Back to Relax and a New Treasure!

Buddy finally posing in front of the tree

I am back from the whirl wind trip to Alberta and had a really good time seeing the kids and my Mother-in-law.  Besides some very slippery roads the trip went off without any hitches, incredible based on the detailed planning and logistics that  it took to come together.  We had dinner Saturday night with the kids in our favorite Vietnamese restaurant - mmmmm green onion cakes in sweet chili sauce!  Fortunately I had made late reservations which turned out to be the right thing to do as our plane was a half an hour late.  We also had an interesting time leaving town as a major windstorm/rainstorm hit Comox and there were 70 km winds slamming into our little airport.  The power failed but backup generators came on and everything just went on as normal.  The planes at our small airport pull up right beside the main terminal then everyone walks out and up the stairs to get on - this in gale force sideways rain and wind.  We were absolutely soaked getting on but we made it.  Takeoff was interesting with the wind but as we are both seasoned travelers we didn't worry about it.

All the kids had been texted the appropriate time to meet and two of them went to pick up the other two without vehicles.  Everyone forgot the proper meeting time and all of them arrived early since they thought it was 1/2 to an hour earlier lol.  We had a lovely dinner and on Sunday we picked them all up in our seven passenger rental SUV (four different homes, took 1.5 hours just to get them) to head out into farm country to see my Mother-in-law- another hour away.  

As my hubby says, trying to coordinate four young adults 18-24 is like trying to herd cats, but we managed it.  It is her 81st birthday today and her home had a Birthday party on Sunday with the other occupants of her facility and family.  After that we took her to supper.  She was a little overwhelmed at first, getting upset that she couldn't remember the kids names but as she remembered who they were she ended up having a great time.  I am glad all the kids could make it because her Alzheimers seems to be progressing now and I am not sure how much longer we can have this type of celebration with her actively participating the way she did.  The kids spent two days together which was fun since they haven't all been together in 1.5 years at the same time.  Lots of giggling in the back seat, it felt like we put the clock back 10 years and it was our visitation weekend with them. 

I flew back on Monday and hubby flies back today after a couple of days in business meetings.  It was a fun visit full of laughs, food and drinks, just like we had planned.  I am happy to say though that now we can actually relax as all the Christmas preparations are complete and we only have to finish off some business before the 25th.  This time last year we had clients cancelling contracts due to a dive in the economy - not a great way to start 2015.  This year we have gotten more inquiries and signed contracts for the new year than in any other - I think 2016 will be better for our company, although any year in which we manage to pay our salaries and all our bills is a win win in my books.  We try and keep our overhead low so all the money we make goes into salaries.  

While I was gone Mom came over and took care of Buddy.  He loves her to bits and he got thoroughly spoiled but was also very happy to see me. Since Mom lost her very old cat in the summer due to old age she was ready for another so I asked her if I could cover the adoption fees for a new one as her Christmas gift.  On Tuesday we headed to the SPCA and Mom adopted an 8 year old female kitty called Kit Kat.  I am pretty sure she is changing her name as the name does not suit the cat.  She is a long hair pretty black cat with four white hairs on her chest.  She is extremely shy so I don't have any pictures yet but after several hours of hiding in the closet she came out and made friends with Mom.  Last night she was snuggling with her in Mom's favorite TV watching chair so I am sure the two of them will get along great.  Mom is 73 in January and wanted an adult cat versus a kitten and was ok with a slightly older cat so it was the perfect match as the cat was not doing well with all the noises and smells at the SPCA.  Our shelter is a no kill shelter so they foster out cats who are not adopted right away, so people feel better about bringing animals there if they have no other option.

Since returning home I have been finishing off Christmas prep.  The big grocery shop is done and the Christmas feast beast (.95 cent utility turkey) is safely tucked away in the freezer and the liquor cupboard is full.  The only thing left on my list to buy is potatoes and celery as I refuse to pay $4 for celery - is it just me or does it seem like every store upped the price just in time for Christmas?  My stuffing can't be made without it and I have just spotted it on sale in the new grocery flyer that came out today for $2 a bunch and 10 lbs of BC potatoes for $2.  It pays to wait sometimes - everything goes on sale eventually.  If I bought everything on my list every time I went to the grocery store I would definitely not be able to stay on our grocery budget.  We just eat other things until they go on sale.  Thankfully, the garage is now cool enough to keep potatoes indefinitely so I will buy 20 lbs.

I found a new thrift store in mid-November.  For some reason I didn't even realize it was very close to my house and have lived here for 3 years without discovering it!  Now it is to be called my SUPER CHEAP and new favorite thrift store.  I found this little trio for .25 cents.  This is a marked and stickered piece of Holt Howard from the 1960s, very collectible.

Ebay Holt Howard Santa Candle holder $69 USD (CAD $95)

The photo above is from a current ebay.com listing that has it priced at USD $69 although some can be found cheaper .  Mine for 25 cents is shown below - I bought six of those slim green hand dipped taper candles for 50 cents at the same time.  Total for my super awesome(*remember, I went to high school in the 1980's)  shopping trip was 75 cents - yes, I certainly get my thrills cheaply.  Mine has a little paint loss on the Santa bellies but otherwise is a perfect collection to my Holt Howard collection.  As in - now I own two pieces.  Yes, you can easily pick these up on Ebay and Etsy if you want to pay that kind of money but based on my super low budget for things I buy for myself I prefer to find them in the wild.  You can see my first piece of Holt Howard here, a pig trivet, which was originally purchased for resale at 99 cents but way too cute to part with so I have kept it.

My 25 cent Hold Howard Candle holder

If you are still with me after this extremely long-winded blog post - thank you for reading :)  I am really looking forward to the next two weeks as business winds down and we can relax a little and enjoy life.  The only thing on the agenda is we are planning to take in the new Star Wars Movie - anyone else planning on seeing it?

OMG I just looked out the window and there is snow falling!  We have had lots of snow in the mountains above town but none in the valley.  Last winter I saw two flakes.  This might even stick!  Hopefully hubby's plane lands before that happens as everyone loses their minds here when it snows - but I can't wait to show Buddy what snow is!