Christmas fun! :) TKP

Here is a sampling of our "Dauphin Christmas Adventure" so far......

There was the 4 hour drive to cut down a tree.......
And "Tree trimming"....


We went skating at the new rink.....

Some played games.....


There was lots of this.......

And likely not enough of this......

We had a big bonfire (the remnants of which can be seen here)......

We went for a sleigh ride in the park.....

And then there is a whole bunch of other stuff that I cannot post on this site.... ;)

Happy New Year from us!!!!! (This last picture was taking in Duck Mountain Provincial Park during the tree cutting festivities)

I have learned my Christmas shopping lesson - TKP

About a month ago, I saw a "Best of Mr. Bean" DVD in Walmart and I thought to myself, "I should buy that for the girls". They LOVE Mr. Bean. There were like 578039485690386938683990 copies of it there though, so I figured, "Ah - I will pick it up sometime".

Two weeks ago I went back to get it and they were all sold out! I asked the unhelpful Walmart electronics girl if they had more coming in - she said that she did not know (and, apparently, checking the computer would have been a silly thing to do) and so I left. I checked every day for a week - nothing!

Last week, I started getting desperate! This was THE gift for my girls (When we go to visit one of the members of the congregation, the kids always grab their Mr. Bean DVD..... and laugh and laugh and laugh!!!) - so I sucked up my pride and I asked for help. I got people in Regina to look for it (nothing). People in Moose Jaw looked for it (Nothing). I called Weyburn's Walmart (nothing). I even had Sari's brother looking for it in Ohio (nothing)!

I was sad! :( It was not a big present, but it was one that they would have liked and it would have said that their dad knew them well. That is when Sari (gently) reminded me that this is exactly the reason she started shopping for Christmas stuff more than a month and a half ago. She got everything she wanted before the 1st of December. No rush. No worries. No problem.

And then today - one last shot: I went back to the Estevan Walmart and what do I find? A whole stack of "The Best of Mr Bean" DVDs!!!!!!!! :) I was so happy!!! Christmas has been saved!!!!

Now - upon reflection - here is what I have learned from this experience.......


I started shopping too early!!!

If I had not gone shopping a month ago, I never would have seen the DVD. Then, if I had not gone shopping 2 weeks ago, I would not have realized that they did not have the DVD because I would not have even known it existed in the first place! Then that would have meant that I would not have had to suck up my pride and ask my friends and relatives to run all over the place looking for this DVD.

If I had not done anything until today (December 19th) everything would have been perfect! I would have just walked into Walmart and "Voila" - "One Mr Bean, please" and it would be over. No stress! No hassle! No problem!

Next year I am going to make it really stress free - I am not going to start shopping until December 24th! :)

And people say that I am too stubborn to learn from my mistakes! Ha! :)

Fathead - TKP

I had dental surgery yesterday - had a wisdom tooth taken out - and it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. No bruising - not much swelling (some as the title of this blog suggests but not as bad as I expected) - almost no bleeding - it was Fun! (Ok - fun is a little much - but it was not the worst thing that has ever happened to me).

The most interesting part was the "happy juice" as the Dr. called it. I have never been sedated before (though I am sure that, at various times in my life, some wished that I had been). I remember laying in the chair, the IV going in, the Dr saying, "I will let this drip in slowly - sedatives are meant to be given slowly" and that was it - next thing I remember I was walking to the recovery room. It was not unlike a number of college classes that I have been in. :) It was bizarre! Anyway, it is over. Other than the fact that I can hardly eat (b/c I can't open my mouth or chew on the right side) everything is great!

The only odd thing - Sari keeps giving me the pain killers that make me sleep even though I have not had any pain since last night. Strangely enough too - there is a bunch of money missing from my wallet - and Sari seems very happy lately. I have been thinking about asking her about the connection there - but I am too sleepy! Good night! :)

This is Freaking me Out!!!! :) TKP

So - Sari and I put out the rest of our Christmas lights today - including a string of coloured lights around the back fence in our yard. As we came to the tree that stands in the corner of the yard, we decided to throw a "net light" of white lights in it - just because we did not know what else to do with them. Six hours later, when we turned on the lights, look at what we saw.......
Dude, there is an angel in our tree in the back yard!!!!!!! (Wings up in the air, head in the middle - you can see it right?). Here is another look.....
We did not plan it - but there it is. We are offering tours - $10/person ($25 if you want to see the the water cooler and the stove too - see blogs below if that does not make sense to you).

You never know what you will see until you look for it! ;)