Christmas came and Christmas went

Post Holiday let-down. I has it. Christmas was mostly awesome. My parents and brother were here and my tiny little house was quite cozy and happy. Much food was consumed, many presents were opened and we enjoyed one another's company.

 

My parents and brother are gone now and it's back to 3 boys, 1 girl and 2 cats and it's still nice and cozy, but soon the tree will come down, the presents will be put away and it will be back to "normal". I'm not looking forward to the invasion of The Real World. I am, but I'm not. You see, I got a job (YAY!) which is bitter sweet. It means that our financial stress will be lessened dramatically, but it means a whole new set of stresses. I am very thankful, but I'm also a little trepidatious. It's not often I get to use the word "Trepidatious", so that's cool.

 

On a completely different note, my and Dennis's Christmas presents were IKEA furniture! *silent scream*. Winnipeg has an IKEA now. IKEA is my happy place. I posted it on Facebook, so it must be true. The degree to which I love this store is probably shameful, but I do not care. Since it opened on November 28th I have purchased: Pepprakakor (or something like that) dough to make gingerbread cookies, chocolate almond cake with butterscotch, some kind of lingon berry/apple sparkling drink (these were to take to a partay), 4 ninety nine cent chocolate bars, 3 picture frames, 1 set of curtians, 1 green SKOJIG lamp with clouds on it for the kids, 2 Hemnes night tables, 1 Hemnes narrow book case, 1 stuffed seal for Jake, 1 leaf headband thing for Kir, 4 hot dogs and 6 breakfasts (at $1 a pop!). Oh yeah, and a plastic organiser for a friend's daughter. You might think this sounds excessive. I think I have shown remarkable restraint.

 

Currently, my dear husband is assembling said IKEA furniture. Only somewhat under duress. It's best that I do not involve myself. Truly, it's better to let him curse and swear and sigh his own way through it. I do this for the health of our marriage, really, I do. Wanna know something else that helps with that? A healthy marriage, I mean. NERF GUNS! Seriously. Every good marriage needs a small NERF arsenal. I just happen to have a slightly bigger than small NERF arsenal. However, I must caution you: NERF darts sting the tinest of bits if they hit you somewhere sensitive...like your lip, or maybe your forehead. Those new fangled disc jobbies? They hurt like a mofo. Good thing Nana and Grandad got each of our children their own 42 disc holding, high powered, fast reloading, NERF artillery. Dear Dennis got me square between the eyes this morning. But when he turned to flee, my obnoxious aim delivered the very best of buttockal region shots. There may even have been 2. Heh.

 

Anyhow, Christmas was merry. I hope your 2013 is even better than 2012!

 

P.S. Just in case you were wondering how The A**hole weathered the Christmas tree et. al the answer is: Not too bad. That said, we do put the non-breakable ornaments on the bottom because he will bat them off and then chase them until he is satisfied that they are dead. He did manage to chew his way through a twinkle light socket. I kid you not. There is a fang hole right through that puppy. Took out a whole strand of lights at the bottom. Luckily, I go a bit overboard with the lights, so it wasn't noticable. I kinda hope he got a little electrocuted. Not a lot, mind, just enough to remind him that he doesn't want to do it again.

 

 

 

RIP Lucille Blue Car...

In my driveway sits a pretty little 2002 Honda Civic. Her name is Lucille Blue Car. Once she was my very favourite. Once she was safe and true and dependable. Now? Not so much. She's not dead yet, but I'm gonna kill her. Soon. And with feeling.

 

You see, it is my suspicion that Lucille was sick when she was purchased and this sickness was undisclosed. But being a good, Honda, girl, she managed just fine without complaint for 4 years until she couldn't keep up the facade any longer. And now I feel strongly that I must push her over a cliff. I understand that this rage is unwarranted but it remains.

Lucille's head gasket is leaking. As a result, she is given to boughts of overheating. Generally this happens after several incident free weeks. It lulls you into a false sense of security and then BAM! At the worst possible time! OVERHEAT OVERHEAT OVERHEAT OVERHEAT. Did I mention OVERHEAT? OVERHEAT: On the way to Selkirk with 2 kids in the car mid-August - OVERHEAT-. Fantastic. A lovely gentleman stopped and gave my kids cold Coke. On the way to a Pampered Chef party. Only 2 miles outside of town, in the middle of a snowstorm at 7pm. Pitch black. Inexplicably. Well, I did drive 2 miles beyond the freaking road because I missed the turn off in the dark and swirling snow. I was also either told or heard incorrectly that it was mile road 44 when, in fact, it was mile road 45. So, a 2ish mile trip ended up being closer to 10ish miles. BUT STILL!

 

Luckily my friend was understanding, although it's possible she was internally seething and still plans to exact revenge in some way. It's more likely that she's just an awesome person and was totally fine...but I'm watching you KF. I love you.

 

Since there are precious few cliffs in Manitoba, Lucille is safely sitting still. But your days are numbered, honey. Perhaps it was a bad idea to name her Lucille. As in "You Picked a Fine Time to Leave me...LUCILLE". Blergh. Grrrr. Argh.

 

 

Note that this is not a picture of Lucille Blue Car. But it might be my new ride if things continue on this path.