On the last night of my Christmas vacation in Markham

On the eve of my Christmas/New Year's holiday in Toronto/Markham, I am sad that my trip has come to an end.  I am leaving for Ottawa tomorrow morning.  I had the best time and a much needed vacation.  This was my first week long vacation of 2010.  As you can see from my Year in Review post, it was a busy year for me and there wasn't much time for vacation.

On Christmas Eve, I came home just in time for family dinner.  It was great to see my parents, my siblings, brother-in-laws, and all of my nieces and nephews.  I missed the Christmas Eve all-you-can-eat sushi lunch but I was there in spirit.  I even called in to say hi to the gang.  I was told that I didn't miss much though - many of their food orders were ignored or fell on deaf ears and in the end, they left with little food in their tummies.  :(  Not good for an AYCE sushi place.

Christmas Day was great.  Justine & Dickens made a turkey dinner with lots of side dishes.  I brought the stuffing and cranberries.  It was everything I expected it to be and more.  I really missed spending Christmas with my family last year and I got my wish this year.

On the days in between, I got to spend time with my parents.  My sister, parents, and I spent a few afternoons playing mahjong.  I could tell my dad really enjoyed it.  When I'm not home, there aren't enough people to play.  So while I was home, we played quite a bit.  It was nice to see that his skills are still sharp.  Sometimes I worry that they are getting old but my parents are still pretty good.  I think laughter helps a lot.

After spending a few days with family, I got to have lunch with my friend Chris L.  Chris was a good friend from university.  He told me about an unfortunate family incident that happened earlier this year and I was quite sad for him.  I hope 2011 is a year of change for him.

I also got a chance to meet up with Larry, Vicky, and CoKa .. but all on different days!  :)  That just means three different nights out.  It was fun hanging out with each and every one of you but next time, we're going for one big lunch together because I won't have that many days to spare.  Haha .. :)

Tonight was hot pot at Joyce & Samuel's house.  They recently bought XBox360 with Kinect and they ordered Dance Central!  Guess who's addicted to that game now?  :)  That's another first for me .. a dance video game?  Me?  I'm usually really shy about participating in video games because I'm such a newbie at it .. but I didn't care tonight.  It was a lot of fun.  Should I get one?  ;)