Well, it's still minus 19 this morning with a wind chill of minus 25 but the wind isn't nearly as strong as it was yesterday. I was watching the little icon from the weather network on my computer all day and it never got above minus 19. Needless to say, the dog doesn't stay out too long these days. But it is going to start getting a bit more tolerable today and for the rest of the week - around the minus 10 mark.
Last night I spent the evening stripping wall paper off the walls in one of the spare rooms. It actually came off quite easily but left the backing on the wall. A quick spray with hot water took it right off. But it's still a time consuming procedure.
On my way home last night I stopped into Colour Your World and had a look at wall paper. I think I know what I want but I have to measure the room first to see how much I need. On Monday night I stopped in to Home Depot to look at flooring. So many choices!
It's amazing how these things take on a life of their own. My initial goal was to take up the ugly pink carpeting in the upstairs hallway and replace it with wood. Once I had that taken up, the even uglier light green carpeting in the front bedroom looked even worse. So up that came as well. Of course now that the furniture is all out of the room and the carpet is up, it only makes sense to strip off the old wallpaper. It's a very small room with dark green paper on the walls. My plan is to lighten it up considerably with something in a pastel colour range. The timing is actually perfect as I'm starting a new quilting class on Saturday. If I choose paper prior to Saturday then I can choose fabrics for my new quilt to coordinate with the paper. I'm lookimg forward to this new class because we are actually doing a full quilt. I'm still very new at this but this is a beginner level project and looks quite fun. I'm also really excited to have a pretty new room for my guests to stay in.
My hope is that in time some of the IAAP girls from Grand River can make it out to visit. I would love to have them. I was very happy to welcome Suzanne this summer. I hope they enjoyed themselves, and I think they did, in spite of the weather (we had the threat of a hurricane while they were here). She ended up having to leave her tent at my place so I plan to make a trip to Ontario at some point maybe in the spring, so that I can return it to her, and pick up my dollhouse in Brockville on the way back.
I do miss my IAAP friends. The girls here are great, and have been very welcoming but it's not Grand River. We have, I think, around 12 members total. We have six who show up most of the time, two who are off and on, and the rest I've not met yet.
The trouble with having been a part of Grand River for five years, they are a tough act to follow for any chapter. But I am really working on saving my pennies so that I can go to CDC in Regina. I'm looking forward to that. I've been to Regina once before, but that was in a prior life (there was a man involved - why else would you go to Regina?)
I was so sorry not to be in Ontario when Angie passed away. She was the Jolene,s sister , one of the Grand River members. She just had such a long struggle and she was such an inspiration to all of us. This past September was my 8th Weekend to End Breast Cancer and Angie was in my thoughts a lot on those events over the past few years. No one knows how they will cope with something like Breast Cancer, and I can only hope I could deal with it with half of her strength and optimism and grace. I know she is in a better place now, but I still think of her often, and pray that her boys are doing well. I never met them but I do think of them. I know that Jolene has a strong network of family around her, and I know that they have all had a lot to deal with over the past couple of years, but I also know that she is very loved and much supported by the members of Grand River. That is what I miss. It isn't just a professional organization, it is so much more. Even though I'm so far away, I feel that at any time if I really needed support, they would be right behind me. If not physically, then certainly emotionally. I was blown away when I left Guelph and at least 20 members came out to a get together to see me off. They are so generous in spirit. Among other gifts I received that night, the gift of the patio paver at Vista Grande is a very precious one. There is nothing they could have given me that would have meant so much. There were so many good times with that group and now I feel like that time together has been eternally immortalized. I can't wait to reconnect in May, even if it's only for a few days.
Well, I've gone off on a tangent but isn't that what these things are for?
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