Looking Back on 2012...

Hi There!

First, I'd like to wish EVERYONE a Happy.... 

No, wait!   Make that a "JOYOUS" New Year!

May Peace, Health and Prosperity

 reign in your home and in your heart!

January:

 This was a cold month but we were REALLY lucky this winter and got very little (accumulated) snow!

February:

Gilbert and I decided to celebrate my birthday and escape for an overnight sleepy, in Bangor!  Just as we crossed the border into the USA, I got a call from my work.  Our organization would be going through a MAJOR restructuring and MY office would be closing at the end of September!  Talk about a major "bummer"!  21 years working with this organization and I would be out of a job!

Trust me, Gilbert and I shopped but we were very careful and only bought the stuff that we "needed" and borderline "wanted".  Once home, I still had some difficulty sleeping and accepting the "fait accomplit",  Finally, I had to stop sharply in my tracks and be stern with myself.  What would be would be AND the Good Lord had never let me down before, right?

And, as they say, "A door shuts and another one opens."

March:

Nothing really spectacular happened here. At work, my co-worker and I were desperately trying to shred old files and maintain our day to day work... all the while, trying to console each other and speculating on what the future reserved for us.

April:

After talking about this for several years, Gilbert and I decided to take the plunge and buy a new "Baby Barn".  Some people call these "Storage Sheds" or "Mini Garages".  Around here, they're usually called "Baby Barns".

We had it delivered as a kit.... or, in pieces if you prefer, with instructions on how to put it together.  Gilbert worked on this all summer, whenever he got a chance.

Baby Barn kit is under that blue tarp.  It was raining that day.

(That's the OLD Baby Barn, to the left)

May:

Well, we had an INCREDIBLE summer, for our city.  Most times, we get a late summer, accompanied with plenty of fog and rain... interspersed with a few sunny days.  Nice, beach weather, IMHO, occurs towards mid to end of August.

Not this summer!  I was able to plant a few deck plants and herbs and most of them stayed REAL nice, all summer!

Gilbert had the barn raised... or almost by the end of May.

When we purchased this home in 2000, we acquired that old and crappy shed.  Gilbert and I were BOTH eager to see a bigger and better Baby Barn and REALLY eager to have the old one torn down!!!

 June:

This month just whizzed by.  Same ole, same ole...

Go to work, come home, sew a bit, supper and upstairs to watch some TV and then, bedtime.

Next day?  Same as above.

July:

Took a week vacation and went on a 3 day road trip with my Mom, my sister Tina and her daughter, the "Princess"!!!

Started taking acupuncture for my arthritis and other minor health issues.  Continued with the acupuncture till mid-October with no real, concrete results.  Either these people didn't know what they were doing or acupuncture really doesn't work... which I doubt.... or, for some reason, it didn't work for me 'cause I really didn't feel any different, unfortunately.

 It was at the beginning of THIS month that I, once again, put my foot down and spoke to myself sternly, "Rosa, this is RIDICULOUS!  You need a dishwasher!!!"

Sooooo, we went shopping and picked our new dishwasher and after building a "frame" to house our new dishwasher and after many, MANY trips to the hardware/plumbing stores to try and fix the dishwasher's leak, Gilbert realized that it had NOTHING to do with his hook-up.  There was a part on this NEW dishwasher that was broken!

NOTE - By the time everything was said and done and the repairman came and fixed our dishwasher, we were in the month of August.

On the 19th, we picked up our new puppy, Zelda, in Riverview, NB.

Stressful trip back home - 1.5 hour drive. Zelda was sick in the car.  :-(

On the 20th, we took Zelda to our Vet for her needles. Another stressful trip for Zelda. She HATES the car!!!

House training became priority #1.  Zelda was brought up in the country, in a kennel.  She had never been in a house nor a car before!  (Note: She's STILL terrified of car rides.)  House training meant I had to SIT beside her and watch her like an eagle!  No time for quilting, needless to say!  Finally, by journalling WHEN she did her #1's and #2's, we're able to figure out how often she needs to go out.  And learning her "signals", too!

 August:

 During the first week of August, we had a new door installed to replace our old crappy one. And to save money, Gilbert decided to just have the door installed and he would do the trimmings and painting, etc.  So, along with our leaky dishwasher problem, a Baby Barn that needed to be torn down, a puppy that was terrified of her own shadow.... Me, at work, trying to race against the clock and shred old files, throw brick a brack out, while maintaining our regular work schedule, and we had extraordinary hot and humid weather... August whizzed by!

Added afterwards...
I went to my parents, where they were hosting our Cusbin's Camping. (Cusbin = Cousins and husbands/spouses/friends/whatever)

Had a GREAT day chatting with family and friends and snacking!

Gilbert and I went to a National German Shepherd Dog Competition, held in our city!  That was fun!

Zelda's breeder had suggested that we give her a month to get used to us and THEN, get her "fixed".  Well, would you BELIEVE 3 days BEFORE she's scheduled for her operation, Zelda goes into "heat" and can't be operated on.... until afterwards!??!?

Mid August, our neighbour's garage roof catches on fire!  We had 3 firetrucks parked on our street.  Talk about beating hearts!!!  Zelda and MY heart, that is!  No, we did not have any smoke damage and our siding didn't melt - THANK GOD!

Where we busy?!?!?!?

But, on a positive note, towards the end of August, the weather cooled down and it was less humid...

Thank God!

September:

Oh gosh but this was a stressful month for me!

Mid-September, I entered several quilts in the Kennebecasis Quilt Guild Show. No, I didn't win but it was fun to see my quilts hanging for all to see. *grin*

The weekend afterwards, we went to the

Sussex Vale Quilters’ Guild Quilt Show & Sale

And then....

Work, work, work... 

worry, worry, worry.

But you know what?  Sometimes its the "unknown" that worries us the most.

I had 3 of our Board of Directors give us a helping hand, to get rid of office furniture, paperwork, etc, etc, etc.

The 3 rooms had to be COMPLETELY emptied by the 28th of September!

Thanks to them, the whole thing went 100 times better than what I had imagined!!!

And then, there was only one last day, at work.

*gulp*

Friday, the 28th of September was the last day.

The next day, Gilbert and I headed off
to Calais, USA to yet another
quilt show.

And yes, we managed to do some shopping, too!

October:

WOW!  What a difference!

You're soooo used to counting every single minute when you have to get up and go to work and rush home and ... and.... Well, you know what I mean.

Would you believe, during the first week, I had the chance to sit back and watch Zelda eating and drinking her fresh water?!??!...  and then, I watched her lay down and snooze!

And I didn't feel guilty - not one bit!

LOL

Mid-October, I attended a Board of Directors' meeting in Prince Edward Island and Gilbert came along.  We left Zelda at the Vet's for her big Operation and picked her up the next day.

BOY!!!!   Did SHE have a lot to say when we picked her up at the Vet!!!

We just wish we could have understood her moans and groans and yips and yaps!

November:

Getting ready for Christmas and making some Christmas gifts and mug-rugs for some good friends.  I also made 5 Christmas stockings, for my nieces and nephew.

Gilbert was REAL busy with Bertha and I tried to help out with meals, as much as possible.

December:

The last month of 2012 and up until the 24th was an almost complete repeat of the last month.

Gilbert was busy with Bertha and I tried, as best as possible, to prepare meals.

I went to visit my parents at the beginning of December.  Mom had invited us girls to help cook her meatpies.

I went to my sister Tina and her hubby Chris on the 15th.  They were the hosts for our Cusbin's Christmas Party.  We came up with the name "Cusbin"... meaning "cousins" and their "husbands".

And on the 24th, as is our family tradition, we gathered together and opened up our gifts and had some delicious lobster, for supper!

We had sneaker and sweatshirt weather for the first 3 weeks of December.  We got a bit of snow, just before Christmas but it melted, here in the city... before Christmas.

Well, the last Thursday into Friday - 27th and 28th of Dec. -  we had a wallop of a snow storm!  A Nor'Easter!   We got approx. 10 inches of snow!!!

Something to keep us busy, for sure!

Oh - and in case you're wondering....
Zelda LOVED the snow!!!

And that, ladies and gentlemen,
was our wonderful
and incredible 2012!

I hope I haven't bored you and that you continue to visit and read my blog in 2013.

Once again,
I wish you only the "bestest" for 2013!

Rosa