Downtime. I'm so lucky - I was able to just chill out today.

It's been a hectic month so far. Three weeks ago Steve's brother's house burned to the ground. So sad! Thankfully his family were out at work/school, but unfortunately their cat and dog both perished in the fire. Breaks my heart. Steve and I headed to NY to see them that weekend, of course just as I say "we're 45 minutes ahead of schedule!" we see a sign on the interstate "heavy snow next 40 miles". We're thinking... huh? How can they predict that? It's gorgeous out! Within 5 minutes, not so much.

An hour later, after following two snowplows the whole way, we realize the car is really loud. Oh great! The muffler fell off! So we hop off the highway in Syracuse, I Google "muffler Syracuse" and we get a few hits. Luckily there was one around the corner from us, problem was they closed at 7, and it was 6:10. Two super nice guys were working and they fixed it - it took them two and half hours! Most shocking of all? It cost $113. Even with the exchange it was far cheaper than it would have been here. We'd be looking at closer to $400 for what they did. So back on the road we go, and we made it to Rochester by 11:30. What should have taken 5 hours took 8 and half!

His brother and family are wonderful. They are the most positive people I've ever known. They lost everything, yet were so welcoming to us! We had a great weekend.

We left on Sunday, the minute we got on the road it started to snow again, so it was another 6 hour drive home.

Woke up the next morning with either an intestinal bug or food poisoning. Worst 30 hours of my life! I had to take two days of work (as a consultant there is no sick pay). The following day the transit workers went on strike (they still are) so we were told to work from home until it's over. We are so lucky! There are people now skiing, walking and hitching rides to work. Since there's not much by way of 'extra' parking in the downtown core, if you want to drive in, you have to arrive before 6AM. It's pretty crazy.

So work was very busy with a release and testing to be done, then trying to get out to do some Christmas shopping was difficult due to the increased traffic and lack of parking. But it all got done in time! We had KT's Dad, his wife and KT's stepsister over for a pre-Christmas dinner and gift exchange, a few days later we had my family over for and afternoon get together and gift exchange because she was leaving for Chile on the 22nd. Because "Snowmaggedon" the day before grounded all flights out of Ottawa, Toronto, NY (etc.), her flights were all delayed, but she made it to Santiago 25 hours after she left. Long day! We heard from her the day she landed, and again this morning. She is having a wonderful time, though apparently they have all lost their sense of time because by the time she realized it was Christmas Day it was 5AM this morning! She said it's a gorgeous country and I'm sure she and her 9 friends will have a wonderful month exploring it! I miss her though.

Steve's Mom came to stay with us for Christmas, arriving on the 24th after 8 hours in the car. It was a long drive in the snow for her, taking 2 hours longer than it should have. Poor thing! We had a nice evening - more or less traditional Reveillon (French Canadian Christmas Eve), which Steve calls cheating because we open our gifts on Christmas Eve! Mom grew up in Ireland and they did too, so I can vouch for the authenticity! Santa was overly generous yet again. I'm very excited about my new Garmin 405!! I'm so excited to have a Garmin that's only a little huge on my tiny wrists! I almost broke my wrist when I fell a couple of years ago with my 201. The bruising sure was pretty! Steve got a new bike trainer, which I also hope to use. Here's hoping 2009 (!!!!!) is a healthier year!

We hosted Christmas dinner for the family. Last spring Steve's store had a clearout of electric turkey roasters, so we bought one. Man alive it roasts well! Too well... The turkey which was supposed to take 8.5 hours took 5. Oh dear! Quick call to everyone to tell them to skip lunch! The dinner was fabulous, though we forgot to serve one of the sides. That is one of our traditions too! My sister's husband brought dessert - plum pudding and homemade hard sauce. Good lord it was good! After Steve and Armand woke up from their turkey comas on the couch (should have taken a photo!) we snapped the Christmas crackers - this years were 'muscial', which means in addition to the jokes and the paper crowns, everyone got a whistle with a number on it. It came with 4 sheets of music (we had to pair up) and then off we went, a-tootin'. As we read along to the music, tooting when our turn came around, we had a pretty good little orchestra. What a hoot! I am so lucky to be part of a family who all like each other! I love my family :)

I had the kitchen cleaned up by midnight, and a little shout out to the turkey roaster - a breeze to clean!

So today I hung out with Steve's Mom until it was time for her to hit the road, then I ate my weight in food, again. I really need to re-acquaint myself with the treadmill!

So tomorrow will be packing day, because on Sunday we're off to VEGAS!! Wheee! I haven't been on a plane since I was 18, when I flew to Montreal (a whopping 30 minutes!). I'm so excited! Of course we thought it was going to be warm, but apparently we were mistaken... though it will be 30C warmer than it is here today! Positively balmy in comparison I suppose!

I hope everyone in bloggerland and beyond has a safe and happy holiday season!