christmas
it’s hard to believe that christmas is over. it was hard to believe that it was christmas time to begin with, really. the holiday was dwarfed by having a new job, and adjusting to a different time schedule.

this christmas was the same but different. it was the same, in that we made many of the same recipes that we always do – particularly eggnog, with plenty of rum – but different, as all my older siblings were in india.

we always decorate the tree on christmas eve while sipping eggnog; it’s fun to go through the decorations and remember ones that were gifts, or where we found a particularly unique bauble. we don’t exchange presents during this holiday, so the focus is always on people and food. lots and lots of people, and lots and lots of food.

for christmas dinner, we had turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, squash, cranberry sauce, stuffing (my favourite part), applesauce, and broccoli. dessert was a delicious polish cake with fudge icing. we made soursop sorbet on boxing day to accompany beef tenderloin in a mascarpone sauce, with roasted potatoes, small green beans and pine nuts. we enjoyed a very good wine that accompanied christmas dinner; it was called boekenhout the wolftrap (a red wine).

holiday tradition
besides eggnog, we always make kahlua truffles during christmas, and this year the truffles were as good as always. my mum makes delicious poppy-seed nut cookies, and almond crescent cookies topped with icing sugar. this year my parents made sugarplums, with tamarind and nuts, which we’ve never tried before.

favourite memory
i would have to say one of my favourite memories of christmas is the year we got our cat mishka, around christmas time, and she decided to climb the tree one evening. we didn’t realize what she was doing until the tree fell over. quite a shock, for us and our little furball!

2006
this year has been a mass of changes. every year is, i know that; but this year in particular has brought with it alterations i would never have anticipated. i learned so much from producing a dance show to dealing with an acidic work environment to graduating from the IM program to finding a job. not to mention being able to visit croatia for the first time in my life, and learn about the place where toni is from; or the opportunities to learn new languages (a rediscovered love, for me). it has been a very difficult year and a very amazing one.

here’s something interesting (via kottke.org) and i decided to follow suit:

Hamilton, ON, CA
Buffalo, NY, USA
Stratford, ON, CA
Kitchener-Waterloo, ON, CA
Brela, HR
Dubrovnik, HR
Plitvice Jezera, HR
Makarska, HR
Split, HR
Solta, HR
Montreal, QC, CA

2007
i have no idea what this coming year will bring. i am still learning to inhabit the space brought with my new job; and i am still hoping and praying for sustained strength and endurance, and the ability to persevere. in the coming year, many gifts will be realized; and not only do i promise to cherish them for the rest of my life – i am deeply, unspeakably grateful for them.

resolutions & hopes
i hope to keep growing, to keep getting better, to keep learning and garnering wisdom. i wish my friends and family many moments of peace and happiness, and – hard as it is to see the possibility, to even write the possibility – i hope we can transcend the faults with which our civilizations inflict us. it is hard most times to believe there is any possibility, but i can still hope.

slainte mhath,

sappho

Labels: year-end post