Stop the world ........

It is moving WAY to fast and Christmas is less then 2 months away ! Heck , I have been home from the coast for almost a week and have accomplished nothing it seems ! Ahhhhhhhhhh !!! I had a very nice visit with my family and Mom's birthday was very nice . We are a low key family so don't go in for the decorations or anything but my sister bought a beautiful fall flower arrangement for Mom that was used as a centerpiece ! 18 of us sat down for dinner and as usual , none of my family were there ....but it is hard to get away from UP NORTH when you have kids in school and have jobs . Mom liked the frame and scrappages . The heritage pages were put into her album and she was surprised by some of the photos as she had never seen some of them nor had she ever seen the words that Grandma had written on the back of the one photo - which I had a scan of and incorporated into the layout !
The Saturday I arrived at the coast , my brother picked me up at the airport then we went to Granville Island and we spent the afternoon walking and snooping in the small shops there . It was drizzly outside ( but that is typical fall weather there ) and the inside of the buildings were very warm ! No happy medium ! )
Was so nice to spend some one on one time with him as we never get to do that ! I stayed with my sister and her husband the week I was there so got to spend a lot of time with her as well . Mom & Dad just live minutes from her so I walked a far bit while there . It is sad to see our parents aging though . Dad is so lame with his bad hip and is too stubborn to get his name on the list for his hip replacement . Mom has aged but she makes herself old too ... always negative about things and never positive - except where Cleo is concerned ! Cleo is the stray cat that they have adopted and are just pouring the money into . Mom can't seem to understand that this cat was almost feral and doesn't like to be picked up and mauled ( heck we would have been in BIG TROUBLE as kids if we would have picked our cats up as much as she picks her cat up ! LOL ) . So then cleo ends up scratching her and then Mom is annoyed at the cat !!! There neighbors must just love it when Mom opens the door and yells at the top of her lungs " CLE-----------OOOOOOOOOOOO " YIKES !!!
All in all , I enjoyed the visit with everybody . It has taken me a week to get back into the groove of being home though and now I am heading down to DD's at some point next week to give her a hand ........ but I wouldn't go into that ! I have been promising Grd #2 & #3 that I would come spend some time with them so now is the time to do it !!! LOL
Maybe I will have some time to work on all my projects sometime after that !

Leaving on a WestJet plane .....

Mom's card is done and the suitcase is more or less packed as I am leaving in the morning for a week away without DH !!! LOL ! Brother is picking me up at the airport when I get in and we will be doing Granville Island ( hope the rain holds off ! ) tomorrow . How wonderful it will be to spend 1 on 1 time with him . It has been YEARS since we did that - if ever !!! Tomorrow night I will stay with SIL and their boys and then up the valley on Sunday to see the rest of the family . Sister will be cooking dinner ( not that is any surprise as she cooks for all her family and Mom & Dad every Sunday )

Dh just phoned and he has to be away on business Monday and Tuesday so the neighbour will come in to dog sit ..... Wonder what kind of trouble Kandi can get into this time !!! Oh well they ALL will survive ( and I do mean DH too ! ) and have to learn to fend for themselves ! LOL !

So I am leaving on a WESTJET plane in the morning .......... if it isn't fogged in here - again !!!

Don't tell her about the frame !

I altered a Bazzill Wings Shadow Box to hang the four layouts I did for Mom's birthday ! This is such a nifty idea as the top lifts off for 2 hooks that the page protectors hang off with the layouts inside . I have also added the other layouts on the back of these so the whole look can be changed with just flipping the layouts around ! I am almost as excited about giving them to her as DH was urprized with how great it all came out !
The pretty prima flowers were such a perfect addition to the frame and the Cosmo Cricket Chipboard Alpas were the perfect compliment against the back frame !
Now my biggest challenge will be packing it all in my suitcase and praying the airlines done lose my suitcase ! I carry as little as possible onto a plane now as they want are so strict nowadays and there is nothing worse then having to unpack in security !!!

Shhhhhhhh.... don't tell !

My Mother's 75th birthday is next Monday so I am flyng down to coast to spend it with my family . Yes , Mom knows I am coming as I have decided that I can not shock anybody with my appearance any more - the last time I just about gave Dad , Mom and sister a heart attack and we are all at that age now you know ! LOL ! NO MORE big surprises ! What do you get somebody that has everything or buys anything she wants at this stage of the game . Well I just couldn't decide and I really don't like shopping so I decided to do some layouts for her . The pictures I used were actually supposed to be in the family album I did them a couple years ago but I just didn't get to them ! I have a double scrapbook frame by Bassill that I am going to use for 2 of these layouts and then am going to put the others in page protectors and add to her album . Soooo , if you see my Mom before I get there ..... shhhhhh , don't tell her what her birthday present is ! And now I have to get busy and alter that frame ! LOL !

And they said it wouldn't last !

Today is our wedding anniversary - 33 years to be exact ! With such a big obstacle to overcome ( namely somebody ! ) and warnings that it would NEVER last , we have sure surprized some people . Oh life has never been a bowl of cherries unless you are having sour cherries ! Sour cherries are good for making a pie though so they aren't all bad much like the past 33 years have been ! We have had some wonderful times together with our kids , with our families , with their families . Can you believe we have 4 wonderful brown-eyed granddaughters and another grandchild on the way ? Maybe this one will have blue or green eyes ! LOL !
We have travelled to Alaska on a cruise and Panama Canal as well .... all with your family and your Mother paying for the cruises . We wouldn't go into whether the cruises were good times .... just lets say , the scenery was wonderful and we can say we have been to both places . We would go back to Alaska in a heatbeat and do the trip that we want and go on some of those excursions that are offered . Our motorhome will hopefully take us to some places we would like to go to like the Kooteneys and North on the Alaska Highway or a trip down the Oregon Coast or up the Sunshine coast ( and we may actually get to see #4 Granddaughter ) of BC . It wouldn't be long before retirement .... another 7 yrs ! Maybe some day we will a lottery too ! LOL ! How sweet would that be ?
We have had some very rough patches as well . Being transferred more then once and setting up a new home when I was sure we had moved to HELL ( actually it was a city called Calgary - hey I am from a dinky little town remember and I was related to most of the residence in one way or another ! ) , back to within 10 miles of " home " only to discover that the saying " you can't go home " is so true ! Life changes and so did we ! The next transfer came after 6 yrs , another baby and a house to sell . FIL had passed away the year prior and MIL had leaned just once to often ! Youngest DS had been a sickly baby and had his tonsils out in the process of moving - can you say a stressful time ! But the move has been a good one for a the most part . Our kids have all grown up and have families of their own ( okay Youngest DS is just getting on his own two feet but he is coming along nicely ........ he is just slower at maturing ! LOL )
At lest we are still young enough to enjoy life and we have beat the odds .... do you know how shocked people are when they find out we are celebrating 33 yrs of marriage and that is with the same person and the only marriage for each of us !!! Heck , I haven't got him trained yet , I can't imagine trying to " break-in " another guy ......... I'll keep this one thanks ! Happy Anniversary .... and thanks for the pretty flowers ( and the desk and the paper tower !!! ) Am I spoiled , you BET !!! LOL !