Merry Christmas! 2013

Picture-perfect Christmas Day. Big fluffy flakes floating. Nowhere to go and nothing to do for several hours, except relax and enjoy the company of Rob and Alex.

Griskit is having a ball playing with the boxes and bags, and Rob has constructed a 'cat-a-comb' for her into which she's disappeared for several hours.

The Christmas tree didn't get decorated until Christmas Eve. We left it until Sunday to buy the tree, but the ice storm had hit and the places we usually buy our trees were shut down and without power. We found some stores open, and then the challenge was finding a tree at all! This was the best of the last three we could find, that weren't frozen popsicles. Bargain price: $10.  I don't think we've ever spent so little on a tree, except for the year we cut one done from our front yard. Alex paid for this one and carried it out to the car, where we stuffed it into the trunk, ferried it home and set it in its stand so the branches could settle.

A bit smaller tree than what we would usually have, but also fuller and fatter. Only half the ornaments made it out of the boxes, but our favourites are there. The glass bell my Mom gave us the first Christmas Rob and I moved in together; the red Christmas stocking Alex stitched in 1999; the foil birds and sequined bows. Decorating the tree is such a tradition I wonder if it would feel like Christmas without the ritual?

It definitely wouldn't feel like Christmas without feasting with friends and family. Liz, Darcy and the boys came over for dinner with Rob, Alex, Penny and I and we enjoyed prime rib around the festive table, yacking into the night. Tonight, Christmas dinner at my brother Dave's. Tomorrow, Christmas dinner at Rob's sister Brenda's. Saturday in Kitchener with my Mom, sister and other brothers. I never take it for granted, but this year, the Ice Storm and a few days without power made me appreciate modern conveniences like indoor heat, running hot water and electric ovens all the more.