i know i said i would do my christmast 2012 posts in just three posts, but chaeli walked in while i was doing the ‘best of’ collages… and reminded me i had to do one for hobbes.
so here it goes for hobbes’ 2012 ‘best of’ christmas loot:
hobbes’ 2012 ‘best of’ loot
continuing from yesterday, i actually felt like christmas was happening on boxing day.
doug came home just after 8am as i started to do my workout. he had a busy day yesterday with two calls overnight. so while he had a nap, i ran out later on to get some mc d’s breakfast (too lazy to make anything).
we finally finished unwrapping the rest of our gifts. chaeli was very good – we saved half of santa’s loot (the ones mainly from doug and i) and each other’s presents for when doug came home. it was just something i felt would be nice – since opening the gifts together as a family is really the best part.
doug spent some time in the afternoon hooking up our new XBOX 360 and Kinect and we managed to test it out.
in the evening, we went over to my aunt’s and uncle’s for a traditional turkey feast.
and i must say – i’m getting old. i use to down much more turkey. i tried to this year and ended up feeling way too stuffed by the end of the night.
it was a very nice day, indeed. i got a chance to read more – especially two different yoga magazines santa (a.k.a. doug) bought me.
here’s my own ‘best of’ loot for 2012:
shy’s ‘best of’ loot
my dad and chaeli – sitting in the pumper truck
since this was doug’s first christmas away from home, my parents, chaeli and i decided to bring a little holiday cheer to his firestation.
it was also a good excuse to give my parents a tour. my dad was really excited to get a chance to sit in the firetruck – like a big boy with some new toys! and of course, he wanted nothing less than to pose with chaeli.
i brought one of our home made christmas cakes for the crew and even brought doug a couple of presents from santa to help kick-start his christmas.
and just like yesterday’s post, here’s chaeli’s ‘best of’ loot:
chaeli’s 2012 ‘best of’ loot
i am breaking my posts up to 3 posts – each for each of the 3 days we celebrated christmas. with doug working on christmas day, we basically decided to spread christmas out. and to be honest, with all that goes into preparing for this holiday, this was a nice change, being able to enjoy it a little longer.
it started on christmas eve. we went back to the church we got married – united church – for christmas mass. a first for chaeli. and while she was bored during some parts, she loved the singing. in the end, there was a closing candle lighting ceremony where every person on both sides of the aisle was given a thin, long candle and would then pass the flame down each aisle, which chaeli was more than happy to participate in.
the day leading up to the 7pm service and a little time spent afterwards, heavily took place in front of our christmas tree.
we spent a good time reading our books and listening to tunes. it was very relaxing.
after chaeli fell asleep for the night (we waited until midnight, just in case) doug and i tip-toed to the stockings and christmas tree to do santa’s deed. and of course, before chaeli got ready for bed, she left a letter to santa next to a glass of milk and a plate full of cookies – plus a carrot for rudolph (her specific instructions).
santa and family were extremely generous to us this year. and because of all the super generosity, i’ll showcase each of our ‘best of’ loot per day, starting with doug’s:
doug’s 2012 ‘best of’ loot
i’m not oppose to advent calendars but really can do without more chocolate sinch we still have 80% of our loot left from halloween.
not to mention 50% of our loot left from the easter bunny and about 15% left from valentine’s day.
note to self: go through and chuck whatever might be on the staleness-side of things.
this year, we opted for lego’s city advent calendar. each day, chaeli will unfold a character or small lego vehicle to the city collection. we liked that this one had firefighters in it.
better than chocolate!
and the bonus? we had a scratch and save card – doug’s card was the maximum reward. a nice 50% off!
i just finished wrapping most of my in-law’s christmas gifts. there’s just two more items that i forgot to pick up – a calendar of chaeli photos i made for the grandparents and cat nip for my SIL’s two cats.
after wrapping 10 gifts, i’m done! it hurts me to think of how many more just with doug and chaeli alone. but it may not be so bad. i tend to use gift bags for at least a quarter of their presents. and with my side of the family, it’s all gift bags!
still, doug’s and especially chaeli’s, will take up the most time. all those little stocking stuffers are small items but they do sure add up!
as of today, i’ve completed my shopping for christmas presents. at least for family – both doug’s side and mine. which is, really, 98% of our list every year.
i always feel a sense of relief that they are done. especially as i was able to find pretty much everything on sale. black friday and cyber monday pretty much helped with the last group of items which i held off on because i was hoping for a price-reduction.
of course, now there’s the wonderful task of wrapping the presents.
i start this weekend for my in-laws. since they all have to be shipped north.
we also start baking this weekend too! which isn’t so bad – it means we get to sample what we bake! 
i was rummaging around my bedside drawer when i found this gift i had completely forgotten. it’s a beautiful, metal bookmark a girlfriend of mine brought back for me while she was visiting india a little over a year ago:
lotus bookmark* by anand prakash
i’m in the midst of reading books i borrowed from the library and quickly swapped this cheap bookmark i got for free from an agricultural trade show many years back with this gorgeous metal one.
it’s funny how something like this just jolts that reminder right through me – that amidst all this chaos i’ve been going through, all this stress and darkness, i need to just remind myself that there’s still a lot of joy, peace and beauty around me to help me survive.
these past two months have been horrible. i’ve suffered a lot of depressive episodes. more than usual and that’s mainly due to a declining and negative environment at work (of course, along with my mental health issues). i’ve felt suicidal many times – a feeling of doom and hopelessness has just been following me around.
then today, i woke up. and it’s funny because the first immediate thought i had was, “yeah – like i’m going to kill myself because of work. like they’re even worth the effort!” i know – of course, they are not worth it. any normal, healthy minded individual would get that.
but i’m not normal. and i’m not healthy-minded.
still, it was a key moment for me. and so when i found that metal, lotus bookmark, it just tied into finding that little bit of peace to help me get through today.
i am nervous, however, about tomorrow. and of this week. and the next. i ask anyone out there who might be reading this to pray for me. pray for the strength that i need to get through the next two weeks.
tis the season – again
it’s been several days since i lasted posted here. not intentional. in fact, there’s been many times where i’ve wanted to write up a post about something but i’ve been so busy, it’s just been difficult to make the time.
anyway, it’s mid-november which means we’re gearing up for christmas! i asked doug if we could start decorating earlier this year (next weekend, actually). obviously, since we buy a live tree, that will be the last decoration to go up, which will be two weeks before christmas.
but there is the need for me to be surrounded by the christmas decorations this year. it always helps. it’s like they give off a warmth and helps to bring much more peace and tranquality to my soul.
plus, we’re preparing to bake a lot of cookies as a way to make little care-packages to all of chaeli’s teachers as well as some family friends. it’s great to get into the mood of baking when you’re surrounded by the holiday decorations (and maybe some christmas tunes, too).
anyway, usually i am near done by christmas shopping by now. this year, i’m a little slower but pretty much have an idea of what i need to get. just a couple of more stops at specific stores and a few more clicks online and i should be done.
we actually started to celebrate father’s day last sunday when we took doug to cora’s for a sunday brunch. definitely a good idea to go the weekend before – much less crowded and a chance for us to spend time alone as a family. i’m not complaining about our get-to-gethers with extended family but will admit i’m somewhat selfish of our own time. it’s more relaxing, less work and we can be less guarded.
father’s day weekend usually includes doug’s birthday since it’s normally around the same time. chaeli, doug and i had some nice steaks for dinner on friday (his actual birthday), followed by a small, square, chocolate-caramel cake. he spent earlier in the day golfing with a buddy.
chaeli and i did some shopping from black helmet apparel – an online shopping site with original designs for firefighters (and fans!) the clothes are comfortable with slick, edgy designs. plus, a portion of all sales goes towards charity.
we bought him a couple of shirts for his birthday. for father’s day, we bought him a hat and a pair of beer glasses.
“Forced Entry” T-Shirt for Men
“Firefighter Traditions” T-Shirt for Men
Black Helmet Cap
Pair of silver Black Helmet logo beer glasses
oh yeah – and while i was at it, i treated myself to a t-shirt for myself. a nice, v-neck, fitted top designed specifically for ladies. i assume it is meant more for women who are firefighters, but being a wife of one, i figured i could get away with it.
“Fight Fire” T-shirt for Ladies
sunday morning, i made brunch for everyone – sausage rounds, eggs (over-easy for doug and i, scrambled for chaeli) and toast. just before noon, we packed up some marinated beef short ribs and garlic/butter shrimp for the grill at my parents place.
our late lunch/early dinner was crazy – cold korean style noodles, kalbi, fried rice, kimchi and garlic, grilled shrimp. too much food!
this father’s day was a special one for me – doug’s been an amazingly supportive partner (and he’s always been a great father to chaeli). hopefully, i was successful at spoiling him.
i called in sick yesterday – i actually felt myself coming down with something on sunday (mother’s day of all days) but it hit me harder monday morning. i’m back to the daily grind but am feeling so weak.
still, i managed to have a very nice mother’s day weekend.
my favourite part was saturday morning. doug was working but i mentioned to him earlier in the week my plans to take chaeli out for brunch while he was on shift – as a mother-daughter, pre-mother’s day celebration. and we hadn’t gone back to cora‘s for awhile so i figured we were due.
as we were getting ready the morning of, i asked chaeli if she knew where we were going and she said, “yup! i’m taking you to cora’s!”
“oh,” i said, “did daddy tell you already?”
“uh huh – but it doesn’t really make sense. i can’t drive so how can i take you?”
“well, don’t worry about that. i’ll drive.”
so off we went.
as we stood in line, waiting to be seated, i teased chaeli, “so, does this mean you’re paying?”
she stood there and smiled. then she slowly nodded and reached into her little hand bag. to my surprise, she pulled out a gift card for $25!
i asked her, “did daddy give you this?”
“yup!” she said, very proud of herself, obviously, for being able to keep a secret for half a week.
the gift card was more then enough to cover our breakfast – there’s actually a remaining balance which we will use up the next time we go back (with doug, of course).
my mixed berries and french toast brunch
chaeli had the kid’s eggs, sausage/bacon, potatoes, toast and chocolate milk. i had their french toast and mixed berries special. it was EXACTLY what i had been craving for awhile. thick french toast (they used ciabatta bread), a generous heap of sliced strawberries, blueberries and my favourite, blackberries – all drizzled with raspberry coulis, a light cream sauce and then sprinkled with icing sugar. i ate most of it without any pancake syrup because it was that good on it’s own. i only added the syrup at the end just to see what it would taste like.
what a nice surprise! i text-ed doug right away to thank him.
after brunch, chaeli and i went to winners for a bit of shopping. i was looking for a pair of summer, low heel, black shoes and a pair of sport sandals for chaeli. she had me try on a lot of shoes, though – picking out some outrageous heels i would never wear! funny thing, one pair looked great on me but the price wasn’t low enough for me to feel that it was a good enough bargain. and i wasn’t sure what i would ever wear with it.
i treated myself to a new yoga matt and chaeli to a new casual dress. hobbes also got two new toys which he’ll get on his birthday this weekend.
the next morning, he came home from his shift with a bouquet of flowers for me. and a bouquet for my mom as well. chaeli was disappointed we didn’t get a chance to do breakfast in bed but she did help doug prepare my favourite way of eating eggs – eggs ‘n toast.
we had little time to sit around and enjoy our sunday morning since we had to prepare some food to bring over to my parents’ place. but i managed to have half an hour or so to sip my coffee and listen to some jazz.
