I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how much fun I am having with Kim's fancy photo-taking computer. Now, if only I had my suitcase, my happiness would be complete.

And some more recent photos:

Mom and me on Christmas morning, trying to figure out what my brother had given her.


At the traditional Embree Christmas dinner. I think this was before the paper hats were broken out.


The traditional Embree/Norila kid group photo, although missing my brother and adding Jeny's husband.


One of the earlier Embree/Norila kid group photos:

My parents have a scanner. Scanners are fun, especially when combined with old family photo albums. I would like to point out that my love affair with booze started from an early age and was fostered by my grandfather. (If you are so inclined, you can click on the last set for a larger view of my chubby-cheeked, beer-swilling baby cuteness.)

Merry Christmas, all! The time stamp will probably try to tell you that I am writing this on Boxing Day, but that's just because my blog is on Japan time still. It is, in fact, 3:30 on Christmas afternoon. Mass has been attended, presents have been opened (no cutting boards this year. Jewelry and chocolate, a combination I most highly approve of. Edible AND easy to pack!), many waffles and even a little bit of rum-laced eggnog has been consumed, and one nice visit with an old school friend has taken place. Soon we will be heading off for Christmas dinner, where I will eat too much stuffing and wear a paper hat as is tradition. (You can't muck about with tradition. Not on Christmas Day. And, really, who doesn't love a good paper hat?) I just hope I don't start falling asleep at 9 pm again, as it's getting embarrassing.

Canada is rather less cold than I'd been expecting. And the being warm indoors thing is really,really nice. Japan, are you listening? Warm indoors = good!

Despite sleeping for 12 hours last night (after being awake for 31) I am feeling the siren call of nappism. Any other day and I would answer it, but I'm still wary of screwing up my sleeping patterns, so instead I will drink my tea and then call a friend or read a book. (I will not, however, be watching tv, because no matter how many times my dad explains to me the incredibly complicated remote system he's got going on, I just can't figure it out.) I will also haunt the kitchen, checking the tarts periodically to see if they're thawed out yet. Mmm, Christmas baking.

I went and looked at phones today. I didn't get one, because they've changed the system and I need to think about it. Hold on to your hats, there's math involved.

It used to be that you would just pay one lump sum for your phone (or not, as the case may be. Often they were free.) I guess they subsidized that by charging all users a fee or something, but this wasn't very fair to people who rarely changed their phones, so now they have a new system. Now if I want a new phone, I have to enter into a two year contract. I do not pay a lump sum, but rather a monthly payment of 3840, which is high, yes, but there is a discount so that it works out to 1080 a month for 24 months. I have enough points that I would get the first year free and only have to pay for the next year. However, if for any reason I change my phone or cancel my contract before two years is up, the discount stops and I have to pay the remainder up front. So say I had the phone for a year, then decided to move back to Canada. I would have to pay for the remaining year, which would come to about 40 000. Which is high.

The thing is, my current phone is already 3 years old. It works just fine, but the battery does dip quickly on days I use it a lot. At this point I have no idea if it will continue to work at this level for another three years, or if one day it will just suddenly give up the ghost. Say it lasts for another year then dies and I HAVE to get a new phone. I'm then locked into making payments for two more years, whereas if I get a phone now and stay here for at least two more years (which, let's face it, is likely) I'm home free.

Hmmm. Hmmmm. Hmmmm.

Oh, and if I do get a new one, I'm getting the light green one. It's not at all yellow but is a very pretty light spring green.

Oh yeah, baby. Packing is done. Actually, packing was done less than 20 minutes after I started it on Sunday. This year has been surprisingly easy and I still have a bit of space left in the suitcase, even. I'm about 50% glad it's done, 40% shocked it's worked out so well, and 10% suspicious that I have forgotten something major, because otherwise why would I still have space? With every trip I take, my packing gets more and more refined. I figure I'm only a few years away from showing up in places carrying only a toothbrush (and an empty bag to fit the shopping in. Because there will always be shopping.)

Speaking of trips, our next major vacation is two weeks at the end of next September/beginning of October. Once again, I have my birthday off. This is more than enough time for me to replenish the travel fund, and I figure I have about 7 months to think about where to go during this time. Suggestions?

Right. So Liam has learned the word "clock" and now he likes to go around pointing at the clocks in the school and saying "Clock! Clock!" over and over. Except he hasn't quite got the pronunciation down. Specifically, he leaves out the "L".

Oh dear.

I want a new phone. I feel kind of guilty about this, as my old phone works perfectly well. Sure, the battery dips sort of quickly on days I actually use it a lot, but that doesn't happen very often, and it hasn't actually died on me mid-use. No, I just want a new one because it's...well, it's sexy. All slim and shiny and sleek and shiny. And look at all the colour choices!



I would like to make it down to a phone shop this week anyway to change my monthly plan, as I'm paying approximately $40 a month more than I need to be, so perhaps while I am there I will just casually ask about this phone. If it's free, I may not be responsible for my actions.

C is for cookie, and cookie is for...um, people who aren't me, actually.

People keep asking me if I'm excited yet about my upcoming trip. And I always feel like some sort of horrible travel Grinch when I explain that no, I'm not and won't be until after I've sent my suitcase to the airport. Have I mentioned that I hate packing? It's so stressful. What to bring? What to leave behind? What, exactly, is the exact right amount of clothes to bring so that I'm not doing laundry every day, but also not able to change outfits twice a day? Pants are easy. Previous experience has taught me that I will mostly wear my jeans, so I'm bringing two pairs, plus one other pair that will suffice for non-jeans occasions. See? Easy. Done. Now on to shirts. Here is where it gets tricky. The temperature in Vanderhoof is likely to be anywhere from -10 to -20, which is a good 20-30 degrees colder than Hamamatsu right now. And yet, the indoor temperature is going to be about 10 degrees warmer than my apartment is right now. (My ears are cold.) What shirts do I bring? How cold am I gonna be, really?

Blargh. Once I send my suitcase off to the airport, though, I can relax* and start to look forward to the good times coming up.

*Unless, of course, I have unwittingly packed my passport in said suitcase and can't find it the night before I am due to depart and have a panic attack that lasts for approximately 15 hours.

Argh. I would actually rather have the Jimmy Crack Corn song stuck in my head than what is currently in residence...Wham's Last Christmas. I think the reason I hate it so (other than the fact that it is just a crappy-ass song...ohmygod, next time just give gift certificates and not your freaking heart, you freak) is that it played incessantly the year I was in Holland. I'd never heard it before and then suddenly it was every second song on the radio, and now it actually makes me flinch when I hear it and I generally try to leave the vicinity. Today, however, my gym decided to play it and I had nowhere to run (stupid treadmills). I really have to get an armband for my nano so that I can take it to the gym and avoid this kind of thing in the future.

Last Saturday was the concert at the kindergarten, which meant I had to get up at seven-freaking-am. Just as I was running out the door 45 minutes later, I got an email from Andrew saying he was in the area and could drive me and would pick me up at 8:25. Which...yay for rides, but not only did I get up way too early, I was then deprived of a bus nap. I'm still not sure how grateful I feel.

Once at the school, I sat around in an empty staffroom for 20 minutes while people ran around, until I was directed to where the kids were. They loved having me around in a non-class environment, as it meant they could do things like pet my hair and ask questions: "Sensei, where are you from? Are you from Brazil? No? Oooh, I know, I know! China! America? England? Canada? Canada! Hey, where is Canada? is it in Italy?"

Which reminds me, I still need to bring a map in and have a geography lesson.

The actual bit where I was on stage lasted for about five minutes. I still think it was a bad idea to have me on stage with the kids instead of leading them, because my instinct was to check that they were doing ok, and this led to me gazing around shiftily out of the corners of my eyes, trying to see what they were up to, and it can't have looked good.

Afterwards I went downtown. I fell asleep on the bus and when I woke up, I swear it was filled entirely with old and/or blind people. By this point, there was a little old (sighted) lady sitting next to me, so I couldn't get up and offer my seat to someone more deserving. I spent the rest of the ride feeling alternately guilty and panicked that we were about to load on even more frail people prone to falling over.

And then I got downtown, and after some adventures, then....oh then. I fell in love. I tried on a pair of wine-red leather boots. It was not meant to be, as they were a) $250 and b) iil-fitting...one leg wouldn't zip up all the way. Just a little bit more to go...the salesgirl kept assuring me that the leather would stretch, and honestly, if it had been a case of the zipper closing all the way but being uncomfortably tight, I probably would have gone "Yes! Stretching! Stretching is good!" and bought them, because LOVE. As it was, I eventually found a pair of brown ones for $45, and now I'm trying to work out a scenario wherein I can pack them and take them to Canada.

More linkage fun!

The birth of Jesus, in lego form. The arrival of the Holy Ghost is when I really lost it.

Footy pajamas for big people!

I promise, I'll do a real post soon. In the meantime...seriously, dudes. Lego Jesus.

Some links for your entertainment:

Collect the whole set!

Holiday sweaters. Click on "window shopping", then laugh at the results, then choose a sweater, any sweater, and click "This is bad, I can do better." Then go nuts.

Liam could not have cared less about the dinosaurs. He had his train and fallen leaves to play with/in.

Zoo pictures!

Please do not feed the animals.



A depressed orangutan. Aren't zoos fun?



Penguins!



And, of course, dinosaurs.



Foliage.

I just saw this article about how Canada is ranked the fourth worst country in the world in regards to emissions and climate change performances.

The five lowest ranked countries, starting with the worst, were:

Saudi Arabia
The United States
Australia
Canada
Luxembourg

Two things:

1) Boo, Canada. For shame. You can do better.

2) Luxembourg? Luxembourg? It's smaller than most capital cities. How does it make it into the worst five? Are the locals piling up full oil barrels and setting them on fire?

Jimmy crack corn and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn and I don't care
For Christmas time has come!

Just in case you'd managed to forget.

Winter has struck. Last week was almost insanely warm, and on Sunday night I snuggled into bed (fleece pajamas, flannel sheets, two blankets) all cozy and warm, only to wake up at four am freezing. I have now added a third blanket and am pre-warming the bed with the electric blanket. Oh, winter.

It is currently -20 in Vanderhoof, a place I shall be at in just under two and a half weeks. I'm actually contemplating not bringing a winter jacket, because I'm insane like that. Actually, my theory is that jackets take up valuable suitcase/overhead space and I can probably borrow one for the duration, and anyhow, -20? Like I'll be going outdoors. Hah.

Wow. I just realized that in two weeks time, I will have already sent my suitcase off to the airport (sans passport, thankyouverymuch). TWO WEEKS! That's not very many weeks. This also means that I only have one more week of work as the last week is all Christmas party, all the time. I wanted to try making a gingerbread house this year, but I suspect the kiddies will have to make do with cookies shaped like Christmas trees.

It never ceases to amaze me. The kids pull out the most gorgeous bento lunches, nutritionally balanced to a degree that makes me wonder if their parents are all dietitians, and then immediately after consuming the last of their in-season fruit, they pull out bags and bags of candy. In their defense, they do share with their friends, but still. However, this practice completely eliminates the need for me to bring snacks. I just wander amongst the students and graze. "Whatcha got there? Pretzel sticks? Why, sure, I will have one. Thanks!"

The zoo trip was fun. The weather could not have been better...last year was too cold but this year we were able to eat lunch outdoors, picnic-style. That's right...picnics in December. (What's that I hear? Something about snow in Victoria?) Masami organized a game of Go Go Stop and tag, and despite one unfortunate baby-trampling incident (she's fine, really) much fun was had. Especially by me, as I sat around on a picnic bench and helped Stu keep an eye on Liam. What? Two pairs of eyes are better than one. Anyway, I can exercise OR I can get up early. Doing both is just asking for trouble.

Masami had recruited a friend of hers to come with and help with the kids, who were fascinated by this very tall Australian. They kept tagging him, and I couldn't help but wonder what the other people thought of the large foreign man chasing screaming Japanese kids around the playground.

Now I'm sitting at home in my jammies, eating a piping hot bowl of soup (oh, soup. Have I mentioned lately how much I love you? You're the best, soup) and enjoying the fact that I have a job that pays me to go to the zoo and beg candy off of children.

So far I have managed to donate 10 000 grains of rice. I have also managed to impress myself not so much with my large vocabulary, but my very good ability to guess. I guess my knowledge of root words is more extensive than I thought. As Kim said, "Hurray, our English degrees are good for something!"

Sorry for the absence this week...I have been grumpy and out-of-sorts for some reason. It's just been one of those weeks...on Wednesday I made it all the way to the locker room at the gym before discovering that I'd forgotten to bring my pants. And yes, it was funny even at the time (I wasn't in that bad of a mood) but it still put the kibosh on my yoga plans, so boooooo and bah humbug. And then yesterday I left my umbrella in a store downtown and didn't realize until i was on the bus. And it was my nice umbrella, too.

But today the sun is shining and the weather is gorgeous out and I have a plan that involves me riding my bike around blissfully for a couple of hours doing errands before heading home when it gets chilly to make perogies and cookies. Well, maybe cookies. We'll see how that works out.

Tomorrow is our zoo trip, so I have the joy of getting up at 7 am on a Sunday and not being able to nap at all. Thirty-one kids, two toddlers, five adults. The odds hardly seem fair.