Seems I’m starting all my new posts with “it’s been a while” lately.

We’ve had a pretty busy year so far. I’m still in school. Hubs is home from Kandahar. The spring battlefields (Somme, Normandy, Ypres, etc.) tour is a distant memory. Our annual Can’t Stop the Serenity event is done for 2011 and planning is beginning for 2012. We’re just starting in with volunteering for Pure Spec and are tearing up the basement to deal with the flooding we’ve been experiencing for weeks due to the horrific weather.

So, what’s new with you?

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. Between school and hubs quick visit home I haven’t had too much to say lately. But that doesn’t mean the world has stopped turning during my silence.

Happy things:
1) The “do things that scare me” plan is in full swing and the girly intervention was a lot of fun. I’m still learning how to put on make-up but I seem to be managing ok walking in high heel shoes. I’ll need lots more practice but I think I can see myself wearing fancy schmantzy girly shoes more often.

2) The Opera Gala was wonderful and I really enjoyed myself. I took my friend Shannon as my “date” and it was a great way to spend Valentine’s Day.

3) The fancy schmantzy night out with the hubs was fabulous. We headed to a restaurant, the Unheardof, that had come highly recommended by my co-workers. It. Was. Amazing. The food was fabulous. The atmosphere and service was perfect. I’m really looking forward to our next opportunity to visit Unheardof.

4) For a long time we’ve been planning a trip to France and parts of the UK once Drew returns from KAF. After spending quite a bit of time crunching budget numbers and seeing what’s available we’ve come to the hard realization that our plans need to change. It looks like we’ll just be visiting France at this time and will need to visit the UK at some future date.

5) Stuff got done around the house. Mostly plumbing and such. Fewer drips and no more constantly running toilet are very good things.

Sad things:
1) The weather was cold and miserable the entire time hubs was home.

2) We waived goodbye to each other today. I’m home. Hubs is headed onward. Puppehs and I are a bit lonely tonight.

That is all.

Tomorrow, hubs is home on a tour break. 14 days to get as much cuddling in as possible and household repairs that I haven’t been able to manage alone. There will be hockey games and fancy, schmantzy dinners out; long conversations that don’t revolve around the time limit on a phone calling card. Did I mention cuddling?

Very excited!

I’m no stranger to winter. I was raised on the east coast where snow piles were often taller than my mother. From an early age, my sister and I joined our parents shoveling the monster driveway at our childhood home.

In my mid-20s, my husband and I moved to Winnipeg. The city’s well earned nickname is “Winterpeg” and -40C is not an unheard of temperature.

When we moved to Edmonton a few years ago, we were thrilled to discover that winter’s here had smaller amounts of snowfall and were much warmer than Winnipeg. Who’d have thought moving so far north would find us smack dab in a warmer climate?

Sadly, la nina appears to have an opposite impact on winters out west. We’ve had next to no summer. Rain. Rain. And more rain. Our regular small snow fall in October didn’t materialize and for a while we all wondered if winter would ever arrive. Oh, how naive we were…

Over the past few weeks we’ve been bouncing between crazy freezing temperatures and mounds of snow. Last weekend I spent hours shoveling the 30+ cm that descended into my yard. With drifing induced by the high winds, in some areas the drifts of snow to be shoveled were more than 2 feet tall!

Just when we thought we couldn’t stand anymore winter, mother nature thumbed her nose at us and stuck out her tongue. We’ve had crazy cold temps all week (-22C and lower, before windchill) and on Friday another mass snowfall began. It’s expected to snow for days…

I’m tired of shoveling. I’m tired of throwing snow onto piles higher than my head. And now I’m worried about a quick spring thaw. There’s so much snow and moisture that I suspect some basement flooding may be inevitable.

Someone would make a killing if they came and carted unwanted snow from yards in the city. Smaller piles of snow in my yard would certainly make me happy 🙂

Here’s hoping hubs can find a way to move some of this snow much farther away from the house than I’ve been able to manage when he visits next month…

I have freakishly small feet for an adult. My hands are also freakishly small but that’s a rant for another day.

It’s winter in Edmonton. Which means snow, ice and (in my case) often frozen toes. I have to shovel snow shortly after it falls and I need to walk to and from bus and train stations. I have been in search of boots since just before the weather turned cold.

I loathe shoe shopping. I’d rather poke my eyes out with hot irons than try to find a nice, comfortable, good looking pair of shoes.

I’ve lived in northern climes all my life. Winter boot buying is an annual tradition for most Canadians. You’d think I’d be used to it by now. Or that I’d just wear the same boots year after year.

Hey, that’s a fabulous idea. Why am I not doing that?

Perhaps because I’ve lost a tonne of weight over the past year. When you lose weight things get smaller. Oddly enough, feet shrink.

When I was fat my feet were so wide and chubby that I had to wear shoes a few sizes bigger (read: small adult sized) to accommodate them. Now that my feet have shrunk, I’m back to wearing children’s shoe sizes.

Children’s shoes suck if you’re an adult. Because children’s feet grow so fast they’re not really designed to last. They are often not built well. Try finding a proper pair of running shoes (stability, motion control, etc.) in a child’s size and you’ll see what I mean…

And they’re UGLY! What’s cute on a small child is not cute on a 30+ year old woman. I don’t need or want bows, ruffles, crystal designs, or bright colours on my shoes. I want classic dress shoes with a smallish heel or flats with decent cushioning.

I also want the winning lottery ticket. I figure I have about the same chance of finding either in my possession anytime soon.

But I need boots. It’s cold. There really isn’t a way to make it through winter without them. Shoe shopping has been on my agenda for days. I’ve spent far too many hours bouncing from store to store in search of boots this weekend.

I’ve learned that many of the boots that do fit my feet are far too short to be useful. Most don’t come above my ankles while I really need boots that come to mid-calf or my knees. I’ve learned that the Bay closest to me doesn’t sell children’s shoes. I’ve learned that the Soft Moc in the same mall doesn’t carry anything smaller than a size 6. I’ve learned that the Shoe Warehouse sold out of my size (3) long before I got there and that Zellers had no boots in my size that looked appropriate for an adult to wear. Not this adult anyway.

I’ve also learned that many higher end or specialty shoe stores are staffed with young employees more interested in socializing than in helping customers. Again, a rant for another day…

When I went to Sears on Friday night their winter boot section was almost empty. Empty space after empty space on the shelves. What was left wasn’t in my size. I wandered back through Sears today and lucky for me, they’d restocked between Friday evening and mid-afternoon on Sunday.

After days of searching, I’ve finally managed to score an awesome pair of just-below-the-knee Sorel boots. Big, giant, warm, clunky Sorels. They’re a different colour (black) than my winter coat (brown). There’s nothing fashionable about them but in the end they’ll do exactly what I need; they’ll keep my toes toasty warm.

I am victorious!