Ali, and more amazing surprises.

A few days later Ali arrived! It was so incredibly exciting to see her. She is such a refreshing bundle of energy. The night she arrived we all had great talks until late. The next day, while Ali was sleeping Dad and I went to Costco to do the Christmas grocery shopping. Got home and had a great dinner with Ali and everyone.

The cold weather was, once again, a huge shock. I was pretty apprehensive about going out most of the time, silly as it sounds. I ventured out for the first time to meet an old friend. It had been probably 8 years since Jeanne and I saw each other. It's funny, but I was a little bit nervous to see her. There was no need to worry though; it was like we never missed a beat, like we had seen each other the day before, only a time device had made us into two adults. Jeanne knew the bartender at McKibbins, and I found it pretty hard to keep up with everyone, haha. Jeanne's boyfriend and some friends arrived, and I said my goodbyes, met Ali at Brutopia, and went home with her.

Ali's visit was full of fun. We even went family bowling!!

One of the most memorable times was when the whole family went to see the Nutcracker. We had a box for the family, got all dressed up...the dancing was so, so gorgeous. The ballerina who had the role of the sugarplum f airy was just breathtaking.

One night, as I was getting ready for bed I heard a male voice downstairs. It wasn't my Dad or Logan. What the? I wondered if Ali had brought a friend home! Then there was a knock on the bathroom door. Warily, I opened it a crack...and there was Brian! What a great surprise! He had decided last minute to visit from Vancouver. Seeing him again made me remember how much I missed him. He seemed so grown up, Vancouver seems to be the place for him.

In the week before Christmas we had our tree party. The tree party is a big tradition in my family, and I was so much looking forward to it. I was upset with myself because I had gone out the night before to the Clydes Xmas party. Logan presented me with all sorts of shots, many of them with the word "bomb" at the end of their names, and needless to say, I was feeling sick the next day. Fortunately my family was compassionate enough to let me rest for awhile, and I felt pretty good before the party. Ali, Tara and I had baked heaps of stuff for Christmas!

It was lovely seeing the usual suspects, as well as Moe & Ryan, Caroline, Doro, Brian and Cat, who is also going to be teaching next year. We had a great talk. One of the best parts of my trip was another surprise visitor...Matt! I can't even explain how happy I was to see him. He wasn't going to visit originally, and when I heard that I was in tears. But Bria has a special Christmas present for him: a weekend in Montreal. The best part was that Matt's visit was kept secret from my Dad. It was so nice to see the look on his face when Matt came in the house, those two get along so well. The tree looked marvelous. Everyone was in good spirits. It was a wonderful night.