A joke, for a change of pace.

"The woman's husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months, yet she had stayed by his bedside every single day.

One day, when he came to, he motioned for her to come nearer.

As she sat by him, he whispered, eyes full of tears, "You know what? "

"You have been with me all through the bad times. "

"When I got fired, you were there to support me."

"When my business failed, you were there."

"When I got shot, you were by my side."

"When we lost the house, you stayed right here."

"When my health started failing, you were still by my side. You know what?"

"What dear?" She gently asked, smiling as her heart began to fill with warmth.

"I think you're bad luck."

Am I missing out???

I am in a web surfing kinda mood tonight. Don't know why, it just happens. But not like that other thing that 'just happens'.

Anyway, it got me to thinking...I am finding folks that travel the world, move from one country to another like it's moving across town. I'm finding people, women mostly, with the most humorous writing style, sort of like stand up comedy. I want to write like that. It seems part of the style is making fun of the husband - I can do that. Misadventures of children? I have a dog and a cat that I can probably work with. I just found one woman who lives in a beach cottage by the sea in Australia and shops at IKEA. Hey, I live at the Pacific Ocean and there are THREE IKEAs, maybe four, within striking distance. See, how difficult can it be???

OK, gotta go think of some funny husband stories and see what the kids are up to.

High end.

This house is for sale out in our area, kind of the higher end of the market. In case anyone is interested in relocating to East Sooke, British Columbia.

Here are sunsets from OUR house, Dec 1 & 2. The mountains across the water are the Olympics in Washington state. The weather has been VERY nice lately. I've heard that November tends to be the rainy/stormy month, but that does not really explain last December when we received 14+ inches of snow in the two weeks leading up to Christmas. Then we had LOTS of rain and roads were flooded, so I suppose that shoots that rainy November theory all to hell.

December 1.

December 2.

Weekend.

Initially the forecast called for yet more rain this weekend. I was dismayed when, as if right on schedule, I awoke Saturday to yet another rainy day. And Saturday we were supposed to venture into Victoria for a special, belated birthday lunch in my honor, at a place called Sauce, that we both have taken a shining to. Plus, to make matters worse, I woke up with a headache. Probably my own fault for sleeping until 9am and not having my usual morning cup of java by 5:30am. Oh well.

As the morning wore on, and my system built up some energy, the rain started to subside and I was thinking that maybe we could make it into town afterall for that lunch. With a glance out the window to nothing more than a medium mist falling from the sky we decided to go for it, umbrellas in hand (just in case).

Victoria was lovely - cloudy and misty but nothing even close to rain. The sidewalks were not crowded at all, something that amazed us, what with it being just four weeks until Christmas, and all the store windows were dressed in their finest holiday decor. Trees aglow in LED lights, sparkly bangles hanging everywhere, smiling faces on all the store clerks - it was truly magical. Even the horse drawn carriages were decorated for Christmas!

We had our lunch at Sauce then wandered around downtown and over to The Bay for some browsing. I have never seen so many bath robes in a Mens department in my life and a couple of them I just wanted to take home and snuggle up in! The only purchase I made was at the Hallmark Gold Crown store in the mall - ornament #19 in the Classic American Cars series. I have ALL of them and refuse to be deprived of each new release! Damn the budget or where they are made! (it's a 1963 Thunderbird roadster, in case you are wondering)

On the way home we stopped at the pet supply store, GNC, Best Buy and the grocery store. A VERY busy day indeed!

Sunday dawned with the promise of sunshine and by 11am or so we were basking in the warm glow that was coming through the windows. Absolutely spectacular! We managed to get some yard work done, take the dog for a leisurely walk and test fit the snow chains for the cars. The walk was great - just a short jaunt down the road to the park entrance at East Sooke Park but totally worth it. The forest is alive with a wonderful scent you get after a rain, greenery abounds in the treetops and the forest floor that is covered in ferns. There are little waterfalls coming down from Mt Maguire and spilling into the roadside ditches with the water going under the road and continuing its' journey to the ocean when it comes out the other side. Hummingbirds have returned to our feeder and we even have some new flowers blooming at home! Heath is ready to burst into bloom as is the Mahonia. We still have quite a few shrubs in the garden that are holding onto their colorful Fall foliage (see picture below) and I saw some daffodils poking up from the ground, which has me a bit confused. The worst part of last Winter was the two weeks right before Christmas so I am holding me breath, so to speak, and anxious to see what El Nino has in store for us here on the West Coast. Fingers crossed for warmth and snow-free!

Bohemian Rhapsody, ala Muppets

Stuff

Just a quick update on the haps here in Canada.

Fall weather is upon us for sure and the cars have the dirt to prove it. Rain falls most everyday and it is a joy when it is JUST the rain and no high winds off the ocean are thrown into the mix. Even with the rain I find such joy in the colors in the garden. Leaves are falling yet some shrubs still glow with remarkable colors of fiery red, golden yellow or a lovely maroon. Most of the flowering plants are done yet the Mahonia and Heath are just getting ready for their Winter show of blooms. The moisture clings to the greenery of everything else and brings out the most vibrant shades of greens/yellows in the largest assortment of foliage I have had the pleasure of having in a garden.

I am up to date with my H1N1 vaccination and I get to go for the seasonal flu shot on my birthday! Not exactly what I'd pick to give myself but what ya gonna do. I did have some reaction to the H1N1 shot in the form of a VERY stiff neck and sore muscles, which oddly popped up two days after I got the shot and hung around for another few days. All is well now and I am back up to as close to 100% that I can get, at this age.

We managed to find money in the holiday budget for some Christmas cards this year and we knocked those out today, figuring the ones going to the US will need a bit of extra time. I still can't send to everyone I used to, with it costing $1 per card for a stamp, but the ones I miss with a card I will get with a holiday e-mail.

One of my new indulgences is Cranberry Herbal Tea, which I am really enjoying! I have never been much of a tea drinker, the flavor seems most like hot water with a bit of flavor added, but this Cranberry tea really has me excited. I usually treat myself to a steaming hot cup of it in the evening as I am watching TV. I swear it helps me sleep too as it is decaffeinated.

As I am seeing more and more Christmas images, and smelling some wonderful holiday scents, I am gearing up for some holiday baking. I did a warm up last week with chocolate chip cookies, just to kind of get into the groove, and now I am ready for the real holiday stuff! It always helps to put on some classic Christmas music too, like Lena Horne, Doris Day, etc. I grew up with those holiday compilation records of the 60's from Firestone and Goodyear dealers, some of which I still have, and am finally able to appreciate some of the music my parents listened to. Mom was a HUGE Harry Belafonte fan and his jazz record from San Francisco is wonderful. Once in a while I'll put some vinyl on the turntable and just drift off into the past and relive some great times. I know you can't bring things back but ain't nothing wrong with holding on to memories reliving things in your mind when you need a feel good moment. Below is a picture of my mother and some of her sisters, that I used a few years ago to create my own retro holiday card.

This just in!!

New guidelines now in effect to combat the spread of H1N1.