HOLIDAY CHEER

Hello Family and friends,

This blog is in response to people who, like myself, enjoy receiving Christmas letters which summarize the comedy, tragedies and transcendent moments of the year. If you don't like these types of letters, skip right to the URL where Callum, Colin and I are throwing snowballs at each other (click on the orange line below).
http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/hMAgQFRRXR2bPQmeZCKSTEBF

EPIPHANIES: Here are but a few...

• "The boy's gotta boogie woogie ..."
• "Life is not about how many breaths you take, as long as it takes your breath away."
• "You can't buy happiness, but you can park your yacht next to it." - Barenaked Ladies
• There are two things guaranteed in life: 1. It always works out. 2. Not the way you think it will."
• Having a child is like wearing your heart outside your body.
• Shift happens.

GRATEFUL:

• For having a son who is compassionate, inquisitive, bold and ebullient and who challenges me to see the world with wonder (though at his pace and intensity it can be a bit much even for me. A few more naps would be bliss, right Col?).
• That Colin has settled into a job where he's happy, challenged and genuinely appreciated.
• To be living close to my parents - they both experienced serious health concerns this year.
• For fantastic friends/family locally/nationally/internationally.
• For the opportunity to write and to be part of a writing community that is smart, supportive and seductive (after all, we do write romance).
• That Colin and I are on the same page with parenting and getting on track health-wise.
• That Callum is toilet-trained AND SLEEP-TRAINED!!! He's out of our king-sized bed and sleeping on his own cuddled in his ladybug quilt clutching "Sandman", Dora and a dinosaur - Bless. Colin and I actually get to have "conversations" before we go to sleep. It's great. However much I love my son, I've missed my husband.
• That we live in paradise (with the exception of housing prices ... it's still worth it).

RISKS TAKEN:

• Colin changing jobs. That takes courage. He's actually 100% out of sales now. Yippee! He left Homeworks and now he's Premium Technical Support at Schneider Electric (you can look them up at http://www.schneider-electric.com/ or in the Wikipedia). He's even had a promotion already!
• Moving house - had to because our other home was sold. We gave up a backyard but we shifted two blocks away from the emergency helicopter pathway and gained quiet and sunshine (we face the west and see sunsets from our balcony).
• Approaching publishers regarding my writing.
• We've had bathroom renos twice in the last year. Once in each place. Mold - yuck.
• Cross-Canada train trip - Callum and I. Vancouver - Toronto: almost 80 hours straight in a train with "Spiderman" and only an hour and a half outside. I thought I'd bought a one-way ticket to Misery on the Orient Express but Callum loved it. He made friends within three minutes of boarding any train. We visited Sherie and Ella in southern Ontario (and Marg and Jim and my cousins): played soccer hung out at the water park rode bumper cars and a Ferris wheel/Woodbine Center observed Old Order Mennonites watched birds caught bugs listened to thunder storms explored the Toronto Zoo stayed in a posh hotel ran around in the pastoral countryside listened to Ella's concert. Linda/Richard/Adrian/Jeremy in Toronto: tried skateboarding rode a roller coaster (and my fearless son put his tiny dimpled hands up in the air!) uncovered dinosaur bones fed donkeys checked out Science Center/Center Island/Ontario Place and all the Chinese Lantern celebrations visited the SPCA rode the subway ate ice cream in the rain. Kelly/Takiah/Couper at their Lake of the Woods cabin on the Ontario/Manitoba border: "played violin" wrestled in mud puddles and with noodle swords examined dragonflies/spiders/moths/grasshoppers/frogs/snakes up close went canoeing blueberry picking identified a loon call watched Couper and Takiah's wacky water sports listened to Phantom of the Opera while watching fireflies and boats and stars while sitting by the lake on the rock cuddled in a sleeping bag. Note: I was also having conversations with my friends either early for coffee or really late with wine. Callum didn't switch time zones. My aunt Karen/UncleTitus/cousins/UncleKen/AuntElaine/MygrandpaAl in Winnipeg and Altona (where I was born): wonderful visit which was mainly about reconnecting with family. Had an awesome day in Altona where we had lunch at Ken and Elaine's and then went to the swimming pool - where my dad and his brother were the divers at the opening ceremony many moons ago. Callum felt an immediate affinity with my grandfather, which was touching to witness. There was a heat wave at the time - over 40 degrees Celsius! Jacquie/Jacob in Jasper: Callum bagged his first peak! Lots of hiking exploring reading swimming running laughing ice cream train tooting wildlife watching jumping on the bed. Maggie/Malcolm met us in Vancouver. I was soooo tired. Callum was ready to go again the next day but with his dad included this time. Colin missed us a lot. While we were gone he compensated for loneliness by drinking beer and eating pizza while playing Lego Starwars.

CALLUM:

• Has been admitted to hospital twice in the last year (1. gastro-intestinal/ dehydration issues [Puked 19 times in 20 hours and I don't even want to talk about his other end]; 2. pneumonia) and visited emergency twice in October (1. a cut above his eye - ran straight into a table. 2. a choking incident which led to the pneumonia). He deals with it very well but it's hard on our hearts. He knows them so well that Callum wants to go visit the people in emergency ...
• Started preschool in September. He's got a wonderful teacher (Sue) and his class (which I'm with on Duty Mommy days) is full of energetic and entertaining characters. He had a few bumpy weeks until we could get his sleep patterns in check and lay down boundaries around his Spiderman obsession. Now he's back to having well-rounded interests. He loves sea creatures, race cars, astronauts, imaginative play, being outside, swimming, the woolly Mammoth at the Museum, mud, dinosaurs, transformers, music, monster trucks, having tea, bugs and spiders, reading, gardening (he grew tomatoes on our balcony), Butchart Gardens, dogs (he wants a green one), Dora and his BMX bike. As superheroes permeate his consciousness the whole city becomes his jungle gym.
• Toilet trained himself - just decided.
• Sleep trained - by us. WE decided.
• He's incredibly social and loves spending time with his friends.
• Has lots of cool intellectual questions these days like: "Do slugs have legs?" "Why don't my hands melt?" and "What is blood for?"

COLIN:

• Loves working at Schneider-Electric.
• Is working on his blackbelt in Jujitsu and hopes to do his test in January/February 2008.
• Teaches Jujitsu and Muay Thai kickboxing once a week.
• Is a fantastic father - compassionate yet clear with boundaries, gets involved in all of Callum's sports and enjoys reading to him and tucking him in.
• Hangs around with three groups of friends: The guys from the Dojo; the culturally diverse group of people from work; some of the dads from the group of families we've associated with since Callum was about two months old. Colin also genuinely enjoys my parents! Please note, Rob and Mark are irreplaceable.

RAMONA:

• Daycare: Downsized it so I have only one regular client - Owen - who is more like one of the family. Really. From January to June I still had five other clients two of which were regulars, both of whom are precious friends for Callum. For the type of outdoor adventures I like to do with them two is more manageable (safety AND mental health).
• Executive Positions: I'm Secretary on two executives: VIC-RWA - The Vancouver Island Chapter of the Romance Writers of America; OBPOP - Oak Bay Parent-Owned Preschool. Both positions are time consuming, interesting and educational. I work with great people.
• Writing: I'm writing my second romantic suspense novel; I've finished/submitted/been rejected/am editing and resubmitting a Young Adult suspense novel; I'm writing and submitting freelance articles (i.e. parenting magazines; Reader's Digest; Globe and Mail); I'm writing erotic short stories (I submitted a story recently to Scarlett Magazine - a women's magazine in the U.K. Their short story section is called "Cliterature"!)
• Singing: I participated in an amazing gospel singing workshop in the fall. So inspiring that when we were learning the 3rd song (out of 9) I burst into tears.
• Walking: A few friends and I walked the Victoria half-marathon in the fall. We intend to walk the Vancouver Marathon in the spring, followed by "The Great Walk" - 63.5 km along logging roads from Gold River to Tahsis here on the Island (http://www.greatwalk.com/)! Afterwards we're renting a room with a HOT TUB.
• Saw Bodyworks (www.scienceworld.bc.ca/teachers_outreach/play_online/bw_games.htm ) - they preserve people's bodies in plastic and carve them into art. Sounds grotesque but it was awe-inspiring. From a health standpoint it terrified me off of sugar ... temporarily. I attended from 2 am - 5 am by myself, stayed until I had vertigo from sleep deprivation and the weird illumination. Unbelievable what our bodies are comprised of. The Bodyworks creators were able to do things like show just the nervous system of a person, produce the real difference between a healthy lung and one which was not, or present the veins/arteries in isolation from the rest of the body. After being at the exhibit I recognized every person around me as a miracle.

FAMILY/FRIENDS:

• We visited England and Scotland in September, mostly to spend time with Colin's family and his mate Mark. We had a fantastic whirlwind of a time. The trip was divided into three parts. 1. Yorkshire 2. The Lake District 3. Scotland 1. We stayed with Grandma Gilly, Grandpa Tim and their three dogs (and a horse) in Leeds/Yorkshire, and also hung out with Jen, Garry and their son William, Christine and Catherine, and Great-Auntie Shirley. We ate fabulous East Indian food at the Aagrar - Colin's favourite restaurant, jumped on a trampoline, played soccer and spiders, explored a children's village, fed Sherie the horse, visited Temple Newsam (where they maintain pure strains of all the local poultry and livestock as well as keeping extensive gardens), saw all the places in Leeds that Colin had lived, ate and talked and ate and drank and drank and watched intriguing late night British programming and had fish and chips. Also spent time with (Great) Grandma Bucknell, Georgie, Ted and Marina. 2. Colin and I went up to the Lake District - Keswick to be precise, and Lake Derwentwater. Grandma Gilly and Grandpa Tim took care of Callum for two nights and essentially three days - I love my son but the break was BLISS. Colin and I ate lardy breakfasts and hiked 7 hours at a time up peaks and around the lake. We also attended the theatre, drank beer, went to a morning market, had tea and biscuits, and after a second morning of hiking up - straight up the way the sheep travel - we met up with Mark, Colin's best friend in the U.K. Together we checked out a rock installation as old as Stonehenge, drove around the breath-taking lake district, and then Mark's GPS unit gave us directions to Glasgow in the voice of Ozzy Osborne. 3. In Glasgow we stayed at Angie (Colin's sister) and George's (and Coco's) heritage home which they've restored beautifully. We had a blast talking, eating and drinking whiskey the first night, visiting a castle the next day, and then attending "Proms in the Park" - a free outdoor concert celebrating Scotland's music which included the BBC Scottish Symphony, the National Youth Choir, Julian Lloyd Webber on cello, the bass baritone Jonathan Lemalu, Johnny Kenny playing the Carnyx - an instrument that was in use from 200BC - 200AD, and the most fabulous Peatbog Faeries - "a Celtic Led Zeppelin" from the Isle of Skye. It was an exceptional night -inspiring and magical. My favourite thing to eat there was Haggis on a bun with peach chutney marinated in whiskey. An unexpected treat was that Angie and George's neighbours were there with us - a policewoman and a barrister. They were tremendous fun and gave us an insider's tour of the city after hours. We also visited York with Mark: the train museum, Jorvik Center (original Viking settlement), bus tour, shopping, eating Guinness pie swooshed down with a local pint, etc. It really was a fantastic trip with wonderful people that went way too fast. Thanks to everyone for being so generous, flexible and fun.
• We've visited four islands with friends this year: Denman, Pender, Saturna and Sidney Spit Provincial Park.
• We've spent time on the mainland with Trish, Dean and Liz and Jack, visited the Stodolas in Kamloops, hung out with family, and we had fun eating Dim Sum/kibitzing about with Josie Chan and Ian downtown. There are a lot of people we're fond of that live on the mainland, as well as old haunts we like to visit, and Callum has developed a passion for the Aquarium. The jellyfish exhibit is truly extraordinary and ethereal in its' beauty.
• My sister Cindy and her boyfriend Richard have had a busy year. They're still in Vancouver but had to move house the same month we did, Sunshine (one of their cats) passed away (which was very sad), they went to Clinton again (they are part of SCA - the Society for Creative Anachronisms - they keep alive the medieval arts and re-enact battles), and they're running their own businesses (stained glass and leather work/prop building) and doing movie extra work (for Blade; L-word; Bionic Woman; etc.). They also bought my parents' van - ROAD TRIP!
• The Adetola household (my sister-in-law's family) has had a very busy year as well. Michael started snowboarding last winter and has graduated from elementary school, all the boys have been playing golf and Christopher and David have been playing football. David's team have won ALL their games, and Christopher's team (the Wildcats) played at half-time during a B.C. Lions' game in B.C. Place - they eventually ended up being PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONS! Also, this summer Jayne and the boys (Callum's cousins) took a road trip to California, Arizona and Nevada. Mickey Mouse to the Grand Canyon to Vegas. Craziness! Jayne quit her job to stay home with the kids ... is it any wonder?
• Grandpa Terry and Grandma Shelagh have been keeping busy with a cruise to Alaska, barbershop singing, ballroom dancing and general romancing it sounds like! They also work hard of course.
• We've had wonderful visits from Rob/Louise/Isobel/Maya; Linda; Trish; Anna/Sean/Zoe/Jake; Liz; Tamara and Amber.

COME VISIT US. I promise we won't exhaust you. We do sleep. It'll be FUN.

Now that I've "talked" your ear off, go hug your hubby or your kids or your cat or your wine glass. Grab a good book, take a bath, go for a run or throw a snowball. Know that you are loved.

A wish for you in the New Year:

MAY YOU TRANSCEND RUBBISH AND EMBRACE JOY.

In health and tranquility at the speed of light,

Ramona Joy, Colin and Callum

GO CHRISTOPHER GO! and SNOW SNOW SNOW!

A cheer for Christopher, Callum's cousin who's playing football in B.C. Place Sunday in Vancouver. I cannot imagine the excitement and the performance anxiety. We're rooting for you Christopher. Hip Hip Hooray!

It's SNOWING! We woke up to marshmallow world. Callum and Colin have just spent a whack of time outside throwing wet snowballs at each other and at neighbours. These are the glory days of childhood.

Ramona