You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

So it's posting time. Slept again at my parent's house last night. I don't really like calling it my parent's house, cause it kind of is still mine too. Right? I mean I call it home, but I call anything home if that's where I happen to be. How can I distinguish between my apartment and the house I grew up in while still claiming both? Maybe I'm just greedy.

ANYWAYS, Christmas was great, despite the 6:30am wake up beacuse Ian had to work at 8am. Dad had prepared a lovely breakfast which woke us all up, then we proceeded onto the opening of gifts. We all got some cool and thoughtful things which was nice and I spent the rest of the day sleeping, reading, and eating. God, imagine if you could read when you were a baby, how many books you could get through before you even started school? I mean all that laying around not being able to do anything. Someone should really get on that. Sheesh.

Boxing Day was a little more productive, just a little, as I had did my laundry. And by "did my laundry" I mean drove into my apartment and put my clothes away. Mom actually did it, and she actually folded it too. Thanks Ma. Productivity at its finest. I had to work 4-11pm last night, and had plans to meet up with my friend Sarah and her birthday party crew. Where do I end up? Sober? MYRON'S. AND I had a great night. I swear it was like a highschool reunion in there. I didn't feel old for once, and I got to chat with so many people I haven't seen in ages. We even danced upstairs to the techno beats. I was Ms. Sweaty McSweatSweat after that, let me tell you. I only made it till about 1 o'clock however, so me and Robyn whisked ourselves away for some JR's pizza. They must have new owners, cause my favorite girl who always worked there wasn't there. Granted, it was a Monday night, but it was all newly painted a nice seafoam green with burgandy trim. I should paint a dolphin on their wall for them.

I was in bed not long after, followed by a restless night of crazy dreams. I blame the cream cheese on crazy dreams. Someone should put that last line in a rap song, yo. That's two nights in a row of mad cream cheese eating AND ridiculously mad dreams. Why not make it three! My bowels can take it, can't ya?

As for today, I may attempt the gym, and the malls on my, what seems to be constant, quest to find a pair of jeans. And on that note, Dad has just summoned me upstairs for a another lovely breakfast. Oooh I'm such a Daddy's girl. Giggle.

Obsessed

Oh my god I love cream cheese and crackers. Preferably rice crackers. But Triscuits are are good too. The texture is too perfect. If there are heavens, I'm going to the one with the Philidelphia Cream Cheese lady.

Hi Dee Ho Ho Yum Yum Yum

After lugging a 15 lb turkey home, in a storm, uphill from work last week, I decided to pull a Martha Stewart. I decided to be domestic and make a turkey dinner! I am not an acclaimed chef by any stretch of imagination, and I am definitley not patient when it comes to cooking. However, I was up for the challenge.

I bought the accessories at the grocery store and had the turkey bathing naked in salmonella concentrated water. I was patient for the most part in letting the turkey just sit there, but once I made the dressing, I just wanted to stuff it! So with the help of Adam, we ripped out the innards, which proved to be a little more difficult than expected. Liver is so fun to play with.

So it cooked, and Janette helped to prepare the rest of the meal. Whipped potatoes, carrots and broccoli, cranberry sauce, and even GRAVY! I hate gravy but I made it! And I think it turned out OK. Did it? Tash brought over some delicious peanut butter cookies for dessert and Breck treated us to large vats of 12$ wine to complete the meal.

A good time was had by all and it was a nice way to send each other off before we all return to our families for Christmas. And now I can say I've made a turkey dinner! David Wayne will be so proud. I need an apron now. Me and Dad used to have matching aprons when I was a wee one, but mine was tiny. Anywho, It's almost noon and Robyn is arriving soon to begin drinking. I think I'm in for some trouble. If you see me in a snowbank tomorrow, or maybe even this afternoon, please, take me home.

Merry Christmas Y'all!

Wheat Kings and Pretty Things

Here it is! Candy Manor! Me and Nancy Lou Who spent our Sunday evening creating a gingerbread house. It was probably the giddiest thing we've done in a while. We bought the kit at Bulk Barn, which came with instructions and a recipe for the icing. The icing was crazy to make because it had to be so thick. I was eventually able to hold the spoon upside down and the icing would not even budge. It was even more fun to squeeze it out of the icing bag. It was like grout. And I L-O-V-E grout.

The decorating was the funnest part. And I know that is not a word, but it really should be. All of except the sprinkles on the roof turned out to be a little more tedious than expected, but damn it looked good in the end. For more pictures at different angles, just click the photo. It came with a snowman, Christmas tree, and gingerman to decorate as well. I decorated the tree, and Nancy the snowman. We both contributed to the gingerman, who we fittingly named Frank. Unfortunately I did not have my camera on me at the time we finished, so you may observe missing candies along the roof. I am assuming someone may have felt a little peckish as they walked by Candy Manor. However I can't blame them. I did eat a swedish berry off the back fence. Sorry Nance.

All in all, it was a fabulous way to spend a December night, and only costing us about 20 bucks. Next year we plan on trying to make our own gingerbread for a little challenge. So if you are not yet in the Christmas mood, I recommend trying out one of these.

It's So Nice, I Wanna Hear The Same Song Twice

You know what's fun? And ever-so exciting? Getting real mail. You know that white floppy stuff that has strange markings on it? Yeah..mail. It's a dying form. I was always so excited to get real mail, even as a kid. Something with my own name on it. Or as it always said "Ms. Ashley Dunsford." That always made me feel important. Even if it was a Chickadee magazine. Or a fakely autographed thank you letter from Doug Gilmore and Felix Potvin. I'm pretty sure I even wrote a letter to Will Smith back in the day telling him how I had a dream that we were best friends and that we should be in real life. He never responded. Fresh Prince my ass.

For a few of my elementary school years, my best friend lived across the country. And we wrote to each other like mad all the time. Ooh the thrill! I've had a pen pal before and continue to order catologues online just to get mail. Ikea will send them ASAP. Mountain Equipment Co-Op...I'm still waiting. J.Crew will send you one every season for a year. Haha, and have I ever ordered from a catologue? Nope.

One great thing this Internet has done for people who enjoy real mail, is you can get parcels. By shopping online. This is the most splendid form of mail in the world. The box of unknown. Even though you've ordered it, you're still slighty unsure, about 99.7% sure that it is what you ordered. I mean it could be from someone else, you never know. The box is brown and not transparent, covered in stickers, and usually comes in a shape you would never expect your item of purchase to look like. And then opening it. You bend your fingernails back, almost slice your finger with a knife, lose a tooth, maybe an eye, but gosh dang you've got it!

What made me think of this is that the doorbell rang today at the apartment and it was a parcel for Christopher. He wasn't home so I got to sign for it! Then I told him a package came for him and asked if I could open it. God, I'm such a hog. He knew it was his iPod. I wasn't so sure that it was. But it was. Trickery!

The Mood Is Right, The Spirits Up

It began today. On a Saturday of all days too. Christmas shopping. How can such a happy time be one of the most dreadful times of the year as well. It was actually a lot better than I had anticipated. After a splendid breakfast at the Farmer's Market, I walked down to Indigo/Mark's/Bulk Barn and did not too bad. More browsing than anything. Then as I was about to walk back home, I saw the trolley waiting so I hopped on it in the spur of the moment and headed towards the antichrist itself...The Charlottetown Mall.

Again, I was surprised and it wasn't so bad inside either. I suppose it is only the first weekend of December so it will get worse. There I did only browsing, and saw a couple of things that sparked ideas but nothing solid. Except for a bottle of wine. But that's for me.

And you know when you are carrying a plastic bag for so long, the plastic begins to thin out and get stronger and begins to dig into your hands? That started to happen and I couldn't take the pain anymore so I headed home.

But I'm pretty sure I'm in the Christmas mood now. It's even earlier than usual since I don't have exams and papers to think about. Weird. We'll be decorating the apartment soon and hopefully getting ourselves a little Charlie Brown tree for the corner. And speaking of trees, The Dunsford Family will soon have our annual tree decorating night. It's the same every year. And just as hilarious every year. Dad or Ian will put up the lights first. Then Ian and I fight over who put the string of beads on last year and eventually duke it out. And even if I win, it usually gets re-done because I've apparently done a shotty job. Pfft. Whatever. It's so my turn this year. Dad will serve us all egg nog and rum while we put the finishing touches on it, while Mom sits back and critisizes where we've put the ornaments. By the end it looks lovely as always, with a fresh scent of pine in the house. Giddy.