Christmas Mayhem

So, um, yes, I am so weirded out that Christmas is just over a week away! What happened to December?? Man oh man!
Anyway, I actually think all my shopping is pretty much complete....oh there are a few small bits and bobs I have to pick up but the main gifts are ready to go.
My brother arrives this Monday for 2 weeks and now my cousin and aunt are also come over for Christmas...along with my sister and her Tom. Yay! The more, the merrier! I love Christmas! I love the family all together (even if we do get a little on one another nerves by the end), I love the cookies, the lights! AND I looooove decorating!!
I have a lot of decorations up already at my house, but it kinds looks like Christmas burst all over my living room. I've got miniature villages set up but remnants of lights and shopping bags all over, boxes and extension cords litter the floor. Soon it will be ready, and this Friday or Saturday Shantala, my dear, dear friend, is taking me in her truck to get a TREE!! I cannot wait! I've purchased some new tree ornaments and balls, ooo and snoflakey shapes and fake icicles since I've never had my very own big, large, real tree before. I just love the smell of real trees, too! So sharp and crisp and wintery. I for sure will take some photos this weekend when it's all up.
As for the other major happenings around my life, I still have to move and I haven't found any place to go yet. I've checked out one suite but they were asking an arm and a leg for a tiny place! I mean, I can afford a decent suite, but I'm not paying that much for a tiny space!
I am selling some stuff on usedvictoria.com, you can go here:
http://www.usedvictoria.com/MyAdsById/2266169
to look at what I am currently selling. I also have a few more pieces of furniture to sell, too.
So long for now! All you friends who blog, keep it up! I love checking to see what's new in your world!

Banquets and Boxes.

Well, the Saturday Night Live banquet was a smashing success! Lots of really funny skits, great food, lots of people, wonderful decorations...all in all a rockin evening. I did enjoy it, though I was a tad busy running around, figuring out video techie stuff....but it all worked out and I think everyone enjoyed the video clips.

Moving - yes, I have to move...AGAIN! I got the call last Sunday that my landlord is selling the house I rent so as of February I need to be living elsewhere. Arg! Ack! Ick!
So...does anyone know where I can live? Can I live with you? Please!?
I've been looking but it so difficult to find a place that allows pets (I have my small dog still...she's 12 and as much as I love her, I don't think she'll ever kick the bucket!). I've found a few prospects...so we'll see what turns up.
I dislike moving! Packing, cleaning, boxes and moving! Bleh!

I will need to sell a bunch of stuff....Hey would you like to purchase:
2 double beds
- a blue recliner (older but comfy and clean)
- a green faux leather rocker and rocking ottoman (modern and great!)
- a loveseat with a single hideabed (older but great!)
- a light brown couch with double hideabed (soft veloury feel)
- 2 dressers (1 tall and 1 long - blue and purple, but just ready for you to paint to taste)

I'll post photos later tonight.

Snow, Snow, Snow!

Snow
I walked in it.
I drove in it.
I had it in my hair.
I shovelled it.
I smiled at it.
Snow, snow, snow everywhere!

Household Battlefield and a Winter Wonderland

Well the battle is over (I hope!) and for now, at least, it seems as though I have won. No, this battle was not fough on foreign soil, nor in te air nor in a courtroom.....mostly in my kitchen and living room!!!

I have know for a while that the odd stray rodent of slightly larger than mousish size would wander into the basement of my old house, perhaps setting up camp for a while. This past spring I caught one in a trap and three weeks ago another sprung the trap and was caught red-handed. No worries, or so I thought. I went to the basement to reset the trap and lo and behold, there was a brazen critter sitting right beside the trap...not in it, not caught, just sitting there, looking at me with its' wee beady eyes! I took up a near broom and tried to whack at it but it scampered away at a speed more than I'd expected. I chased it some more until it ran up the wall, above my head, onto some pipes, gave me an impertinent cheep then disappeared into the ceiling...the floor under my bathroom and bedroom!!!! AHHHHH!!!

Well, this definetly meant WAR!!

The traps were set, with what I hoped was a too-tempting amount of peanut butter, and I waited to hear the chink of the metal snapping the rodent's neck!!

But Ooooh nooo, the furry intruder was not content to snack on the deadly bait....he ventured up stairs to clatter around on my counters, looking for better fare, and proceeded to run amuck all through the UPSTAIRS of my house....while I was still home!! Sitting in my chair!!!! Oh and this rat wasn't the typical sneak around type, hugging the walls, wary of light and me and my dog, no, he was bold, brazen and a BRAT!!!

Well, THAT was IT!!
I armed myself with a hammer in one hand, my old metal music stand in the other (shoes on of course) and sat in wait for the next time he decided to scamper arounf in MY HOUSE!!!

I didn't have to wait long. He soon bolted around the corner of my kitchen, skidding all the way, hindquarters swinging, as I chased him with my tool of death.

I figured out he was using the air ducts to escape from me so I covered all the outakes, closed all the vents and again chased him willy-nilly all over. The quick little beggar kept getting away and after a good long chase to and from furniture, he darted into my bedrom under my cedar chest at the foot of my bed!! Ew! Ick! Get Out!!!

I sent Sophie, my dog in after it. She was finally getting into the hunt and nsed her snout as far under the chest as she could barking and scratching after it. I stayed, poised, in the hallyway, music stand at the ready to club it as it came out (which I swore it would, and I wouldn't go back in there until I saw it leave!!! I mean, gross, my bedroom!!)

Finally Sophie's aggression must have freaked it a little, and it shot out of the room right towards me and directly between my feet!!! I tried to swing at it and get both feet off the floor at once, so of course, I didn't get a good shot. And wouldn't you know, the dirty rotter stopped, turned and looked at me over its' grey shoulder then took off into the living room!! As if to say, "Nya-nya, come get me!"

Needless to go on, I chased, and swung, a yelled and I stomped, but that rat was just too quick for me. It drove Sophie nuts, too, after it holed up under my entertainment unit in too small a space for us to get it out. Two nights of constant chasing to no avail, and it was finally time to bring in the big guns.

My dad took Sophie over their house and set up two more traps and some (hopefully) tempting poison bait all over.

The next day the trap right next to my dog's food dish barely caught the bastard!!! But he was caught and dead...finally!

Sophie and I stayed over a few more nights at my parents house and honestly it was like a mini-vacation! I even have my birthday while there and was treated like a queen! Sophie and I hated to leave but we went home, cleaned up and hoped no more invaders would try to make our house their home.

We did catch once more, "teenaged rat", as my dad called it, in a basement trap a day after we got home. Man! Hopefully word will spread throughout the rodent community that the little white house with the scruffy black dog isn't a winter resort, but an abbatoir for critter-sized creatures. This Christmas...there is NO room at THIS Inn!!!

And WINTER it now IS!!!
Today during sunday morning church we got a dump of snow. It's still falling this evening and I LOVE IT!!

I'll take some photos if it stays tomorrow and post them. It is soooo pretty out! Everything is bright. Everything glows. Everything looks sugar-coated, so soft and delicate covered with the white lace of snowflakes.

Did I mention I love snow!!! Ahhhh! I even drove several times in it today. I'm not afraid to, but I am afraid of Victoria drivers who don't have a clue what to do in winter snowy conditions. Most people are okay and give lots of room, but those losers who own a truck or an SUV think they can barrel through, so close to everyone and freak me out! If one of us hit a slippery patch, boom! We'd collide!! Slow down, be cautious and respect smaller vehicles around. If I am driving carefully I am not trying to slow you down, I'm only trying to avoid an accident on the slippery roads. There, I've said my peace.

Now let's all enjoy that white winter wonderland while we still have it!!!

Ice, Animals and Epiphanies

The minutes and days streak by when I'm busy and can't think of what to write.

I went to Skate Canada a week ago with my lovely mom. All the colours, costumes, sounds, tastes and experiences being part of that crowd were delightful! I couldn't have enjoyed an event more! Watching competitive skating live is so very different from watching it comfortably at home where you have commercials, you can loudly discuss the skaters' tight spandex and where you can put on any type of clothes and be comfy - sweats, pjs etc. Watching it in the area, in a packed crowd where every Ooo and Ahh and Awww is a shared emotion, where the clapping is contagious and the people in your row get to know who has weak bladders, is an extremely positive and wonderful experience! My palms felt raw just after the first of our two-day tickets as the enthusiastic and exuberant lady beside me started up applause for almost every move every skater either accomplished or attempted. She exclaimed an audible Yes! at big jumps and truly disappointed Awwws! at falls or trips. She forced me to up my ante and add just as much (but no more) excitement to my reactions. And, of course, the snacks were yummy! Fries, hot dog and popcorn, oh my! Kudos to the concession staff! The arena seats, though not too uncomfortable, are quite closely packed together but we found our neighbours considerate and non-annoying or smelly. Yay! Skating = fun times!

Other TTK World Events and Happenings include, but are not limited to:
- The Beginnings of (shock) Christmas Shopping!
- Visit from my sister and her husband
- Realization that I just don't fit anywhere at the moment (I mean within any social circles - I meander on the outskirts and scavenge what fun I can from the scraps of the vicious predatory creatures that keep consuming and regurgitating my...basically, I'm a relational hyena!)
- and an Unsuccessful Showdown with a furry critter who should pay rent if he chooses to live in my house!!! Ug!!