Final post of the year
Where has the time gone? It's been 10 days since my last post so I figured I better do one last entry before the end of the year. To sum up the past week and a half...

Mission: Christmas Shopping - Completed Dec 23/05
As of 8:30 pm on December 23rd, my mission was complete. Despite the early start (in October), I still managed to leave things until the last minute. Maybe next year I can finish early (??)

Christmas come and gone
Just like other years, Christmas comes and goes so quickly. Even though you try to spread it out over 2 or 3 days, it ends up being more stressful than enjoyable. Maybe I'm just saying this because the last couple Christmas-es haven't been that "enjoyable" for me. Don't get me wrong, this Christmas was great for my daughter, and I enjoyed every moment I spent with her. I just wish the day had that extra something (je ne sais quoi?) to make it... you know... better.

Boxing Day shopping
Yes, I actually went. I haven't gone boxing day shopping in a long time, so my mom and I decided we'd go. We got to the mall at 7:30 am (some stores opened at 7:00 am), and bought a few things. I got 2 shirts, a pair of pants, socks, and a wallet. I bought Teagan a winter coat for next year (to go with these boots she got from her aunt and uncle), and 2 pairs of jeans. We left the mall at 11:30 am, and by then the mall was packed.

Short work week
We only worked 3 days this past week (Tuesday to Thursday). It was short but busy, being that it was the last payroll of the year.

Hockey game
I got a couple hockey tickets from the company for this past Wednesday's game. I took my brother, being that I hadn't seen much of him since he got here. Without going into too much detail, we didn't watch too much of the game. We spent most of the night (i) going up and down stairs, (ii) my brother got puked on by the guy sitting behind him (he got a drycleaning voucher and we got relocated from section 210 row 32 to section 102 (?) row 4), (iii) we visited my uncle in his company box, (iv) watched most of the third period, but left when there was 2 minutes left in the game. Edmonton ended up losing anyway, so it was OK.

Pre-wedding prep
Liz and Brad's big day was yesterday. I started the day off by getting my hair done at 11:00 am. I thought I'd have enough time to go home, relax a bit, eat, and meet them for pictures at 2:00 pm. But it didn't quite turn out that way. I got home with only enough time to quickly grab something to eat, put my make-up on, and rush out the door to meet them for pictures [Sidenote: They decided to do the picture before the ceremony, instead of afterwards. It took away the "surprise" factor for Brad, but that's what they decided to do.]. As I was driving to the hotel, I realized I didn't have to rush because (i) how many weddings start on time? and (ii) I knew Liz was going to be late anyway.

Click, click, flash, flash
We spent quite a bit of time at the hotel taking pictures. My cheeks were getting sore from smiling so much. Hopefully the pictures turn out good.

Off to church
After taking pictures, it was off to church for the ceremony (which started 10 minutes late). The ceremony wasn't that long, compared to a traditional filipino wedding. There were a couple readings, a couple songs, then they said their vows. I was convinced Brad was going to cry during the ceremony (based on how he was during rehearsal), but he managed to keep it together. Once the ceremony was done, we had more pictures taken.

Time to eat
Once the second round of pictures were done, we headed to the hall for some food. The food was great, and the dessert was even better! I especially liked this capuccino mousse cake. Yum!

Party on!
After dinner, there were 3 speeches (I kind of advised Liz that less speeches would be better), and then it was time to dance! During one of the dances, one of the buttons popped of my dress, causing my top to be a bit loose. But good thing it happened before I was about to leave. All in all, it was a fun evening. I went home at midnight.

Hair takedown
I was trying to count how many hairpins my hairdresser was putting in my hair earlier that day, but I lost count. It took half an hour, but 54 hairpins later the hair came down. I was so relieved when I took them all out.

Back to California
We dropped off Mike and Shelley at the airport this afternoon. It was good to have them here for the holidays. Hopefully we'll see them soon.

'Tis the season...
... for treats, chocolates, gift baskets from suppliers, luncheons, etc. I'm starting to feel sick from eating all this stuff... :P

Countdown
8 days left until Christmas...
7 days left for Christmas shopping...
13 days left before my friend gets married...
2 weeks before my brother and sister-in-law go back to California...

Where does all the time go?

Mission: Christmas Shopping
As much as I'd like to say that I'm done Christmas shopping, I'm not. Argh! My original plan of completing the whole Christmas shopping thing by November 30th obviously hasn't happened. And the stupid thing is, I started in October. I went to the mall earlier (big mistake because it was packed!), to drop off a pair of pants to get hemmed, and to pick up one gift. I have 2 more gifts to get, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the other one on time. Maybe I can finish it off tomorrow?? We'll see...

Shopping before work
Speaking of shopping, I was at the mall at 730 am yesterday to pick up a few things. The Bay was open at 700 am, so my mom and I decided to do some early shopping. Shopping that early is great because there aren't too many people around. And it was also "scratch & save", which was even better. I got a down winter jacket for myself, since I was due for a new jacket. And it only came to $80! Yay! If I didn't have to go to work, I probably would've been able to finish the rest of my Christmas shopping.

Back in town
My brother and sister-in-law are back in town for the holidays. I'm glad they're back, but I'm not sure how much I'm going to see of them because of work. Hopefully I can leave early this week, so I can spend time with them.

Winter and Spring in December?!
In the past 2 weeks we've gone from freezing cold to mild, "above normal" temperatures. With the change in weather, we're back to square one with having no snow on the ground. Which doesn't really bother me, since I'd rather not have snow anyway. But it's weird to see some of the tips of grass still green, especially this time of year. Maybe we'll have a mild winter?? According to these guys, the coldest period is yet to come. *sigh*