update - jan 8

The holidays are finito. I went for 11 runs during the break, but none exceeded 40 minutes. K, SJ, and I did quite a few things in December. We met Santa Claus. When chatting with Santa K required both parents to sit with her, though not all of us sat on Santa's knee. No, that would have been too much. K got a lovely Cinderella motif vanity mirror that day, which her mom put together. When conferring with Santa, the topic of a dancing Dora the Explorer arose ... so we had to get a little Dora toy for K. I think that for K's age group Dora the Explorer is now experiencing a level of attention akin to Beatlemania. On Friday December 23rd we had dinner at the Mandarin with Mom and Moe. After we got back home our cousins Dave and Debbie visited. K got a virtual king's ransom of gifts. Her My Little Pony figures have been a popular carrying/playing choice these days.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my dad's and stepmom's. We opened gifts in the evening. From her Papa Allan, K got a lovely and very realistic stroller and playpen set for her toy dolls. On Christmas Eve we watched James and the Giant Peach and the first half of The Polar Express. Super films. We went boxing day shopping on Boxing Day (logically) and SJ got a snow vest while K got snow pants. On December 27th I got some books at the World's Biggest Bookstore. We had people over for dinner that evening and K got to play with some of her little chums. There weren't any serious toy-sharing incidents and for that I am greatful. The next day we had dinner out with mom and Moe. They left for Florida the following morning and K knew something smelled foul in the state of Denmark.

The last day of 2005 involved us driving around downtown Toronto doing errands and checking out bookshops. We ate at a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and then continued our tradition of having Chinese food for dinner on New Year's Eve. Fantastic! (Imagine "Fantastic!" exclaimed in the manner of Christopher Eccleston)

On Monday January 2nd my sister babysat K while SJ and I went to see Memoirs of a Geisha. It was a good film but nowhere near as rich as the book. I know it's hard to compare films to books but I was really expecting/hoping to be blown away by this film. We visited Uncle Gord and Granny Grace in Barrie on Wednesday January 4th. K was very charming after she got over her initial aloofness. Ru took me out for Fish & Chips on Thursday and we discussed our film project ideas and our opinions about the Doctor Who Christmas special, which aired on the CBC on Boxing Day. We agreed that David Tenant has a lot of potential. On Saturday January 7th, SJ, K, and I trekked up to the Pacific Mall and bought a new rice cooker. After a good 8 years, our previous rice cooker has gone to rice cooker nirvana. It is no longer attached to an outlet and it is no longer attached to the cooking process. While at the Pacific Mall we had lunch/dinner at the Mongolian Grill. If you haven't ever been to a Mongolian Grill you really must stand up right now and scamper over to one. It's blissful ... err, that is, unless you're a vegetarian. Sunday January 8th involved packing boxes for our move at the end of February. So far we've packed nearly 50. If packing boxes were like scoring goals in hockey we'd be on the level of Mike Bossy or Guy Lafleur.

I better stop here because this post has exceeded my usual rule of 1-2 paragraphs. Quick upshot: The holidays were a lot of fun.