Hiding out...

I've been hiding out from technology over the holidays...

The past several Christmases have been too stressful work-wise and this year I decided to chill out... well, I didn't decide to so much as it just turned out that I could... so I am.

I'm chilling with the family until Shanda goes back to work on the 7th, meaning this year I'll have taken roughly 6 weeks vacation... compared to previous years of 1 week or so that's not bad! I guess I banked the time... (being self-employed, I wasn't really keeping track that well) I do get a lot of sick days and half days... And some people might consider paternity leave a "vacation", but I don't! I was watching Maeve full-time from September to June, and working on top of that... so it was not that relaxing! By the time this summer rolled around, I needed some good time off!

Anyway, this Christmas was just so great. I feel lucky to have the family and extended family I have (my in-laws always make Christmas special). With my mom being in Halifax, I appreciate the effort my Edmonton family makes every year. And this year with a 2 year old to savour everything with, it's made the holiday feel new again for me.

I'm already halfway through the Jamie Oliver cookbook/cooking lessons book that Shanda got me, and I have some other books and DVDs to enjoy (Simpsons Movie!). I still haven't seen my friends though over the holidays but I have a week to do that...

I watched the entire Kitchen Nightmares (US) series online last week too... all it does is make me like Gordon Ramsay more... I didn't care for the Hell's Kitchen series but Kitchen Nightmares is so awesome. 1. I think it's helping set standards for restaurant owners and 2. it's helping set standards for the clientele. Funny how a clean kitchen and fresh food is considered "high expectations" for these restauranteurs. Yeesh...

On the music front, I got confirmation from Shanny and Dave and Eug that we'll be doing a Cousin Henry "Play Something I Know" 10 Year reunion show in July... something to look forward to. Also, My Sister Ocean is playing Dinwoodie Lounge (U of A campus) on February 9th with Smoothride (it's their CD release).

I haven't checked my email in a week... don't feel like it yet... I know when I do I'll have a bout 2 hours of replies to write... I'll wait a few more days until I feel like working... right now, I'm having fun shopping (spending some Christmas money) and just chilling with Shanda and Maeve. Maeve is so fun at this age. The verbal communication skills are just getting better all the time, and we are connecting in new ways daily. Such a joy, and I cherish every second of it... even the cranky moments are cute. I've taken some extra steps (or taken the lead) as far as discipline techniques go, and they're really working for the most part, so the really really stubborn and cranky phase that happened for about 2-3 weeks has turned into something new again, and as a unit we're all just getting along famously. We're all excited for the new addition and Shanda is excited to be done with the 24/7 morning sickness that she had for 9 weeks.

This is probably the last post I'll be writing on this computer... it's on its last legs and we bought a new one today... (the cheap one at Costco... dirt cheap, good specs, can't go wrong). We're installing the new cpu in the bedroom so we can turn this room (currently known as the spare bedroom/office) into the nursery. I of course still have my work computer in my main office downstairs, but this cpu has had a good run. Shanda and I bought it in 2001 right after we got married. The motherboard was replaced a few years back but other than that, it has the original 20GB hard drive and the USB 1.0 ports... it's also noisy as hell.

Anyhoo - I think we'll be making a trip up to Calgary/Canmore this week and other than that, just staying in town and getting some visiting in with friends and family. I'm just trying to relish in this time because it's moving way too fast...

I've often wished life had a pause button. This is one of those times.