Xmas Part One

H'Okay... :-)

Christmas with the inlaws is quasi done.
We'd feasted with both his mother's family and his father's family.
I got to have a neat talk with Paul's mother about mothers and children, sons and daughters, and birth-order and how all of that effects your relationship with your kids. :-) (Goal: This time next year: Five months pregnant. Roughly. ;-)
I also got to chat with my cousin-in-law, Lesley, about music and family dynamics. That was fun, too. :-)

Both of my gift-recipients enjoyed their presents.
Ken didn't recognize any of the rocks I got him (score!), so that went over well. :-)
And Grandma Radley really liked her new sweater set (and it fit!), so thank goodness for that! :-D

Paul was thrilled to infinity by his Muppet Movie, and delighted by his Steve Vai CD, and his subscription to Revolver magazine as well. :-)

Everyone liked the pictures we gave them. :-) (Although we were *totally* out-classed by my brother-in-law and his lovely wife, who brought their completed album, and a few framed 5x7s for people. Their pictures are gorgeous! :-D

I'm starting to get ideas about what to do with our big heap of photos. I'm thinking of hunting up a few composite frames -- or, failing that, hunting up a few 'floating' frames and making them into composites -- and putting a lot of the 4x6s up on the wall in groups.

I think the walk-in pictures will be accompanied by little cards that list the names and what the music they walked to.
So I'd have John, James, and Zev (in 4x6s) on a left-hand page, with a little card that says "John Armstrong, James Raven, & Zev Rumstien. 'A Warm Place' (NIN)" or something. Ideally in a pretty font. (I'll have to sort out what's going on with my printer before I can do that bit, though). And then, on the opposite page, I'd have a big (8x10?) picture of Paul walking in, mounted on some blue/silver paper (probably from something our presents were wrapped in).
I'd do something similar with the girls and me. :-)

I think that's part of what I'll be doing on the ski-trip. :-) Just doodling in my note book, coming up with where to put what.
It's kind of too bad -- all the head-shots of the attendents are facing the same dirrection. (They're all looking to the left), which means I can't just get one, giant frame and slap and eight-by-ten of Paul and me in the middle, with the attendants arranged around the outside, almost like a border -- So I'd do two 8x10s of us, with the girls ligning one, and the boys ligning the other. :-)


Anyway. As mentioned, we're going skiing at Tremblant with Paul's family for the next couple of days. :-)
I get to spend tomorrow taking a package of lessons (thank goodness!), and then on Thursday I actually get to ski -- if I want to. :-) (I may ski part of the day, and then hot-tub and read-by-the-fire for the rest of it. We'll see. ;-)
:-)

We'll be back before New Years, at which point I will go stocking-stuffer shopping (85% cocoa chocolate nibs, three bars of soap, deeply-discounted xmas ornaments, and one nifty, personal(-ish) thing for Andrew and Scotty, each. And maybe some oranges. ;-) The stockings are going to be fairly slim this year. Alas. But I'll see what else I can find in the way of goodies for people. :-)
On New Years Day, we'll be doing christmas with my side of the family. :-) That should be fun. :-)


Moving right along:
The Loot:


Ski stuff -- warming foot pads, a touque with a brim (which I quite like, and it comes right down over my ears!), and my first ever pair of long-johns. Or long-janes, I suppose. They're made for women.
They're suprisingly comfortable. Just like really soft tights. Yay! :-) Of course, they only come down to my mid-calf, but that still works. :-)

Music:
The Horrorpops ("Hell Yeah!")
Loreena McKennit ("Ancient Muse") -- for the second time (I'll be exchanging that for something else in January -- possibly some Faith and the Muse or Within Temptation. We'll see what's available at ye-olde-HMV. :-)
Joanna Newsom ("Ys") -- This is a new one to me. But she looks like she'd be in the SCA, and the cover art is very Persephonein the Underworld, and so I suspect that (once I listen to it, which will be soon), Paul's brother will have been correct in thinking that it's something I'd enjoy. :-) He says she plays some sort of stringed instrument. I'm assuming it's a lyre, if only because there's a lyre on the cover-art. I could be wrong, though. ;-)

Books:
Fall on Your Knees (Anne Marie MacDonald -- for the second time, because I had a copy years ago that I lent out to someone and never got back)
The Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan) -- I'm brining this one on the trip. It's awesome! :-)
The Way of the Editor (or something like that -- I don't have it in front of me) -- Paul gave me a book on how to edit manuscripts. He's amazing! :-D
The Blue Girl (Charles de Lint) -- More YA for me! :-)

Paul also gave me two DVDs of stand-up comics (Margaret Cho and Robin Williams) -- he got comedy DVDs for his whole family because he found that watching comics could completely alter his mood and make him feel better after a lousy day. So he wanted all of us to have that option. :-)
Isn't that sweet? :-)

Yay for my Fella! :-D

Accessories:
A giant locket (I feel like I have Bling now. ;-) I'm going to put a wedding picture in it, I think. :-)
A pretty, purple bangle (my first actual bangle! Yay!)
A goregeous purple silk scarf (with embroidery on the ends)




Other:
A gorgeous blue and copper and turquoise sun/flower wind-chime (form Paul's parents).
In addition to all the lovely things I already rattled off from my friends, Bronwyn and Jason gave us a really nice plant-holder bracket. :-)

Uhm... I think that's it.

Anyway. I need to get dressed, eat something, and finish packing. :-) And find my arm-socks and my winter boots, (Snow! Yay! :-) so it's time for me to go. :-)


( Random TMI )

- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)