Home for Christmas

I know this blog is dedicated to our adventures in Edinburgh and abroad, but we've just spent three weeks home in Canada and that was an adventure in itself, so I think it has a bit of a place here.  After some consideration, I think I'll write about it thematically.

Weather

This element had a massive impact on our trip.  Three winter storms hit, giving us some picturesque landscapes to enjoy, but also throwing a wrench in our travel plans.  After making it home to Southern Ontario safely, we'd planned to travel down to Tennessee to see my dad and family over a long weekend.  Unfortunately the first winter storm hit that morning, and no flights made it out of the local airport (or out of many airports across eastern Canada and the US).  With more snow and strong winds coming, we couldn't risk getting stuck in Detroit or down in Tennessee, so we missed the weekend with family and my brother's birthday.  But we live in Canada and snow is something to expect.  Plus it made for good skiing and sledding conditions, which Derek and his family made use of.

Illness

I won't say a lot about this theme, but it affected me, my mum, Derek, his mom and two siblings.  Derek was already fighting off a cold when he and his siblings got hit with an awful stomach bug one night.  Not a fun night, so I'm told.  Three days later and I was horribly ill for 36 hours.  At least my weight didn't go up over the holidays, seeing as I couldn't eat for a couple days ;)  Derek still has a bad cough that Buckley's just couldn't kick.  Maybe we're just not used to cold weather anymore!

Family

Seeing family for the first time in three months was a wonderful feeling!  I'm really glad we were able to go home and see so many loved ones.  Not a lot in the way of extended family and friends, but between the weather and illnesses that's not surprising.  I can't emphasize enough how much Skype has helped us stay connected to our parents, siblings and my grandma.  It is so good to see people's faces and be able to talk for hours without worrying about the cost, but you can't touch them or hug them, and for a hugger like me that's very difficult.  We're so glad we came home for Christmas, and to spend my birthday with a close friend and lots of family was wonderful.

Prezzies

Between my birthday and Christmas there were lots of presents around :)  We had filled one of our two suitcases with presents from Scotland for friends and family.  I was very excited about the items I picked out for mum: a purse from Marks & Spencers that she had picked out and a selection of Stephen Fry books.  She gave me money for a brilliant new digital camera, one of my favourite shows, Gavin and Stacey, on DVD, and Animal Crossing for Wii which I can't stop playing.  Derek had helped with the importing and exporting.  There was a family portrait for Derek's mom, lots of Scottish items for his family and some items for my dad's little family which I haven't been able to give to them yet, so they'll have to remain a surprise.  Derek's mom gave me a stunning pair of Uggs, and I love them.  I gave Derek some accessories for our Wii and something secret is arriving for him shortly, and he gave me a university sweatshirt for my birthday and the complete Monty Python collection I'd been drooling over for Christmas.  

We really did have a wonderful time at home.  Thank you to everyone who took care of us and spent time with us during the past three weeks.  I know the next few months will fly by and we'll be home again before we know it.