White Christmas

The last 2 ½ months have passed by in a blur – lesson planning, bake sales, and the resulting lack of energy. I have two weeks off and I’m going to try and enjoy every minute of it.

With my first weekend off I decorated my first ever gingerbread house. When a friend heard that I had never done one, she invited me to join her and her daughter’s afternoon of gingerbread house decorating. It was quite fun and my friend was ever so helpful in giving me directions on what to do, but once it came to decorating, I got a little stressed out. Having an artsy background and being a bit of a perfectionist I wasn’t sure what to do. Here I had a blank canvas in front of me and I had to decorate it at that moment. My friend, I’m sure, was unaware of this inner strife and after a minute or so I trucked on. The end product was cute to look at, and far from professional, but that doesn’t matter. I had fun and great company – my friend’s cute little girl provided hours of happiness and joy (and some laughter too). My student was also surprised at my lack of experience with gingerbread houses and was impressed by my first attempt. Honestly, I think he was more amused by my excitement for the task. (And I know someone is going to ask – No, it isn’t gluten-free and I don’t really care if it isn’t because I have no intention of eating it.)

Our little one, who is on the futon behind me snoring away, is happy to be back at home after numerous visits to the vet in the last week and a half. Her first visit was for some dental work, then to the emergency clinic after she went into a diabetic seizure (I thought she had eaten enough for her insulin shot – apparently not), then back to the vet a few days later for an ‘after-near-death-experience-check-up’. Thankfully, she is doing so much better (on new food and off the insulin!). I’ll be returning to the vet, alone, after the holidays to pick up some new asthma medication for her.

Friday we got pounded with a snowstorm; first with freezing rain then with big, fat snowflakes. Our 10-minute commute turned into 30 minutes. We quickly learnt what our neighbourhood is going to look like when the city finally begins the LRT construction – a nightmare. Buses were lined up along Scott and Albert Sts (most of the Transitway in that area was shut down for some reason), cars were backed up, and accordion busses were jack-knifed blocking lanes – what a holiday joy!!! But coming up the hill at Albert and Bronson I was overcome by the beauty of the season. Everything was covered in the sticky pure white snow and it looked absolutely beautiful. Now if only it would stay that way.

With our holiday plans turned upside down due to our munchkin, my mom came to us. She arrived yesterday and helped put up our tree. I think I spent more time laughing than singing carols because my mom was so funny. You see, her tree is very organized and particular; every decoration has its place. She has always been like this and that is why I have multi-coloured lights, whatever kind of ornaments I want, and they go wherever one feels like putting them. My mom was at a bit of a loss: ‘Where does this one go?’, ‘Where should I put this one?’, ‘Does this look ok?’, ‘Are you sure you want to put that there?’. She wasn’t used to the lack of rules when decorating a tree and it gave me quite the laugh. It had been a few years since we put up our tree and it looks nice all lit up and decorated.

Whatever you do to celebrate at this time of year – a holiday tradition or just time with family or friends – enjoy.