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Thursday, December 30, 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Another year gone and another new one beginning.......

For hardships, trials and stresses in 2010,
May you find more uplifting and healing laughter in 2011.

For all of you, I wish a happy and healthy new year!





Stay safe and have a wonderful celebration!


PEACE! WORLD PEACE!!
Love Jude

Monday, December 27, 2010

*YAWN*!!

Lordy but I'm having trouble sleeping these past few nights! I've had some late nights yes, but only till about midnight or so. I hit the sack and then it's been taking me hours to fall asleep. Like 4 a.m. This sucks, I'm exhausted, and this must change before I go back to work.

On a lighter note, what fun enjoying Christmas music in the background and playing Password (to our own rules, it's more fun that way) in the evenings. Sister Pammie and I often have those "almost pee your pants" laughing moments that don't quit, and we've had a few of those.

Snorting, crying, belly laughs are soooooo cool!

Christmas was really lovely, quiet family time with great food, great company and time off to relax. I don't have to go back to work until Tuesday January 4th. YAY!

I hope your holidays are enjoyable too. Stay warm and safe!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Saturday, December 25, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!





May your day be full of fun and love, with family and friends! Wherever you are, whether at home or travelling, be safe.

It is you, my friends and family, who make Christmas the very special time of year that it is to me! Take care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Thursday, December 23, 2010

JUDE'S ROCKIN' CHRISTMAS EVE



"All of me" brings you....(turn sound on!).....The Hippie Chick Rawk Band! Yes, all of my alter egos and personalities will fill your speakers with Christmas! Enjoy! hahahaha



It's Christmas Eve! Tonight we are celebrating time with some family at my sister Brenda's, and enjoying good company, good food, and lots of laughs no doubt.

I hope your day is memorable!



PEACE!
Love Jude

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

SWEET MEMORIES

Most of us have someone we miss, and it often hits hardest at Christmas.

This year we are adding Misty and LadyBugs to that list. Those little girls of my sister Pammie's were the light of my life, and a huge part of Christmas and family celebrations.

This will be our second Christmas without Lady and our first without Misty. But they are with us in our hearts, as are our Mom and Dad, and many others who we love and have left us.

Cherished memories keep the smiles on our faces, we have been so blessed. :-)

To all of you who are missing someone this Christmas, I send love and hugs!





PEACE!
Love Jude

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Hippie Chick Christmas

Okay the hippie chick in me HAS to post this one. We miss you John!!

Listen here:
Happy Christmas (War Is Over)

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
Ans so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
Ans so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now...






PEACE!
Love Jude

Sunday, December 19, 2010

T.S.O. ROCKS CHRISTMAS!!

Almost every year I share this and love it!

Nobody can get you in the mood for, or rock Christmas like the Trans Siberian Orchestra can!


Sound on! WIZARDS IN WINTER

I swear if they ever come here I'm going to see them.





PEACE!
Love Jude

Saturday, December 18, 2010

PASS ME THAT VALIUM WOULD YA?

I don't normally work very many Saturdays anymore (I worked ALL of them for 5 years) but now and then I get asked when we are short of staff. Today is one of those Saturdays I have to go in and help out.

This time of year is our busiest time in Member Services, and although there are exceptions, I am psyching myself up for a crazy day. If I had some really good drugs I'd take them before I go in to do battle.

On the bright side, being there today means I get to spend some time working with the young ladies in my department who only work Saturdays, and I am psyched about that. I love those girls, and I miss them!!

See? There IS a silver lining to every (good drug induced) dark cloud!

As for the crabby, crazy crowds, bring 'em on! I can rest during Christmas.




One week left..... are you ready? :-)

Take good care of each other!

PEACE!

Love Jude

Thursday, December 16, 2010

BIG FAT SNOWFLAKES

*NOTE* Images courtesy of the Edmonton Journal



For us hearty Canadians here in Alberta getting snow storms isn't any more of a big deal than the pain in the bunyakas of having to drive in it, really.



But yesterday morning started out with winds and snow falling that turned into semi-blizzard conditions that lasted all day and night. My manager called in to the office around 11 a.m., still stuck on the Yellowhead highway coming into the city and not moving. She said there were vehicles in the ditch everywhere, including big 'ol tractor trailers. It was hard to see for the blinding snow falling.

It wasn't long before the RCMP had to close that highway, and I'm sure eventually everyone stuck in it got winched out. She made it into work sometime in the afternoon, and like she said, she's got an hour commute coming in and winter conditions never bother her, ever. But this ride in was something else, even she was nervous with how bad it was.







It wasn't so much that it was snowing and blowing so hard all day, it was the fact that it was piling up so darn fast and people were sliding off the roads, and/or getting stuck in piles of the white stuff.

At the end of the work day a young lady I work with was dropping me off at home, and we got stuck just in our parking lot at work. She managed to get out with some really good maneuvering, and the main streets were not too bad. But once we turned in to my side street where there is less traffic, she stopped, afraid to go any further. No worries, I jumped out and would just walk the half block up to my house. But she made the mistake of trying to turn around in the street to go back, instead of just backing out the several yards to get back on the main street.

I stayed out there until she managed to get it turned around, but it took her awhile!

All in all it was a rather surreal day, watching the drifts get higher and higher, and a few of the younger people in our office kept going out with a shovel to try and keep our front walk into the office clear for customers. The flakes were coming down so hard and fast that visibility was poor. And the snow was so wet, it was drenching you just being in it for a few minutes.

Some time during the night it stopped though, and we're not supposed to get any now for the rest of the week at least. That gives everyone time to get shovelled out, the city's snowploughs and Edmontonians with their shovels and snowblowers.

It's certainly NOT the worst of snow storms we've had and there will be more that are worse yet. But it was enough to close highways and strand a lot of people in the ditches.

I was supposed to be going out for dinner last night with my best friend Michele and our good friend Leona for our Christmas get-together. Leona had the day off and happened to be out in my end of the city doing Christmas shopping. Later in the afternoon she phoned Michele at work to tell her how much worse the roads were getting and we didn't feel we needed to be out at night in it, so we postponed until next week.

It was nice for us, just like most people here, just to be in our cozy homes for the evening.




Tonight, our boss is taking us out for our annual Christmas dinner at my favourite restaurant!

Stay warm everyone!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

"AUTUMN" WINNERS!




Congratulations to the winners! Awesome shots from everyone, and thank you to our voters for participating. :-)

Next up, at the end of December will be the "Texture" contest. Stay tuned!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

CAUGHT NAPPING




No, not me.

After showing you all the bunny tracks in our front yard, I finally managed to catch one of them napping there yesterday.

I woke him up when I accidentally bumped my camera on the window, but he/she stayed put at least for a photo opportunity. It's funny how I normally think of all the bunnies I see here as "she", because I know mommy bunnies have their babies around our yards so much. I think they're even prettier when they are white for the winter!


Heading out for the weekly grocery run this afternoon, in the snow. Yep it's snowing lightly again, but at least it's not sleet/ice like it is out east thank God.

Stay warm and have a great week!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Saturday, December 11, 2010

O CHRISTMAS TREE!




Yes, I did get my tree up on time again this year! It was almost late, which I wouldn't have been happy about at all.




I had one day in which to get it done or it would have had to wait for a week or two. I was just very busy, on top of not feeling great and reeaaalllly sore from fibromyalgia. So I bit the bullet and got it finished in one afternoon, and I'm happy that I did.



It's a lot of work for an old hippie chick to decorate for Christmas but I love it, and this is the second reason I prefer having my tree up at the end of November / beginning of December: so that it's up for awhile before I have to take it all down again.

The first reason is almost the same; so that it's up for awhile..... because I love the pretty lights and things that are Christmas decorations. :-)

The appeal for Christmas, which makes it my favourite holiday of the year, is that it's time spent with family and friends, that there is a more loving and giving nature among most people (which I wish would last ALL year), and because it's so very lovely everywhere with twinkling lights and pretty decorations.






My sister Pammie got me started on pretty glass ornaments a few years back when she bought 2 for me for Christmas. I still only have a few kinds but I'm keeping my eyes peeled. And I bought an assortment of fabric ornaments a couple of years ago as well. I think they go nicely together to make an ecclectic but "go together" look.

There is nothing more relaxing than sitting by your tree at night when its lights are almost the only thing illuminating the room, and playing Christmas carols and hymns softly in the background.








I've even got my gifts bought or made, I've only one left to do and that is for a birthday present for another sister in the midst of the holiday season.

I've been busy! But it has been fun.

As well the annual Christmas get-togethers have already begun with friends, and in another couple of weeks it will be family time spent in front of our respective trees over a period of a week or so, and enjoying the companionship and laughter that goes along with that.

What's not to love about that? :-)

PEACE!
Love Jude

Thursday, December 09, 2010

BUNNY HAVEN




I've talked before about how many bunnies we get in our yards, especially our front yard. The neighbourhood jack rabbits seem to congregate here!

They like to sun themselves here too, often we see them stretched out sleeping in their favourite spots, moving around the yard as the sun moves across the sky. It's so cute!

And in winter especially, they like to come and nibble on some of our shrubs and bushes. One especially brutal winter I even threw some pieces of carrots out there, but they never touched them. Could it be that Bugs Bunny is the ONLY bunny in the world who actually eats carrots? LOL



It's odd how they seem to trust us, too. If someone so much as walks down the sidewalk across the street from us, they will often bolt, running to find a hiding spot somewhere else. But they can be just a few feet from us as we go in or out of our front door, and most times they'll just sit (or lay) there watching us, and don't move.

I think our house has a good reputation in Edmonton's rabbit world. :-)




We know that momma bunnies give birth here too, hubby found a baby in our garden one year. And out in our back yard hubby has a pile of lumber against the back fence in the corner. This summer I saw young bunnies going in and out of there.

I was kneeling down in the garden there getting some macro (close up) shots of some flowers this past summer, probably for about 5 full minutes before a baby bunny finally got nervous and skittered off back under the lumber pile. So I think they give birth to their babies right under there. You can't really tell from the picture but the lumber is sitting up off the ground and there is a nice space underneath that would be perfect for them.

I'm happy to be a haven for them all. We like seeing them here, and I must say that there have been many, many more of them since hubby landscaped out front and brought in more trees and shrubs.

I hope your week has been good to you. Take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

MURPHY'S LAW?



Why is it that every time I am expecting a delivery, it is ALWAYS (always!) an "attempted delivery" on the 3 days of the week that I'm at work and not home? LOL

Once again I'll have to have hubby take me to a depot to pick up my parcel on the weekend. And I even tried hard to keep this order small so that it would fit in my large mailbox. Huh. And I bet once I get it, I'll see that it is small enough to have fit in there too.

One more present to make and my Christmas shopping is finished! :-)

PEACE!
Love Jude

Sunday, December 05, 2010

CRAZY TIME OF YEAR!



My calendar for December is always soooo full, with visits and get-togethers that are an annual tradition among my friends, not to mention family once Christmas arrives. Actually it starts around the end of November.

And being short staffed at work right now, I've been working the odd extra day in amongst the busy-ness as well.

I'm just reeeaaaalllly glad that I have a few days off around the holidays to rest up a bit. This old hippie chick isn't getting any younger, you know!

But it's business as usual until Christmas arrives anyway, and I've got all but 2 or 3 gifts left to purchase. I already know exactly what I am getting and where I'm getting them (all one store) so that won't be too bad. It's a simple stop on the way home from work one night with sister Pammie. Have I ever mentioned how I like shopping with her? It's always fun, but even more so if I help her spend HER money, Buahahaha!!

I don't know what the heck I'm still doing up, I need to get to bed and be at least some kind of rested when my alarm goes off in the morning. Mondays..... not my favourite but we all have that particular cross to bear!

Wishing you all a good week, and hopefully you are staying warm. Take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude