the year trickles to an end

Christmas was nice. Mike and I drove up to North Bay on the 22nd and were able to spend some time relaxing until the 26th, where we would return to the T-dot.

I did my best impression of a couch potato in North Bay. Spent a good deal of time doing nothing. It's actually quite sad. I watched movies with my family and watched the entire first season of Dexter. How festive. It's a great show though - it's about a blood splatter analyst from the Miami forensics' department - but he's also a serial killer. It's hilarious and the cast is really great. Worth watching...maybe not during the Christmas holidays.

We sat and talked a lot. I miss my family. I like just sitting in the kitchen - which is sexy and new now (really nice!) - and just catching up with the folks.

Home cooked meals - and a turkey dinner. I've got to tell you - there's this one funny thing I love about our family's Christmas dinners. The firecrackers.

The colourful (usually red/green) papery/aluminumy gadgets that you share with another to pull two cardboard sticks in opposite directions to set off a 'bang' that doesn't do much more than make a loud sound. Then you rip into this once lovely table decor to find a toy, colourful tissue paper crown (that we used to have to wear...not so much anymore), and a paper with jokes. Now - my dad bought the firecrackers this year - and I don't know where he got them from - but the toys were bigger and 'better'. I got a toy top with a flashing light, he got a stapler, my brother a stuffed animal key ring and my mother got the greatest - a pocket sized asian game with a plastic foldable board, game pieces with planes on them and a dice. No instructions. My dad thinks the game is 'Sorry'. Let's hope.

But my favorite - is reading our jokes out loud to each other. The readings are in english, french and spanish - and it's either a joke, story, fact or question/quiz. The piece of paper doesn't have the same thing told in different languages - so it's like getting up to four jokes on one paper. But I love how we all read the english, then we read the french (my brother and I are bilingual, my parents are not - but they do pick up on the french ones once and a while)...then we read the spanish ones. At the end of the spanish ones, we always laugh. I don't know why - we have no idea what is being said - but we always give it a chuckle.

That's something about our Christmas that's different from others. It's something about my Christmas that I find special. It's strange and silly - but it's us.

We spoke to aunts and uncles and our three grandparents on the phone. It's lovely being able to hear these people's voices. :) My mom and I went on a google earth version of my trip to NZ, Vanuatu, China (Hong Kong --> Chengdu --> Wolong --> Beijing --> Shanghai), Vancouver, home. My brother and I chased each other around the house. I slept on the new futon my dad bought for my bedroom. We looked at pictures from Rome. :) We watched the Lookout and Santa Claus 3. We opened presents and shared presents. We laughed. We slept. We ate and ate and ate. We let Santa visit us properly this year - no sleeping on the couch.

It was nice to be home. Thank you for everything mom & dad. You really do spoil us.

Back to the grind in the city. I am working on the 2nd...but other than that - this is my last week off before the new show. There is much to do. And today - is December 31st - the last day of the year.

What can I say about 2007? It was yet another year that passed by very quickly. There were some memorable moments and some I would prefer not to re-live. I have to say that I like the snow though - a real winter...makes me happy. I've decided not to partake in what could be a very good snowboarding season though. I want to make sure that my knees are in tip top shape for the trip. It's difficult not to jump onto the slopes when the snowfall has been very good this year...but there's always 2009. :) I was blessed with a lot of work this past year - and I pray that 2008 will keep me employed for the first half. Prospects look good. Family - in good health. Yay. I was able to go through some physio for my knees - that was great. I bought my NZ ticket. :) Had some great moments with some great friends. This year, I smiled a lot.

I hope that 2008 is even more memorable and that my family & friends are blessed with good health and new adventures.

Stay tuned. Happy transition.

A new meaning to Winter Wonderland

You know what a good part of winter is - the way it brings neighbours together.

Not so much on the roads...cause man, I have seen a LOT of stupid people do REALLY dangerous things in the last two days (and they wonder why there are so many ridiculous fender benders in the winter).

Brent and I set out to go to Brunch today - as reserved on Tuesday. We laughed when we got to my car - cause it was burried and the street was covered by 1.5-2 feet of snow. I still went ahead and cleared off my car. We sat in it for a moment. I actually tried to drive straight. Laughed - cause that car is a piece of poo when it comes to snow...and then just shut it off and made pancakes instead.

After breakfast, we decided to walk to Yonge & Eglinton - so I could go shopping and he could catch the bus back home. And the walk was really fun.

Trudging through the snow and just stopping to talk to the people in the neighbourhood. It was really nice - and despite the amount of snow and amount of shovelling required, everyone was in good spirits. We even tried to free a car that was trapped on the side roads.

Everyone was friendly. It's not always the case with this city, so to me, this weather brought out a lot of smiles - and it was really nice.

Walking home from the mall, I took to the street, as the sidewalk on this one road was completely burried by a snow plow's work. I had to keep watching my back in case a car was coming. At the top of this one hill, there was a man who had just cleaned off his car, and he was just standing there staring in my direction. As I got closer, I could see how discouraged he looked (probably tired from uncovering his car). I noticed his wheels were completely burried by the plows that had probably passed 2-3 times since the night before. He just looked at me. I smiled. He didn't really smile back. I looked at his tires again, and said "I wish you luck getting out!". He looked at his tires, and then just started to laugh. Poor guy.

When I got home with groceries, I noticed my neighbour Trevor had already shoveled our joint driveway and the sidewalk. So nice. I thanked him for doing this - as I was thinking about doing this chore all the way home. I put away my things and then started to tackle a task that will save me a lot of time tomorrow morning - shovelling out an exit for my car - which is completely unable to perform in the snow. Once I finished clearing off my car...cause what's the point of shovelling around my car if I'm just going to dump another foot of snow on top of my clearing...Trevor came out to lend a hand and help me shovel a path for my car.

It was so nice.

Winter does good thing to people helping others - and for this - I'm grateful for the season.

That, and it's going to be an amazing year for snowboarding!!!

"Mom's Cell Phone"

(a re-enactment of a phone call Saturday, December 8th, 2007)

Alison: Hello?

Mom: What are you doing here?

Alison (looks around the street as she walks down Manor Road): Here?

Mom: Yes, here! You didn't tell me you were coming here.

Alison: Where's here?

Mom: What are you talking about?

Alison: Huh?

Mom: You're just being silly

Alison: Are you in Toronto? Are you at the airport?

Mom: What?

Alison: That's not today. What are you talking about?

Mom: I'm calling home.

Alison: No, you're calling my cell phone.

Mom: No I'm not.

Alison: Yes....

Mom: I'll be home soon. Just wait, i'll be there in 10 minutes. Don't go anywhere.

Alison: I'm not at home.

Mom: Yes you are. I dont' know why, but you're here.

Alison: Wait, there is a dog right beside me, should I make him bark to prove I'm not at home?

Mom: I'll be right home.

Alison: Okay? But I'm not there.


10 minutes later.


My phone rings again. "ICE - mom & dad"

Mom: hi honey.

Alison: I'm not at home, am I?


My mother thought she was calling home to talk to my dad, but hit my number instead thought her contact list. When I answered the phone she had several thoughts pass through her head, two of which were: 1) she thought I was flying out to London with me tomorrow, 2) she was devastated because she is leaving the next day to go to london, and wouldn't be able to spend time with me. how sweet.

Forget the Strip-O-Gram

I'm officially 27 years old.

It's an odd age I would say. You're in your late twenties (ugh, that's hard to swallow sometimes). 25 was a great age. 30 seems so old...yet so close. Thirty isn't really old, it's just that knowing where I am in my life right now and thinking that 30 is three years away is slightly scary. I'm feeling like I'm in limbo. I think when I get back from NZ, I'll have a better idea of what I want to do and where I want to be, and perhaps I'll feel more prepared to plant my feet. Maybe then 30 won't appear to be so intimidating.

My birthday was nice. Many people found ways to make it special. Facebook has a way of making you feel pretty darn special on your birthday with the mass amount of shout outs. A slew of special shout outs came from Deluxe & Decode - which is really nice. Emails and phone calls from family was really great. I really feel blessed to have my family and friends. My grandparents, my parents and my brother - were all on my mind.

Two special shout outs go to two special boys in my life. :) My Brent and my co-worker, who we shall call Sir Hops-a-Lot*.

*Sir Hops-a-Lot had his name changed to conceal his identity (as per his request).

So my buddy Sir Hops-a-Lot, started my work day off on the right foot. Actually, I think he leapt out on his left foot. As I made my way up to the third floor of the school, where our offices are, I was greeted by my co-worker leaping out of his office to do a birthday jig for my enjoyment. All the while, singing happy birthday to me. This happening at 8.00am. Oh - and did I forget to mention he was wearing his birthday suit - to commemorate my special day.

Don't worry, he was cupping himself. :p

And to Brent. Who ubber decorated my apartment in wicked streamers, balloons, banners and dollarama popping confetti (coolest things EVER!!!). But did it in such a wonderful way...it was really nicely decorated. All to make me feel uber special on my special day. And it was so much appreciated and really unexpected.

AND - he baked me a birthday cake. Which we have since agreed is a bad idea when there is only one person living with said cake. I've had cake for breakfast twice since my birthday. But is is SOOOO GOOD. It is a double layer marble cake with chocolate icing and he wrote a birthday wish ontop of the cake with red gel. The wonderful surprise's only flaw...the sparkly-glittery candles used atop that shed glittery-ness onto the cake.

I can't explain it - i just don't like sparkles. They never go away.

But THANK YOU Brent. I really did love every minute I was able to enjoy with you.

And to my parents for the lovely presents and phone calls. :)

I can now get orthotics. Yay. AND - i can buy a special knee brace now too!!! Happy Birthday indeed!! :)

RAPTORS

We went to a Raptors game on Monday Dec. 3rd. It felt like we had just been at the ACC recently. My brother was quick to remind me that it had been since February. Where did the year go???

We won. The game was against Charlotte. And yet, the crowd still booed. Cause we scored 98 points - and you need 100 for free pizza. It just sucked cause the last player to have the ball in his hands, ran the clock down by just dribbling the ball. One more basket - that's all we wanted. :)

It was nice to be back watching the game. Although, there was an incredibly distracting young individual in front of us. She was the epitome of 90's wigger. A 13 year old who was trying to be a gangster and at a moment's notice would break out into the 'chair dance moves'. Simply distracting.

Season's Change. Break out the hand cream.

Winter is here! I love it. I really SHOULD HAVE gone toboganning for my birthday. Every year I wish it would snow so that I could use my crazy carpet on my bday...and this year was the first time in forever that I've been able to. And...I didn't go. Cause I fell asleep instead (i've been tired lately).

Anyway - winter is here - and it's wonderful and frustrating all at the same time. I love winter. Snowboarding season might be really good this year. It will hopefully be a white Christmas this year - not Easter. I love the smell in the air, so crisp, and the way your footsteps sound as they crunch through the snow.

What I don't love - is my eczema flairing up (earlier than normal this year - and worse) AND the city of Toronto. It's like they are allergic to snow plow budgets or something. The mayor of this city is out to destroy us. When will this city ever accept that we live in Canada - and not only that - but we live at a certain lattitude of north america - which means we have four seasons - one of which being winter. And with winter conditions - comes winter driving. With winter driving, one should hope comes salting and plowing. Not for Toronto.

This is a whole discussion on its own. But basically, our city is trying to save money - and doing it by cutting the dumbest things. Like timely plowing. Or plowing at all. There is discussion to no longer plow side streets (which is most of Toronto) to save money. It's bad enough that the residents of this city shovel their driveways onto the streets making it harder to drive through, but to remove all potential for a reasonable drive is ridiculous. They think it would mean less people would drive to work. Well, what about thos who need their cars to do their work???

I can't wait to leave this city and contribute my tax money into another city that might actually do something better with it.

Ack.

Then comes the fate of the snowman built in a city living the teeter-totter winter. I keep driving by this one snowman that has seen the effects of the warming/cooling cycle of our 'winter' so far. His belly had begun to melt at some point, and he is now beginning to slump over, almost exasperated by his imminent death. It's quite sad. :(

Christmas songs have a different meaning to me. I've been listening to Third Day's Christmas Offerings this week - and two songs have really stood out to me. "Do you hear what I hear?" and "O Holy Night".

Christmas has a very special feeling to it. It would appear that people are in a warmer mood and seem to have more love in their hearts. That is more often than not, hidden by the rampageous crowd mentality that Christmas shopping in a big city can bring out. This is a very unfortunate part of the commercialization of the holiday.

When you listen to true Christmas carols, you can really hear what the holiday is about. It is about the birth of Christ and the beginning of hope to mankind. For on that night a son was born - to save us from ourselves and deliver us from sin and its hold on us. The best Christmas gift we could ever receive, and most of us will never really understand its truth.

Listening to these two songs in particular really struck me this week - because it's like we forget that this is a gift to celebrate every single day. I can't believe that God would actually give up his one and only Son for us - to save us - to show us a deeper love than we could every comprehend. It's completely mind blowing if you actually take a moment to think about it.

And Christmas will find its true meaning.

The path we all follow...

Remembering your past. I had the girls (minus Sarah who was in Victoria recently) over on Tuesday night for an evening potluck. One of the things that came up in conversation was the whole idea of "running into your past". Like - bumping into people from your past - and what feelings that might instill in your heart. Like how some songs can really help bring you back to a certain point in your life. As you get older - it's really interesting to see how you remember your past and who/what moments pop up on your head. I find the 'who pops up in your head' most interesting - a past friend, an old relationship...and what does it mean. It shows a lot of your growth. What you want now versus what you didn't know back then. I think when you look at these moments in your life it really helps you appreciate all the "living" you have come to do in our short time on this planet. This is a difficult 'thought' to put down into words. My mind is still wrapping itself around past moments that have been popping up - and it's been a really great period of growth. :)

I can't believe I've been in this city for over eight years now.

We shopped at Vaughan Mills last weekend. I must say - Purdy's hazelnut hedgehogs are yummy!! Shop before noon - or you will regret the day you stepped foot inside that mall.

And OMG - the Walmart superstore on Eglinton - is NOW open 24 HOURS to 'serve you better for your Christmas shopping'. What is WRONG with us????

1 week countdown to my major hair cut. ack. Enjoy the length while I still got it - I might not see it again for a few years (strange!!) I hope it goes well. Cause i don't plan on having long hair for NZ. I think as long as I go all the way with the length, i'll love it! This is a big step for me.

NZ feels soooooo close. For Xmas, we aren't buying each other gifts. Instead, we're going on a NZ shopping spree. I've been blessed with financial provision to buy a GPS unit (hopefully with an awesome boxing day sale), our tent and hopefully gortex pants. Wow. this adventure can't come soon enough. I can't imagine how it will feel to wake up every morning in the mountains of NZ. Every single morning. I am sooo blessed.

I'm 7 months and 19 days away!!

To new adventures in my 27th year...

(Photo of the American Falls at night from Niagara Falls, On July 28th, 2007)