Quick Catch-up

Whew! I've finally got a good enough connection to get on here so I figured I'd give you all a quick update.

Sunday was a pretty quiet day. We had planned on going down to the main square in the evening for the tree lighting but we just didn't feel like going out. So we didn't.

Monday afternoon I went with neighbour Kris to go wrap Christmas presents for the food hampers, at Sharon Helgason's place. This year's toys were much nicer, and more plentiful, than last year's. I think there will be some very happy kiddies at Christmas. There's another wrapping session tomorrow afternoon that Kris and I will attend.

Tuesday morning I went to a monthly meeting of The Beach Gals Club. They're involved in all sorts of good things in the community. I decided to pay my dues so I can receive the newsletter to know what's going on so I can be more involved. Neighbour Bindi, along with her dachshund Queenie, spent the afternoon visiting.

This morning we went uptown for groceries, bright and early. Well, bright and early for this non-morning person. We left about 9:00 so we could get back home before it got too hot. It's about 2pm and, according to our thermometer, it's 30C. A far cry from back home where those poor folks are suffering through -30C.

And that's it. Hopefully I don't have to wait another 3 days before I can post again.

Meeting Sharon Helgason

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Sharon Helgason, a dynamo who lives in Chicxulub. Sharon is involved with many programs whose goals are to improve life for the local people. Among them are the Food Bank in Chicxulub, education, the old folks' home, providing a monthly food package for about 90 families, Christmas hampers and a breakfast program.

This morning a group of us went to her house to wrap Christmas toys which will be distributed closer to Christmas. I forget how many gifts we wrapped but I think it was around 150.

I'm glad I went. It gave me a much better understanding of what's needed and what's not really practical. An example of an impractical toy is anything the requires batteries. While battery operated toys are very cool, batteries is an expense that many families just can't afford.

She also hosts a conversation hour where Spanish and English speakers can get together and learn each others' language. There was a meeting tonight and there will be another on Wednesday. I'm not sure if it's twice a week all the time or only through the winter. There was only one Spanish speaker there tonight but I was told that there are usually several.

It was fun and informative. I'm hoping to go again on Wed.

In unrelated news, we had a mosquito in the house last night. omg. That little bleeper was relentless. I had several bites before going to bed and received several more while I was trying to go to sleep. I finally couldn't take it anymore and got up. Armed with a fly swatter, I laid in wait for it. Victory was finally mine at 2:30am. But Ms Mosca managed to get 11 jabs in before meeting her demise.