Christmassage!

It's Christmas day, whoooeee-boy! I am amusing myself with bloggish endeavors beside the Christmas tree, having drifted away from the feast preparations going on in the kitchen - I can handle cutting up the bread chunks for stuffing, but when it comes to the act of stuffing itself, I'd rather be scarce. I realize that possible future situations (trying to win a dare...trying to be a wife...) might require me to stuff bread chunks up a chicken's wazoo, but for now I'll pass off the task to the more experienced members of the family (like my mom, currently mixing a whiskey and soda as she prepares for the task - see? she has stuffed countless chickens over the years, and still requires liquid courage for the job! Not easy!). I did stick around long enough to have a laugh over the recipe book Mom's using, and has used for the last thirty years, called "Cooking Canada's Turkey" (thank you, Canadian Turkey Marketing Agency - many Christmases would be crippled without you!) ... it is amusing for its frank description of turkey grades (Canada Grade C: "many pin feathers and prominent dicolorations" - mmmmm) and, more endearingly, its gender-specific instructions. Page 13 appeals for men to read carefully and includes this little-known bit of turkey trivia:

Many men claim carving is a chore they would rather forego. However, when a man is adept at it he delights in displaying his skill [side note: not limited to turkey carving]. A little practice following these 6 easy steps will turn a "hacker" into a "carver".



Bronwyn and Adam are currently off at the Brock Christmas shindig while mom and I are home studying up on how to be carvers (in the inconvenient absence of a man). B & A should get back in the next couple of hours, when the Christmas gift-opening goodness will resume (having already begun this morning with the opening of the stockings - or rather, last night, with the opening of the traditional pajama presents). Last night we arrived perfectly late for the Christmas Eve service at A & B's church - in time for singing carols and watching excited little kids squirm in their seats, but late enough that the whole things was satisfyingly brief and we were back home with our Bailey's, homemade pizza, and A Christmas Story lickety-split. Right now I am so full of honeycomb and Corn Pops (also tradition) that I think I might bust. Mom and I have already managed to pop over to her apartment down the street where Tycho is staying. He was studiously listening to the Queen's message but was easily distracted by the Christmas presents we brought for him - a catnip lizard and laser beam toy (in the hope of tricking him into exercising). Tycho survived his trip here on the train from Montreal, and was quite pleased to be met at Union station by his uncle Adam and dear friends Jen & Mark. Poor little dude! Now he is safe and sound, tucked in with my mom, where the two of them are steadily spoiling each other - mom gets up at the crack of dawn to feed him (something that he longs for - but never gets - at home in Montreal), and in return he keeps her bed warm at night and her nativity scene fur-covered and kicked all over the place in the day. A perfect relationship!

T ready for the train:


And, arrived:


I've been trying as best I can to split my time between B & A's place - and their two fantastic (though devilish) cats - and little T. He doesn't seem to suffering, though ... two minutes after this next picture was taken he abandoned me for his new preferred lap - Mom's. I am in equal parts relieved and put-out by how well Tycho adjusts to new people & places. Isn't he the least bit homesick for the little nest we have together in Montreal? Isn't he the least bit anxious at being separated from me over these few weeks??? Aren't I his irreplaceable momma???


In other news, the holidays have been delicious so far! I spent the first week of Operation Ontario spinning about in a mad tornado that felt vaguely like London - very little sleep, very much shmoozing, a whole lot of hugging and relieved homesickness. Thanks to Sara & Scott for the generous surrendering of their living room floor throughout the week, where I threw down my weary bones at the end of each day - now that I'm in Waterloo I get to enjoy the exact reverse: more time spent in pajamas than street clothes, nearly all 27 episodes of Gray's Anatomy S2 watched, several kinds of cookies baked and countless presents wrapped and currently waiting under the tree. Several knot-inducing questions hover over my head (most pressing: how on earth will I get all this stuff - and a cat - home to Montreal on the train?), but for now, and for the rest of this week, I will delay these anxieties and steep myself in holiday goodness. And I will resume blogging!

Happy Christmas, to those of you into that sort of thing... and Happy Snowflake Day to the rest of you!

[warning: this video is potentially offensive and most definitely full of CH antics! It is meant for harmless entertainment only!] [Nork!!!]