We're Havin' a Party!

I love parties! Being away was fun, and I enjoyed the sun, the friends and the break, but it's GOOD to be HOME! I kind of hit the ground running on Monday morning, and didn't really get a break, sleep-wise, all week. FINALLY, on Friday, I told Aaron that I was sleeping in, and not to wake me up in the morning. Well, he woke me up, anyways, but I'm all good with going back to sleep. And SLEEP, did I EVER! I woke up at 11:50 (from some sort of dream about still being on vacation...I've dreamed about vacation of some sort every night since we got home...Jim, I think you were there wherever I was on vacation in my dream last night) to hear Aaron coming home to get something he forgot for school. I was DEAD out, and probably could have gone back to sleep, but I decided to get up and clean the house, and perhaps have a nap in the afternoon before piano lessons (4-5:30) and work at Reitman's (6-9). Well, the cleaning didn't happen, and the nap didn't happen...

I finally managed to have a shower at about 3:30. The doorbell rang while I was still in the shower...I decided not to rush out to answer the door...whoever it was could come back or call, or something. When I got out of the shower, I went to the door to see what I could see. When I opened it, this:


fell to the floor. I looked out, and Aaron was just home from school, and was talking to Cheylynn, who had been the doorbell ringer and had left this COOL invitation. THIS is what brings me to the ultimate point of my story. I'm SOOOO glad to be home, and SOOOOO excited to get together with everyone again.

....and I envy Chey's crafty talents and loudly applaude her for the creativity and time she put into the invitations...Thanks!!...I can't wait!

{p.s. Thanks, Holly, for letting me know that you read my blog...now leave a COMMENT! :)}

Thankful Thought of the Day

Today I'm thankful for the great friends I have here. Friends that are willing to help out with the little stuff. Like painting 100 picture frames. Over the course of 2 days. 2 days with temperatures in the -30/40's. I just hope I'm 1/2 as good of a friend...

Today's Thankful Thought

Today, I'm REALLY thankful for a warm place to be. And worried for all the people who have no place. I can't imagine what it would be like to be cold and have nowhere to go to be warm. I'm really thankful for my warm house.

Today's Thankful Thought

I'm really thankful for the little old man who uses his snowblower to clear the sidewalks all the way down our side of the street. Even when it's -45. Thank-you Mr. LeClair!

It's HOW cold?

Ahh, the joys of living in the North. Today, the temperature is -30, but the windchill factor puts us at -45. CELCIUS. I was supposed to sub this afternoon, but because buses aren't running, they canceled. I wasn't surprised. I DO think it's quite ridiculous that they keep the schools open. Talking to some of the teachers via Facebook, it seems that there is an average of about 5 students attending in each class....lessee...5 students * 2 classes of each grade....10 students in each grade * 10 grades (incl Kindergarten)...100 students attending...wait, there's only one kindergarten class...so, make that 95...I believe there are about 50 people on staff there. That makes a 1:2 staff to student ratio. That sounds good...except that with 5 students in their class, the teacher can't really teach any new material. Days like this turn into glorified babysitting. What was it they used to call days like this? Ah, yes...snow days. I don't think they have those anymore But anyways...that wasn't what I was going to talk about.

What WAS I going to talk about? I don't remember. It's too cold...my brain has to focus on keeping me warm. ;)

....Continued...

So, I'm assuming that the Holidays are old news now...to be brief, we got to see Crystal for a WHOLE day!!, spent a lot of time with our nephews, my sister and my parents and saw some good friends from a long time ago. Here's a few pictures, and then we'll move forward with our lives.

Nephew #1. He's 2 1/2.



Nephew #2. He's 14 months here.




Aaron and I at our church's Christmas banquet.


My little sister...Mommy to nephew #1 and #2.




Me and Anna...friends for over 17 years!!!



(I had pictures of my parents, my brother and my brother in law, but they're just too small...how do I fix that??)


Me and a group of girls from my high school grad class...Beth and I are going to borrow kids for next time. We felt left out... :)



And now, on with our lives.....























ok...so now, what?

Whoops!

I seem to have gotten caught up in the all the busyness of the new year....traveling home, getting caught up on laundry, cleaning, etc., getting sick, trying out a new diet, saying goodbye to some good friends (sniff, sniff). So, without further adieu, here's some pictures to go with my last post...in no particular order...


I like to call this one "Beauty and the Beast." What do you think?




Chris playing hockey...he coulda been a star... ;)




Steph tried, almost successfully, to avoid the camera...we were all playing Dutch Blitz.




Cleo spent a lot of time sitting in the snow....





dissecting Granny's DELICIOUS pirogies to trade fillings...




Joe, the star of Team Bertrand.




Joselle tried to look big and tough, but her team still lost.





Me 'n' Dawn




Acting crazy with Crystal...just like old times... :)