We left Ottawa very early on January 10 for a week in sunny Mexico. When we arrived we had cool, breezy and cloudy weather and we were quite disappointed. That is until we checked the Ottawa weather and decided that 20C was better than -30C. Eddie managed to scuba dive six times - four of them as deep as 30 meters (100 feet) and two at 10 meters (30 feet). I snorkeled twice, once at our beach and then again on our half day excursion to swim with the turtles and in a cenote (cave/sink hole). The food at our resort was pretty good with only two lousy meals. Our rooms were great and the people very friendly. (To read Eddie’s review of our resort on tripadvisor.com click here.) Although this wasn’t the vacation that we expected it to be it was good to get away and have time to read, knit and relax and for Eddie to be reacquainted with scuba diving after six years. Eddie created our vacation video which you can see if you CLICK HERE. Enjoy!
. . . go to Washington, that is. On Monday night our son, Jason, joined three bus loads of people from Toronto and headed to Washington DC for the inauguration of Barak Obama. It was very cool to be emailing him during the day and to get updates from someone who doesn’t work for CNN!
Jason said it was cold, crowded and exciting. I have chosen a few of my favorites from the many photos Jason took. If you’d like to see more you can
click here to get to his photo site. It certainly was a day to remember and I am so happy that Jason could be there to witness this historical event. To add to the memories, the bus Jason was on ran out of gas on the way home so the trip back was several hours longer. Despite the delay, Jason said it was worth it.
Eddie and I are back from seven days in Mexico and will be working on uploading our pictures ASAP . . . so stay tuned.
Did you know that December is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere? Did you know that December starts on the same day of the week as September? I know that this month is very busy and potentially the most expensive month of the year. I also know that it’s “the most wonderful time of the year”. Wonderful because we as Christians can celebrate the coming of our Saviour and that our children will drive through blinding snow for hours just to be with us. We had a great December.
We started the month with Eddie’s mother’s 85th birthday party in Toronto. We love to be with the big family and to honor “Susie’s” special day. (This is the name some neighbours have affectionately given Mahmah.) Irene and Gordon had a difficult time driving back to London after the dinner party with white-out conditions but thankfully got home safe and sound. The next day Eddie and I visited our beloved BPC - the church we attended for 30 years. The minute I walked in the doors my eyes welled up with tears - it was like going home.
We saw the touring show for “Mamma Mia” at the National Art Center downtown Ottawa on Dec. 23. Sadly neither of us were huge Abba fans so we weren’t quite into the music. That has change for me since the show! We were warned by a friend about the movie performance by a former James Bond and his singing talents (or lack of). Thanks for the heads up, Terry. This live performance was a lot of fun and the audience was very enthusiastic.
Irene and Gordon were due to arrive late on the 23rd. The weather was so bad that after 5 hours of driving they stopped for the night in Oshawa. This would normally take about 2 1/2 hours. So they arrived here about 5 minutes before Jason who left Toronto Thursday morning and got here right on schedule by VIA Rail. We had a great time together and ate a lot and played a lot. On Boxing Day our new friends Lisa, Ronnie, Cassandra and Rosalie came over with the little dog they are watching (Lana) for snacks and fun. It all went so quickly and on Saturday morning Irene and Gord were on their way back to London. Jason had an extra day with us and left on Sunday.
Our friends Guy and Nicki arrived later that night. They attended two hockey games here in Ottawa and left Monday morning. So on Monday afternoon I was humming that Gilgert O’Sullivan song once more.
We brought the New Year in very quietly. Eddie took Friday off and we had four days to put away the Christmas things and watch movies and play the Wii. Now we’re into the first week of 2009 and it’s time to make some goals for the year. I will be posting my goals this year to have accountability. Meanwhile, Eddie and I put together a short video of all the memories we made in December 2008. Hope you enjoy it! The file is large so it may take a while to download. Click Here to View.
