Holidays in review

Well, our first Christmas in our new home certainly was different, and not exactly according to plan.

I got all my baking done on the 22nd & 23rd, as planned. t! was supposed to go into work on the 23rd and for a half-day on the 24th, neither of which happened due to the weather (and resultant poor driving conditions). We opened our gifts on Christmas Eve, which was lovely and might be the start of a new family tradition. t! got me a telescope!

On the 25th we headed out for t!’s cousin’s home in NDIP, and had a lovely time with his family for a few hours, but had to leave fairly early because we had left Carter at home in his crate.

On the 26th I was supposed to do a bunch more holiday-food cooking and baking, but was feeling tired and not entirely with it. We realised something was actually wrong when I had to call t! to come and take the bowl of cake batter out of my hands because I didn’t have the strength to hold it. As soon as the cake was in the oven I went to bed, and was up a few hours later being very, very ill indeed for most of the rest of the night.

At first we thought it was some sort of stomach flu, but we later found out that a number of t!’s family members had also been ill fairly shortly after the gathering on the 25th, so it was probably some sort of food poisoning. Ted, t!’s aunt’s boyfriend was so badly off that he had to stop the car by the side of the road to be sick five times on the drive home!

t! started feeling poorly on the 27th, and between us being ill and a freezing-rain storm in Montreal, his parents, brother & sister-in-law, and grandmother decided not to come out to us as originally planned. So we spent most of that day trying to recuperate instead.

On the 28th we packed up the car & the dog and headed to St. Lambert for my family’s Christmas gathering. t! and a couple of my large male cousins made short work of carrying my father in his wheelchair up the 5 steps from the front door to the main floor of the house. My parents and sister, one uncle and aunt, six of my cousins, five of their partners, and seven of their children, plus Carter, t! and myself made for a very full house indeed. My father sat in the middle of it all, being fed a little of everyone’s Christmas cooking and baking, and enjoyed himself thoroughly, I’m quite sure.

My sister had News, which will be the subject of another post.

On the 29th we crated the dog, packed into the car, andafter hanging around the Hawskbury Shopping Mall for a nerve-wracking 35 minutes, I took and passed my G2 driving test. Which means I’m now allowed to drive the car whenever and wherever I like, without a fully licensed driver in the passenger seat. I’m also allowed to take my test for my full license as soon as I like. I think I will do it in 2-3 months’ time. t! quipped that I owe him at least a year of being the designated driver!

The afternoon of the 29th was supposed to include a visit from the Murphy-Hiscocks, but due to illness (though this time not on our part) that visit was also cancelled. So we unfortunately got to see and spend time with far fewer people than we had originally hoped. Which also meant that we ended up with a whole bunch of spare tins of Christmas cookies (all that baking)!

On the 30th our vacation started. We cocooned. We watched movies and played board games. Including a wonderful vintage 1970 Parker Brothers game that we acquired via eBay: Caper. It has little metal tools with which you plan and execute a jewel robbery. Classic in the true sense of the word!

We read books. We drank beer and scotch and ate the leftover Christmas baking. We walked the dog. We relaxed.  For six whole days. It was good.