Winter Break

Paul: If my name was Zaphod, would you be able to pronounce it by now?

Just because the University is closed, doesn't meant it's all vacation.  Paul still works every day and I would join him in some productive time (try to complete my CGA work experience questionaire).  Later in the day, we'd cook something from Jackie's cookbook* or try one of her tried and true recipes.

In the middle, we also fit in some time to visit friends. 

Howie over the phone: Why is Shauna feeding Lana? 

On Tuesday, I ventured over to Jazzy's for tea with the ladies.  At least that was the original plan.  It turned into tea with Shauna, Jesse, Alannah, and Jazzy (Catherine's in Sooke; Charlotte's on the mend).  On the menu were sandwiches and scones (Jackie's cheese receipe) with plenty of tea (ginger and non-caffinated varieties). 

Jesse and Shauna beamed at (and fed) their daughter, Alannah.  Meanwhile, Jazzy glowed (she's expecting!). 

What is Canada's most prevalent goose? 

Next day, Paul and I both go to Kathy and Neil's for games and munchies.  They fed us a lovely dinner, let us use the pretty glasses, and shared their mincemeat pies.  Kathy and Paul talked about some finer points of French (grammar and the singing of), and then (prompted by the book) toilets of the world. 

Not long after, we were thick into Trivial Pursuit.  Kathy and Neil are a force.  Paul and I put up a (almost) decent fight (though we really should avoid sports).  Since it's the Canadian version, remember: When in doubt, "Margaret Atwood". 

Hard to believe it's already New Year's Eve.  Tonight - something new.  Stay tuned!

* So far we've tried kedgeree (a Anglo-Indian rice dish with fish and herbs, plus an egg!) and cream of tomato soup.  Both were delicious.  I'd not thought about what makes a good cookbook (I have them, but it's not as if I've had much of a chance to use them), but Paul knows: photos for every recipe and the fact it can lie flat on the counter.  We're not likely to try deboning a squid any time soon, but if I did this book has instructions on that too. 

It's Christmas Time!

It was a sweet, if cold Christmas morning.  Went over to Paul's as early as I could to play Santa (it's great to be the bearer of presents).  From the telephone room closet I pulled out a large bag of gifts - he had not suspected at all. 

From Rem and Steph Paul received some blankets (Great!  He can lower the thermostat to 13 degrees at night - Crazy man).  Then I was surprised - Jackie had sent me something: A cookery book! 

We alternated opening other gifts and I was already feeling quite spoiled when finally Paul and I exchanged ours.  Carefully, I peeled back the birthday paper and green tissue (which in a former life wrapped mandarin oranges), to find another happy surprise: We're going shopping for dance shoes! 

While Paul tidied the mess*, I put lunch into action.  Our non-traditional Christmas meal consisted of pan fried pork dumplings (with plenty of sweet chili and hot chili sauce) along with Shanghai bok choy. 

A slightly more traditional (but Chinese styled) meal awaited me when I got home.  Jeffy had spent the day with Angela, Patrick, Kevin and Celina and looked glad that I was there.  We ate (I had to fight for the neck) and had a small drink (Mom claimed from her two sips of ice wine she felt "high-high de"). 

Before dinner was even over, Celina and Kevin wanted to dive into the presents.  Finally, they were allowed. 

It seemed they were happy eventhough they knew what they were getting from me (that wrapping paper was a little too thin).  Angela remained true to form and gave us all practical presents (granola bars and raw almonds).  Jeffy gave me his old ties (he's very happy to no longer need them). 

Us kids certainly had the most fun - but I'm sure I caught some of the parents smiling too. 

Next day, our other Christmas tradition: Boxing Day Shopping.  No crazy early wake up call to make it to the Mall (thankfully).  Instead we all had lunch together, and then Celina ("Isn't it great that my brother isn't here?") and I went to check out the sales downtown.  From what she was interested in, she's officially entered into her "black" phase. 

* Santa didn't forget House Hippo - he also enjoyed his stocking gift.

Celebrate!

Yuck! Paul likes eggnog.  We discovered this on Christmas Eve when Beth completely spoiled us with a delicious dinner.  The evening started out with transporting the whole lot from her house to Paul's by taxi.  Then she expertly transferred the different items that catered to all our dietary restrictions (fish, stuffing, vegetables...) into their required hot or cold spots. 

(Right: Beth with butternut squash)

Dave Z showed up a little later and brought: eggnog.  I stayed away while they drank it and instead sipped a Beth-made fruity concoction that had cranberries floaties. 

While the dinner was cooking, Paul plugged in Do You Hear What I Hear: Christmas with C, H, R Rankin.  I thought this was my favourite Christmas album - but where did all those pop-ish country songs come from?  After one go, we switch to the BBC broadcast of the 2009 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (which I had not heard of before).

(Right: Appetizers - Date and almond rolls [with no other additives] and home baked meringue cookies)

After eating the fabulous dinner we played games.

Dave Z taught us "Crouton".  From his pocket he produced a plastic bag with the required crouton and explained: While every one else is writing the numbers from 1 and 100 in order on a piece of paper, one person is to roll the crouton until the one shaded side appears.  When that happens, the next person in the circle has to pause from writing and start rolling the crouton and so on.  The first person to finish writing wins. 

Hands cramped from writing, one forgot which numbers came next, and the crouton started to crumble.  Yes, it was completely silly, but because of that it was hilarious.  I felt triumphant then when I made it 100 first (and an audit showed while they were messy, I didn't miss any numbers in between). 

Next, came charades.  Paul definitely knew what he was doing and taught me some of the special symbols along the way.  We went through "Heaven's My Destination" (a book), "The Prestige" (a movie)... I thought we did pretty well.  "The Possibility of Dreaming on a Night Without Stars" (my current read) would probably not have been that hard. 

(Left: 1... 2... 3!)

Jeffy (newly arrived from Calgary) came to pick me up, but also joined in some of the activities.  I don't think he understood why crackers were so much fun (the jokes are bad [though some are better] and there are hats*!), but at least he enjoyed dessert.   

Overall, a spectacular Christmas Eve.  Thank you, Beth!

 

* The latter made a certain someone (left), look a lot like someone else.

Val and Anne Visit

The stars aligned for Christmas so that both Mme. Valerie and Anne were in town at the same time.  We met up with them and Kerry for dinner at Rem and Steph's. 

(Left: Kerry shows he can clean)

It was a cozy time.  Not long after were joined by Malcolm and his cousin.   

(Left: A delicious dinner [decked with boughs] definitely not short on sweets.) 

(Left: A trashy and sassy gift basket - destined for Anne's dad.) 

Anne, made sure I'd take a picture of her without a wine glass, and so: Innocent, with a mug of tea. 

We were then introduced to the snuggie.

Too Hot for Snowball

or_ Of Firemen and Hoses_

Snowball turned out surprisingly well.  The Upper Crust caterered lunch, though much shorter and different from the cocktail party of last year and had less entertainment (no skit), seemed to be to people's liking.  My favourite moments were the re-gift exchange (yes, finally the mug is gone) and at the end - when cleaning up I wasn't the only one who packed up the leftovers. 

Back at the office, a big surprise from Lorena.  Could you believe such a racy gift was from my mild mannered boss?  Not only was it a calendar of firemen without their shirts on, she also made sure to have it personalised.  

Paul read the handwritten comments, revised for grammatical errors, and then wrote his own: "Dear Lana, you set my sprinkler going."  (I don't think that's a good thing.) 

Wendy and I received the same calendar, but with different personalised messages.  If you're looking for a gift for a different Lana and Wendy, we'll gladly part with them - just let us know.

Tiger en Pointe

Melissa came to lunch prepared: Ballet toe shoes!  (Or, I guess the proper term is pointe shoes.)  Certainly I've seen them in pictures, but never in real life.  It was a treat to have her explain them to me and show me how they're laced.  I had always thought there would be a lot of padding at the toe - in actuality, there wasn't much there. 

We ended up eating lunch away from the office and got a chance to talk.  I think she's the first person I've met whose family is from Mauritius*.  

Contrary to what the Chinese zodiac may have predicted, this monkey finds this tiger pretty fine. 

* The only known home of the (now extinct [pretty sure she had nothing to do with it]) dodo bird.

Pre-Christmas Blues

There was dance camp (gorgeous tango routine, but no one to dance it with; gold level moves in the other sessions = yikes!), and the ninja struck again with supplies for the office party. 

Though late, there was still time Saturday night for some blues. 

(Left: And... dip!)

After some very bad parallel parking on my part (Paul bailed me out), Paul, Beth, Andrew, and I arrived at David's.  We made some picks from the dessert potuck, I filled the "never ending bowl of gummy bears", and started dancing in the dining area, living room - anywhere where the funiture had been cleared. 

It had taken some convincing to get Melissa to come out, but she did, and I think she was happy to have a break from her thesis.  Both she and Paul were new, but both got into the groove and did wonderfully.

The windows were quickly fogged, and I'd forgotten about the cold outside.  But soon, it was time to bundle up and go. 

(Left: DJ Jim at work)

The rest of the weekend was capped off nicely with some much needed quiet with Paul: Victor Borge's "Aria" (Part I and II) and a little more Christmas prep.  The calm that was there only hours before is already fading - There's only 5 days to go!

The RCX

The recipe said 36 oatmeal raisin cookies (the reviewers said it was the best recipe [they've] ever tried).  Perfect - that would make the 30 required cookies and there'd still be 6 left over for us. 

What actually happened: 40 cookies later there were still two fist-sized clumps of dough in the mixing bowl.  Between these and the Super-Model Turkey cookies (cut into heart shapes) we resorted to using the muffin tins to bake when the cookie sheet had overflown.

The next day, armed with all these cookies, we went to Rhianne's 4th Annual Cookie Exchange.  It was a great chance to get updated.  Simony and friends had been volunteering at Santa's Anonymous.  Rhianne was planning to go to the Netherlands to visit her family. 

As per tradition, there were games. This year: Pictionary Christmas Carols.  Our team won, but it was definitely questionable at times (see below for the winning drawing). 

Next were Simony's ratings.  Alas, the Super Model Turkeys / anise seed hearts were voted second last.  



We munched on the cookies and other snacks. 

I figured with our band of pop-culture junkies, someone would know, so Paul asked: Do you remember a cartoon in the 80s called Mysterious Cities of Gold? 

No one claimed to remember.  Then Josh pulled out a phone to check the web... unfortunately it wasn't just the answer that was important. 

It was a fun night.  I have lots of cookies and I have lots of plans for them.  I just need to not eat them all. 

In the Mood for Christmas

It was cold outside, (on the way to -46 degrees, the coldest temperature in Canada and the second coldest in the world for that day), but we were comfortably warm inside, at the Convocation Hall yesterday, for Millcreek's "Celebrate Christmas" concert. 

I happy bopped along to "Dances from the Nutcracker", and Beth and I tested our chops in the sing-a-long portion (what ever they might say about Dr. Malcolm Forsyth, he's not a choir conductor). 

During the break, I was treated to the sight of brass players queuing ever so nicely at the local watering fountain.  By the time I got my camera, however, only one remained. 

"You have a lot of random stuff... that's good..." ~ Simon Brucie

Later, some of my random stuff (which Simon Brucie doesn't seem so sarcastic of when they are exotic sweets I'm willing to share) rounded out with Reuse stuff Steph and I picked, proved perfect to disrupt the minimalism of decorate Paul's place.  House Hippo helped.

Dinner dishes were washed by candlelight.  We listened to some music, which I was given full permission to mistake for Richard Strauss (if I actually got that far...), as we discussed possible plans for Christmas day.  Paul tells me of his family's traditional long quiet walks in the countryside.  My eyebrow raises... oh right, it only gets to be about 3 degrees.