T'was the month before Christmas

Wow... haven't blogged since November 27th... I've been silent for a while, eh?

As you can imagine, work is nuts so I haven't had a whole lotta time to update as often as I'd have liked but here's a brief synopsis if you still check in:

Chantal Kreviazuk - (November 30th)
Chantal Kreviazuk paid a little visit to the waterfall stage at my work a few weeks ago, and gave a little concert - I'd known about it ahead of time and had mentioned it to the guys so Bruce, Kevin and Ken decided to join me after lunch so we'd get a chance to see her perform - she's pretty good live, better than I was expecting actually, and she looks a whole lot better live than she does on her album covers... I really don't get the heavy eye makeup they tend to use on her covers... it almost seems like they are going for the anorexic look or something!

Poker Night (December 1st)
We had our first official poker night at the new place a few weeks back and got a chance to try out the table that Kevin had refinished with a felt top. Jeff & Stacey and Aaron cancelled at the last minute but we still had a mostly full table, Roop played for the very first time [and he brought Karen along as well], the others at the table were Bruce, Jess, Kevin and myself. Mike was there too but I think he much preferred the video game segment of the night over the poker bit so we let him be. :) I won the first game, though there was no cash involved, and was pretty happy about it given that I'm getting better at heads-up play. The second game [the real one] came down to Jess and Bruce, with Jessica winning in the end.

My Dad's Van & Matt's car (December 2nd)
The guys[Bruce, Kevin and Matt] spent the better part of the day working on the ball joints of my dad's van and Matt's gauges in what can only be described as freezing weather, I'm not sure how they did it, but was grateful for their help. I tried to keep them warm with hot chocolate and munchies throughout the day but it was pretty bad outside [Matt even had to borrow one of Kev's sweaters] - in the end though they got everything done and they ended up with free pizza after the delivery guy showed up late, dropped some of the pizzas and forgot a few of the cans of pop. After all that though, my dad was pretty happy with the install thanks to the guys.

The Childless by Choice dinner. (December 3rd)
This all got started after I spoke with Meghan and realized that we wouldn't be seeing them at the P-Christmas gathering because she had to work late that night. Not wanting the holidays to go by without seeing them, I mentioned that we'd definitely have to do dinner before the hols so we pinned down a date with her and Wotjek and included Bruce and Ken & Liv. I made my infamous cinnamon and nutmeg roasted chicken and served it with garlic bread, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies and green bean casserole [the test run]. It all worked out well, I'd ensured that the makeshift dining table had a complete overhaul complete with table cloth, runner and a centrepiece and we managed to squeeze all seven of us around it for what turned out to be a nice sit down dinner. Liv would later brand it the "Childless by Choice" dinner. :)
We ended the evening with a viewing of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation [which I'd been meaning to see before the hols anyway] and as always is the case with that movie, we had quite a few good laughs.

Lucy's Kitchen - (December 6th) & Lynne Spence (December 7th)
A few weeks back, Lucy Waverman decided to pay a little visit to FCP and I decided to attend the session, I wasn't disappointed, it was a total blast as she attempted to make these recipes and we had a chance to sample, ask questions and get quite a few baking and cooking tips from her in the process - then as luck would have it, they drew for two door prizes and I won one of them which was an autographed copy of her new book Lucy's Kitchen so my plan for Christmas Day is to attempt the "Savoury Cheese Stars" because they tasted absolutely divine and an awful lot like "Cheese Straws" that my mom makes, but with a bit more of a kick.

Leah's Christmas Gathering - December 9th
Gathering at Leah this year - as we've done many times in the past was a good time, as is usually the case whenever we get together. I attempted the green bean casserole dish, that Mir had mentioned is usually a holiday staple, and was pretty happy with the end result. In addition to the dish, I'd spent the day baking, while Kev did the packaging and so together we were able to hand out the annual oatmeal cookies that has become an tradition for us with this group of friends. We got a few prezzies as well and we've placed them under the tree, except for Bruce & Jess's CD which we played on the way home from Leah's.

Christmas Concert/Musical - December 10th
On Sunday we attended the Christmas Concert at "The People's Church" with my family - this year my parents invited Granny and Aunt Lillian to join us and as was to be expected we all had a good time... though I daresay that I preferred last year's show over this year's production... that aside though, it was all in all a good time and it totally sprinkled the Christmas spirit all over me. :)

I think I lost track after that as the month end numbers were released and work in turn went nuts. Last weekend was spent bumming around and finishing up on our last minute shopping, I went to Pickering Town Centre for the first time, I went with low expectations but as it turns out, it's a pretty decent mall. We'll definitely go back as it's not that far from our neck of the woods now.

That's about it from my end. Not a whole lot is new except I think I might be addicted to Burrito Boyz. Today is the last day of work before the hols and we're heading to Windsor right after work to visit with my inlaws. 3 more sleeps 'til Christmas! :)

Merry Christmas everyone! :)