We had a lovely Christmas Eve Day and a lovely Christmas Day. Dear Son #1 is with us. It's unusual for us to have kids or grandkids around at Christmas. During the times we are in Alberta for Christmas we tell them not to come visit at that time of year. Kind of cross, are we? A Christmas grinch?
No--this started over twenty years ago when D.S. #2 and wife came for a Christmas visit. They were supposed to arrive around 6 p.m. and didn't actually arrive until 2 a.m. the next day. We were frantic! We called the RCMP around midnight and asked whether there had been any traffic accidents that might have involved them. The explanation: they had stopped in Calgary (coming from B.C.'s lower mainland) for supper and gotten mixed up in their directions. They turned around and headed back toward B.C. In the dark it took them some time to realize that. They reversed and came back into Alberta, heading north on Hwy#2. They had to negotiate Edmonton, and spent a good deal of time there before that was straightened out. They still had two hours to drive to get to where we lived north of Barrhead, AB.
That was one bad experience. Another time they were travelling home by bus in a bad snowstorm and experienced several delays and misdirections.
After that we all agreed that the highways--and the airports--were "high hazard" areas during the Christmas holidays. July is the best time to visit us in Alberta. The roads are clear and our landscape is at its best. The weather is good for outdoor activities. So that's when we get together.
This is our third Christmas in Arizona. So far we've done minimal Christmas decorations here. No Christmas tree in the condo so far. I was determined to have one this year, and made sure to take along the boxes of Christmas decorations. But--another miss! Here's our Christmas tree for this year:
No--this started over twenty years ago when D.S. #2 and wife came for a Christmas visit. They were supposed to arrive around 6 p.m. and didn't actually arrive until 2 a.m. the next day. We were frantic! We called the RCMP around midnight and asked whether there had been any traffic accidents that might have involved them. The explanation: they had stopped in Calgary (coming from B.C.'s lower mainland) for supper and gotten mixed up in their directions. They turned around and headed back toward B.C. In the dark it took them some time to realize that. They reversed and came back into Alberta, heading north on Hwy#2. They had to negotiate Edmonton, and spent a good deal of time there before that was straightened out. They still had two hours to drive to get to where we lived north of Barrhead, AB.
That was one bad experience. Another time they were travelling home by bus in a bad snowstorm and experienced several delays and misdirections.
After that we all agreed that the highways--and the airports--were "high hazard" areas during the Christmas holidays. July is the best time to visit us in Alberta. The roads are clear and our landscape is at its best. The weather is good for outdoor activities. So that's when we get together.
This is our third Christmas in Arizona. So far we've done minimal Christmas decorations here. No Christmas tree in the condo so far. I was determined to have one this year, and made sure to take along the boxes of Christmas decorations. But--another miss! Here's our Christmas tree for this year:
I hung two pine cone wreaths outside and put this basket of cones with a little greenery on the patio. Not much, eh?
Well, there was a very good reason:
Last Monday morning these fellows arrived. They pulled up the old carpet in the living/dining area. They hauled it out the door. Goodbye, and good riddance!
They hammered out the old tile by the door:
And they installed the new "honey oak" laminate:
When they finished late in the afternoon they moved the furniture out of the bedroom into the living room:
That allowed me to finish painting the bedroom. The extremely heavy armoires on either side of the bed were bound together by a "bridge" over top of the bed with pot lights for reading in bed. I think they had never been moved since the bedroom furniture was installed--possibly as long ago as '87. The amount of cobwebs and dust clinging to the wall and to the backs and tops of all that was astounding. The rest of the room had been painted in the past two weeks, and now I was free to finish the last wall. That made me happy!
We had planned to sleep in my dear Sis's guest house on Monday night, but late in the afternoon she called that they discovered a leak in that bathroom that had soaked the whole place. So the Kenny and his helper sweetly set up our bed in the living room. It was surprising how well we slept that night!
This story will continue--there's more carpet to be replaced!
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