Home for Christmas

When people asked us why we would move to our current location in southern Ontario from Calgary our response was always the same: we are not fans of winter. Calgary had two seasons: winter and stampede week. The snow started the first week in September...autumn was when the leaves froze and fell off the trees and our last snowfall was usually shortly after planting our annual flowers on the May long weekend.

So when our contractor said that they could get the foundation in for our reno before it got cold, we agreed that winter and open walls in our fair city was nothing a few space heaters couldn't manage. After all, we live in the tropics of Canada.

Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans and we've had a reminder of our Christmas pasts this month with blizzards and wind chills that leave your face muscles as frozen as a bad botox treatment. The construction guys built us temporary walls to protect us from the elements, one of which blew down this week plunging our house temps into the minus 10 range.

Once the main floor was built and the roof trusses arrived, the engineer changed his strategy and decided that a support beam from our basement through our bedroom wall and the new second floor was required to support the roof. So the playroom that doubles as a storage area had to be emptied and the floor pulled up so that a large hole could be dug through our basement floor. It was then that we realized that we live a lot closer to the water than we had previously suspected and we are praying that water levels don't rise in the next few weeks...otherwise we get a free indoor pool with our reno.

I have to tip my hat to the construction guys who braved the elements and worked 10 hours a day through this Alberta weather. I did bribe them with coffee, cookies and vodka filled chocolates and for the most part, we kept our good humour. They've taken a break until after the holidays now but come January, this project is getting serious and we'll be sleeping in the kitchen.

On the bright side, Tony did a great job redoing his man room and aside from a new ironing board cover and a few decorative elements, its almost complete. As he lost his closets on the north side of our bedroom, we ordered him new Ikea closets...the one on the TV commercial with all the shoe holders and special pant hangers. Now I ask you, is it fair that the man gets the new bar and man-room and a new closet? There had better be a schnauzer and a bobcat in my Christmas stocking this year.

So this week, I am preparing for my first gluten free Christmas and have managed to make some decent cookies after a couple of culinary mishaps. Lil is off school for two weeks and is enrolled in Mommas math boot camp...this on the heels of discovering that her math talents were a direct result of her using a calculator to do her sums. Grace alias "super girl" flies around the house without benefit of depth perception but seems to be made of rubber. Her language is coming along a little too well...the word of the week is pie-hole (sorry Tony).

As we begin our holiday celebrations, we wish everyone joy and peace this Christmas and many happy adventures in 2011.... Tony, Mary, Lily, Grace, Lucy and Bella