Happy Mew Year


I am sitting with my Dax asleep in my lap, drinking amazing coffee and listening to some great music. I have slept in and am getting myself together for a fun evening over with some friends to ring in the new year with music and laughs. I am happy. I am content.
This is life.
Cheers to a new year my friends :)

Polar Vortex

Currently the weather here in Saskatoon is indeed winter. We are currently in the middle of a polar vortex. We are actually colder than both the north and south poles at the moment. -33 C before the windchill...-41 after....and will get down to -37 before the wind and -48 with it tonight at the worst of it all, with the ultimate predicted low of -49 with the wind tomorrow night.
Bleh.
The chill will be with us ever so inconveniently until my holidays are done and I get back to work on the 3rd. Normally we get to maybe mid-minus 20s with the wind...this current madness is dangerous. We have had to replace our car old battery...and it's so cold that even with the new battery the stereo in it isn't working at the moment. A friend had his spoiler on his hatchback break just from him closing it this morning. Yep...It's the kind of cold that turns door handles into torturous devices if you aren't wearing gloves and it would easily kill you if you weren't properly dressed. We were considering visiting friends for new years in Edmonton but when it's this cold the thought of having any car problems and being stuck outside is actually frightening...it's looking more likely like we will remain here and celebrate here warm in a friend's house instead...a 6 hour drive without a car stereo would be really boring too.

This is a dumb level of cold that makes you eat extra food, drink scotch and google the giant insects of africa and australia to remind yourself of one of the few perks of living in this frozen wasteland...thankfully this kinda cold kills them...and it usually only lasts about a week and comes just once or twice a winter. I wish it wasn't during my holidays - I'd like to be out and about more, but I feel bad using the car in this chill. J is working a good show tonight and I have dropped him and his gear off and come back home to stay warm in the house...I may or may not catch the last bit of it...because I want to make sure the car will start after to get us home. Ridiculous. Truly.

My christmas was lovely though. My family was here for christmas eve and christmas day and we had christmas day at my place for the first time ever...christmas was a brunch and a lazy day of games before a nice turkey supper and more games into the wee hours. Boxing day was spent with Js family and my Dad. All my homemade gifts of jellies and aprons and cookies and picture frames were well recieved and I got the gift I truly wanted - a happy time with my family full of laughter and love. It's honestly been a great last few days and I have a few more to relax, read books and eat the last of the cookies. Splurged on seeing the new Star Wars movie in the VIP theatre yesterday - loved it and the social commentary of it and I am inspired to keep crafting away the winter months and filling the winter hibernation with creativity. Plus I can't keep eating like this heheh...it will be good to be back to a more regular healthy schedule. :)

I hope you're all staying warm. I'm going to go have a hot bath and try and forget the chill outside.

Making Christmas. Maaaaaaking Chriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistmas!

My family doesn't really do bought gifts anymore...just the little ones. For the rest of us, we make something instead or just eat and visit. Other than some baking, homemade ketogenic nutella, some pepper and roasted garlic jellies and some cranberry apple butter I have made, I have been planning to make a few things for my family. I saved some shells from my Maritime holiday to make framed pictures for my dad, brother and sis for christmas and have had the frames for a while. I finally got around to putting them together last night. I was nervous they'd turn out lame...I am very happy with them. J was a huge help with ideas on how to attach the shells (foam bits and hot glue) and helped me find the sand printed paper I used as a background. I am so pleased with how they went together. The top left one is for me...the rest are for my family - they can chose.

My dad has been lamenting about hos the only kitchen apron he has was my mum's and it's old, girly and very dirty. I bought some suitably Dad fabric (blue denim) and made him a great new kitchen apron and customized it for him. He often answers the phone with "Dave's Deli and Diner" so I thought I'd make it official. :)
I love christmas for this reason - I love to make things...and to make things for my loved ones they will use and appreciate is so rewarding. Mostly food heheh but still :) Last christmas was really not a fun time for me and now, especially after the last while and how much different my life is currently I am in serious gratitude and humble appreciation at how my life is going. I am honestly happy. Life isn't perfect, but there is love and patience and kindness and respect in my life. J and I are working to be better. I have family and friends who love me. I am healthy. 
J and I are going to host my family for christmas day at my place so we'll see how that all goes. My brother and his wife usually do but she gets all stressed out about it all, and I don't get stressed about cooking and planning for people at all. Making ketogenic christmas supper will be a challenge, but I can pull it off. We have games and wine and snacks. There will be stuffing cuz I want stuffing dammit but the rest we can tweak so everyone can enjoy it. There will be time with my family - that is all I want. Boxing day is with J's family. Then a week off to relax. I can't wait.

I am really looking forward to my holidays. It's been a long time since I've been excited to spend this much time at home. I have a new Ben Aaronovitch book to read and a lot of posh tea to drink.Tonight I am spending the evening with 2 close friends and after that I have a few days of baking and a big gathering with friends before the family invades. 

I hope you are all having a good holiday time and you will have some joy in your life over this holidays. I wish you all a year of joy and love and peace. Good health to you.

sona Nollag!