Merry Christmas
As the song goes, it’s Christmas once again. But once again, it doesn’t really feel like it. I miss the building excitement when I was a kid, of a sparking morning and family and the chaos of presents and …
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Christmas
47 posts tagged with this topic.
Christmas in Ruskin
Merry Ho Ho, one and all! Late last night, I tried to catch a picture of a CN freight train heading west. I tell you this because I was trying to kill some time before picking up Alex. Her flight arrived just before …
Christmas in Ruskin - The Fraser Canyon
I didn’t know before today that Moxie’s does breakfast. At least, the one attached to the hotel. And it was pretty decent, even if it was $85 for three people. Hitting our usual gas station on Columbia St …
Christmas in Ruskin - The Drive to Kamloops
It’s been seven years since we’ve done Christmas in Ruskin. The reason we don’t go is because of Alex’s work schedule, which has been extremely unhelpful in getting us enough time to be there. …
Banff Christmas Market with Cathy and Nat
As Stuart McLean once said (heavily paraphrased): In most major cities across Canada, people are drawn to the expansive showcase windows of the largest retailers, such as the Eaton’s, Simpson’s, and The …
Christmas with Nana
I genuinely don’t know the last time we had Christmas with my mom. The closest we’ve come is when we went to New York City back in 2008. Prior to that? Maybe 2004. It’s been a while. Of course, Mom …
It's too quiet
It’s quiet. Too quiet. At this time of the year, in the marketing industry, it’s usually mayhem: everyone trying to get their sales up as the year winds down, get holiday specials out the door, and my …
Christmas Trees and Parties
There isn’t a fresh, real Christmas tree in any lot in this city. They’re all gone, most of them weeks ago, at prices that would make even most unscrupulous ticket scalper blush. We learned this last week, …
Christmas Tree Fail
2021 has been a strange year for our family. The elephant in the room, of course, is COVID-19, which kept us from our “usual” activities: swimming lessons, regular outings, dim sums, movies, concerts, and …
Rudolph the red-nosed, genetically-altered, reindeer subspecies
We all know the song. We’ve all seen the 1964 Rankin-Bass television special. In our Western culture, we have a story of an underdog, recognized one foggy Christmas Eve for a trait that only he possessed, which saved …
The Nest - Excellence in Product Design and Customer Service
I’ve turned into my dad. Really. I’ve got to be the hardest person on the planet to buy for. My poor wife pestered me for weeks to expand on my Christmas list (she pre-populated it with: “If you don’t add anything, …
Christmas Blitzkrieg
When I have those moments when I think I’ve gotten too old, and I think I’m starting to feel like my age, I’m thankful for sudden sustained bursts of activity that remind me that, really, I just lead a much duller life …
Merry Christmas, 2011
It’s been a long silence, I know. This has been a tough year for the Sowrey family. Between kids growing up, new jobs, and pressures from all angles, finding the time to write is a challenge unlike any I’ve experienced. …
Merry first Christmas, Choo Choo
Sorry, kiddo, it’s been a while since I last wrote. I have no real reason/excuse, other than I just haven’t. That’s bad of me, and I will endeavour to write more often. Maybe one day, years from now, you’ll be able to …
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A rainy train
Every year, the City of Vancouver puts on a light show in and around the miniature train in Stanley Park. Last night, after the kids had gone to bed, Allen, Jean, and I discussed the possibility of going. The catch was …
A visit to the North Pole
During one of her many perusals of the local newspaper, Jean (aka “Granny”) came across an ad for “North Pole, BC”, billed as a “gateway” to the North Pole via Maple Ridge. (Perhaps …
My Boxing Day special
I’ve had some interesting Boxing Days in my past, but perhaps today will rank as one of the strangest. This morning, we woke up when The Monkey — who has become very adept at waking up before Mommy and Daddy — came …
Twas a couple of nights before Christmas
Not a lot of posts in a while, I know. We’ve been pretty busy since returning to Canada barely two weeks ago. We arrived late on the 8th, having spent 19 hours in transit from Costa Rica. It was dark, extremely cold, and …
Xmas in NYC, Day 5
Sorry for missing Day 4, folks, but we were having a bit too much fun to go anywhere near a computer to blog about it. Nyah, nyah, nyah. Yes, we’ve been busy. And been having fun. I mean, what else are you gonna do in …
Xmas in NYC, Day 3 (aka Christmas Day)
Merry Ho Ho, everyone! Today, of course, is Christmas Day. We started our morning with a waltz down to breakfast in the hotel’s restaurants in our PJs. (Well, I wore clothes. I wouldn’t be allowed into most places with …
Xmas in NYC, Day 2
My dogs are barkin’. It’s been a day on my feet. A good day, to be sure, but a lot of walking, and a lot of standing. The same was true for Alex, and it would be for Mi Pequeña Niña if she hadn’t slept for a solid hour …
Xmas in NYC, Day 1, Part 2
Alex found Barnes and Noble without difficulty. Choosing what to buy? Now that’s difficult. Upon her return, Mi Pequeña Niña and I suited up for our little excursion — the “other” major toy store in …
Xmas in NYC, Day 1
Our first family Christmas away from Canada has ended up being colder than we expected it to be a mere couple of months ago. Back then, we were expecting to be in Costa Rica. But due to certain unforeseen circumstances, …
A Hangar Christmas
Although we’re still trying to figure out how to get the most basic things (like reliable phone service), we did manage to throw together a halfways-decent Christmas Party this year. I can take no credit for this …
Spaghetti with Santa
We’re a little slow on the draw ’round here, folks — sorry about that! It’s been a little busy as of late, and trying to stay on top of news is more than a little challenging. Needless to say, gonna keep this one short. …
The Christmas season in Costa Rica
It’s now December. Any of you who have been following my Twitter feed know that Costa Rica not only started preparing for Christmas back in September, but that I’ve had a few problems comprehending that it’s actually the …
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Actually, make that 18 things
Last week, barely hours after Independence Day here was over, the stores started switching over their wares from Mother’s Day (in August) to … Christmas decorations. Santa Claus is already in the aisles. This is …
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Father Christmas
A bit of a realisation hit me today: this is the fifth Christmas since my father passed away. Five years of listening to Christmas at King’s College‘s version of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and God Rest Ye Merry …
Christmas in Calgary 2007
Another Christmas has come and is now waning. It’s been a long, but good day. Our child isn’t old enough yet to truly understand Christmas (although the morning nap appeared to be aborted due to the desire to be around …
Christmas 2006
The saga of Alex’s grandfather’s passing continues. The funeral arrangements changed from when I booked my flight out and return. The funeral is now on the Friday (instead of the Thursday), which sadly doesn’t work for …
A solemn Christmas Day
After yesterday’s marathon church-o-rama, I wasn’t able to stay up watching A Christmas Story for long without falling asleep. But I was up shortly after 8:00 to make breakfast: pancakes and a ham, cheese, potato, and …
Activity on the day before Christmas
Christmas is almost here again, and I’m only now really getting into the groove. Until a couple of days ago, I was far too focused on work. In my defense, it’s not for a wanting to focus too much on work, it was purely …
Decorating for Christmas
Ah, Christmas! That time of the year when the happy cries of children resound through the neighbourhood, gingerbread wafts in the air mingled with the scent of pine, and angry shoppers wield heavy weaponry to acquire the …
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Christmas shopping in Banff
Alex and I started off the morning with omelettes and The Vinyl Cafe on CBC Radio 2. We had decided to venture out to Banff for the day to do some Christmas shopping (well, mostly me — Alex is done and I simply haven’t …
New Years Eve in Calgary
It’s an interesting start to the year, to say the least. Alex and I spent the holidays partly apart. As such, we ended up having Christmas Eve on New Year’s Eve. To make it interesting (as if being together wasn’t …
Christmas in Oakville with Chris and Kaz, New Years with Alex
I had hoped to go some place warm for the Christmas holidays this year. I wanted to put Christmas lights on a palm tree. I wanted to make sandmen. I wanted nothing more to worry about than getting a sunburn on Boxing …
Busy December weekend
I think Alex and I need to stop packing so much into a single weekend. It’s gonna kill us. Friday night was Light Night. Being fairly warm (thanks to a chinook), we went out in search of Christmas lights around town, …
12 Days of Christmas at Heritage Park
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? No, I’m not dead. I wasn’t abducted by aliens. I wasn’t held hostage. I took a bit of a break. I had to. In mid-September, I suffered a bit of a breakdown. Too much stress that I’d allowed …
Christmas decorations being put up too early
So I went for a walk at lunch today. I do this every so often, sometimes to get some fresh air, sometimes to avoid the sheer insanity of the office, or sometimes to get lunch outside of the Bistro. Today’s little jaunt …
Christmas Day and Boxing Day in Calgary
I slept fitfully. I don’t really know why. But when I awoke Christmas morning, there was a slight sense of excitement. Perhaps I’d been depressed the day before and not taken notice. (The reason why, of course, still …
It Just Doesn't Feel Like Christmas Eve
‘Tis the night before Christmas, and all through the house, the cat is sound sleeping, as I sit here with my mouse. No stockings are hung by a chimney with care, just thrown in the laundry bin ‘cuz I have more to wear No …
A Busy Calgary Christmas
This has simultaneously been the quietest and the busiest Christmas season I think I’ve ever experienced. I had been looking forward to two weeks of quiet rest, working on personal projects, sleeping, watching movies, …
Christmas with my Family in Oakville, Cathy Gets Engaged
Yeah, I know, the holidays are over, why the heck am I writing about it now? Simple: I got away from computers for two weeks, and haven’t had the time to write until now. Unlike last year, I spent roughly half my time …
The 2001 Critical Mass Christmas Party
Coming into work on a Friday with a hangover is one of the worst feelings. Well, coming in on a Monday is probably worse, now that I think about it. Last night was Critical Mass’ annual Christmas party. This year, we …
Christmas in Oakville, New Years Eve in Calgary
I didn’t think it was possible for 10 days to go by so fast… Having missed Christmas at home last year (for reasons I don’t think I need to go into), I decided a month or so ago to return home and experience …
Christmas Day in Nanaimo
Well, another Christmas has come and (almost) gone. It was an unusual Christmas for me, mostly because things have changed. My family is bigger than it was, and I’ve got a few more traditions to start remembering. The …
The Night Before Christmas
‘Twas the night before Christmas, And all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, ‘Cause they were all at the hospital. Well, briefly anyway. Our evening was off to a startled start, after Allison required …