Christmas photos

I learned an important lesson on the flight home from Boston: never drink a litre of water before boarding the plane, even if you use the bathroom before you board, because you’ll have to go again and the pilot may not turn off the seatbelt sign for 15 minutes after the plane has taken off, never mind the time sitting on the plane and taxiing to take off. That was brutal. As soon as the seatbelt sign went off I made a mad dash for the bathroom. Afterwards was the best feeling in the world, much like Homer after he drank too much crab juice.

Anyway, aside from that brutal 25 minutes, my vacation was great! Christmas in Boston with my family was crazy, but at the same time relaxing. Lots of good food, some shopping, and lots of time with the family Basset Hound. She features prominently in my pictures of the holiday (apologies for the mix of iPhone, iPad, and Lumix DMC-TZ5 photos).

She’s just arrived after a 9-hour car ride from Ottawa and of course all she wants is food.

My dad feeding her breakfast (home-cooked, my mom is her personal chef).

Our dinner of prime rib roast (served rare), mashed potato and kale, and arugula salad with pomegranate seeds and clementine slices. I don’t usually eat read meat, but this was an exception. It was so good, but my stomach was a little confused.

On Christmas Day, my sister and I made gluten-free ninjabread (gingerbread ninja men).

For Christmas, we always have roast goose instead of turkey. My mom debones it and stuffs it with a combination of sticky rice and wild rice.

We had it with mashed sweet potatoes, sautéed red cabbage, and a cranberry-orange-ginger sauce (the only thing I made). It was with delicious.

After dinner, I sat on the floor in a food coma and Abby cuddled up to me.

And fell asleep. I wanted to go upstairs to Skype with Will, but that would have disturbed the princess.

Shameless.

But so cute.

There are no pics of me because I spent the entire weekend in slouchy, comfortable clothes and I was in no mood to be photographed. The dog gets all the glory; she’s lucky she’s photogenic.