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Brrr ...

Saturday, December 20, 2008
... it's 25 below this morning! Brrr ...
We got the predicted snowfall ... almost six inches ... and the world is covered in white (and to tell you a secret ... it didn't feel like 25 below this morning when I went out to drive Jen home ... without wind winter is actually tolerable).

So as I was saying previously when I dropped in here for a sentence or two ... time has got me by the nose and is leading me around like the fool that I am. Not going completely crazy yet ... figure that if I stay on course, I'll make all the deadlines. What's that? Have I left room for the unexpected? Arggghhh ... nope ...

Let's see ... I have puulla to make (that's Finnish coffee bread) ... that's a full day ... 4 ties for the grooms-men ... Mel's dress left to sew (it's been cut and is sitting waiting for me to put it together) ... the sparkles and sequins to add to her overskirt ... the head piece to make. The bridesmaid dresses are 95% done ... they have to be fitted and the "poufs" need to be made (don't even ask ... it's Melanie's wedding - enough said) ... more guests have RSVP'ed so there's another 15 teacups to purchase ...
As for Christmas ... I have about 4 gifts that need to be "made" ... have most of my shopping done so I'm feeling confident ... though stocking stuffers still need to be dreamed up.
As for food ... I'm feeding 20 people this year ... I haven't a clue what I'm going to do (oh? you didn't know that we don't do turkey? well, yeah ... the kids decided long ago that a turkey was too traditional) ...
I've got Stefani almost ready for her big trip to CA ... only need to find her a pair of shoes ... and that reminds me she's got a workshop today ...

Got off the computer at 11:50 pm last night as I pressed "send" and just barely made the funding application deadline for Transport Canada. Now if that gets accepted ... I'd be one happy camper. Gonna try and get some work done over the holidays (dream on girl) to allow myself to breathe a little in the new year ...

Well that's it for this morning ... gonna finish my coffee, straighten the house ... and start sewing!

Time ...

Thursday, December 18, 2008
... keeps on slipping, slipping ... into the future ...

... it's like I'm living with a giant timepiece inside my head ...

... tick
... tock
.... tick
... tock

.... time's running faster than I can catch up ...

Interruption

Thursday, December 11, 2008
We interrupt this regularly scheduled silence to bring you a short message to confirm still being alive and well ...

Wow ... I can't believe (sssh ... yes I can but it sounds better to say that I can't) that it's been over a week since I've dropped in here.

Let's see what you've missed ... I fell down some stairs last week because my bum left ankle just decided to stop working. Bad sprain but I'm alive and hobbling around just fine.

Preparations for Stef's trip to LA in early January have taken up a huge chunk of my time ... clothes, bathing suit, passport ...

Have managed to complete two of the bridesmaid dresses (Maija and Stefani). Mel had purchased four dresses for the "big" girls and I was supposed to make some slight alterations. Ha! Slight my ass!! I've basically recreated the dresses ... would have been easier to start from scratch. But there's no time for complaining ... if all goes well, I should have those finished tonight!

Which means I'll get to start on Melanie's ... last night I experimented and found out that I could cover the mesh overskirt with glitter and shiny stuff by using spray on glue. Now that will be an experience!

Started X-mas shopping this week ... nowhere close to where I should be at this time but simply having a few gifts purchased takes the anxiety edge off. I also managed to make two tourtieres (meat pies) and freeze those. Tonight I'll try and get two dozen butter tarts done.

I guess slow and steady eventually wins the race.

And I'm not even describing the half of it ... there's been helping Kyla with her final psych exam (not an easy task as she has a comprehension problem) ... fighting with the government on two fronts: getting my birth certificate from the Government of Quebec who in a quest for extra money declared all birth certificates issued before 1990 as invalid ... and then fighting with the Government of Ontario for Jonathan's disability cheques ... dealing with the craziness of impending full moons ... Nicole's social butterfly schedule and rushing her to work when she cuts it too close ... making arrangements for Gary and Liza and Merick and Gramma's visit ... dealing with Dave's family ... here and in Sudbury (hey ... Tim and Carrie had their baby ... Chase Alexander two days ago) ... and naturally, there's work ... 7 hours a day ... otherwise we'd all starve ...

I'm planning on taking a few hours on Saturday to write a little ... surf my favorite ethereal places and recharge the batteries ...

Political storms

Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Hmmm ... have Canadians grown balls while I wasn't paying attention? This quiet, peaceful nation of mine is making noise ... and scary as it may be ... I kinda' like it!

Political storms are waging ... the Governor General (our true "head of state") has flown back from Europe to address the "situation" ... the newspapers, radio and television news broadcasts are having a field day ... with the public voice swaying rather evenly between outrage and "way to go!" ...

Personally, I'm just thrilled to pieces to see Canada with a fresh, new set of balls ... and whichever way this goes isn't as important as the process. I don't think the country will grind to a halt or fall apart because something "unheard of" is happening. What I truly hope is that this is not a "tempest in a teapot" ... some media or spin doctor prank (ahhh ... a whiff of my inherent cynicism is raising its head ... having done my fair share of spin-doctoring in my time) ...

So what's the brouhaha about? Simply that a coalition government is being plotted, planned, threatened ... and I find it amusing that everyone seems to have forgotten that this ploy was already threatened once before by the very man (and party) that finds itself targeted this time.

With a multi-party system, such as Canada has ... our elected official and party often finds itself as a minority government with less than 50% ... in this case less than 40% of the popular vote. Unlike the US, we do not vote directly for our leader - our prime minister. Canadians vote for the best representative for their particular region and leader of the party most often represented by this elected officials becomes the prime minister.

Coalition governments ... work elsewhere in the world ... why not Canada? I think it's a great step in the progression of a true democracy. We need a government that can work together. By establishing a coalition - these parties and leaders have already taken the first step to prove that they can and will work together towards a common goal ... (am I being too idealistic here?)

A black American President ... a coalition government for Canada ... could this be the start of a new age?

I don't know about you ... but I'm keeping my ears and eyes open and my fingers crossed that this coalition comes to pass ... this is definitely a move in the right direction ... a government that allows participation by hereto fringe parties ... an open door for parties of all stripes and flavours to participate in the formation and process of Canadian governance ... just as it should be!