Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The last day of 2009... and what a year it has been!! Personally, it's been a wonderful year.... for the most part! And that's all we can hope for - that the good stuff outnumbers the bad stuff!! And it certainly did this past year!

I'll start where I left off last time - the wedding. The Medieval Themed wedding! Other than one hiccup, it went as I saw in my mind's eye! The curtained tents, the tables filled with food. Out of 26 people that were in attendance, we only had one couple and a newbie BF of my GF that did NOT dress theme. Dave's aunt & sister and Patrick's friend ended up being our scullery maids, and did an amazing job pulling the food all together, AND cleaning the kitchen!! One thing I did discover was that it was difficult to be the host/hostess and the guests of honour!!!

The weather cooperated - not too hot, a little shower in the afternoon, and cold and crappy the NEXT day! Whew. The pictures turned out amazing, considering we didn't hire anyone. Both of my sons were in attendance, altho we lost Chris after the service until about 11 that night. Boys!

The hiccup part - I hadn't planned on the evening's entertainment to be gift opening, that got kidnapped on me, but oh well... nothing like the guests being bored watching that!! But all in all, it went VERY well!!! :-) So much so... that I want to hold another Medieval Feast next summer. A potluck one, so that everyone brings food. We'll supply all the 'ambiance' - it's not like we don't have tons of that!! LOL And then we can actually relax at that one and just have fun!!

This past year I went on a really large learning curve!!
* I learnt how to sew better than I ever did before.
* I learnt how to manage my iPods.
* I learnt how to make cards - both the announcement and thank you ones
* The big one... I learnt how to work Movie Maker!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwBJTttfclg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIF1OhI1Sio&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPyNIPEK4QQ&feature=related
The fourth one - the "invite" to the one I want to hold in 2009....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoe_NKZa2u4&feature=related

I can even see how I've gotten better from the first one to the 4th one!!

Then I made this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7zkstKsN94&feature=related
and I'm working on another few. What I like about it is that I can combine my two favorite things - music and photos!

* I've learnt how to 'scrapbook' - which wasn't too big of a stretch because I always did sorta/kinda stuff like that with photos anyway, just not to that extent!! I'm scrapbooking the wedding. I'm now up to 3 books!! Do I EVER do anything small????

Dave gave me for Christmas a Vinylwriter. I know, you are saying, "what the heck is that??!!" Well, the idea is that it will allow me to actually take my records and transfer the music to my computer. It's a USB turntable. I've attempted it, but it's on hold right now. Not as easy as I thought it would be - it's on my list of things to figure out!

The kids are doing well, both the 4-legged ones and my sons.
* Chris has a good job, being the computer guy that he is, working at Roadata Services Ltd. in their IT department. And it's great, because we can communicate with each other, when both of us are at work. And he's great, cuz I can ask his advice on stuff!! He is very helpful!! And he came for the wedding - I wasn't sure that he would!! He and his brother were our witnesses. And he just spent 5 days with us over the xmas break!! What can I say? The kid loves my cooking!! :-) And for christmas, he took the old tapes from his dad's old video camera, and somehow transferred them onto discs for me. Oh, to watch the kids when they were little... his gift brought tears to my eyes!! We've watched 1990 so far - Chris was 4 and Patrick was 1. OMG, they were soooo little!!
* Patrick took a year off from school and worked for a commercial construction company. That had me concerned, cuz sometimes the money begins to look better than furthering your education!! He was saving money for school, and for his trip to Europe! Yep, he did what I've always dreamt of doing!! He went to Ireland. And points beyond. But he started in London, went to Ireland, and just couldn't leave!! Even tho he had all these other places that he wanted to go to, Ireland "got" him!! We stayed in contact the whole time - god, I love the electronic age!!! So here I was, on this side of the big pond, suggesting places for him to go to, and he would go!! He took tons of photos, I kidnapped almost 200 of my favorite shots from his photos - just have to figure out what I'm going to do with them!! He made it home in time for the wedding, he had to cut his trip short, but he came!! :-) And in September, he went off to college!! At this moment in time, he's planning on getting his CA!! Which I just about choked on!! 11 years I've been working at my job, he's heard me complain about tax season, etc., and HE wants to become an accountant!! Go figure!!

The fur kids:
* Lynx is still managing to walk - he hurt his back over a year ago and has limited mobility in his back legs. He can't run, he can't jump fences, has difficulty jumping on the couch or the bed. Easy to keep him in the yard. But Dave cut him a hole in the fence so that he can crawl in or out of the back yard. Or, if I need him to stay in the yard, I just block the hole! He's coming up to be 10 in the next few months, and if he hadn't adopted me, he probably would have been dead by now!
* Brewster is going on 4. And is finally allowing me to cuddle him on my lap!! It's only taken me 3 plus years to do that!! We've trained him on a harness and a line in the yard. Dave strung a clothes line across our front yard from tree to tree and Brewster has the run of the front yard. Which he thinks is great, cuz then he visits with people that walk down the street!! LOL And if I'm working in the back yard, I clip his line onto the clothesline, and he can be out there with me. He's happy, and I'm happy - will not ever lose him!!!
* Gracie. Hard to believe, but she's going on 5. Best damned dog I've ever owned!! That being said - if I ever got another Rotti, my luck they wouldn't have her personality!! Altho, having a Rotti now allows me to be in that "club" - the people that come up to us that either own one or have experienced one all come up to us and we all remark on how wonderful these dogs are! So I'm guessing it's not just her! And I've met other ones - they are, for the most part, better dogs than other breeds. And believe me, at the off leash area, we see some ill-behaved dogs, dorkus dogs, don't listen dogs... and to toot my own horn - Gracie is well behaved, listens well, doesn't get into fights, and stays with me the entire time... she sure shows those other dogs up!! :-) Last February I took her in to the vet to weigh her, before we started doing our regular walking again. She topped out at 115lbs, by July at her yearly visit to the vet, she came in at 105lb. The vet was amazed and asked if I had changed her dog food or what? I replied - EXERCISE!! For both of us!! LOL

Being married...
Doesn't feel any different than before. Go figure, eh? Might have something to do with not changing my last name, not moving anywhere, so other than I can now call Dave my husband.. nothing has really changed. We just made it legal. And I can see me somewhere down the road changing my name, if it becomes a problem legally - let's say the hospital or the States don't recognise that I am his wife - what do I do? Keep a laminated wedding licence in my wallet at all times? Hmmm... Dave got his first passport a few months ago... guess he's gonna need it if he ever goes to see a Nascar race in the US. I let mine expire, so I had to redo mine too, it's also in my name, not his. See, not much changed. LOL

Colin - well, he's going to our college here, trying to get himself straightened out. He actually spoke to Dave for the first time yesterday, by accident, since he drowned himself in the bottle back in May of 2007. My cell phone rang as I was sleeping, and Dave answered it. Which I'm sure freaked Colin out. I think, I don't know for sure, that he was embarrassed to see either of us after that episode of his. We keep in contact, either via email or facebook and sometimes the phone, but even I haven't seen him since then. Every offer of dinners or drop off some of his stuff to him gets me shuffled off. But at least we are still in contact with each other - I'll take whatever I can get, I don't want to lose him again! As for him being sober, he's had to be, he's been living in a half-way house for months now. Actually, I think it's more a case of him being dry, just not sober. But he's moving out of the halfway house in the next few days and getting his own place with a room mate. I hope it works out for him!!

Yes, I'm still working at the accounting firm. I got probably my most amazing review ever this past year!! However, I didn't get the raise that should have gone with it. When I put Dave onto my insurance at work, with my raise (?), I'm actually taking home $52 LESS a month!!! I tried to be logical and requested they re-consider my raise... didn't happen. Got lots of lip service, but no headway. Seriously pissed me off!! I have 11 years in, and one of the girls that has 3 years in, is making darn near as much as me. That I found out quite by accident, which really set my teeth on edge!!!! But what am I to do? Quit? That's just not gonna happen, I got all my medical insurance in place prior to being diagnosed with the MS... so my ass is covered should I require either of the long term or short term disability coverage. So I've come to the conclusion that I must suck it up and do my job. And at this rate, and the bills involved, I'll be there until I'm 70, at least!! God willing!! I just wish the guys would quit bragging about all their freakin trips to exotic places like Egypt, etc. Just don't be telling me about those sort of things when I'm barely keeping my head above water!!! Jeez!!!

Speaking of trips... I AM GOING TO GO TO IRELAND!!! Okay, so not any time soon, it won't be for about 5 or 6 years. But it really was brought to home last summer, when Patrick went to a place I dreamed of going to since I was in Jr. High... yes, it HAS been that long!!! My big problem was that it was always a dream.... well, now I'm 50, and I still haven't gotten there!!! Partly because LIFE got in the way, and partly because I let it slide. My fault there!! I won't go until Gracie passes on - she has never been away from us for more than a night. Putting her into a kennel or expecting someone to look after her for a month just wouldn't be fair to her!! (or them!) Which gives me enough time to FOCUS on this goal of mine!! Pay off the bills, cut back on spending (did that this year at Christmas - used points to buy gifts) Any extra money... like when I take my pop bottles in, or my loonies and toonies, will all be going into a container. My Irish fund funded with "fun" money. Focus on paying off those damn credit cards!! The last 4 years have been a bitch, what with my dad being sick (I did 29 trips back & forth to Calgary in 9 months), I've had 2 kids graduate from high school, and a wedding. That was all paid for the wrong way. Thank goodness I had credit to do that with, however, that is sooo done with now!! Now when I pick something up, it will be a case of "Do I need it, or do I just want it?" Good question to ask myself!!! Focus!! Focus!! FOCUS!!!!

I can still have fun, and go camping, but do I need to feed everyone when I camp? I don't think so!! My food, my gas - that's all that's required. Speaking of camping - I didn't get out ONCE last year!!! Next year... I'm going!!! I miss it!! So that's another goal of mine... go have fun!!! Go to Water Valley, go camping on the crown land (free camping, free firewood), visit with friends more... last few years I've been totally focused on planning the wedding! I breathed, slept, lived for the planning of it all.

Anyway, that's the past year in a nutshell (okay, a BIG nutshell), and my future plans!! Here's to 2009 and beyond!!! May all the best be with you and yours, and wish me well!!