Kingfisher Cove

Heading South

The boys arose before the butt-crack of dawn this morning to head up to the mountains to go snowmobiling.  During this butt-crack interlude, much rustling, coughing, throat-clearing, nose honking blowing, and stomping around on hardwood floors occurred, and so I was totally unable to go back to sleep.  ARGH!  Oh well.  I do have some last-minute getting ready to do before I head down to Oregon to visit with my friends Helen and Ron over New Years.  But I could have slept in for a little while!  At least until the sun came up.  (Or I should say, until daylight broke.  What sun?)

It was so fun having dinner out with Margaret last night.  What a quaint and fun place we met -- a "wine bar" in our lil' ol' home town.  Great food, too.  (I had salmon and Margaret had a nummy chicken and artichoke heart dish).  It was nice to get caught up on stuff, since she hasn't been able to do much blogging with their water-pipe ordeal.  We've both had a stressful week.

So, I guess I'd better hop in the shower and finish packing and then get the show on the road.  I won't be taking the weenies with me after all, which really is a good thing.  (I'll miss them, though!)  AND, my car doesn't have a CD player!  Maybe I'll see if I can find some old cassettes so I can listen to some (old) tunes during my drive. 

I'll be back Monday.  Have a very happy New Year! 

Sadness and Relief

It has been, at least from my point of view, a very good thing that JDub and Nate didn’t go to British Columbia this week for their snowmobiling trip. Selfish of me, I know. But.

First, the hot water tank sprung a leak yesterday. We’re not talking quite the ordeal and havoc that Margaret has been experiencing, but at the very least it would have meant a week without hot water. So not doable. JDub replaced the (20-year-old) hot water tank with a new one (which cost about the amount he’d been planning to take with him to B.C.) and cleaned up some flooding in the garage. He has “hot-water-tank” back and sliced hands from wrestling those alligators, but at least Nate was around to lend a hand.

THEN, while I was still reeling from the implications of what it would have been like to deal with that issue on my own if they’d gone (No. Hot. Water???), I received a call on my cell from Nate today while I was at lunch, and Sam, our 16-year-old cat had died. Laid down and died, between the bookshelf and the Christmas tree. So he and JDub buried him out back, right next to Sam’s ol’ buddy, Mandy the wiener dog. (Mandy died at the age of 14 just over three years ago).

The thought of coming home to an empty house tonight and finding my cat dead?

Sam’s death wasn’t unexpected – he’s been unwell for a while – but we’re still so sad about this. In spite of being unwell (throwing up a lot), he’s still been such a sweet cat, and eager for bites and treats right alongside the wiener dogs. Nate was four years old when Sam came into our lives.

It’s a sad day.

I’m so glad my boys are home.   (It's snowing in the local mountains -- hopefully they can get some sledding in later this week).

No Snow...ANYWHERE!

This is NOT how folks around these parts prefer to go snowmobiling.  The root word here is SNOW.  And there is none.  (God, it seems this has been the story for the last several years -- no such thing as global warming, George?  Yeah, right).  Back in September JDub and his buddies made plans to head to British Columbia the week between Christmas and New Years, and Nate made arrangements to take this week off from his job at the Fancy Restaurant, which is NOT an easy undertaking.  This is such a perfect time because Da Airplane Company shuts down for the whole week, and Nate is on break before winter quarter begins on January 3rd.   The reservations were long-ago made, sleds have been readied, and basically GRASS is what awaits them.  Everywhere!  (OK, well, a wee bit of snow with grass poking up through it).  From Oregon to British Columbia and all points in between.  So, Revelstoke, B.C. is cancelled.  And there isn't a "Plan B".

Nate is devastated, as I'm sure JDub is, too -- he would really like to try out his new fancy Klim snowmobile bibs that Santa gave him for Christmas.   (Note:  Santa = MOI).  Well, knowing my family was deserting  going to be gone this week, I made plans to head to Oregon to visit my friends H and R over New Years.  I'm still going!  It may be that JDub accompanies me, but he's also watching carefully to see if the weather changes, snow happens, and maybe they can go SOMEWHERE this week, even locally.  One day at a time. 

Crap, I have to go back to work tomorrow.  And JDub doesn't.

Christmas is About....

....Kids and Dogs...


...Including Farting Dogs...

...In other words, family.

It was a great Christmas. And I was so pleased to see my mom doing pretty darned well. Her pain seems to be much more under control, and she looked good. It was nice to see her in real clothes (instead of hospital garb), and she was able to move around somewhat. (Although she does spend most of her time in her "lift chair").  That's her above in the striped top.  It was the whole fam-damily! My brother and his wife and daughter, and JDub and I and Nate, and Mom and Dad! Plus Peanut, Bailey, and Milo-the-Farting-Pug.  We fixed a nummy steak dinner (JDub bbq'd them!). The weather wasn't great, but JDub and I did take a brief walk on the beach and he found two agates. We felt fortunate because we'd had quite a wind storm throughout the area Christmas Eve and a lot of people were without power. We spent Christmas Eve at my brother's house and we had a great time eating appetizers, drinking spirits, and opening presents. It's fun to have a young child in the family (my 5-1/2 year-old niece). You get to look at everything through her eyes and remember how it was. She was so good. I remember that Nate would get pretty over-stimulated and fall apart at some point during the festivities when he was young. 

The best part of these past couple of days?  Lots of hugs.

Merry Christmas from Tonya, JDub, and the Weenies

A Message from Margaret

Just to let you know, my buddy Margaret (Miss Stargazer!) might be off-line for a bit.  Her computer room sprung a leak!  Seems a pipe broke and flooded the room, and although no computer equipment was damaged, there are no broadband connections happening for the duration.  They'll have days of fans and heaters blowing, plumbers repairing the problem, and the possibility of carpet replacement -- plus with the holidays, it could take a while.  Poor girl, she's already suffering from blogging withdrawal. 

Don't be surprised to hear from her via her laptop at a Starbucks hotspot one day soon.

In the meantime, she wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Eye-Opening Things

I thought I would share a variety of unique items that have intrigued me in recent days. 

First is Ricky's monumentous post that I believe says it all:

America, Meet Your Shithead

Pam sent me here to Fight With Letters (actually, you fight with other people who keep snatching your letters, and while it's rather fun and addicting, you also want to get out the machete and go after these people).

Then Karen over at Verbatim has tickled my curiosity with this game that's become fiendishly popular, called Sodoku.  (Actually, Pam turned her onto it!  What a gamer, that Pam!)  I haven't actually given it a try yet because when I see a graph with numbers, my blood runs cold.  Logic?  Ok...  I guess I just need to take some deep breaths and give it a go.  I understand that it's so addictive they've already come up with a 12-step program.

And then finally, I was sent this brief video that will blow your mind.  (Let me know if it did).

WeWishYouAMerryChristmas.wmv

Getting There, I Think

I believe that other than maybe ONE MORE ITEM, I'm done shopping and I'm done wrapping.  And tonight  I am so done.  I've been up too late these last few nights and today I absolutely drug.  Tonight I'm functioning on fumes.  Bed beckons.  I went to the mall right after work (luckily it's not a major hustle/bustle mall, however I needed to be at opposite ends of it so my feet are still killing me after all that traipsing in my formidable boots).   Now I need to start shifting my attention to food for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  But not tonight.  Uh, no.

One of the biggest Christmas shopping factors for me is that all of us in our department at work buy each other a gift.  We are talking 10-15 people, depending on whom you want to all get something for.  I have to say that I truly enjoy this, but it does add up, and it can get a little tedious.  I wish I could just pick & choose 4 or 5 people that I like the best and buy something nice for them and call it good.  But it doesn't work that way. 

On the job front, nothing much happening this week what with striving to get ready for Christmas.  But my resume is now up-to-date, and I have a good list of places I will be sending them out to.  Also some websites to complete on-line applications.   Next week I will buckle down and get serious once JDub and Nate take off for Canada.  I also have some fun things to look forward to next week.  On Thursday evening (Dec. 29th), I'm meeting Margaret for dinner at a restaurant in our home town.   I'm looking so forward to that!  And then I'm taking that Friday off (the 30th) and heading down to Oregon to spend New Years weekend with my friend, H. 

I do know that my mom's primary doctor saw her this week -- however, I don't yet know the outcome of that visit.  He and I have spent nearly a week playing phone tag since I'd written him the letter expressing my concerns.  He did leave a voice message after seeing Mom and said that they had a "plan" -- so it'll be interesting to hear what that plan is.  I do know that as of this past weekend, my folks knew NOTHING about the results of Mom's CT scan taken on the 9th.  The neurosurgeon never got back to them about it.  This is all so very frustrating.   Dad told me that Mom is "hanging in there".  She has OK days and she has terrible days (with the pain).  And she especially suffers during kidney dialysis -- those four hours three days a week drive her batty, and her back pain is excruciating during that time.

Well.  I think it's bedtime.  I'm absolutely beat.

Just Call Me Tootsie!

Christmas Elf Name My Christmas Elf Name is Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

Old Fart's Eyes

Did you know that once you become an old fart, you're destined to constantly take your glasses on and off (in order to see correctly in different situations) or else wear a chain around your neck attached to said glasses to accommodate the taking on and off?  And that's what it is, and so live with it?  (In this day of high-tech and Amazing Medical Feats?)  Most people I know around my age who have always had decent eyesight are now having to do that with reading/seeing up close.  My issue is just the opposite.  I've always been near-sighted (needed correction to see in the distance) but that correction now hoses my up-close sight.  So when I read, the glasses come off.  When I'm shopping, the glasses perch on the top of my head so I can read price tags or otherwise view  items I'm shopping for.  My glasses have bifocals, but they've never worked right, and I always felt that they were too strong because reading a book or a menu or doing computer work seems to be just fine without any correction at all.  (Hence, the glasses come off!)  So imagine my surprise when the eye doctor told me today that, in fact, I need stronger bifocals?  He explained it to me (sort of -- using a polished and sparkly clean window as an analogy, but when you open the window to the bare outside, you see much more clearly).  I'm still skeptical.  We'll see.  (heh heh).  After all, if my new glasses aren't right, I'll insist that they make them right.  BUT.  He did say that I'd likely still need to take them off in order to read or work on the computer, simply because the angle of where bifocals fall just aren't conducive to both reading and computer work.  They will, however, allow me to see the speedometer on my car and snowmobile without removing my glasses.  Bottom line:  I need a chain!  But I absolutely refuse.  I hate that look.  It just totally smacks of old fart, and yes I am, but I don't have to broadcast it quite that loud.

Lasik surgery wouldn't really help me.  Yes, I'd be able to see clearly in the distance, but I'd then need glasses for up-close.  And probably a separate pair altogether for the computer.  No benefit at all -- and I have to wonder about all the people in their, say, 30s having lasik and 10 years later needing reading/computer glasses.  Hopefully they'll eventually come up with a successful method to deal with both issues.

Or maybe there's a conspiracy by optometrists lobbying to make certain that we always have to have corrective lenses, no matter what Amazing Medical Feats are possible.  (I'll bet dentists hated the advent of Fluoride...)

I wrapped like Tupac Shakur a crazy woman last night and accomplished quite a lot -- but I'm not done.  (Close, though).  And I did watch "Polar Express" on my laptop while I wrapped, which was extremely pleasurable.  (Both the movie itself plus having it play while I wrapped).   What a good movie!  My brother and his family saw it on IMAX, in 3-D!  I can't quite imagine that -- must have been awesome!