road block

road block
Originally uploaded by Julep67

On our way home last night, the police had the street closed off. Not our street, but Concession Street. Not sure what was happening, most likely a little fender bender. Traffic was really backed up and everyone was a little pissy about it. Settle down folks, it's just a small delay, the world will not end if you have to go around the block en route to where ever it is you're going!!

This week while I've been off, I've stayed on our regular schedule because Mark's working and there are holiday things to get done.

So far today I've done some laundry and am about half-way through my first batch of cookies. I would like to get three batches done today. The chewy toffee cookies are in the oven right now and the house is smelling pretty good. Mark baked mondel bread last night and he made some nut brittle. The brittle didn't harden over night like he'd hoped but I think it just needs a little more time. We are keeping one of our spare rooms closed off (I've been keeping my empty decoration boxes in there while the holiday stuff is up) to store our baking in. It's a nice cool room and I think if he leaves the brittle in there (it's in there now) for another 24 hours, it'll harden up. Candy is tough and it's something I've never mastered. I'll stick to my cookies if that's okay!

Speaking of which, I should run along because I think the timer is going to buzz at me any second.

redirected traffic

redirected traffic
Originally uploaded by Julep67

If you are in the "storm zone" I'm sure you faced a lot of delays today. This morning I was happy to not have to rush out to work.

Mark stayed home until the sun was up and we'd had a chance to finish cleaning up the driveway and the steps. Neither of us felt great about him being out on the roads if they weren't safe to travel, at least not in the dark. Fortunately for us, our driveway was pretty good when we went outside this morning. Our neighbour had cleaned a chunk of it up last night so we just had 4 or 5 inches to do. The snow was light and fluffy this morning so I was glad to get it done early.

About mid-morning, our neighbour came back and widened the driveway and cleaned up the top of the drive (around where the van was - between our house and the neighbours). It looks great now. This is the time I love winter. When the weather is really cold and sunny and the ground is covered with snow but everything is accessible - that's a perfect wintery day for me. Technically I know it's not yet winter but it sure looks pretty out there.

Mark packed work in early this afternoon (at my urging) and we went out and finished our shopping for the holidays. We even got the last bits and pieces of what we need for our baking. The worst lineup I saw was at the post office (I had two parcels to send) and that didn't take longer than 20 minutes so I'm not complaining. There is something nice about being done with the mad rush stuff a whole week early.

We'll probably make a couple of grocery runs between now and the end of the year but at least we don't have any more holiday shopping to do - I don't anyway - not sure about Mark.

Traffic wasn't too bad but there were a lot of stupid folks out there. They seemed to be just not paying attention. We saw a lot of transport trucks in town too. The 401 is closed so traffic was being re-routed through town. At one point, looking west along highway 2, all I could see what transports, bumper to bumper. It was pretty funny actually. A sense of humour is easy to retain when you're not in a hurry!

At the moment, I'm happy to be home. I can take my time and putter away and get what I need to, done, at any old pace I choose. happy holidays indeed!

not good

so it turns out that the big traffic mess last night in our little neighbourhood was the aftermath of an accident. An 11 year old girl (there are lots of kids in our part of town - we live very close to 2 elementary schools and 2 high schools) was hit and taken to hospital with serious head injuries. What we saw on our way home last night was the accident reconstruction team from the KPD. yikes.

also, Mark's still feeling shitty. he went to the doctor today and she ordered some tests so we're waiting to hear what it might be. she thinks that it is something viral. no doubt, whatever it was, he picked it up from snotty kid in the taxi.

hopefully, by this time tomorrow, we'll know what's going on. to add insult to injury, he banged his foot last night and has a seriously mangled toe on his right foot. he is not having a good week.

oh well, better days ahead, right?

it was a dark and stormy night...

it was a dark and stormy night...
Originally uploaded by Julep67

I really need to get out and take some new photos.

Our neighbourhood is like a little speedy race car place right now. After work, we stopped off at the grocery store to pick up a few things for tonight's dinner. As we approached our neighbourhood, apres shopping, we noticed that the police had a block of Concession Street closed.

Right now, there is that yellow "don't even think about driving here" tape stretching across the street and really hard working constables are sitting in their cars monitoring the confusion. We can't tell what happened but it looked like an access bus might have been in an accident.

The resulting accident has created lots of would-be detours through our neighbourhood. We watched four cars turn onto a dead end street (quickly) not realizing that it didn't go anywhere. It was amusing to us. Our neighbourhood is a very quiet (normally) place with little side streets that meander and just go to other quiet side streets. We were having a bit of a chuckle watching guys in souped up cars speeding a long, only to have to throw on their brakes and turn around.

weiners, all of them.

So, Mark's still feeling sick. He went to work today but quit around 1:30. Whatever he has, it's really dragging on. I hate things like this. I prefer to get sick, good and sick, and get it over with. Long, drawn out, irritating illnesses just bug me. Yeah, I'm grouchy, I know. It'll pass, I think.

jammed up

heading out of town
Originally uploaded by Julep67

there is so much construction going on right now in our little tiny town, that it feels like you're waiting for traffic no matter where you go. It's a real pain in the ass too because this is such a small town, you shouldn't have to deal with this crap.

One of the benefits (and there are many) of living in a smaller community is that you don't have to deal with traffic jams. I know that you have to endure the inconvenience of construction to enjoy the benefits it brings but boy, it's feeling like the construction will never end.

Sometimes though, it feels like it'll never start. We got a memo from the city in April and one from the construction company in June, about work which was scheduled to being on water mains on our street. It's almost August and it hasn't started yet. I know that they are 3 months behind in a similar project on my friend Robin's street so I don't have a lot of confidence that they will actually start the job this summer but who knows. Maybe they will rip our street up just in time for the snow to fly and leave us with a frozen, rutty mess to deal with all winter.

Oh well, I know it could be worse, because it can always be worse!!