(no subject)
Christmas itself was very nice, it always is. The season hasn't started very well with the death of my cousin's wife and the funeral was Monday morning (Christmas Eve). He was a little wobbly once or twice but got through it pretty well. The eulogy was by her younger sister and was amazing. One of the best i've heard. The gist of it was not to put off things and people. Make every get together an occasion and don't wait for one to get together.
Christmas eve was pretty quiet, just my nephew, mom and me. Justin and Staci both got home in the morning and we had breakfast and when my sister and her husband arrived we opened presents. It always takes awhile because we do it one at a time so we can watch each person open something and see what everyone's got. It makes it nicer so you can see the reaction of the others to the gifts. Dinner was at my sister's house. I made eggnog caramel cheesecake which turned out pretty awesome though the bottom crust was a bit hard. Overcooked a tad i think but the rest of it was wonderful. All the food was yummy and even though I tried not to over do, i still rolled away aching.
Christmas night, Mom and i went to my auntie's, a tradition. This is my cousin's mother, the cousin whose wife's funeral we were all at the day before. He was at his mom's and was ok, though his voice was almost gone. He's had moments, of course and maybe is still running on adrenaline. There's a lot of legal stuff and paperwork to keep him hopping for a few weeks. Once things quiet down, it'll probably hit him harder.
I brought my things home on Boxing day and kept the car overnight. Stores aren't open here on the 26th which is nice really, having that extra day where everything is still quiet across the city. Today my aunt was having the ladies in the family over for seafood chowder. The weather wasn't really cooperative but it was clear when we got there. We left early though, because the roads were getting pretty filled up. I got home about 2:30 and now, at 4:30 it sounds like it's turning to rain / ice pellets as forecast. Everyone is home and safe and warm.
Oh and last weekend I went to see the Hobbit with a friend. We were less than impressed. We both found it slow and draggy. Yes, the special effects were nice. Sometimes. But I'm usually underwhelmed when overwhelmed by CGI and there was so much of that. It's like they made the movie just to showcase what they can do on a computer. I can't imagine sitting through two more movies of that so I won't be. I liked Lord of the Rings in spite of the CGI because there was a lot more story to it. This didn't have that to hold my interest. A few scenes foretold some stuff from LOTR but even then it was extended out way too much. We didn't see it in 3D, neither of us are too fond of it and you could tell a lot of the effects that would have taken advantage of it. A couple of times, during scenes that you might expect to be filled with actual people, close ups and everything, I was pretty sure were all cgi versions of the actors, possibly even the close up of them speaking, it looked that faked. If that's the case, why not just make the whole movie animated and give up the pretense of having actors play the parts, just use their voice overs.
Mom, my niece Staci and I are hoping to have our annual trek to Chapters on the weekend, weather permitting. Everyone knows Mom loves getting Chapters gift cards so she gets lots. She gets one for Staci and I got one from Staci's fiance so we're all armed and ready. We all love reading and there are a lot of family members that do. At today's lunch, my cousin Pam and I exchanged books and one of my other cousins and I agree, how can anyone *not* like to read!?
I'm still off work until the day after New Year's. I was on call today but it doesn't look like i'll get any calls now. I did check my email and all was ok there. Good thing, too. I brought my work laptop home but forgot the electronic key that logs me in to the work network. Doh.
Christmas eve was pretty quiet, just my nephew, mom and me. Justin and Staci both got home in the morning and we had breakfast and when my sister and her husband arrived we opened presents. It always takes awhile because we do it one at a time so we can watch each person open something and see what everyone's got. It makes it nicer so you can see the reaction of the others to the gifts. Dinner was at my sister's house. I made eggnog caramel cheesecake which turned out pretty awesome though the bottom crust was a bit hard. Overcooked a tad i think but the rest of it was wonderful. All the food was yummy and even though I tried not to over do, i still rolled away aching.
Christmas night, Mom and i went to my auntie's, a tradition. This is my cousin's mother, the cousin whose wife's funeral we were all at the day before. He was at his mom's and was ok, though his voice was almost gone. He's had moments, of course and maybe is still running on adrenaline. There's a lot of legal stuff and paperwork to keep him hopping for a few weeks. Once things quiet down, it'll probably hit him harder.
I brought my things home on Boxing day and kept the car overnight. Stores aren't open here on the 26th which is nice really, having that extra day where everything is still quiet across the city. Today my aunt was having the ladies in the family over for seafood chowder. The weather wasn't really cooperative but it was clear when we got there. We left early though, because the roads were getting pretty filled up. I got home about 2:30 and now, at 4:30 it sounds like it's turning to rain / ice pellets as forecast. Everyone is home and safe and warm.
Oh and last weekend I went to see the Hobbit with a friend. We were less than impressed. We both found it slow and draggy. Yes, the special effects were nice. Sometimes. But I'm usually underwhelmed when overwhelmed by CGI and there was so much of that. It's like they made the movie just to showcase what they can do on a computer. I can't imagine sitting through two more movies of that so I won't be. I liked Lord of the Rings in spite of the CGI because there was a lot more story to it. This didn't have that to hold my interest. A few scenes foretold some stuff from LOTR but even then it was extended out way too much. We didn't see it in 3D, neither of us are too fond of it and you could tell a lot of the effects that would have taken advantage of it. A couple of times, during scenes that you might expect to be filled with actual people, close ups and everything, I was pretty sure were all cgi versions of the actors, possibly even the close up of them speaking, it looked that faked. If that's the case, why not just make the whole movie animated and give up the pretense of having actors play the parts, just use their voice overs.
Mom, my niece Staci and I are hoping to have our annual trek to Chapters on the weekend, weather permitting. Everyone knows Mom loves getting Chapters gift cards so she gets lots. She gets one for Staci and I got one from Staci's fiance so we're all armed and ready. We all love reading and there are a lot of family members that do. At today's lunch, my cousin Pam and I exchanged books and one of my other cousins and I agree, how can anyone *not* like to read!?
I'm still off work until the day after New Year's. I was on call today but it doesn't look like i'll get any calls now. I did check my email and all was ok there. Good thing, too. I brought my work laptop home but forgot the electronic key that logs me in to the work network. Doh.