PASSPORT TO PARIS !!

WHOO HOOO our passports arrived!! I was as giddy as a child when I opened mine lol. Chris was laughing at me...as I jiggled with glee , singing the I HAVE A PASSPORT song. I was going to take a pic of it to post...so we could all laugh at my photo..we look like such fugitives or just lacking a number for a police lineup photo. But as Chris pointed out, I would have to block out the passport number and some of my info, so..no show on the photo from hell lol.
It's kinda cool I think, I will be 45 in less then 2 weeks..and I just got my first passport. It seems like the little booklet that exists to open the doors of the world to me lol. Yes I am still giddy..call me goober!
On other news..I called my dad last week to get some info about our ancestors. He is the family historian of sorts...he has done reams of research, to add to what is already out there. We have a HUGE book of our family name, published. I kid you not...this book is aprox 4 inches thick ..large and heavy. Our first ancestor came over here to what was then called La Nouvelle France...He was among one of the army troops from France that came to colonize Montreal...in 1653! The town he was from is called LaFleche in France...
This town of LaFleche is ONLY about 2 hours from where Chris' parents live! So it will be quite easy to go spend a day there. Hopefully go look through some archives..I don't really hold out alot of hope of finding much, given this was before the french revolution. However, just the thought of walking on ground that is connected to me from that far back..is amazing to me!
The things we have already started to plan are already getting done. When leaving someone in the home for 3 whole weeks to care for our charges...we have to make sure there is ample food for everyone. Stock up with extras and make sure that she will lack nothing. Besides, leaving her some money just incase ...and ....have her pay put aside BEFORE we leave, to pay her on our return. So with all that, we are trying to do as much as we can, as soon as possible to not have a HUGE amount of money to spend just before leaving lol... I NEED SOME SPENDING MONEY! lol
I can't believe how fast the time is flying...some may find time crawls, untill it's vacation time...I kinda wish it did for me now..but with so much to prepare...seems like we won't get it all done.
I have already started a few lists....stuff to bring, stuff to gift, stuff we need to buy, like plug adapters for my hairdryer and straight iron!...oy vey, that reminded me of more stuff I need to put on my lists......um, be back later....I need to write this down now before I forget lol...............

SNOW FOR RENT

Enough snow for you? It's enough for us I tell ya! Winter wonderland my %$@@$%%! LOL.

It is impressive though. As canadians we are used to harsh winters but some are more spectacular then others. This year is one of those with the amount of snowfall. It counts among the top snow fall yrs for sure.

Hard to believe that it will be gone in a few months, and the flowers will be blooming yet again lol. I think that is the only thing that keeps us all sane to be honest lol. Chris , LOVES all the snow and the cold winters. Odd really coming from a country that has much milder seasons.

So here are a few pics taken this weekend. You can also double click on any of them to see more in the flickr page. Below, I am infront of the house directly across the street from us. You can hardly see the house itself lol.

WE HAVE THIS MANY SNOWFLAKES!

This was taken last Sat. 16th/ feb...the first day Chris had been out all week...Thankfully recovering nicely from pnuemonia...we went out for our Valentines supper. A favorite fondue resturant. It was perfect.

The snowbank is higher then Chris but u can't really tell by this pic angle. He is 6' tall, but the tips of the branches touching the snowbank, are about 9-10 feet from the ground.

Catching snowflakes on her nose.

This is taken from the front landing of my house, looking out.

Looking down my street...most of the houses are hidden lol!

There you have it. Our winter snow...anyone feel like making snow angels with me?

MY VALENTINE IS SICK

I mentioned in my last blog that Chris was feeling crappy last Friday...Well, it got even worse. Over the weekend, crappy turned into a Flu and by Monday, Flu turned into full blown pneumonia. In the 6 yrs I have known him, I have never seen him sick, apart from a day of sniffles once in awhile. He himself admits, he hasn't been this sick in the last 20 years.

Let's face it, most men when sick with sniffles.. are on their deathbed. Well Chris is not like most men...he does not complain and hates to be a burden....and frankly as sick as he is, he would have every reason to moan and groan.

I hate him being sick, but I love being able to do the little things that can make things easier for him. He has done it for me so many times over the years.

So if tomorrow he finds that the antibiotics have not improved things, he was told by the doctor to get to the hospital ASAP. Fingers crossed that he doesn't have to do that.

The good knews is he will be home for Valentines..but only because he is too sick to go to work. He should be going back to work on Monday if all continues well.

I think one of the hardest parts of this week, is stopping in midstride of giving eachother a kiss....we are so used to giving eachother random kisses all the time, that we forget he is sick...and I certainly don't want to catch anything. So my Valentines kisses will be a few days late lol. Better late then never!!

Some people hate Valentines...and I can honestly understand the argument that it's a totally commercial means of generating millions for businesses all over. It is often seen as a guilt generating machine that forces men to purchase things for their partners that they wouldn't otherwise buy because of it all. Sadly it's far too prevalent that, were it not for Valentines, many men don't bother making that effort any other time of the year.

Having said that..it's often the only time of the year that some women actually get such a gesture...sad I know but I understand it. In my last relationship of many years...my partner wasn't romantic to save his life...but like many men, he was smart enough to show up on Valentines with the typical roses and some chocolates lol. Yes, it was easy and prompted by preasure...but HEY it was still nice to recieve and I still enjoyed getting them lol...

Today, I am one of those very lucky ones...my Chris shows me all the time how much I mean to him..he never needs an excuse to bring home flowers, or do something special for me..I am blessed everyday by this man. He is more romantic then I am even. So for us and many, well, hey we can use Valentines as just ANOTHER fun thing to enjoy however one pleases, but NOT for the reasons so many abhor about the day.

As a treat to us both in celebration of Valentines..We had planned to go to a Fondue Resturant on our day out on Saturday. Something more special then what we normally do. This is pending on how he feels by saturday though.

So if you could...please send positive vibes of good health towards Chris this week lol.

Do you have any special plans for Valentines or is it just another day for you? Share your thoughts.

SAY CHEESE.......NOOOO WAIT!!! DON'T!!

Well, one very important thing got done today! Our passports are now officially processed! YAY! We should be getting them in about 2 weeks. I'm so glad that's done, for the past yr we have been meaning too and just never got around to it. The one day a week I actually do get out, we have better things to do then wait a few hours at the passport offices.

It only took 2 hours, not bad concidering stories of ppl waiting many more during peek times. We got our photos done yesterday..and seriously, they could pass for POLICE LINE UP photos!! Argh, I do get that they don't want ppl to smile...I get that we are usually hurried or haggard as we travel lol, but what's with no earings or any jewelry? Sheesh!

I can't help but feel, when u pose with a forsed serious look on your face...they actually make u look guilty for something lol...I mean they will take one look at my passport coming back from France and just KNOW I have 3 bottles of wine instead of the 2 allowed. Or some stinky but delicious cheese smuggled in ziplockbags, hiding in my lingery....I better shutup now.....

AFter the passport stuff was done, we went on to costco.We have started planning already...just because getting everything at the last minute will be costly...for instance we got some Maple Syrup Jugs to bring as gifts...and plan to bring Iced Apple Wine also. It's delicious and something different that isn't found there either.

I got some very cute, but very comfortable shoes to do lots of walking. A black pair and fawn pair..both $60+ each on sale for $20 each! HeeHee!

As much as I would LOVE to go nuts and buy a bunch of clothes for the trip...I want to be able to shop in Paris MORE!! So I will be as frugal as I possibly can. The good news is, we will be staying with family so laundry will be easy to do. The few clothes that I have that fit me will go far. If I do see a few things on sale at unbelievable prices.....well...thats different lol, I did find a $50 skirt today by chance...that cost me less then $8 lol...I tryed it on, and love it...I don't have stupid on my forehead, so I bought it lol.

So our day was fruitful..we got lot's done today. Chris took the day off for the passport stuff...but as the afternoon wore on, he began feeling crappy. Poor guy. We came home earlier then anticipated. I sent him to bed with lot's of vitamin C...At least he has 3 days instead of 2 , to take it easy.

Well that was my adventure for today...I can't wait to have my first passport! Chris will have his first Canadian one, as he has European one already. Hopefully in furture, I will have one also, I can apply for European citizenship, after being married to my frenchman 3 years. How cool is that!

As of this month...We canadians now need a passport to cross into the USA...something that was never required before. So have you got your passport yet???

AMAZING WHAT WE ACCUMULATE!

Whether it be in your home or in you computer, we just endlessly accumulate STUFF...My laptop got a COMPLETE SPRING CLEANING...So all the STUFF like programs, icons, folders etc ARE GONE. Many we use regularly mind you and many that seem to just take up alot of room for nothing lol.

I recieved my laptop back today YAY!! However, I lost EVERYTHING I had on it. So new harddrive, new pc basically. As much as it's kinda nice to start fresh, I lost alot of things that pain me. Many photos that I had in folders in my Image file. Thankfully I have many in my flickr account..but lost so much ...I wish I had thought to back it up. When your pc goes BOOM or rather goes...FLAT.. it's too late.

I lost the total blog list I had in my favorites. I will start rebuilding that asap, through comments in my blogger blog...so please comment to make my life easier, so I can do it without going many posts backwards to retrieve you all!!

One other odd thing...my new harddrive is now an english one...since I had the choice, I asked them to do that. Odd why? Well, now my french keyboard on this laptop works differently lol. My ? key is now in a totally different place, then it was, so is the / key, or the @ key...they are all where u are used to getting them yourselves. But before these keys represented letters with accents on them that an english key board doesn't have lol...It will be confusing for me for a few days untill my fingers get used to it lol.

So my imposed laptop total spring cleaning is good in parts, it's hard in others. I still have a few programs left to load on here ..but man oh man, it's good to be back in my comfy upstairs living room chair with my pc near me lol.

This past week, I even had to go buy myself a huge pair of very ugly, but very warm slippers to wear while on the pc downstairs. When I went down there to check mail and such, my toes were frozen within 5 minutes ..and I had to wrap a big blanket around me to keep warm lol...My nose would even get cold lmao!...We sleep down there, and I actually love a cold room to sleep. We love lots of covers and sleep really well. It's just not great for being on the computer lol.

It's good to be home up here lol.