Is the feasting over?

All good things must come to an end, and that includes fun with family and friends.

We celebrated our second married Christmas by indulging in much eating and game-playing.... so, really, nothing different from every other Christmas! This year the cousins' gift exchange went very well. All of the cousins brought good gifts and we were not disappointed with the strategizing and clamoring for specific gifts. I took home a very cute Pooh bear and the hubby brought home a mug and a weird version of Cranium (after trading movie tix and a Starbucks card with his cousin who didn't want to lug a board game back to Ontario.) One of the cousins brought her boyfriend to Christmas dinner and I told him we would evaluate his performance in order to decide if he would be invited to future family events. He did bring a nice gift for the exchange, but he was not terribly good at Taboo, and he threatened to leave one of the cousins behind instead of driving him home. The jury is still out.

Christmas Eve was also excellent at the godparents' place. Again much eating and also some "cooking", thanks to Elaine for the DS game :) The hubby made a ham and I thoroughly enjoyed it - I normally don't like ham but this one was quite the yum. We sang every single Christmas carol in the hymnal and some of the adults entertained by attempting "O Holy Night". Wow, I didn't know that people could actually hit that high B flat. But then again I am not blessed with that soprano voice. I also didn't know my sight reading sucked so much! Guess that's what happens when you don't practice!

On Boxing Day, we relaxed at home by inviting all the 24 fans over to do a little season 5 watching. Rules were set in place (like no talking) but promptly broken. Sometimes it's all you can do not to comment on President Logan. Anyway, did I mention the eating? As there was, again, much! It takes a lot of energy to get through 8 episodes in one day. To celebrate Boxing Day, there was some real boxing going on. I'll post a picture later.

Well, just as I was working myself into loving the time off, I've had to go back to work. Blah.... here begins the long haul, where there are no long weekends between January and Easter. At least it was great to have so many people around this year for the holidays!

Hope you all had great Christmases too.

Christmas means to be my love

No it doesn't!

Re: previous blog - no updates. Friend was told about the friends-of-a-friend and he leans towards the more athletic one. Frick - guess the hubby really DOES know his own friends better. Who woulda thunk it. Looks like I'm gonna lose this bet.

We're watching Christmas football right now. It must be irritating for the hubby as I really don't watch enough football to know what is going on. So there are silly questions in abundance. For example, why is Tony Romo hugging Carrie Underwood if he is dating Jessica Simpson? (Frankly - I'd go with Carrie over Jessica... she doesn't have the chin dimple thing.) Or, does Tony Romo make ribs? :D

Okay. Time to go bring on the Christmas cheer. See you all later.

18 days till Christmas

Bonjour! Currently I'm sitting on the couch at home and am about to enjoy a yummy apple cider. It's been a busy week at work. I think we're going to trial on Monday. Hmmmm... that should be interesting. More updates to come.

We still don't have our Christmas tree and I doubt we'll get one this weekend. Sigh! Maybe on Monday.

...

Okay! Apple cider - check. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire - nope. Jack Frost nipping at my nose - nope - but my hands are cold. Cookies baking in the oven - maybe later.

I keep seeing ads for stuff to give kids this year and it seems like so much of it is electronic. There are so many items that promise to teach your kids (like this and this) - it makes me wonder whether we have become so dependent on our "modern" world that the old school way of learning has gone by the wayside. When we were kids, my mom used to take us to the library every week and we would come home with piles of books. (The hubby thinks this is so nerdy of me - but whatever!) It's strange that kids don't really read any more. I suppose the fast pace of the 21st century has taken over.

Today, I was thinking about consumerism and how Christmas has turned from being a joyful day to celebrate Christ's birth... to a day of gifts and a fat guy promoted by Coke. I had these vague thoughts - like - let's say I started a business selling t-shirts*, and I made it a point to hire underprivileged folks.... and the business grew... but the prices of merchandise also grew (as prices often do)... would I not be contributing to the gap between rich and poor? It just makes me wonder if there are solutions to issues like poverty. I don't think my example is a particularly good one and I'm sure there are flaws.... it's just a thought in my head right now though.

*It isn't my ambition to start this type of business, in case you're wondering.

Only 11 days until the official date upon whence we can break open Season 5 of 24 and begin the watching. (Thanks, Euge!) I'll contact you folks if I think you're worthy of watching it with us. Hee!

Advent

What's your favourite Christmas carol?

It's hard to believe that we're already at the beginning of December, and the start of Advent (at least according to my chocolate calendar...) I've noticed that Christmas songs are appearing every so often on the radio and so I thought I'd share my favourites with you...

This is a part of my favourite "secular" Christmas song. I like it because it's quite cute.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
No crocodiles, no rhinoceroseses
I only like hippopotamuseses
And hippopotamuses like me too

Frankly if I had to choose between a crocodile, a rhino, or a hippo, I'd choose a hippo too!

Okay, now for my favourite Christmas hymn... just the first part of it.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Such a beautiful song with an almost haunting melody.... I love how it starts in a minor key.. but I also really like the lyrics. An expression of desire for the coming King to rescue a people held captive by sin - that's at least the interpretation I prefer. It's so amazing to think that our Father in heaven sent Jesus to save us from captivity... and that because of His death and resurrection, we are able to rejoice that Christ has come indeed.

So, I am excited about Advent.... the period of waiting for Christ's coming... in a way I think of Advent as awaiting the second coming too... in this time of waiting - let us not think too much of what we want for Christmas, but how we can glorify Him and sing His praises instead.

Winter sucks the big one

I said once that summer is my favourite season... and I think this weekend's weather really emphasizes my love of summer. Our gazebo collapsed under the weight of the snow... It took me twice as long as normal to get to work today (including 15 minutes of de-snowing my car) and that was only because I took the Oak St bridge which had virtually no traffic. Ugh! Snow is just the worst. I can think of virtually no redeeming characteristics of snow. Sure, yesterday I had some fun building a snow chair and a snow horse with some of my favourite kids - but really - isn't a hot summer day so much more fun... ugh. To all those who raved, "Snow is awesome!" - all I can say is Shut up! No it's not!

Moving on. This weekend, the hubby and I tried to buy our (second ever!) Christmas tree - but we couldn't really decide on whether to get the Home Depot $20 tree, or spring for the fancier (and more fragrant) Noble firs at the local tree farm/place/thingy. In the end we decided that we'll probably get a $15 tree at Ikea next weekend. I suppose $80 for a tree is a bit steep considering you toss it out at the end of the season. Although I really dislike winter, I do enjoy Christmas.. it's always a good time. We tidied up the house so that we could decorate for Christmas, but so far the only decoration up is my Purdy's Advent Calendar. Yay!

PS: Hey PJ - thanks for the website on GPS systems. Is this system the one that you were referring to on sale? It does seem like a good price although no text-to-speech - but maybe I could do without that...