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So... :-)
Xmas with the Armstrongs was great fun. :-)
My mom actually made a full turkey dinner. :-)
It was very tastey. :-) And she did the stuffing herself. :-)
I still have half a pumpkin pie sitting in my firdge, and its been there for more than a week now, so I may have to toss it out. (I think I saw a fleck of visible mould on one of the slices... Hm...)
Anyway.
My mom and her boyfriend (and my sister and her boyfriend, and my husband, and *me*) were thrilled with their stockings. :-) Although I think Andrew was a bit uncertain about the chop sticks. He liked his hat-gloves-&-scarf set, though. :-)
Seriously. Boxing week sales are marvelous when it comes to stocking stuffers.
And the set I got him was mainly navy blue, and it turns out he has a navy blue coat! Yes! :-D
Today I have to get myself going and actually fill out the marriage certificate forms that we should have filled out back in October (the day we got our new bed, in fact).
<*sigh*>
I keep putting it off, but my grandparents are now referring to me as 'Mrs Raven' on official documents (specifically cheques) and, really, if I want to deposite them, I need to have 'Raven' legally attached to my name (so that I can change the name on my account to reflect both of my last names -- I checked that out about two months ago).
My family was wildly generous with the cash this year, I must say. My aunt Liz, who typically sends us kitchy junk, if anything at all, sent us $50 'anything you want' visa gift-cards. *All* of us.
Why??
Not that I'm complaining, but wha--?
Anyway.
My grandparents did the same thing (although with cash), which is unusual since they typically send only half that much.
Gner?
And my brother got me (doo-didi-dooooo!) Between the Worlds -- Sian's new book (I'll have to get her and Lucie to autograph it for me. ;-) -- a slightly pricey new book on contemporary neopaganism (with Canadian Neopaganism featured more heavily than in any other book of its ilk, I suspect). I was surprised that he got it for me, but so far it's great! :-)
Paul and I brought pictures from our wedding for people. :-)
People liked them a lot. :-)
I've got a *huge* frame sitting in the bedroom, that will be filled with wedding photos soon enough.
I just need to sort out which ones are going where. :-)
And do some cutting, as it's a mainly 4x6 frame, and I'd like to throw a few 8x10s and 5x7s in there. :-)
We'll see what I come up with.
I think some of the pictures -- head-shots, mostly -- will be cut down to 3x3s or 3x4s.
I may get a rings picture blown up to a 5x7. We'll see what I come up with. :-)
My sister and her boyfriend didn't get into Ottawa until 6:30. Which was making good time, given that they weren't expecting to get in until 7pm. :-)
We had dinner and dessert (my sister brought a merlot -- she and Scotty stopped at a winery in Niagra on the Lake and did a wine tasting -- she showed us all how to airate/swoosh the wine to get the flavours to come out, and it was pretty good. You could actually taste faint chocolate undertones in it, which is awesome!)
We then had dessert (my Mom makes *awesome* pie crust, by the way).
Afgter that, we opened the presents. :-) Everyone liked what they got. :-) Yay! Paul now has every single muppet movie ever made. (We think). Now to get him the different seasons on DVD. ;-)
Also, he liked the Metal magazine (and the Queen DVD) that was in his stocking. :-) So, yay! :-)
Next year I will have two stockings to do for Paul, so I'll have to put some extra thought into it. :-)
I mean, at my Mom's house, I'm used to it -- and my Mom usually puts some stuff in, as well. But next year I'm in charge of Paul's stocking, completely, at the Raven house-hold.
So... what to do, what to do... :-)
I'll figure somethign out. :-)
My sister got me a mask! Made by the guy who does the costumes for Cirque du Soleil! :-D It's silver, with a gold/copper forehead. I haven't quite figured out what it will be, but it will be part of my Witches' Gathering costume for next year, I think. :-)
After we opened presents, we sat and pages through our respective new books (sadly, my sister already had the book I gave her. And I don't have a reciept. Unless, of course, it's tucked inside the cover and I've forgotten about it... Hm... But she might be able to exchange it at Chapters for the sequel -- "More Plays for Actresses" -- None the less, she said it was a good choice. :-)
My brother, who was spending his 'non denominational winter holiday' (as he wrote in my card :-) with his girlfriend, Cheryl, in New Brunswick -- he sent us his usual boxes of chocolates (pot-of-gold and a box from 'cousin Fererro', the contents of which I'm sure you can guess). My mom talked to him on the phone today -- I called her at 11:50 to First Foot her (the first person to cross your threshold in the New Year -- particularly if they are tall, dark, and from away, and also if they're bearing wiskey, a lump of coal, and a piece of hogmineigh cake -- will bring you good luck in the coming year: I figure, as long as I've got a moderately alcoholic beverage, a cookie of some sort (although, ideally, shortbread), and something that can be burned in a fireplace, I'm good to go. ;-)
She decided she should call John and remind him to call Eric Ross (one of the -- few remaining -- people in Sackville, who we used to first-foot, back when we lived there, and still do every year over the phone).
Anyway, while she was on the phone with him, she found out the following: He read "The Night Before Christmas" to all of Cheryl's little cousins. Aw. :-) He misses us. :-) (That's something we've done every year since I turned two). :-)
Anyway.
My sister and her boyfriend and I played Scrabble before we went home last night.
Paul commented that the way we play board games is *way* different than the way his (insanely competitive) family does so. We help eachother out. :-)
So there. ;-)
Anyway.
That was xmas at the Armstrongs'. :-)
It was fun. :-)
In other news: Paul and I spent yesterday re-arranging the office. We now have a bed in it, to be used for treating Paul's clients. :-)
We now have an antique lazy-boy recliner (which, really, is a bit of an eyesore, alas) in our living room (I need to put the xmas tree away, then, today/tomorrow, because it's currently sitting on our coffee table. Hm.).
Anyway. The office looks pretty darned good -- except for a few bits of stuff we still have to deal with -- and now we (technically) also have an actual guest-bed, in case someone ends up staying over. which is pretty cool. :-) *And* all of his (ugly but functional) infrasound stuff is now handily hidden away inside a closet. Good! :-D
So that was our adventure, yesterday. :-)
To do today:
Make bank deposites
Get milk
Buy a day-planner
Re-arrange my office bookshelf
Write a re-written scene for 'Call to the Dance' (or two).
There's probably more stuff, too, such as sorting out what to clear out of the fridge, but those are the main ones. :-)
Oh! Ami: Tea? :-) Some time? :-)
- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)
Xmas with the Armstrongs was great fun. :-)
My mom actually made a full turkey dinner. :-)
It was very tastey. :-) And she did the stuffing herself. :-)
I still have half a pumpkin pie sitting in my firdge, and its been there for more than a week now, so I may have to toss it out. (I think I saw a fleck of visible mould on one of the slices... Hm...)
Anyway.
My mom and her boyfriend (and my sister and her boyfriend, and my husband, and *me*) were thrilled with their stockings. :-) Although I think Andrew was a bit uncertain about the chop sticks. He liked his hat-gloves-&-scarf set, though. :-)
Seriously. Boxing week sales are marvelous when it comes to stocking stuffers.
And the set I got him was mainly navy blue, and it turns out he has a navy blue coat! Yes! :-D
Today I have to get myself going and actually fill out the marriage certificate forms that we should have filled out back in October (the day we got our new bed, in fact).
<*sigh*>
I keep putting it off, but my grandparents are now referring to me as 'Mrs Raven' on official documents (specifically cheques) and, really, if I want to deposite them, I need to have 'Raven' legally attached to my name (so that I can change the name on my account to reflect both of my last names -- I checked that out about two months ago).
My family was wildly generous with the cash this year, I must say. My aunt Liz, who typically sends us kitchy junk, if anything at all, sent us $50 'anything you want' visa gift-cards. *All* of us.
Why??
Not that I'm complaining, but wha--?
Anyway.
My grandparents did the same thing (although with cash), which is unusual since they typically send only half that much.
Gner?
And my brother got me (doo-didi-dooooo!) Between the Worlds -- Sian's new book (I'll have to get her and Lucie to autograph it for me. ;-) -- a slightly pricey new book on contemporary neopaganism (with Canadian Neopaganism featured more heavily than in any other book of its ilk, I suspect). I was surprised that he got it for me, but so far it's great! :-)
Paul and I brought pictures from our wedding for people. :-)
People liked them a lot. :-)
I've got a *huge* frame sitting in the bedroom, that will be filled with wedding photos soon enough.
I just need to sort out which ones are going where. :-)
And do some cutting, as it's a mainly 4x6 frame, and I'd like to throw a few 8x10s and 5x7s in there. :-)
We'll see what I come up with.
I think some of the pictures -- head-shots, mostly -- will be cut down to 3x3s or 3x4s.
I may get a rings picture blown up to a 5x7. We'll see what I come up with. :-)
My sister and her boyfriend didn't get into Ottawa until 6:30. Which was making good time, given that they weren't expecting to get in until 7pm. :-)
We had dinner and dessert (my sister brought a merlot -- she and Scotty stopped at a winery in Niagra on the Lake and did a wine tasting -- she showed us all how to airate/swoosh the wine to get the flavours to come out, and it was pretty good. You could actually taste faint chocolate undertones in it, which is awesome!)
We then had dessert (my Mom makes *awesome* pie crust, by the way).
Afgter that, we opened the presents. :-) Everyone liked what they got. :-) Yay! Paul now has every single muppet movie ever made. (We think). Now to get him the different seasons on DVD. ;-)
Also, he liked the Metal magazine (and the Queen DVD) that was in his stocking. :-) So, yay! :-)
Next year I will have two stockings to do for Paul, so I'll have to put some extra thought into it. :-)
I mean, at my Mom's house, I'm used to it -- and my Mom usually puts some stuff in, as well. But next year I'm in charge of Paul's stocking, completely, at the Raven house-hold.
So... what to do, what to do... :-)
I'll figure somethign out. :-)
My sister got me a mask! Made by the guy who does the costumes for Cirque du Soleil! :-D It's silver, with a gold/copper forehead. I haven't quite figured out what it will be, but it will be part of my Witches' Gathering costume for next year, I think. :-)
After we opened presents, we sat and pages through our respective new books (sadly, my sister already had the book I gave her. And I don't have a reciept. Unless, of course, it's tucked inside the cover and I've forgotten about it... Hm... But she might be able to exchange it at Chapters for the sequel -- "More Plays for Actresses" -- None the less, she said it was a good choice. :-)
My brother, who was spending his 'non denominational winter holiday' (as he wrote in my card :-) with his girlfriend, Cheryl, in New Brunswick -- he sent us his usual boxes of chocolates (pot-of-gold and a box from 'cousin Fererro', the contents of which I'm sure you can guess). My mom talked to him on the phone today -- I called her at 11:50 to First Foot her (the first person to cross your threshold in the New Year -- particularly if they are tall, dark, and from away, and also if they're bearing wiskey, a lump of coal, and a piece of hogmineigh cake -- will bring you good luck in the coming year: I figure, as long as I've got a moderately alcoholic beverage, a cookie of some sort (although, ideally, shortbread), and something that can be burned in a fireplace, I'm good to go. ;-)
She decided she should call John and remind him to call Eric Ross (one of the -- few remaining -- people in Sackville, who we used to first-foot, back when we lived there, and still do every year over the phone).
Anyway, while she was on the phone with him, she found out the following: He read "The Night Before Christmas" to all of Cheryl's little cousins. Aw. :-) He misses us. :-) (That's something we've done every year since I turned two). :-)
Anyway.
My sister and her boyfriend and I played Scrabble before we went home last night.
Paul commented that the way we play board games is *way* different than the way his (insanely competitive) family does so. We help eachother out. :-)
So there. ;-)
Anyway.
That was xmas at the Armstrongs'. :-)
It was fun. :-)
In other news: Paul and I spent yesterday re-arranging the office. We now have a bed in it, to be used for treating Paul's clients. :-)
We now have an antique lazy-boy recliner (which, really, is a bit of an eyesore, alas) in our living room (I need to put the xmas tree away, then, today/tomorrow, because it's currently sitting on our coffee table. Hm.).
Anyway. The office looks pretty darned good -- except for a few bits of stuff we still have to deal with -- and now we (technically) also have an actual guest-bed, in case someone ends up staying over. which is pretty cool. :-) *And* all of his (ugly but functional) infrasound stuff is now handily hidden away inside a closet. Good! :-D
So that was our adventure, yesterday. :-)
To do today:
Make bank deposites
Get milk
Buy a day-planner
Re-arrange my office bookshelf
Write a re-written scene for 'Call to the Dance' (or two).
There's probably more stuff, too, such as sorting out what to clear out of the fridge, but those are the main ones. :-)
Oh! Ami: Tea? :-) Some time? :-)
- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)
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