Merry Christmas!

I have been actively avoiding my computer since the 21st.  I felt like I had work I should catch up on and by avoiding my computer, I was avoiding that and really having a break.  So I have a lot of catching up on blogs to do.

I am struggling lately to find a blogging voice.  I've started a few posts that seem to end up being a laudry list of what I've done and complaining.  I don't like them.  It's good for me to write it out maybe, but you don't need to read that.  So I'm switching to point form for a bit of some good and bad of the holidays thus far:

• I got to snuggle with my niece.
• Actually, I hogged her the entire time she was at my parents house on Christmas day.
• She kept staring at Mr. Lina.
• We had friends and family over for Christmas Eve, the 2.5 year old stole the show (figured she would).
• Best lines from her:
• Her dad:  O, it's time to go home now.
• O:  No. (rather emphatically while she continued to march around the basement having just watched Frosty the Snowman)
• Her dad:  We have to set out cookies for Santa before we go to bed. 
• O:  Bye bye Mr. Lina.  (runs upstairs to get coat).
• It snowed overnight, the most snow since March 2011 apparently.  It's very pretty and nice to finally feel like winter.
• And has netted me a work from home day.
• Well timed snow in that Mr. Lina gave me money for winter boots for snow shoeing and I bought him a pass to the local conservation area so we could get back into hiking and snow showing.
• Went to the 42nd anniversary party for my relative who had a stroke about 6 weeks ago now.
• He's had considerable improvement since I last saw him although he still struggles to find the words he wants.
• His daughter who is 12 days younger than me and autistic started up her usual campaign to get my childhood Strawberry Shortcake figures.
• Perhaps I would like to play with her Strawberry Shortcake dolls and she could play with mine.
• Perhaps my mom could put them in a box so she could take them home (she knows they are at my parents house).
• Perhaps my parents would have a garage sale and sell them to her.  We would tell her about it, wouldn't we?
• Toys need to be played with, do you still play with them?  I would play with them...
• She also told me my womb is still very small that I haven't had the baby yet.
• No kidding.
• She also knocked on my grandfathers head at the visitation and then told us that Uncle Alec wouldn't wake up. 
• Papa would have found that really funny. 
• I'm trying to find the humour in my womb being small.  I'm not upset with her at all, she's just speaking the truth, but I don't really like that truth.
• Did I mention my niece is adorable?
• I finally gave them the blanket I started in June, she hooked her fingers in the shell stitches and like most 5 month olds, tried to eat it.  It was rather cute.
• I bought her a tshirt that had a hat and the words "Snuggle Weather" stitched on, Mr. Lina and I use the word snuggle a lot between us (we will have conversations of nothing but the word snuggle if we're feeling sickeningly cute) so that was the draw of the shirt.
• When I got it home, I thought it was a little plain in silver stitches.  I embroidered red on the hat to perk it up.
• Probably should have taken pictures of it before wrapping it.
• I mentioned last week that the stuffed animal I made for a friend last year is her bed time companion.  Guess what they lost at Christmas?  I have been asked to make another for them so bedtime can happen without tears.
• Mr. Lina is pretty miffed with Canada Post.  On the weekend he started the soft sell that one of my presents may not be arriving in time for Christmas.  Monday he was happy to say that tracking said it was on it's way, all would be fine.  I checked the mail box (I was waiting for the conservation area pass to arrive) and the parcel pick up sheet was in the box.  They didn't even come to the door, we were home. 
• He's off right now picking it up.
• Oh, and now he's at the door!