Success

Colin and I cooked our first turkey dinner on Christmas Eve and it was a great success. The turkey, the stuffing, everything turned out just right. Well, almost everything was near perfect, except the roast and mashed potatoes, but they weren't bad at all. And apparently we prepare a mean Brussel sprout!

It felt very rewarding, but it was far too much for our small kitchen, sans dishwasher. Fitting eleven people in our apartment is usually no problem, but for a formal sit down dinner, it was bit much. We do have an excuse, though, for not hosting next year - we plan to be in New Zealand.

After this year, Christmas on the beach seems ideal. It will be strange not being around family at Christmastime; something I actually enjoy. But this is one of those trips we've always wanted to take, and December/January is the best time for us, and for New Zealand weather.

We did well this Christmas. Not that we don't usually clean up in the presents department. My father and mother-in-law gave us a few small gifts, and some money to spend on ourselves. We decided to use some to by a surround system and any leftover we'll,k split and buy ourselves whatever we want. I'm going shopping. But that should be a surprise to no one.

The next day, we received a bluray disc player from my parents. It goes perfectly with the surround system. And we christened the lot with the Dark Knight. Most excellent. Colin took full advantage yesterday and watched two of three Lord of the Rings movies. I couldn't handle the third one yesterday, so guess what we will be watching today...

After a week of too much [rich] food and little exercise, we were both feeling a bit zingy so we hit the ice last night. We missed the season last year, so our feet were sore for the first 10-15 minutes. I even had to go re-lace my skates. We skated for 45 minutes and felt refreshed after that much needed exercise.

This week is panning out to be a busy one. I am going shopping tomorrow. Die is back in town, so a few of us Crofties are getting together for tea on Tuesday. Colin and I are heading to Victoria to spend New Year's eve with Adam. And then my vacation starts to wind down.

Two weeks seems to be going by too quickly this year, but my last week of work before the holidays seems a lifetime ago.