'Tis the Season....

to be jolly! ra ra ra ra ra....
OH, I just can't wait to snuggle up with the whole family and watch "a christmas story". We missed it last year and I keep thinking about it this year. I also thought of "home alone" today and thought "hey, I could watch that movie again." Gone are the days of "is jesse old enough for this movie?" Now it's "can Kate watch this movie yet?" Oh how fun life is.

Well, check the fotopage for a few quick pictures of the house. I'll have to post some better ones of the "sitting room" so you can see how the color looks. Gregg is just finishing up the theatre wall. It is a big thing for him and he is being anal about it of course. The kitchen picture of the white receptacle actually shows the main event: the tiling job that Angie did most excellently! But I must say, I was some happy to have a receptacle with a PLATE COVER! yeah!

Well, tomorrow I officially will start some christmas baking, as I need to bring 3 doz. dainties to church for the carolling on Friday. The girls are excited about that and reading books between the baking times.

We have our glamorous 4 ft. fake and glowing tree up and the girls think it is lovely.
They are saving money to buy eachother gifts, and it is some sweet to see how Kate has put so much thought into her gifts already. We still need to take them "shopping" though...dollarmania here we come! Ha ha.

I am very behind this year in my christmas gifts, and some need to be mailed to BC...hopefully I'll get them in a expresspost envelope....

I am trying to finish up a quilt cover I started for Ruth, so I really should be doing that. So I will bid you adu.

Good nite

Officially 31 !!!!

Oh but I am so so so excited to have reached the big 31 !! Anyone who knows me at ALL, knows just how much I "enjoyed" being 30.

My dear husband arranged for approx. 50 people to show up for a potluck weiner roast on my birthday! It was a lot of fun, just even seeing who showed up! Friends from long ago and new.

It was amusing in a sad sort of way how this all came to be.... the surprise party and all. I have been feeling rather blue or "blah" for a long time and when the girls were asking what they could do for my birthday, I gave them some ideas. One was "a party".
"But who would we invite Mom?"
"oh, some of mommy's friends"
"but Mom, you don't have friends..."

Oh, the sweet innocence and bluntness of children...enough to make a 30 year old cry.
So, Daddy got on the phone to prove them wrong.
So, yes indeed, I feel loved, even if they all came for the food, it was well worth it. I will be trying to post some pictures of the party, so take a peek if you wish.

RENOVATIONS!
We have decided against an Oriental type theme for our living space and instead are moving to a "barnyard fresh" motif.
Also, see the photo page.
What fun Gregg and I had yesterday ripping our walls apart. Lathe and plaster anyone?

Well, I will try to do the photos now, should take me the rest of the evening with my "skills"
JO

Is the pain in the remembering, the forgetting, or the never known?

Today I am pondering this question...is my pain in remembering my sister, or in forgetting her voice, or in the fact that no one here has known her, and thus cannot forget what they've never known. What is more painful? Although pain cannot be measured on a scale. Such as at the hospital they will ask a patient to rate their pain level as compared to anything else they have experienced...the absolute worst or bearable? How do you rate the pain of a lost friend and sister? I don't think I can rate that...physical pain is a little different, although emotional pain can FEEL like a physical pain. Today I have a hole inside me that feels like it is threatening to eat my whole chest. But today it is finding tears to fill the void. I spilled some corn today...so I had a cry. I broke a jar todoay...so I had a cry. If anyone knows me, they know this is not exactly me.

I realized, while folding laundry, that I no longer remember Tina's voice.
I remember her smell, because on occassion I smell it on a few people...such as Bonnie, Angie or sometimes a stranger walking by.

I am in search of some video of my sister...at least something to show my husband and children so that they may catch even a glimpse of who/what my sister was. I have recently found some letters that she wrote me and in reading them out loud I could sense her being...her personality, her goofiness. It was very refreshing and fun to see Kate laugh at what her Auntie Tina had written.

Just random thoughts today, as I try to pull myself together to handle other obligations.
Oh, and did I say that the casserole isn't cooking fast enough for Gregg to eat before work...maybe I'll go fold the laundry and cry about that... :)

Hug a loved one and feel it. Don't let go.

A wee thing called Cocoa

We have come to realize that once again, our lives will never be the same...we are puppy grandparents so to speak. Our eldest daughter Kate has "her life long dream to own a puppy" and we must admit...he IS cute!

He, Cocoa Oreo Thiessen, is a wee Shih tzu/poodle puppy of 6 weeks of age. His first day home was spent running around our yard with our girls and a little friend of theirs. His little legs have to really work to keep up...no wonder he slept good. Not a peep out of him. No accidents, so far, so good.

First thing this morning, instead of little girls crawling into our bed, we heard them go into the sunroom and take Cocoa out to do his morning business. Then of course, the play clothes came out. What a good sport he is with everything. He crawls right up on you to cuddle....just what Kate ordered...

Oh, and don't let it be known that Gregg had to have a little play with the pup last nite too...hee hee. I think Daddy likes him too :)

Well, have a good day all.
Jo

So so here I sew

It's been awhile, which must just mean that I've been busily doing other things. I have just dug out a bunch of half-finished sewing projects and mending and am almost finished the pile. Feels so good to have the sewing machine out again. Now I just need to give the ole' Singer one from the dump a try and see how it is. Next is finishing the curtains for the sun room, so that may be a good project to try the machine on.

Passover is coming up also, which means we actually get to go to a Passover supper through my folks' church and with Jews for Jesus. That is exciting, so I'm looking up Kosher and Passover meal ideas to take along (we love potlucks).

Mei is potty training, and we are de-babying the house and basically been moving everything out to another's house. Feels so good to rid ourselves of some of the space clutterers like the highchair, etc. Now just to move out the crib, but then the child shall be loosed...hum...

My Mary Kay did very well in March and my commission will be the highest yet...thank you God for looking after us. So fun to see how just a little more effort in one direction REALLY pays off.

Kate and Ruth will be riding the big yellow school bus to swimming lessons one afternoon a week and are very excited!

Spring has sprung and we are looking forward to the return of the birds and neighbours too.
I love to walk outside and take a nice big breath! God is good all the time!

New meaning for "couch potato"

Hello to all.

Today I am obsessing about our couch...or lack of a stable one that is. The couch we have was rescued from Mom & Dad's basement 11 years ago. They had probably rescued it from someone else's. It has SEEN BETTER DAYS!

As you know, soon Gregg will be resting upon the couch for days on end, and for some reason, I am finding this idea to be unacceptable. SO, I have been frantically selling the Mary Kay to pay for a couch....all good enough, but we want a GOOD one, seeing as we would never actually PAY money for junk. THe dump just isn't providing a nice black leather sofa. Hummm. ANyone need some Mary Kay? Hee hee.

Have a great day relaxing on your couches!
Jo

Lara Croft...

My living room makes me feel like Lara Croft...Tomb Raider extraordinare.

I always liked the scene where she rides this giant wooden beam pendulum back and forth until it crashes through whatever it was she wanted to crash through.

I now have one of those great beams hanging over my living room couch (maybe it will fall on it and we can get a new couch!), aiming for the wall.

My ever resourceful husband has built a "projector" for our "viewing pleasure". The screen will be huge, and we will be in our media glory once it is "tweeked out".

Keep looking at the fotopage for updates of it hanging up! It will be a conversation starter that's for sure.

Living life and loving it...married to my Thiessen "cheapo" man... just kidding, I love him and all the goodies he on occassion brings to me after he has saved them from their demise.

Good friends, good times

Isn't it great to have good friends that can make you go AHHHHH....

To actually relax and enjoy one another's company without feeling the need to "entertain" or "go out" or anything.

This weekend we had some good friends over, see the fotopage if you wish, and had fun just "hanging out". I think the girls dominated a little of the time, but it was fun to play memory, twister, etc, and watch old movie "the ugly daschound".

And again, we are feeling blessed, even though it is looking like our lives will be on extreme-busy mode for the next 2.5 weeks until after Gregg's knee surgery...I'm actually looking forward to that because life will HAVE to slow down! Ha ha.

I am getting back into my Mary Kay more, and have 2 parties this week and 1 next week. I want to get it being more productive again. The possibilities are endless with it, and it kills me to see that with "just a little more" I could be "making a whole lot more". Making more of my time I guess.
Well, Gregg's off for a night shift, and I need to get some sleep.
Good nite all.

The Maker's Diet

First, who is the Maker? My Maker was none other than the big man himself, GOD! SO, it only makes perfect sense that God would place food ~ animals, plants, herbs, grasses on HIS earth for HIS creation to eat and be well. The Bible does talk about this, and God even gives pretty direct instruction to the Jews on what they should eat.

This said, I have read the Maker's Diet book by Jordan Rubin, and Gregg and I are now on day 7 of the program. The "program" goes in 3 parts, the first part being the hardest, the cleansing phase. Gregg seems to be more energetic and finally not eating every minute. He is happy to report that some of his "love handles" seem to be shrinking.

Myself, on the other hand, knowing that my health was in need of a BIG boost, have been experiencing some "withdrawl" symptoms and cleansing "crisis"...headaches and tired, then energetic the next day! Oh well, it is all worth it, seeing as I have lost 2 lbs of my "fluffiness" around my midsection.

The menu has been quite frankly ~ awesome! Finally I have the "excuse" to buy and try some "odd" things that i may not have regularly...lots of yummy fish, stirfry's, soups, etc.

The coconut soup was a huge hit, as seeing as how coconut is really good for the digestive, that was an added bonus. Also loved the lemon fish.

IN OTHER NEWS!

We have painted the "laundry room", otherwise know as the room that houses the fridge, pantry, washer and dryer, and that you walk through to get to the john. It is now yellow to match the kitchen and sports a new layer of those lovely self-adhesive tiles like our kitchen. Definately brightens the room and now we will be needing some shelving, etc. But at least we got rid of the dungeon feel.

GREGG'S KNEE SURGERY
Has been scheduled for Feb. 22, and thankfully God has worked it out that he will NOT lose his job, and we will get some sort of E.I. for some of it, so that is good. So we are pinching pennies and planning for Gregg to be off his legs for a good spell. Prayer is definately appreciated.

Oh, and friends of ours with 5 girls have temp. moved into town, so we are feeling so blessed for them to have a cleaner, bigger house closer to everything for them. You can keep them in your prayers that their health would also improve and that if they are to keep the house they are temporarily in, God will provide.

Well, from a thankful Jo once again, good night to all!

"...For the joy of the Lord"

I'm trading my sickness, i'm trading my pain, i'm laying them down for the joy of the lord..."

That is the praise song playing right now. How well I know that God will take the short end of the stick and take all our pain, just to give us His Joy! Wow. Truly amazing!

We had a wonderful Christmas season. Just kicked back at my folks for christmas, a few gatherings, a memorial for my Uncle Ed. It was fun visiting with my younger cousins, who now are married and have children or going to university, etc. Funny how a few years changes everything. Before I was the "old lady", and they were the "young punks". Now we're all equal. Humm. Saw one of my favourite cousins, who we used to call Pork Chop, which I'm sure he hated. He is now a constable.

We also were blessed to see all of Gregg's family, even though it was the opposite year for the "in law Christmas". Fun to hang out with no real plans or agendas of things that needed done.

Death of the Hardware

The hardware is officially closed now. I phoned MTS and cancelled the fax line, etc, and am returning the interact machine on Monday. Went upstairs to the Gallery today ~ What a shock! So empty. A building has no life on it's own. Terribly cold and impersonal, but yet so filled with memories.

Now that the hardware is done, I'm missing my time with Gregg even more. At the Hardware I could visit and work along side my heartthrob, but now the hospital wouldn't exactly approve I'm sure.

I was thinking how life seems to go in 10 YEAR intervals....age 0-10, free childhood.
age 10-20~ growing independence, freedom of being on one's own.
age 20-30 ~ growing responsibilities, growing families, growing debt or assets.
Moving from schooling, to jobs, to careers, to life stuff.

I have been very blessed with the love and joy that I have in my life, and I want to praise the Lord and acknowledge that He is worthy.

Another song...."I will worship all my days. I will trust you and you alone. I will give you all my praise. You alone are worthy." "No rocks will have to cry out as long as I have breath!"

Thank you Lord for Christmas, for the Christ. Our saviour and friend and our all.