All Izz Well

It is cold. I decided today I'm not going outside anymore. We went for a walk in sunny White Rock last week and today we walked around Beaver Lake near my parents house in Victoria. Both days I froze. I don't quite have the best cold weather gear and had to cut the walk short today. We whipped home and warmed up with Mom's hot chocolate with marshmallows. But, I'm not going out anymore.

Last years Christmas in Bangalore will be one that we remember: our Dr. Seus Christmas tree, lying by the pool, steak dinner and Christmas Eve mass where more people wore saris than not.

This year we didn't have our own tree or home for that matter. But we were home in every other sense of the word. We decorated a Christmas tree at Michael's Dads, we ate Christmas oranges and made gingerbread cookies. We drank rum and eggnog. We had the traditional Ukrainian feast at Lynn's. We went to the Ukranian church for Christmas Eve mass together as a family where at an opportune moment a little kid yelled out, "All you do here is yak, yak, yak." Everyone laughed and then the choir promptly started singing Silent Night.

On Christmas morning we got up, opened presents and had a nice breakfast at Michael's Dads. Then it was off to the ferry and to Victoria to visit my parents. We had the traditional turkey dinner with mashed potatos, gravy, stuffing and vegetables. We had desserts galore - pies, nanaimo bars, shortbread, Christmas cake - the works!

Today, the day after Christmas we relaxed - we played games, ate turkey sandwiches and had leftover turkey for dinner. We watched hockey on TV.

Christmas in Canada feels right - even the cold (even though I'm not going out anymore). As they say in India "All Izz Well."