It Finally Happened...

..."Surfer, Dude" starring Matthew McConaughey is finally available on DVD and Blu-ray (I think he plays himself) and I've moved to Thunder Bay. Both are momentous, life-changing events.

Can you tell which of the two photos above is from the set of "Surfer, Dude" and which one is just the Bongolier hanging out in his natural habitat?

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of phlegm, Snowmageddon/Windpocalypse, Christmassing, Boxing (Day and all our worldly posessions), moving and, now, watching TV.

I had been battling the beginnings of a cold for over a month and it finally took hold during the week before Christmas. I think I'm the only person who was happy to get sick this season. I was getting tired of waiting for whatever was brewing inside me to finally fill my brain with mucousy goodness. When random sore throats and general fatigue finally blossomed into a full-blown cold, I was elated. Even though I had turned into an Advil Cold & Sinus commercial, I was happy because Sean came home on December 16th.

Sean and I fell back into our normal routines rather quickly. Me, coming home from work, eating the food that Sean had prepared (see the picture of cookie mountain below) and then retreating to the office to watch Buffy and knit Christmas gifts. Sean, returning to his studies and/or doing something else productive. We got some packing done while Sean was visiting. We thought we had made a good dent in the packing before Sean left, but what we didn't realize is that the hard part about packing is not the packing of the majority of your stuff. The hard part is packing the dregs that you don't want to get rid of, but there's no logical way to pack it. I think the last box that I taped up had miscelaneous pens, markers and scissors, our front door mat, a piece of the lawnmower and a screwdriver in it. The cooler was packed with a pair of rubber boots, the hanging wire rack from the shower and a feather duster.

Christmas Eve was spent at my parents' place in New Hamburg. This was Sean's first Christmas Eve with the Seyler clan and our usual tradition of having cabbage rolls prevailed. In addition to the cabbage rolls, my mother also made the best meatloaf I've ever tasted. It was made with Lamb and Beef (consistent with another Seyler family tradition of having two meats at every meal) and a zillion delicious cheeses/fillings.

Mmmmeatloaf!

Cccccabbage rolls!

Before we headed out to my parents' place, Robo was doing his usual job of "helping" me wrap gifts. As you can see, his choice of places to sit on the bed was quite strategic. It's hard to be annoyed with him when he's so darn cute.

I decided to not pull my annoying aunt act with my nephews on Christmas eve where I gush over how tall they're getting and how I used to hold them as babies, blah, blah, blah. Instead I chose to just glare at Michael while he stood beside me, growing at a furious pace.

That glare could compete with Angela Basset, Queen of Glares. I think she won that title at the Teen Choice Awards in 1993.

Once the Christmas festivities were finished and Sean was safely returned to the North, my mother and I started packing. We spent all day on the 27th and 28th packing up the house. We created a fun game called "Where's the Cat in This Room?" Let's play with the pictures below, shall we?

Where's the cat in this room?

No cheating, now...

There he is!! Hiding behind the tapestry!

Where's the cat in this room?

There he is!!

He probably peed in that box while he was in there.

Where's the cat in this room?

There he is!

The movers came on the 29th to pack up the place. Look at my living room all empty and sad.

One of the movers, named Yves, looked very much like Yosemite Sam, without the guns and general rambunctiousness though.

While the movers created a virtual game of Tetris with household goods, I did, um, well, nothing. I guess that's what I paid for - to do nothing. I knitted on my throne.

I'm now in Thunder Bay staying with the Middletons. Our stuff will be delivered on Monday (fingers crossed - the TBay area is supposed to get 30cm of snow between today and tomorrow). And the worst part is that our x-country skis are packed with our household stuff in the truck :( Well...I guess I can go pick up a copy of "Surfer, Dude" to keep me occupied!