A weekend of love!

And of laughter! And of music!!

What a stellar Family Day long weekend I had! Four glorious days away from work... doing some minor home improvement projects.... and spending time with my besties.... It was truly nearly as righteous as being in the mountains!

Friday night, about ten of us went downtown to a groovy little speakeasy pub called Fratters, and we laughed our asses off at the two fabulous comedians!

 

Excellent comedy!

Saturday, I got a bit ambitious and decided to upgrade the light fixtures on the main floor of my townhouse. A selection was finally made, after I spent a good couple of hours driving the salespeople crazy in Red Deer Lighting....

Let there be light!

New tools for the job!

Oh, the irony!
Bought a screwdriver....

....needed a screwdriver to
get it out of the package!

Of course halogen bulbs are uber *BRIGHT*, so the follow-up project was installing dimmer switches on the said fixtures. Between Google and my good friend Lisa, nobody ended up electrocuted and there were no electrical fires. So far. Woot!

Sunday was a most unexpectedly wicked evening of live music - The Trews played at the Memorial Centre, and they put on an incredible show!

It was an eventful set of days off, and I loved every minute of it! Now it's a three-day slog until I get to do it all over again - only this time Canmore is on the agenda for the weekend. Righteous!!

Cheers!

The sound of music.....

I've always loved listening to music... especially when it is loud, clear, and has depth.... and I've always been appreciative of a great sound system. Like when I was in high school and spent my scholarship money, not on my education but on a Harman Kardon tuner, dual cassette deck (remember those??!) and a set of Polk speakers.

So it shouldn't be surprising that, when my trusty bookshelf CD player (which put out amazing sound for such a little rig by the way) cratered a few days ago, I did not hesitate to replace it with something much, much more grand.

Yamaha tuner and CD player, and
of course Polk Audio speakers.
More useful than a microwave I'd say!

I needed help retrieving the discs that
were stuck in the old unit....

Took a bit of work, but we got them out!

Should I instead have treated myself to some very important new appliances like a washer and dryer? Yup. But it's all about priorities. And I personally will never enjoy doing laundry in the same way that I relish listening to music, so for me the decision was a no-brainer! Woot! Rock on!!


Cheers!

Randomness....

The last couple of weeks have given me a few different things to write about - none of which are really earth shattering mind you, but.... still entertaining!

First off - the fun stuff! We got out for some skiing and some winter hiking, as the Rockies are finally getting a bit of snow.

This is the debris net which has been installed in
Cougar Creek, post 2013 flooding. Looks like
someone is heeding the warning signs hey! Tsk.

Beauty day!

Everybody JUMP!

Check out the fog in Simpson Valley!

There are Wi-Fi hot spots all over Sunshine now!
I could have texted this pic to you all! Haha.

Secondly - more fun stuff! Last week, my unit work team (from work of course!) had a teambuilding day - at a great place called the Cooking Room. What a fab way to spend the day!

Thirteen of us collaborated on an amazing lunch of
homemade pizza, tomato basil bisque, and arugula salad.

We did also do some work... however after this
feast, we were all moving a little more slowly....

And thirdly - yes, even more fun stuff! In December, I put a silent auction bid on a painting of an incredibly beautiful polar bear, and just before Christmas I received a phone call that mine was the winning bid! Woot! It is breathtaking, and it is by far the nicest piece of art I've ever owned.

It looks great in my den - check out
my new purple velour chairs too!

So January is two-thirds of the way done.... Oy.... Time just continues to buzz by! Things are going well thus far though, and I'm looking forward to doing more skiing and am planning to squeeze some traveling into the next few busy busy months. Where to, you ponder? Well stay tuned - I'll provide an update soon!

Cheers!

Life... As I Know It....

Two thousand and sixteen.... the brand new year is off to an interesting start I must say! Many big changes are underway for me personally - not all of them exactly of the 'happy happy joy joy' variety either. But hey, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right? Except for bears of course... bears will kill ya!

I'm not going to go into much detail, as this is my public blog after all, and anyone who knows me, knows that I am a fairly private person who is not a big fan of drama and oversharing. Suffice it to say that sadly, things in my personal world have not worked out as I had hoped or planned - promises were made and not kept, and I've learned a couple of very important life lessons. The hard way. Oy. As a result, I will be approaching things a bit differently from now on.

Something that was very enjoyable this past weekend however, was this great guy's birthday celebration....

Rich turned ONE! Haha!

Cake and presents and beer and rum....
Pretty stellar evening!

Lisa was the usual gracious hostess-with-the-mostest and had us all over to watch the fights last night. And something as important as successfully making another trip around the sun could not go unnoticed.... hence the goodies and gifts! Woot! Go Rich!!

Well, who knows what this upcoming year has in store? What I do know for sure is that I have an absolutely fantastic family and mega-super fabulous friends, and from now on I will be focusing on doing more of what makes me smile and makes me feel happy. Let's see what you got, 2016!! Bring it!!

Cheers!

Another Year Gone By!

Aaaaaaaaand...... 2015 is almost over. Egad!! Where has yet another year gone?? December came and went in the blink of an eye, and now it's two days until New Year's Eve. Yikes.

I had a most fantastic Christmas with the parents - it was great to visit with them and with a few other close friends over the holidays.

Elmo and Dunkster..... The two most awesome
people on the planet! Love you guys!!

Who's Mom had freshly-baked shortbread
waiting when I arrived? Mine did! Yeah baby!

Yum! Thanks Elinor!!

Love my Momma!

Toni's bro was a gracious host on Christmas Eve... it was almost a Vegas reunion! Minus the Christmas sweater that is....

One of the highlights of the holiday break, for me anyhow, was going to see the Zoolights in Calgary. We zipped down there on Monday evening, and I was seriously wowed. The display was colorful and intricate, and with the heavily overcast night sky, it was darn near magical really! I thought it was beautiful and it was well worth the trip.

Had to dress warm!

The T-Rex was my fave!

I was hoping to have this week off, but the nature of the beast where I'm employed has not lent itself to vacation time for me. Oh well - I'll bank the hours for some fun in the New Year - I've got big plans! Woot!

This last post of 2015 comes with best wishes to everyone out there for an incredibly happy MMXVI. I love you all!

Cheers!



PS.....

Check out this beauty pic.... I got a phone call today that mine was the winning bid in a silent auction for Ducks Unlimited..... I am so stoked! I'll be getting a gallery-framed version (3'x2' or so in size) of it delivered in about three weeks - can't wait!