Christmas Surprise!

When I went to get the mail today and saw a Christmas stocking hanging on the handle of the drop off box at the post office. "How nice," I thought. "They are actually decorating the post office this year!" As I checked my mail I noticed a note attached to the stocking and stopped to read it on my way out. The note invited me to help myself to an ornament, which I immediately did, thank you. Then it went on to say to move the stocking to another location and to let the Cardinal Youth Centre know where it went.  Fantastic!  I happened to be heading out of town, so I grabbed the stocking and headed for the car.

I'm a geocacher and have done this sort of thing with trackables found hidden in some of the caches I've located.  Normally you take a treasure and replace it with something else, so the cache is never empty. I have a great collection of things I've found over the years. The trackables aren't meant to be kept though. You are supposed to redeposit them somewhere else as quickly as possible and log where you picked them up and where you dropped them off so that the person who originally purchased the thing can keep track of it's travels.  This stocking was just like that only I didn't go looking for it in the first place, I just happened upon it.  This find made my day.

The idea is to leave it somewhere for someone else to find and to do so without letting anyone catch you.  The stocking, when I found it, still had 4 ornaments left inside. They were all hand painted by the kids at the youth group. One had obviously been dipped in shaving cream and acrylic paint. I've done that sort of thing myself in the past, but never with Christmas ornaments (but you can count on that happening sometime in the future!)

On the way to a nearby town to do a wee bit of shopping, I thought over where I could leave this Christmas stocking. I didn't think a store would be a good idea as people would just think it was part of the merchandise, or someone would think it was being stolen if it was seen being carried away. Where could I leave it where it wouldn't get wet and where I knew it would be found quickly. I smiled as I came up with the perfect place. After finishing our shopping we often drop by the local McCafe for refreshments. I could leave it there.  I stuck it someplace where it was likely found even before I left. I didn't see that happen though as I didn't sit where I could keep an eye on it.  I'll find out when I see the find posted online.....hopefully.

While making my choice of ornaments I discovered that one of the others was broken. It was a delicate glass ornament and as I was afraid someone might cut themselves on it, I disposed of it, and all the shards I could find in the stocking. That's when I discovered there was also $4.55 cents tucked down in the toe.  I imagine someone dropped the coins in as a donation to the Cardinal Youth Group but as I doubt anyone will ever even send them back their stocking, I guess the last person will end up with the loot as well as sock.  I bet they will be thinking it's a lump of coal in the toe!

However it works, I think this was a really great idea and I will be putting it forth to some of the groups I'm involved with next winter. Hopefully we can create and track the travels of our own Christmas stockings too. It seems like a great way to spread Christmas cheer.  If all else fails, I may have to enlist my grandchildren to create some Christmas balls for this sort of project.  I can hardly wait!

Note:  I have since learned that the Cardinal group is hoping to hear where the socks end up so they can come and collect the donations. Apparently other socks have money in them too.  Please keep this in mind if you find one. Thanks.

The New Life

I have had the house to myself for almost 44 years while my hubby has been the sole bread winner. I often laughingly threatened to send him out to be a Walmart greeter when it came time for retirement as I was used to my routine and didn't think I'd want him underfoot all day. He doesn't sit still well and I know he'd have to be doing something. He must have decided he liked the job he had better than the one I was planning to send him off to because he just kept on working right past his 70th birthday.  Two other businesses have already told him, "Don't go to Walmart. Come see us!" I guess that must have sounded like a plan if he decided he was bored at home because he retired soon after those invitations.

People often worry about what they will do with all that extra time once they are out of the workforce. I know the military used to have programs to train you in how to deal with life after retirement. That's not a bad idea. Some transition is definitely needed, not only for the retiree, but for others in the household.  I did hear people ask him what he was going to do.  I quickly mentioned that I had a list.  I figure it's better to steer him towards things I wanted done than to have him dreaming up jobs I'd rather not see started. But I did say that he could just relax for the first couple of weeks, and then we'd be busy with Christmas. In the new year there is some deep cleaning to be done, and anticipating that, he's already started in the basement. It might be that he's just hiding down there, but the work table might actually be useful for something other than storage for the first time in decades.

He has not had time to get bored yet as we have had lots of things to do together. December 1st was the big annual Christmas celebration in this village. There are all kinds of things to do and people come from miles around to take part. The weather was good so we went downtown and wandered around for a while too.

A couple of my friends dropped by on the 4th, and he joined us for coffee and goodies. One of them even brought butter tarts because she knows he likes them. That was the beginning of our busy social events as the next day was the day I go to the Drop In centre, and I took him with me. He got to meet a couple of other men he could enjoy conversation with, so I'm sure that will be a regular event.  I had 2 tickets for the Ottawa Originals craft show for the 6th, so we went and prowled around there and bought a few things. Then we had a meal out before heading for home and attending a local business's 30th anniversary open house that evening. That was definitely a full day, so the next day we just went grocery shopping because the karate class was supposed to be that evening. At the last minute we discovered the school board had cancelled our class though, but a quiet time at home can be enjoyable too.

The next day was Saturday, and while I don't remember too much about that, other than us attending a local craft show in the old United Church that has now become more of an entertainment centre, we had another annual event to attend that evening. One of my old friends holds a big house party every year. And she has a house big enough to handle that. There are always people there we don't see more than once a year so it's nice to be able to gather in this way.  The very next day was the monthly Sharing Table which is something we will start attending more often. They usually just have soup, salad and dessert, but this time they were serving a complete Christmas dinner, with other treats to take home. This event was a complete success and every seat was filled.  Did I mention that it was free?

About this time one of my friends asked when I get my housework done. My answer was that if we aren't there to mess it up, there's not that much to do. The truth is, I have traditionally taken weekends off to spend with my hubby, and with him home, I was in vacation mode too. By now he must be convinced I never do anything around the place!  But he'll find out at the beginning of the new year because, as I said, I have a list.

This brings us up to December 10 and a Pizza Party and Chinese Auction at my arts guild. We were invited to bring our spouses along, so it was another nice evening out. On the 11th we had dental appointments. On the 12th it was time for the Drop In center again, but this time it was Stone Soup day. Everyone brings a vegetable of some sort, and it all gets put into a pot. The most delicious soups have been made each month in this manner. There are always sandwiches and beautiful desserts to be had too. My grocery bill should look good after all this eating out. I'm afraid to get on the scale though!

On December 13th we went to Ottawa again, but this time to do some serious Christmas shopping. Time is quickly running out, after all. We did well and came home with several packages. As seems to be the trend, after a busy day in Ottawa, we had a quieter one the next day. It wasn't idle though, as we had appointments at Robillard's to check up on our hearing aids. That happens every six months. After that we went for lunch and then grocery shopping, and that evening it was karate class. Did I say we had a quiet day? Maybe I should have just said less exciting.

December 15th we popped in to wish a couple well on their 60th wedding anniversary. There was a party being held in the same hall where the Drop In usually is, and since that's where we know this particular couple from, a lot of the usual gang was there too, so we stayed longer than we may have originally intended and quite enjoyed ourselves.

Since then it's been more about getting ready for Christmas around the house. I made meat pies yesterday while hubby created some heart shaped necklaces out of horseshoe nails. He has decided they make good gifts and has been out giving them away. One even seems to have become a window decoration. I can see a craft table of his own in his future, and if I get busy and create some art I can join him on the craft circuit.

Yesterday we put up the tree. Today we started wrapping. For once I don't have to do that all by myself. Yes, I've put that job on the list!  There will be plenty to do getting ready for this coming feast, and I will be glad to have help as really, I feel I'm getting too old for all this.

So, how will it go after the holiday busy time?  I don't know, but already we go for a walk every day. Well, I've always walked for the mail and he likes to walk for exercise, so we start out together and then, because I walk too slow for him to get a cardio workout, we separate at the post office and meet up again at home where we sit and have the hot beverage of our choice.  I expect January and February to be the real test as we both have lots of things we like to do outside and it will be too cold and slippery for me then. That's why I do my spring cleaning as soon as the new year starts. So for a while, he can work for me. And if that doesn't keep him busy enough, there are several single ladies around here that need help too. One has already contacted him about snow removal, and as he has already removed some from her driveway once, I guess he's taken on that job.  He has mentioned that he can't believe more than two weeks have passed already. It's all going to be just fine.

No Mail Guarantee this Christmas

Canada Post says it can't guarantee your mail will get delivered in time for Christmas this year. We had a postal strike, after all.  Mail had piled sky high at major distributing sites even before people started ordering gifts online or adding to the pile by mailing early cards and long distance parcels.

I seem to have been caught in this mess too as I ordered something from Amazon back in November. It got shipped out on November 27, and I was given a tracking number. I have been able to watch this parcel since it left Amazon.

Even though it said there was a delay in delivery due to weather or natural disaster it got to Ottawa quickly enough. I went to the post office the day after it arrived there, expecting to pick it up. It wasn't there. It didn't come the next day either so I used the tracking number and discovered an amazing thing. My parcel had gone to Winnipeg!

Why would my parcel go to Winnipeg when it got so close to me so quickly?  It had to be a mistake, I thought, and it somehow got into the wrong pile. Then it came back to Ottawa. Each day the message continued to say that there was a delay due to weather or natural disaster, but we all know this was a man made disaster created at the post office due to failed negotiations or poor timing by the government as to when to order the postal workers back to work. True, the postal workers have every right to strike. If the government wanted to mess with that, and put them back to work, they should have done it before the piles became so unmanageable that the postal workers not only didn't get what they were after but also had to work so much overtime to try and clear out the mountains that have accumulated at the busiest time of the year.

The next time I looked, my parcel was in Montreal!  What???  How could that happen?  Why was my parcel getting to Ottawa, and then moving on again?  Could it be the mountains there were already so high the workers just waved at the trucks and said, "No way are you unloading here! We don't have room for any more!"  I don't know but what other reason could there be?

Meanwhile two of my friends ordered something from Amazon and their orders arrived in less than a week. I'm wondering if they have an Amazon Prime membership. It's Christmas and you can have that for free for 30 days, so why didn't I think of that?  It would likely have meant my parcel would have been sent by priority post. Why else would theirs get here before mine?


I just checked again on Tuesday and it's finally gotten closer to me. It actually traveled in the right direction this time! It seems it got stuck again though as it spent 4 days just 12 miles away before
finally showing up here today.  Oh, and look, they did stick a priority post label on it.  Can you imagine how long it would have taken if they had not done that? 

What ever happened to  "Neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"?  Oh ya, I forgot, that's the American creed not ours. Ours is simply, “From anywhere … to anyone.”  It doesn't promise a quick delivery, or even a direct route.

Unbidden Memories

For the past couple of weeks there has been a song stuck in my head. It's in a commercial that plays very frequently during a show I watch on  https://www.globaltv.com/.  I've heard it so often all I remember is the song and not actually what they are selling.  I'd just as soon forget the song too, as it brings back a memory I think I could live without.

When I was a little girl living in Nova Scotia, we used to come to Ottawa to visit my grandmother and my aunt. I didn't know anyone else in that area, but one summer there was another little girl about my age who was living next door, and someone introduced me to her. I suddenly had a new friend in the city. One day she came up with the idea that we should set up a lemonade stand on the corner. Her mother agreed to make the lemonade for us, and we lugged out a small table and some chairs and made a sign and set ourselves up on the corner of Gilmour and Kent. By then a big jug of lemonade and some glasses were delivered to us and we were in business. A few people stopped by and remarked that it was a perfect day for such a business. They wished us well and sampled our wares. Then my dad came along and told me he was going to a movie and asked if I wanted to come. I really did, because I loved spending time with my dad, and I liked movies but I felt obligated to stay with my new friend. She could see I wanted to go, and told me it was alright, just go and she'd see me later. So I went.

I don't think I enjoyed that movie much. I felt guilty the whole time. I felt even worse when my new friend tried to split the earnings with me when I got back. I couldn't accept, but even her mom wanted her to do that because I was there in the beginning.

I think now that this is the only bad experience I ever had with my dad, and likely the only mistake he ever made while raising me. He shouldn't have put temptation before me like that, or he should have scolded me for accepting it. Meanwhile my friend's mom was teaching her to have a kind and generous spirit. We went home shortly after that and she wasn't there the following summer. I still feel guilty to this day for walking away from a friend.

The song is Que Sera Sera, but when I look up the movie it came from that doesn't seem like the one we saw. It doesn't really matter since it is the one that triggered the memory.  What will be, will be.