What a week this was! Busy, as usual, and then some added bonus chaos makes me glad it’s the weekend!

– Sunday afternoon we went to the wildlife park as Kyle’s work was hosting a Christmas party for the kids of their employees! Isla got to meet Santa and she did … okay. She wasn’t too crazy about sitting on his lap, but once she got given her gift from him, it made everything better, lol. She didn’t ‘smile for the photo, but she didn’t cry, so we’re taking it as a win.

– After we came home we brought our Christmas tree upstairs and decorated it. Nothing smells better than a real Christmas tree, I swear. I only managed to get the lights and ribbon on the tree before Isla started to try and really “help” me. We have red beads that we put on and she just wanted to play with them, so I had to wait until after she went to bed to finish decorating. She’s slowly learning that she’s not allowed to touch the decorations; I think I’ve had to scold her about a 1/2 dozen times for removing the decorations, but she’s catching on. We have no glass ornaments, so at least if she does grab them, she won’t break anything.

(ISO 400, f/10, 3″)

– Okay, I’ll say that we had ONE glass ornament. And it broke. It broke because on Monday night while we were watering the tree, it FELL OVER. Onto the floor. I was SO pissed. It got all crooked in the stand somehow and just Timbered over. Ugh. I think it took Kyle and I an hour to get it back up and straight in the stand. I managed to get the decorations and everything straightened out the next morning, but it doesn’t look as good as it did when I first decorated it. :( (Photo above is before the Great Tree Crash of 2013)

– Also on Monday, Kyle discovered when he got into his truck to go to work that someone had got into the truck and stole all the spare change out of the change tray, plus the tray itself. He noticed the centre arm rest was down, which never happens, then saw that the whole spare change holder was GONE. Some little bastard kid must’ve taken it, because nothing else was touched in the truck. (Which we’re happy for, because the GSP was stowed in a “hidden” compartment, his Carhartt jacket was in the back seat and oh, our GARAGE DOOR OPENER was in there!) The piss off is that to replace the tray it will cost $300 for a whole new one from the dealership because you can’t get just the tray, you have to buy the whole bloody compartment it’s housed in. Ugh. We’re hoping to get one from a junkyard for cheap.

– On Tuesday morning one of the closet doors in our guest room fell right off its hinges. I had some choice words for it as I worked on getting it back into place.

– On Tuesday afternoon we went down to the mall to see Santa again and get an “official” photo. I bumped into some friends who were also in line for Santa, so it made the hour-long line up much easier to deal with. The photo again, went okay. Isla wasn’t so crazy about sitting in his lap and nearly started crying, but his elves quickly distracted her with puppets, bells and smiles. We got a photo with no tears, but no smiles. I think there’s a little smirk hiding there though, it’s hard to say.

Yes, that’s a photo of a photo.

– Wednesday I got the Christmas presents all wrapped! It took me forever since Isla wanted to “help”, but at least it’s done!

– Oh, I also got Isla all signed up for swimming lessons in January! Annnd I signed myself up for a Beginner+ yoga class. It’s not through the City’s parks & rec department, but they’re not at a yoga centre. My instructor offers lessons through her own yoga business, and the class is more advanced than a beginner one, but not terribly intense. I think after I finish this set of classes I’ll dole out the money for a pass.

– Kyle gave me part of my Christmas present early! He got me a gift certificate for a new tattoo – something I’ve been wanting to get for a while now. I went down and got an appointment booked for January. I’m excited and nervous, because it’s going to hurt like hell.

That’s all for today! Hard to believe there’s less than 2 weeks left until Christmas! Our weekend plans include cookie exchange, visits with friends, and family dinners. What are yours?

– Isla has cut a molar. This is wonderful, because her teeth have all been “late bloomers.” And, since she’s cut the molar, she’s been slightly less cranky. (I’m certain there’s more just waiting to pop through at the most inopportune time.)

– She has also learned how to say, “Go go go!” See, after breakfast in the morning she watches cartoon on PBS, and the Cat in the Hat is one of these cartoons. They sing this weird little song on every episode that starts with “Ready to go, go, go, go…”, and yesterday morning while they were singing it, I heard her saying “Ga ga ga!” So now, when we say “Go go go” to her, she repeats it back. Cutest thing ever!

– I’m hoping to be able to get our Christmas tree tonight! I got the garland up on our fireplace mantle on Tuesday, so I’d really like to get our tree and have it all decorated by the end of the weekend! This Christmas should be interesting since Isla loves to investigate EVERYTHING. Luckily she hasn’t touched the stockings hanging from the mantle since she first tried to grab them and I told her, “Not for you.” Fingers crossed.

– I also attempted to put Christmas lights in my ficus tree, but it just looked like one of those cheesy fake plants that you see in dingy old restaurants that Gordon Ramsay tries to help on Kitchen Nightmares. Proof:

Okay, it actually looks waaay better in photos than it does in person. Just trust me on this one, mmmkay?

– A friend of mine is hosting a cookie exchange and I’m a little nervous for baking 7 dozen cookies! I don’t think I’ve ever baked that many cookies all at once before, so it should be a fun learning experience. I plan on baking snickerdoodles, so here’s to not burning them! . If I do, I’m sure I can whip over to Costco and just fake it ;)

– Another friend of mine celebrated her birthday yesterday so we went and got ourselves pedicures! Why pedicures in the freezing cold? Well, she’s due to give birth pretty quick here, so she wanted a little foot pampering for her swollen feets. I can totally sympathize with her! Anyway, I went with a pretty sparkly purple colour. Not totally festive, but definitely sparkly for the holidays.

– On Monday it was my last beginner yoga class that I started taking back in October. I must say, I really, really enjoyed the classes and what it brought to the table for me. We even had one class where we practised yoga nidra and it totally helped me de-stress and relax. (I liked it so much I paid a whole $2.50 for a yoga nidra app on my phone for bedtime when I can’t sleep!) Now I’m debating on whether or not I want to sign up for more classes through the city again or if I want to buy a punch card for one of the local yoga centres here. Decisions, decisions!

– I started reading The Rosie Project Wednesday night and so far, I’m not sure what to make of it. The main character is interesting, so I’m curious to see how this all plays out!

That’s about it for now! What books are you reading right now? (I need to expand my “To Read” list anyhow)