What's next?

Okay so apparently 2016 didn't happen. Maybe that is just wishful thinking. It wasn't entirely terrible. Just clearly didn't allow me to have much in the way of blogging on my mind. Maybe I can reclaim some of the things I enjoyed pre-2016. I have pictures. I have plans. So here we go again. (I'm working late so taking a quick blogging break before I get back to my list for tonight)

Let's start with my version of the plant life in Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas. Can't find a name for this plant (anyone know?) but they certainly looked to us as if they would benefit from some googly eyes.  More on this trip possibly in a future post.

Today's photo prompt was "pastels".

I reset my calendar colours to a pastel palette for spring. Here's what it looks like (deliberately a bit blurry so you can't see all the details of the appointments I have filled this week with). No amount of pretty spring colour applications and lovely Van Gogh undulating landscapes can reduce the amount of WORK this very full schedule is going to involve.  Multiple meetings with no significant breaks means I am staying late or working this long weekend... or both.

So now my little "creativity break" is through and I will get back to it!

Christmas at the Office

Presidents Holiday Reception

Despite working right up until Christmas eve, there are a few more celebratory moments at work to break up the meetings and time at the computer. We had a Christmas lunch with the teachers after Fall term classes ended. The Activities committee did an amazing job of transforming our Board room into much less of an office space and more comfortable for a Christmas celebration. This year, instead of a potluck, we all chipped in our money to order in an Indian buffet from Rajdoot and it was delicious!

photo by Roberta Wallace

photo by Roberta Wallace

I didn't participate in the gift exchange this year ( no time to prepare anything for that) but on the same day, our new Faculty - Continuing Education - was also having a Christmas get together and so we dropped by the end of that event. They had a fun photo booth, a hot chocolate bar and a snacks and candy buffet including "Grinch mix" and "Elf poop". They had snack cups or bags you could fill with your munchies so I prepared a few salt water taffies to take along with me that night to see The Mousetrap at Vertigo Theatre.

The last Christmas event I attended was the Presidents' Holiday Reception (pictured at the top).  Our admin staff had just gone out for a Vietnamese lunch that day so I didn't go as much for the appetizers but there were some lovely sweet treats -  fruit, tuxedo cake pops, mini smores cupcakes, salted caramel mousse - too many to try all the choices. Another Hot Chocolate bar with assorted toppings - whipped cream, marshmallows, crushed candy cane, mini gingerbread men sprinkles  - all provided. 

I missed going to the Finance Department's Christmas open house - they line their hallways with crockpots and hot plates of goodies, fill a table at the front with Christmas cookies and invite everyone to drop by and for a toonie, join in mingling with others from the University - even a visit to Santa is included. I was attending a workshop all that afternoon so didn't get to stop in this year. 

It might not be the big corporate galas held in downtown Calgary or include the Christmas bonuses but we do find moments to celebrate the season here at the University. 

Christmas Lights

Lion's Festival of Lights (2007)

I LOVE Christmas lights. They are one of my top happy-making things. So far this year, I've just enjoyed the lights in the neighbourhoods as I've driven to and fro but it is worth it to make a special effort to go and see some of the more spectacular displays.  Growing up and living in the northwest corner of Calgary for most of my life means that I had plenty of opportunities to drive past the Lion's Festival of Lights over the nearly three decades they have been on display. 14th Street became one of my favourite routes to take during the month of December and I would drive past as often as possible. Now that I live on the south side of the river, I never get the chance and have to plan a special trip if I want to see them. 

Zoolights are another opportunity to see great lights. I used to be able to convince my neice Madi to do things like this with me. (Wasn't she a cutie) What a fun tradition to have in Calgary. With over 1.5 million lights and 200 displays, there is a lot to see and to do. 

The Airdrie Festival of Lights are a display I've only made it out to a couple of times and both times it was bitterly cold.  A perfect excuse to stop by the bonfire and have a cup of cocoa when you are there. It makes a good road trip with some Christmas carols to make the journey cheery but not a drive that is as easy to make now that I don't live on the north side. 

So last year, I joined friends in a drive through the displays at Spruce Meadows. A few displays, some with music and action,  but the highlight is all the trees to drive past!

Even though those lights are all magical to see, none of these would be my favourite light display. My favourite isn't something that is representative of a scene or highly "designed". My favourite is the enthusiastic home owner who  gets creative in their own front yard. Lots of lights, lots of fun and I have to pull over and take a closer look. Like this very small front yard from a couple of years ago. I found it by just driving a different route home every day and there it was - on a street with only a few lights in a neighbourhood with a lot of renters and seniors mixed together, this little patch of Christmas light heaven. 

As we drove around tonight delivering cookies, I didn't stop to take any pictures but saw a few homes where I will make another trip past before the season is over.

Here's the picture of our cookie delivery packages from yesterday's post. It was wonderful seeing all the people willing to bring in homemade cookies to share with others at what is always a busy time of year.  Most of our Young Women were involved either in rehearsing for the Nativity Pageant or school work but it was a great chance to visit with Kira.

If you want to go find some good lights, check out the Calgary Herald's map (or add your own if you take time to light up your home for others to enjoy!)  Another map can be viewed here.  You could always grab your hot chocolate, head out for the drive and when you find your favourite decorated home, drop off a homemade certificate awarding them Best Lights Display or a plate of cookies!

Where are your favourite lights??

Christmas Baking

304 Shortbread cookies

A wonderful part of the holidays is all the delicious food. The aroma of Christmas baking, of a full turkey dinner, the chocolates and candy...the reason for so many New Year's resolutions.

So the enjoyment of Christmas baking started for me with my trip to visit my brother's family in October up north in Manning, Alberta. There was a Christmas cookie exchange on Saturday morning and we stopped in to see the Legion hall with tables of cookie sheets (fairly picked over) with a fantastic variety of cookies.  You could fill a paper bag and pay by weight - a good way to get a first taste of some cookie classics. On the table by the weigh scale, was a large pickle jar of tiny shortbread cookies in the shape of snowmen, candy canes, stars, trees and gingerbread men. For a toonie you could guess the number inside. Later that day, that big pickle jar was sitting on the dining table at my brother's place - his youngest - Lorena guessed the closest and won the whole jar!  It became far too easy to just snack on a tiny bite-sized snowflake or candy cane shortbread as we played games, made crafts or just sat around visiting.

When we were saying our goodbyes, Lorena brought over a car care package for us with a ziplock bag of cookies decorated with a snowflake and an envelope of "Things to do when you BORED on your rode trip" with some mad-libs to do on the drive home.

This Christmas I am still incredibly behind in any Christmas decorating, baking or shopping. My favourites to make are caramels, shortbreads, cheese balls and fruit slush.  I also like to bake up some orange cranberry muffins.

Our family tradition has been making and dipping chocolates but it gets harder to do over the years and so far, it isn't happening for us this year. The weather is a factor - the fondant is usually made on a very cold day and so far this year, the weather has been too warm whenever there has been time. My favourite part of the dipping is when we are done and we dip mandarin orange pieces into the melted chocolate. Yum!

Tomorrow, I'll be heading out with the Young Men and Young Women of the Wildwood ward to deliver plates of cookies to some members of the ward. It is our "hug on a plate" to let them know we love them. Follow the link below to find a cookie calendar from The Globe and Mail. Do you have a favourite recipe you save for this time of year?

The 24 Cookies of Christmas

Christmas Carols

I love when we begin to sing Christmas hymns in church and it is always a treat to watch the Christmas Devotional Broadcast the first Sunday of December and hear the beautiful music by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. If you missed it, you can still watch the recording here. Enjoy "The Carol of the Bells" one of my favourites!

Today is a popular Sunday for evening Christmas Music Concerts and I know there were a few happening here in Calgary. I attended our Stake Concert after joining Jill and Ingrid and guests for a very yummy dinner. There were 14 musical numbers not counting the congregational singing. Fantastic selections - two performances with strings, one piece on the piano, solo or small group numbers accompanied by piano or guitar, and 5 choir numbers from 4 different choirs.


Some old favourites in the program - Elder Linford singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem", two trios with "Go Tell It On the Mountain" and "Do You Have Room?", an operatic version of "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella", and the Fourth Ward Choir singing "O Holy Night" and inviting the congregation to join in for the final verse - powerful!  The new favourites included two I've never heard before - a traditional Scottish/Gaelic number called "Saviour's Lullaby" which the YSA Choir sang and  a ragtime piano piece called "Graceful Ghost Rag" (mis-titled in the program) played by Jack Liu. Maybe not the most seasonal of pieces but so much fun. Here's a version to listen to.




When we go out to deliver plates of cookies this week with the youth, I hope I have a car that isn't afraid of a little carolling to go along with the cookies but I'll have to wait and see on that. A big part of Christmas is the music and tonight was a perfect way to enjoy the spirit of the season. Even if I haven't decorated yet, I can still fill my home with Christmas music.

If I were in Salt Lake this coming week, I would want to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concert.  But since I'm not, I can always enjoy last year's concert broadcast on PBS.
Last year's special guests were Santino Fontana and The Muppets from Sesame Street.

Broadcasts are scheduled for Dec 21 at 8pm, Christmas Eve at 8 pm and check local listings for Christmas Day.  Here's a taste from that concert - the finale with We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

A Wildwood Christmas

Day Twelve - 13 Sleeps to Christmas Morning.

And I'm back and the Christmas preparation isn't going as well as I had hoped. But today had a few hours of Christmas in the form of our Ward Christmas Party. Our Young Women were in charge of the "Missionary Station" - a chance to write messages for our one serving sister from our ward and our two Elders and we had prepared the boxes and snowflakes last Tuesday.  A short program included a musical number by the missionaries before they headed off to work on the set for the Nativity Pageant. Yummy buns, soup and salads followed by delicious desserts. Elder Stone and Linford will get their boxes tomorrow after we finish packing them up. The Young Men were in charge of the photo booth. A sweet little boy from Primary agreed to be in the photo for me - this was how he posed. He thought it was hilarious!

I still haven't gotten any decorations up at home - thank goodness for my painters tape advent tree made by Jill. It has been lots of fun opening a small envelope each day to see what goodie, Christmas picture, or other surprise is inside. Hopefully I can get to it for Monday night! Tomorrow will be a busy Sunday.

Christmas ReBoot

From the Nativity Pageant, Heritage Park, Calgary 2014

It's been almost one year. And what a year it has been. Life got crazy just before Christmas last year and I don't think there has been much of a break since. But I need to reboot, refresh and start again so this is a placeholder until I officially restart the blog.

So  - to review- I had started a kind of Christmas countdown and managed to post from December 1 - 11 in 2014.  My next new blog post will be December 12.

While you are waiting, you can revisit the first eleven.

December 11   Winter Weather

December 10   Snowflakes

December 9   Christmas Cards

December 8    Christmases Past

December 7    Christmas Calendars

December 6    The Nutcracker

December 5   Bing and Bowie

December 4   Still, Still, Still

December 3   Being Festive

December 2   A Very Retro Christmas

December 1  A Very Dickens Christmas

See you  again in 4 days!

Winter Weather

A snowy reminder of summer lounging

(I'm back. Computer problems too late at night kept me from posting for a couple of days. I've added three posts tonight.)

It is another crazy winter that we are having. The dump of snow in September disoriented all of us and destroyed so many trees in our city. And then it all melted away and we enjoyed fall temperatures a short time only to have the temperatures plunge 30 degrees in November. For those of us who have lived in Calgary, we know there is no such thing as 'normal'.  Last year, the cold and snow began and we didn't seem to get a break for months on end. But here we are December 11th and the temperature is +11!

I get the immense pleasure of interviewing the new students as we prepare to start each term of study in our English as a Second Language program at Mount Royal University. I warn the new students in September to prepare right away for winter weather, knowing that one day they might wake up for class and find a blizzard happening. It came true much earlier than I expected for them this year, but I also tell them about the relief that a chinook can bring. I tell them to watch the western sky for the tell-tale cloud formations that form the chinook arch. I tell the Korean students to listen to the snow as it crunches underfoot. One of my favourite sounds. During the years I lived in Korea, it was a sound I missed. That along with the sound of leaves crunching. The humidity is so different there that those sounds don't really exist. At least, not where I spent my time.

I'm not a skier. I don't ice-skate. I really don't take advantage of the winter weather like my brother-in-law and nephew do. Like so many Calgarians do. But if I had to choose between winter and summer, I'd take winter every time.

Photo by John Brosz on Flickr (CC by

A fresh blanket of snow is beautiful. The winter light hitting the ice crystals can look magical. And I can stay indoors with a cup of cocoa and a book and a blanket and enjoy the winter weather. This chinook is great and I don't mind if it stays a while longer so we can enjoy the Nativity Pageant and visit Zoo lights and other outdoor festivities with a bit of comfort but I hope that by Christmas morning, there is a fresh layer of white snow covering the ground creating some of that magic again.

Here are a couple of 6 second Vine videos for the season. Click to play on a loop and click the audio in the top left of each video to hear the music.











The song for this post seems obvious.

Another version sung for Australian TV with Canada's own Michael Bublé. (featuring hockey and the RCMP). 

 

And a version that is just for fun!!!

Snowflakes

When I was serving a mission in Korea, we didn't have Christmas decorations for our apartment. Our solution was to cover the ceiling of our front entry area in snowflakes. It was fun to have others add to our snowflake collection through the season. I still think it is one of the prettiest and easiest ways to decorate a window or a beam.

There are a lot of ideas for decorating with snowflakes on Pinterest. So if you have some free time and want to get others involved, here are some patterns and ideas for you to try.

Click on the picture to go to some easy-to-do DIY ideas.

Here's a pretty mobile made with small snowflakes.

Click the picture to see the patterns for these snowflakes.

There are definitely more advanced than the snowflakes in my Korean apartment. 

Click the picture to see the patters for these snowflakes.

Lots more to try!

And here's the song for the day. (How many times can you say "falling" in a row?) This has had 86 million views. Really. Maybe every ESL class around the world has played it.

I prefer the snowflake reference in this song!

Christmas Cards

Merry Christmas!

It seems like a lot of people have taken to Facebook to confess that they won't be sending out Christmas cards this year. My confession, and it won't be news to anyone, is that I have never sat down and written out and mailed Christmas cards. Oh, the good intentions are always there.
"This is the year that I will send something out," I tell myself.  I buy the cards. Sometimes I even fill them in and address them. But even at that point, my plan to write out a letter to accompany them - or insert a photo - all those typical year end "this is what our family accomplished and this is what we look like" type letters are where I stop. For many years, I fell back on the excuse, "when it isn't just me... then I'll do it". I didn't think I should be sending out Christmas cards until there was news that was worth sending. Or I didn't know how to write about myself that didn't sound boastful - I went here or I did that. It seems better for those letters to be about your children and your family than about yourself. So went the self talk that kept me from sending out even a card in the mail that said Merry Christmas. That isn't my default response anymore.  Now, it is time that typically gets in the way. The excuse that seems to trump all others.  I mean, here it is the second week of December, and there are no decorations to enjoy, no baking in the freezer, no shopping and wrapped gifts ready to distribute.

So there it is. You may yet receive a card from me in person, but that is the extent of it. Unless some kind of miracle happens, (and I believe in miracles - so one day, it may!) it probably won't be this year.

I should have no expectation of receiving a card in the mail from any of you. But I do receive them. And I love it. Getting something personal in the mail is a treat! So thank you truly if you have continued to include me in your Christmas card list despite my negligence. And maybe one day, I'll have my act together and send something to you in return!

In the meantime, here is the picture I would have used for my card. It is a tiny artwork by my great grandmother, Elezebeth Grace Mulholland Toone.  Merry Christmas to all of you!

Finally, here's one creative family's year end letter in the form of an adapted REM song.

Christmases Past

Where is this? Is it the Puzey farm?

The post today is just some random photos from the Puzey family scans. And I have a lot of questions about them.

I have 12 other posts partially drafted but many are waiting for me to get my own Christmas decorating and other activities underway. I'm hoping to take care of the tree Wednesday. Here are a couple of pictures of trees but I'm not 100% sure about them. 

As for this first picture, I don't know where this linoleum and border stenciling was. I wonder if it was the Puzey house before the bookshelves were added. I really have no idea. 

Christmas at the Toone's

I love this picture of the the presents under the tree on a Christmas morning. Who was the dolly and the bassinet for? How about the tricycle? I think it is the Toone home because of the location of the piano but I can't be sure. 

Okay - this is the picture I have of Aunt Sandy with a tree. I don't know who the other two people are. Any idea?

Grandpa,me and Michael.

Grandpa Fred with his first two grandchildren.  I look positively bored in this one. Michael looks so sweet. This is our Brentwood home - with the Rocky Mountain mural on the wall. I remember that chair had very scratchy fabric. 

A family portrait. 1972?

Where were these two pictures taken? A church building but I can't tell. For some reason I think it was Claresholm but I don't really remember going there for Christmas dinners. 

I need a good caption for this one. Anyone?

Same corner as above. I took this one of my crazy cousins and sister. I thought this was an awesome skirt Janelle was wearing. Fun!

I was looking through some old photo albums tonight for a particular picture and I made another discovery I'll share in a future post. A mystery has been solved! 

Tonight, I had a lovely dinner this evening with my aunt and uncle, shared some family history stories and pictures from my recent trip to the UK.  I realized I never carry my camera anymore because it is too bulky and I don't use my camera phone because I typically have no room to take any photos with it. I am missing out on photo opportunities all around me. I was able to check out Aunt Sandy's advent calendar and discovered what the missing ornaments on my calendar ought to be.  A bird, two fish and another small tree. Hooray! I copied a template of the shape of these and will make them in felt and add them to my calendar. The meal was yummy, and it was very cozy sitting by the tree with the fireplace going. My fireplace DVD is a sad imitation. 

So today's musical interlude is actually a lengthy one.  It is TWO HOURS of Christmas classics accompanying a fireplace video.  Put this on full screen and maybe you will feel toasty warm as you enjoy the fire's digital glow. 

Christmas Calendars

It isn't Christmas in my house without this calendar on the wall. (The picture isn't from this year because it doesn't have as many ornaments on it yet.) I wrote about this important tradition in a previous post.This calendar was made by my Grandma Puzey (no idea when but I don't remember a time we didn't have it) and I have always had some favourite ornaments that I look forward to adding to the tree every year. Maybe you can guess which ones. Can you see these: the Santa face, the candlestick, and the little tree?  The blue and white ornaments are fillers - until I can make some proper replacements for ones that went missing long ago.  

Other ways to mark the days that I remember using were burning a candle and reading scriptures or singing a carol or occasionally a store bought calendar with candies or pictures in windows. What do you use to count down the days?

Another way to count down is online. There are lots of websites, blogs, and pages of different popular culture that share new content daily in the lead up to Christmas. These are just a few.

Sherlockology (based on the BBC Sherlock series)

Doctor Who

Creatives

Why Christmas?

The Economist  - this one has one of the site's most popular infographic from the year each day

Project Britain  - Learn about Christmas traditions around the world.

Back in 2006, I was looking forward to once again following the advent calendar of Leslie Harpold. I had been counting down to Christmas with the aid of her very fun interactive calendars for a number of years (she started in 2001) and she was the first individual I consciously followed online that I had never met in person (as opposed to using the web to look up information from organizations or businesses).

This is the last image Leslie ever posted on her website. She was 40 years old, single, living in New York  and posted her writing, images and favourite links on her website, www.harpold.com - which only exists now by means of using the wayback machine. She died in her home over complications from bronchitis. (Yes, Mom - I take it seriously when you are sick! - glad you are well now)

Each new day,  her advent calendar would include a happy Christmas memory, a holiday link and something special. It might be a game to make your web page snow. or a recipe for sugar plums. 

I have meant to do something similar ever since then and have gotten as far as an interactive calendar page with no content (instead of a tree, I used Christmas presents) but I've settled for writing blog posts this year. So today's post is not such a happy Christmas memory, but they are memories and ones that have stuck with me. 

I'll end the post with a song that Leslie shared as one of her "something specials". It is a song by Canadian Ron Sexsmith. And one that I can play on repeat. 

The lyrics are as follows:

Maybe this Christmas will mean something more
Maybe this year
Love will appear
Deeper than ever before
And maybe forgiveness will ask us to call
Someone we've loved
Someone we've lost
For reasons we can't quite recall
Maybe this Chistmas
Maybe there'll be an open door
Maybe the star that's shown before will shine once more

And maybe this Christmas will find us at last

In heavenly peace

Grieve for the least

For the love we've been shown in the past

Maybe this Christmas

Maybe this Christmas

The Nutcracker

Lochlan and Sorcha post performance.

I attended the matinee performance of the Jeunesse Classique Ballet's production of The Nutcracker at the University of Calgary. I was there to see my niece and nephew perform. I was happy to see my very first production of the Nutcracker with them. Honestly, how I have lived in this city and until now had never seen A Christmas Carol (finally last year) and The Nutcracker I don't understand but I am happy to have started with this production.

Before the doors opened, there was an opportunity to shop for a nutcracker to take home or meet a costumed Nutcracker for pictures. I came home with a couple of new little friends but I'll save that for the end of the post.

Sorcha was the first ballerina to move - taking the role of the miniature Chinese doll in this performance. She looked great and did such a good job in all her dances. The cute factor was off the chart many times in the first act. The tiniest little dancers would come in and there were audible "aahs" from the audience. Lochlan was a party guest, escorting his dance partner in a couple of numbers and providing an audience on stage when the focus was on the children.

Now, although it was my first time to see this live, I have seen it many times in recordings and knew the music and numbers well. But those mice - live on stage and with my particular personal war with the ones that have again found a refuge in my basement, well, they were slightly unnerving. And when they were lurking behind the little soldier ballerinas, I imagined all the children would be going home with nightmares.

The sugar plum fairies, and all the different dolls were so fun to watch dance and the young girl who played Clara was amazing - such control!

The performance ended and Santa appeared from the back of the theatre to hand out candy canes to all the children.

It was a fun Christmas activity and if you have a chance, it is playing again next weekend at the Vertigo Theatre.

And coming home with me -- my attempt to make friends with the Mouse King.

(Or have a nutcracker near by to defend me).

To end this post, something more magical and better to end the evening on - The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Sweet dreams!

Bing and Bowie

I'm too tired tonight to write a full post. I'll be better tomorrow. So instead, I share a picture of my tremendously cool Uncle David with my Great Grandmother  (no context for this picture - any help mom? My questions - where and when was this taken and what colour is that sweater?) and another favourite Christmas carol that we heard on the radio we had playing in the background at work today.

Still, Still, Still

Christmas at the Richmond Road Diagnostic Centre

Today's post is a short one. If you live in Alberta (or in one of the other provinces in Canada participating) and you aren't already part of The Tomorrow Project, please consider it. I've completed the surveys over the years and was at the Richmond Road Diagnostic Centre today to give blood etc. for this long term cancer study. I know my family has been through this terrible disease too many times (even once is too much!). And it is so easy to participate in this - with a survey every couple of years and an optional study centre visit. They still need people who are willing to participate - just follow this link http://in4tomorrow.ca/  or call 1-877-919-9292 and join to participate by mail (and your survey will arrive in the mail) or by visiting a research centre. 

Here's what it says on the website. 

1 in 2 Albertans will get cancer and 1 in 4 will die from it. Being part of the Tomorrow Project now is a chance to make a difference in the future.

Designed to discover more about what causes cancer, the Tomorrow Project is the largest research study ever undertaken in Alberta. The Tomorrow Project will look for connections between cancer and lifestyle, environment and inherited (genetic) factors.

We need 50,000 Albertans between the ages of 35-69, who have never had cancer to join this study. To join, we need you to answer questions about health and lifestyle and consider visiting a Study Centre.

Every person can make a difference in finding out why some people get cancer and others do not.

And the musical selection for today is one of my favourites.