Believe it or not, I actually liked Lord of the Rings. Doug got me to watch part one before Christmas as a test. I’m not one for wars so I just close my eyes during that part but the rest is great. I also saw The Santa Clause 2 over the holidays and found it as cute as the first.
Finally cut the ties to injurymanagement.ca (no hard feelings) - welcome to all who headed there and ended up here (boy it’s fun thinking of the internet as an actual geographic area). We’re off to watch LotR (3 hours, baby), then buy some stuff at Home Depot (only Round 1, as I expect to be buying a tonne more for our 3rd bathroom in the basement). Then we take down the Christmas decorations, read some more, and generally enjoy our vacation!
Home at last! We had a very relaxing week away and we both still have a week off until we return to work. Hopefully this week is as relaxing as the last. It is hard to believe but there is NO snow here! There was a huge amount of snow in Toronto but there doesn’t seem to be signs of the snowstorm that supposedly happened on Christmas day here. Well, we are glad we were in Toronto for our white Christmas.
Jolly Christmas to y’all! Ours has been wonderful. We actually opened presents after breakfast (what self-restraint), but it was nice - it slowed the day down a bit for greater enjoyment. Then opened the presents - in previous years it was kinda silly how many we got, but this year was a little more sane. To mention a few (here’s my updated wishlist), I/we got a hockey bag odour eater, 2 footballs (that was a mistake), a lovely (lovely is my new favourite word - courtesy of a patient who when asked why he calls everything “lovely”, says “Why, that’s what Jesus always said!”… I’ve yet to find “lovely” in Jesus’ words) microwave, pictures of Jeff (that unfortunately were poorly chosen, and will be replaced with more “appropriate” ones), grass, CD-Rs, a dozuki saw, fridge magnets, a giant ‘Smore kit, chocolate, a “Operation” (the game) T-shirt, tea, and toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, shower sponges, etc. We had a wonderful dinner (with yams) with Jenn’s Auntie Heather as our guest. Afterwards I was permitted to hack up the turkey and clean up. We went for a walk, and now Jenn and her mom are sleeping in front of the TV “watching” Rudolph, and Jenn’s dad is sleeping on the couch while “reading”. This is what Christmas is about. I hope yours is as good.
Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!! And it’s white!!
We had our Mitchell Jr. Christmas today - it was alot of fun, and not just the getting of gifts, but I had alot of fun buying Jenn’s presents. It was fun being secretive. We weren’t going to buy presents as we bought each other the digital camera, but we cracked and have done additional presents anyways. We’re so bad! : ) I got those little plastic army soldiers - my brother Rob had them and he would always win against Dan’s cowboys and Indians and I guess I just had lego and dinky cars, which in hindsight should have kicked butt. I also got a pooping reindeer (stay tuned for the video). I got a little foam football, magnets (a cute idea for a present), chocolate, and the typical underwear and socks (it’s amazing how fast I go through them!).
We had a visit from our friend Matt on his way home from Montreal. It was so sad to see all he had in his apartment fit in to his little car… Anyway, it was nice to see him and we’re happy he will be back in an apartment with chairs soon!
I found 26 a hard threshold to cross. At this time I see 26 as the start of the second phase and the end of youth (i.e. 0-25 = youth, 26-50 = middle age, 51-75 = senior, 76-100 = old). My acquaintances/friends are mostly > 30, and they all laughed at me and said that 26 is nothing compared to 30. Yes, that’s probably the case, but 26 is the biggest I’ve had yet. I think it’s time for a mid-life crisis (it’s just an excuse to get that big screen TV and home theater and leather loveseat that I crave). In hindsight, every birthday up to 21 represents opportunity, 22 I was getting married, 23 I was graduating, 24 I was buying a house, 25 I was getting into a new area at work, but now there’s nothing significantly different. Oh well… I’m happy to be alive, and overall, I’m happier now than I’ve ever been.
It was my birthday on the 17th, and it was quite a good one overall. At work people were picking on me (as much as I act otherwise, I really like it), my mother-in-law sent a nude baby picture of me and that only flared things up more. A couple of patients noticed/remembered and wished me the best (one even gave me some trail mix). We went out for supper to The Pilot House and had Fish ‘n Chips and Guinness, then went to see Harry Potter, then came home and opened presents. The previous day Jenn had made me the birthday cake from my childhood (and did a great job), but enhanced it by putting a pint ‘o Guinness on it! It’s perfect. With staying up late, and then getting sick, I haven’t had much chance to eat it - it’s my weekend task! I got an indoor gardening multi-tool from Jen and Jamie, a Ryobi drill from my Mom & Dad (in-laws), from Jenn I got a Guinness picture (following the theme), a pair of thumb/finger oven mitts, a fleece ear toque thingy, and a soft and cozy “Cuddle Time” pillow case, and a $25 Chapters gift certificate; and a $5 Tim Hortons gift certificate from my parents. The next day the “lunch bunch” at work took me out for lunch at Louie’s.
I got Norwalk yesterday. It was pretty sudden - nausea and diarrhea, thankfully no vomiting - I hate vomiting more than diarrhea. Jenn’s never heard me vomit, but I’m REALLY noisy. Anyways… so I’m feeling alot better today (I can fart without fear) but I can’t go to work as I have to be symptom free for 48 hours. I’m not sure how solid I am, yet. That means that I am off till January 6th, as I am taking 2 weeks of vacation time over Christmas.
The last day of work should be pretty good. The students are dropping like flies with the virus going around and are not allowed back to school until they are 48 hours symptom free…. two went home today which means they won’t be back tomorrow. Hopefully it is a nice mellow day… I am looking forward to the break!
Two more days until two weeks off!! Woohoo!! Hard to believe that it’s only one week until Christmas. I guess all of my shopping is done and I am ready I just need to get in the full spirit of things. I had a nice turkey dinner at work today. The community donates everything to the school and we have two seatings… it’s pretty fun and the kids get all dressed up.
Pictures from our Montreal Weekend Trip We spent 30 hours with Matt (we invited him to be our friend, but he’s still thinking about it - hopefully mentioning him 3 times in 45 minutes of blogging will sway him). We took pictures of these cool tent garages - plastic temporary lean-toos for cars. I can’t figure out why they aren’t in Kingston too. We met a nice couple on the train and there’s a picture of him - married 55 years, living in Kingston, and he wants to buy a digital camera just like ours - they were so fascinated by it, it was great. There’s also a picture of a Montreal prison, and 3 pictures of the downtown skyscape with skaters. Very traditionally Canadian, and festive too.
The pictures of Matt are under Montreal Weekend. There are also pictures of the “tent garages” there. Weird.
We had a great weekend in Monreal with our friend Matt (his picture should be up soon). He is on co-op there till the end of the week so we thought while he was so close we’d visit. Doug and I took the train together for the first time. When we were dating we always took the train to visit each other but never rode together so it was nice to have company!! We went to a great buffet as well as a crepe restaurant downtown. The weather was fantastic while we were there. Oh, there is also a picture of Matt’s Christmas Nest and Christmas Hut…. he couldn’t find a tree…
Another one bites the dust. Our friends Derek and Karleen are moving out of Kingston. It seems that everyone leaves here… I’m sure we will do that too someday… just not sure when.
Warm booties help people with insomnia fall asleep and stay asleep Joan Shaver, Ph.D., R.N., Dean of the College of Nursing at UIC, and Barbara Berger, Clinical Assistant Professor, are heading the research, which is using warm booties as a way to help people with insomnia fall asleep and stay asleep. The idea, says Shaver, is that better sleep occurs when the body temperature naturally lowers in the evening. By wearing warm booties before bed, people with insomnia who have a reduced evening body temperature drop may experience a greater temperature change and go to sleep more easily. The booties are warmed in the microwave and are worn for 30 minutes during the hour before a person goes to sleep. Sensors are worn to measure the person’s body temperature and a wristwatch-like activity monitor is used to determine when sleep occurs. Study participants will follow the procedure with the booties for a week and then, after a break, will repeat the measurement procedures with unwarmed booties as a comparison control. The protocol has been tested and researchers at UIC are now recruiting more subjects for the study. [Jenn wants to join]
More pictures (see here for the first set)
