Today was intense as I did final payrolls that were reconciled for the year and a lot of free work updating the website with events and sending out a newsletter for Fisher Peak performing artists.
My car headed immediately towards Fenwick and Baker to hang out at my local and have a beverage and some food and head home. Much to my surprise, Dave and his wife Kimberley were there!
I enjoyed the evening, chatting and befriending and enjoying myself so much that time had flown by and I had had too many double crowns so I texted Jake and Roger who kindly came down and drove me in my car home.
The best part of the day was hearing from Mark that his cancer is not spread. This is a Christmas blessing. 
I had a mostly lazy day listening to the snow thud off my metal roof. The afternoon was spent volunteering at Key City for the My Baker High school production of Shakespeare in Love. They did a great job.
I came home and changed, wrapped Jake’s Christmas presents and picked him up to go for dinner. Fenwick and Baker was closed for a private event so we headed over to the Heidout and had a great visit and good food. He loved his gifts and I realizedI forgot one so we will connect again. I love catching up with him, we have so many ‘remember when’s’
I loved that he was impressed by my blog stats and I was happy to share my YouTube ones to my YouTuber son
I picked up Jake and while waiting in arrivals I found my friend, Deb there waiting for her twin boys arriving from Memphis. It was so awesome to meet and introduce our sons. Hard to believe these two little girls who met in pre-k grew up to produce these amazing men.
I slept in after a late night and took some time to build a third of the bookshelf that I bought some time ago for my Lego collection. I admit to watching a great deal of Virgin River, my Netflix soap.
Off to the arena where once again I sold the winning 50/50 ticket and I won a $25 GC to Mr Mikes from the number on my $2 program which is the first I’ve bought this season. The winner was a young guy who was so happy it makes my heart happy.
Who’s peeking?
I was able to see the cold moon and Jupiter tonight, no meteor showers
Up early to be at my 9 am nail appointment. Love them as usual
Got a good amount done before heading to the arena to work 50/50. I sold the winning ticket and the Bucks won. Looking forward to doing the same tomorrow night.
I have been watching TV and trying not to get too tired as I am picking up Jake at the airport at 12:30 am. have to watch for animals and ice. Haven’t tried my whiskey advent but love the one friend m Rae
Got news that my little buddy, Atlas, was badly burned today. His Mom, Nesta, flew with him to Vancouver. Super scary.
Rotary lunch was our AGM where I learned that I am not on the Board. I am invited to attend 12 meetings and see what they do. I am not sure having input with no position nor vote is a way that I want to spend my time. I will have to think about it.
This evening I was at the JCI President Dinner at the Prestige Inn where I enjoyed finally meeting Chance’s sister, Christine, watching all the awards get presented, and seeing the President role passed from Chance to my other friend, Sven. All of this over a nice dinner and drinks. It was a great way to spend the evening, especially as FPPAS, EdFest and Rotary have all partnered with them in my experience.
The advent whisky bit my tongue. Not my fave so far
OK, yes so I enjoyed my whiskey this evening. It was really delicious and then I followed up with some really delicious Tayton Bay rum, so now I’m probably in no condition whatsoever to be blogging and it’s only 832 here and I’m ready to go to bed lol. All of this to say that I really enjoyed going to the chamber lunch at Encore and our team won the tree decorating contest and then I came back and just worked and worked and worked until I couldn’t focus anymore before coming home and watching The Voice finale and just kicking back it’s been a nice day. 
Oh, I also received the digital photo frame that my three kids and I bought for my mom and use the app to upload photos and all of them have access to that too, which is super cool and she will love it 
That’s quite a few good days in a row. I don’t want to call a shutout, but it’s a nice change. The nights are still a bit complicated with processing spreadsheets in my sleep.
My evening was blessed by my client, Laurie taking me out for a delicious dinner at the Heid-Out where we both enjoyed the Bison Ribs. It was such a great visit, some conversation on business and other on personal and travel.
Got home and had a good Lo g chat with Mark. We are able to make each other laugh. A platonic best friend is a gift.
My advent from Rae is adorable and the whiskey today was very good
I had a nice day of work and then headed to Mt Zion church for a concert by friends to raise money for the caregivers network that supports people supporting seniors. I enjoyed watching and supporting my musician friends
After, I rushed to Shoppers to grab some dinner and lunch makings. I am not getting Hello Fresh this month and haven’t been organized enough to get groceries.
Emmy and I had a perfectly lovely morning enjoying scrambled eggs as we watched some animated shows involving Minions and then Barbie. I French braided her hair and impressed her Mom when she came to get her. I gave Danika my set of Royal Dalton Bunnykins china and the needlepoint clock that my Nana made in the 70s. I appreciate that she likes and values vintage items.
Got ready and picked up Monica to go to Verna’s for a crafty afternoon. I made bath salts, lip balm and gentleman’s scented oils. It was so enjoyable and I am always grateful how welcomed I am there.
The snow has been falling off the roof due to the melt today so i shovelled when i got home to clear the walk. Today’s advent was tasty!
I had a great evening of Outsmarted with Mark and I won two out of three which I shall shout from the rooftops, lol
I gave Rae my Fluevogs and am happy that she loves them
I picked up Monica and we loaded all our bottles and headed to Kootenay WINECRAFTERS where we bottled three batches and had a great visit with each other and Elva, the owner.
After we went to Monica’s and played Patchwork. she won two out of three games.
I came home to make soup and get ready to play Outsmarted but Mark was t up to it and Danika messaged to see if Emmy could stay o er.
I enjoyed my advent and enjoyed my soul. Emmy arrived and I made popcorn and we watched The Gruffalo before heading off to bed
Popped into the office to have great help putting up my Christmas tree
Off to the dentist for a cleaning and met the new hygienist, Avery, from outside Sudbury who knew where Markstay is where Bill grew up. We had a good chat when possible.
Back to the office to do some more ‘free’ work and then popped home to get ready for a night out in Kimberley
CFEK invited me and a guest to their Christmas party at The Old Bauernhaus. Tracey joined me, and we picked up Brian, one of our janitors on the way. The meal was the Bavarian Feast, an ‘I lost count’ round of amazing food. The new GM Kerstin and her husband Dave, loans manager, Keri, and Community Manager, Marie with her boyfriend, Chris, joined our table and the conversation flowed easily. It was a great night!
Elk crossed our path on the way home but we got here safely. I love today’s advent gifts. This was a good whiskey
Rotary was very emotional as the speaker talked about the fundraiser for the expansion of the cancer and dialysis ward at our hospital. My friend Yvonne had been on dialysis and it just brought up all the grief again, especially as I try to process Mark’s diagnosis.
After work I met Dave from CT at Fenwick and Baker. I invited him to join Rotary and we had a great visit while I ate and then headed off to my second to last FPPAS board meeting.
Earlier in the day I received an email from Rotary President Joe invite to be a member at large of that Board for 12 months. I agreed.
I took a questionnaire on BC Hydro and according to my tastes, I am a Gen Z lol
Lucy, an employee at the Makerspace made a lifelike doll! It even felt the right weight
The GroundFloor Coworking Space put in a lovely lunch for us all, complete with taco fixings
At 4 I had an appointment to get my first service on my car. After, I stopped at Encore to see Rae, only to discover that we’d picked the same festive shirt, the ones I’d bought us when she was GM at Arby’s
Gene looks sooooo grown up at his final concert
Whiskey advent was okay, not my favourite, a little powerful
I finally heard from a friend who has been recently diagnosed with bladder cancer. It tears me apart, but I need to be there and be strong for him. Fuck Cancer
This morning my advent from Rae was a pair of my favourite socks. Yay!
A funny at someone else’s expense moment of the day was hearing a loud bang outside and seeing that some poor guy had lost his new snowblower off the back of his truck in the intersection! He managed to start it and maneuver it behind a bush at the church on the corner while he went for help. All I could imagine was him having to go home and tell his wife that he was driving with the tailgate open and no tie downs.
After work I headed to Key City to cover one of the bars for the Matt Andersen show which sounded soooo great. I have been blessed to see him in the past but enjoyed my little video as I walked down the hall. To quote Snoop Dogg, that boy can sang!
Once home, I had an ounce of my next whiskey. It was good but not my favourite.
Day two from Rae were some cute cat thumbtacks. Last night I framed my art from the Galapagos finally and got it hung up in my office at days end.
Next stop was Ashlée’s house to grab the two items I asked her to pick me up at Costco while she was in Alberta. The small jar is what I paid almost $8 for here, and the other was only $3 more!
The advent was a small investment of $240 taxes in but it is so worth it! High quality, gorgeous and the first one is from Peru!
I went to the arena to meet Rae-Anne at the Christmas market and a few minutes after I got there I received a notification that I’d been tagged by Yvonne’s daughter Barbara for the live stream of the service. It was surreal to be in such a happy and vibrant place as I listened to the first half and then saved it for later.
I found a few things for myself, enjoyed spending time with Rae and then came home to get a lot of outdoor and indoor chores done before sitting down to watch the entire service. It was a beautiful tribute to an angel on earth. I am lucky to have known her and been loved by her.
A salmon dinner seemed a fitting meal
My first advent gift from Rae is the gorgeous bag it all comes in!
I decided that I needed to paint a wall before putting up my Lego shelves. This also involved changing 3 light fixtures and installing my new Nest Learning Thermostat. I did start with enjoying the coffee I brought back from Vacation
The rest of the evening was spent taping off Baker street and then working a barricade with Kurt and Kona for the JCI Christmas Parade on behalf of Rotary. Cranbrook is definitely a blue collar, red neck wonder
Gene calling cadence
After the parade, a bunch of us met at Heidout for bevies and chat. It was fun and I was once again challenged by Ron Popoff to run for City Council in 2026. He feels strongly that I would be a good addition. I have much time to think.
As always, work was a lot today. I filed a complaint with Councillor Ron about one of our fellow Rotarians. I got everything I had to do filed, sent out my invoices and then handed to Encore. It was loud and busy with Christmas party season. I ordered way too expensive meal for what I got, and came home. I am now watching ‘ A Serious Man’ on Prime.
Rotary lunch was at the Cranbrook Golf Club and was good. The speaker was from Canadian Mental Health and I admit to being triggered. I suspect a good deal of it was due to being lowered by grief.
I spent the afternoon running errands, including picking up a game for the boys on sale at Canadian Tire. Next was processing all Mons prescriptions from the last 8 months through her benefits Did a bit of paid work and then headed to Fenwick & Baker for a bevie and a bite. The calamari was good but the pork bites are still my favourite. It’s nice to have a ‘local’ that isn’t connected to my family. The space is also where I hung out in the late 90s with my theatre peeps.
Home to put away my free replacement box of revive which they sent when I called to cancel my account.
I am watching Season 4 of Umbrella Academy which is exactly the type of odd escapism that I love
triumphgal 