Christmas roundup

Time does fly when you're having fun ! Today I'm catching my breath after the busyness of the last week .

This was Jessey's first Christmas so it was special for all of us. We celebrated Christmas Eve in true Austrian fashion .We had our traditional hot and cold buffet with appetizers , European sausages, cold cuts , salads and lots of desserts . Later we would go out for a walk to search for a glimpse of the Christkind who was delivering the gifts from house to house . My mother would take me out every Christmas Eve and while walking would relate the nativity story to me . I never did catch a glimpse of the Christkind despite all the my efforts . Magically when we got home the Chrustmas tree was lit up with candles and sparklers and the gifts already there , dropped by Christkind . Mysteriously my father never saw or heard a thing . This year Casey and Max went with the girls and Jessey . His first walk to search for Christkind ...

Christmas day and Boxing day were fairly quiet . Shirley invited us for dinner with turkey and all the trimmings on Christmas day. The boys are both with their in laws, so Mike and I are usually on our own . The weather was terrible with rain and freezing rain making travel treacherous so we stayed close to home on boxing day . I 'm all shopped out by then so don't mind forgoing the pleasure of the boxing day crowds . Saturday we were invited out to a friends' then on Sunday Shirley threw a surprise birthday brunch for me . It truly was a surprise; she didn't let Mike in on it as he habitually manages to spill the beans . I had been a little put out because no one had mentioned anything about plans for my birthday , which happens due to the date being 4 days after Christmas and everyone has had it with partying and presents and eating. So I was having a really nice pity party for myself till Shirley threw me for a loop . She put on quite a spread , everything was delicious and there was enough to feed an army . No photos the camera was at home. I can't thank her enough !

Now to get ready for the new year . 2008 was a year filled with joy and sorrow , thankfully more joy than the latter . This , for me, is always a time for reflection and hope , and the promise of a new beginning . So wherever you are I wish you all a very happy new year with peace , good health and hopefully enough of what you need to keep body and soul together .

Merry Christmas ...

... from our house to yours . Wishing everyone peace and joy in this holiday season and the blessing of family and friends to surround you !

Catching my breath and catching up ...

... ever so slowly . The last few weeks and months have been some of the most difficult and challenging in my life . Trying to find an emotional balance and just keep going and doing what needed to be done sometimes seemed insurmountable . There's been so much joy because I had just become a grandmother offset by the terrible sorrow of seeing a woman who had become such a dear friend struggle just to keep breathing . Now is the time to move forward and remember the good days and be thankful that the bad days for Marie are over . Thank you for the kind words of condolence , it's so very much appreciated .

I spent the weekend catching up on all things Christmas . The Christmas shopping was done , the house and tree were decorated to the sound of Christmas carols playing in the background .

Best of all I was able to spend a little time with Jessey , hold him in my arms and just breathe in that wonderful baby smell . It just doesn't get better !

Into that good night ...

My dear friend Marie succumbed to her illness last Thursday evening . It was expected but sudden nonetheless . All of the hospital staff , doctors and nurses were extremely caring, making sure that she could slip gently into that good night . I was able to be with her till the end and hope that helped comfort her. She was such a remarkable person , overcoming many obstacles , always keeping a sense of humour no matter what . I know that I'm a better person for having known her and I'm thankful for that . I will miss her terribly ....

Of babies , baking and a rant ...

It seems another week has just flown by . On Saturday evening I had the opportunity to babysit my little grandson for the the first time , all by myself . Casey and Chantal left him with us so that they could go out for dinner with her family to celebrate her uncle's birthday . I had so much fun with him ! He's a very happy baby , especially when his tummy is full . I couldn't believe the appetite of the little guy and he sure lets you know when it's time for another feeding . I must have done a good job because I have him again on Friday morning . Yippee !

On Monday I went on a baking spree . I'm trying to get at least a few goodies done up before the holidays . Aside from these marzipan bars , I baked some cranberry pistachio biscotti (so good with tea ) my vanillekipferl (hazelnut cresents ) .I even managed to get some mushroom appetizers into the freezer . The house smelled just so wonderful . Now it's the battle to not eat them all up before Christmas . Mike has discovered that marzipan bars don't take long to defrost .

Knitting has been aided and abetted by all the TV news watching of the lunatics up in Ottawa . Life wasn't worrying enough with all the bad economic news worldwide , now we have to worry about the repercussions of Stephen Harper's power at any cost politics . Despite what you might think about this coalition government idea , at least the debate should be on the merits of the economic plan , which Mr. Harper seems to have completely forgotten in this frenzy of separatist , socialist taunting . He was quite willing to work with the Bloc Quebecois when it suited him and he's completely lost sight of the fact that we have a parliamentary system of democracy which includes an opposition whose job it is to essentially keep the government honest and represent all the citizens interests not just those that voted for him . He has a minority government and refuses to act as such . The issue of the funding of political parties to the tune of $1.95 per vote , despite the idea that it is unnecessary , especially in economic hard times , is actually a part of what helps us stay a democracy by having political parties funded not only by special interests . I'm a quebecois by accident of immigration and a very proud Canadian (usually ) .That's being sorely tested these days . I think that the conservative government continually focusing on the separatist issue is just making a terrible situation much worse . It's feeding into prejudices and regional differences and forgetting completely the real issue . To steal a quote "it's the economy STUPID " ! Sorry about the rant ...

Oh yeah , knitting .... Emma's socks are done !