Coming at you a little late, like a belated Birthday gift to one of my siblings, is a new blog posting - Holiday Edition. Unlike the gifts to my siblings however, this post will not include a HMV gift certificate and a sheepish Hallmark card.

My holiday began on the 22nd when I was able to fly home after work (big ups to T-Mac for the lift to the airport). The flight back home was unremarkable other than for two things. One was the complete lack of people in the airport on what I assumed was going to be one of the busiest flying days of the year. The second was that my neighbour on the flight was drunk. Seeing his failed attempts at securing more alcohol during the flight, and a picture in GQ magazine of Vince Vaughn with a monkey, made the short trip home an enjoyable one.

Upon arrival at Pierre-Elliot Trudeau airport, I was able to chit chat with an old Frisbee friend who happened to be taking the same airplane that I had just gotten off back to Halifax. Assuming my adoring family would be there awaiting my glorious arrival, I cut the conversation short and made my way back to the baggage pick-up. Unfortunately, I received a call from home on my cell phone that my mom wouldn't be there to escort me back to the land of my birth and that I must rub shoulders with the hoi polloi and take public transport. There was a good reason though as the kitchen tiles were torn up, a new dishwasher being installed and three small dogs running amok. Basically, the worst parts of the Bible.

The days before Christmas were spent shopping finding the perfect gifts for each of my family members or, failing that, one of sufficient monetary value to appease them. Things at home were a little hectic and I was a little grumpy (but I'll chalk that one up to being jet-lagged from the one-hour time difference). Finally, it was Christmas day and we siblings got to compare just how much our mother really loved us (I'm officially my mom's 3rd least favourite). My haul included many television series on DVD, including the underrated, underwatched and unpossibly good Undeclared. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I decided to try reach for the stars and watch the entire series in one night. I finally gave up around 6 am when my sister awoke to go to work, falling an episode and a half short of my goal. I dared to dream big and live big and have no regrets.

This is part 1 of a depending-on-many-parts-I-decide-to-write part Holiday series. Stay tuned for more of my sometimes exciting but often tedious adventures...