Christmas 2025

Christmas was a mixed bag.  Weatherwise, that is.  As I posted before, I woke up to the sun peering through the trees at dawn.  There were blue skies for the most part as I took the little girl out for a nice walk. 

Few other people up and out at that time.  I love the peace of mornings like that.  Conrad and Van were in bed a goodly while Christmas morning, so I brought Olive home then set out on a walk of my own

for a little over four miles.  The rain and wind of the day before had left something of a mark in the neighbourhoods,

but for the most part, it wasn't too bad.  A clear, mostly sunny morning for a walk. I called my sister, and as I strolled, she and I chatted away.

It took a while for everyone to get up on Christmas morning, but we had no urgency.  Dinner was all to be reheated - we'd picked it up from Julienne the day before -  so I didn't need to worry about getting home and into the kitchen.  So I spent a lot of the morning messaging friends with Christmas greetings, and after the guys were up and we'd all showered and dressed, we headed to Starbucks and then came back to Van's where he got in the kitchen

and made us eggs, bacon, and flapjacks. 

On a sidenote, I'd looked all over for Saskatoon berry products when we did our BC trip this summer, and found none.  Boo.  But I found Saskatoon berry syrup online and ordered us some, and it's become a favourite for us with our flapjacks.  Good stuff!  I may need to order more.

Anyway, breakfast done - and it was past noon at that point - we finally opened presents to see what Santa brought. 

We didn't have a lot of tangible things this year, at least not until Conrad and Van got to their stockings later, because we're now doing experiences for the most part.  So there are trips ahead for the three of us and for me with each of them separately.  That should be nice.

Conrad and I got home by around 2 in the afternoon and had time to relax and even nap.  Van and Olive came over later on for dinner.  Cocktails to start, shrimp cocktail and veggies with dip and some potato chips, and then I set the ham dinner out on the table for us all. 

It was tasty, and it was easy!  We had leftovers on Boxing Day and that didn't even take care of all the ham or beans!  Ah well.  I opened a bottle of a nice NZ Pinot Noir

that Conrad had brought back from his trip this past August, and we toasted

and enjoyed that.  After dinner came the stockings at last, and of course the little girl had her own. 

Look at her! 

You know she ended up on Santa's nice list this past year.

Van and Olive headed home a while after that, and I sent Conrad, who was yawning a lot, upstairs to bed while I did all the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.  It was nice to get up on Boxing Day to a clean kitchen!  That work took me until about 11:30, at which point I felt a little too alert to head to bed.  I read downstairs, listening to Christmas music, until about 1:30 at which point I finally felt like I was tired.  And I was.  I was out like a light, putting an end to a lovely, relaxed Christmas Day. 

Christmas 2024

I was out of bed on Christmas morning before everyone.  My earliest morning in the past week (I'm writing this on the morning of Saturday, December 28, and I was out of bed a few minutes after 10 - can you believe that???!!!), and I took advantage by throwing on some walking gear and getting outside for a stroll. 

So nice and peaceful on Christmas morning.  Barely anyone around.  I admired the neighbourhood decorations,

messaged with friends, and enjoyed the tranquility.  

And then I came back to pick up Marie to take Olive out for a short walk.  Look at her! 

What a beautiful girl.

Van and Conrad got themselves going eventually, and the four of us had an easy breakfast.  Van opened a couple of presents that were under his tree,

Marie and I finished off the dishes from the night before, then we headed back to the condo to shower and change

and get ready for dinner. 

In practice, that also meant a nap for Conrad and a holiday romcom for me and Marie, but you get the idea.

Van and Olive came over about mid-afternoon, and once I had the macaroni and cheese in the oven and cocktails made for them, we opened stockings. 

Stockings are a big deal in our home, as you can tell, and that took a lot of time.  The others had wanted us to open presents as well before Natasha arrived, but by the time stockings were done, I needed everyone to get to work on making sure we were set up for dinner.  We did presents with Natasha after dinner, and that worked out quite fine.

Dinner was alright. 

We got a ham on the bone from Honey Baked Ham, but it didn't heat up as well as I wanted. 

Ah well.  The sides were fine - the macaroni and cheese turned out to be a decent recipe that used a custard instead of a roux. 

I was pleased with the biscuits, too. 

I also made a parsnip soup

at the last minute so that we had a reason to serve some caviar to Natasha (as a garnish).  It's likely our last big holiday meal with her because she is moving in February, and I wanted it special.  We had stopped at Bristol Farms earlier in the day to buy the caviar, and we found crackers as well.  Hanukkah crackers, which we thought would be fine. 

Never those particular ones again, though - no paper crowns inside, and when we pulled them open, they shot out large confetti pieces that littered the table and floor and got into the soup and drinks.

Conrad and I served up a nice Italian wine we'd picked up at Eataly through the dinner, but we poured Champagne for everyone first.  Out came the bûche de Noël,

and that was thoroughly enjoyed.  The evening would down with Conrad and Van taking on dishes duty,

and then, after Van and Olive left, I slipped into a holiday onesie

and the three of us watched another holiday romcom.

It was a flurry of work right before dinner, but all in all, the day was a fine one. 

I hope you all had a very happy Christmas!

I think we're ready

The tree is up, and I am enjoying the changing glow of it beside me. 

Cards are sent.  There are few presents to wrap, and it won't take long to do that.  I have stockings hung,

and I do believe that Santa has lots of stuffers for folks.

In short, I think we're ready.  13 days to go.  I can't wait.  I love Christmas.