"Christmas" in Ottawa, Canada
Hi!
I arrived alive and well at Montreal Airport this Monday at 4pm to line up for 45 LONG minutes to have my passport stamped (after an exhausting 8 hour flight from Amsterdam) and then got my 500g of Dutch salami purchased at Amsterdam's duty-free CONFISCATED by Canada Customs! Argh!!! When will this country welcome me with open arms for once?!?! I declared my 1 kilo of Gouda cheese and 2 links of salami to only have the salami taken as they explained to me that bringing in non-US meat was forbidden. I will have to learn to read the Canada Customs website right before entering Canada from now on! I told them to enjoy it in their break room and quickly got out of there before they discovered the two mandarin oranges from Turkey in my backpack that I forgot to eat on the flight over!
I made my KLM bus just in time to head to Ottawa. I was determined to stay awake for the two-hour bus ride but what with it being all warm inside and cold and dark outside, my eyes were shut within 10 minutes and only opened as we were pulling into the Ottawa train station! Good timing!
I've been sleeping well at night so have experienced very little jet lag this time around. Although, I do think that these long flights are killing brain cells - I could hardly concentrate enough to answer 5 questions on Jeopardy last night! I get pretty sleepy around 9pm but force myself to stay up til 11:30 when my parents head for bed. I think that's really helped me get adjusted so quickly.
My best friend and her mom arrive at our place today from Mississauga and will stay until Sunday morning. We'll be playing games, watching videos, reading books, eating out, shopping and maybe even take a museum in or two... Nah!
Hurrah! I put the Christmas tree up this morning and spread out my gifts for everyone underneath - thank goodness for Amazon.ca's online shopping! There were 5 boxes waiting for me when I arrived and I spent all day yesterday gift-wrapping! This Sunday will be my family's "Christmas day" with the turkey dinner later that afternoon! I really love our holiday traditions - even almost a month later!
I walked over to my parent's store this morning in the freezing rain and didn't fall once - woohoo!! It's not as cold as last year (-40'C compared to 4'C today!) so it was a nice walk.
Time to turn over the computer back to the business and get some lunch. Subway next door sounds like a good option! Here's hoping your "Sacrifice" holidays are going as well as mine are!!
