Our Holidays

What I thought was going to be a restful month off has proven to be as insane as the last year and a half! I'm not complaining, because it's been a great ride, but I am tired! I hope I'll be able to be a couch bum for at least a couple of days before next term starts on Wednesday!!

Our holiday began with the insanity that precedes Christmas. Although I was more than half-finished my shopping before December, it seems that my days were filled with trips to the mall by myself, with my niece, with the Dude and so on and so on.

On Dec. 20th we packed (!!!) the truck and headed east, for Regina. The drive was not fun because there was fog from Edmonton all the way to Regina but other than the 4 :( dead deer on the sides of the highway the drive was uneventful.

Our visit was a whirlwind of activity but we managed to see a good portion of the family and share gifts and meals. I spent most of the trip miserable on the couch with a cold which has finally (?) left almost a month after I first felt the symptoms. I am always overwhelmed at the warmth of the Dude's family. I know I can be difficult, but I feel okay to be myself with them because they embrace me no matter what. I'm a little sad that we could only spend two full days there but my family told me they'd revolt if we didn't spend Christmas in Edmonton this year!

And so, we packed up the truck and drove back home on December 23rd.

I can't remember what transpired on the 24th- I was supposed to help my mom with Christmas baking. I sort of recall being in a grocery store, frantically bagging up all the gifts to take to the farm, packing our overnight bags and heading out. On Christmas eve we had some nice family time with my parents and I made a breakfast dish for the next morning.

Christmas Day arrived (finally!!!) I was too excited to sleep past 7, so by 7:30 the Dude and I were downstairs on the couch opening our stockings and watching A Garfield Christmas special. Then, the Dude went upstairs to throw up. It seems that half of his family back home was also suffering from the flu. So, Christmas Day for Derek wasn't that great- he spent most of his time sleeping but was okay...ish by the evening.

Anyway, we opened gifts, ate and waited for the rest of the family to show. When everyone was finally there, the gift insanity began and everyone was spoiled! I hadn't really had anything particular in mind for this year, so I was really happy with everything I got. Some of our family gave us gift certificates for the mall so we could buy gear for our impending ski trip... but that's coming up later.

So, presents, food, family fun, more food, more noise... and Christmas Day was a wrap! (Hahaha no pun intended.)

On Boxing Day we um- I have no idea. Maybe we stayed home.

On the 27th we went to the mall and bought snowpants, goggles, mitts/gloves and a ski jacket for the Dude. With the sales and our gift certificates we were able to gear ourselves up with minimal pain in the money department. lol. That evening, my grandparents flew in from Ontario!

I drove out to the farm to spend the day with my family and my grandparents and my brother's family and- my uncle Donnie and his foster son. What a houseful again! But it was so nice to see everyone. (Poor Dude had to work.)

I went home and the next day was the 29th. That day, the Dude came with me to visit with my parents and my grandparents. It was a nice, warm, relaxing day. In the evening John and Julie had us over for a dinner. I played Wii with my nephew and he kicked my butt (naturally) and we had a really nice time.

We went home that evening and packed our stuff because the next morning we had to go to Fernie!.............. to be continued!