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.