Merry Christmas

Well, it's Boxing Day in Canada and I'm exhausted.  Not that we did a great deal for Christmas but there seemed to be such a rush leading up to it.  I think everyone in the Greater Toronto Area left their Christmas shopping till the last minute - me included.

For Christmas I got:

• A lovely cookbook from Jesse - Giada's Kitchen (she's one of my favourite TV chefs but does not come close to Sophie)
• A pilates mat  from Jenna- now their's no excuse not to put that DVD into action
• Tickets to Guns 'n' Roses concert from Andy (a date)
• A beautiful pair of the paua shell earrings from my sister, Dawn, to match the necklace the she bought me for my birthday

I also got to spend the day with my family which is always great.  Jesse and Jenna got a PS3 with Rockband so you can imagine what they did all day.  The PS2 that we brought from NZ not working has been a continual frustration.  Unfortunately, none of the PS2 games we own work on the PS3 so we're stuck with Lego Starwars, some other random game that came with it and Rockband.  I'm sure the collection will grow soon enough.

We invited our NZ friends Layton and Nadine for dinner.  It was nice.  We served the traditional ham and a slow cooked chicken with a spicy paprika rub - divine, roast veges, green beans and brussell sprouts.  Dessert (not that there was any room left) was of course trifle, steamed carrot pudding with custard and fruit salad.  I didn't manage any of the trifle but I had it on good authority that it was good.

Must admit to being very homesick right now.  Speaking to my sister yesterday, she's camping at Bland Bay which is where we would be if we weren't here.  She admitted to hiding in the tent because it was too hot outside.  The thought of sitting at the beach with a bottle of Bundaberg Lemon Lime & Bitters in my hand is a good one.  Unfortunately, not likely any time soon.  I also always miss my Dad at Christmas.  This is Andy's first Christmas without his Dad too.

Well, heading up to New Year fast and Jesse will be back at school in just over a week which seems very odd.

Andy has a job secured, at Sirius Satellite Radio - http://www.sirius.com/.  Turns out that his profession is exempt from some of the dramas of hiring a "foreigner" so all we have to do is cross the border and get the work visa.  Hopefully, we'll be doing that this week.  I get an open visa which means I can do anything I want, much less stressful than Andy's situation.  We will also activate Jenna's visa at the same time.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have exciting plans for the New Year.  May all your New Years resolutions come true!

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