Look Carole - I did do it!

Okay everyone, lets have fun with this! Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay,here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Justcopy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail thatyou can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Thensend this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person thatsent it to you......Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both - I love to use bags and I love to wrap. We tend to wrap more than we bag. And some of the gifts get wrapped and bagged!!
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial – Allergic to the real ones
3. When do you put up the tree? sometime in the first 10 days of December
4. When do you take the tree down? Early January
5. Do you like Egg Nog? I do - with Rum and with out
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I cant think of a favorite gift - but I can think of a most memorable one. It was the Christmas of 1967. I know, i am really old. My parents had divorced earlier that year and my mom was working in a jewellry store. Money was scarce, in actuality you could call us poor. There was no money for Christmas presents. My grandparents had sent money to my Mom to cover the cost of driving from Kelowna to Vancouver to have Christmas with them. It was Christmas Eve and we were driving to Vancouver, just outside of Keremeos we hit black ice and careened out of control, off the road, barely missing a power pole, through a farmers fence, over a small rise and landed in a field. Needless to say we missed getting to Vancouver for Christmas, after being discharged from the hospital friends came and drove us home. Christmas morning was very quiet. My Mom gave my sister and I each a small parcel, in that parcel was a small inexpensive charm bracelet and a 45 record (a small one, a single for all you young people). Later that day we went to visit my Dad. I do not know why, but that gift , that small bracelet that I know my Mom could not afford meant so much to me. The bracelet has long since been lost and the record? who knows, I dont even remember who it was----- oh wait -- Daydream Believer by the Monkees (my Mom's DJ friend gave it to her to give to me) But the memory of my Mom's gift from the heart has stayed with me all these years!
7. Hardest person to buy for? My Step Dad.
8. Easiest person to buy for? used to be Brian - this year - Tanya!
9. Do you have a nativity scene? I do - two of them actually
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? some of each - this year I am going to try to mail more.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I dont think I have a worst - may have received a few weird ones - like the year we got a gift bag full of things you find in a hotel/motel room, you know - the coffee package, the sugar and stir sticks, coffeemate package, a tea bag and the little shampoo packages. Now that was a weird gift!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th Street - I have both versions - I think I like the new one best!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? sad to say - I bought some in January
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I have
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? all of it - the treats, the cookies, the dinner, the drinks
16. Lights on the tree? is there a tree with no lights?
17. Favorite Christmas song? I'll be Home for Christmas
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Anywhere my family is - so if I had to travel I would
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? I can. Spent many an hour reading the book to kids, I might be very close to being able to recite it without the book
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? An angel, but as Tara will tell you not "the" angel, and we were thinking of replacing the one we have!
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? I like opening one on Christmas Eve, Phil doesnt think we should do that, so we open them all on Christmas,morning, afternoon evening, usually on the 26th too. The big family means we make many stops.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The fact that so many people wont acknowledge what the season is really all about.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I love them all! This year our tree will be mostly red and white - as in past years, with a heavy dose of spongebob
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Turkey with all the trimmings -- yum!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Would it sound hokey to say world peace? I do want that. On the more personal level -- I want everyone to have good Christmas, I dont have a list really - i know that makes it really hard for my family to shop for me, I did do a list with Tanya so I think I am ok! But that doesnt really answer the question - hmmm - I would like a bottle of Baileys
26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Tanya
27. Who is least likely to respond to this? hard to say - many wont- you have to be following my blog to respond and I really dont know who all is following.

For all of you who have read to the very end of my very long blog! Thanks for hanging in! Thanks for being a part of my life

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

A Tuesday Blog

For lack of a better title!

Just wanted to stop by here and say hi! Been pretty busy lately with the production, costume, work and just plain life.

I have a prayer request for anyone who would like to pray for me -- I need to get new glasses and they have to be paid up front. I can get about $400.00 back - the glasses are 683.50.

For anyone who knows about my recent car issues - you will know that i have that $500.00 bill to pay before I can start thinking about glasses.

The hitch is - I really need the new ones. There has been a significant change in my lenses over the past year and it is getting difficult to see properly with these - I knew I needed them I was just not prepared for the cost at this time ---

So -- pray for some creative financing for me -- that we will find the funds with in our budget to pay for the glasses and still afford the upcoming season!!!

Thanks all!

In other news --- looks like Brian will be playing in a piano recital later this month. He has been practicing some lovely Christmas songs for us. It is fun to listen to him.

We are all looking forward to a fun filled Christmas season - full of family time and good company. Got started on the shopping and we are finding it easy to stay with in our budget this year - shopping sales, using up old gift cards, looking for deals using reward points and such like. Of course - that could all change in the next few weeks - but we are trying.

Now -- back to work I go - I am off to Chilliwack and I will be listening to the new audiobook that Tanya and Andre gave me for my birthday - It is great - plug in the old itrip and hook up the ipod and some nice man reads to me!! Makes the miles fly by!

Costume Update!

Well - with a little luck and a lot of help from my sister I will be suitably attired for the upcoming production.

I found the PERFECT blouse at Penningtons and it was on sale! Cost me $27.00. Then my sister had a skirt from one of her medieval costumes that she said she could modify to be Victorian - all we would have to do is make an overskirt to bring it to the right century and hide the fact that it doesnt do up properly in the back. And I have a black shawl that I will use for the "outdoor" scenes.

Thanks for all your suggestions!

Costume fitting fun and games!

It all started at the Costume Fitting. The lady said - try this dear (i hate being called dear) it should be fine - if it is a little tight we can make an adjustment. And then she handed me a dress made of curtain fabric - the heavy damask type curtains - and a heavy wool cape - almost got a hernia lifting the darn thing!

I said to myself - Self - this could be a pretty hot time - and I did not mean in the sexy way!!!!

But it is only a costume and only for 3 nights so off I went to try it on. It is a pretty dress actually just heavy -- that was my thoughts until I actually got into it --- it was one tight fit - the bust and shoulders were awesome but the waist was very tight --- and it was a velcro closure. So if I took a deep breath - like you are supposed to do when you sing, the front of the dress would pop open at the waist. So much fun! Then I stood around in the lovely drapes, I mean dress for about an hour waiting my turn to be checked out by the costumer.

And I started to sweat, now I dont mean a light prespiring, a glow on the forehead, I am talking about buckets and buckets of sweat - running down my back. My face got very red --- redder than normal. One lady asked me if I was ok. I said not so good.

It was finally my turn - the costume lady said - that is great -- I said it is really tight --- she said well why dont you just not hook it at the waist. So we tried that and I said to our director -- I am not too sure about this, I am not sure I will be able to breathe properly and I took a deep breath and sure enough - costume malfunction - the front popped and the fat was on display!

Fortunately for me - the director agreed that this lovely , 30 lb drape, I mean dress, was not going to work. The costume lady said well I do have a red skirt that should work. And she handed me what looked to be a red quilt - yup you heard it here first! I will be wearing a red quilted skirt with a short red quilted over skirt in the christmas production.

Sounds good - right? Well it would be just fine if the skirt came with a top! So here I am on the hunt for a victoria blouse - high neck, long sleeve in a size humungo and I need in 10 days! HELP!

So if you know any one who has a large, plus size victorian costume, rather plain in colour and design, who would be willing to rent it to me -- please rescue me!

Truly Fortunate

Today, as I was minding my own business - working diligently at my desk, my phone rang. This in and of itself is not unusal. The phone rings often in my office. But this particular call was very unusual. The conversation went something like this:

"ring ring"

Laura speaking, how may I help you?

Mrs Lang?

Yes...

This is Anne from Ellendale, we have Brian here in the office (mind goes nuts - what has happened, has he broken a limb? ticked off a teacher? ) and he is not feeling very good.

(mind goes calm - thank goodness - just sick) Ok - I will come and get him. It will take me about 30 minutes to get there.

No problem Mrs Lang - thank you for coming, he has been vomiting (mind goes -0h yuck!!!!)

So, I shut down the laptop, packed up the files to be worked on for the afternoon, and headed off to the school to get the sickie. Got there and he looked pathetic! Hot to touch and a bit green around the gills.

Took him home where he proceeded to puke again. Got him some clean clothes and got some gravol into him.

Here comes the fortunate part.

I was scheduled to be the person in our Abbotsford office this afternoon and there was not a sole person available to cover for me. So I bundled the kid in the car, grabbed the portable dvd player, some soup and juice and other comforts, and off we came to the office. He has spent the afternoon watching movies, playing on the computer and generally being very quiet. I am thinking that it will be time for more gravol just before we leave for home (dont want any puking in the car).

I consider myself very fortunate that I work for a company that allows me to bring the sick child with me to the office. No one complains that he is here. No one wonders what is wrong with me when I bring him in. Concessions are made to accomodate the time that I need to tend to him. Of course if it was really serious I would stay at home with him, but on a day like today I feel totally blessed that I can still be here to do my job and still be a mom to the sick kid. We even have a couch here that he could nap on if he wanted to!

And now - I shall finish up one last file and take the kid home!