'Twas the day after Christmas ...

First, an addendum to the late house cleaners.  After waiting 2 hours for the cleaners, I called their office.  They told me I wasn't scheduled until the 27th.  This, after repeating twice before that I was scheduled for first thing in the morning on the 24th.  Well, as you might guess, that was the last dealings I will have with this company.  Their motto should be "incompetence reigns supreme"!  I then proceeded to start doing the vacuuming myself only to find they left the vacuum hose totally plugged up the last time they used it.  It took a half hour to clear after finally running hot water through the hose.  I was not a happy camper!

Christmas eve was spent at home, with Alaskan crab legs and bacon-wrapped scallops featuring high on the supper menu.  Margaret and I then exchanged gifts.

Christmas morning, we headed over to Josi's for a brunch prepared by her mom and her aunt.  More gift exchanging after that feast.  Then, home to pick up the dogs and off to Carman to pick up Aunt Lil and drive on to Poplar Point to have Christmas supper at Margaret's sister's place.  More feasting and gift exchanging.  After returning Aunt Lil to her Carman home, we headed back to our place for some needed R and R.  It had been a long but pleasant day.

Now, it is Boxing Day and 62% of Canadians are out shopping for bargains.  We are part of the 38% who refuse to be lured by so-called bargain sales.  Don't people realize that the biggest bargain is to spend no money?

Today, we rest. my only job is to make supper.  Today, it's plain and simple, Chinese comfort food.

'Twas the night before Christmas ...

Actually, it's the morning of the day before Christmas. It's terribly cold outside: the current windchill is -40C! I'm sitting in the heated garage, with Holly and Mollie, waiting for the always late house cleaners to arrive and do their magic. They're already over an hour late.

All three of us wonder if this house cleaning service is worth the money and bother. It seems like it takes longer to get ready for them and then await their arrival than it would just to do the work myself. They do a good job but I think we'll have to re-evaluate this service in the new year.

Otherwise, today will be different. Margaret and I will have a buffet style dinner at home, with all sorts of tidbits on the table. Not a special seafood dinner like someone I know, but different from the usual for us, for sure. There will be scallops and crab legs in the mix.  Later, we'll attend Christmas Eve services at Margaret's church here in Charleswood.

Tomorrow, we're off to Josi and Greg's place in LaSalle for Christmas brunch and gift giving with my family. Then, off to Carman to pick up Margaret's Aunt Lil and drive on to the Poplar Point area to Cathy and Ian's place where we'll have supper and more gift giving with Margaret's family.

On Boxing Day, we just plan to relax at home.

Filling the Larder

Last night, we went to Costco to restock our pantry for the holidays and beyond.  Surprisingly, the store wasn't too crowded for a Friday night in Winterpeg.  We suspect that was because the crowds were at the new Ikea store that opened here on November 28th.  It'll be a while before we darken the doors of that store.

We didn't get any Christmas gifts at Costco.  Our cart was full of food (mostly human and some dog) and a few toiletries.  I won't say how much we spent.  That would be embarassing.  Let's just say 'a lot' or maybe two or three times 'a lot'.

But we did have a cheap supper there before taking the cart to the car.  Polish sausage in a bun with all the fixings, an order of fries (boy, were they ever good!), and diet colas (because we were counting calories after all).

I took this photo from our plastic table, on my iPhone 5, as a souvenir of our shopping adventure.

It's not the greatest shot.  Probably because my hands were shaking a bit because I was so hungry and the food hadn't arrived at the table yet.

A Heart of Gold

Ever meet someone with a heart of gold.  Someone who is kind, generous, and happy.  Some people have to go through most of their life before they meet one.  Some people never meet someone with a heart of gold.

Me?  I'm one of the very fortunate people in this crazy world.  I've travelled all over this world and met some great people along the way.  Turned out the person that I was looking for and that I found lived only a block away.

Someone I had first met over 30 years before.  I not only met a person with a heart of gold ... I even married her.  One year ago today.  Happy anniversary, Margaret!