hello and merry christmas from wintry winnipeg! we’ve been in town for the holidays since the 23rd and have mostly been spending time with the folks. as usual, christmas eve was a night of tortiere, christmas carolling, and a very nice service at St. Andrew’s. what was odd was that only kurt and i had flown in in time for dinner–nicole’s flight didn’t get in until 9:30 and lucas and karen’s arrival was not for another day. mel and andy are spending christmas with his sister in london. a 4-person meal was a little bizarre given the usual full house that Mom and Dad normally have, but it was great nonetheless to be back for the holidays.

kurt and i had already given each other early christmas gifts. kurt’s was tickets to the canucks game against the avalanche on dec 2; mine was a baby taylor acoustic guitar. yes, it is indeed 3/4 scale due to my freakishly small hands. already my fingers are sore and calloused from playing the same 3 songs (consisting of a total of 8 chords) from morning to night. unfortunately, there are still many chords that the laws of physics and the limitations of biology won’t let me play, but i guess i’ll just have to skip the songs that use weird-ass chords like Fm7.

my dad got us a deep fryer for christmas and we are already making plans to deep-fry everything in sight. i think we’re gonna try deep-fried mars bars first, and if lawrence will supply the big macs, i think we can swing that too. mmm…mcdonald’s and lard.

the crocheted gifts that were handed out this year have been a hit: lawrence’s “poor rudolph” plaque, kyle’s baby ewok, and aunt edna’s victorian striped ornament. i wanted to do a star-shaped pillow for her but the yarn that i brought is just crap. serves me right for patronizing zellers instead of a proper crafts store! well, i’ll go home and try it again, and if all goes well, she and wendy will have it in a few weeks’ time. i guess other people have also caught on to my penchant for homemade gifts, as i got a “holiday knits” book from Mom that i am itching to try out. everyone better get ready for a yearful of scarves and other rectangular things in 2007!

we are heading back to Vancouver tomorrow afternoon, so it will be sad to leave this place that has become such a wonderful second home. still, we are looking forward to returning to spend the new year with our friends and family on the West Coast. hope you all had a great christmas holiday and will celebrate the new year with all your loved ones.