We are in Toronto to visit friends and celebrate the new year. It’s going well here. We are renting our own place. It’s nice. Comfortable bed. So we have been sleeping well each night.

My mother in law is back in the hospital again— breathing issues and heart palpitations. My husband is worried and considering flying back early. 

 

Christmas in the Ottawa Valley has been lovely. Have been catching up with friends and family. 

Dad is doing well, even if this is the first Christmas since mom passed.

We have been eating too much pie, ice cream, chocolate, tarts, candies… the list goes on. Tis the season. Diets can wait till January. 

 Am on vacation for the next two weeks. Friday evening we drove my mother-in-law and a friend of hers around to see holiday lights. There are a few neighborhoods that put on a great show. 

The memory foam mattress and pillows arrived at my father's. He has never seen a memory foam mattress before, so he was caught off guard by how much it expanded after he took it out of the package.

He video called me, told me about the mattress. He then took the memory foam pillows out of their packaging so we could watch them expand together. 

Crazy busy at work. Between our day-to-day business, annual planning and career reviews, we've been so busy that we can't think.

For the holidays, my husband and I are flying up to the Ottawa Valley to visit my family. For the first time my husband and I will stay at my fathers. We usually stay in a hotel. 

For our stay, we shipped a new mattress, pillows and sheets to my father's. The cheap/frugal part of him was taken a bit aback. I think he understands though-- he admitted that he got the old mattress decades ago for free.

There are divided values between my husband and I and my family in the Valley. Many of my family are frugal to the point of being cheap. They are proud of that and they are happy! Spending money can be an insult to their values and so my husband and I have to be careful.  Taking family to a nice restaurant or buying someone a nice new jacket when their existing, 20 year old jacket still works-- these will earn you thanks and quiet lecture on the value of being frugal. 

And so, instead of a hotel we will stay at my fathers place.

 

Last night we attended an annual holiday party, hosted by a friend in the program. This party has a white-elephant gift giveaway. Some of the gifts, including the above disco gnome, have been regifted at this party, many times over the years. 

Tommy’s advice is useful. Grab some popcorn. Sit back and enjoy the show. It’s useful for politics. It’s useful for assassinated CEOs. My husband works on the  profitable side of the healthcare industry, As such Thompson’s murder has taken up an outsized share of his work, Linkedin and Facebook gossip.

We had dinner with our neighbors last night. It was good to catch up with them. It’s the start of the holiday season, so our schedule is stuffed with dinners and parties. 

I try to catch a few minutes of quiet when I can. I do my best thinking then. 

My husband enjoys creating elaborate table settings. He is the one in our relationship who has the snap and sparkle. He is great at marketing and sales. 

Overall our dinner went well. Later in the day, my mother-in-law made some comments about republicans (She is pro Trump) that didn't land well.  A few of our guests left shortly after that. Did they leave because it was late in the day? Did they leave because the discussion turned to politics? Who knows.

Friday evening we saw Wicked-- the movie. Sunday we saw Wicked the live musical. I enjoyed both, but I didn't need to see Wicked twice in one weekend.