Safe Journey, Aunt Norma

I haven't posted much as I've been rather ill lately, and quite busy at work. And today after work I got some very sad news - our Aunt Norma passed away this morning.

I found it especially sad as her son said that she was very much into her Christmas preparations this morning, and was really looking forward to spending the holiday with the children. It's too bad that she couldn't have been given a couple more days so that she could have had this one last Christmas with her family.

However, I am also glad that she was enjoying her time this morning, and was in such good spirits. Apparently she began feeling unwell, and sometime after 10:00, I believe, she was taken to the hospital. The family was told that nothing could be done for her, as her heart was failing, and she passed away before noon. So thankfully it was very quick, and her son said that she did not suffer.

One thing does bring a smile to my face, though. I can picture her, my Mom (she was Mom's sister), another Aunt, an Uncle, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, and all the other assorted relatives in Spirit all sitting around having a bit of a Christmas reunion and gabfest. It's always sad on this side when someone passes, and of course the one who has passed is often sad too, but there is also joy in Spirit as family members and friends are once again brought back together.

So enjoy your reunion, Aunt Norma, and I hope that you are not too sad at being taken Home so close to Christmas. May your journey be safe - take care, until we meet again...

Snow Pics!

Okay, I've taken some quick pics with the new camera, so I thought I'd try to post them here and give those of you in "no-snow zones" a peek at what it's like here - and this is just the beginning of winter! The outdoor ones are a bit dark - darkened up when I resized them! I'm too lazy to go back in right now and lighten them up, but you get the picture... hehehehehehe - yes, pun intended! If you look closely enough at the ones with the dogs in them, you can see the snowflakes coming down, although they don't show up in the yard pic against the fence...







And here are a couple of close ups of the girls - my babies! The first one is Lady,the eldest, the second one is Misty, the young trouble maker!





These are my first attempts with the new camera, so they aren't the greatest, but hey, they work!

IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!

Woo-hoo! My digital camera has arrived! Actually, I received it yesterday, and was quite excited!

All in all yesterday was a wonderful day, thankfully. I was expecting a very hectic day, as I had two invoices to get out for a royal pain-in-the-ass client - it usually takes several days to do their invoices. This one started out very nasty, but I was able to get it sorted out much more quickly than usual, and got it finished up early!

Plus we have another client that has given us an impossible deadline for their year-end invoicing - don't even ask how many invoices we have to get out for them! So next week will be sheer hell dealing with that. But the good news there is that my manager who is in charge of their stuff actually got all of his stuff for it done early yesterday, so I was able to get everything possible done before I left the office yesterday. I was expecting to have to take a whole whack of work home this weekend, but because he was such a good boy I am now "work-free" this weekend! Woo-hoo! It will still be nasty next week, but it's now been downgraded to pits of brimstone and sulfur on the edges of hell, rather than the full-blown version!

Things went so smoothly yesterday that we even had time to put up our Christmas tree at work! I honestly didn't think we would have time for it this year, so it was a very nice surprise! And it looks very lovely, if I do say so myself! We have one guy there that doesn't celebrate Christmas, but he even commented on how pretty it looked! Go us!

Then of course there was the excitement of the new camera arriving! Woo-hoo! It was delivered to the office - it's a royal pain going to pick it up at the UPS outlet (and the postal outlet) here if there isn't anyone home when stuff is delivered, so I always have stuff shipped to the office when I order anything. Anyhow... I was quite pleased to get it yesterday - that means I can play with it all weekend! Woo-hoo!

So now I am off to play! Have a great day everyone!

Bittersweet Anniversary

Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of my Mom's passing, and it's been a rather sad week - I'm sure tomorrow will be even more sad. It's actually been rather touchy since the end of October, as it was October 31 of last year that we first found out something was wrong with Mom. So I suspect we've all been very much re-living the rather nightmarish events of last year in our minds since October 31 rolled around this year. (I know I have been, and Judy as well, and I'm sure our other two sisters probably have been too.)

But while tomorrow is sad for us, it's also rather beautiful in a way - at least it is to me. Because while it is the one-year anniversary of our loss of Mom's physical presence here, it is also the one-year anniversary of her and Dad's reunion in Spirit. (Dad passed over 28 years ago.) So for them, it is a joyous anniversary. When Mom passed last year we were happy to think that she and Dad were once again dancing together, and I suspect that they will most likely be having an anniversary dance or two tomorrow!

So as always, there is joy with the sorrow, and silver linings in the clouds...

Mom, we miss you and love you (and you too Dad!) and I wish you peace and joy - and I wish you both a happy and beautiful reunion anniversary tomorrow - with the Universe as your dance floor!

Awesome!

I just got back in from freezing my butt off (along with various other body parts). I took the girls (my dogs!) out, and as I stepped out the door I looked up and said to myself, "Wow, Northern Lights!" Then I looked again and said to myself, "Oh no, it's just a cloud bank." Then I looked again, and said (yes, to myself again), "Hmmm, that's an awfully strange cloud bank..."

Upon further looking (and a bit more talking to myself - well, there wasn't anyone else standing out there freezing their nether regions off and staring at the sky, so who else was I going to talk to?) I discovered that it was a cloud bank, with Northern Lights dancing around behind it! It was very cool - I've never seen them quite like that before. The cloud bank was moving quite swiftly, and the lights were playing in spiky vertical strips behind it. It was one of the most intriguing and awesome displays I've seen, I must say. Unfortunately all of my various body parts got way too frosty for me to stay out and watch it for very long, but I'm glad I got a glimpse of it all at least!

Well, enough babbling - I'm just waiting for my bedspread to finish drying, then I'm off to Dreamland! Sweet dreams everyone!

STILL Frigging Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Well, it's still extremely frosty out there. And yes, I'm still whining about it. I know that whining won't change it, but hey, it feels better to whine about it. The energy that I use whining helps to warm me up...

On a more positive note, I got notification this morning that my digital camera has been shipped out! Woo-hoo! So I should have it by Monday at the latest, according to the shipper's schedule. Then again, it's coming from the US, so one never knows if a package will get held up in Customs or not. I've heard several horror stories of packages being held up for weeks (and occasionally a couple of months or more)in Customs. However, I shall just send out good vibes so that my package comes through with no problems!

I don't really have a heck of a lot more to say tonight, so I guess I'll just toddle off now and go get some supper! Have a good night, everyone!

Frigging Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Okay, it's cold out there. It was somewhere between -21C and -24C this morning, and it's supposed to go down to around -27C tonight - which is around -16.6F. As I mentioned on Judy's blog, I like the way it sounds in F better. -16.6 has a much more balmy sound to it than -27. Yeah, they're the same, but I'm keeping my illusions, thank you very much!

The saving grace today was that it wasn't very windy, although I find that is almost dangerously deceptive. It doesn't feel too bad until you've been outside for a couple of minutes, then all of a sudden you realize that you can't feel any of your limbs. And heaven help any bits of skin that you've left exposed! At least when it's windy you know just how damned cold it is the minute any part of you - exposed or not - peeks out the door.

On a more heartwarming note - to me, at least - I am expecting a nice little delivery in the next few days. I bought a digital camera on sale for a VERY decent price, and I'm looking forward to it's arrival! I've been wanting a digital camera for a long time, but did not feel that it was worth paying a couple of hundred dollars for when I have a perfectly good 35mm camera already. However, this one was such a steal of a price, especially considering the bells and whistles it comes with, that I decided it was worth it. I've never seen one like this for the price it's being offered at, and it's from a reputable company, so... Fingers crossed that it's decent! I don't have a bad feeling about it, although I must admit I am actually feeling guilty about it, which is probably silly, since it's not a huge expense. Mind you, I just finished paying some bills, so that's more than likely where the guilt comes in... sigh... Of course, I also just started back to work today (one week of holidays was definitely NOT enough), and I started my period last night - joy of joys, and what fabulous timing! Ugh! So that probably accounts for some of the guilty feelings too... Oh well, once the camera arrives and I get to play with it, I'll probably feel much better!

Mind you, I'm also feeling guilty because I haven't used my 35mm as much as I'd like to either. Although I have a feeling that the digital will get me more involved in working with the 35mm again - odd as that may sound. But there's no way in hell I'm subjecting my precious Canon 35mm to the frigid elements that are going on out there - I shudder to think of the consequences! So perhaps the timing with the digital is opportune - it's easier to keep warm (it will fit inside my coat, whereas the Canon definitely wouldn't!), so it's easier to use outside in these less than hospitable temperatures!

Well, I think I'm going to head off to the couch and cuddle up with my puppies - they're like little furnaces, and I could use their extra heat right now! Besides, I'm feeling distinctly whiny after my first day back at work, and I doubt anyone (well, Judy really, since she's the only one that reads this!) wants to listen to me whine any further! So good night, and sweet dreams!

Bah, Humbug!

Well, overnight it has gone from gorgeous temperatures to suddenly very nippy with white things floating out of the sky. Yes, folks, it's snowing! Ah well, it had to come sometime, and we've been very fortunate to have the nice weather for so long, but still, I wouldn't have complained had we not gotten any snow! But still, I can't control the weather, so I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it!

Hmm, maybe I'll have to try and build a snowman this year - if we get enough snow for it, that is. It may be like a few other years where we don't get that much snow... (Here's me, fervently praying to the snow gods... ) Of course, there are other fun things to do during the winter too - hey Judy, look over here! muahahahahahahahhahahaha! Oooooops - better make a quick getaway!

Speaking of quick getaways, I guess now that I'm done whining about the snow I'd better go and get some breakfast! Rest assured I'll be staying cuddled up inside the house today!

My Fave Stationery Sites are Gone!!!!

I haven't browsed through IE stationery sites for several months now, and I was just thinking last night that it would be fun to go to some of my favourite sites and see if they had added any new stationery.

I was very dismayed to find that some of my favourite sites are no longer running! One was Lonnie's Creations - she had beautiful stationery, and I was so disappointed to find that her site has been taken down. All in all, there were about 5 or 6 sites which I loved that are no longer up and running, so I found that rather sad, especially since they had some beautiful work and it's a shame that it's no longer being shared. I understand that it was probably costing them too much money to keep the sites running, but it's still such a shame!

I still have a few sites saved in my Favourites, but I must admit that they are not my fave sites. So I guess I shall have to go on a stationery site hunt and find some new ones to haunt! I have a links site saved, and I was interested to find that this lady now has a new links site - with updates on new stationery sites, and notes on old ones that have closed down. I was browsing through her list of sites that have closed, and I was very surprised to see just how many very popular sites had closed down. I imagine there are a lot of disappointed stationery junkies out there! Unfortunately many of the closed sites are the ones that had the best stationery...

Ah well, I guess that's another thing to add to my list of things to fiddle with - I want to learn to make my own blog skins, and now I'm thinking I may want to fiddle with making my own stationery as well!

How Very Sad...

I was browsing through some messages on a group I belong to, and one of the members had posted the following links regarding a teenager who had her mother murdered:

News Article

Teen's Online Journal

I was horrified by the whole thing, but I also feel so very sorry for the girl in question. From reading her journal, her life seemed fairly ordinary - the usual teen activities and angst. Unfortunately the most recent journal entries have been taken offline - I would assume by the police as they most likely contained things that are being considered as possible evidence in the case.

I would have liked to have seen the more recent entries, as I could not help but feel as I read through the rest of her journal that there may be a possibility that this girl was either doing the typical "oh I wish my mother was dead" teen thing, and perhaps it got out of control with herself and the people she was associating with, or that the steroids that she had been on for a medical condition may have played a role in the whole thing. I just keep feeling that somehow she did not believe that her mother would actually be killed. But then I suppose that could just be me wishing that the situation was better than it actually is.

At any rate, I just had to natter a bit about this - I found myself very drawn to her journal, and I can't help but feel so sad for the waste of lives - not only that of her mother, but also of her own, as she will never be able to really put this behind her, and she certainly won't be able to change what happened. And her poor father and brother - I can't imagine what a state of shock they must be in. From her journal, it sounds as if she and her brother were very close - if she really is guilty of the charges against her, I imagine it would be very difficult for her brother to maintain any type of relationship with her. In that case, he would not only have lost his mother, but his sister as well. And her father would have lost both his wife and his daughter.

I find it interesting how people seem to be reading things into stuff she had written - seeing a tendancy for violence from a few normal teenage angry comments. Hell, even adults often say things like "I'd like to kill him/her" and "I could just strangle him/her" - they don't mean them, it's just a way of letting off steam. And I suspect that the odd comments that I came across in her journal were very much the same type of thing - not necessarily an indication that she was planning on having her mother killed. But who knows? And it sounds like there may have been more in the more recent entries which are not available to be read.

At any rate, enough babbling about this. I just found it very sad and tragic, and as I just finished going through her journal not long ago, I wanted to babble a bit about it. May they all find peace...