Well Christmas is out of the way and it was a nice couple of days. On the 23rd I had to work but the guys went to Lee’s place where they watched Family Guy: It’s a Trap and ate too much pizza. That much late night cheese gave Oliver nightmares all night but I don’t ever assume that good parenting decisions will be made on a night where they gather to watch the Family Guy.
On Christmas Eve, I ran to Walmart to get some pop for the guys of the Salvation Army Community Services shelter. That night they had fresh pizza being made so pop was a necessity. Once I picked that up, I met Jordon, Lee, and Mark who were already down there. Jordon and Lee were moving some bags of Christmas presents around while Mark was in the kitchen making some pizza and lunch with the Centre’s head cook, Ryan. Mark had already pounded back a large double-double coffee by that time. Again, what was Jordon thinking.
In the early afternoon we ended back at the house with Lee where we had some KFC and waited for my friend Micheala and her daughter Taylah to come over and spend Christmas Eve with us. Around 2:00 p.m. they come by and Taylah and Mark went sledding while Micheala and I made lasagna and Caesar Salad for supper.
During this time the kids had come back and Mark was driving me crazy in the kitchen so Lee told Mark that every time he came into the kitchen, he would lose a Christmas gift. Mark agreed and then looked really concerned when Lee and Jordon would have him head to the kitchen and get them a drink. Of course Jordon and Lee were bugging Micheala over slowing me down and if that was the case, she would be asked to leave the kitchen.
We finally ate and then opened our stockings and presents. Mark and Jordon will probably write about Christmas on their blogs so I’ll leave that with them.
In my stocking I got
- Women’s Health magazine (it’s a tradition that there is always a magazine in the stocking)
- A new razor (apparently Jordon disapproves of my generic razor)
- $25 iTunes Card
- A cooling fan for my laptop
- Soap and some skin creams.
- Candy and more candy.
For Christmas Lee gave me a Meade StarNavigator 102 telescope which totally shocked me. It has a built in computer that not only tells me about certain stars but helps me find them. We will be taking it to the cabin and using it up there on summer nights. Not only am I excited about but so is Jordon, Mark, and Lee. It will be a lot of fun to try out all summer.
Lee also gave me a Saskatchewan Roughrider blanket which will keep me warm while I am freezing to death watching Saskatchewan Huskies games next fall. The good news is that it isn’t big enough to share so Lee, Mark, and Jordon can be cold while I am toasty warm at Griffiths Stadium.
Jordon surprised me with an Amazon Kindle. I knew he had wanted one and was frustrated that he couldn’t get one by Christmas. I had no idea that he had already ordered me one. I haven’t had a lot of time to play with it but it’s web browser is better than I thought and it really is easy to read with. It can’t wait to get it all set up with some winter reading. He also set me up with a subscription to The StarPhoenix which is delivered every morning to the machine. Jordon plans to set it up with Instapaper and some other tools. It should be a lot of fun and a much better alternative then bringing up a boatload of books up to the lake.
Mark gave me a pasta maker that blew me away. I had wanted one and checked them out around town and they were $150 – $200. Apparently Jordon found one on Amazon and it was only $30. The dogs got me a pasta drying rack (thanks Maggi, how did you know?) What’s funny about this gift is that Jordon always checks out kitchen purchases for me with the kitchen staff at the Salvation Army. He has brought a lot of ideas to them that they have rejected and on each occasion they have been right. Well one of the cooks is a big fan of making fresh pasta so not only will I get to make fresh pasta but Debbie will be borrowing it as well.
Santa knows that I am a now hooked on CFL football (even if the rules confuse me) and left me a Saskatchewan Roughriders jersey. Nice.
Oliver gave me a Elton John CD. Lee mocked me for it but I like Elton John and Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum for the Wii
Our last gift was a Sony Playstation 3 from Lee. My part of the gift was EA Active 2 personal trainer game. I am starting to wonder if everyone thinks I am fat (actually I asked for a workout game)
After the gifts were open, we ate some dessert and then had an epic game of NHL Monopoly (Lee’s gift to Mark) with everyone. Mark did the same thing he did last time and traded Lee the Montreal Canadiens (Boardwalk) while Lee had the Toronto Maple Leafs (Park Place). In the end we lost again.
After we kicked Micheala, Taylah, and Lee out for the night, we tried to go to bed. Jordon made it as far as the couch and fell asleep. In the morning we got up and Jordon ran down to work while I got the boys ready as we met our friends Carl and Debbie for coffee and Tim Horton’s. Debbie cooks at the Centre and last year her and Jordon were frantic that they could not find an open Tim Horton’s on Christmas Day. They found out that the airport Tim Horton’s was open later on and vowed to go there this Christmas. Well the one on 51st Street was open and we went over there. There was Debbie, Carl, us, four police officers, and a long lineup in the drive through and takeout line in there. We had a good time chatting and drinking coffee before we came home, grabbed lunch, and then headed over to the Reimer’s for Christmas dinner.
About an hour later Lee joined up and about an hour after that, Micheala, and Taylah joined up for some gifts and a really, really good supper. Jordon doesn’t like green beans but the Reimer’s make a bean casserole that he loves. We brought the Wii along to play but the main game played that night was a Monopoly game the Reimer’s game Taylah. Instead of Lee winning, Taylah beat everyone handily and we spent the night listening to Mark make more bad trades and Taylah gloating (she really beat everyone badly) which was fun.
We came home last night and got the kids to bed and went to bed ourselves. I am back at work this morning and we have some friends coming by later night so I am trusting the guys to get the house cleaned up in time for guests. i think they will do alright.
Update: Mark’s Christmas post and Jordon’s Christmas thoughts