Happy New Year Wishes 2012

Personalize your own free greeting Happy New Year to all our family and friends. Today is December 30th, tomorrow will be the Eve of another Year and a new beginning........again!!!! Thank goodness for new beginnings! Over the years I have made umpteen promises, mostly to myself, which have included giving up certain habits that would increase the likelihood that my health and body shape would improve. Lately I have quit doing that........at least I have quit saying things out loud.  I mean, really, how stupid is it to say you are going to eat healthy when the last box of chocolates is still sitting on the dining room table?  Besides, chocolate itself is not unhealthy it is the amount that you eat at one sitting that causes clogged arteries.  I am not having a hard time with that one because we have always made healthy choices in the eating department.  My biggest failure is the inability to quite cramming it into my mouth without even tasting it.  My sister, after observing how I cooked a meal and then consumed it, pointed out that I "eat to live" while she on the other hand "lived to eat".  Okey dokey, whatever works for you.  I think it had something to do with the food itself and the flavor..........who knows, since I could care less (and that was her point).  Enough about eating. I do not smoke and I don't drink alcohol in excess unless I am at a bonspiel or a convention so I think I pretty much have the bad habits covered.  I did want to start a project this year collecting all our pictures and getting them scanned and categorized and make them into digital scrapbooks and slideshows.  I think I will get a good start on that so that will be my New Year's Resolution.  There, I feel so much better now that I have made one.......not.  Happy New Year to all who read this.  To our family we love you all and to our friends (well we love you too.....after all it is the time of giving! )......seriously, we value and cherish each and every one of you and we wish you all a happy and healthy 2012.  May all your wishes come true.  And now in the words of an old friend who has inspired me, supported me through some very tough times and who has also drawn strength from me:  "Love, luck and laughter" to all from Bonnie and Bernie.

Merry Christmas 2011

This slideshow design created with Smilebox I finally figured out how to do this on Smilebox and I am delighted with the results.  I hope whoever sees it likes the pictures of our "Year In Review".  Another year has gone by since I last "blogged" (I still can't get used to that word).  Now it is almost Christmas time and here I am doing the usual run to the finish line trying to get something accomplished by way of Christmas Greetings.  In fact, I should be getting ready to go to work this morning so I will try to get this done as quickly as I can! A good discussion about how the year progressed must include the weather, especially if you live where we do!  It snowed so much we thought it would never end.  At first we were both good sports and shovelled.  However, it got increasingly difficult since it snowed all the time and it snowed a lot.  Not only that but it was darn cold too.  Bernie, who likes to be fit and who sometimes does things the hard way (I think just to annoy me) jumped in the truck one day and when he came home he had a snowblower in the back.  Even he had to admit that it was too hard to do everything manually.  It was kind of comical the way he would plow down the sidewalk and do the entire block and then the neighbour (who must be eighty by now) would follow him with his little scraper.......what is a guy to do??  Enough about snow. We kept ourselves busy with bowling every week and I curled with the ladies.  We are so dedicated to curling that we drove in a blizzard to Brownfield, not once but twice, just to curl in their bonspiel.  They ended up cancelling some of the curling and the banquet (shucks, that's the best part) so our bonspieling was curtailed to a certain degree.  I also curled with my team in the Coronation Ladies and in the Oil Ladies.  We ended up winning the second event in the Oil Ladies.  That was a busy weekend since I also had my head shaved to raise money for the Ride to Conquer Cancer. Bernie and I both signed up to ride with Team Travis in the Ride to Conquer Cancer so we were busy trying to find ways to raise the money to ride in this event.  Generous donations from family and friends and then the incredible support from the whole community for the Head Shaving Event provided enough and then some. Many thanks to everyone who supported us.  Of course my head was cold and I had to wear a toque for a month until I had a little growth; but it was worth it and I would do it again.   Bernie spent a good part of his time substitute teaching in Veteran and Coronation and then for the whole month of March he was at the Veteran Hutterite Colony......that was different.  In his spare time he worked in the basement trying to solve problems and then he started to clear out a crawl space and build a new basement wall.  As a result of all this we have a yard with piles of dirt.  I have given up telling people who ask what that is all about.  One of these days it will look like a normal yard and I won't be looking out my west windows praying for the dirt to go away!!   In September Bernie came out of retirement and took on a full time teaching contract.  That was a change to our lifestyle since I was just getting used to him being around the house more when I was home. I spent a good part of 2011 helping  the Coronation Centennial Celebration Committee get ready for our Centennial celebrations in August.  It was a huge undertaking for our community and a lot of extra time was taken up with meetings to organize and prepare.  I go to a lot of meetings anyway as a result of being on Town Council so this was just one more thing to do.  I still work at Assisted Living (well it is now called a Designated Supportive Living, but none of us answer the phone that way!  ha ha) and I now have a permanent part time position there.  I am also on the Home Care casual list but I can't seem to find any time to do that anymore. This past summer we managed to get away on a couple of little holidays with our trailer.  We joined our niece Susan and children William and Sarah from Calgary for a camping trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park in July.  We took my mom with us and then my sister Carol and brother-in-law Gord from Saskatoon joined us.  It was Gord's 65th birthday so we celebrated that as well.  Happy Birthday Gord! We spent a weekend at Wizard Lake in August which was lovely and then towards the end of August just the two of us and the dogs travelled to Whitney Lake Provincial Park.  The weather was perfect, hot and sunny and the camping spots were perfect......secluded and lots of trees.  That was it for the summer and I thought that we would get away again in the winter to San Diego but this year it isn't going to happen since Bernie is back to teaching.  I guess we will wait until next year and see what that brings!! Emma and Auntie at the wedding. The September long weekend saw us travelling to Regina for our nephew Royce's wedding.  Nicholas and Pam travelled with us as well.  Congratulations Royce and Elaine!  It was a great weekend, we got to see and visit with all of Bernie's family and the weather was perfect for an outdoor ceremony.    Everyone had a fabulous time. We left the dogs at home and Susan, Will and Sarah came as usual for the traditional Coronation weekend and Labour Day Classic event.  (it is a Rider thing).  Niece Tracy and daughter Becky came from Saskatoon so Grandma had lots of company and the dogs were happy as well!  Thank you girls for keeping things going at home while we were away. Noah and Auntie hamming it up for the camera. Leah and her daddy.

Leah dancing with mom.

At the end of September my two cousins Sandra and Barb brought their mothers, my aunts, Norma and Joan to Coronation to see mom.  Mom was over the top to see her sisters and they had a wonderful two day visit.  

Mom will turn 87 years old on January 3rd and she enjoys very good health.  She had a hip replacement done in July of 2010 and it made her as good as new.  She lives in one of the Seniors Manors in town and life is good.

Nicholas and daughter-in-law Pam are fine and well; we don't see as much of them as we would like, we'll have to change that.  Nicholas is a journeyman electrician and he is working up at Ft. MacMurray right now.  Because of his work and the distances to travel back and forth from home they will be spending Christmas in Edmonton.  

That pretty much brings us up to date since after that weekend we did not go anywhere, working too much.  Bernie settled into teaching every day and I carried on with my usual routine.  I started going to bootcamp in March and again this fall and I really enjoy the benefits of staying in shape and getting fit.  I am all signed up to go hard again in January.  We are so lucky to have a fitness instructor like Kendra; it is a great benefit to our community.  

Our household increased in size in March with the addition of a new puppy - Sarge.  He is a shih-tzu crossed with something we are not sure what......poodle maybe?? He is a delightful little guy and we really enjoy him.  We thought Duke needed some company and they have their moments but for the most part they get along.

I will be working Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.  We are going to go to Invermay and to visit with Doris and Baba during the week between Christmas and New Year's day.

I hope whoever reads this enjoys the commentary and the pictures.  We are enjoying our life and we really don't have anything to complain about and if we did we wouldn't anyway!

From our house to yours Merry Christmas to all and we hope that 2012 is a year blessed with love, luck and laughter.

Bonnie and Bernie

Brrrr, it is cold out there.  Yes, December 6 and I haven't been very consistent with this blogging thing.  I do love to write and ramble on and on so it is odd that I haven't written anything for a while.  My biggest enemy is time.
The election went well on October 18th - well at least it went well for the seven people who were elected.  We have a totally new look including four new councillors, a new CAO and a new Admin. Assistant.  I am very pleased with how things turned out.  I am not feeling like I am off to war each time I attend a council meeting! 
Most of the Councillors and our CAO were able to attend the AUMA Convention in Edmonton.  As usual it was a good learning experience as well as a good opportunity for us to get to know one another a bit better.
Coronation has been bustling with activity this past month.  Preparations are well under way for our Centennial Celebrations which will take place July 29-August 1, 2011.  I am the Secretary of the Centennial committee and that keeps me involved in everything.  Secretary is one of my favorite jobs and I actually volunteered.  I have been busy keeping a record of everything and passing along information to the whole community as well as keeping the executive committee connected and "in the loop".  This is a huge undertaking and all of the people who have stepped forward to take on the planning portion are to be commended for their actions.  We are going to need several more volunteers and I just hope they come out of the woodwork sooner than later!
The Kids Christmas Shopping day took place at the hall on December 3.  I was not able to get there due to other committments but I understand that it was a roaring success.  Thanks to the individuals who planned this the children were able to get their Christmas shopping done.  Kind of like going to the mall since it was 'one stop' shopping!  This is a worthwhile event and it is just one more reason why Coronation is a great place to live.
The Community Christmas party was held on December 4.  Once again this was made possible by individuals in our community who put it all together, advertised, arranged for a caterer, volunteer help and a DJ for the dance.  I would consider it to be successful and next year will be even better.  We were part of the Town of Coronation contingent.  I was a little disappointed that not many of the town employees chose to attend even though they were all invited.  Perhaps they will attend in the future once they see what a good time the rest of us had!  Thanks to a very capable and creative office staff we managed to win the prize for the best decorated table.  I know I had a good time, perhaps a little too good of a time, but then I rarely have a bad time - no point in going out if that's the case.  If anybody is actually reading this, please send me the pictures you took.  Just leave a comment on my blog and I will give you my e-mail address.
The school Christmas concert is this Thursday, December 9th.  A week later Gord Bamford is coming to town for a concert.
Anybody who thinks Coronation is a dull place to live just doesn't get out much I do believe!
I am hardly ever home between working, making sure my mom has everything she needs, meetings, curling, bowling and lately going to Christmas parties.  I haven't even done any Christmas shopping yet and it is not on my list of priorities.  I just like to know that I have the "fixings" to have a good meal, and have people around me to enjoy it with.  That is basically my priority since I don't think it is necessary to spend vast amounts of cash to prove we had Christmas.  That's just me.

I can't believe I haven't written anything since July 1st.  I suppose that just goes to show what happens to me when I get busy.  It was a busy summer.  I worked most of the time and my mom had hip replacement surgery in July.

I took mom to have her surgery in Red Deer on July 13.  It went very well and she was discharged from the hospital on July 16.  They sure don't want them in there any longer than they have to be.  Niece Susan came from Calgary to look after Grandma for the weekend which was very much appreciated since I was working and I didn't have Bernie up to speed yet with what mom needed. 

We got into a fairly good routine but it was difficult for mom to get around and do things for herself for a little while anyway.  Home Care was no help at all because things have really changed and what mom needed to have done and what Home Care could actually provide were two different stories. 

I work for Home Care and I was embarassed with the fact that the services are hardly there anymore to care for people who have been discharged home from the hospital.  So we just cared for mom ourselves and all I can say is "thank you Bernie, I love you and you are the best".  If it hadn't been for him I don't know what I would have done, he just took right over and cared for mom when I couldn't be there and for that there are not enough words to express what it means to me and to mom.

Mom had to have daily injections of blood thinner, each morning for 25 days and I think her son-in-law administered more of them than I did.  She couldn't get around in her kitchen for at least a month following surgery and he was there every day when I couldn't be, boiling water, making soup, wrapping up sandwiches and putting everything within easy reach.  It wasn't without the humourous moments and that's what keeps us going!  One day he decided to make chicken noodle soup at home and then take it to mom.  He drove because he wanted to stop at the Post Office for her mail and he was probably intending to go on to Home Hardware for something he always needed.  Anyhow, when he came to a halt at the Post Office the lid of the soup container came off, and it all went flying.  We are still picking noodles out of each crack and crevice of the truck!  LOL  He managed to salvage some of the soup and mom said it was pretty good.

Mom has had a fantastic recovery and she is getting around on her own, takes her cane when she thinks of it and life goes on as usual.  She is 85 years old.

Bernie spent most of the summer in the basement when he wasn't performing his "nurse duties".  Our basement was a wet soggy mess after all the rains.  He gutted it completely.  It was finished quite nicely but we soon discovered that it was not insulated and it needed some TLC anyway.  He framed it and insulated it and discovered new and interesting things about the basement on a daily basis.  At this point in time he is still putting up dry wall and it looks very cozy down there.  His leg muscles sure got a good workout since I lost track of how many times he carried stuff up and down those stairs.  He also became very knowledgable about eaves troughs and gutters.  We think we have everything right now and hopefully we never, ever get the same amount of rain that we got this past spring and summer.  Unbelievable.

Oh Canada!  July 1st and we are celebrating Canada Day.  My status on my Facebook page states that I am proud to be a Canadian.  Well, who wouldn't be?  We live in a wonderful country which is the "true north strong and free", through and through.
Later on today we will stroll on down to Heritage Park to take part in all of the festivities.  The Museum Society sponsors a great day which starts with the singing of our national anthem.  The kids will have races and contests, the museum will be open for tours and we do a lot of sitting around and visiting.  The barbecues are fired up to cook  hamburgers and hot dogs and of course there is a large cake to devour!  The highlight of the day is the Duck Racing.   The Fire Department comes and hoses down Railway Avenue from the top of the hill on the west end.   As the water rushes down the gutter the rubber ducks are thrown in and down they swim.  The first ones over the line win prizes for their "owners".  There are usually four or five races, depending on how many people buy ducks!  I love it, and I never get tired of it. 
We live in such a wonderful and diverse country.  I have been clear across the country and I haven't been anywhere that I didn't think I would fit right in and have a life no matter what.  Being a Canadian holds a special status for those who travel to other countries.  I always feel welcome no matter where we go and we have been to a few places outside of Canada.
I am very disgusted with what went on in Toronto this past week at the G-8, G-20 summit.  Cowards and hooligans who dress all in black and wreck things are not making a very good impression right now.  For those who got "sucked in" by all the stupidity and who are whining because the jail cells are too cold and they were a little thirsty.......well.....cry me a river, I don't feel very sorry for you.  You should not have been there. When you saw trouble coming you should have turned around and ran the other way.  Did your parents not teach you that there are consequences for your actions?
I think that Coronation should host the next summit.  I think we have room here for eight or twenty world leaders.  They would be very welcome and I do believe we could show them a good time.  Just think about it...........We have several people around town who would be only too happy to share their homes for a few days and I don't think we would have any trouble finding billets.  I personally have a nice big yard and a huge deck which could accomodate twenty people or more.  I am not sure how many days this little shindig lasts but I know we could pull it off.  We have a small detachment of RCMP officers who could stand guard if they like, but by the time the rest of the world figures out where Coronation is the event would be done and over with!
I do believe I am on to something here.
As for the trouble makers.  I want you all to know that we here in small town Alberta do not put up with rudeness and violence.  We have our ways and we are not afraid to do whatever it takes to protect our home and our loved ones. So if this event ever makes its way to our fair town all I can say is "Black Bloc, meet Alberta Red Neck".  LOL

We had an awesome weekend in Edmonton even though it was rather tiring.  We spent most of the day Saturday and a good part of Sunday digging in Nicholas's and Pam's yard.  Pam was determined to spruce up their yard so we helped by preparing some of the back yard for trees.  I wasn't a whole lot of help because I am not strong enough anymore to dig up pieces of sod.  I hacked away at the ground, gave advice, went for cold drinks and became the "general contractor"!!

Bernie put trim on the shed that he and Nicholas built last fall and he also gave a lot of advice!!  Some of it was heeded and some of it was politely ignored.  Such is life.  It was fun working outside in the sun and I rather enjoyed the heat for a change.

Rome was not built in a day and yards are not transformed into places of beauty overnight.  It is a process and it will take a lot of sweat and hard work.  They purchased some trees and shrubs on Sunday and got them planted.  The grass is cut, some edging was installed, the front yard was cleaned up and redesigned a bit and the weed whacker did its job.  Now they need to remember to water everything, keep the grass cut once a week and fertilize, fertilize, fertilize!!

We left for home around three o'clock.  On Highway 21 we had a bit of an adventure.  A bicycle flew off the back of an oncoming motorhome just seconds before we met the vehicle.  The bike bounced towards us a few times as we tried to slow down without screeching the brakes too much.  It just missed us.  We had to drive towards the ditch to avoid it but we kept on going because there was a vehicle stopped right behind us and the traffic was horrid.  Thank goodness nobody was hurt or killed because of an unsecure load.  We could see that the motorhome had stopped as well so I guess they could deal with their broken bike.

Other than that we had an uneventful trip.  We got home around six thirty.  Our yard looks like a jungle since the sun shone all weekend long and the grass just grew and grew due to all the rain we had last week!

O.K.  I think we have enough rain and I am actually ready to leave this soggy place and head to drier climates.  California here I come!  I am serious, I have had enough.  So what if the countryside is lush and green?  I don't really care anymore.  Where is the sunshine??  If I hear one more comment about how good the rain is for this part of the country I am going to throw a wreck.  AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

I do believe in global warming and climate change and all that stuff.  So bring on the warming and change for crying out loud.  The interesting thing about crappy weather is that is all anybody talks about, including me.  So I guess it is time to shut up about that and "blog" about something else.

I bought petunias, portulaca, geraniums and a beautiful begonia.  They are all outside and doing quite well considering.  Well, all except the poor portulaca which has rotted.  I will have to get out there between showers and plow it under and get something else started there.  I knew that this would probably be the year for sweet peas but I decided against it because it sounded like too much work to soak the seeds before I put them in the parched earth.  Ha!  I will never be a meteorologist.

To top it all off we are having issues with our water consumption.  We are about 99 percent certain that our water metre is faulty since there is no way that we would use 29 cubic metres of water in a month's time.  We did the toilet tank test, and have determined that it isn't the culprit.  We even turned the water off at the tank overnight and when we check the metre in the morning it has actually moved ahead.  If there is a leak somewhere it certainly isn't obvious so what is that all about?  Unless we have someone tapping into our water supply we cannot figure out why the metre moves when the water is not turned on anywhere.  Today Bernie will march down to the town office and suggest a new metre.

Enough talk about water.