Well, our flight to Vancouver never came to be and we ended up rebooking another flight for this upcoming Saturday night. If that one is canceled? Then I guess we're not supposed to go to Saint Lucia this year. ;) But in finding out that we'll be here for Christmas after all, we're scrambling a bit to get a little into the festive holiday spirit. On Monday a small turkey was bought, a little Christmas Eve party had been planned with a couple of friends (weather isn't permitting, darnit), and last night the Christmas cookies were baked.

Sim made his favourite- the gingerbread men. The house smelled loverly. And me? I made raspberry jam-filled thumbprint cookies. And they are so yummy! So of course, what better blog fodder can there be but a recipe?



This gem is one of Ina Garten's. Due to sheer amount of cookies in one batch, I halved this recipe and it turned out just fine.

Jam Thumbprints, by Ina Garten

I really should be in bed. I mean, I would think so as I can barely see my screen. But I was fiddling around with some video I took today with my new camera at the airport while we were waiting for our luggage.



Enjoy! Ok bedtime. Zzz!

Flight canceled. That's how it goes when you travel in wintertime at Christmas. YVR was *not* fun, but most people were at least pretty mild about it. A few outbursts here and there in baggage claim, but there was no problem finding a taxi to take us back home. Sucks having to spend $100 in taxi fare just to go to the airport and home again hours later. But that's life.

Sim's family still is having problems arriving in St Lucia, and they left last night. Sim's parents missed their connection in Toronto, and so Sim's mom is flying out of Montreal tomorrow (probably the flight we were due to be on) and Sim's dad ended up booking a whole new flight, and is flying through Chicago->Miami->St Lucia. That probably cost enough. Sim's brother is also still in Toronto for the night.  The only person who managed to make it to St Lucia on time was Sim's 92-year old grandfather, who flew in from England. Thankfully Sim's parents arranged to have a taxi waiting for him when he arrived and he's enjoying the 5-bedroom villa on his own tonight.

So that's all there is to it. We may be able to leave on Christmas Eve and fly through the US and make it down to St Lucia just before or on Christmas, but otherwise we will likely not be able to get down there til next weekend. Christmas at home? Eh, we can make it work.

Anyway we're meeting with the travel agent tomorrow to find out our options without spending an arm and a leg on it. So we'll know more tomorrow, I am sure. Mother Nature threw us a curve ball. That's life. Silver lining is I get to sleep in my nice comfy bed, rather than on the floor in the Montreal Airport.

I'm dreaming of a white warm christmas....

I cannot believe we're attempting to travel today. Sunday the 21st. For Saint Lucia, in the tropical West Indies. When Greater Vancouver is getting hit with 15-20cm of snow. In Michigan this would be just an everyday Sunday. But in Vancouver? Where snow usually only falls in the mountains? This is pretty substantial. From where I sit, this is what I see.



And for good measure, here's one of us crazy kids:



So far the flight remains on time. Departs in about an hour. So I'll pack up my laptop pretty quickly and visit the ladies' room so I'm set for the flight. At any rate, follow along with our adventures  at our photo set on Flickr. And follow along short-term on my Twitter feed, as I will likely be updating more often there.

Can't wait to see the sun, for the win!

And here is the unedited feed of Bush and the shoeless Iraqi man. Of course, C-SPAN comes to save the day, while the others sit on their thumbs. At the face of this event is the hilarity, of course. An Iraqi reporter throws his shoes at Bush, who does an amazing job dodging them. His shoes. Without the mess of the war behind it, one could just point and laugh. But in this video, you hear the man's screams. And even if you don't speak Arabic, you can hear the desperate anguish in his voice. And that is nothing to laugh at.



Well after the shoes are thrown and Zaidi is dragged out of the press conference, there is a video on Bush's face, smirking and shrugging. One is left looking deeper there, and wonder if he is trying to cover up the fact that he is bothered being hated that much, or if he just does not give a damn about anything.

My camera is here! My camera is here! It's all been a very exciting day and I haven't been able to focus on a thing.

I wasn't the expecting the camera for another day or two, but today I got the knock on the door and the postman was there with the box! I could barely contain myself as I signed for it and he likely heard my squeal of delight as I closed the door.



Sim's is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow by courier, also. So I'll just open that up enough to start charging his batteries and let him unbox his own camera after work. Two cameras for our two-week trip to Saint Lucia. I am so excited I could burst. More photos, we must have more photos.



Isn't she pretty? I've taken quite a few shots and a video also, and I can say I'm most definitely impressed. I have a feeling I'll be taking the manual to bed with me tonight.

Feel free to have a look at the rest of my unboxing photos here.