The Christmas Wrap up.

This year I hosted Christmas for Eric's family and Christina. We all had a wonderful day. Christmas day went smoothly but Christmas Eve was a little frantic. I've never had a sit down meal for 12 so I ran around putting all the details together like a chicken with my head cut off. Thank goodness my knight in shining armor came home and tidied up.
For one day I had a formal dining room in the living room and all the furniture in the basement to accommodate gift unwrapping.

Christmas morning started very relaxed with coffee or hot chocolate with Bailey's. Christina came in a little later and requested tea. She was delayed because the heat had shut off at the house.
We opened our stockings.

This is Jo-Anne adding to the stockings we had prepared.

Christina's talking on the phone with Grandpa Lambie. He called to wish us Merry Christmas. Since we were only 4 for breakfast, I made everyone mushroom, Swiss omelets. Christina liked them so much she had two. The bread machine also made chocolate banana bread. It was very tasty with peanut butter.
Eric loved his "Eric The Penguin" calendar. Thanks Pamela!

Christina opening her Winnie the Pooh Calendar.

Jo-Anne's German bear that came from Edinburgh.

Nice to see Jo-Anne enjoying herself. It was great having her around the house Christmas day.

The kitchen bar

Food and family. Darn pole!

More family same food.

Pamela, Do you recognize the apron? Eric carving the 22 lbs turkey. It was really yummy and plenty for everyone.

Group picture. We got everyone but Memere.

This one shows the candles. Dinner was warm and cozy.

Oh Christmas Tree!

This is my favorite Christmas tree ever. It was so big that I didn't have enough ornaments. Jo-Anne came over to help me decorate with some of hers. We didn't like the while lights from last year so I bought new LED lights from Costco. The white lights do look nice around the room.

Let It Snow!

Friday morning we woke up to 12 inches of snow. Traffic was backed up and some metro stations wer closed. I wish I had a camera when I saw 2 guys trying to push a Smart Car out of a snow bank. If they had a few more people, they could have lifted it out.
I took the metro in and out. The Bonaventure metro station ran out of metro tickets. I guess a lot of unexpected one time travellers.
I came home and shovelled the snow bank the plow left and let Eric clean up the rest. We ran out of space to put it in the front.

Indian Cooking Class.

Last weekend was the Indian cooking class that Heidi set up for us. It was great fun. Most of it went way over my head with the types of spices etc but I did get a good feel. The best part of the class was eating what we had made.
Sorry Martin, we kinda lost you there. Flash might have been good. Oops.

One of THOSE list

Here is a list of things to do before you die. I saw this on someone else’s blog this morning but I have seen something similar before. You’re supposed to highlight or underline anything that you have done alread. I decided to italicize (sp), so here goes.

01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
02. Swim with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula.
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it.
09. Hugged a tree
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightening storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long, and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby's diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse.
30. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (:))
31. Asked out a stranger
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
38. Taken an ice cold bath
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer
49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was ill
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Gone rock climbing
60. Lied to foreign government's official in that country to avoid notice
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Gone sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
66. Visited Japan
67. Bench-pressed your own weight
68. Milked a cow
69. Alphabetized your CDs/DVDs
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Posed nude for pictures
74. Gone scuba diving
75. Got it on to "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater
80. Done something you should regret, but don't regret it
81. Visited the Great Wall of China
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better ( I DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS QUESTION. )
84. Started a business
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Had a sword fight
89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
90. Gotten married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn't have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Gotten divorced
96. Eaten cold pizza
97. Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a talent contest
100. Ridden a gondola in Venice

Final UK post

We took the Tube downtown to pick up some stuff for Pamela's Christmas party. London 3 weeks before Christmas was so cramped you couldn't move. You moved with the crowd and hoped it was going on the same direction as you were. I was so happy when Pamela said this wasn't worth it and to head back to the hotel. We first went back to the tran station to pick up my bags. What a great service to be able to check your bags in for the day and pick them up safe and sound. They even put them through a scan like the airport. I had all my iPod accessories in it and that brought on a few questions.
We got back to the hotel and I slipped into a nice hot, relaxing bath while Pamela watched TV with her eyes closed. It had been a long day.
We went and had a late dinner at the Guinness Pub in the hotel. Once again I had a nice dinner but Pamela got the short end of the stick. We went back to the room and crashed.
The next morning we went for our Continental Breakfast. We picked up our stuff and check out of the hotel. We both took the bus and went our separate ways. Pamela's journey home was almost as long as mine.
All and all I had a great time in the UK. Loved Edinburgh and hated London. Should go in the summer next time. I would get a lot more out of the experience. I would also love to take Eric. He missed out and I missed out on his company.

Tribute

This is a tribute to the soldiers lost at war. It's a very intricate sculpture. I could have looked at it for a long time investigating each item on this wall.

Big Ben

I did not realise that Big Ben was so colourful up there. Sorry I didn't take more pictures but it started rainning so we headed for the tube and downtown.

On the main street there was a crazy amount of people starting thier Christmas shopping downtown. I didn't feel safe taking out my camera.

I like this one

This is from the bridge to the Tate museum.

Ready for a swim?

Saturday in London

Our train was for 6:10 in the morning. Boy was that early! Pamela set her alarm a little later than she thought. I went down and woke her up at 5:15 and she called a taxi for us. We made it in plenty of time. Good thing I packed the night before. Didn't forget anything too important.
We had time to eat something. I love all the fresh food England has for sale. Didn't think I'd ever say that but we had fresh baguettes for breakfast.
We got on the train and slept most of the way. We got into London and I dumped my bag at the train station. Too heavy to carry all day. We went of to a museum I'd heard good things about. The Tate Modern was a little too modern for my taste but I saw my first live Picaso. Pretty exciting. The picture on the left was the only one I could take indoors. This is appose to be art. It's all subjective I suppose. Later we heard that at this museum they had a box of one way mirrors. You could see out from the inside but people couldn't look in. The put a fully functional bathroom in it. People could wave at you while you were peeing. The couldn't see you obviously but still a little disconcerting don't you think?


Construction was being done on this building. They covered it with a mural of the building. I thought it was brilliant. It covered the ugliness of scaffolding and construction.

Friday- in Leeds

Today was lazy day. I went into town to meet Pamla since she only had a half day we went out to a movie. We saw "Keeping Mum" with Rowan Atkinson. It was a black comedy british movie. I enjoyed but not Pamela's fav. We came back to the house to change and went back into town for Pamela's office Christmas party. We went to an upscale restaurant downtown. The service started off slow but was ok in the end. The food was nice except Pamela's main meal was bland so they took it back and she ordered something different. I had a couple of drinks to feel flushed.

After dinner we went to the German fair. Very popular in the UK. We went on the Dodgums which for us "Americans" is bumper cars. Lots of good clean fun. Sorry I left my camera at home for security reasons. We went and sat with the group while they had mulled wine. I'd had enough booze by then but it looked good.

We stoped by the hotel and went home for the night.

Thursday. In Leeds

Today I checked out the Costco here. It took me two busses but not to bad. Pamela is spoiled with one 10 min bus into town. This bus driver was very nice unlike the rest of my experiences. When Pamela said it was the same, she really meant it. The layout was a carbon copy of the Costco's here. The items for sale were very similar but the English brand names. The selection of beer and wine was much better than ours but they didn't have triangle bread. They did have what I was looking for. "American" Peanut butter. I bought 2 large jars of Skippy for Pamela. When I went to the cash they scanned in my card and my name was printed out on the bill. They still use the red tape.

I had the hotdogs at the lunch counter. They asked me if I wanted onions. I said yes. Didn't realize they would be pickled. YUCK. I also managed to spill sprite all over me.

I took the bus back to Pamela's hotel to meet her for dinner. Good thing I had plenty of time. I asked the bus driver where to get off but when I felt we should be near I asked a fellow passenger. He said, "Ohhh, you want to get off back in Leeds." What back in Leeds? You mean I left? He suggested I get off now and walk back. It was only about 10 blocks to the Hotel. Good thing it's in a major shopping mall. Easy to ask for directions.

I met up with Pamela and her friend picked us up for dinner. We went to a Hotel School's year end project. It was a lovely dinner. Much more intimate than we expected. The food was nice and the service was great. I got to meet two of Pamela's co-workers. They're very nice bubbly women. I got a little lost in the shop talk but not as lost as if I was to talk shop to them. It was really different being in the campany of only women.

We got a ride home. It was much appreciated in the pouring rain. I went home to watch some TV and let Pamela get some rest.

Wednesday. Off to York

This morning I took the train to York to visit the sites. Once I got off the train I saw signs for the Railway museum. I went to check it out. The admission was free and the exhibit was large. I walked around for a few hours and took pictures. Most of the trains we from the Royal family. They were personal carages that the royalty would travel in.

I went into town for lunch. I ordered Sheppard's pie. Not what I expected but it was ok. I found out what garden peas are. They're whole peas as opose to peas all mashed called mushy peas. I have yet to see that but doesn't seem appetizing.
I walked around and around town. Even after buying a map I couldn't locate the The Opera House. I asked for some directions and the very nice guy escorted me. It seems I was going the wrong way. Ooops. If they had street signs that would really help.
I met Pamela at the theatre. She had a rougher time finding the place. She was given the wrong directions. She did however show up on time for the show.
We went in and watched Blood Brothers. It was pretty good. We all jumped at the gun shots in the show and there was a lot of sniffling.
We walked back to the train station. It was about 5 blocks and faster than the bus or a taxi. We took the train home and missed the last bus so we took a taxi home. 6 £ from downtown. Pretty good.

Hanging around Tuesday

Nothing to exciting today. I went into Leeds for lunch and to check out the sites myself. Basically what Leeds has to offer is shopping, shopping and more shopping. I didn't really buy anything except for a necklace to where when I go out.
It took me a very long time to find the hotel Pamela works at. I think I went right round the city. Stoped and asked for directions. He said I was really far away and then gave me the directions which were 2 blocks away. I don't call that far. Peel to St-Laurent is far.
The hotel is in The Light shopping mall. At night it's hard to miss with the coloured lights on the building. The mall isn't very big but it is indoors unlike most of the shopping.
We had dinner at the hotel. It was yummy. I had salmon and Pamela had steak. Christina would have loved the sides of potatoes. They were huge. I didn't even finish my new potatoes. We had apple crumble in a glass with ice cream. It was quite tasty and looked pretty.
Pamela showed me some of the rooms at the hotel. They're very nice. They don't look hotel room like at all. One of the rooms has a tile floor. I loved the look of it but not very nice on bare feet. They also have some nice entertainning rooms for coctail parties or casino nights.
After a short bus ride home, we came home and watched CSI.