My cousin Samantha was in town last week.  She just recently finished up a little stint called a Journalism degree and was looking for one last escape before starting the never ending grind of working for a living.  I have to say that talking to her about how the media works is incredibly fascinating and I think she is one of the most interesting people of my aquaintance.  I hope she had a great time while here even though I wasn't much of a hostess as I had to work most of the week.

I did manage to show her some sites (AGO, Much Music, City Hall / Nathan Philips Square, Yorkdale Mall, Eaton Centre, Dundas Square, etc.) and she managed to brave the downtown and subway on her own as well.   I even managed to get her to the Ontario Science Centre for the Harry Potter Exhibition (which was great - in my opinion. v.v. cool).

We also managed a day trip to Niagara Falls.  We rode the Maid of the Mist and got completely and utterly soaked.  This was especially hilarious as I have been on this boat at least twice before and have only encountered minimal spray. 

Hope Sam knows she will always have a place to stay if she ever ventures back to the Centre of the Universe.

Click here to see pictures from our walks around the the Niagara Area and downtown TO.

Christmas was the usual insanity.

This year N and I were in Regina from Dec. 21st-28th.

Christmas with the Knecht's was early -- December 21st this year.  We had dinner and gift exchange at Kathy's.  Food was good.  Canasta was good -- the ladies did well and the gents managed to make it interesting in the end.  Ashley was super cute opening her gifts.  

We didn't actually meet with any of the extended family this year as everyone had their own travel plans, including us - Cuba!  All six of us Knecht's were spending the New Year in Varadero so the bulk of N's and my time was spent with my family over Christmas.

Knecht Xmas pictures: here!

Maciag family Christmas was busy! Tess, with a bit of help from my mom and I, managed to crank out two big meals: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  I think this may have broken her spirit a wee bit -- it is just too much work to do that kind of cooking two days in a row.   Spending two days in the kitchen while others around you are watching movies and playing games is, I'm pretty sure, disheartening.   My guess, is that this is the first and last year of it.  

Christmas Eve we had supper and then some extended family came over for the rest of the evening.  The ladies enjoyed pleasant conversation and the gents played hour after hour of Madden 10 on the Xbox (definitely a theme of this xmas).

Christmas Day I needed to be a grown up and suck it up and not arrive at my mom's at 6:30AM to open presents like all people who LOVE presents.  This year the plan was to meet at noon for Xmas brunch.  This is a funny tale as Tess and Geoff were delayed due to a vehicle malfunction and by the time they got to Mom and Dad's, Harry was ready to open presents... so we did.  Thus we had brunch at 4PM setting back Christmas turkey supper to almost 9PM that night.  Insane, I know -- but hey, that is how we roll.  After supper, we played some Catan: Traders and Barbarians... it was a lot of fun... Catan rules!

Maciag Xmas pictures: here!

Today my sister and I met up with my cousins Shannon and Jessica for lunch @ Earl's.  Poor Jessica, the lone non-pregnant person at the table... the conversation revolved around embryos, amniotic fluid and my personal favourite, the "crotch pain".

The "crotch pain" refers to the chronic pain in my crotch that day that I got from almost experiencing  the wipe out  of the century in the Costco parking lot.  Graceful as I am on my feet, I recovered but not before doing this weird splits-like manoeuvre, thus straining my pelvis or whatever the proper term for that area is called...groin?  Needless to say, it hurt.  Having the opportunity to grill my sister (world class breeder extraordinaire) and cousin (first time mommy but 7 months more experienced than myself), | needed to get to the bottom of whether this was a pregnancy pain that I would have to suffer through or whether this was the result of sheer klutziness. Again, I apologize to Jess for what I can only assume was a horrorific lunch date.

As it turns out, the verdict was that I am a klutz but that the pain was more intense due to the fact I was carrying an extra load of baby in my uterus which was putting extra weight on my crotch area.

All in all, lunch was fun.  It made me realize how much I miss my family back home in Regina.  This is a big year for us -- three 2010 babies!!  Next year's lunch date will be insane (or epic)!!!  Either way, I feel like I have to apologize to Jess a year in advance because there is no way for her to escape more baby-filled conversation.  Sorry Jessie!! Have I mentioned how awesome you are???  You're going to be a great super aunt to that Skolney baby!!! And, you can be a honourary aunt to my demon-child too!!!

It is almost a tradition (well, it has been two years running) that N's family comes to TO around Thanksgiving to visit.  Every time they have come, we have had mild and lovely fall weather and this year was no exception.

Ashley, our niece, will be three at the beginning of October and as a
result, we spent a lot of time getting aquainted with our local
playgrounds.

We also took them for a tour of our neighbourhood. 

Our most important task though, was to make birthday cupcakes because
there were two very important birthdays to celebrate.  I mentioned that
Ashley was set to turn 3, but N's mom also had a landmark year
approaching - 60!

Last but not least, we took in some fall fun by visiting a pumpkin farm!

All in all, it was a great visit!  We hope everyone comes back next year!!

To see the entire set of pictures from their visit, click here.

Another Thanksgiving has passed and once again I got out of having to cook a turkey!!  I really wish I could embrace my domestic side but alas it is not meant to be!  My mother-in-law, sister-in-law and niece all made the trek to Toronto for the long weekend.  They were more than happy to enjoy a few days of a spectacularly beautiful Ontario autumn.  Have a peek for yourself -- what would you choose:  a stunning sunshine-filled day walking along the banks of Lake Ontario or shoveling the snow off the driveway??  I know what I'd pick!