Saturday began with a visit to my old hometown and my favorite aesthetician, Dale. She's just getting back into the swing of things after returning from her maternity leave. Little Jasper (or "Yasper", as her Dutch in-laws call him) is almost seven months old, and has the cheeks of two children. He lounged on my lap while his Mom painted my toes, showing off his totally cute Baby Gap socks with the tread on the bottom. Twice a year, I whip on out to Dale's place and get my half-day pampering: facial, mani and pedi. I've known her since Grade Nine, so I'm glad to get the chance to catch up. She's very good at what she does, and she has always told me the truth about everything. This particular visit revolved around pregnancy, labour and early child-rearing.

I now have clean pores, soft feet and my cuticles have been whipped into submission. What more could a girl ask for, really?

The afternoon was spent finally wrapping the gifts I've accumulated so far. Good Lord. It took the majority of the afternoon. Luckily, I had plopped down at the coffee table in front of the television. The Superstation was showing all manner of 80's movies, and I was slightly disturbed with the fact that, more than 15 years later, I can still quote most of the dialogue to The Breakfast Club.

Sunday marked the beginning of our Christmas Social Season. My Dad's family gets together two weekends before Christmas, next weekend we host my Mom's long-distance relations, leaving the actual weekend free for some in-depth visiting/unwrapping/eating by my nuclear family.

We were lucky enough to see my cousin Diane, her husband Steve and their twin girls, Megan and Melissa. Their christening was back in November, when Mom snapped this little beauty of them in their gowns:

At one time, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to have twins; you only have to be pregnant once and you've not only got one child, but you instantly have a sibling for him or her. After seeing Diane in action for six hours, I would like to recind my earlier support of that idea. Megan has the sniffles, and was therefore a bit cranky and whiny. Melissa had to have her sister in her line of sight the entire time. I think it's nice that, even at this young age, they seem to look out for each other.

The Boy is on the Midnight Shift until Christmas, so he tried to get some sleep after we got home. I chose to quietly address more cards while I watched The Tall Ship Chronicles Marathon on Life Network, then The Naked Chef and Nigella Bites on the Food Network.
Happy, happy, happy.

Back to work today, but it's going to be a short week since I've asked for Friday off. I suspect I'll still be behind in five days time, and can sneak out to the mall for the last-minute things without needing a helmet and elbow pads.

Christmas Card Watch: 23 down! Whoo-hoo!

Posted at 6:07 a.m.