Thursday, January 4, 2024

Christmas Recap Part 2

Since we hadn't left the house on Christmas Day, we got outside for a walk on Boxing Day, even though it was sort of raining.


Q wanted to show his new t-shirt, it says "Utinni!" and had a Jawa on it.






More building when we got home, this time it's a wood model. 


Another set from DJ Dave.



Mom and I made lasagna for a dinner party we were hosting the next day.  


On the 27th, I drove my mom to the airport, and then I actually had time to sit by the tree and read for a few minutes.  Those moments were few and far between this year.  I did not have last week off work so I had meetings and other things to keep me busy throughout those three days.

We had invited some friends for dinner.  After I extended the invitation I thought, "what was I thinking? Two days after Christmas?!" But it was great and a nice opportunity to get together since we didn't get to have our big Christmas party this year. 






Just work and tidying up on Thursday, but Dave took the boys to IKEA so they got outside at least.  And on Friday Dave and the boys went to the golf simulator.  That evening we played some new games.



On Saturday Q and I were going to the Maple Leafs game (I had tickets through work and I had taken E in the spring so it was Q's turn).  We all went downtown and had dinner before the game.  We enjoyed the displays by City Hall.  The Bay window displays were non-existent due to the construction.  We went into the mall for a few minutes but didn't buy anything.






We ate at Pizzeria Libretto.



Then Dave and E went home and Q and I headed to the game. We took a quick stop into the Fairmont to see their pretty tree.




Q had saved some room for popcorn.



We picked up a new toque and a foam finger.



All in!


And then I was convinced to buy this Carlton bear stuffy.


And then we saw Carlton himself, so we ran over to get a photo.


The next day was New Year's Eve.  We decided to stay home and do a fondue.




And then after a few games, Q went to bed early, and the rest of us watched Hunger Games (Part 2).

We woke up to some snow on New Year's Day.  So we went for a walk in High Park.








And finished off our night with some oysters. We had gotten them for New Year's Eve but didn't feel like eating them.  They were still good the next day! 



This Christmas felt a bit disjointed, we were moving into our newly renovated house, trying to fit decorating/baking/special events into one week, hosting family, and hosting workers who were finishing up a few things (shower doors, trim, closet, etc.), and Dave and I had no vacation days (just the stat holidays). It was hectic, at best.  Throughout it all, I tried to remember two things: 1) this is just one Christmas where things didn’t always go the way we thought it would, each year will be different, and 2) the time we had with family and friends, although maybe reduced, is still quality time. 
 





4 comments:

  1. I was wondering how you got such great seats at a Leafs game!?!?! What a fun tradition to take each kid to one. And those pictures of High Park with the snow are gorgeous. I'm sorry your Christmas felt so different but you have a great perspective, which I need to adopt -- it's only one Christmas.

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  2. Those game photos are awesome! I think your mindset and gentle reminders to yourself about this holiday are key; each year the holidays are a bit different and I'm sure looking back you'll always remember this one.

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  3. Q's Utinni shirt is awesome!! I love it!! Even though Christmas was very different for you this year with so much going on. It's great that you still had a wonderful time with your family and you'll probably never forget Christmas 2023! I'm excited to see a recap of your renovations. The sneak peeks I'm seeing look so good!

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  4. Your downtown is so pretty. I wish we had hockey nearby...There was a small team in KC when I was growing up, and we loved going to games. I love your sentiments at the end. Even with the time I had off, it wasn't what I expected and I didn't accomplish everything on my to do list.

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