Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow.

Oh the weather outside is frightful.....and I kind of love it.
I know it is cold and a pain and hard to get around in but it is also silent and beautiful and oh so fluffy. I can't remember it ever being cold enough in Vancouver to get snow this light and fluffy. I cleaned off my car this morning and was fascinated by how weightless the snow was. It really is like powder. We don't ordinarily get that kind of snow around here. Usually we have the heavy wet snow that turns into slush the moment it hits the ground. I am liking this powdery, light, fluffy snow.

In other news, I have a cold. Nothing too bad, mind you. A bit of a runny nose, the occasional sneeze and a once in a while dry cough. I don't expect it to get much worse than this and so it won't really slow me down this season. Not that there is anything keeping me going to quickly either. I am nearly done my Christmas shopping and am planning to do some baking next week. I have cleaned and decorated my apartment. I have even already wrapped the presents that I bought and have them under my little lime-green, tinsel tree. My tradition for wrapping presents has been to do them all on Christmas eve quite late at night while watching some totally-unrelated-to-Christmas movie on tv. Last year it was Eyes Wide Shut. Two years ago - A Clockwork Orange. Clearly some television programmer has a Christmas-Kubrick thing going on. This year I will be spared from watching Full Metal Jacket since my wrapping will all be finished early.

Some good news to round out my post is that my Grandma is being sent home today. She has been in an acute care facility for a couple of weeks now, since leaving the hospital and today she goes home. It is a joy to know that she will be back in her own environment for Christmas and the week leading up to it.

Busy December

Life has been busy and I haven't had enough downtime to sit and write. I have been crafting for Christmas and running around getting things done. Plus there is also all of the fun things I've been doing. I have gone to see It's a Wonderful Life at the Arts Club theater, decorated our Christmas tree, had festive dinners out, strolled 4th, window shopped, and really shopped. I have had a Dr. appointment, a dentist appointment, a chiro appointment, gotten my oil changed, new tires put on my car and gone out for my first experience of Vietnamese food. Phnom Penh - yum! The chicken wings are to die for! Deep fried with salt, pepper and garlic and a lemon (or lime) pepper sauce for dipping, mmm mmmmm. I found a pic of them online here... Phnom Penh chicken wings

This weekend there is a goodbye gathering for my monkey sister tonight, tree decorating at my sister's tomorrow, a bar mitzvah and a concert on Sunday.

Whew!

A list for no reason (ok, because I love to write lists)

clean fresh sheets
rooibos tea
eucalyptus epsom salts
Cooper's paws
a good hair day
scarves
70% dark chocolate
music
red wine
faith
any shade of green
fat, fluffy snow flakes

Just for a cleaning, but still!

I have a dentist appointment this afternoon and I don't want to go!

Nobody puts Baby in the corner.

I watched Dirty Dancing this weekend, on purpose.
Twice!

I have seen this movie countless times. Pretty much any time it is on tv, I get sucked in and watch it. On Saturday afternoon, I put the dvd in my player and actually sat down and watched the movie from beginning to end. I paused it if my phone rang or for any other interruptions and watched it with purpose. I enjoyed it so much, that Sunday afternoon, I watched it again.

I have always loved Dirty Dancing but this time, I saw it a little differently. I found a new appreciation for it. Not only is it entertaining and fun (which is how I have always thought of it) but it is actually a really, really GOOD movie. The story is so much richer than I ever gave it credit for. The characters are well developed and you believe that they are really those people. It is beautifully filmed, interesting and clever. The music, for the most part, is perfect. Although I did scoff mildly at She's Like the Wind, it just doesn't fit the rest of the soundtrack.

I remember the first time I saw Dirty Dancing. I was 13 years old and with my mom on a mother/daughter date night. We had gone for dinner first and then to see Dirty Dancing. I wanted to be Baby. I wanted to go to the Catskills and meet my very own Johnny Castle and learn how to dance and do lifts in the water.

Does every girl love this movie as much as I do?

I'm like a worker bee. I want to be the Queen!

Busy, busy, busy, busy! This has been my life for the past couple of weeks and the last 7 days in particular. My only down time isn't even my own. It is while I am in class every morning. I get a chance to read through the prep but I have to be alert and ready at any given moment to jump up and interpret so I can't ever really just settle in while I'm here.

When I am not at work, I am driving to my next job or to the hospital to visit my grandma. Then I have to go to the bank, the grocery store, the dentist, the chiropractor. I have had some fun times in the past week too, Hairspray last Friday and dancing on Saturday and a matinee on Sunday. The problem there is that I stretched myself too thin. I didn't give myself any me time and so by Tuesday, I felt completely burnt out.

I hate turning down fun plans. I like to go out and be social but I have realized how badly I need to have alone time to recharge and refuel. I turned down plans for last night to just stay in and be alone. But I was at work until 6:30 and then had to drive home and stop to get groceries. When all was all said and done, it was 7:30 before I walked in the door. Not really what I mean by me time.

Just a day. I want just a day. A day to be a Queen Bee! A day with nothing planned. A day with nowhere to be. A day with nothing to do. A day where I don't have to drive anywhere. A day where I can sleep in, stay in my pjs for too long, have soup and crackers for lunch, watch a movie from the couch, cuddle with Cooper, go for a walk, have a delicious latte or tea, and feel completely recharged!

Grandma update

I am learning that getting better when you are almost 91 doesn't mean the same thing as it does for younger people. Grandma is in and out and I am not sure what it going to happen. I spent just over 3 hours with her at the hospital yesterday and mostly we just sat together.

She is on the transfer list to be moved out of the acute cardiac care unit since her heart is no longer a problem. She will be moving to another medical unit and hopefully she will get the right kind of care.