The holidays are over and I'm back in Chicago, waiting for a "big snowstorm" to finish dumping snow on the city when it's about zero Celsius outside. It's nice to be warm again but I sure wish I had another couple weeks of holidays!

The only thing that didn't go according to plan over the holidays was heading for lunch with Dale (which didn't end up happening). Instead, I hit the road on Thursday the 23rd destined for Assiniboia, the first stop on my holiday journey. I got into town around 4pm and got my initial round of visiting done before picking Darcy up and meeting Blair at Ryan Ellert's place for a beer or two. The three of us went to the Bar-B for some greasy food and drink. Blair won on the slots as usual so he was feeling generous and picked up the tab - thanks, buddy! After supper me and Darcy went to the annual Festivus at Solberg's, which I actually managed to survive this year! Pretty much the whole crew was there and it was nice to visit with everybody. I insisted that we leave after a couple hours, though, because I didn't want a repeat of a couple years ago. Instead, me and Darcy went to the Franklin to finish the night off - and finish the night we did. The night didn't really live up to my expectations, thanks to not as many people as I expected (that I know) showing up, the bar trying to give me light beer all night, the loud and brutal band, and the hundreds of people jamming the place that I didn't know. Still, some folks I didn't expect to show did and I made up for everything else with copious amounts of alcohol! After spending quite a while falling down outside I made it back to Darcy's to crash for the night.

The next morning it was hard to get up but I managed and was on the road by around 2pm again, this time headed for Maple Creek. I stopped off in Swift Current along the way to visit with Marco and his family, and he made me some excellent cappuccino while I enjoyed some Chilean bread his mom made. I managed to make it to Maple Creek just in time for supper, which was good. We had a great meal and opened a few presents before me and the family headed back to the cabin. We opened the rest of our presents there. I was pretty excited because I thought that I bought some pretty kick-ass presents this year, but I didn't get the earth-shattering reactions I was hoping for! Still, it turned out great, because everybody got sweet gifts. We spent the next couple days watching movies, TV, and playing my Trivial Pursuit: SNL DVD Edition that Santa gave me (rest assured, I won every game!). Grandpa and Grandma came over for supper on Christmas Day, which was nice. It was just a super relaxing couple of days, my favourite activity.

Christmas photos courtesy of the digital camera I bought for my dad:

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On the 27th it was time for some real work, though, because we packed up the cabin and headed into town for our annual family Christmas tradition - it was time to make deer sausage! We started in earnest around 9am and were finished by around 4pm, and in the end we managed to pack around 600 lbs. worth! The job was made all the more easier thanks to a new vacuum-sealer that Phil picked up, saving us much needed time and extra hands! After we were finished I got in my car and headed back to Regina. It was a pretty crazy drive because it was mostly dark out and the roads between Swift Current and Moose Jaw were pretty brutal (black ice everywhere) but I made it home in decent time.

On the 28th it was time for Bernie's Annual Christmas Bowling Party, which was going strong in its 8th year. I went to my parents' house for supper and then Zab picked me up afterward and took us to the bowling place. I was nervous because I didn't do any advertising on my own this year and there were several reports of people not coming, but we actually had a great turnout, pretty much average as far as these things go. It was a great time and it was awesome to visit with lots of folks I don't normally get to see. Afterwards most folks made it to the Barley Mill for food and drink, most of which was kindly provided by Bernie - thanks a bunch, buddy! We didn't get too out of control, though, because most everyone was gone by 12:30am. Even though we went home early it was still an awesome time!

The only down part of the whole night was the fact that Brad didn't show up. Not only did he not show up, but he gave different people different stories as to why he wasn't coming. He told me that he had to stay home because his parents were coming over (even though they were in bed by 8:30pm that night). He told another person that he was tired and had to sleep. He told yet another person that he just wasn't going. I also heard rumours that night that he wasn't having the New Year's party at his house, which were confirmed when I got home - not only was he not having New Year's at his place (not a problem at all), but he was leaving town for the weekend! I got this information in an idiotic "mass e-mail" that was only sent to a handful of close family and friends. I'm surprised he even bothered to send an e-mail or tell anyone at all, because it's pretty clear that Brad is a giant douchebag. The man didn't even bother to see Bernie at all, even though he was in Regina for more than a week! Can you believe that? As I said to many, it's not like Bernie is just "one of Derek's friends" or anything! I asked a number of people if I was just being a bitch, lamenting over the way things "used to be" or projecting some negative aspect of myself onto Brad because I couldn't deal with it, but it was obvious to everyone that the problem had nothing to do with me, it's that Brad is a selfish son of a bitch!

I wasn't up to a whole lot the rest of my break, and the giant snowstorm didn't help matters, either. I ended up spending New Year's at Jackie Rorquist's, which was a Christmas miracle in and of itself because I probably wouldn't have left the house had Bernie not taken his 4x4 to come and pick me up! Jackie was a gracious host, and even though I didn't know too many people there (other than Jackie, Bernie, Mike, Jenn, and a few of Bernie's friends I had met previously), I made the best of it using Jackie's excellent musical choices and my not-so-secret weapon, alcohol. I felt like garbage the next day but I had fun, if only I hadn't been the first one to throw up in Jackie's new house ;)

I got to watch a lot of movies this break:

• Canadian Bacon - Michael Moore's greatest film (boy, is that not saying a lot) is one that I had seen parts of before, but now that I've seen it in its entirety I can say that it's not as funny as it could be, is even less funny when you think about what a great cast he had at his disposal, and is not funny at all when you think this was one of the many things that perished when John Candy died :(
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - a superb movie, that kept my attention even though in the end they really didn't do a whole lot in the movie. It was a great example of what it was like to fight in a war back then, not quite so automatic as it is now, but it's interesting how some things stay the same.
• The Return of the King: Extended Edition - a great Christmas present and the final piece of my collection. A great movie made even better by the extra scenes. What I found remarkable was that although this movie had the most footage added, it seemed to impact the film the least. I dunno, maybe it was the mood I was in.
• Mean Girls - a very clever screenplay that had a lot of laughs, this movie was remarkable for two phenomenal reasons: 1) Lindsay Lohan has GIANT boobs and 2) Tina Fey (the hottest woman on television today) with her top off - enough said. The whole movie smacked of somebody who swore they would get revenge on the people they hated in high school, though ... hmmm ....
• In America - another good Jim Sheridan movie featuring one of the best actresses out there, Samantha Morton. It was pretty painful to watch what was happening to the family so that made it drag a bit, but I'll give that man two hours of my time any day of the week.
• Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life - I don't know why Angelina Jolie doesn't want to make any more of these movies, it looks like she's having a hell of a lot of fun and they make her look amazing in more than looks department. I sure do enjoy looking :)
• Shrek 2 - I thought this one paled in comparison to the original, and while there is certainly humour laced throughout the film, it's mashed together in such a disjointed (and unfunny) way that it just screams "we put out another movie to make gobs of money"

After New Year's my holidays were quickly coming to a close.In the end, I think I spent more time during my holidays feeling guilty that I wasn't doing anything than I probably should have, but it was a good break nonetheless, and one I would very much welcome again!

I've been sick off and on throughout the holidays and after, which made the plane ride to Chicago on Monday absolutely brutal, because my ears wouldn't pop and it was a very painful 12 hours until they did. I still can't hear well out of one ear but at least the pain is gone. I've been coughing and hacking for about a week or so now, but hopefully I've turned a corner.

I'm headed to Mexico this weekend to visit Sofi, which will be beyond great because I haven't seen her in a while. I'm supposed to go to Vegas as well one of these weekends but I haven't heard from Blair as to what the plan is regarding his little pre-convocation celebration. Anytime is good for me :)