“Rudolph is REAL!”

December 23 — 4 miles, -34C
December 24-27 — Off
December 28 — 3.5 miles, Treadmill
Christmas was a *lot* of fun in our house this year.
Two moments from this year stand out for me. The first was Gareth’s response to the note Santa left in place of the shortbread, chocolate milk and reindeer food left behind. Upon seeing that the letter was signed, “Love, Santa and Rudolph,” he ran down the hallway, yelling, “Grandpa, Rudolph is real!”
The second was the two of them coming downstairs to see what was under the tree. Naomi saw the doll and doll activity centre (no gender bias — she adores dolls, even though she has access to all sorts of non-gender-specific toys), and ran across the room to grab the doll in a bear hug. Gareth, however, came down and immediately was looking for the gift that he and Grandma had picked out for Frances and I at Tompkins Hardware, because he was so excited over it — no thought or attention at all as to what he got from Santa. It was one of those “Maybe we’re not such bad parents” moments. Of course, seconds later, he discovered the Rescue Hero Command Centre (Santa was, I’m sure, cursing as he put that toy together), and all thoughts of anything else were banished from his mind.
Other than that, we are and drank too much good stuff, and it was fscking cold — minus-43 C on Christmas Eve day. The grandparents are now on their way to meet and greet the extended family in Winnipeg with their newest granddaughter (Alexsis). Sadly, they’ll also be attending the funeral for my wonderful great-aunt, Eva Rowe, who passed away Christmas Eve at the age of 97.