOT complaining) and it takes me longer to

come down and turn my brain off when I get home.

The first nightmare was so scary I woke up feeling terrified and my

stomach was quivering and nervous.

I cannot understand why I had this dream or

anything that it is connected to.

I haven't watched any scary movies lately.

I was outside a small house in a secluded area with a long gravel driveway. 

I saw a body that was hacked up.

There was no head. The arms and legs were detached and

next to the torso that was cut in half.

It looked like a ham. 

Bone in the middle surrounded by flesh.

A guy who looked like Vin Diesel came out of the house, in a wife beater

and jeans with crazy eyes covered in blood yelling,

" Where is Joanne? I need to kill Joanne."

I ran down the driveway and hid behind a bush.

As he was running towards me and saw me.....I woke up.

The second nightmare makes more sense only because I've been falling

asleep with various Harry Potter movies in the DVD player lately.

I was 8 months pregnant and Ralph Fiennes was chasing me.

When I finally got away from him, I went to the hospital because

I thought I was having contractions.

Ralph Fiennes was the doctor!!! I tried running away but he

kept on hugging me and telling me I still had a month to go.

It was one of those dreams that was all over the place.

What made it a nightmare was when I was being chased.

I kept thinking he was going to hurt my baby.

Plus, Ralph Fiennes has always given me the creeps.

Perfectly cast as He Who Must Not Be Named.

 It is 10:59pm right now.

I am going to add a Christmas Ornament photo

and then go to bed!

My wooden Santa Collection.

 

Politics - Sorry.

Today was the Toronto Mayoral Inauguration of Rob Ford

and the beginning of, what is sure to be, many more sad,

embarrassing days ahead over the next 4 years for the

City of Toronto.

I will be 100% open and honest.

I do not support Rob Ford.

I did not vote for Rob Ford.

I was disappointed when he won.

Remember? It's all here.

I live in mid-uptown Toronto.

A few years back, Toronto and a few

surrounding cities/suburbs amalgamated and became

one big city - the GTA - Greater Toronto Area.

The vote breakdown shows that the pre-amalgamation

suburbs voted for Ford where the

pre-amalgamation city of Toronto voted for Smitherman.

2010 Toronto Mayoral Election Breakdown.
Source.

Today, Rob Ford invited Don Cherry to introduce him as Mayor to council.

Yes, that Don Cherry.

The Don Cherry that is, more often than not, socially inappropriate.

Sometimes amusing for short spurts during a hockey game, sometimes.

When I saw the clip on the news of Don Cherry

saying, "And put that in your pipe, you left-wing kooks."

I was angry. I wanted the whole story. Not just a sound bite.

Here is Don Cherry's speech transcribed.

Very divisive. Bullying almost.

Pinkos?

Left-Wing Kooks?

Ugh.

Winter Has Arrived

It did snow overnight and throughout the day today.

Welcome Winter!!!!



The view out my kitchen window at 10:00pm.
It's still snowing.

Today's Ornaments.



These also were a gift from my Mom for
Christmas 2001.

To Snow or Not To Snow

I am going to throw in something Christmas themed

in every post from now until the 25th.

It could be a photo of my ornaments, decorations,

 houses all aglow, yummy Christmas food
 or anything that strikes me as festive.

Today is one of my cute Snowmen.

My parents were going to come for a visit this afternoon

on their way back from my brothers. 

The forecast called for snow. 

My Dad does not like to drive in the snow, so our visit was cancelled.

They popped by (I only live 2 kms from my brother) and had a few moments

with myself and Crockett before hitting the 401/427/QEW trip home.

Sadly, at the end of the day there was no storm. 

We could have had a nice visit.

This is how much snow we had today.

Not alot at all, just another light dusting.

It is supposed to snow overnight.

We'll see.

More Ornaments and the Park

Here are 3 Ornaments I bought 2 years ago.

It represents my little family.

They have small bells in them that jingle when they move.

I've been enjoying going through my box of ornaments.

I've never been a collector of alot of things.
I don't have trinkets around the apartment and you'll certainly

never see me on an episode of Hoarders, but I just
love my Christmas Ornaments.

Crockett and I went for a long walk today.

Adam joined us in the park near the end of our walk as we'd

been out too long and he came looking for us.

There weren't any other people around nor were there

alot of people out just walking.

It was windy and the skies were grey but not too cold.

I was wearing my hat and winter coat.

There was no color. All the flowers have dried up.

The bushes have been wrapped to protect them from the frost.

Green leaves have become brittle and brown.
There are the odd winter cabbages in the flower beds.
Are they edible?

I took a panoramic clip.

Then just as we were walking up the steps, I saw

this splash of purple.

Ornaments

I love Christmas Ornaments.

I buy a few every year.

I will never have a Christmas Tree that has more

than 2 matching ornaments.

Perfect.

I don't know if we'll put up a tree this year.

I want a nice mini tree with a few of our favorite ornaments

 and loads of twinkle lights at the windows.

These are 2 cute Dr.Seuss-ish ornaments we

got as a gift from my Mom.

Received Christmas 2003.