They went and grew up, darn it!

So cute-so handsome. Wow, they have grown up-I suppose it was going to happen sometime! And Nephew looks a LOT like his father did at the same age.

Our niece and nephew live in a warmer climate than we do. And I wish we had that sunshine and warmth, but without the fire ants, alligators, snakes and various large bugs and creatures.

The lake is totally frozen

The lake is frozen enough to drive on now. Yep-it makes the back yard look that much bigger.

This is our neighbor skiing on the lake.

A little update on the mouse situation-so far so good. No sighting or little calling cards seen since we asked the mouse to go outside (in the cold, cold snow). And I still can't believe I ended up with a mouse hanging between my fingers. Guess of these years as a cat owner helped but still . . . a live mouse?

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! I would post pictures, but the men in the family were pretty sincere in their wishes of NOT being posted in their early Christmas morning outfits. And, since its the holidays, I will bend to their wishes and let you guys sit back and imagine how they looked with messy hair, etc. :)

I am WOMAN, hear me . . .

We have had a visitor lately. And no matter how hard I have tried to ask him to leave-he wouldn't.

Yep. We had a mouse. And a pretty smart mouse at that. Living under or behind the fridge, he would run out and eat cat food. Since we have TWO cats, I figured he wouldn't stay long. I was wrong. Maybe the cats made friends with him. Maybe he was too smart. But, he decided to visit some of my kitchen drawers. Grrrrr.

I cleaned the drawers and set traps. Nope. He didn't come back. But, one of the ManChildren saw him once at night. Grrrrr.

Finally, I asked MainMan to move the fridge. Yeppers, the mouse had been back there. I suggested to the cats to catch the mouse. The fridge was left out for a couple days. I set traps. Nothing. Come on . . . this is getting old.

Then-tonight, it happened. I noticed that KC was playing near the steps in the living room. Back and forth he ran on either side of a potted silk plant. Hmmmm, he was acting like he was playing or chasing something. Then the mouse peeked out one side of the pot while KC looked on the other side. Ohh! I saw him. Darn that mouse. I watched for a bit thinking, finally, the cat got the mouse. Then, KC sat back and just looked at the plant. I could tell, darn it, that he lost it.

I walked over to move the pot so KC could get behind it. But, there wasn't a mouse. Where could it have gone? I looked around a bit and then saw him. He was IN the silk plant sitting on a leaf. I tried to get the cat to see him but for some reason, KC couldn't see it. Sigh. So, I touched the tip of the mouse tail, to get him to move. Nope. He was content. How do I get the mouse to move to get the cat's attention? I grabbed the tip of the tail and gave it a gentle pull. The mouse pulled back but didn't go far. Hmmmm.

So, I grabbed the tip of the tail and pulled. And came up with the mouse. What?!? I stood up and looked at the mouse that was hanging between my finger tips. He was wiggling. I thought of dropping him but then thought he would probably run around and run up my leg. What the heck? Sigh.

I look over to MainMan and say-Hey, I caught the mouse!
He looks at me, What do you want me to do?
I don't know, what do YOU want ME to do?
I don't know.

The mouse stopped wiggling and sort of just hung there in a little ball. KC was pretty interested. But, I was pretty sick of this mouse. I wasn't going to give him to the cat in case the cat just played with him and let him go. MainMan suggested I go to the front door. He opened it for me and I threw our visitor out the door. He landed in the middle of the front yard-on top of a foot of snow. He ran around a bit and last I saw him, he was sitting a the base of the tree.

We shut the door. I looked at MainMan and said . . . wow, I actually caught a mouse! He smiled and said-Yep, now go wash your hands.

And, I did.

The fridge is still out. Just in case our visitor had friends. Maybe tomorrow the fridge will go back.

But . . . gosh . . . I caught a mouse!

Deliveries gone wild

Short story-I got a package delivered by DHL. Yeah!

Long story: see below.

Last week, I got a notice on the door saying we had a delivery. It was from DHL. There were lots of little boxes on the notice that the driver could check saying what was needed for redelivery. None were marked. There was a place for my signature to leave the package at the door without being home. In that signature place, the driver had written GOD #11.28. I went online and looked up the package online and it was shipped on Nov 28th-and GOD must be for our last name. Okies. The note did say that they would try to redeliver the next day (Thursday). So, I signed on top of what the driver wrote and taped it to my front door.

Thursday comes and I miss the driver again. However, he circled GOD #11.28 and then wrote even bigger off to the side: COD.

oooohhhhh. duh. GOD #11.28 was supposed to be COD 11.28$ . . . okies.

I tried to call DHL but they only take calls during regular business hours. Hmmm. I tape an envelope on the front door with the money needed as well as the notice. I was able to get through to DHL early Friday morning and they said the driver would be here later in the day.

No delivery.

No deliveries on Saturdays. Well, that's normal.

Early Monday, I called DHL. Ohhh, no problem. The driver will be there today.

No delivery.

I called Tuesday morning. yep, they will deliver today.

No delivery.

But it shows online that the driver tried Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday. But Tuesday night the online posted that the address was wrong.

I call first thing Wednesday. DHL said the driver would come today. He would put in a notice for the driver to call and let him know what time to expect him. If DHL didn't call me in an hour, please call back. He gave me a reference number.

I wait a couple hours. I call. The guy says, hmm, well, who knows. I asked him if the driver knew my address. Sure he does. But, I say, online it says wrong address. He looks it up. Oh, he says, they only tried to deliver two times (Wednesday and Thursday) and I had only called DHL once. (but . . .but, I am pretty sure that was ME that had called each day )

I wait an hour and a half. I call again. (It wasn't that I was in a hurry, but I was concerned the package would be returned to the States. Since I hadn't ordered anything, I figured it was the boys' gifts from Tricia and Nolan). The DHL telephone guy looked online. Yep, it was going to be delivered. And he would call the driver . . . at this point, I ask-why am I getting different answers from live people and the internet. DHL said, well, you aren't. But, but . . . but . . . I am. He said, hold on a minute. Okies. Back he comes and says, you are right. What a terrible mix up. We are so sorry. And also, there isn't a COD on the package. But, the notice says there is. NOPE, there isn't. Tell the driver there isn't. I said, I will, but I am not going to turn him away if he comes and demands money. I mean-it's been a week of playing tag. He said he understood, but to get a receipt if the driver asks for money and I might be able to get a refund from DHL.

It's now mid afternoon. I call. DHL has no idea what I am talking about. But the package will be here sometime that day. And no need to call back cause they don't know when it will be delivered. Well, ok.

Late afternoon, the driver comes. He is very nice-perfect English too. I pay. The COD is for taxes and a $7.00 brokerage fee. He has to get the fees. I understand. I get a receipt. I get the package. I am happy.

I think for a moment about calling DHL and starting the process of getting a refund. Then I think again. Nope, I am going to let it go and enjoy the fact that I have the presents, the notice and money are off my front door.

Santa works in mysterious ways. The biggest was I never got grumpy or upset. Quebec is teaching me patience-something I have struggling with at times over the years.

High water and winter is here.

Remember #2 sitting on the stairs going down to the lake?Well, guess what is under all that water? Yeah, the steps. I took this picture before the snow started. All white now.This is the highest the water has been since we moved in a year and a half ago. And, as of this morning, the lake is officially starting to freeze. Which means, it will be frozen at a high water level (which means, apparently, that combined with the spring water, this lake will be REALLY high this spring). But, it also means that ice fishing will be better. Won't have to walk so far on the lake to fish . . . cause the water is pretty deep right off of the bank.

The wind has been blowing HARD for the last day or so. Horizontal snow, blowing snow drifts and poor little birds not being able to eat. Only yesterday morning, I put out a lot of seed on the ground for the birds and squirrels. I bet they are glad they gobbled it up. :)

Main Man is back

Main Man went on a world trip last month. Lots of air travel. To get to his first destination, he had to travel for 24 hours straight.

At this point, let me just say . . . never gonna happen that I would do that.

So he was on several different time zones. Finally, he was on his way back from the Philippines. Since he was sort of flying over Vancouver, he decided to take a few days and visit the family on Vancouver Island: father and his wife, sister/bro-in-law, niece and hubby with their two little ones. It was a nice trip but a tad tiring. Major time change plus lots of traveling.One of the highlights was playing with the newest edition to the family. Erik was teething a little but mostly a delight. Reilley was the same cute little toddler from this summer.Out to din din. I gotta say, Trish knows how to protect desert. I would too!

MainMan finally got home on Monday. A little too awake because of the 3 hour difference but was able to go to bed by midnight. And off he went to work the next morning. It's been non-stop since.

And, I am happy he is home again.