I knew I was tired last night...but the typo's on my last post...were right out there!
Nevermind...I was tired to the bone but determined to write a post. Not such a good idea.
I slept until 10:30 this morning. I was pooped. After a few cups of coffee I got my mojo working again. I cleaned up the house. Lined up all the left overs in the fridge (from Christmas dinner) and shot them. After having two big dinners, one at my brother's on Christmas day and one at our house on the 26th. nothing in the fridge looked like something I would like to eat. Gord, on the other hand wants to eat nothing but those doughy dinner rolls that were left over. We have 12 more to go. He will wind up looking like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.
We had a great time at my brothers house. Mind you, it was storming all day and I knew the roads were going to be shit. And they were. My niece totalled her car on the way to her boyfriends parent's house earlier in the morning...but fortunately she was not hurt.
Over there we had a traditional Ukrainian Christmas meal. Along with SIL's sister, husband and family. There was a lot of people and perogies. Ukrainians talk really loud so it was hard to be heard in any conversation. But, I'm pretty sure I yelled right over them. The food was fabulous. Especially a rolled crepe filled with cottage cheese, then covered with whipping cream, and baked. OMG
They took a family picture and for some reason I look like a stunned serial killer. Someone should have told me turn my frown upside down.
The guy lit up on the left is married to the blond in front of the Christmas tree....he just came in to have a fast meal, because he is a cop and didn't have time to take off his jacket because he was on a break. My brother took this picture so he isn't in it...damn. I'm the asshole on the right with my hands in my pockets. Gord of course is the guy with the Santa hat..in red..in the middle with his favorite niece Lisa. The badge on his hat reads " forget the bullshit..what's the discount?" I am sure he was wearing that when he bought my ring..heh. My other niece Cheri is the blond cutie on the top left with her boyfriend Shane. The rest are SIL's family along with the cop. SIL is the one sitting beside me.
The second day of Christmas: The Lutherans came over.
My favourite person was in attendance.. Gord's Tanta Tina...94 years old and is still drinking me under the table. Lot's of fun. Plus lot's of youngins.
I hid 35 pretend chocolate dollar coins all over the basement for the kids to find. I took them forever. So, that was good. My SIL and my nephews wife brought food so I didn't have much to do other than make the turkey and I still made too much crap. I forgot the dressing in the fridge I had made earlier.....and I got the "Joan..you are getting on in years look." Fuck that. You Lutheran's try getting a big dinner together...and then we will talk.
The 5 kids can't wait to get into my water bed. They love it. And I aways remind them..NO JUMPING! So every time I looked in the bedroom, two of the older one's were gently rocking the bed while the younger one's were sprawled out in the bed loving the rocking. The cousins love each other so much, it's so good to see. Usually kids fight...but not these girls. Probably because there isn't any males cousins in the family. I bet if there was a boy cousin, some shit would be happening. As it stands I think we have 5 lesbians. At least this way we can preserve the family name.
My water bed babies
We don't have a large closest in the front hall so everyone threw their jackets on our bed, and the kids were lying on all of them...oy!
Tanta Tina and Gordon. I love her. She is so funny, she cracks me right up.
Well that's all I got for tonight.
Remember what I said about ...no jumping on the water bed to the girls...well there is more to that story, but that will be left for another "wet" day.
balonie..over and out.
You could have knocked me over with a feather, I was astounded. Gord? buying ME a ring? A George Foreman grill I could understand....but THIS.
I lost the diamond on my engagement ring earlier this year, and he was like.." it was old"... and who cares. So I went to Walmart and bought myself a Cubic Zirconia for 20.00 bucks, because my original wedding band split in half about two years ago, and I was ringless. And I just hated it when guys kept hitting on me and thought I was single. It's tuff being a couger.
But you have to hear the story.
We have friends that lived beside years ago in our old house. They moved away 25 years ago, and we have kept up a tradition of sending out newsletters to each other and calling on Christmas eve.
First, to explain... In my newsletters I always complained that Gord bought me crap for Christmas, and usually it was Turkey Roaster, heated car seats, and yes, he did buy a lot of computer shit I wanted...but nothing personal..ever. Tunney, our friend, always gives his wife really cool stuff, so I was always jealous.. It was on going joke over the years.
So, this year when I wrote our newsletter, I told them I had lost my diamond in my engagement ring and wished for a replacement. And then joked around...saying..yeah rite...I'm only going to get a George Foreman grill.
They called us early on Christmas eve because they had to go to their son's house, and we weren't at home, so they left a message. In that message, Tunney joked around and said "Gord for God's sake get your wife a diamond ring"!
What I haven't told you yet, is that Gord never saw the newsletter I sent to Tunney and his wife.
When Gord got home later in the evening I told him Tunney had left a message on the answering machine. Gord was sitting in his recliner in front to the TV having a drink and I handed him the phone and he was listening to the message...and I was in the kitchen getting supper going. He listened to the message...and he turned kind of silent after that...and asked why Tunney was asking about a diamond ring....and I told him what I had said that in the newsletter as a joke as I do every year. His wife always gets bling...I get blong. Gord looked a little confused. But I really didn't notice it too much. He just kept on asking me what I wanted for Christmas....and all I could muster up was one of those digital picture frames....which....ummm I didn't really want. I have everything I need.
Then on:
Christmas morning ...after we got up....we went downstairs...with our coffee's and a very excited dog who knows it is Christmas morning...and who has been seated beside her Christmas stocking for two weeks and has to be carried manually up the stairs to go to bed.
Gord opened the boring presents I got him, the dog pissed her pants with the turtle that had two balls inside it's shell which she had to break out. Then it was my turn. He kept on asking me what I thought it was. I had no clue. It wasn't the picture frame...because it was too small. And it was soft. We did the guessing game for two seconds, before I ripped it open. The box was stuffed with "my towels" that I never saw went missing. And at the bottom of it was a little box.
I didn't even get it then.
I opened it..and then there was another box..a jewellery type box...in my head I was going WTF... and when I opened that one...I lost it. I started to cry...balonie doesn't do crying... too much. It's the ring I would have picked... I love wide bands, I love white gold..
Plus he gave me a Wacom pen for Scrapbooking......oy...I think he still likes me.
I never thought he would have cared about my sadness when I lost the diamond to my engagement ring. This ring will do double duty for both rings..engagement and wedding ring. I'ts such a nice wide band. I'm not a person who wears jewellery so it's all good.
So that's my story.
Tomorrow I will regale you with the Christmas tales at my brother's home, and Christmas with the Lutheran's we had here yesterday. I have the next week off, so I got a lot tales to tell.
I put my Christmas village in the fireplace. Now you know I am on my way to the funny farm. Do you see my mom's Christmas cactus on the right. For the first time since she died it is blooming like crazy...but not on the side you can see...damit. The buds are just little, but it's so cool that they bud off the leaf.
I tried a night pic..failed.....carry on.
Tree stuff... I bought these years ago a Wal Mart...and I love them. I twist them all over the tree. Because ummm I am twisted. But you know that.
I have about 6 of these that I spread through the tree... they are so very cute. Phoney looking, yes..but cute.
My deer, which I have had since we got married. He has a broken back leg, but you don't know that. I tuck him in the handicapped part of the tree.
I have had this little family forever. There feathers and nest are getting a little frayed looking...but the momma still looks after her chicks at Christmas time.
Well look at that mess. I didn't get the top on the picture, plus a row of those fucking prelit lights went out near the bottom. See the dark part? I just about shit myself yesterday, and no amount of tapping and twisting can make them come back on. I spit in the maker of prelit trees face. On the left is my little skating pond. I should have turned it on...it looks a little drab. It's beautiful when it's lit up...and all the skaters go round and round. My SIL gave this to me last Christmas.
About my end date. No, it's not February but that is was I realized he was shooting for before I told him I need April to meet my pension requirements. And he agreed to that. So, that's all good.
We had our company Christmas party yesterday, kinda bittersweet knowing you won't be there next year. I made sure I didn't have more than a few glasses of wine because I was afraid I would start shooting my mouth off....and I don't need that right now.
I got all my Christmas shopping done! Plus I bought myself the best ever coat. Well, it's not really a coat .. coat. It's a jacket coat. Mid length I guess is what I'm trying to say. It is a "Joan" coat. Yes it has a hood. Everything I have has a hood. I even have hooded scarves. I can't find p.j's with a hood. I hate that. But this coat is everything I have been looking for years. It's black, it's suede..ish soft, it has a hood with fat fur trim, it has a belted back, and it has fur cuffs on the sleeves. Think Dr. Zhivago. It's sort of A- line and makes me look like I have a waist. I almost typed waste. Freudian slip. It' s just damn cute.
shhhhh ... nobody type too loudly in your comments...Gord is sleeping on his recliner...the dog is sleeping on the sofa.. and I have the "fireplace channel on." Yes ... it has logs burning and Christmas carols playing. Normally we would be downstairs but I changed up the fireplace this year with candles instead of a fire going.. Why...you ask? Because Gord and I have this thing about fires in the fireplace. We haven't been burning wood for a long time, and have been using the phoney logs. You know the one's ..filled with wax and bird droppings... and you can get them at Costco for 5.00 bucks.
When my... or his family comes over at Christmas....and because I am busy cooking I give him the job to look after the fire. That decision has cost us a lot of waxing fumes wafting throughout the house. For some reason when I tell him, you have to let the first log to peeeeter out, and then throw on the next log... BEFORE YOU FUCKING BURN THE HOUSE DOWN WITH THE OTHER TWO YOU HAVE THROWN ON . I have been pretty clear about this for about 10 years...and nothing has changed.
When all the kids grow up they will always remember the smell of wax in our house. Just like turkey... would be to normal people. They will remember those two old farts alway's arguing about the fireplace. "Remember the time Auntie Joanie... yelled WTF are you doing..to Uncle Gordon when he was stoking a fire as big as a bonfire in their house." What a legacy we leave to these children! We are assholes....but the kids seem to like us anyway.
I just got two calls, SIL is bringing the mashed potato casserole, plus her mom's fruit salad...I love her mom's salad. My niece is bringing a Flan for dessert.... I love flans.....So yay...It's just me and the turkey... veggies, ham, dressing..and all the rest of the shit....
I can't wait.
When the headmaster sat me down and talked to me in a very quite tone....almost like he wanted to calm me down before I took a hatchet to his head. He said "Joan, we need to know what you want." You are a very important part to our company. I,in turn said "I didn't know I had a choice." I said, "you start first." Because I wanted to the the bottom line before I made any choices.
The ball was in his court.
In his monotone voice, he agreed and rambled on for ten minutes telling me how great I am, and what a good employee I am (was), and tried to schmooze me. And then he told me that I will be paid for two months salary after they let me go as is the company policy. Then he said that I would probably be let go at the end of February.
I told him I was not happy with that. Because my boss told me I would be let go at the end of April... and I have everything set up to go from that date forward. With my pension plans etc. He almost jumped off his chair..I guess my boss didn't tell him that.
Then,in his monotone voice....he said " no problem Joan" ...we are here to help you through this blah blah da blah
Fuck off you are. I said in my head.
I already knew he was looking for February. Anyway, that's the end of it.
So that's where this pile of bullshit lays...in my flower bed where new flowers will florish next spring and I will have the time to take care of them.
Let's get it on. I'm ready.
