Because we're both flying out of here (hopefully) this week, we decided to celebrate mini-Christmas this weekend. This is our 6th Christmas together and we have a few traditions that we didn't want to miss out, just because we weren't going to be together on the actual day. So, we got our shopping done last week and I cleaned the apartment so it would be ready for a weekend of Christmas movies, Christmas baking, Christmas music and general Christmas merriment. It didn't disappoint...and it's not even over yet.

Yesterday, I made (way too many) Christmas cookies - chocolate mint (my favorite) and ginger molasses (his favorite) and we had a dinner of snacks...cheese, crackers, pepper jam, chips, dip, prosciutto and olives while we sipped our black rum and ginger beer and giggled to Elf. This was after our afternoon movie rundown of Charlie Brown (can you believe that this was the first time I'd ever seen it?) and A Muppet Family Christmas (Muppets + Sesame Street + Fraggles congregate at Fozzie's Mom's farmhouse...Swedish Chef tries to cook Big Bird), and before we ended the evening with a viewing of the original Grinch and exchanging a couple of gifts. I got a very timely new watch, as my other watch (which Kurt gave me for my 24th birthday) died during the longest meeting ever a few weeks ago. It was like it just gave up...and I sat there wondering if the day could possibly tick by any slower. Turns out that it couldn't.

So, the first half of mini-Christmas was pretty awesome. And we didn't even feel bad about being couch potatoes because the weather was TERRIBLE. It was probably the worst day, weather-wise, that we've had on the Rock this year. Gale force winds, reports of a tornado (I'm skeptical), and a LOT of rain. Our dehumidifier had a field day. We lit candles and enjoyed the show from the inside. We enjoyed the movies from the comfort of our couch boat - an invention we came up with a few months ago when we realized that our living room set up allowed us to push our matching gigantic couches together in front of the TV to make one huge bed-like couch to cuddle up on. It's great but it's almost too comfortable because I always end up drifting off during movies. Elf kept me awake though.

We have a bunch of friends who were set to fly out of here yesterday to various spots and they shut down the airport after the Air Canada flight left, so a lot of them are stranded until Tuesday or Wednesday because the flights are so booked up for Christmas (and there's normally only one each day to each destination, except New York). I feel so bad for them. Travelling at Christmas is awful when the flights are relatively normal, so any kind of interruptions really dampen the spirit. I will never forgive Air Canada for the time I sat on the tarmac in the plane from Ottawa (which had landed on time but didn't have a gate available for it) and watched my Victoria flight take off without me. On Christmas Eve.

Please keep all of your fingers and toes crossed for us. I fly out on Wednesday and Kurt leaves on Christmas Eve. We've got confirmed seats, and Air Canada is pretty good about flying in less-than-ideal weather, but I'm hoping for clear days in Toronto and Ottawa next week. Victoria...I'm not too concerned about. They can always land in rain.

Today will be much the same as yesterday. I've saved my two favorite Christmas movies (A Christmas Story and Love Actually), I have a new book to get into, and Kurt's making his famous traditional codfish and potato breakfast. It's a Rock thing. And it is DELICIOUS. Until then, I'll try to stay out of the cookies.

My Christmas spirit was a bit lacking until this weekend. Now I'm feelin' it. I love this time of year.