Christmas Post

First thing I want to say is that it's been a while since I've blogged last, but I'm on vacation now so I'm happy about that. It's been a relaxing week so far here at my relatives' house. Definitely a lot more than I expected.

Anyways, I recently read Joe's blog with a christmas theme list to answer. So here it goes.

Egg nog or hot chocolate? I prefer Egg Nog actually even if I know it's not good for me, usually without alcohol. I've never liked hot drinks even on cold winter days.. yeah I know I'm strange.

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa wraps presents and puts them under the tree. My wrapping sucks but I give it a go anyway.

Colored lights on tree/house or white? Coloured for sure.

Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. I don't see a reason to.

When do you put your decorations up? I decided not to put any decorations up at my place since I knew I wouldn't be there for Xmas, but if I did, then probably some time at the beginning of December.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Turkey (dark meat)

Favorite holiday memory as a child? Spending Christmas at my grandmother's house out in the country and opening up some cool toys or video games that I wanted all year.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I can't remember but I don't think I was devastated about it when I found out since I knew that my parents would still buy me stuff.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope, not a family tradition although I know it is in some cultures.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? just with lights and coloured balls amnd sometimes candy canes. I have good memories as a child decorating the tree with my mom.

Snow! Love it or dread it? I love it also and don't mind driving in it provided I have the right winter gear on my car. I must say that there is nothing more beautiful than a really sunny day where the white snow sparkles in the sun and the air is so fresh and crisp.

Can you ice skate? certainly but not that well actually.

Do you remember your favorite gift? Yes, I remember when I was a kid, my aunt bought me the newly released Super Mario Brothers 2 for Nintendo and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I played that game all day on Christmas day.

What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Being with family, relaxing and not thinking about work.

What is your favorite holiday dessert? Definitely a gingerbread house. Yum!


What is your favorite holiday tradition? I don't think our family had any notable traditions that I can think of.

What tops your tree? I'd probably put a star.

Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Giving for sure. It always makes me feel good knowing that I made someone else's day.

What is your favorite Christmas song? Jingle Bell Rock

Candy canes? I don't mind as long as they are not the white and red kind.

Favorite Christmas movie? Elf by far. That movie is absolutely hilarious!

What do you leave for Santa? Cookies and milk.



Well that answers the Christmas tag. I hope that my readers will enjoy my answers. Otherwise my trip has been pretty good. I went for my first swim practice in a week with the local masters team here. Actually most of the team members spent the whole practice playing water polo since they had just finished a meet but a few of us who were just visiting from out of town did a whole practice. I swam about 2400m in about 45 minutes as follows:

400 warmup
8x50 on :50
4x50 kick on 1:15
do that twice

300 swim
200 pull
100 kick
200 pull

At first when I dove in, I didn't feel that great but towards the end of the practice, I started feeling better. I think I'll go swimming again on saturday morning to keep up my fitness. I have to admit that I've been cheating a bit on my diet but at christmas time, it's really hard not to.
I'm also happy to report that I'm completely done my Xmas shopping except for the gift for my girlfriend. I'm not sure what to get her, but I guess I better decide soon.

I went to my aunt's house today to help install a new CD Rom and put her old existing hard drive into a new computer but I ran into a bit of a snag. I had no problem putting the CD Rom in but when I put the 2nd hard drive in and connected it, the computer couldn't boot up properly. I know that I have to switch the little piece of plastic at the back of the Hard drive from primary to slave (either primary or secondary) for the computer to recognize it in the BIOS but I couldn't figure out which sets of prongs on the back were what since it was not labeled... in the end, I didn't manage to finish the job since my aunt had to go to bed but I guess I'll just have to do it trial and error.

Well, this posting has turned out to be a mix of everything from Christmas to swimming and even some technical stuff. Overall though, I'm happy to see my family so that is good.