The Culprit! Stanley’s First Tree

Last night’s hockey game was lots of fun! Some great signs mocking #25! Some people are pretty witty. All in all, it was a bunch of hype and very low-key thank gawd! Just disappointing to throw it all away with 17 secs left to go!
When we got home last night, Smudgie had a “slice” in his ear. I’m imagining that Stanley was trying to entice him to play, and got a claw hooked in Smudge’s ear, and they pulled until it ripped right through! Poor old boy!! He’s down to skin and bones since Stanley came on the scene.
Tonight was our staff Christmas dinner. We had a good time. Lots of laughs!! Between work, and the dinner, I went shopping and found an outfit to wear to hubby’s Christmas party next week. It’s an evening of cocktails, and then a dinner theater. I was so glad to find something so quickly!!
Well I’m exhausted so that’s all for now folks. Time to hit the sack!

1983 Oilers Ornament

Well as you can see, I did quite a bit of the Christmas decorating yesterday. It’s early for me, as I don’t usually ever do it any before the 1st of December. Since I had 4 days off, I thought I should get a start on it. I’m not doing as much as usual, because the kids are gone, and we’ll be at our parents’ for Christmas. Stanley just canNOT resist the tree. It’s just like one big playground as far as he’s concerned. I tried scaring the crap out of him so he’d bugger off, but it’s very hard to scare a cat who was found on the highway!
Our weather is BEYOND cold. It’s -27C (-20F), but close to -40C with the windchills. That is ridiculous weather for November!! This is our typical January/February weather. We already have a crazy amount of snow. The roads are supposedly treacherous. Oh happy, happy, joy, joy!
We are also going to the hockey game tonight, and there’s a substantial walk from the parking lot over to the arena. You have to go over a long, high, walkway, and the wind up there is going to be brutal. I’m definitely going to have to haul out some heavy duty winter duds! Tonight is the night Pron*ger makes his first appearance back here since slinking out of town. He held a press conference last night. No idea why, as he just kept repeating everything he’s said since it all erupted. The BOObirds will be out in full force tonight. Frankly……I’m over it. He played great for us for a year, he got us within one win of a Stanley Cup, and he kept whatever shit was going on to himself. Had he displayed any class in the way he left, or faced the press when he announced he wanted out, I wouldn’t have had any hard feelings at all.
Guess it’s time to get ready, and bundle up… I’m on bus supervision this morning! Gah! Sounds like a Starbuck’s morning to me!

Sarah with a friend’s little girl

I came across this photo, and had to post it, because it’s just too silly for words. Katie could be Sarah’s daughter they look so much alike being goofballs in this picture. Katie is the daughter of 2 of Jay’s best friends. They got married out of high school, and had this little cutie. She’s really taken to Sarah.
Nothing going on around here. Hubby got the frickin’ vacuum cleaner going. First of all we had the wrong bags, which I had figured out. He went and bought the right ones, and it still wasn’t working properly. He discovered where it was plugged, and I got it unplugged. We now know where the missing cat was. I’m not all about liking to vacuum, but it annoys me greatly when things aren’t working!
I got hubby to haul the Christmas decorations upstairs, so now I have tubs, and stuff all over the place, so much so, that it looks like someone threw up Christmas in my house. That will be tomorrow’s project when I have the house to myself.
Ben phoned me last night, and asked if I would do up a website for his band. I agreed, with the price being free snow removal. So I got their domain name registered this morning, and am just waiting for it to resolve. I have NO clue really how I want this to look, but I started with sending him with my digital camera to jam, but of course the battery was DOA. Doh! I’m pretty sure I’ll set it up as a MT blog, have a gallery, their sound bits, profiles, and lord knows what else. If anyone has any tips, by all means let me know!!

Miles Peeking out of his Hidey Hole

The weather here is GROSS! Today it’s -22C (-9F) and it’s snowing. Thursday’s drive home was NASTY! Probably the worst I’ve driven on. Before I left for work, it took me 15 minutes to sweep 8 inches of snow off my Jeep. The highway wasn’t really that bad at all, but when I was going through the industrial town I pass through on my way home, the intersections were ridiculous! I slid all the way through the first one, just inches from the guy in front of me before my ABS brakes saved my bacon. The next intersection, obviously I was wiser, so I stayed well back of the car in front of me, but the old man behind me, was not yet as wise, and he slid right into my rear end!! No visible damage though. When I got out to check, I could hardly stand up, it was so slippery, and polished from the wind. Fortunately the rest of the trip home was much less eventful!
The kids came out that night for dinner because it was Jay’s birthday. They didn’t stay too long, because Sarah had a soccer game. Yesterday it was just BEASTY cold! No more snow, but now today the snow is back. I believe these frigid temps are supposed to last for another 3-4 days. Yuck!
I’ve got Monday off work as well, so I’ve kind of been contemplating putting up some Christmas decorations. I’m not going to put up everything this year, as I’m sure that Stanley the little thief will be raising a ruckus in that tree! That Little Bastard is like a crow! He steals anything I happen to be too lazy to put away off my dresser. I find earrings all over! He also steals tubes of lipstick, and pens! It’s a good thing he’s so damn cute and cuddly!

sykora

The Oilers won last night in the latest installment of the Battle of Al*ber*ta! They didn’t play that great, other than our penalty kill, but Roli stood on his head again, and Syk*ora snuck 2 past Kipper. We also signed one of my favorites, Stevie Sta*ois, so I was happy about that! At least that’s one jersey I won’t have to “alter”.
Yesterday C and I stayed after school to paint those fucking wildcats. Grrrrr what a pain in the ass! We were doing all the outlining work, and it was so hard to try and keep the lines neat and sharp on cement blocks! Accckkk! We were at it for 3 hours, and my back and shoulders are SORE today! Oh well. The principal wants us to come back in Monday (a day off) to finish. We’ll see about THAT! heh
Today it is -17C or +1F. It is COLD. It is also snowing quite a bit, with more on the way. Oh happy, happy, joy, joy! Exactly one year ago today, it was 19C or 66F! Only in Canada….. Well at least we can drink our water, unlike our neighbors to the west!
Also………I think Ben and Jess are back together. damnnnnnnnn He can tell his father and sister! They’re not as forgiving as the mother! heh

First Time in the Snow

Not much going on here. Yesterday’s amusement was in watching this crazy kitten out in the snow. One of the old cats was asking to go out on the balcony, so I opened the door, knowing that he would stick his paw in the snow, retract it quickly and shake it off madly….he did. Then Stanley leaped out there, and I thought he’d have a heart attack, but he didn’t flinch at all! He ran around out there, hopping through the deep snow like a little rabbit. Crazy kitten!
I got a new laptop earlier in the week, so I’ve been using all my spare time to get everything transferred over, and set up. I had totally forgotten what a PITA it is to do that! Then I reformatted my old laptop, and set it up for hubby. (He doesn’t care if he has sound). I’ve got a lot of my Christmas shopping done, but I’ve still got to buy for Jay. Not too sure what I’m doing there!
Well I should go see about getting something accomplished!

I haven’t been sleeping worth a damn this week, so needless to say, I’m TIRED, and getting cranky! I’m also still coughing, though not sick. GAH I need to smarten up before I get to school, or it’s going to be a long day, spent biting my tongue!

I work with a woman that is sooooooooo judgemental, it isn’t even funny! I can be that way myself, but I don’t “act on it”. She does! One little girl comes to school every day, and she smells like she slept in an ashtray, and she’s not terribly clean. Well this woman thinks she should mention to the mother that it’s not healthy for her daughter to be in that environment. While I totally agree with the theory, I feel she should worry about education, and not health. I told her that I felt that message was up to the little girl’s doctor. We can’t fix the homes of these kids.

My other work rant is that when I told someone at work when they could make up some home visits that I did of theirs while they were on holidays, she got really snotty with me. I did all day sessions last week, filling in for her, and did it willingly, the teacher saying the woman could just make it up for me later. Well in December, I’m scheduled for all day visits again, and her 1 visit for that day is cancelled, so I told her she could take the afternoon for me then. She got pretty testy. Pfffft………suck it up buttercup.

1.) Just before the funeral services, the undertaker came up to the very elderly widow and asked, “How old was your husband?” “98,” she replied.
“Two years older than me.”
“So you’re 96,” the undertaker commented.
She responded,
“Hardly worth going home, is it?

2.) Reporters interviewing a 104-year-old woman: “And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?” the reporter asked. She simply replied,
“No peer pressure.”

3.) The nice thing about being senile is you can hide your own Easter eggs.

4.) I’ve sure gotten old! I’ve had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees, Fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I’m half blind, can’t hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circulation; hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. Can’t remember if I’m 85 or 92. Have lost all my friends. But, thank God, I still have my driver’s license.

5.) I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor’s permission to join a fitness club and start exercising. I decided to take an aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. But, by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over.

6.) An elderly woman decided to prepare her will and told her preacher she had two final requests. First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scattered over Wal-Mart. “Wal-Mart?” the preacher exclaimed. “Why Wal-Mart?” “Then I’ll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week ”

7.) My memory’s not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory’s not as sharp as it used to be.

8.) Know how to prevent sagging? Just eat till the wrinkles fill out.

9.) It’s scary when you start making the same noises as your coffeemaker.

10.) These days about half the stuff in my shopping cart says, “For fast relief.”

11.) Remember: You don’t stop laughing because you grow old, You grow old because you stop laughing.

12.) — THE SENILITY PRAYER : Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.

Little E did not have mumps. So that’s a relief, but they will never know what caused his face to puff up the way it did! It was very painful too. I guess it will remain a mystery. He’s back at school, and no worse for the wear.
It feels like it’s been frantically busy at work these past 2 weeks. Hopefully things will calm down a bit now until it gets busy with Christmas craziness! The other 2 aides in our classroom have both been told to “be aware of the appropriateness of their clothing”. The younger aide typically has quite a lot of cleavage showing if she bends over at all, which of course we’re doing all the time. I don’t think she’s deliberately doing this, but now she’s been told, so she’ll be more careful as to what she wears to school. The other aide is 44 years old, but she dresses like she’s Sarah’s age. Everything is TIGHT, her back is often exposed, along with her tattoo. She’s been warned before, but I don’t really see her ever changing the way she dresses. She’s a great person, great at her job, and doesn’t act like a skanky ho, but she is very vain, and really feels that she’s hotsy totsy. She has a very slim, figure, but it just isn’t appropriate to wear things so tight with so much exposed to work. She totally sends the wrong message to people. Parents have complained to the principal about her clothing, saying if you expect the girls to dress properly, you should start with your staff. I don’t think that you need to dress like a 20 year old when you’re that age either, it’s just kind of weird.

I’,m still coughing and carrying on, and at times it seems as if it’s getting worse. I guess I”ll have to finally break down and make a doctor’s appointment to see what’s up. Needless to say, I’m not doing much this weekend!

I’ve started to do a little bit of Christmas shopping. Two of the things Ben wanted, a pair of Sony DJ headphones, and a digital voice recorder, amounted to nearly $400 at Bestbuy, and I got them both for $148 including shipping on EBay. SCORE! Otherwise he sure wouldn’t be getting both of them, because I’m just not spending as much on Christmas this year. It is ridiculous! We spent enough during them moving out, and fixing vehicles, etc.

We’ve got Miles for the weekend, so these 2 furbabies are racing around here like a couple of crazies!

Maybe If I Suck Up She’ll Forget About this Carving Thing!

One of the Mom’s came in yesterday to tell us that her son had MUMPS! She was completely astounded by this. He had swollen up so bad that he looked like a cabbage patch doll, and was screaming, so they took him to emergancy, and they immediately referred him into the Children’s hospital, where they determined that they think he has mumps. (test results were due back today or tomorrow) The public health unit was completely mystified, and somewhat horrified to think that there could be some “mutant” form of the mumps around, as this little guy’s immunizations were all up to date. So, where did he come in contact with it?? And why didn’t his immunization work?? Regardless, he’s not allowed to leave the house at all for 9 days. Very strange! At least he’s feeling fine after the initial 2 days.

I’m beginning to think I’m allergic to something at work, as I blow my nose continually at work, but not near as much at home. It’s very odd. I’m going to try taking an allergy medication one day, and see if it makes any difference.

We have a little guy who sings all our songs like “rounds”. He doesn’t know any of the words, so we sing a line, and as we’ve moved on to the next one, he’s singing the first line. It’s very ANNOYING, and the other kids don’t need any help getting messed up! heh

The Oilers played in Montreal for the first time in 3 years, and lost in shoot out. The good thing was that they played quite a bit better than they have been playing. On to Detroit tomorrow night.

I need a haircut in the worst way, but I keep forgetting to call for an appointment until it’s too late in the day. This annoys me. Having shaggy hair makes me crabby!

Winter has been here now for a couple of weeks. We’ve had some very bad driving conditions. Freezing rain, snow, fog, blowing snow, etc. It makes me SUPER glad that I have my Baby Jeep!

The stupid USA election results are on, and interfering with my program viewing. This also annoys me!

My co-worker Cindy jetted off to Las Vegas for the next 4 days a couple of hours ago. I’m jealous. I also get stuck with the sub.

I guess I don’t have anything positive, cheery or uplifting to report, so I’ll end this now.