173- Baking, 174- Secret Sister

I baked Twixx bars for our staff Christmas get together. All of their ingrediants explain holiday poundage. Butter, sugar, whipped cream, chocolate, caramel and more butter. MMMM!!!

During the past week surprises showed up every day for me while I was sneakily leaving surprises for someone else at work. Like Secret Santa, we have Secret Sisters, and it goes on for 5 days, tons of fun, figuring out. On the last day I got this magazine and a holiday CD. I was spoiled again (like years past) and I am appreciative of the thought that went into my gifts this week. Thank you, again Secret Sister!!

167- I can see Uranus, 168- I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas, 169- Jingle Bells, 170- Frying and Stirring, 171- Oh Christmas Tree, 172- Frosty

I won this instead of a million dollar home. That's ok, a win is a win. I plan to look at stars someday when I figure out how to use it, apparently you can see the rings of Saturn.

It doesn't get more Christmasy than this. Balls and snow. I promise you although this is Canada come December 24th, it will be raining. That's how Christmas goes around these parts!

The sounds of Christmas.

MMMM stir fry, definately one of my favorite foods.

My tree is up!

Festive!

161- Total Eclipse of the Heart, 162- Reindeer 'Paws', 163- 1 month, 164- Gingerbread Man, 165- 'Tis the Season, 166- Pumpkins in December?

Yes, I am dorkface. Period.

I bought this reindeer when I was about 13 with my own money. He was between $7 and $10. I was so proud of it. You can fill it with candy, I have his belly full of jingle bells.

It's been one month and no decisions have been made, but I still like looking at my ring.

Expect a few pictures of random Christmas ornaments, because that's how I roll.

Oh Hanson, how I love thee. I cannot wait to pull out the CD of three pubescent boys making angels in fake snow this time of year. Add a little Alabama, a bit of Kenny and Dolly and you have a festive feeling that compares to nothing. Again, I am a complete dorkface.

I made pumpkin cake with browned butter icing. Yum, but yes I made it in December... I keep getting my in season fruits and vegetables confused.

155- Popcorn, 156- Canadian Winters, 157- Raisins, 158- Fair~ It's not Fair!, 159- Toys, 160- It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

I bought Kernels Low Fat Caramel Corn. I ate it for about 5 days.., threw out the rest. I had enough. It was delicious though.

The good 'ol hockey game. I don't like hockey. I hope my children choose baseball. I can't handle sitting frozen inside watching something I don't care about. Can't do it. Too cold to even converse with people surrounding you.

The only way I will eat raisins. Covered in yogurt or chocolate. Any other way, raisins are a waste of space.

My classroom set up a tiny bit (they are only tiny bits so it wasn't a complete overhaul) for Fair. Fair is a showcase of their work all year. Since these guys are 3, we relied on the cuteness factor.

This is what the kids want me to take photos of.

Here come the decorations!!! What a job it is getting ready for Christmas, all twice as enjoyable when blaring Alabama Christmas music.

151- Rockin' Robin, 152- Cleaning, finally, 153- I Love Mail, 154- Sunrise

I have made 7 posts today alone to make up for 40 days of nothing. I suggest going back to the beginning of my 7 posts and starting from there to read things in chronological order. Happy reading! I had made two 'Rockin' Robins' for my craft sale. They sold like hotcakes, plus I had requests for more. I then made 4 more, if anyone is interested.

Now that the world around me has calmed a tiny bit. I can post, I can clean, I can sleep in, I can relax, I can veg, I can take photos leisurely. It's nice. Bring on Christmas!

Mail makes my day. Especially when it is A) a magazine B) Christmas related C) completely unexpected.

I was up before the sun today. It was still dark, then I witnessed this. Sunrises can be so beautiful, I just like to sleep more than witness them! They go so fast.

144- Cake Making, 145- Not Bad Luck Black Cat, 146- Just Because I'm in Love, 147- Another Christmas Must, 148- Meetings, 149- Twilight, 150- 100 Days

I had to bake a cake for a coworker. This is how I roll.

Friday the 13th was a load of crap, as it is suppose to be. My half black kitty is not the reason behind any bad luck though. She's too tired to terrorize.

You know I will take photos of this for awhile yet.

I love the annual catalogue of ornaments you could spend $35 on for Christmas. I like to look and dream.

Staff meetings mean for long days. I prefer sitting at home planning a wedding!

I saw Twilight for the first time. I am going to 'New Moon' and thought I should watch what every 12 year old owns first. It was alright. Clearly I have grown up, because I did not form an obsession and if I were 10 years younger, I can promise you I would have.

This little treasure appears in my email inbox every day from before Thanksgiving, through Halloween, Christmas and New Year. It adds joy to those days when there is very little to be excited for.

137- Inservice from the other end, 138- First Snow, 139- Crafting, 140- Craft Shopping, 141- Signs of Winter, 142- Congratulations, 143- Wrap Star

This is what you do when teachers have an inservice and you are taking care of the kids. Bowling, fun zones, crafts, games. That sort of thing.

We had our first snow Nov. 6th. What a beautiful wintery sight. It didn't last. It rained by 9am. Temperatures have not been cold enough for snow since. We had one day that felt like Christmas, and it was way too early to enjoy with some Christmasy traditions.

Craft Sale day. I sold this little guy. I realized after I posted this photo... I had already photographed him before for the blog. He's Internet famous.

As well as selling my crafts, I went to the big craft fair in Halifax to buy other people's. It was great fun!

Signs of winter. My beloved front yard maple has lost all of it's leaves.

My first engagement card. It makes me feel warm inside!!

I took the day off in November to not only remember all those who fought for our country, but to remember that there is just over a month until Christmas. Instead of being stressed later, I wrapped today.

128- Bag Lady, 129- Welcome Home, 130- It's Halloween Season, 131- Dragon Fly, 132- Deck, 133- Full Moon, 134- Finally, 135- Happiness, 136- Have you?

I often carry my life in my bag. I have huge purses that will fit extra clothes, make-up, medications, pens, paper, my wallet, sometimes an extra pair of shoes or jacket, my camera (of course which lately has grown in size), and any extra needed supplies for work. Needless to say I have shoulder and back problems (just kidding, but I'm sure they are around the corner) but I like to be prepared and I was comfortable living out of bags for the past week while house sitting.

I love the entrance way of my house. I hate the carpet, need to install tile instead of cushion flooring, need to re-stain the banister, but it's still home and after being away for so long. It was a welcome sight.

From one thing to another, wedding- house sitting- Halloween.

At work we were all insects. I was going to be a ladybug. I decided being a "dragon, fly" would be hilarious. I wore green with spikes, a dragon hat and fly wings. I am so punny.

After a lot of waiting and another summer come and gone, Mr. Baseball and his father started framing out our deck. To be finished later, I cannot wait to BBQ and then eat outside. Sit and read, invite friends over and just spend time in the backyard that really we haven't used since we moved in.

This was the moon that watched over as Ryan got down on one knee and finally asked me the question I waited 8 years to be asked.

I said 'yes'.

Let the planning begin. See buying all those magazines wasn't a waste of money!!

We have not set a date yet (even now 3 weeks later). Although you can tell from our calendar that we have narrowed it down a bit. Waiting on a venue, we will decide then. I will keep you posted!

120- Housesitting, 121- Dogsitting, 122- Monstersitting, 123- Bored, 124- Inservice, 125- Wedding Leftovers, 126- Perfect Pear, 127- Hip to be Square

I spent a week house and dog sitting, since it was not my house I didn't feel right taking photos of other people's stuff (I did their dog though, whoa what a cutie!). You will find a load of random shots of stuff that is irrelevant. Really not a lot different from the regular blogging!

Beautiful puppy. This is THE dog I want when I get guts to own a dog. It's almost worst than having a child. They need company, they get you up in the middle of the night/early morning. You stress when they don't eat enough or eat too much. You have to clean up after them CONSTANTLY. You don't like to let them out of your sight. You have to play when they want to play. Your schedule is put on hold if they don't want to cooperate. BUT they aren't as easy to take places. Stores won't allow them. Restaurants are against animals in their establishments. They don't understand the English language, you can't explain things to them so they don't freak out. It's not easy.

She is a big dog.

I took a picture of my mode of communication.

Friday was an Inservice day for all Nova Scotia teachers. This is why teachers go to conferences. Free pens.

I spent the weekend at home while the puppy went for a sleepover. I went home and did laundry, regained head space and snapped a photo of a wedding centerpiece that I hadn't yet got to enjoy at home.

I love pears. Apples, too. But pears a lot.

These granola squares are great because they break apart easily. All the granola-y goodness falls into your mouth. That makes me hope there is far less sugar gluing all the parts together.