The First Few Flakes

Hello all - sorry I've been so absent lately! I have an excellent excuse; I was happily hostessing our first visitors to our new home this past weekend (and no, the title of this post does not refer to them). Some dear Canadian friends came to pick up the packages they've been sending here to save international shipping costs and were sweet enough to stay for a few days. I suspect they just needed to increase their duty-free limit, but they promise that they came to see us, too.

We had a lovely weekend with lots of kid-friendly activities. It was rewarding to be able to show people around "our" city and even have some favourites already to share with them. The menfolk went on a loooong bike ride (42 km!) to test out The Husband's new bike. (Not on the same bike - they rode separate ones. Although that's a pretty funny mental picture.) We also hit the kids' bookstore, the park, the trolley, Legoland and a fabulous Italian restaurant.

And today, with a wistful wave at their departing van, I returned back to reality. The Boy and I pretty much vegged all day, particularly given that there isn't a whole lot of incentive to keep the house firing on all cylinders. The Husband left this morning as well for a business trip that will keep him away - and unfairly warm as he's in Texas - until Thursday. We all know what *that* means: bare minimum in the cleanup and parenting department and lots of "macaroni and cheese from the box."

Today I also saw the first teensy-weensy flakes of snow fall. Nothing much - certainly nothing warranting the barrage of Christmas commercials on TV. I saw my first WalMart Christmas commercial at 9:23 pm on October 31. They didn't even have the decency to wait until Halloween was over - funeral meat at the wedding indeed. I always thought that Americans didn't get quite so much of that pre-pre-pre-Christmas pressure since they had a later Thanksgiving to keep the marketers at bay. Alas, Target is full of blinky lights, the greenery is appearing on the storefronts and the mysteriously absent occupants of the showroom livingrooms at IKEA have all put up the Christmas trees. I even saw one pseudo-kitchen that was displaying some Christmas cards.

Now really. Who is sending Christmas cards in November?! Those Swedes - masters of organization.