So what if Christmas was 36 days ago…it’s still blog-worthy right?

Well, I guess I’m a little slow on the up-take eh?  So what if it’s a month (and a bit) after the fact….Christmas is still in right? right?  (I know, I know…it is SO 2008 )

But anyway, since I did say I’d post about Christmas, and it was in fact a swell time, I thought what the heck, let’s throw a few pictures up here  and take a  little gander at the Christmas that was. 

A few days before Christmas actually came, Dallas (my older bro) came for a visit from Montreal.  It was great!  I happened to have a day off, and Dustin (my younger bro) was in town, so the three of us spent the day together, shopping, hanging out and catching up. Mom, Dad and Ben joined us after work and we had the  first (of several) Christmas gatherings. 

Then…came the masses.  Because neither Ben and I, nor Jo and Sarah could get to Nova Scotia for the holidays (due to work mostly), we talked Ben’s parents and siblings to come to Ontario.  And it was so great to have everyone together again!

We welcomed Rebecca home from BC in style…(and by “in style”, I mean that we thought we should put up streamers, and we foolishly left that task up to Jo and Ben)

We celebrated Dad B’s 50th birthday by doing all kinds of fun things. It started with ice cream cake (mmmm, sweet ice cream cake) the night before, and then on his actual birthday (the 24th), we spent the morning volunteering at Ben’s work.  (He works at a men’s shelter). 

We treated him to Thai food for lunch, and then we had planned a sleigh ride for the afternoon.  Sounds like a great idea right?  Yeah, we thought so too…until it decided to pour rain and sleet all day on Christmas eve.  But…we went anyway, because well, that’s just what we do.  And it was mostly fun.  Fun in a “I can’t believe it’s Christmas eve- and I’m sitting on a bale of hay- downwind from a horse that keeps crapping – while wearing a garbage bag that I’ve punched holes in for my head and my arms so as to keep my body mostly free of the ice wailing down from the sky” kind of way. ( I kid, I kid…it was a really special day despite the weather)

The entire Bokma clan trekked their way to Whitby Christmas eve night and we all celebrated Christmas together.  I must say it was really special to wake up and have both of my families (almost) in their entirety in the same house, celebrating Jesus’ birth. 

And what a better way to celebrate than have a sweet Christmas morning brunch.

And can we just pause and talk about how unbelievable this brunch was?  Mom definitely out did herself this time.  From the baked French Toast with pecans, to the ham, to the cinnamon buns, to the eggs, to the fruit….oh man.  I would encourage you to gaze at that photo for a few moments longer.

We then proceeded to open an abundance of gifts, play games, chill, go for a walk and enjoy an incredible Christmas dinner.  It was a great day.

Ben and Dustin were just a leeetle bit excited about their gifts…

Mid-present opening…

Don’t they look nice?

Jo and Sarah, the newliest-weds…

One of my gifts

The rest of the holiday was spent driving all over the province, visiting Sarah’s (Jo’s wife) family for a few days, hanging out in Hamilton with the Bokmas for the final days of the visit, and in general, just spending time with good friends. 

It was rich.  Busy, but so full and so rich.  I admit that most Christmases I end the holiday feeling more tired than when it began, and this one was no different but it’s ok. It’s usually because I’m up extra later hanging out with friends and family, laughing a little harder than normal, talking a little deeper than the usual rushed conversations, playing games while putting chores and tasks on pause for a bit, and just soaking in the holidays.  These days? They are good.

I should probably write another post here, if only for the reason that you won’t have to stare at Ben’s dirty moustache anymore

I’m coming.  Soon.  with something half-interesting. It’s been a  busy few weeks, and therefore blogging has fallen to the bottom of the list of to-do’s.  BUT, I do understand how frustrating it can  be to check someone’s blog and see the same old post that’s been there for the past 15 days.  Especially if that post contains creepy creepy facial hair.

An Open Letter to my Husband’s Facial Hair

Dear dirty moustache,

Well, our relationship was short-lived, and for that, I’m thankful.  You see, on an average, ordinary day, I would say quite confidently that Ben is very handsome.  His eyes are beautiful, his tanned complexion gorgeous, and his smile still makes my insides get all tingly.  Don’t get me wrong, he still has his moments (like all of us), where his teeth aren’t brushed, hair is dishevled, and in his grungiest, grubbiest clothes that perhaps I would opt to not go in for a kiss, but overall, man is he hot.

 But then you came along.  And all of the sudden my tall, dark handsome husband, turned into a creepy, dirty old kidnapper.  Ok, not really, but he might has well have based on the scuzzy ’stache on his face.  I wouldn’t have believed that 50 or so little stubbles, placed just right could make someone go from looking like this:

to this:

I also didn’t realize the effect it would have on me.  I mean, I know this whole moustache thing was a joke, egged on by Ben’s brother Jo (Thanks for that, by the way Jo.)  But I actually felt compelled to accompany Ben EVERYwhere, at ALL times, just so I could answer for the moustache on his face.  Phrases like “It’s a joke….don’t worry, he’s not really a creepy guy“, or ” I’m sorry for my husband’s moustache….it’s not for serious – and no, we don’t have a windowless van stocked with puppies and candy” kept jumping out of my mouth.  

Ben, on the other hand, loved you.  He would just chuckle at my embarassment, and keep counteracting my explanations to the public with phrases like “oh no, this is on purpose, I’m bringing back the moustache“, or “Yeah, haven’t you heard? 2009 is the year for the moustache“. 

Finally, after much debate and complaints on my part that it actually hurt to kiss him, he got rid of you.  And I hope you’re not offended when I say that I hope you never. ever. ever. return. 

Sincerely,

Karmyn

Remember when it was summer?

Because I don’t. 

I have several posts to do – Recapping Christmas, 2008 in general, my thoughts on 2009, and Ben’s dirty moustache.

But since the camera is at Ben’s work, I can’t upload any of the pictures that would make those posts less boring, so in the meantime, I thought I’d just put this little guy up:

And then we can all sighand wistfully reminisce about the good times that ARE the summer.  And how I got to go whale watching.    And how that meant that I spent several hours with the sun on my face, breathing in fresh ocean air. Only 6. more. months. 

And just for good measure, let’s take a look at this picture too:

There are several things I want to point out here:

1) Ben and I were going for a cute, behind the back shot, where we do the ultra-cliche couples pose and put our hands in each other’s back pockets.  Clearly my left hand didn’t get the memo as to how these shots work. 

2) It kind of looks like my thighs/butt are trying to eat my pants.  This isn’t actually the case….

Overall, I’ll give this picture a 2 out of 10.  Way to go left arm, way to go.

 

Well, that’s all I got for now. (Oh, except for a congrats to my cousins Kendall and Joel on the arrival of Lily Mae!  woot woot!) 

I hope all of your new year’s have started off well.  Any resolutions?

I’ll be back soon, I promise

Happy New Year! (And a Merry Christmas while I’m at it…)

I hope you all had as rich, fun, restful (?), holidays as I did.  I do actually intend to write about the holidays, but haven’t quite decided if I’m going to condense it into one post, offering snippets of our time here and there, or extended it into several posts, giving you detail after detail about things like riding in a one (well, 2 actually) horse open sleigh…with the sleet of the century pouring down on us, or about Ben’s dirty moustache and how it’s all thanks to his brother Jo that he has decided to grow one.

I know, riveting stuff eh?

Once I get my act together, and get some pictures uploaded, I’ll put together some semi-coherent thoughts to go along with them.  Until then, I’m going to most likely sit my butt down on my couch, pop in a movie and soak in the last few hours of this holiday season.

 

Peace out.