Dec 25 - A Christmas to Remember

This was not our usual Christmas Day, if there is such a thing. As a family, we've gone through stages:

-- the Mississauga stage, with travels to my aunt's and Hemmingford
-- the Radnor stage, David and Stef coming to our house, Jeffrey still living at home. There were a couple of mix and match years where Stef was first in Toronto and then in California; David out west and then in Renfrew; where we met up in Hemmingford
-- one year where we all went to Whistler; one year where David and Jeffrey went to Whistler and Stef did not
-- the last three years where we gathered at the cottage
-- and this year, as we make the rounds and/or visit each one separately.

This Christmas we were not together. Sandy talked to Stef -- they made it to London Ontario in the rain; Jeffrey called us with video on Skype and we saw him and Emma -- I lifted Abby up for Emma to see; Sara was in the background and said hello. Arlene called twice -- second time to have her kids say thanks -- they got money, temporary tatoos and Harley t-shirts from us. We didn't talk to Philip but we'd seen him a couple of days ago.

Time will tell if there is a new "norm" or each year is a little different. I suspect the latter, since we are so spread out and I also suspect that there is a Christmas not too far in our future where it will be warm, i.e. Christmas in Florida. "It'll never happen" might, just might, happen.

I was up early as usual, before 5am, and David was up shortly after 6am, having been awakened by Abby's clicking on the floors. Megan got up a little after David, sat around for a few minutes and then announced that she was going back to bed until her Mom got up. That happened shortly thereafter, precipitated, not doubt, by Megan getting into bed with her Mom.

We didn't rush to open gifts ... Megan was very patient for an almost-9-year-old, but we did get there eventually. The first gift opened was our wedding gift to David and Kim -- a set of Henkel knives. The funniest gifts were probably the Harley Davidson sleepwear that we got David and Kim. David posed for pictures, also wearing his reindeer hat. Pictures will be posted later ... David got Kim a "magic bullet" which we'd brought up from the U.S. for him along with some lingerie. My comment to him is that he has already done much better than me -- I never managed to do the lingerie department. Megan got me a fishing lure so that I wouldn't have to hurt any more minnows :). We got Megan a few small things along with a half-sized sewing machine. She also got a pottery wheel ... she is very, very creative ... artsy.

As I sit here doing my blog I'm looking at some framed art on the wall that she did, a mask hung in a conspicuous spot and on the coffee table, a simple picture of Abby looking upwards that shows an understanding of perspective that I would know is missing from something that I tried to draw but could not capture. She attends a special school that has an art focus -- can you imagine drama classes in primary school ? It's great that this is available to her, that Kim and David -- and the province -- can provide that opportunity.

There was more -- oh yes, Abby got -- from Merlin and Maya Lynn (George's dogs) a "bad to the bone" dog toy. When you press on the center it makes sounds like a Harley revving up. She doesn't quite get it, but of course we all delight in giving it a spin, so to speak.

There were a few presents left under the tree, but those went over to Kim's Mom & Dad, where we went for 4pm. Prior to that we got a tour of St. Albert -- the town where David and Kim used to live and where her sister and parents live. It's much nicer than typical Edmonton, older, heavily treed in areas, and then there are parts with huge homes ranging up to 10,000 square feet and over, a number of which David has cleaned the window prior to occupancy. These become multi-day jobs both due to the size and number of windows but also because cleaning windows of construction dirt -- paint and what-not -- is not a simple Windex job.

We visited with Kim's Mom & Dad for a while -- they have a beautiful house -- and then Kim's sister and husband Tim arrived along with her two children -- 3 & 5 years old -- and Tim's sister Mandy and her significant other, Aron (yes, one "A"). Aron and Mandy both have doctorates in Art History -- fascinating for me because that's what Mike Davies is working on. I guess that I had no idea that it was such a broad field ... Mandy has recently been signed on at the University of Alberta -- in Calgary, I guess -- and Aron teaches and does research out of the university in Columbus Ohio where he's been for seven years. Mandy did her doctorate at McGill and also studied at Harvard; Aron in several places (I forget) but doctoral work in Chicago. When I asked Aron what his specialty was I got a glimpse of how broad the field is as he talked about theoretical work, essays, speaking engagements "across the pond" ... hmmm ... an entirely different world out there. They have lived in New York, his Mom lives in Cabbagetown in Toronto, it's quite a different life. They both seem to have a lot of freedom -- he's been working away from the university for 7 months now and is due for a sabbatical soon ... yes, a whole different world. It's not my definition of "work" but hey, if it needs to be done and someone wants to pay you to do it and you enjoy doing same, more power to you !

Turkey, a baked dressing dish, a baked vegetable dish that Kim brought, a baked sweet potato dish crunchy on top with a glaze, mac & cheese for the kids -- I'm missing half the items -- but we ate well. Desert was a mocha cheesecake and apple pie ... yikes, I need some plain food soon but I did do it justice. I have to be polite :). No, I'm kidding, I went up for seconds. We left there about 9pm and headed over to an area of St. Albert -- a cul-de-sac -- where everyone competes to have the most Christmas decorations -- think National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation at multiple houses -- no, it's tastefully done, not garish. The sidewalks down the street and around the turn-around have illuminated arches -- it's really neat. If you were to purchase one of these houses, I wonder if the seller would have to disclose the expectations ? Would the decorations be part of the house ?

Whew. It was after 10 when we got home. Soon I went to bed and read -- I must have gotten through an entire paragraph -- and my day was done. I don't think that Sandy was too long behind me but quite frankly I have no idea.

Earlier in the day I did get to Mass -- 11am -- at a church a few kms away. Naturally it was packed ... interestingly, even after communion it was packed. I usually find that the church is about half full after communion on Christmas and Easter. The priest's parting announcement was a request to carry the Christmas spirit out to the parking lot and be patient ...

Today I'm planning on helping David with some wiring. There are three areas, one of which we probably will not get to. A receptacle at the back of the kitchen island should be easy; another in the basement, but the third would involve running some wire in the attic. I'm not crazy about that one since it would mean moving insulation, but David's keen on that since it would eliminate an extension cord that runs across the floor to a desk at the top of the stairs. Leaving the attic access panel open for any period of time would create such a wind rushing up into the attic ... if he wants to do the attic part, I can provide directions and do the actual connections in the wall. He'll have to get up soon if we want to get going on that -- we need to head over to Home Depot to purchase some items and pull out the dishwasher to scope out the island wiring. I'm not sure what tools he has -- I would have brought a small basket of tools had I known what we were going to be doing, but that's ok.

Today -- housework -- tomorrow, after Mass -- head to Jasper. Time, as usual, is flying by.

Onward !