MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My Granddaughter

This is the first Christmas with a very special little angel in the family. I am so blessed with riches money just can't buy.

Thank you for your faithful readership this past year. I am almost at 40,000 visits. This time last year I was at about 20,000 and that took two years so it has doubled this year.

I am hoping that 2013 will bring lots of new TRAVEL material to write about... hopefully some of it will be in the BVI.

Blessings to you all!! May you have a wonderful Christmas with family and loved ones.

A VERY PALM SPRINGS CHRISTMAS DAY

We weren't to be at Ron's until 11:00 so I tried to sleep in but really couldn't. I was itching to leave by 10:30 and still not feeling that great from the MSG I ate two days ago so I headed over to the Rite Aid for some Immodium. While I was there, I picked up two 1.75 liter bottles of Malibu Rum for $16 each. They would be over $50 each at home.

I arrived a little late, for once, and the gift opening commenced almost immediately. With a chocolate filled croissant in one hand, and a mimosa in the other, I took a seat with the sunshine warming my back and settled in for a good couple of hours.


I am always amazed at the fun gifts Ron always manages to find. He gave Matt a stuffed toy goat that sings 'Lonely Goatherd' from Sound of Music; coffin cufflinks to Micheal that actually open to reveal a vampire inside; Spiderman head cufflinks for Nelson; and Malibu Rum flip flops for me - to name a few. He gave me a set of pens that look like the ones businesses have their info on, only these are all very rude businesses. He said they would dissuade people asking to borrow my pens on set!

Michael gave me a bottle of one of my favourite perfumes, Mediterranean by Elizabeth Arden, and then I knew why my daughter had asked me what expensive perfume I was out of. I thought it was because they wanted to buy me some at the Duty Free on their trip to England and I told her not to spend her money, that I didn't need it. But now I have it again and am really pleased.

Once the gift opening was over, it was almost 3:00 and so I headed home for a long nap and then to get ready for the glamorous dinner Ron has catered each Christmas.

This year I arrived spot on time (not early like last year) but still got scolded for not showing up late. It really isn't in my DNA to be late, I told Ron; I can't help myself. I even tried to be late this time.

The guest list included some rather famous names; Chris Rice (Anne Rice's son) among them. There was also a well known director (who shall remain nameless) whom I found to be rather loud, dominating any conversation he was a part of and constantly lauding the gift of a cheese selection he and his girlfriend, who couldn't keep her hands or lips off of him, had brought to the party. They seemed to not understand why none of us were eating any of it - seemingly oblivious to the fact that they had arrived very late and we had all just eaten a rather large turkey dinner. It didn't help my opinion of them both when they plopped down on the floor of the living room, after just handing Ron a huge box wrapped up in Christmas paper and tied with a bow, exclaiming how much he would love the gift - how the store they got it from was full of things he would love - how they felt whatever they got him from there, they couldn't go wrong - and how much he would love the gift they did get (I say that twice on purpose because they must have said it fifteen times) BEFORE he even opened it. He talked on and on while Ron opened the gift, on and on after it was opened (I honestly can't recall what it was - maybe martini glasses?), and on and on the rest of the night. At one point, Ron's gaze met mine and we both started to laugh at the absurdity of it - and the fellow talked on and on totally oblivious.

Despite all of that, it was a lovely evening with Ron performing a fabulous magic trick where he guillotined a guests hand with no harm done, with another amazing Christmas Buffet by the wonderful chef, Paul Hietter, and with a very chic guest list, and lots of love and laughter.
























































THE Cheese

CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY THIS YEAR

So, as I previously mentioned - because my daughter and her hubby are going to London for Christmas, I am going to Palm Springs, and my other daughter couldn't get time off for the week of Christmas - we are having Christmas early at our house. Well, at my daughter's apartment.

Shonah arrived on Wednesday night so got to come and see a taping of the show, Mr.Young, on Friday. I was really interested in her opinion of it as she works for a company that targets our target demographic and she volunteers with youth. She loved the show! She found it very funny but beyond that, thought that the subject of that particular episode plus the characters and their traits really hit the marks of several interests of kids today. I was happy to hear that. If she's right it means we may be back for more seasons and that means more steady work. I love the thought of that.

Our Christmas was on Sunday the 12th and I made the usual Christmas Morning Wifesaver for breakfast. Christopher and Izzy were late to arrive so we ate without them as it was 11:00 and we were starving. They arrived just as we were finished and so ate as we cleaned up and got ready to open gifts.

We did a fun thing this year to determine who would go first with the presents. We dealt out a deck of cards until they were gone and then started at two of diamonds and worked our way through the deck. If you held the card you got to give one of your gifts. There were SO many presents under the tree and it took us a long time to go through them all. The kids were really happy with the things I got them and so that made me really happy too. They were very excited with the tickets to go see Brian Regan in January. And Rob was so excited with ROOMBA the robotic vacuum cleaner that he had wanted back when they put their gift registry together for their wedding. Although, he plugged it in to get it charged it up right away and, once it was all charged, set it to cleaning but it would just go for a few seconds and then stop with a red light blinking. We were all disappointed but we figured he needed to read the manual and probably that would help. He won't have time to get to it before they leave for England so I will be eager to hear if it works when they get back.

I love the ornaments on Asheligh's tree - a real trip down memory lane as many we made together on 'mommy and daughters' craft evenings at home.

































Shonah loved her makeup and brushes I bought her, along with a couple of pair of her beloved Converse. It has taken her a long time to get into makeup and so it was fun to see her get excited over it.

I got some lovely things; Pandora beads from Ashleigh and Rob, an external hard drive from Christopher and Izzy, and Shonah made me cry with three beautiful sketch portraits of Christopher, Ashleigh and her. I will treasure them for all of my life. She also gave me a fabulous mug (I love snowmen) and a necklace from her trip to Disneyland.

All in all, it was one of the most fun Christmases I have had in a long time and I treasured every second of it. I love my kids to bits and feel like I never get enough time with them all in one room so it was gift enough to me to have them all there together. We laughed and laughed and I felt like a very blessed woman indeed.

IT'S NOT EVEN DECEMBER YET...

...and I am finished Christmas shopping!

(this is my tree from 2006, when I had my own home and loved to deck the whole place out for Christmas - I really miss that house this time of year. The kids loved coming home to it.)

It's been a long time since I have been done this early. Back before I was married, I used to pride myself on being all done and all the gifts wrapped by mid November. But in recent years that hasn't been the case. And in the past two years, I was too poor to buy much, thanks to hardly any work in my field.

But all that has changed this year and I am very grateful for it. It's wonderful to be working steady again. And though I am trying to be very careful with my money, I have to say it's been fun to be able to go shopping for the perfect Christmas gifts for those I love.

Two things got me to an early start. In September I was working on a movie called On Strike for Christmas. The house we used was decked out for Christmas as well as a mall which production filled with decorations, happy Christmas shoppers and a tree stand out in the parking lot. Three weeks of being immersed in that really got me not only in the Christmas mood, but feeling like it wasn't long until Christmas got here for real. Then, on my lunch break while shooting that movie, I went to a shop near where we were filming and happened upon the perfect gift for my married daughter. I wasn't going to buy it right then until the shop owner informed me that they only had three in stock and once they were gone, they'd never be found again as the manufacturer was no longer making them because the price point to make a profit would have to be too high. So I bought it. That got the ball rolling.

It's a good thing though because we are celebrating Christmas two weeks early this year. My daughter in Kelowna used all of her holidays this summer coming down here for her friend's wedding events and for the week before the wedding to help the bride out as much as she could. So she can't come for Christmas as that is when everyone wants time off. So she's taken a couple of personal days and will come down the weekend of the 10th. My other daughter and her hubby are leaving on the 15th for England as he is to be best man for his best man, and then they will spend Christmas with his parents. So we are getting together to have our Christmas Day on December 12th.

And me.... I am going back to Palm Springs!!!!!! I can't wait. I had such a great time there last year that just had to go back and do it again. I wrote to Eric back in October and asked him if his parents would be willing to let me stay with them again. He wrote back that the 'red room' was booked for me as long as I wanted it. I was very thankful and happy to hear it as I loved staying with them last year. So I have my flight booked, my room reserved, and a Christmas dress bought. And this time the neckline won't cause a minor scandal.

IN THE CHRISTMAS MOOD

I just completed 6 weeks on two movies for the same producers. The second one was a Christmas movie to air on Lifetime Movie Network on December 5th, called On Strike for Christmas. It stars Daphne Zuniga of One Tree Hill and David Sutcliffe of Gilmore Girls. What a super nice guy he is. I just loved his personality and he's an amazing actor with great instincts and impeccable comedic timing. My youngest is a huge Gilmore Girls fan so I had her bring down one of her boxed sets when she was passing through on a recent trip to Disneyland and had him sign it for her. Julia Duffy was in the cast and I loved her from the Newhart show (she was the maid in the Inn he owned). She is a delightful lady and I envy the women who get to call her a friend.

One fun thing; I got to teach 3 or 4 women on the cast how to knit. In the story, the main character owns a knitting store and the ladies sit around and knit as they chat. Daphne didn't know how to knit and so I taught her and a couple of others. Daphne was hooked and continued to knit through the entire movie while waiting between setups for lighting to finish. She completed a piece that was the perfect shape to make a little hat. She gave it to an actor who was playing her son but it ended up on the head of one of our producers, Jim. Here he is with Daphne wearing the hat. I told Jim that I want a credit at the end for 'Knitting Instructor'. I hope I get it. That would be fun.

The art department did such a fantastic job of turning an empty storefront into a knitting shop that we actually had women coming in to browse for wool while we were all on lunch!




































I had a great time and I don't think I have ever laughed so much on a show before. I am really sorry it's over BUT... I got the kids series so I will be working until the end of April, thank the Lord!!!!! It's a four day work week and only 10 hour days so I will actually get to have a life. The trade off is not as much money but I am fine with that.

The show is called Mr. Young and is for YTV, a kids network here in Canada. The premise of the story is that the main Character, Adam Young, is a child genius and graduated university at age 13. He is now a teacher in the high school that he would normally be attending. So in his classes are his sister, his best friend, and a girl he has a crush on. It is a sitcom, the first ever to be shot in front of a live studio audience here in western Canada so it's a pretty big deal to have gotten it.

I am so in the Christmas mood, thanks to the show I just finished. We spent 10 days in a house that was decorated for Christmas inside and the last two nights outside in a cul-de-sac that was ablaze with Christmas lights and decorations. It was so much fun!!! (except for the deluge our first day/night outside - blah! We all got soaking wet through).

So, as a result, I have started Christmas shopping. I have three people completely bought for; a few more smaller gifts bought; and an almost complete list on my cool new iPhone app, Christmas List. I LOVE it!!!

OH!! And, AND, I have booked my trip to Palm Springs for another Christmas in the desert with all of those fabulous (gay) men. I can't wait!

PS, HERE I COME

Well I am almost all packed for my trip to Palm Springs. And I cooked up 12 batches of Skor Bar for gifts. That's 6lbs of butter, 12 cups of sugar and 12 Swiss chocolate bars. All together in one Tupperware container it weighs about 10lbs. It's going in my carry-on bag.

I went to see a career counselor this week. Seems I have potential to be doing a lot more with my life than a stupid receptionist job - which I know I would loathe the second I sat down behind the desk. I have some homework to do and we will look at my options at the next session. I left there feeling a lot better about myself. She gave me back my hope.

What I am not looking forward to is coming back from paradise to the disaster that is the rest of my life. I have one room and one shed full of boxes and bits. I have to decide what I am going to keep and store, what I am going to store to garage sale in the spring, and what I am going to do with all of the big furniture that I can't store in my friend's crawlspace. What I need is someone with an unfinished basement or space in their garage to let me store it there indefinitely. I don't think people like that exist. Or if they do, they are a rare breed.

I have a couple of options for the end of January, when I must vacate this place. I am talking to my friend about staying with her again, paying-room-mate style, and she is thinking about it. She is planning to renovate her basement and to use the room I would stay in to pile all the stuff that needs moving. So she has to rethink it and will get back to me. If that doesn't work, I have an invitation to join an acquaintance on the road in her Winnebago as she travels across the USA to sell her book to bookstores. And I have an invitation to go sailing with the OTHER guy I was talking to before I left for Florida, the one in Mazatlan on the Sea of Cortez. He really wants me to come down for at least two weeks to see if I would want to travel to South America with him. It's something I am seriously considering.

I prefer the first option so that I can take advantage of the job I got at the 2010 Olympics. I start training January 6th. I will be either a supervisor or manager for the Resident Assistants who will be stationed at each hotel that has transport drivers living there for the duration of the games. I start full time the third week of January and go through to the end of March. That would give me some working capital for travel to either Mexico to sail or California for a long road trip. Also, I plan to call the insurance adjuster for the mall where I took the fall back in June to lay it on the line; I have finally run out of patience with this dragging-their-feet nonsense and if I don't have an offer by the first week of January, I am speaking to a lawyer. I am done being nice about it.

If this counselor comes up with something that works out for me, then I will just stay put and embark on a new career... one that I can work around script supervising when a show presents itself and I actually get hired onto the crew.

OK... back to packing. I have to be up at 3:54 tomorrow morning to leave here by 4:14 to be at the Bellingham airport two hours before my 7:45 flight to the Inland Empire. And it's the Survivor finale tonight. So I won't be getting much sleep. Can't miss seeing what Russel has up his sleeve. I wouldn't put it past the guy to win. I really wouldn't.

Merry Christmas everyone and may you experience the joy, peace, and hope that the season brings.