CHRISTMAS TREES

The lights are all up, the baking is done, the kids have arrived home, and the gift buying is just about done. I think I am way ahead of the game this year - and still about a week to go. I still have some last minute things to put in the mail (yes I know....they won't get there for Christmas but maybe New Years).

One of the things I do like to look at is a Christmas tree all decorated. I just love how everyone decorates them so differently. There is no pattern to follow. Some of us have a colour scheme and some are a collection of nostalgic memories. I received three new ornaments this year from a friend - shoes. I love them. They reminded me of the tree in Boston that was decorated with high heeled shoes. Now that's a thought. If I can collect enough, I can do the same thing - not sure others will appreciate it though. Mine is its usual red - the colour I like on my tree. The bulbs are red as are most of the decorations. There are two that aren't, and they are the oldest decorations on my tree, but each year I put them on. They say "baby's first Christmas" - one for my daughter and one for my son. That's the nostalgic part of my tree. Here are a few pictures of trees in one of the shops I was in when in the states.

DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS

So it's not quite looking like a white Christmas here in Northern Canada. Where is that white stuff? It does look beautiful on Christmas morning when you wake up and it`s just lightly hanging on the trees. After the holidays are over though, personally, I can do without it - It's the shovelling and snowblowing that I hate. Having to get all bundled up to go out to get rid of snow on the driveway - looking like Nanook of the North in my winter garb covered head to toe.  My fingers get cold, my hair gets wet, and I come in looking like a drowned rate. (not a pretty picture)

I added an extension to my driveway (what was I thinking?) this year so now I have even more area to remove the snow from. I tried my snowblower two weeks ago when it did snow, but it wouldn`t start. I must be doing something wrong...Me and technology - good. Me and snowblowers, lawnmowers or any other kind of mower - bad. I will have to try getting it up and running before we really get a lot of snow. Today the forecast says rain, so I'm alright for now. Not only do I need to find a lawn boy (to cut the lawn in the summer), but I need to find a snow boy. Even with a snowblower, I am soooo not looking forward to this.

I have my sister and her family coming up  next week from Toronto for the Christmas holidays. They are so looking forward to skiing the slopes and snowboarding on our ski hill. Really? I hope they are checking the weather channel because at this rate they may need to pack their rainboots instead of skis. We will have to skip the skating, skiing, and snowboading in favour of the apres ski activities (which include a bottle of Baileys, a cosy warm house, and some relaxation). Now that I am up for.





This cold is tolerable.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING

The Christmas parties are winding down now and that gives me time to get to the task of buying my Christmas gifts, getting the tree up, and baking some cookies. I don't know if you are like me, but I seem to be putting less and less up for the holiday season. I figure if I get my tree up and actually get it down before March, then I am doing good. I am finding the Christmas holiday very commercialized so I try to stay out of the malls as much as possible and I shop online instead.

My favourite part of the holiday is getting together with my family and having a chance to spend some time with some close friends I don't get to see too often. Oh, I can't forget the food. The hours spent around a dinner table set for, lets see...we will be 14 this holiday season, all gathered at my parents' place (I have to treasure these times) with the smells of my mother's Italian cooking filling the house. We don't really eat for hours on end, but we do sit around after dinner and talk, laugh, catch up, and we watch the Canadian Juniors play hockey. Yes hockey will be playing on many of our TVs during the holidays. Most of our clan gathers in the living room to watch, but some of us are also in the kitchen. There is a few second delay on the TV in the living room, so those of us gathered in the kitchen usually erupt in cheers at a Canadian goal before the others, which I think takes a bit of excitement out of their cheers. It's a Canadian tradition and sometimes our meals have to be delayed just a bit so that we can catch some of the game. It reminds me of my American family on their Thanksgiving when they watch football pretty much the whole day. 

This year will be one of the first years that on Boxing Day (a holiday after Christmas Day) I am not flying off to Boston as it has come to be tradition for the three days between Christmas and New Years.  Boxing Day here in Canada is probably equivalent to Black Friday right after Thanksgiving in the United States. This started over 20 years ago as my way to escape the madness of Boxing Day. My sister was a bit surprised I wasn't doing my "usual" this year. She joined me one year. She'll get to see more of me now....

Last year I headed to Boston with a close friend of mine who had never been there before. We got there just in time for one of the worst winter storms. The whole city shut down. We didn't quite notice the storm though because I had booked a hotel inside the mall, so the two of us girls were able to spend time shopping until we rode out the storm. Sad to say she did not get her trolley ride because they don't plow the city but just wait for everything to melt....a bit of a mess.



Walking from Copley to Prudential Centre

 



Got to love this tree
It's a shoe tree



The day after the snow storm

PAUL BRANDT

I went to see Paul Brandt and High Valley the other night at the Capital Centre and I swear I thought the roof was going to lift right off the building. It was one of the best concerts that they have had there in a long time. And I totally didn't get the email that said I was to wear a plaid shirt- and red at that.

I was actually surprised we didn't trip a breaker in that place as well. Paul Brandt had so many lights lit up on that stage that you could feel the heat. It had been about ten years or more since I had last seen him and not much has changed. He still sings just as great with his wife as back-up singer. The opening act was new to me...but they were pretty well known to the screaming girls in the audience who bought up autographed T-shirts and pictures of the three young brothers. I opted for Paul Brandt's latest CD which he kindly signed after the show.

It was a great evening of music and it sure reminded me that North Bay is really very country (but I like rock and roll just as much).