So this was Christmas

Noticing the blog hasn't been updated since before Christmas I've been reminded by the visiting daughters that it is time to fill the loyal blog readers in on all the shenanigans here. Finished up the final night shift on the 22nd and slept until noon when the cleaning lady arrived so I headed out for a massage and final errands. Wrapping, baking and decorating the house occupied my time until two of the three 'away' daughters arrived on December 23rd.

The tree was brought home just in time for the teacher daughter to decorate it on the 23rd and we all managed to make the extended family supper on Christmas Eve, then the ritual visit to a former babysitter and her sister by one of the girls. Up to open the gifts and Skype the western daughter so it seemed as if she was with us - we all agreed this was the best part of the day - we are looking forward to seeing her and her guy in February for a quick weekend visit. Wonderful gifts and not a dud amongst them. Enough cooking equipment and cookbooks that there should be lots of wonderful meals in the coming year. The shore captain was particularly pleased with his recliner/rocker and only climbed out of it to eat and go to the bathroom for the remainder of the day. Turkey in the oven early as the girls and partners had to head out to eat another Christmas dinner and the boy had a bad tooth so ended up going to ER to get some naprosyn. An early night after all that excitement.

On Boxing Day the men headed back to work either catching or buying lobsters. Poor Keely she was almost the subject of a medication error as I've been giving her omega 3 capsules for her back but found what I thought was a couple of extra capsules on the counter which the teacher daughter noticed didn't look right (she doesn't need to wear glasses and not have them on as the medication administrator does) as it was a Buckleys capsule which the shore captain had left there. Not sure what the effect would be on a 10 year old NS Duck Toller but considering dogs aren't supposed to eat chocolate and she's consumed her weight in it, likely not much. The nurse to be daughter and myself headed over to my sisters to see my great nephew who is really a cutie at four months and was giving the Jolly Jumper a real workout and his sister who were visiting with their parents. The teacher daughter and her husband did their other Christmases and headed back to the city.

Work for the 27 and 28 were two very long days as the census was down with bed closures so the time didn't go by very quickly. Nice to have that reprieve though as it's been several years since we've seen numbers that low. I wasn't ready to return to work after my five days off but are you ever?
We waded through mounds of laundry here from two daughters but at least the first one didn't take a week to do her six loads of it. The ultimatum was issued and at 11 p.m. on my last day off the final load was out of the dryer and packed in the car. She would definitely not qualify as a flash packer which if you're wondering what that is - here is a link:

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-is-a-Flashpacker?-10-Traits-That-Separate-Flashpackers-From-Backpackers

Speaking of traveling...the teacher daughter spent an evening while she was home reviewing our Caribbean cruise trip photos and my presentation on Aruba and Bonaire as well as the journal so she is getting pumped for February and looking forward to snorkeling. Ahhh, not a bad thing to be doing with the white stuff and cold temperatures around here. At least I'm not working on the water like the lad I pack the lunch for to take at 4 a.m.

Another set of storms have meant not too many days on the water for the lobster boy but at least he hasn't lost any traps and so he's done well in relation to others locally. The catches offshore have remained high enough to continue going when the weather allows. We enjoyed crustaceans over the holidays in various forms including last night on New Years Eve.

The shore captain 'saved a mess' and we enjoyed them with friends. Nice to have a friend hosting a New Years supper so I could just arrive in style! Slightly more than three hours of sleep would have been better but what can you do when you are booked to work New Years and get home at 1:30 a.m. after a great evening? Lots of resolutions - one of the main ones that my friend and I are going to do a regularly scheduled day trip at least once a month. Will be good to crash tonight and have a couple of days off before heading back to the regular schedule.

Hasta.