Christmas Tales

Another Christmas season is done and over with. As usual, it went by in a flash. Left standing is our sad Christmas tree that is (in my mind) begging to come down and be left on the side of the road. I think George would be happy to leave it standing until his birthday.

Christmas was very nice. We spent the day at Christine's with the family, sans Dad. But you were there in spirit. The kids seemed to have received everything they ever wanted except stock in Apple. Dinner was absolutely delicious! Kathy, Keith and Grandma came down on the 27th. Another spectacular dinner.

In the meantime, George's parents are cruising the Caribbean and are heading even further south. They spent Christmas Day in Grenada and, as I write this, are on the coast of Brazil. They will be celebrating the new year in style! George and I are very jealous. We can picture them lying on the deck in Hawaiian shorts, drinking Pina Coladas and going crazy with the camera. Can't wait to see all the pics!

Cierra is doing much better. After about 300 bucks in Vet bills, we were told there is nothing wrong with her and to try feeding her some wet food. So, we ran out and picked up some delicious, high-quality Zellers wet food and mixed it with her dry food. I was going to try and get George to eat some out of Cierra's dish to show how yummy it is but my gut told me he wouldn't. I should have been a vet. Damn sciences.

Anyway, after almost a week of not eating, Cierra has her appetite back. Apparently she's becoming a picky bitch.

We were resigned to the fact that our basement apartment was not going to be rented for the 1st and we were going to be stuck paying the full mortgage. But at the last minute, a woman called and asked if it was still available for Jan 1st. Why yes, yes it is George replied. Three hours later, she dropped by with her daughter (19 years old if that!), took a look, left to see a few more places, then called back 2 hours later to say her daughter wanted it. Sold! It's rented for the next four months. Whew!

Mom has stopped by our place for a few days with her dog Max. Admittedly, George and i were a bit worried about Max (he didn't do too well and Christine's) but we're happy to report he has been a joy! Very calm, playful and hasn't peed in the house once. We pulled up the carpet just in case. For New Years Eve, George, mom and myself are probably going to make a delicious dinner, drink some wine and celebrate the new year sitting in front of our roaring fireplace.

Happy New Year all!

Jesus is the reason for the season!

Merry Christmas, Dad and Grandma!
Hope you guys had a wonderful day. Lots of love from me and George. And a big wet sloppy lick from chin to eyebrow from both Lola and Cierra!

See you soon.

Puppy puke

Our puppy Cierra hasn't been doing too well lately. About six days ago she simply stopped eating. Just like that. And for a dog that needs roughly 6-7 cups a day, to stop eating is a big deal.

So after work on the second day I ran out and bought a different kind of dog food thinking that maybe she has discriminating tastes. But no... she took a couple of nibbles, turned around and rolled up in a ball and fell asleep.

Same thing the next day.

On the fourth day we reverted back to a previous dog food we know she liked. But no luck. So, off to the vet we went. $250 later, nothing. They took some blood tests but as of last night everything was negative. The one suggestion our vet had was to try wet food.

So last night we went out and bought a few cans of wet food. To our amazement, she loved it! A huge sigh of relief, until about an hour ago. She has thrown up all of it, and more i'm sure.

I'm now waiting to hear back from the vet.

Needless to say, George and I are both worried.

Winter is here

Someone mentioned yesterday that technically, it's still autumn. Sure hasn't felt like it! Even before this past weekend's snowfall, we have had quite a bit of snow.

We woke up this Sunday morning and this is what the cars looked like in front of our house. Luckily, we have a driveway on the back and a snowplough did a terrific job. Just a little bit of shoveling on our end. But still, it was fun watching George pull out this morning at 6am.

This year's best movie

Rarely have I ever walked out of a movie and said to myself, "What the fuck?"

But I did (and so did George) after seeing the Coen brothers' latest movie "No Country for Old Men". But it was a "What the fuck," in the good sense of the phrase. It's so not Hollywood, which is such a relief.

Go see it Michelle and Gary! you guys will love it.

Oh, to be a Tree!

Saturday was spent creating more Christmas memories.

We woke up (kinda) early and drove out to a tree farm NEAR GUELPH with the dogs and spent about 30 minutes strolling rows and rows of trees, looking for that one perfect tree. We found it standing near the back of the farm.

Surprisingly, it didn't take much to saw the thing down. George looked very manly.

After throwing it atop the car, we made our way back to Toronto discussing what it must be like for a christmas tree. Just 30 minutes prior to that moment, our tree was minding its own business, doing what trees do. Then, out of nowhere, some guy appears with a saw and cuts it down. The pain it must have felt. Then it got dragged to a machine that basically tied it up (sorry, leather was not used). For the next hour it was forced to endure cold wind at 100km/h along the 401. The final insult? Being dressed with glass bulbs and white lights.

But damn, our place looks fine!