. . . boxed in day

... aaaahhhhhhhh! for the bitter sweet taste of an apres-santa pint to top off the hullaballoo of the holiday week. the celebrations were grand, the food was tasty and plentiful, the company agreeable and the kids didn't complain about anything except having to finish the real food on their plates and wanting more time to play with their new stuff.

the highway to Moose Jaw was clear and the weather simply beautiful for December in Saskatchewan. Dad gassed up the gator, hooked up the sled and the hilarity commenced. Dad even took a turn hauling the kids around, then it was the grandkids hauling the greatgrands. rosy cheeks, runny noses, a couple of small wounds, one run in with a sign and several near misses (the sled doesn't stop when the gator does)had everyone smiling.

we were back at my daughter's for christmas eve (a sleepover at the grands request), the grands opened their traditional PJs and it was off to sugarplum land for them (Devi 6, Seth 5)I won the super scrabble game, just about got trounced by Amanda. after the evenings special project was complete we all settled down for a short winter's nap.

the aroma of fresh java lures you out from under the covers as the squeals of delight from the living room tell you the children have seen the stockings. all those lovely wrapped parcels shredded in mere seconds ... my sister brought wifesaver for brunch, lots of family cycling through - and the baking and nibblies, and a delicious turkey dinner with this to die for chocolate cake my son made for dessert. and NO dishes for me to wash! Amanda and Chris hosted and all they asked me to do was make salad - so my sister Patty and I sat and watched the pageantry - it was so weird - and yet wonderful at the same time.

even so, I was thoroughly exhausted when I got home around 7 or so, and was quite happy to crawl into my new winnie the pooh PJs (I always wanted a pair)and wrap myself up in my daughter~made afghan (so soft and warm and looks like waves or dragon scales) then friends showed up and it was off to Lu's for a few games of crib with the girls, especially good because none of our kids were around and we hadn't had a chance to spend much time together between the rush of the season, moving, and nasty winter colds.

holy crap, it's 9:30 - what a good sleep! things to do, where's my list? it's boxed in day - the ONE day of the year I usually refuse to go within 2 blocks of a retail outlet. but I needed some stuff and had wheels so... boxed into wrong lane when trying to turn - twice. boxed into parking lots. boxed into the wrong area at Future Shop from the crush, which really didn't matter because they didn't have the game they were advertising by the time I got there. same thing at home depot ...though I did find exactly what I was looking for. I drove PAST Safeway, wouldn't even consider joining that shmozzle!

so now it's time for sleep, work tomorrow ~ all good. I missed chatting with a couple of my friends, hopefully I can catch up to them before New Years. (we're playing rumoli for dimes).

So a BIG THANKS to everyone whop made my days joyous and I do hope that everyone's holiday was as wonderful as mine!

cheers