Die Hard

I awoke yesterday morning prepared to face an extremely busy day................. Mother Nature decided I needed just a little twist to add some excitement to my day - so she sent 10 cms of snow.

Now under normal conditions that wouldn't bother me in the least - EXCEPT - I had gotten lulled into believing winter wasn't coming this year....... and had not put my snow tires on.  Soooooooooooo the 10 cms of snow posed a driving challenge........... But we folks up here in the Great White North are a 'die hard bunch' - well ok maybe a stupid bunch......... But we do believe that a little bit of snow doesn't stop us from doing anything......... 

I had a Board meeting in the morning - 15 minutes from my lil condo.  I left an hour early.  I was 30 minutes late for the meeting. I saw 3 accidents on the way to the Board - some pretty major........ 'die hards' all of us!!!

Then I flew out of the Board and back to school for lunch - and then was faced with preparations for our Mexican fiesta!!


Did I tell you (I honestly can't remember and am too brain dead to look) that the program I planned this year for my kiddies involves visiting countries all around the world??
We started the year off with each kiddie making a biplane with their picture.............It makes a great welcoming board to our room......... 

The first country we visited back in October ........ was ....... you guessed it.. Mexico.  The kids have learned about the customs (well some of them) and have made all sorts of "souvenirs" to bring back from their first trip.  

They made .......... Day of the Dead masks..maps of the country and mexican flags ....... mexican pottery (the orange round things on the wall )....... they made worry dolls... and fiesta flags... sombreros...pinatas...and the list goes on and on........ 

 I wanted plants from the region and god bless W he went hunting and actually found an out of season pepper plant for me.. an aloe vera plant and i managed to find a flowering cactus.

Yesterday was our last day in Mexico ... and so I decided to have a Mexican fiesta.. with a food tasting event.  Sounded like a great plan back in September....... yesterday not so much.  One other woman and I worked for a couple of hours setting tables with brightly coloured tablecloths and napkins... cooking taquitos and dishing out salsa and taco chips... we worked in a small galley type kitchen with one small oven.... and still managed to get 160 taquitos baked in record time for our hungry excited "tourists'
Die hard......... that's us !!

I wish I could post the pictures of the kiddies faces as they put on their very best "party manners" for me and came to the fiesta.......... but protocol prevents me from doing so.  Trust me when I say they had a blast and the hugs and thank yous I got when it was all over made it worth every aching tired muscle !!!


10 hours after I started my day - I trudged out to my car and started the challenging drive home.  Even then...... after 90% of the streets had been cleared and salted and sanded I still managed to come across another major accident - 5 cars involved - with fire trucks, ambulances and police.  I was never so glad to arrive home safe and sound......... 


This morning (a day late and a dollar short) I am getting my snow tires put on the car.. the weather forecast for tomorrow - sunny and mild........ sigh.......... but I know .. as do every other 'die hard' nut case up here in the Great White North - that the white stuff will be back !!!


Oh and in case you are wondering........ for the next 4 weeks we will be sticking around Canada and getting ready for the holidays.  We will however take a quick trip to Israel around mid December to learn about the Festival of Lights.........  I LOVE my job !!