Uxbridge

So today being Christmas Day, after our family traditions of gifts, stockings, and a large cottage style breakfast, we packed up our things and headed up to Uxbridge. I think we've only missed two Christmases there, the one where we drove down to Myrtle Beach, and the one where Gabi and I flew to Vegas to spend some time with Vera and Ted.

Uxbridge has been an institution in our lives, one we definitely owe some gratitude to Kim and Karel for keeping going, and of course to Wayne who has continued to open his home in the spirit of Baba Annie.

So it was with mixed feelings today, realizing that that will probably be the last time we'll be in the house. Wayne is talking seriously about selling, since he's off work, nearing retirement, and looking to probably move back to Brantford where his parents are. Makes sense, actually. Just kind of sad, because whatever we do (if anything, who knows?) won't ever be the same.

It was nice to see a lot of family members, particularly some of the ones that I've mostly been communicating with on Facebook. I had a good laugh with Ihor's silicone glove, and my bottle of "lube", in particular. And I hope Uncle Jerry enjoys the beefcake Firemen calendar!

And of course, we left with Chloe approaching meltdown, so I hardly got to say goodbye to anyone. If you're reading this - goodbye!

Actually, I was kind of impressed with Chloe - apart from the gift exchange, she behaved herself really really well. We're starting to feel like we're turning a bit of a corner with her - she's no longer driving us up the wall at every single opportunity - it's now about every third opportunity. The last few times at stores haven't been complete torture either. Nothing like the time she didn't want to leave Walmart, and left marks on Gabi's face as a result.

So I'm busy moving my music collection over to the new laptop. Kind of pleasant, because this sucker has so much power I don't even notice it happening in the background. The old laptop? Start it and leave it - it might be done in the morning. The only real negative to this beast is the fact that I can't stand the trackpad. Luckily, Nonna gave me a Best Buy gift card, and I've already ordered my new mouse. Thanks Nonna!

Christmas morning was a success, I think, even with the outrageously expensive Zhu Zhu pet. I'm really not very fond of them, but for the record - that one I stepped on in the kitchen? Purely accidental - really, I didn't mean to do it. Not after what they cost, anyways.

Gabi and I kept it very low key for each other - this house continues to be our major present to each other. I did try again to buy her a purse. Strike Two. Unbelievable. At least this time I could pin it on Maya, as I took her with me to help me shop. This laptop is kind of my gift to myself, even if I did finance most of it by selling a lot of hockey tickets. Of course, it's not exclusively mine, although I've made it very clear to the kidlets - don't touch Daddy's laptop!!!!

It's kind of nice now that we've cleaned out the office a bit and started using it as an office rather than catchall storage. I'm bringing up my marking tomorrow, and will go at it like gangbusters so I can hand back a bunch of stuff the first day back. I swore this would be the year I'd keep up, and I think I'm farther behind than ever. This room is the key to me getting and staying on track in January.

That's gonna be my goal in 2011, anyways. At least one of them...