Happy New year

It is nearly upon us and I am always a bit nostalgic on New Year's eve. It makes me think about the past year and look towards the new one with aniticipation. This year was a tough one but we are ending it in better shape now that John's working. We will celebrate tonight with our friends and I wish all of you a happy ending to 2009 and a great start and best wishes for 2010! In Holland everyone in the country lights a lot of fireworks to blow away the old and bring in the new. Everyone is on the street and it is very festive and noisy. Here is a taste of what that might look like!

Skiing

We are in Quebec for a little skiing in Saint Sauveur. A great resort, not too expensive, family oriented, good runs and lots of fun.... Let`s see if my body will tolerate 2 days of exercise!

Losing it

Do you have these moments where you displace something and you cannot find the item, no matter how hard you look? Usually you better stop looking as you won't find it and you'll come across it when you least expect it. It drives me crazy.... I lost my keys and have gone through everything, including my christmas wrapping garbage... I guess it is time to stop and to hope they will show up. Maybe I need to get that thing that whistles back when you try to locate the item!

Christmas Eve

Well, Christmas is nearly upon us. It has crept up on me this year. In Holland they are already celebrating Christmas. We used to go to midnight mass and then have breakfast shortly after midnight..... What excitement that was for us kids. My mom would send us to bed for a while and then wake us just before we went to church. Nauseated with sleep we would walk for 2 km to the church and then walk home after. Funny how those things stand out in my memory. No presents but a wonderful time. I hope you all have a wonderful time too. Is all calm yet?

Christmas shopping

We went christmas shopping today and all I have to say is that if I see one more shop I am going to scream.... So many people, so many things to look at and try to pick the perfect gift. It is too much.... !

History

Today was an amazing day. I decided to go to Newmarket to witness the Olympic Torch Relay. What an experience. It was so moving and so impressive. To think that through a simple torch, an entire country, the seize of Canada can be connected. Over 2800 torch bearers, and 1000 communties all come together in the name of the olympics. The torch bearer in Newmarket was a young woman, Cathy Kowalschuk, who has spent a good part of her life working and helping others in may different countries and now faces cancer. Such life stories humble me. I guess what struck me most was the energy, the postive spirits and the enthusiasm in the crowd. It brought tears to my eyes. It was history in the making and I am so glad I was part of such a once-in-a-lifetime event!

Finally!

Today is my last day at work and as of tomorrow I am formally on vacation for 2 weeks!!! Let's just say I am ready for a break. YIPPEEEEE

A new magazine

I came across this new magazine. It is called Metal Clay Artist magazine, published in Canada but with an international reach. It is really great and I am asking Santa for a subscription. Check it out. http://metalclayartistmag.com/index.html

A new, new camera

Yesterday I decided to go out and buy the identical camera that was taken from me. The entire event of having someone find my camera in a restaurant and not hand it in made me feel sick. It is truly beyond my belief that an individual is capable of such a thing. My pictures in it. I think I will put a picture on this one with some angry gesture to a potential thief, just in case!! Oh well, done and I have another one. I will glue it to my body when I go out.

Perspective

Tonight was the night we had a little Christmas dinner with friends, something we started a few years ago and which has become a cherished tradition. I happened to lose my brand new camera and was very upset over this. However, I got jolted back into a decent perspective when I opened my email to find out that a friend suffered a far greater loss. Her husband had been very ill with cancer for a while and unfortunately passed away today. My heart goes out to you my friend and I am so incredibly sorry. May you find strenght to cope with this enormity and know that many of us are thinking of you and your son. You know where to find us.

WINTER!!!

Well, the first storm of the season. It is a good one and my back aches from shovelling. But how pretty it is. I love how it seems to absorb the noise and the mess in the world. It truly is a winter wonderland.....

More spare time....

On Staturday we had our annual christmas sale and it was a fun event. A bit quiet but worth while never the less, partly because it is fun to see everyone! I am happy it is over and feel like I have vacation, and more spare time now that the pressure is off.. Should we have a spring sale? What do you think?

Spare time

Spare time is something I have very little of... However, I still manage to listen to my audiobooks. I just finished the follow-on novel by Ken Follet, World's end. It is great and I am so intrigued by the middle ages. I don't know. maybe there is such a thing as a connection between time periods... What do you think? My next book I am equally impressed by is Labyrinth by Kate Mosse. Just great!
In this extraordinary thriller, rich in the atmospheres of medieval and contemporary France, the lives of two women born centuries apart are linked by a common destiny.

July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth; between the skeletons, a stone ring, and a small leather bag.

Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade to stamp out heresy that will rip apart southern France, Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father as he leaves to fight the crusaders. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. As crusading armies led by Church potentates and nobles of northern France gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take great sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.

In the present, another woman sees the find as a means to the political power she craves; while a man who has great power will kill to destroy all traces of the discovery and everyone who stands in his way.