christmas in canada

so we're back. we were actually back the morning of january 2nd, but a combination of jet lag and not wanting to be back in the uk has kept me from posting. this christmas has officially been crowned as *the best christmas ever.* don't get me wrong, i've always had wonderful holiday seasons, but i was away from home for the last two christmases and there is a reason that frank sinatra is so famous for singing i'll be home for christmas.

our flight with val was uneventful, although i did get a little bored for the last two hours. davoud and i probably laughed a little too much at the stretching video that the airline suggests you participate in. just who on earth thought it was a good idea to put an airline seat in a lovely sunny park and show it to passengers when they're 35,000 feet in the air?

we headed to london first to visit with my dad and christine, which was awesome. made a trip down to niagara falls, which i did many moons ago with my dad. we acclimatised quite well, watched a bit of hockey, ate good food, drank good booze and then set off for my grandma's.

after picking my grandma up and having a quick lunch with my aunty chris and cousins ryan and scott, we made the drive to my mum and ron's house in brighton (i know, i know....london to brighton and i'm not even in england). it was christmas eve so we watched christmas specials and movies and sat by the craackling fire to get in the mood.

christmas day was the beginning of the chaos. my brother darryl, my sister-in-law (SIL) melissa and their very adorable children brian and melissa came over in the afternoon to destroy the family room. it is great fun watching kids open their presents, but i had no idea what i was in for until my two sisters karen and wendy, and their respective husbands glen and terran showed up with all of their kids on the 28th of december. so add jack, abby and jamie (karen and glen's kids) and chloe (wendy and terran's daugher) to the mix and it's bedlam! thankfully, we'd burned off some excitement toboganning in the backyard earlier in the afternoon.

the next day we drove to oka to visit with linda, robert, pierre, johanne and my once-cat dougie. we had a great night celebrating linda's 40th birthday. late the next morning we made our way to montreal and checked into our swanky hotel the st-sulpice for two nights. we didn't go out on nye, but instead got some snacks and booze in and watched a saturday night live special. i was ecstatic. it was nice after so much company to have a bit of a break. montreal is still a great city and one i'm sure i'll visit often when we move.

we drove through a crazy snowstorm the next day to my brother's in peterborough. the drive took 7 1/2 hours, but should normally only take 4! it was nuts and there is some video footage somewhere of the road. but with my cautious and defensive driving skills, we made it there in one piece.

leaving was really hard, much harder than it has been before. partly i guess because i know i'm moving home, but more so because everything that was important to me in the world was in one place. sure, i have my job and friends here, but i could have easily stayed and hired a moving company to pack my things up and send them over. not that i would give up anything i've experienced over the past two and half years and i am looking forward to doing my master's and seeing what liverpool can cook up as european capital of culture this year.

but as my dad said, i'm moving home next year. it may not be early next year, but at least it's next year.

happy 08 everyone. today is officially the last day to wish anyone a happy new year as decreed by me ;)