It Was Christmas ...

Howdy Folks!


MyCalgary Christmas came and went. Thank goodness. Theres not much to report thats for sure, Cmas was a quiet one, unconventional to say the least. I'm not a huge fan of the holiday anyway, so I'm pretty happy to be moving forward into a new year, new adventures and all the good that comes from that.

Heres how it went down:

Christmas Eve:

Hurried, scurried and scrambled to get ready in time for the Christmas Eve service at church. I looked so cute in my cool black dress, it has a bit of a turtle neck, long sleeved, thin material, empire waist and a bit of a bubble skirt to it. Its lined with some slippery material, not nylon, but similar. Super dark black tights and the second coolest shoes I own. Suede, 4 inch heel, ankle boot with a bit of a bow on the side, and open toe. Lovely to look at, very trendy and very in a the moment. Key word is moment here. But not so lovely to walk in. I wore HUUUGE pearls, and looked very festive and ready for a church Christmas-y outing.

Of course I was late. My 'always-on-time'-ness has taken a hit here in Calgary. Did I mention theres 18 traffic lights between my house and church? Anyway, I rush in, take my coat off and proceed to walk towards the auditorium and the glances coincided with the very real feeling of my dress (did I mention it was on the short side?) inching up, well more accurately, 1/8 of an inch-ing up my leg with each step. I was mortified. Standing in the dressing room a couple of months ago hadn't yeilded these results. I knew it was shorter than normal but PERFECTLY respectable for a Christmas service. Honestly, it was. I am too old to wear scandalous things anymore and this dress passed the test. The dressing room test. Not the walking in front of 1.5 thousand people at a local conservative church. (and while I think sometimes some added spice is necessary, they didn't need the whole spice rack) So, I detoured to the ladies room, more glances received (probably now my imagination), quietly composed myself, reassured said self that this wasn't intentional and people would soon forget this ever happened.
I made my way to the service now, didn't even look around for my group, just asked an usher where "Ray's parents" were sitting. Thankfully, they sit at the back and my trek to my seat was a short one. Dee, laughing at me, threw her scarf over my lap and Auntie didn't even notice nor would she have cared. And THATs another reason I love them. I can show up half dressed and they're just happy to see me!

Afterwards we went to Ray and Dees for lots of amazing food. I substituted my 4 inch amazeballs shoes for green fuzzy socks.(the floor was cold) There was a mishmash of people there. I met David, the youngest of the Matheson siblings, who is so nice and quiet and sweet. He's a musician and lyricist, he writes songs, plays guitar and sings.

I came home and Maria and I exchanged presents, and we, along with Sarah and April watched The Pursuit of Happyness.

Christmas morning was so weird. I slept in, got up and made coffee, quickly realizing that I didn't have any breakfast food. So Maltesers it was. Did laundry, watched tv, called a smattering of siblings. Then to Ray and Dees' again for dinner. And again ate too much food. She makes this crazy Pistashio/Banana/Pecan salad that I just devour. I have such a sweet tooth.

Then I went to the Seed, had to take Dee's car. I was rocking the Ford Taurus pretty good since mine was e-m-p-t-y ... and didn't have time or fuel enough to drive around looking for an open station. The Seed was interesting. Lots of people were chatty and sharing. One guy who doesn't ever talk. Period. came up to me and we talked about Christmas' he had as a kid etc. I got to talk to 'favorites' and strangely, I got really, really sad and had to leave. I didn't cry or anything, I just felt deflated, got really lethargic (may have been the copious amounts of food consumed prior to) and said my goodbyes and drove the Taurus home again. It was nice to be there to hang out with the Seed guests though.

Back to Dee's for pumpkin pie. Totally worth the drive back. Totally.

Boxing Day I lounged ... I'm sensing a trend here ... went to the gym .... I'm not sensing a trend here ... :-) .... went to church ... went to work at the bar I take some shifts at at 9 til 3 and made some good coin whilst belly laughing almost the entire time. I literally enjoyed myself.

Yesterday was Seed day with , are you ready for this ...? two volunteers! Needless to say, not much got done.

Today was wonderful. I was invited to a family brunch at the Mathesons - and got to meet so many new cousins. What an absolutely wonderful family. I finally met Danny, (Ray and Dees' son) and we totally clicked. He's a pastor at a small church in Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver. His gf was with him, she's a sweet girl from South Africa (lovin' her accent). Ummm ... I won't detail everyone I met, but they are all super sweet and funny. It was neat to see Ray and Dee around one of their own kids, it was such a great day with them. And the 'great-grand-kids are super cute too. 5, 7, 9 and 12. The girl is 12 and I was talking to her trying to remember what I liked to do when I was that age and the reality set in that that was way to long ago for me to be relatable, so we just talked about school. But the boys were hil-ar-i-ous !!!!!!! DID NOT know that is what conversations kids that age had. The 9 year old was really intelligent and explaining the ratings of the Star Wars movies he had and the other two were punching him and interrupting with their little lisps. The 7 year old said "fart", got the standard pat on the head from close by, not even glancing down, parent and the standard "watch the language, please". They showed me tricks with their mittens and we talked about "Iggy" (Jerome Iginla) and how his penalty minutes were high, but so was his scoring and when he got in a fight, he made sure it was a good one. etc.

Safe to say, I was highly amused, entertained and was a little bit smarter leaving that conversation. Oh. And a little bit happy I don't have children. You have to tell them not to say 'fart'? I forgot about the whole keeping kids properly mannered and all that jazz, I thought they were just cute and said funny things and everyone laughed. I also forgot that the parents had to do so much more than dress them and brush their hair and teeth and go to Aunt Dee's for brunch. Theres stuff involved - like rearing them to be respectable citizens of society and guiding them to be mature and well-adjusted adults. I don't think I'm ready for that responsiblity anyway, so maybe its best I'm not pro-creating at this particular time.

And thats all. I met Julie in Kensington for coffee and shopping. Her shopping of course , not me. And now I'm home safe and quiet for the evening making plans for 2010. I have lots of them and only 12 months to accomplish them so I better get crackin' !!

Peace Yo. Peace on Earth. You know, smoke the Peace Pipe - whatever your peace is. Peace Out.

xo

LL