Random Photo Friday: Merry Christmas from Ella

How did that happen? Again! Days, weeks and months - simply evaporating before my eyes. Whoooooooooshhhh and suddenly it's Boxing Day already. While it doesn't seem five minutes since this year started, here we are again, within days of saying farewell to 2014 and hello to another new year. Next year I definitely need to put "something to slow down time" on my Christmas Wish List.

Nevertheless, while I have a few updates I'd still like to add here before the year is out (and knowing that my very good friend, Carol, is now reading my blog as a way to keep in touch....thanks Carol!), I figured with this still being Christmas n'all that I would post a rather lovely pic I took recently of our little Ella. 

Just like this time last year, she is clearly enamoured with Christmas - the lights, the decorations (which she steals repeatedly from the tree and hides by her bed), the hide-and-seek games with the other two critters among the carefully wrapped gifts.....which then mysteriously become bent, squished and slightly torn overnight. Gooooo figure.

So while Ella was looking so ridiculously adorable, staring at the tree, sniffing the coloured lights (and no doubt planning her next clandestine haul), I caught this shot of her:

I'm quietly very pleased with how it turned out. I purposefully used a very shallow depth of field (with my aperture wide open at F 1.8), to intentionally blur everything behind Ella while keeping her pretty little face relatively sharp. The coloured lights and decorations cooperated wonderfully in creating a very Christmassy bokeh effect and even creating catchlights in her eyes. And what a perfect model she was too. She patiently posed for quite a few shots, although this is my favourite. I swear she was transmitting a telepathic "please deliver lots of treats and catnip toys" message to Santa at the time I took this.

So, from Ella and the rest of us here in this crazy little family (me, Lorne, Mel and Louis), a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to one and all. Wishing you much love, happiness and cheer!

Christmas 2013

As we barrel full-throttle into the final hours of 2013, I'm still trying to wrap my head around just how fast this year has gone. It's insane. Another 365 days have blown right on by in what seems like 5 minutes. Like everyone else at this time of year, I find myself reflecting over the past 12 months and trying to figure out what I need, want and hope for out of the next 12.....and beyond. Then I eat some more chocolate, sup another Baileys + peppermint schnapps, cuddle the cats and wait till it passes ;-) A temporary reprieve anyway.

But, before I go galloping into 2014, I'd like to linger a little while longer over Christmas....

Firstly, I can honestly say that finishing work 4 days before Christmas was GREAT! Normally I feel so rushed, furiously wrapping the last few gifts on Christmas Eve and am just about coming up for air when WHAM Christmas day is here, the floor's a carpet of discarded gift-wrap, I've scoffed too many Quality Street (again) and am sliding into the fetal position after a huge non-turkey dinner and too much wine.

The past few year's I've tried to convince myself that I'd like to do some baking beforehand and this year I finally had the time yet still the actual enthusiasm for it evaded me. I'm not even sure why - pure laziness maybe?

On Christmas Eve Lorne and I were among 'those saddoes' heading to the gym at lunchtime for one last burst of energy before the festive over-indulgence. (For the record, even we draw the line at working out on Christmas Day.) And normally we stay home on Christmas Eve, watching a couple of fave movies (Christmas Story, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation or Bad Santa) and eating a smorgasbord of appies and treats, but this year we went out for a fabulous dinner - returning to Raincity Grill, the very restaurant where Lorne shocked the bajeebers out of me exactly 11 years earlier by presenting me with an engagement ring! (Sooo glad I said "yes".)

We got up around 10am Christmas Day (ahhhh the luxury of no kids) and opened our gifts in-between coffee with Baileys and warm croissants. Lorne spoilt me with an Ipad mini, something I've been deliberating about for a few months, trying to decide if I'd really get use out of one and unable to justify the cost for myself. But hey, now I have one and can even do blog updates on the go, wi-fi permitting.

Veggie, vegan or otherwise - you should try this at home!

We went over to Vicky and Mike's place around 3pm - they cooked a delicious Christmas dinner for us - for which I made yummy veggie sausage in beer gravy as a turkey substitute for myself and even Bronnie wanted some. (We'd actually tried several places trying to find this delicious vegan field roast but to no avail - although I did manage to get my hands on one yesterday, so that'll be our New Year dinner.)

I always admire the creativity at Vicky's house - lovely-handmade decorations, a display of carefully cut paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling (apparently they were aiming for 100 but gave up at 'just' 60!), handmade cards and home-baked treats. Even down to the artistic gift labels. (I'm useless at drawing so my cards etc are handmade but not drawn.)

Special-teas for Lorne, with home-made labels and careful
instructions. And a hand-decorated mug for me.....although
I simply don't understand the wine reference, not at all ;-)

The B-side to my (wine) mug :-)

And, talking of creativity, here are the adorable cards Bronwyn made for us:

Looks like a beach holiday for me this Christmas

With love to me and the kitties! This one's a keeper for sure.

Lorne's card features a fat Rudolph
and lots of snow.

Bless :-)

We exchanged our gifts before sitting down for dinner a) because Bronwyn and River were so excited (as were we) and b) because Mike had a friend from work, Jose, joining us for dinner - a young Mexican guy who's been in Vancouver 7 months but doesn't really know anyone and was unable to go home for Christmas, so we didn't want him to feel awkward as we all sat opening gifts. He was a nice guy, though perhaps a little quiet, but who can blame him? First Christmas away from home, in a new country, in a language he's still learning.....and spending it with us loonies :-) Christmas among your own family is such a traditional and individual, nostalgic event, I imagine it'd be harder still when you're not even in your own country with your own family, friends, food, traditions etc. (In fact my worst Christmas was the very first one I spent in Canada (1995) - no thanks to the utter jerk I was dating/living with at the time...in not-so-fabulous Calgary. My dinner consisted of frozen chips (fries) and a few chocolates, dished out among various insults, put-downs and criticisms from the man of the hour. Needless to say it doesn't feature on my personal list of fond memories and by March I got the heck out of there and moved to Vancouver - as originally planned. How about that for cutting a long and miserable story short?). But I digress.......

Since Bronwyn and River don't really have any other relatives this side of the pond Lorne and I always like to spoil them a bit and it's always fun shopping for them. The biggest hit was the pair of Cars inflatable boxing gloves that we got River. He and Bronwyn wore one glove each and proceeded to pummel each other, giggling their heads off. It was pretty funny to watch and great to see them play nicely together (so to speak), something they're not always good at. In fact, we'll have to buy a second pair so they can fight out their sibling rivalry with both hands :-)

We gave Vicky the highly-acclaimed book "The Reason I Jump - The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism" written by a young japanese boy Naoki Higashida, described as a very smart, very self-aware, and very charming thirteen-year-old boy with autism, it is a one-of-a-kind memoir that demonstrates how an autistic mind thinks, feels, perceives, and responds in ways few of us can imagine. 

There might have been a little self-interest on my part, since I'd actually like to borrow it when she's read it, not only because it is so well regarded, but also because I'd like to understand more about River and just what he - and all of them as a family - work with around his autism. I have absolute admiration for Vicky in all that she has to deal with, not just with River's autism but also with Bronwyn and basically everything in general. My life seems so easy compared to her day-to-day and yet she still manages to do so much - all the time. I know it can't be easy and I often feel like maybe I'm putting pressure on her to fit in spending time together - which has been far too infrequent the past several months. But we've decided our New Year's resolution has to be to find the time to get together more - just make it happen. And spending time together Christmas day, all of us, was a reminder of what I've been missing!

Anyhooo, I took a few snapshots while we were at Vicky's so here are some of them:

Bronnie had us all sing Happy Birthday to Cactus,
her gerbil, who turned 2 years old.

Ahh River, ever the big beautiful smile amid that crazy pile
of wild and curly hair.

Mike and Vicky - looking lovely and definitely festive!
It's just not Christmas without the obligatory Christmas
cracker tissue-paper crown on your head all afternoon.

Mark popped by to say Happy Christmas &
have a quick drink :-) Great to see him too.

Bronwyn relating a story - you can almost see the funky
new slippers we bought her for Crimbo.

Ahh the man of my life, Lorne - the best gift I could ever
hope for, any day of the year!  

And here's the card I made for Lorne this year, with a
backdrop carefully recycled from one of last year's cards.

And, of course, I have to add one more kitty-cat picture, since they are family n'all:

Mel - sooo busted trying to sneak a peek at their
stocking full of prezzies on Christmas Eve. 

A lovely Christmas in so many ways. I am truly blessed with a good life and a wonderful family (human and feline) - I love you all!

Bah Humbug!

First, before I start on my bah humbug, "why does Christmas have to start at Halloween" rant, let me at least bring a feel-good moment to the 'season' albeit even this, being not quite mid-November, is still way too early in my book.

This is a wonderful commercial currently airing in the UK for John Lewis' department store. My cousin, Lisa, posted it on Facebook last weekend and - call me a complete softy and insatiable sucker for animals - it quite literally nearly made me cry. It's all things cute and adorable but watch out for that little hare, he'll tug hard at your heartstrings for sure.

Did you make it through without a lump in your throat? I didn't and it's taken me almost a week to dare watch it again for fear I'd start bawling. When did I become so hyper-emotional? (Though I can't deny, animals have always held that power over me.)

Anyhoo, back to business on the whole WTF with all this in-your-face overload on seasonal/festive/holiday/Christmas (yes, I dared say the C-word) stuff already?! Some of it started even before Halloween and certainly by Nov. 1st things kicked off in earnest. Cafes and hair salons had their decorations up by the strike of midnight, because we all know it's important to get coffee and a haircut on top of your wish list and hope to beat the stampede of Christmas shoppers. Horrendously cheesy 'holiday' pop songs, are being dutifully pumped out by the likes of Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Mariah Carey et al and drilled into your brain from every angle of every store. Despite the pile of complaints this time last year about Shoppers Drug Mart, who burst out the Christmas tunes Nov. 1st, to the point they had no choice but to pull the music and wait...., it seems the holiday fever nevertheless begins the split second you utter your last "trick or treat". Same thing with TV - on your marks....get set.....November 1st - GO!!!!!

Decorations have popped up everywhere, seemingly overnight and even in some homes around our neighbourhood! What the....? And last night the Number 7 bus pulled up downtown fully decked out as Rudolph! I kid you not - lights, antlers, bells, even a ginormous red flashing nose. My first thought was, "Oh you've got to be kidding me! It's November, people! Seriously?!" Then I checked myself thinking, "oh well, it's for the kids I guess" but that was quickly followed up with, "But seriously, even kids shouldn't be brain-washed into believing Christmas Day is imminent." What's with all this rampant festive horniness? Why does everything have to be so over-commercialized and compounded by a relentless push to get us all in the shops, believing we'd better get swept up into the over-zealous frenzy to buy, buy, buy like our lives depend on it? I've already lost count of the number of people I've overheard or who've asked me directly if I'm ready/have any plans for the holidays. No I bloody-well do not! And why?, Because it's NOVEMBER! - Why not ask me again in a month!!! (And, I'll resist the urge to get on my annual high horse about the annoyingly creative ways that North Americans desperately skirt around the word "Christmas" like it's a dirty swear word, but you can sing out the words Hanukkah, Ramadan, Diwali etc. till your heart's content. I'm happy to acknowledge everyone else's holidays or festive season - I wouldn't be the slightest bit offended if someone told me they were celebrating Hanukkah so why, when it comes to Christmas that I grew up with, am I told I should find a different word to be more inclusive? Bah flippin' humbug, I say!

Perhaps part of what chokes me up about the heart-warming commercial above is that it hits on my inner child who desperately just wants Christmas to be Christmas again. I don't remember thinking about Christmas as a child until December 1st, when the excruciating wait throughout the next 24 days seemed to take for-EV-ERRRR!

Suffice to say, this time of year - every year without fail (even after 18 years living in Canada) - always makes me so terribly nostalgic for England, Europe and my family. Memories of being far too stuffed full of Quality Street, sprawled on the living room carpet and watching The Wizard of Oz, Sound of Music or Oliver Twist, for the umpteenth time - while desperately gagging for a pocket of non-smokey air beneath the fog of my parents, my nanna and Anders and any other visitors puffing away on cigarette after cigarette. In Anders' case it was cigars. I've never minded the smell (and even smoke one myself from time to time) but boy could they smog up a room like a 5-alarm fire. I miss the glass decorations that 'mysteriously' developed holes in them the year my older brother Terry got his hands on an air rifle. I miss the balloons that my dad always hung around the living room, where there would inevitably be one group made of two round balloons and a long thin one in-between. He'd stand, hands on hips, then point to it asking, "Who did that? Trini, did you do that? That's rude that is."

Christmas was also the one time of year where we had fruit in the house. Which is incredibly odd when you think about it, why wouldn't we have fruit any other time? "Because you lot get too greedy with it", my mum would say. In actual fact it was mostly Terry who devoured the fruit but we all got blamed (precious golden-boy Terry who could do no wrong).

My Aunty Pat and Uncle Roy ran a fruit/veg stall for years on Freeman Street Market - which seems nicer in the website photos than it ever has in real life. In fact my cousin, Tony, still runs the stall with his Dad but now in Cleethorpes Market Place, where we bumped into them during our visit last summer. Every Christmas my mum would order a massive box of fruit and veggies from them and we couldn't wait to dive in, especially on the satsumas. But we'd have to be careful - if we ate the fruit too fast we were greedy buggers, if we didn't eat it fast enough, it'd begin to spoil and there'd be threats of, "I'm not gonna bother with fruit next year if no bugger's going to eat it, it's too expensive to just throw away". Either way we were wrong.

Haha, I just remembered another festivus treat was After Eight mints, which I used to surreptitiously slide from their dark paper envelope carefully leaving the envelope in the box, so you could hardly tell how many had been eaten. Then I'd get a wave of nerves as my mum went to get one and discovered most were envelopes with no mint. That was usually a good time to offer up another cup of coffee and leave the room.

Anyway, I could think of so many more treasured snippets from Christmasses past but it's really too early and the point of this post (not wanting to run on too long) was to let off some steam about why oh why are we being shoved aboard the high-speed holiday bandwaggon earlier and earlier each year and with increasing vehemence? What need is there for laundromats, coffee shops, MacDonald's and furniture stores to ramp up the Christmas rush?  Heck, Starbucks is even advertising 'Buy one holiday coffee, get one free' and even Home Depot started prior to Halloween with their Fallidays campaign to get people thinking about home reno's as part of their Thanksgiving/Holiday preparations.

At this rate we'll be painting eggs and watching for the Easter Bunny by the weekend.

Eat, Drink and Merry Ho, Ho, Ho!

Because nothing says Christmas like fleecy
HoHoHo's and massive Rudolph slippers

Wow that was fast. Another Christmas done and dismantled piece-by-piece and packed away for the next 49 weeks. I swear it zooms by faster each year. No sooner do you take a moment to come up for air, scoff your first mince pie and savour the satisfaction of wrapping that last gift when... WHOOOOOSH.....the shreds of paper, boxes and tags are already out by the kerb, neglected and rained on, pending the city recycling truck. A few drinks and a burbling of Auld Lang Syne in-between and SLAM....you're back at your desk where jingle bells is quickly replaced by the sedentary and somewhat melancholy keystrokes of catching up on emails. Yup, that's all folks! Nothing more to see here.

Despite the fact it seemed to come and go in a blur of baubles, eggnogg and Quality Street, we had quite a lovely Christmas and a largely uneventful New Year with family, friends, felines and the love of too much eating, drinking and general merriment. We always say we shouldn't go so crazy on the chocolate treats and delicious nibbles (that we deny ourselves all year) and yet....miraculously...we nevertheless seem to end up with way too much. Then we proceed to kid ourselves with that ol' chestnut "We'll never eat all this, you know", or "Let's just save the extra cookies and Ferrero Rocher", but where there's a gob there's a way and it all manages to disappear before too long, somehow.

It was on Christmas Eve 2002 that Lorne completely surprised me by passing an early gift across the table just before dessert at Raincity Grill. A diamond ring was literally not what I was expecting to find in there and, after several flabbergasted, wide-eyed and red-cheeked "Oh my God"s I said "Yes" and so began what has been a further 10 wonderful years. We usually sort of celebrate it in some small way each year, especially being Christmas Eve n'all, and a couple of years ago Lorne booked us a surprise stay at the lovely Hotel Le Soleil in downtown Vancouver (the same hotel we stayed at on our wedding night in 2004). It was such a charming, pre-Christmas treat, going for dinner and feeling so wonderfully spoiled, that this year I decided to do the same (amen to having had a few weeks' work before Christmas.)

As luck would have it, the Sutton Place Hotel emailed me a last-minute deal that I couldn't resist so I booked us for Dec. 22nd where we enjoyed a fancy-pants room, a quick swim down in the spa pool, a stint in the hottub and a cheeky cocktail before heading out to a delicious dinner at Cin Cin's restaurant on Robson Street (thanks Lorne). From start to finish it was such a nice evening, a perfect date night and there's a lot to be said for an overnight getaway, even when it's virtually on your own doorstep. 

As for the remaining blur of the holidays:

• We stayed home Christmas Eve (watching Bad Santa - the caustic, crude but very funny antithesis of your average Christmas movies)
• Apparently I was really good this past year because Santa generously left a sleek and sexy Nikon 55-300mm VR zoom lens under the tree for me. Wohooo, nice one 'Santy Claus'! I've been wanting one for a couple of years (it's all about the Vibration Reduction when it comes to a good zoom lens and my current Sigma lens is driving me crazy) but I know they're not cheap (and we set ourselves a $ limit this year) so I kept it as my secret wish for if/when I get enough cash but never put it on my list. So don't be fooled by that fluffy red suit and jolly ol' laugh - Mister Santa has his finger firmly on the pulse and he really does know just what you're thinking. Guess I'd better get out there and start snapping some well-focussed shots, stat! (If ever the rain stops!)
• Call us saddoes but Lorne and I quite enjoyed tormenting the cats with their gifts (spritzed with catnip beforehand, of course) and, for perhaps the first time ever, even Mishka came and sat by the tree with us and started rummaging for her own gifts. Those two crazy boys, Mel and Louis, were all excited and we're constantly amazed at just how much they've managed to draw Mishka out of her former reclusive and indifferent self. It was all very endearing.
• We held Christmas dinner at our place this year for which Lorne made a scrumptious veggie meat pie/tortiere and Vicky, River and Bronwyn all came over as well as Lorne's good friend Steve, whose family lives out of town. It was great to hold it at our place (since it also meant we could slip extra Bailey's into our morning coffee) and everyone had fun pulling crackers, sharing the terrible jokes, the mandatory wearing of tissue-paper crowns and (unbeknown to River) Bronwyn secretly scooped up the lion's share of the cracker toys. I suspect a little double-fisted cheating was involved.
• Once again Vicky and the kids gave us such thoughtful gifts, including the hand crafted and creatively iced Christmas cookies (per photo). And we love spoiling them at Christmas too, especially since Bronnie and River don't really have any/many other relatives here plus they've all had such a crappy last several months, what with one thing and another. So all-in-all, Christmas Day was a blast!



Bronwyn was so meticulous in icing gingerbread

cookies for me and Lorne. As you can see, there aren't

many left.

• On Boxing Day we dropped by to see our friends Steve & Heidi and their two girls (Charlee & Andi). It was a festive open house thing and there were many people there we'd never met before, folks that they know through their daughters' school etc. The kids wanted to play Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii, which, as far as I could tell, seems to involve them dancing like little hookers to cheesy pop songs, definitely not my thing and, if I had daughters, I'm not so sure I'd want them playing it either. They were obviously having fun, and I'm a very open-minded person, but the idea is to copy the dance movements of a young female character on screen, who's twisting, gyrating and strutting her stuff like they would at any regular peeler bar. Talk about early and detrimental stereo-typing, especially since it's aimed at kids. Maybe I'm just a no-fun feminist who prefers to the lesser known Indie bands on KEXP as opposed to the nauseating mainstream pulp churned out on local radio. Then so be it. We still had a nice time but group dancing games and anything remotely Karaoke just aren't my thing.
• Dec 28/29 Lorne and I made our usual pilgrimmage over to Victoria to visit our good friends John, Mike and Debbie with the added bonus that Vicky came with us too this time. With Mark having the kids for a few days and Vicky mentioning she wouldn't mind getting out of town for a change of scenery, it worked out perfectly and I'm so glad she came. It's always a relaxing time at John & Debbie's and this time was no exception - too much food 'n' booze and the pre-requisite screening of an old movie while enjoying a tasty cuban cigar in John's 'man cave'. It was the first time I'd actually seen Hitchcock's 'The Birds' from start to finish and I'm wondering where I can get that flattering soft-focus look that Tippi Hedren pulls off so flawlessly. Lorne says it's vaseline smeared on the camera lens.....darn, how do I convince people to rub vaseline across their eyeballs just so I'll look more glamorous?
• John cooked a delicious dinner that night and Mike came over too, I just hope he didn't think we were trying to set him up with Vicky just because they're both now single.....but hey, he's a nice guy and she's fabulous, so you never know - but I can honestly say it wasn't our intention to try. I don't do that matchmaking thaaang, mainly because I had too many 'friends' try it on me during my years of singledom and politely resented that awkwardness of being the single person so carefully placed next to the only other single person, while everyone 'casually' looks on, like avid bird-watchers, waiting to see if we'd start puffing feathers and bobbing our heads in mutual attraction. 
• Next morning (Dec. 29) we drove out to Saanich to an old-school local diner where it was a cheap thrill to be mid-40's and still the youngest people in the room. Saanich is unmistakably a retirement community. If Victoria is the city people retire to, then Saanich is where the Victoria retirees go to retire. Us "young'uns" are few and far between and I suspect the local version of road-racing involves mobility scooters and zimmer frames. So if ever you're feeling old, spend the day in Saanich, it's like drinking from the Fountain of Youth. Not that I have anything against seniors, far from it. In fact a big part of noticing was because Vancouver's become such a young & hip city that you don't really see so many seniors these days and I really miss that. And if they're all moving to Saanich then I have to say it'd be the perfect retirement community, everyone and everything is so close by. And, for the record, I actually love those very-american old-school diners too. They're a rare breed in Vancouver these days, having mostly been ripped out or demolished only to be replaced by a high-end 'boutique' clothing store or a souless and generic sports bar boasting 16 big-screen TVs and zero character.
• On New Year's Eve we just stayed home, as did most people I know, mainly because we're all still grounded from public merriment in the nanny state of Vancouver plus anyone who ventures out is obliged to pay some silly New Year's "Party" entry fee to get into even the cheesiest of bars and then faces a long walk home because cab drivers refuse to do short (cheaper) runs. Us adults aren't permitted any public merriment here since the Stanley Cup riots in 2011 and it took 17 years for them to ease up on that, after the same thing happened in 1994. At this rate the next hope of participating in any public New Years celebrations in the self-proclaimed 'best city on Earth' will be in 2028 soonest, by which time we'll have all retired to Saanich! So Lorne and I stayed home with the kitties, ate pretty much the rest of the Christmas leftovers and,watched the repeat of New Years' countdown celebrations from NY and Toronto that had already been and gone 3 hours earlier.

And then it was January 2nd and back to work.

So much for my 'concise' summary of the Christmas holidays (sorry, I just can't resist throwing out the word 'Christmas' - instead of 'holidays' or 'festive break' - just to piss people off.)

Well, here's to a Happy New Year! May it rain utter fabulousness on us all!

Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas...yes, I dared to say "Christmas" - how very un-Vancouver of me but stuff it! I know, I'm supposed to say something like, "Happy seasonal Winter Holiday, mid-December solstice-time Festivus type celebration". But hey, I grew up calling it Christmas and I don't ban anyone else from saying Hannukah, Diwali, Ramadam or whatever else they call their own celebrations, so Christmas it is! (Don't get me started on how insane it is here when talking about 'the winter holiday festive season'.....even Christmas cake [she wrote, blaspheming once again] is truly and honestly packaged as 'Seasonal Dark Festive Cake'.... seriously!)

To all my friends and family, I hope you're all having a good time wherever you are and whatever you're doing....which I'm guessing involves digging through the snow for those under the blanket of white stuff that's pretty much paralyzed England for the past few weeks. Funny, 'cos whenever I go to England people generally assume I must spend half the year under 3ft of snow.....not so in Vancouver....we rarely get the white stuff (especially not, it seems, when playing host to the whole World and holding the 2010 Winter Olympics here.....ooops! Bah, details!). So it's about 10C and has been very wet & rainy, as only Vancouver does best, and Santa probably should've just left some wellies and a snorkel!

As it happens, Lorne and I were suitably spoilt over at Vicky and Mark's place yesterday, eating, drinking and laughing too much and simply enjoying a lazy day of indulging in good food, great company and watching the kids play with the packaging their toys came in.

A few more days of this and it'll be time to do it all over again for New Year's! Aaaahhhh, bliss!

I'm enjoying some time off work - using up the pile of overtime hours I've accrued throughout the past 12 months, although I never did get around to many of the Christmas craft projects I anticipated to fill my time. That said I made cards....did a lot of shopping and wrapping.....didn't do any baking.....but am now doing lots of eating.......sounds about right, no?

As a surprise Lorne booked us at Hotel Le Soleil in downtown Vancouver for the night on Dec. 23rd - we had a lovely evening. He took me to dinner at Boneta - a lively and wonderfully high-ceilinged restaurant in the slightly less touristy corner of Gastown (but not quite in the desperately seedy part of town) - the same place he'd booked for my f...f....f.....fortieth birthday dinner. Since he proposed to me on Christmas Eve in 2002, we generally do something special each year and the night at Le Soleil was this year's treat - it was also the hotel we stayed at on our wedding night in 2004. Anyhoooo, to make a long story longer, we went for an after dinner drink at a terrific new basement bar called Guilt & Co. (also in Gastown) - what a great little place! A cellar-like bar with live music (located beneath another great place, Chill Winston's), where the ambience was cosey, very lively, fun, relaxed, captivating and refreshingly non-snooty AND there was thankfully not a single wide-screen TV in sight!!!! (I don't know what it is about Vancouver bars and restaurants these days but they all seem to believe that the more plentiful and massive their collection of wall-to-wall TV screens, the better. You can't get away from it - a nice pub drink has become a loud, 60" plasma-screened rink-side seat at every single hockey game out there - and not just when the Canucks are playing.)

Anyway, I highly recommend the Euro basement bar feel of Guilt & Co. - where else can you just hang with friends, have a drink and play silly boardgames if you so choose - heck it even made Scattegories look entirely hip n' trendy?

Well, it's off to spend Boxing Day evening with friends, more food, more wine and extremely rambunctious kids....and therefore perhaps a little more wine. It's just what the festive holiday mid-winter seasonal festivus-for-the-rest-of-us time is all about.

Merry Christmas!

P.S. Terry, I made Lorne watch last year's Christmas special of The Royles.....so refreshingly, nostalgically British! "One!....doodle-ooop-doop....One! doodle-oop-doop.....One!...."