Gentle Readers,

I left off at our arrival in Wolfville so I'll try and get the rest of it down here, mostly so I don't forget it.

Happy New Year to Me.

• The 22 involved a quick tour of town and some book shopping.


• We got back from that to the arrival of our big christmas gift. The courier was pulling up as we turned the corner.


• He wouldn't let me sign for it though.


• Much of the remaining day was spent configuring the new xbox.


• Except for a short trip for groceries (and fresh Lobster!)


• Made a yummy cream sauce of goat's milk for Cortejo that the rest of the family was jealous of.


• My brother and his family arrived just before so Lydia and Scarlette got to play with Antenna


• My uncle and his family arrived the next day along with the snow.


• Cortejo and I took the beer enjoying cousin to the closest brew pub where we got a Giraffe (112 oz tube with a tap) of beer to share.


• The next night was christmas even and we had dinner with Cortejo's dad.


• There were 15 kids (Lydia, her 11 cousins and 3 exchange students including one 10 year old)


• She didn't get too many presents, but did get a Fidgit, which is the new furby, only louder.


• Back to the house where we stayed up for a little bit and then fell over. Well, first we had to get lydia to fall over, then we had to prepare the leavings of the hogfather.


• Christmas/Hogswatch morning, the hogfather filled our stockings!


• Lots of presents. Lydia made out like a bandit. As always.


• Then we spent the rest of the day listening to the bickering coming from the kitchen. My beer loving (and budding gormand of a cousin cooked for us.


• Thankfully, it did not involve a giant tub of Risotto like last year.


• Dinner was delicious.


• Lydia and I went coasting after dark on the best hill in town. We managed 10 trips.


• Boxing day was quiet. Cortejo and Lydia went off to see her estranged mom and her animal loving cousin.


• I helped take my brother to the airport and had a lovely visit with my mom on the way back.


• We were forced to eat delicious salmon for dinner. Forced!


• We bid an early morning good by to my uncle and his family on the 27 and spent the rest of the day puttering.


• We tried a mixed shopping/coasting trip but pretty much nothing was open because it was Wolfville.


• We also watched a lot of weather network as we heard about the snow back in Ottawa.


• We ended up packing up the car and deciding to leave from our dinner that night.


• Dinner was my pre-birthday dinner, enjoyed with old friends including one from high school that I haven't seen in 10 years.


• It was a much better brew pub IMHO.


• My mom kept delivering more things for us to take with us while we ate.


• We left town at 9:30 at night. This may not have been the most optimal plan, but I hope it helped my parents relax a little.


• the next day, my Birthday, was mostly spent driving.


• And now we are home.


• Today, shopping and a dinner trip.


• Tomorrow back to work and then more travel.

Gentle Readers,

One look at the time for this post should let you know that I've just woken up (and yes, I know that it's much more likely that some of you are only just considering going to bed). I just woke up from a wonderful dream and I would have just tried to go back to sleep, but at one point this weekend I was telling Kestra about Lydia talking her way through a dream early saturday morning (she narrated the whole thing for about an hour). Kestra said how wonderful it was that she got to hang on to her dreams and right now I'm thinking that this last dream is one I want to hang on to.

It was somewhere warm enough for it to be a green christmas and also warm enough for us to be out in our party cloths despite the misting rain which is just tingling on our skin. The weather makes the air feel just that much more electric as everyone is excited about going to the big dinner at the hall. I know with dream certainty that we are in Providence (but where that is, I have no idea) and that this is our 3rd christmas here. We are walking over to hall where everyone in town will be having a giant dinner celebration so everyone is out wearing their fancy clothes. There are lights and decorations everywhere that sparkle in the slight drizzle.

All of a sudden we are running to get there quickly, squealing with delight and excitement. We jump over candles and run past old houses covered with lights and around giant trees just sharing their gravitas. When we get there though, Lydia and I are not quite ready to go in so we go for a walk to see some more of the lights while everyone else goes inside. I remember wishing that every christmas could be like this.