scribbles, scratches and scrawls

Plans

2012-01-31T22:50:00.002-08:00

I had plans. Lots of plans. For lots of organizing and lots of writing and lots of reading. Reading is about all I got done this month. So I made a list tonight. And maybe I'll actually get around to some of that writing (or blogging) in February...we'll see I guess...

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Some More

2012-01-14T06:50:00.005-08:00

38.7 - 38.11 Eat at ten new restaurants or coffee shops

Yum yum...the last five for this challenge. Which of course doesn't mean I'm never going to go to a new-to-me restaurant ever again. I might just do that later on today...

New Oxford Public House

Alex and I decided we were going on a real date for our anniversary this year, so we got a sitter for J and decided to go to dinner and then a concert. But we wanted to go somewhere we hadn't been before for dinner. I got a bunch of suggestions from a bunch of people and we eventually settled on one my boss suggested, the New Oxford Public House in Yaletown.

Alex made a reservation and thank goodness he did because much to our surprise, we chose to go to Yaletown in the middle of Taste of Yaletown.

We decided to go with the set menu - it was choice of an appetizer, main and dessert and for $10 more it included a cocktail or beer pairing with each course as well. So, we went with the $35 dollar option. We both had the same appetizer - a yummy soup (the other choice was a salad and it was cold and wet outside, so soup it was). Alex had pasta and I had steak and we shared the two desserts. Alex chose the beer pairings and I had the cocktails and it was all so good.

We quite enjoyed our meals...if we weren't heading off to a concert, I would have been happy to hang out there all night! Check out the ceiling...

Saturday's Fish & Chips

We met Alex's family for Alex's mom's favourite, fish and chips at Saturday's in Surrey.

J ordered salmon - I've never seen salmon on a fish and chips menu before, but it was good and she ate the whole thing much to the amazement of her uncle, cousin and grandparents (salmon happens to be her favourite food).

The fish was tasty - not too much batter - the chips were perfect. It was good. It's too bad it's so far from home ... or we'd be there more often.The booths were huge - all seven of us fit in one booth...

J would love it too...she loved the dessert Papa ordered for her...and I'm sure she'd like to have one every night!

BoatHouse Kitsilano

No pictures of this one...we were here for a work function. We started with some of the yummiest crab cakes I have ever had and then I had the chicken and prawn bowl with green curry. It was good. I love seafood, but that day I really just wanted chicken strips. Hello, boring, but the curry was scrumptious and I was more than happy that I chose something far more interesting than chicken strips!

I didn't think I'd ever been to the BoatHouse before and I know for sure that I've never been to the one at Kits Beach, but as I wandered around their website, I realized that years ago, when I was a student, my aunt came to town and took me to the one in Richmond. And after however many months of cafeteria food, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

Luke's Corner Bar & Kitchen

A few days after Christmas, my mom and dad showed up at our place and kicked us out. They took J for lunch and sent us to find lunch elsewhere. We decided to walk up Granville and try somewhere new to us. We knew if we couldn't find the right place for a post-Christmas lunch, we there were a few standbys along there to fall back on.

We settled on Luke's (which is where Red Door was). We were starving so we started with a prawn appetizer that was super tasty.

Alex and I ended up ordering the same juicy bacon cheeseburger. It was soooo good. Alex ordered the shoestring fries and I kept stealing them - they were perfect! No over cooked or limp ones in this batch.

I ordered sweet potato fries that Alex kept stealing, so I guess we're even! Alex's came with homemade ketchup which he traded for my chipotle mayo. I loved the ketchup. And if you know me, you probably know that I am not a condiment fan, but I ate all of the ketchup. I might just have to try my hand at making ketchup next tomato season!

Our only complaint was some kind of inconsistent service. We think we might have arrived right at shift change as the servers all seemed to switch a few minutes after we arrived. When someone finally came to take our drink (and by then food) order, the server looked surprised to see anyone seated at our table...they seemed to sort it out eventually and our last (of three) servers was awesome. We'll go back and give the service another chance for sure - but the food was awesome, no question!

Boulangerie la Parisienne - Yaletown Cafe

We were in Yaletown last weekend to get J's haircut and of course she was starving afterwards, so we went across the street to this little café. J wasn't so sure about it until she saw this:

So many choice and she didn't know what to choose - blueberries, raspberries, mixed berries. I'm certain she would have had one of each if we'd let her.

Underneath the berries was cream and custard and the pastry was coated in chocolate. Yummy.

I had an almond pain au chocolat. I tried really hard to imagine myself in Paris, but it didn't quite work. Pastries were tasty though! Thanks Rebecca for suggesting it.

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry

2012-01-13T07:04:00.011-08:00

38.3 - 38.6 Eat at ten new restaurants or coffee shops

After a slowish start, I've actually surpassed my goal of visiting ten new (to me) restaurants or coffee shops and I'm only about half way into the 101 in 1001 challenge. It would seem that the little kerfuffle that came along with my review of a local coffee shop put me off updating the rest of the new places we visited.

Here are the first four, starting back in April.

Dockside Restaurant at the Granville Island Hotel

The first time we visited, it was for my sisters' big birthday back in April. I think we've been two or three more times since then. I love the Malay Shrimp Omelette. Yum. Now I want one. I think that's the only breakfast item I've ordered.

The last time we went was for drinks and appetizers and dessert after the Wizard of Oz. It was later in the evening and the kitchen was about to close, but the spring rolls we sooooo good. Alex had some kind of dessert and loved it. They brought J a hot chocolate and made sure it was just lukewarm.

They were awesome with J - they have a selection of high chairs and booster seats and a good kids' menu.

We'll be back for sure. Alex and I are planning to go there for a grown up dinner one night some time soon...

Pacifico Pizzeria

J and I came here with my mom one night at the end of July. I thought I took a picture of the brick pizza oven, but it looks like the only thing I managed to get a (not blurry) picture of was my gnocchi. Everything we had was delicious - my mom's food came out on a long platter (it might have been some kind of ravioli? squash maybe?) and J had a yummy pizza. When the meal came, I figured there was no way I'd eat all of it, but I polished it off. We also had dessert(s)...I can't remember what they were or how many we had, but J definitely had ice cream!

This restaurant is right by the movie theatre on Burrard and would be a great place to visit before (or after) a movie. I'm looking forward to going back with Alex who has a great appreciation for Italian food. (note: I just checked out the yelp/urbanspoon and they were super mixed, particularly not liking the menu changes this fall...maybe we'll rethink going back? We'll see...)

Nuba

Way back in August, my parents very kindly took J to Kelowna with them for a little holiday. That meant I got to do things I'd done before I became a mommy. Things like go out for dinner after work and not get a babysitter and not have to choose somewhere kid friendly and not have to worry about what time I got home at.

Heather and I met at Nuba for dinner. I'd never been to this particular Nuba before - I'd been to the one at Cambie and Hastings, but I had no idea there was one on 3rd near Main.

The food was delicious! I had (if I'm remembering correctly) falafels and most likely hummus and (I know I'm remembering this correctly) grapefruit juice. I loved the cinder block walls. The atmosphere was great. I was really early because my time-and-distance-estimating-skills-when-driving-a-personal-motor-vehicle are a bit sketchy at times, but no one seemed to mind that I pulled out my book while I waited for Heather (I've had people give me dirty looks in a restaurant for reading before...)

Transylvania Flavour

I did NOT want to go this restaurant. I was going out with a group of people and someone else was in charge of choosing the restaurant (sorry no pictures). I had walked by this place often when we lived in the ~~ghetto~~ pink palace and noticed it, but not really noticed it.

Before we went, I checked out the menu and I still didn't want to go there. I was so not impressed and I was totally craving something else. I just didn't know what.

Again, due to my super awesome time-and-distance-estimating-skills-when-driving-a-personal-motor-vehicle I was quite early. The hostess figured out which table was ours - there was only one reservation that size and it must have been listed under the name Snuffleupagus because I tried the names of pretty much everyone in the party and she didn't have any of them. She finally asked me how big our party was and said, well, there's only one that size, so it must be yours. I never did find out what name it was made under.

Anyway. She was very cheerful and friendly and came over to check on me a few times before the rest of the gang arrived. By then I'd sort of come out of my funk and decided to order chicken paprikash.

It was so good.

The chicken was falling off the bone, the crisped beans were so good and the gnocchi was delicious. I'd never had gnocchi like that before. I think it was cooked and then pan fried and it was divine. There was a lot of food - I took some home for Alex and he said it was great the next day too.

The person next to me had the perogies and a second appetizer (I can't remember which one) and she said they were awesome. The food all looked so good.

I didn't end up having dessert, but the vie en vert cake (lemon and basil meringue cake) got rave reviews.

Oh hello 2012, yes I am a bit behind the times...

2012-01-11T12:37:00.002-08:00

Well, I was going to do a 2012 ~~resolutions~~ goals post, but I didn't get around to it. And then I thought, meh, why can't I do it now, 11 days into 2012? I normally don't make resolutions because I figure if I want to set a goal or make a change, I may as well start now...I don't have to wait until January 1, because sometimes that's a long wait (e.g. 355 days from now if I thought up something brilliant today)

So what will 2012 hold for me? I have no idea. But I hope I can take it in stride. In the past, the way 2011 ended would have had me living life as a raging insomniac with an upset stomach. But this time it didn't and I'd like to see that continue this year. Nothing was particularly horrible. Mostly it was stuff that I couldn't change and that would sort itself out on its own and until that happened, I just had to live with it one way or another.

That sounds cryptic.

It isn't meant to be.

Let's see. I can't really give a good example, but here's something that happened before with my job that is similar but different to my job situation in December. Let's pretend that's what's happening now.

There are things happening in a number of departments, some closely associated with mine, some not remotely associated with mine, that likely will impact the nature of my job and quite possibly my job description in the next 3-6 months. I can't do anything to change those things and the result of a change in one department can easily cause something in another department to do a 180. So, in the next 3-6 months, my job will

(a) stay the same
(b) have a huge change in job description and no change in salary
(c) have a huge change in job description and a change in salary
(d) stay the same but I'll be in a different department
(e) disappear

In a perfect world the best outcome would be (c), followed by (a), but at this point I can't do anything other than prepare for the worst possible outcome and then put it out of my mind. Because otherwise I'll go crazy.

So I've done that. I updated my resume (which I probably should every 6 months anyway) and I go to work every day like I usually do. And I'm okay with that. A few years ago, I'd be all stressed out over it and it would be making me miserable.

I also said no to bunch of Christmas stuff. I decided we didn't need to have cookies. Because I didn't have time for them. I love doing the Christmas baking and most of the time find it quite enjoyable, but when it becomes a rush to beat the clock and I end up staying up too late, well, it sucks. So I didn't bake this year. And do you know what? Christmas was awesome! I didn't even notice the missing baking and if anyone else noticed, they didn't say anything.

So what are my goals for 2012?

1. Exercise a minimum of twice a week with Georgia
2. Go to yoga regularly (once a week at work) and try to do yoga at least 4 days a week
3. Stick to our weekly menu plan - I can't believe how much bigger our grocery bill is when we don't stick to it - not necessarily because of eating out either
4. Sort out the storage issue
5. Get moving on our plan to move (this is not an imminent move - it's a good 6 months away, but we figure it could take up to 24 months...)
6. Hone my cribbage skills in preparation for SACO 2012
7. Finish up the list of tasks from 52 weeks of organizing

Some of those are big goals - like #5 - that have multiple little steps on the route to accomplishment. Some are smaller - like #1 - #3 - and I just have to make time to do them regularly.

So 2012, here I come...I'm going to do my best to not fret about things that are out of my control and do my best to stay focused on small steps to reach bigger goals.

Welcoming the new

2011-12-31T23:48:00.000-08:00

There seems to be a sentiment around the internet and among some of my friends that 2011 wasn't all it was cracked up to be 365 days ago.

And I'm going to have to (at least partially) agree.

This was a trying year for many, many reasons. I wrote about some (but not all)...some of them were scary, some of them disappointing, some of them frustrating, some of them heartbreaking, but through all of it I think we were lucky. We have a great family and group of friends who were supportive when we needed it, who offered an ear, a shoulder, a meal, babysitting, or a hug. And we have a little girl who offered the best hugs and back rubs and cuddles and stories and anecdotes every single day and gives us the best reason ever to get up in the morning. And considering everything, we came through it all relatively unscathed.

And now 2011 is a few minutes from being over. And I'm excited for 2012. We have plans for some of the things we'd like to do in 2012. We've spent the last few days celebrating Christmas with family and Alex and I have been discussing where we think 2012 will take us. We figure there might be some travel, some renovations, and possibly a move in the year ahead. We might not travel very far and we'll likely not cross any borders, but we think we'll head somewhere we haven't been recently (and probably somewhere J hasn't been before...)

So at midnight we'll raise our glasses to 2011 and bid it farewell (or maybe just show it the door) and welcome 2012 and hope that the surprises it brings for us will be good ones.

Happy new year friends...may 2012 be happy, healthy and safe for you and yours.

The best gift I've ever given

2011-12-25T01:08:00.005-08:00

This is part of the Christmas Memory Challenge series, the brainchild of one Ms. AndreaClaire.

I know the point of this challenge was not to talk about gifts. But I need to talk about this gift. Because it wasn't a gift of stuff.

I never know what to give my parents for Christmas. My sisters never know what to give my parents for Christmas. Last year we decided we weren't going to give them more stuff. Instead we contacted the Salvation Army and they paired us with a family who needed some assistance last Christmas. J came with me to pick out some of the gifts for the little girl and then the day of our scheduled delivery, J came with me and my sisters to buy the groceries.

Dropping our packages of was super emotional - the family didn't have much and they were so gracious and grateful for what we were able to give. They gave a card in thanks.

On Christmas morning my parents opened the card and for the rest of the holidays, my dad kept telling us how this was the best gift they ever received. But this gift that we gave them gave us something too.

We're doing the same thing again this year. I can't speak for my sisters or Alex, but I've been a little more careful about what I spent my money on this year in hopes that I could increase what I have to spend on the family we were paired with this year. J doesn't think it's "fair" that some children won't have gifts or enough food today. She was excited to pick out something for someone else and wanted it to be extra special because there wouldn't be too many gifts for this family. The family we had this year was again very grateful for our help and we received a lot more from giving this gift to another family than we would have if we had just given someone in our very lucky family some more stuff.

Christmas Dinner

2011-12-24T07:00:00.010-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

I have a big family. Which means we have a big Christmas dinner. And it's awesome. It's not as big as the roast beef night (usually) but on a small year it's only about 20-25 people...the biggest dinner we had, my aunt and uncle rented tables and chairs and there were something like 45 people in their living room and dining room. Usually we have free-for-all seating, but having a sit down dinner was huge that year!

Dinner is pot luck - usually the host cooks the turkey (and sometimes when it was at my grandparents' house with two kitchens, the ham) and some of the other stuff and everyone else brings at least one dish to share...everything from traditional (mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts etc) to the non-traditional like sushi, Thai spring rolls and Swedish meatballs.

After the feasting there is a rousing (and super competitive) game of charades. We all know who we want on our various teams...my uncle will throw in his token "country" song...the best one was something along the lines of "My love got run over by the wheels of an eighteen-wheeler." When we were kids, my grandma often talked us into doing a little carol singing or making up a little play.

Our Christmas dinner this year will be much quieter - only eleven people and only one child.

Christmas morning breakfast

2011-12-23T07:00:00.012-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

One of the things I look forward to most about Christmas morning is the breakfast. We ALWAYS have cranberry coffee cake and fruit salad and hot beverages (hot chocolate when we were kids, "special" coffee as adults) with whipped cream. In recent years we've also added my dad's scrumptious cinnamon buns, but those only happen when we're in Kelowna.

This breakfast has found its way to our house...this was our only Christmas in the Blue House and you'll notice that the whipped cream is in a can...I made meringues that Christmas with hand beaters. There was no way my arms could handle doing whipped cream too...

Christmas breakfast was important at our house - so important that it took precedence over gifts...we opened our stockings and then ate and then opened gifts. When we were younger sometimes we got to open one gift before we ate, but not usually...this is a tradition we're going to try to carry on this year with J.

Pyjamas

2011-12-22T07:00:00.001-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

On Christmas Eve we usually got to open one gift - Alex did too. And usually it was pjs. Sometimes the pyjamas were Christmas themed, sometimes they weren't. This year little J is getting reindeer and snowflake pjs on Christmas Eve...nice and toasty warm for Christmas morning AND perfect for photos!

Christmas in Trail

2011-12-21T07:00:00.002-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

When I was a kid, my parents didn't like to travel much around Christmas...who could blame them? We lived in Kelowna and pretty much anywhere we would want to go would involve driving in the snow. But when I was 11 and then again when I was 12, they decided we should go to Trail for Christmas.

My grandpa lived in Trail (where my dad grew up) and my aunt and uncle and one year old cousin lived up the hill in Rossland. Christmas in Trail was very different from Christmas in Kelowna.

First of all, it was quiet. Christmas in Kelowna is a multi-day, boisterous affair. The first year in Trail I think there were nine of us. Maybe ten. One toddler. Two in their late 70s/early 80s. The second year there were more because another aunt and her family joined us.

And we had to go to Mass on Christmas Eve. And the Colander restaurant figured prominently. And there was some drugstore Christmas shopping. And lots of snow. And my grandpa was up first. Before all the kids. Armed with his camera. Sitting in an arm chair, facing the stockings, ready to record our faces when we came around the corner.

I think that's my favourite memory of our Christmases in Trail - how excited Grampa got. We only got to spend three Christmases with him (well, I think I spent my first Christmas with him too, but I don't remember it) and it was pretty special for sure!

New Traditions

2011-12-20T07:00:00.002-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

When Alex and I got married we knew we'd be amalgamating some of our traditions and making some new ones...the new ones are fun! This will be our third Christmas in Vancouver together: the first year, our new tradition was that we only spent part of the day together and then Alex went to work; the second time, my friend Paula and I took J to the aquarium while Alex recovered from his silly work schedule; this year, who knows what special new tradition we'll come up with, but depending on how the day goes, we might end up back at the Aquarium.

Edited after Christmas: No aquarium this year...

Uncle Harry's Roast Beef

2011-12-19T07:00:00.013-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

I have a large family and an even larger extended family. I know I've mentioned it before, but in my family there is no distinction between cousins (first cousin, second cousins, eighth cousins nine times removed, they're all just cousins) and in the same way we don't really draw a line between families. Uncle Harry is my mom's aunt by marriage's uncle by marriage or something like that. But he's just Uncle Harry.

Because my family is so big, Christmas celebrations tend to span three or four or even five days, depending on the year. Often we would go to my aunt and uncle's house after church for appetizers, have Christmas dinner at another aunt and uncle's house, our house or my grandma's and then have a ginormous Boxing Day party to eat Uncle Harry's roast. As our family grew, the day for the roast moved a few days further from Christmas, but it was a family tradition.

Uncle Harry would come from Alberta with a side of beef that would be cooked slowly all day and was always perfect. There was usually a ham. And a million side dishes. And lots of people. I'm positive that there were always at least 40-50 and I know that a few times we were pushing 75 or 80 people. And they were all related somehow.

When I was younger my aunt and uncle had a large piece of property on the way to Big White. My uncle would flood part of the back yard and we'd skate like crazy people. When we got older and the community centre had a rink, my uncle stopped flooding his yard. Instead we'd traipse down the side of the highway with our skates over our shoulder and skate in the dark, under the flood lights (maybe the ice rink was a tennis court in the summer?)

As much as I looked forward to all kinds of things at Christmas, Uncle Harry's Roast Beef party was certainly something that got me very excited.

Cookies

2011-12-18T07:00:00.017-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

I loved making Christmas cookies. I remember the table covered in flour as we rolled and cut gingerbread. Yum. My mom made Forgotten Cookies and there was always a box of shortbread under the tree from my great-grandmother.

Gramma Ross died just before J was born, but her memory lives on in her cookies. Last year I think I made three pounds of butter worth of shortbread. J is now the chief gingerbread cutter-outer. I make my mom's Forgotten Cookies but I also make sugar cookies and spice cookies and who knows, maybe this year I'll make some thing new too...

Edited after Christmas: I made one batch of gingerbread, one batch of shortbread and half a recipe of sugar cookies. That's it. No one got cookies under the tree this year...maybe next year!

Setting out the nativity

2011-12-17T23:29:00.000-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

We didn't have a nativity scene until I was, oh, eight maybe? I can't remember when, but I do remember getting it. My grandmother was a garage sale fiend. If we spent the night on Friday, Saturday we'd get up and pile into her car and go garage saling with her. She'd give us a couple of dollars to spend on WHATEVER we wanted. And this day, I'm sure it was mid-summer, I insisted I needed a nativity scene. It was banged up and chipped, but it was mine.

For a few years I tried to make the three wise men march across the living room to the "stable," but it didn't work very well.

I don't know if my parents still have the sad, sad nativity scene, but we pulled out the one Alex's parents gave us a few years ago and set it up tonight. J had a great time helping me unwrap all of the animals and people. She was not thrilled that there is no baby Jesus yet, but she'll get over it...

The Office Christmas Party

2011-12-16T06:50:00.021-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

Uh, so this was supposed to post yesterday morning, but I've been having major issues with the auto-post function in the last few weeks (blogger bug? operator error) and I didn't think to check yesterday to see if it posted... And it didn't. So here it is a day late.

When I worked in London we didn't really have one Christmas party - we had multiple Christmas gatherings for various reasons. Mostly because we jumped at the chance to have a little party for ANY reason!

I moved back to Vancouver and began working at the dark cave in the corporate world. I had only been there for a few months the first Christmas - the invitation said semi-formal, but the staff definition of semi-formal was interesting...I went and got a new outfit just for the party, but probably half of the people looked like they came in their work clothes. T-shirts and jeans. Not suits.

The next two years I got to organize the party...and I had way more fun! It was a long, long, long night, but it was fun. The last party I organized was the best of the three for sure...we rented a whole bar, the food and custom drinks were awesome and bang on, the company paid for cab rides home...I left almost last because I was the holder of the cab card...

And of course the next day, because the party was ALWAYS on a Thursday night, everyone was a little under the weather, but the CFO usually arranged for the greasiest pizza in town to arrive just before noon.

Then I left the corporate world for the public sector. And my boss was Jewish. And there were only four of us in the office. And parties turned into holiday lunches. At nice restaurants. YUM. Two years ago, I moved to another department. Last year there were only two people in that department and my boss was on vacation for the month of December. This year we've grown to three and today we're heading out for a long lunch and an early weekend.

Happy Friday!

O Christmas Tree

2011-12-15T22:11:00.004-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

It's almost time for the tree...almost...

I loved tree decorating day at our house. Sometime the tree came from the woods by my uncle's house, sometimes from a neighbourhood tree farm, once from the hill in parents' backyard, and sometimes the tree just appeared.

There were two big boxes of decorations, one was the box for the yellow vacuum my parents had for years. The decorations were carefully stored in the big box - it was like a puzzle - my mom knew how to put the small boxes back just so, but it was so much more fun for us to take the boxes out. There were the gold teardrops, the glass bells, the red glass baubles, the sugar plums, the scary santas, the little angels, the very special homemade decorations we started making when we were, oh, two years old.

There was also cheese (not that I ate it, but it was important), crackers, maybe antipasto, veggies, egg nog in special glasses with green crests and metal animals (chocolate milk for egg nog haters like me).

The lights went on first. Then the decorations...most of the decorations got placed on the tree with a story.

Now that I have my own family, we're following some of the same traditions. We don't have a lot of the special homemade decorations...yet...we do have a craft loving three year old. We have a couple of boxes of decorations and they have come from all over the world, so there are stories. We have treats and goodies - Alex gets his egg nog out of a carton, not the real stuff like my dad made because I'm still an egg nog hater. Unless there's enough rum in it to make me forget it's egg nog.

The tree goes up on Saturday...I don't know who is more excited, me or J!

The Best Christmas Tree...ever

2011-12-14T20:55:00.001-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

This was the happiest Christmas tree we ever had. Everyone who walked into the living room smiled (or laughed) when they saw it.

Tomorrow? More about Christmas trees.

Love Actually

2011-12-13T06:41:00.016-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

In 2003 I was dragged to see some movie I hadn't even heard about. Kelsey might have actually seen it once before she made me go with her. I wasn't convinced...and then the movie started. And it immediately became one of my all-time favourite movies. Ever.

It made me miss London and I sent hours daydreaming about how I could get on a flight and go to London before Christmas for a visit.

Tonight, as part of our annual holiday traditions, my sisters are coming over to watch Love Actually. I can't wait for 8:00 tonight!

[Other favourite Christmas movies? The Sound of Music. Little Women. The Snowman. Miracle of 34th Street (the original one) Rudolph. Mickey's Christmas Carol.]

Choir

2011-12-12T22:41:00.000-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

When I was a kid, I sang in the school choir. And every year we sang somewhere, not just at the Christmas concert in the school gym. Sometimes we sang in the mall on risers in front of the horrible fountain (that's not there anymore) by the Santa line up. Sometimes we sang at the big, week long Christmas concert at the Evangel Tabernacle.

One year my mom went away to England and Ireland for three weeks just before Christmas. It was an exciting three weeks. We had a calendar filled with notes and stickers and stuff to count down when she was going to be back. She and my dad and the babysitters (I think there were three, maybe four?) and probably my grandma had a well coordinated schedule and plan. My dad was in charge of doing our hair in the morning. We were eight and four. One morning, when we were already running late, my younger sister, Teamhardcore, stuck her tongue to the metal stair railing. It was cold that winter. As in it went down to -27.

Anyway, the point of this is that year the choir sang at the Evangel Tabernacle. We all had to wear black pants and white shirts and the choir director provided us with red bows to wear around our necks. They weren't exactly bow ties, more like big hair bows pinned just below our collars. Someone, likely one of the three of us, tugged on one of the tails of the bow. My dad tried to fix it. But I had a straggly ribbon instead of a bow. And we sang Mary's Boy Child. And it was on TV. And I was at the end of the row and my straggly bow is glaringly obvious. And I'm sure my mom and dad still have that tape.

But I loved singing in the choir. Loved it.

The Hug Bug and Santa

2011-12-12T06:43:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, we took J up to the local mall to catch a Charlotte Diamond concert and then visit Santa.

Charlotte Diamond was awesome…J sang along to all of the Christmas songs and some of the other songs and really wanted to take a Hug Bug home with her. It was so much fun!

After the concert we wandered down to the other end of the mall so that J could visit Santa - we had no idea what her reaction was going to be. Last year we didn't go and when she was one, she went twice - and we had mixed reactions.

This year, J saw Santa and was so excited. He walked past us to get to his chair and she started waving and calling his name. Luckily there were only five people in front of us, so J didn't have to wait too long...I'm not sure she would have been able to contain herself.

She brought her That’s Not My Santa book to show Santa. Because she didn’t get to show it to him at the Santa Claus Parade. You know how it is.

She checked to make sure his beard was real.

Smiled for the camera (sort of).

And then had a very serious conversation about what she might like for Christmas…and the kids at Children’s Hospital…Visiting Santa was a by donation fundraiser for Children’s and we had explained that to J. She asked Santa for a watch and then decided to ask Santa to make all the kids better before Christmas…we were quite proud of our little girl.

Visiting the man in red

2011-12-11T07:19:00.032-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

Orchard Park Mall had a courtyard outside of Boppers (that was the name of Mariposa's little sister, right?) and that was where Santa set up every year when I was a kid. There was also a Santa at the Capri, but he wasn't as good...at all...

I don't know if we went every year, but I remember going more than once. We'd get dressed in our best holiday outfits, get our bangs trimmed, and head down to stand in line to ask Santa to bring us something on our Christmas lists.

There were years of three smiles, years with some tears and I'm pretty sure there was at least one year with only two kids (me and one sister...) and possibly a year or two with my mom.

Oh Santa Claus pictures...

The Lights Go On

2011-12-10T06:30:00.009-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

As a parent of a three year old, I am particularly aware of the excitement of Christmas this year. I didn't get the limits my parents put on Christmas at our house until I was in my late teens and while I understood in theory why certain things didn't start until certain dates or ended by certain dates, it became crystal clear when I had a kid of my own.

My cousin (fine, second cousin three times removed, upside down and sideways. or something) Melissa is the same age as I am. We grew up together. We were in the same classes at school. She was one of my best friends. And her birthday was on December 10. And every year my sisters and I looked forward to December 10. Not just because I, inevitably, got to go to a birthday party, but because December 10 was a magic date at our house.

That was the day the Christmas lights went on. They were usually up for a number of weeks before that, but that was the day the outside lights went on.

Why December 10th? Well, my mom figured it was far enough from Christmas that we wouldn't feel like we were missing out, but close enough to Christmas to actually be Christmas season and close enough that her little darlings wouldn't drive her totally mad with excitement before the big day!

When do the lights go on at our house? Ummm...well, we don't have outside lights because I don't think they're allowed, but this year I might just get out the fairy lights for the living room. We'll see.

Strings

2011-12-09T06:40:00.006-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

One of my favourite Christmas memories is of helping my dad hang the outside lights and string the tree.

Well, not really hang them, since by then we were banished to another part of the yard so that we didn't distract Dad, knock the ladder over, step on or get tangled in the lights. And the same thing happened when it came time to string the tree.

But I had the ever important job (which sometimes I had to share). So important. Screw the bulbs into the string and find the ones that were burnt out. Oh, and alternate the bulbs, but not in a pattern. Because we had six colours - red, yellow, orange, green, blue and purple - and I'm sure they came in a package of six, one of each colour. So no patterns. And no doubles. And because I'd always end with a handful of orange ones, then I had to go back along the ones that were already screwed in and switch them up.

I loved my important job and I'm kind of sad that the new super-efficient LED lights don't need the same preparation.

Green Tissue

2011-12-08T23:31:00.000-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

There were always so many things that we looked forward to every December. One of the big ones? Mandarin oranges.

I loved the crinkly green tissue paper, the easy to peel skin, the sweet, juicy segments, and the special mandarin orange smell. When my mom brought that first orange box home from the grocery store, it always felt like Christmas really was on its way.

Mandarins were expensive. We got one, maybe two a day. On Christmas morning there was always an orange in the toe of our stockings* and oranges in the fruit salad. On Christmas day, I probably managed to get myself three or maybe four of the coveted fruit.

I was torn between excited and disappointed when, in my early 20s, I moved to Vancouver on my own and discovered bulk mandarins available at the fruit and vegetable stores almost year round and that the boxes arrived at the grocery store sometime in November, maybe even October. I think the first two years I lived here I ate my weight in mandarins and I'm amazed my skin didn't take on an orange hue.

*I looked for the papers for those naked oranges in the garbage can for years, but apparently the oranges in Santa's bag are paperless.

Knit one purl two

2011-12-07T23:57:00.000-08:00

This is part of AndreaClaire's Christmas Memory Challenge series.

Alex and I did the bulk of our Christmas shopping today (I know the challenge is about everything but gifts...but...well...) A few years ago for Christmas, I made stockings for my parents. I also made scarves and mitts and toques for what felt like half the world. Today I picked up some yarn to make a gift for one of our relatives. The year I made the stockings? I was up until 2 am trying to finish all of the gifts. I didn't make it. A couple of people got hanks of yarn and a picture instead. And I couldn't even hold my knitting needles...Christmas presents were in production until, oh, March that year.

Tonight the click, click, click of needles took me straight back to that Christmas. My hands will thank me though...I am only making ONE gift this year.