Christmas at the Conlon’s

I am on the bus again, leaving Ottawa for Toronto, the last one of my travels within Canada. Quite a few happy events have passed since I last wrote on the 23^rd. I had a great Christmas in a very warm and welcoming family and a generally nice holiday period.

On Sunday the whole house hold got ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas day festivities. Last minute gift wrapping, picking out suitable outfits and discussing what colour make-up to wear (that’s what happens when you have 25-year-old twins in the family, who are uncommonly vain!) Mama Conlon started preparing the turkey stuffing bright and early in the morning. Yams had to be cooked and potatoes to be mashed. The Wiener SängerKnaben gave the whole atmosphere that pinch of cheer and joy, typical of this season! The family spent a year and a half in Vienna a decade ago and they are still quite partial to everything that sounds or looks Austrian, and that includes an apron embroidered with dancing Austrian folk ladies and a CD my grandmother would be envious of.
On Christmas Eve, we were invited to Annamarie's (the oldest daughter) parents-in-law. We had a very nice meal and a very nice evening in general. We did a Conlon-version of Secret Santa, which was great fun.

On Christmas day, we went to church in the morning. When we got back, we had a light lunch, while following up on Mr. Turkey in the oven. The big fellow needed 7 hours of roasting and looked more delicious every minute! After lunch we exchanged gifts and stockings, which are small gifts, such as a CD and a chocolate (well, "chocolate"…) bar. Ma and Pa Conlon gave me a presse-papier Canada goose, made by a Canadian company specialising in those kinds of artefacts. I really liked it, and I can picture it standing on my desk at home, as a reminder of my great time in Manotick.

In the afternoon, Laura Grace and I baked 2 apple pies, with the help of Betty Crocker’s recipe. Betty Crocker is probably the biggest and best cook book editor in the USA and as Mama Conlon is from Minnesota, American influence was noticeable in her house. The cook book is the ultimate guide to wholesome and typical American cuisine. We had a lot of fun and the pies turned out to be done to a turn! Annamarie and her husband Brad came over for dinner. I was very curious to try out the turkey and other dishes, which I only knew from films or ‘Friends’ episodes. It was a very delicious and full meal and everyone liked the apple pie, which made Betty (Laura Grace) and Miss Crocker (myself, we were quite taken with the whole cook book concept!) very proud.

We had a nice evening, watching some Pride and Prejudice episodes (the BBC version). Brad suggested to have a gingerbread house-decorating contest, so we made two teams: Laura Grace and Margaret Mary (the twins) against Annamarie, Elizabeth Ann and me. We each had a gingerbread house, icing and sweets and gummy bears to make a winning design-house. We had a lot of fun, and by the end of the decorating, we were just as covered in icing as the houses were!

Sales start on Boxing Day in Canada, so Tuesday brought me to a selection of Winners and HomeSense stores to skim the racks for bargains and Winner-deals. Winners is some sort of discount clothing store that buys over all the double orders and such from major brands and sells them at at least half of the original price. Boxing Day clearance took an extra 25% off of the price, so it really was a day for deals! I found a very nice Ralph Lauren sweater at 75% discount and some nice leather gloves (for a ridiculously cheap price). I also purchased Betty Crocker’s cook book for $ 10, which I am quite excited about! Next time you come to visit me, odds are I am going to serve you a nice American meal!

We were quite exhausted when we got home and the only thing we were still able to do, was finish the BBC Pride and Prejudice. I was quite taken with Colin Firth’s performance, but somehow could not get over Jane Bennet’s manly face. But, other than that, it is a very nice filming of an even nicer book.

This morning, I packed my bags, sent some e-mails, took the last opportunity to chat with Laura Grace, had lunch and took off to the bus terminal.

Thanks to the whole Conlon family, I have an excellent week to look back on and a Christmas I am very unlikely to ever forget!