Christmas 2008

It's been a fast few months since I left ARC and came back to Edmonton to finish University. How quickly Christmas crept up and then flew past me. This year was full of nights with the family and long-time friends too.

Christmas Eve, was dinner at my house while my entire mom's side of the family came over. With my cousins around, there usually aren't any dull (or quiet, for that matter) moments. It was festivities all around, with the building of the gingerbread house (actually a sleigh, but same deal). I set up the house nicely, pulling out all the stops for the dining room, and made a bunch of food for dinner too. It was nice to get in the kitchen again, considering I haven't really made any large quantity of food since moving back home. I didn't realize I missed hosting parties as much as I actually did.

It was a nice night, with online video conversations with cousins living far away, and drunken uncles refusing to go home at the end of the night. Eventually, all the family went home for the night and it was time for bed.

Presents were opened the next morning and I got some pretty cool stuff. Not as many gifts under the tree as years past, since everyone is giving red pockets nowadays, but there were still plenty to go around and a big garbage bag full of wrapping paper by the end. The rest of Christmas day was pretty tame, just relaxing at home reading the new books that I bought (Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series! woohoo!).


Boxing day, I headed over to Reid's place for board game (Zombies!) and drinking night. The zombies (my team) lost the game, then we broke out the RockBand skills and rocked out for a couple hours. I was pooped by about 1am, so we headed home and that was the end of the night.

The next day (27th): Gail, Tyler, James, Greg and I headed to snow valley. I was re-learning skiing with Greg teaching, Gail was practicing, and Tyler was teaching James to board. It was a beautiful day out, only -5 the entire day, and I think I managed to learn a few things that day. The next trip to snow valley was the 30th, where Gail and I hit the slopes again for more practice. Heather came along to ski with me, and I managed to gather enough courage to head down the main hill that goes right off the chairlift. Tyler, James and Mike joined us on the hill for some boarding practice, and we also ran into Clement and Roger that night as well. The second trip to snow valley was when I hit the learning curve. I fell less, learned to control my carving that much better, and was stopping more consistently and confidently. The $500 spent on all my ski equipment was the best investment I could possibly imagine. I was prepared for the Panorama 2009 trip!