January Blahs

I heard on the news yesterday that the third monday of January is known as Blue Monday. It's apparently the saddest day of the year for a lot of people. Resolutions are broken, holiday bills are pouring in, the weather is depressing and cold. This year things are even worse with rising gas prices and even worse for some because of the crash of the TSE yesterday!! Yikes!
I'm glad I don't suffer from S.A.D.

I can't say I love winter, or slushy driving conditions or frigid temperatures. I don't love having to wear layers of clothes inside because our house is so cold. I don't like that it gets dark so early. But, I am proud be a Canadian and I live in a wonderful city that is surrounded by lakes and forests and clean, fresh air.

They say that the cure for the saddest day of the year is exercise!! I can't say that I love exercise either, but I do love the fresh air and the outdoors.

So, I bundled up in my parka, snow boots, Hot Paws mitts, Penguin hat and took the dog for a walk. I didn't want to bring my dSLR because it was way too cold out, so I grabbed my old 3mp Sony P&S and went out on Lake Ramsey. The sun was getting low in the sky and it was dull and grey, but what a beautiful day!! The skating path was plowed and ready for eager skaters, but this day it was just me, Gracie, one ice-fisher dude and one skater... on the whole lake and on the boardwalk beside it!!

So, where was everyone? If exercise is supposed to be the cure, why weren't there more people out there walking, skating, skiing?

Hmmm, I guess Blue Monday didn't affect anyone in Sudbury!! Not only are we the Nickel Capitol of the world, I guess we're also the happiest! ha ha

Memory Ornaments

When I was un-decorating today, I decided it was time to get rid of some old stuff. A wreath, some small metal trees, a bunch of gift bags, some ornaments and more. As I took items off the trees, I started to have a nostalgia attack!

Just looking at some of the ornaments brought me back to my childhood. Remember those big, honking light sets we used to have? Big thick electrical cord and bulb glass so thick you couldn't break it without stepping on it! Mom and Dad had the most beautiful garland that I used to love to touch because it was so soft. It was a deep red rope of velour. I still have a small piece of it, about 2 feet long. It's over 50 years old! I turned 50 yesterday, and it hit home. 50!! That's a LONG time!

I remember how fragile the glass balls were and I stuck my fingers through many with my little 5 year old hands. Like the velour rope, I have a few of the original tree ornaments that my Mom and Dad had. They have to be at least 50 years old as well, but likely older. They are getting thin and more fragile every year and I thought it was time to take a photo of them, just in case I lost them.

These are the oldest baubles

This was made by me after my dad died in 2002.
I used some flowers from the funeral arrangement.

These were found in the attic of the first house we bought.
We also found old magazines and newspapers from the '30s and '40s!
Not sure how old these ones are.

The Clan

Each year, my family gathers after Christmas to celebrate the holidays together. We take turns hosting the event between my two sisters, my mom and myself. This year was Mom's turn, but she's 83 and not able to very much any more, so I pretty much took over the organization.

We arranged to hold the event in one of the large party rooms at Mom's retirement village. We all bring pot-luck dinner. The village provides the dishes and even washes them afterwards for us - which is a bonus! Our family has grown over the years with the addition of more Great - Grandchildren for Mom and various boyfriends/girlfriends and fiance[e]s. The farthest anyone has to travel is 5 hours, but sometimes some of us just can't make it. This year we were missing 4 people. So our total count for this year's celebration was 19.

We played games, had a gift auction with play money and White Elephant wrapped gifts from home! We laughed, we cried, we ate, we drank and we reminisced.

I took over 100 photos, all on P mode and I only had to delete 5 or 6! Not too bad! Here's a few of my favourites! There weren't very many appropriate places for me to take a family photo, so this had to do. I wish I could have turned down the overhead lights.