@#!%*!? Christmas Lights

So we're starting the tree tonight, I of course have the enviable task of putting the lights up. I get this task because more than anything else, I can reach. However, before and of that happens I have to undo the damage done last year in my haste to get the light put away, I managed to tie 5 strands together. Imagine that 50 foot backyard extension cord that always gets tangled, 5 times over, with little lights every six inches that thoroughly prevent any sort of untagling effort.

So there I sit, in front of the tree, with one strand plugged in so I can see which one I'm working on at the time, with some of it wrapped around my head in an effort to keep the untangled bit straight.

Not a pretty sight. This of course, is when Kim decides to take pictures. I'm sure she'll post them soon. Just to add to the frustration, one of my favourite sets, the one that has a switch on it that allows you to vary the light pattern, has a short in it and I have to throw it out. That's usually the basis of the light show. It's toast. It's also 20 years old - my parents always had it on their tree. It doesn't owe me anything, but why couldn't I have found this out long before I start the tree? Now I have less lights, and they're all white. Oh well, onward.

Two more strands in I find that one of the strands has a burnt out light, so everything past that light won't work. Oh well, shove them into the tree, hook another strand to it and carry on. Half hour later, all (?) the lights work and it conveys what I wanted - a spike in my power bill. Christmas has arrived at Wilsonworld.

We're sorting out the rest of the mess. We have soooooo many decorations that we have to really pick and choose what to put out. We acquired all of mom and dad's stuff, and dad was known for going overboard. He was nuts with decorations, most of it tacky, but he put stuff everywhere. It's hard to decide what to get rid of when you grew up with it all. But we have to start somewhere. I'm listening to Kim in the next room with the kids give direction on what is to go where, of course the kids aren't really playing the game. Short attention span begats short temper.

Slowly we're reclaiming the floor while the house transforms into a holiday wonderland. It's amazing to see how much a few odds and ends of holiday lore, and appropriate music can change your mood. Now I'm prepped for the season, now I can go shopping! Now I can sit in quiet admiration for what this all means.

Now I can look forward to ripping the damn lights off the tree in early January and not have to deal with them until next December.

Merry Christmas.

Blogger block

I should write something.

Something meaningful, inspirational, contemplational.

But I'm stuck.

Lately things have been going better around here, but frankly there's nothing to post about that has any real substance for anyone outside my family. Kim's working now, I'm still working (blah blah blah), Kid One is in high school and managing a social schedule, kid two is growing up everyday, and surprises me on a regular basis with her wit and intelligence. Blah blah blah.

Christmas is coming, and we're not ready. Same with thousands of others.

It's getting colder, maybe I should talk about the weather? Nah, that would just reinforce the Canadian stereotype. I may as well walk around the house with a toque and a beer.

I could write about local politics, or religion, or world events, but I grew up in the officer's mess where those subjects were personal and taboo in a social setting. Besides, there really isn't much to talk about, unless you want me to go on about the fact that the city has yet to compensate me or anyone else for having to take my own garbage to the dump this summer.

I could talk about my mid-life crisis; my efforts to bring back some dreams and make them something other than regrets. But then I'd sound like I'm whining, and that's a fairly quick way to alienate readers. Frankly, nobody cares!

I could write about our efforts to contact my dad's family in Scotland. But we've had no luck, so that's a short post. In case you're wondering, we sent off a slew of emails and have had no response. There, that was easy.

I could write about how we should all be better citizens and help our fellow man, the poor, the downtrodden, the infirm. But we've lived that the past year. I'm done with that for a while. Maybe later.

I could tell you who my favourite comedian is - but why?

I could write about fluff.

In the end, having nothing to go on about at any length isn't such a bad thing, It means that for the first time in a long time, life is cruising along. Maybe it's getting boring, but certainly still worth living. I've had enough excitement for a while, it's time to sit back and watch the clouds go by. It's time to enjoy what I've got. Time to play video games, clean house, talk to my family, reconnect with friends and contemplate my future. I'm sitting here in my housecoat with a coffee listening to Gordon Lightfoot on iTunes and enjoying the silence of a Sunday morning. I'm not thinking about the HST, or the aircraft loaded with weapons intercepted in Thailand, or Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or if the wind will finally take out the neighbour's tree.

I don't care today.

Today I will pour Kim a coffee when she wakes up, prod the kids to get breakfast and pick up after themselves, go to church, run to the optician to pick up the kid's new glasses, and go get a Christmas tree. (we won't decorate it until tomorrow, it has to settle first).

Ah, blissful complacency.

My blissful boring life.

Maybe tomorrow I'll do something noteworthy, but not today.

Have a great Sunday.

Winter on the way

So the mercury dropped to -8 tonight, and the wind blew in through the redneck door.

Ouch.

So Kim and I, being the resourceful folks that we are, decided to 'fix' it. Here is Kim, dressed like a Newfie, weatherproofing the redneck door. Try not to keep this image in your head too long. Come to think of it, I really should stop posting things about the redneck door.

It's slowly becoming all too true. We decided the first thing we're fixing in the Spring is this door, we will hire someone to replace it down to the framing. It's long overdue. But in the meantime, a couple of blankets, and 2x4 and some well placed 2 1/2" spiral nails will do nicely.

We've starting prepping for Christmas around here, lights have gone up, and the tree comes this weekend. We started getting prepped at work too, our tree went up in the foyer and we had the windows painted. The girls went off to buy decoratings for the tree, which came in tubes similar to wrapping paper tubes. As I walked by the day it was going up, one of them asked me if I wanted to help. I was ridiculously busy at the time, and couldn't spare the time, I did however grab one of the tubes of bulbs and shoved the whole thing into the tree. With a smirk, I said, "there, how's that?"

SCROOGE!

Mary was short and to the point. I went back into my office, and printed one word on a piece of paper and taped it to my door, and closed it. Humbug.

Mary taped another sign over mine...

I'm not a scrooge, they just had bad timing! I'm eager for Christmas and the family oriented hope that it brings. After the past year we need that. Now that Kim is back to work, hopefully there's no fear about the season's approach. It will get better. And once we get a door almost back to normal.

Then what will I have to post about?

Cheers.

Strange Days Indeed

So Kim is back to work now, and things are weird.

For the past couple of years she has maintained a flexible schedule with school and unemployment, home in the evenings and weekends. It's been quite nice. But all good things must come to an end. Her new work shift is noon to 9pm, with weekend work as well. So again, we have to revisit the child care issue, my inept cooking skills, shuttling people around town to get everyone where they need to be, etc.

I have to retrain my self for evenings. No longer is she there to help prod the kids to do homework, or give us notes from school they neglect to inform us of, or pass along anything else the day brings. No longer is she there to help me make dinner, or eat it for that matter. No longer is she there to help me pick up the socks that land in front of the couch.

Side note: Last week a pair of socks landed between the couch and coffee table. I refused to acknowledge them, I hoped someone would pick them up. For three days they sat there. On the fourth day, imagine my surprise to find they multiplied. Someone actually dropped another pair of socks on top of them.

But I digress.

Last night the kids had optometrist appointments. I picked up the oldest from school at 4:45, rushed over to get youngest from the neighbours where she was hanging out by 5, and zipped off to the doctors for 5:15. We got out of there at 6:15, grabbed McDonalds from the drive-through and got home around 6:30. I can't remember the last time I got home from work that late. I guess I should get used to this being normal again. It's been a long time. We tidied up the house, did a load of dishes and settled in. After about an hour, I was off to get Kim from work. I finally found the couch at 9:30pm. None of this is all that uncommon, tiring, or anything to bitch about, I'm just not used to it yet.

Such is life in a two income house (feels nice to say that again!)

Kim is also adjusting. With this new schedule she doesn't get the time with the kids she is used to and enjoys. An hour at most before youngest goes to bed is not nearly enough. Last night she went to bed at 10:45 instead of her normal 9:30. They just wanted to talk. I can see much more of that in the future. The conversation turned to Christmas. Bug was broken hearted when she heard Kim would more than likely be working Christmas day. She's always had her mom home, or at least since she could remember. Change can cause hiccups sometimes. It's the price we have to pay for getting back on our feet again. At least Kim will be there to open gifts.

Growing up I watched my mother work every Christmas. She was a nurse, and on more than one occasion we had Christmas dinner in the hospital cafeteria. We just got used to it. This is just another adjustment. We will gladly take that over the alternative - still struggling to find out how to do Christmas at all on one income.

Change has it's pros and cons.

Stange days indeed. When I get home tonight, I will again see if the sock fairy arrived to bless my living room floor with her gifts. And I will again have an evening with my wife still at work. We will get used to it. I don't like the alternative.

Cheers.

The year from hell

Changing seasons have finally brought about new hope for the future. The past year has been complete hell. I'd love to just forget about it, but I must keep it in my mind and learn from it. I must look back at the events and use them for strength and motivation to overcome what the future throws my way. The leaves changing are a metaphor to me - drop it and start over.

I will reflect back on the crappy memories with fondness and discourse at the same time. I overcame a shit storm, and for that I'm forever thankful. But why do shit storms have to happen at all?

There's a train of thought that those who cruise through live without ever encountering such events are living a dream, and eventually they will be caught unprepared, their dreams will quickly become nightmares. I like to believe this past year has simply prepared me for worse things, I just hope it doesn't happen again any time soon.

The year from hell began last September, and ended last week. A little over 13 months. I'm calling it over because I'm tired of it now, it can go back into the bottle it came out of. It's time to move forward.

Last week Kim finally landed a job. She's in the middle of two weeks of training, and so far she really enjoys it. It's not great money, (yet?) but it's enough to stop my worrying about where the next meal is coming from or how I will take care of my little one's birthday in a couple of weeks. She enjoys the job, and that's a good thing, on her first day I sat at work wondering how she was making out - wondering if she thought it was a huge disappointments, like so many false opportunities of late. I picked her up from her new office that night to see a beaming face and bright eyes. She didn't need to tell me anything. I knew. The year from hell was over.

Ironically, the year from start coincided with the start of this blog. My first post was October 25, 2008, about a month after Kim went back to school to finish her degree. A time of optimism and hope. After 16 years, she was going to finish school, and decide what to do with herself. She was in a crap job, and I was happy to see her get out of there. Actually, she asked to be reduced to part time to accommodate the classes, but they cut her so much it wasn't worth going in at all - so she quit. She devoted her time to school and excelled, and now has the degree. A good start.

Going back through my posts I found that November 14 was the start of it. To quote myself - "The shitty economy has hit our little world". Kim is in school, I'm the only income, my hours had been cut, and the economy tanked.

On November 22 I posted that I had entered the contest to run the Olympic torch. Update - I lost, my boss won. Another reason I hate him.

On December 11 Kim finished school. I wrote that I was eager to see her in cap and gown. If I'd only known then.

I spent Christmas day 2008 sick and recovering from oral surgery.

On January 15 the cable company accidentally shut us off for a week. The kids went nuts. If they'd only known. We still don't have it now.

On February 22 I did something about dreams and regrets. More foreshadowing.

On March 16 the back door jams fell apart, we didn't have the cash to fix it, so we invented the redneck door lock. It's still there.

On March 24 I wrote about how much fun it was dealing with Bell and our new office data connections. Ironically enough, that's the field Kim is now training for.

On April 4 I wrote about the tanking economy again, bad job stats, high unemployment, etc. We had become a statistic. Kim still had no job prospect. She continued school, but soon realized the courses she was taking had no bearing on her degree, so that stopped. We did a consolidation loan as we saw the writing on the wall.

On April 25 the City of Windsor went on strike. Well, most of it anyway, the worst of it would last 101 days, bring out the best and worst in people, and it's still causing ripples today. There were other things too, you'll have to read.

On May 27 the garbage strike got ugly.

On July 5, we did something about it.

On July 25, I lost my father. There was no blog, only pain. I posted on August 11 about renewal. Since then, we still haven't finished dealing with the fallout of his death. He lived with us, so his stuff is here. His life is here. Constant reminders of what we've lost. I think it's too soon to deal with the final issues, at least for me it is. We started, but with everything else going on, it's really difficult. I really miss him. I really miss the sounds of the house when he was in it. Everything now is too quiet and surreal.

August 18 brought the duldrums. Moods were changing for the worse.

August 21, it got worse yet.

A friend and I spent almost a year planning a reunion. On August 30, I wrote about how it didn't quite work out. A year of expectation and planning down the tubes.

September 5 - changing traditions, by force.

September also saw us meeting with a bankruptsy trustee for an info session. Kim has been out of work for a year at this point. We're hanging on, with some help. Dad passing also reduced our income - he paid us rent. We started draconian cost cutting, and the kids started getting used to things being 'different'. Luckily, we never followed through with the bankruptsy, but it was close. We kept putting it off in the hopes that it turned around. Also at this point, my brother also lost his job. Things sucked all round.

As a final kick in the ass, and a reminder about how bad things were getting, our neighbours across the street had their house seized by the sheriff. Evicted. It's a legal battle now, but imagine coming home from work to find your locks changed and you've been given 12 hours to clear out. Ick.

On October 19 Kim graduated from University. In our friend's living room. Thank God for friends.

November 11 was the first Remembrance Day without dad. Kim posted a wonderful tribute to him, but I chose a different path. I just couldn't write about him, it's still too soon.

So there you have it. In the grand scheme of things, we didn't lose our house, our car, our health, our future, if anything, we gained. We came back down to earth and realized that there is more to life than what we take for granted everyday. I have been humbled by the events of the past year, and I have lowered my expectations. I know take great pride in what we have, we survived a shitty year and want to strive to make it better from this point forward. There is so much more that I didn't write about, but no need for more details. To those who's lives around us have also been impacted by major events that I have not included here, this is strictly based on my posts over the past year. It certainly doesn't downplay the importance you play in our lives.

Next year will bring renewed life on our little world. These posts will be more positive and my expectations of the future have only one direction to go - up. Thank you to my friends and family who have helped us get through this tumultuous time in our lives.

The year from hell is over.

Let the light shine anew.

Cheers.