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....