Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

I finally understood, for the first time, the sentiment in that question people ask each other in January - "Well, did you get over the Christmas alright?" because I would have to say that is exactly how it felt for our first Christmas away from home - we "got over it". We all found the lead up to Christmas very hard being away from family and friends and found ourselves reminiscing about what we would 'normally' be doing at home. And to be honest, there were quite a few tears shed between us.

Having said that, we had some very enjoyable occasions and fun evenings with some new friends going ice-skating and to dinner and for that we were very grateful. Then when Christmas day itself arrived, we were delighted to have Sinead, Chris, Robyn and Ben who came to spend a couple of nights with us, and they literally saved the day!! Santa came to everyone and thankfully everyone got what they had been hoping for (amazing how that happens every year??) Patrick got a surprise toboggan which came in very handy when we had a big snowfall over New Year and we had great fun trying that out on the local hill at Fort Henry.

A couple of weeks before Christmas Paddy had to go to Toronto for a meeting so we all went up to explore the "T.O." which we hadn't spent any time in before. It is a fantastic city, similar to New York, but definitely cleaner, not as noisy and easier to get around. We met up with Sinead at her office (she works for a gold mining company downtown and even their offices were worth a visit!). The city was all lit up for Christmas with the most magnificent Christmas tree in the Eaton Centre fully lit and decorated with Swarovski Crystals - it was spectacular! The shop windows and the decorations were also fantastic and we all thoroughly enjoyed taking in the sights and sounds of the Toronto Buzz. In the evening we met up with all the Bonthrons and went for dinner together and then the kids went home with Sinead and Chris, while Paddy and I went to explore the nightlife a little more. There are some great bars there and we spent a couple of hours happily sipping our cocktails and people-watching the trendy city folk of Toronto.

The next morning we went to Sinead's for breakfast and it was so nice to finally see where they live!! We completed our visit with a trip to the CN Tower downtown which was really great - it was a beautiful sunny day and the view from the top was spectacular. The kids had a great time with their cousins and after lunch in a cool little thai place that Sinead knew, we all went home happy from with our first proper visit to "T.O. city".

On the night before New Years Eve, Paddy got tickets to go to an ice hockey game in the K Rock Centre (Kingston's Point Depot) so we went along to watch the local team 'The Frontenacs' play. You have to understand that ice hockey is a national obsession here, seriously, they are all mad into it!! It's played at a really fast pace and they absolutely kill each other, shoving each other up against the barrier (known as 'checking') and there were a couple of good fights too between the two teams - all of which adds to the entertainment value of the evening - great sport!!

The local t.v./radio station had a reporter and cameras there and during the breaks they interview random members of the crowd. The reporter suddenly approached Patrick and his friend Nate whose delighted faces appeared on all the screens and they won two tickets to the next game which they were chuffed with - their 15seconds of fame!!!

On New Year's Day we packed a picnic, piled into the car and headed for the nearest ski resort which is called Calabogie Peaks. We didn't have all the gear to go skiing but we thought at least we could suss it out and have some snow fun. Its about a 2hr drive but it was well worth it!! lovely snowy mountains with ski lifts and - new to all of us - snow tubing!!! We got our lift passes and spent a great day slipping and sliding down the tube runs. It snowed a blizzard all the way home so the journey took considerably longer but it took us through some quaint little towns we hadn't seen before and we spotted some interesting local attractions including the local "Amish Store" picture attached!!! A couple of weekends later Laura and Ellen rented skis and boots from the local hire shop in Kingston, who also run a bus every Sunday to Calabogie Peaks and off the two of them went at 7am on the bus to ski for the day and were back home again at 7pm that night.

Just before Christmas Paddy spotted an ad for a house to rent, not too far from where we had been living but a lot more spacious and with a proper garden, off-street parking and a garage so we decided to go and take a look. We had been feeling that the house we were in was really too small and not having proper parking turned out to be a BIG deal as you can't park on the street in winter because of the snow ploughs. Anyway, long story short, it was a great house and we negotiated with the landlord and came to a happy agreement to move in at the end of January. It was completely unfurnished so over the period of a few weeks we painted a couple of rooms and did a couple of trips up to Toronto to buy all the furniture we needed (thank God for IKEA!!) and with the help of a few allen keys we were ready to move in on the 30th January!! attached are a couple of pics, not very good ones, but more to follow at a later date.................. We're all very happy with our new home and now have plenty of room - all visitors very welcome at 692 Brock Street, Kingston, ON, K7L 1V9.

We had heard about a Winter Festival held in Ottowa during the month of February, so once we were settled into the house and Laura had a weekend off, we decided to go to Ottowa and see what the "Winterlude" was all about. We brought our ice skates and headed for the Rideau Canal which is where all the action takes place. It was a great event.............. the canal is completely frozen over so you can skate for 8 kilometers without stopping - the biggest ice rink in the world. They have stands set up at the side of the canal selling hot chocolate and a local delicacy 'beaver tails' which are basically a hot pastry smothered in nutella - and only about a million calories per serving!! delicious!! After the skating we went around the park where they had massive ice and snow sculptures of everything from mobile phones to beavers to giant ice-skates. There was also a huge ice slide so naturally we had to have a go on that too - cold but fun!!

Other than that, Paddy has had a few trips to Miami and Vancouver, the last one during the Winter Olympics where he said the atmosphere was absolutely electric with literally thousands of people out on the streets enjoying the comraderie and bon viveur that goes with the olympic spirit. I'm not sure if any of you were following the action, but it was full on here between downhill moguls, figure skating, bob sleigh and of course the big finale of the ice hockey play off between USA and Canada last Sunday night - there wasn't a car on the road or a person to be seen - they were all glued to the T.V........ Think 6 nations/triple crown decider between Ireland and England and you get the picture. It was a nail-biting finish right into extra time with Canada coming out victorious, much to the collective relief of all Canadians (and a few blow ins too!).