wrapping up 2006

so christmas was an ultimate success this year. it was hosted at my new casa and we managed to pull off a tasty, well-organized event. canuck and i learned our lesson the hard way from thanksgiving and started cooking and freezing on friday night. we served manicotti (homemade noodles, too!), apple pies, pound cake, ham, mashed potatoes, veggies, biscuits, and fresh salad (with the expensive, red-leaf lettuce). i also laid out my chocolate fountain, of which every year i am reminded of why i only lay it out once a year (it's a bitch to clean!) and i spent over $15 on un-seasonal fruit which could be dipped in the $20 worth of chocolate i bought from bulk barn (canuck nearly had a heart attack at that bill). the house exploded with presents, paper, dog hair (zelda crashed at our pad), pine needles, and leftovers. my parents left on wednesday, just as i headed out the door to go back to work (i'm still a little early in my career to take weeklong vacations) and we're just starting to get the house back to normalcy. which will then be disrupted by our new years' shindig.

the theme for cookie this christmas was "barbie and the twelve dancing princesses". i think she got a total of around 7 new barbies this year, plus the barbie "prince", the horse and carriage set, and the vanity and console. she got so many gifts i have to ration them out over the year. and she's got a birthday coming up in two weeks! canuck and were are trying to put the kaibosh on excessive, but she is the first and only grandchild and nothing was stopping my folks or my in-laws. funny, even after all the new barbies, cookie has undying loyalty to the barbies at my MIL's house, the ones that once belonged to her zia decades ago. they have broken legs, no necks, shorn hair, naked torsoes, but cookie plays with them faithfully and still loves them with all her heart.

my birthday was on the 28th, and i got a nice and early start to my day by heading downtown at 8 a.m. to work. canuck and cookie met me at my new office (which is a closet, but i love it!) and we walked around downtown toronto for a few hours. then we headed back up and i made fondue for dinner in my new fondue pot! i have a fondue cookbook that i got back in the day, so this thing is going to get plenty of use.

i have a ton of pictures to update my blog with, but i've been terrible with getting them off my camera and onto the computer, never mind getting them on this blog. but i'm working on it, and it will be worth the wait!

2007 is just around the corner! i have a really good feeling about this year....

christmas is coming!

man, i am just so excited! it's kind of hard focusing at work when i'm thinking about my mom coming in 3 days, wondering if my tree is watered enough (yeah, canuck kept up his end of the bargain and we got a real one this year!), constantly changing my mind over what to serve for dinner, and all those presents burning a hole in my closet! i'm the hostess this year, and christmas in my new house is going to be the best one yet!

i start a new office downtown today and i'm very excited. i don't expect it to be too busy - new doctor + december/end of year + christmas = lots of free time for dr. mommy, but i have a few patients booked and the office had 82 new patients last month, so i'm hoping to get booked up quickly. i love working in the city - i love the environment, i love taking public transportation, i just love the feel of downtown toronto. needless to say, i'm pumped and ready to start working!

psycho office messed with me for the last time last week when they wanted me to come in for 2 hours in the evening. i probably would have gone in as a favor, but this was the fifth or sixth time in a row that this has happened. it literally kills my whole day - i can't make doctors appointments, book play dates, or do anything because i think i have to work that day and then i get a call, "hey, your start time is at 5:15." get the hell out of there! so i said, no, i'm not coming in, and don't bother booking me anymore. i'm not doing you guys any more favors. what really pissed me off is that i had this conversation with boss lady when i quit and she asked me if i could fill in a few days when she doesn't want to work (which is all the time). i said, sure, but a full day, it's a waste of my time to come in for only a few hours. oh, yeah, sure, that won't happen again. my life and my schedule have revolved around whether i not i have to be there and that has come to an end. it's sad, though. she doesn't realize what a great staff and patient base she has - these were some of the nicest and most professional people i have ever worked with and i'll miss them terribly. but when i was wavering about quitting, just thinking about spending another minute working with her turned my stomach. so i left. but someday, when i grow up and open my own office, there will be jobs waiting for all those wonderful people - and i know they would snap it up in a heartbeat.