Thanksgiving and after...

Well, well, well, the book I just finished, "The Finkler Question" by Howard Jacobsen, just won the Manbooker prize, and I'd say it is an excellent book too! I wish I could do it justice with a bit of a review, but no time for that right now.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. Nicole, Troy and Gala came over on Sunday for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Nicole cooked the turkey and they wrapped it in a beach blanket and brought it over in a wagon. It was pretty funny, and an excellent idea (they only live a few blocks away). And it was a delicious turkey too. We made some veggies and an apple crisp (crumble to you English folk) for dessert/pudding. It was all very yummy, one of the best Thanksgiving meals we have had. As friends, we are just getting to know each other, so it was a good time to share a delicious meal, drink some red wine and get acquainted. The girls played non-stop (when they weren't sneaking into the kitchen to steal the "crumble" off the top of the desert...and leaving a trail of crumbs all over the kitchen floor).

I drank a good bit of wine and had quite a decent glow going. Bronwyn kept insisting I was drunk. In actual fact I don't think she has ever seen anyone drunk, unless you count Dumbo in the movie (oh yeah, and Luke the muskrat in "The "Rescuers" ). So she is no-one to judge. But it was like having my conscience around, or else being a teenager again and hoping I didn't get found out!

On Sunday we took a drive to Steveston. We stocked up on Walkers crisps at the British Home and took the kids to the playground. Steveston boasts one of the best kids playgrounds around. The day was a tad chilly, but the kids had fun and that is the point. Still, a playground is a playground and so the few parents that were there stood around getting cold and bored and slowly losing their will to live (some may be familiar with my dislike of playgrounds in general). But all in all a good day.

Yes, I know...I'm really cute!

Bronwyn prefers to climb on the outside of equipment...

On Wednesday we had our family bi-annual visit to the dentist for a check-up. River was amazing. He sat in the chair (after a good deal of time playing on the chair, while the dentist moved it up and down etc., and messing with the light), and had his teeth counted, checked and (most surprising of all) cleaned! He even allowed the technician to use the saliva sucking thing. We were very proud. Bronwyn is a veteran with the dentist. However, she needs a couple of fillings...oops. We'll see how that goes.

Sleepover at Michelle's tonight...yay! To quote Michelle in her email to me confirming our evening: "Will we do as we usually do? You come at the normal time (or earlier if you can), we drink, order dinner, drink, watch movies, drink, eat some snacks, drink, watch some infomercials, drink, sleep." Ahhh....yes...and Bronwyn won't be around to tell on me!

And Trini gets back from her trip to England/France this weekend. It will be good to catch up and see how it went. I spoke to my mum who said they had a great time. Seems like they retraced the steps that Bronwyn and I took in June. She also said that mine and Trini's trips this year emphasised how much she missed us. And how much of our lives she missed and all the things that we don't get to do together, that we otherwise would if we lived over there. But nostalgia can be a tricky demon and I wonder if we'd really do that much together even if we lived in England. For sure we wouldn't be living in Grimsby or Cleethorpes. That said there is a lot that we've missed out on, with all the family and friends back home. Bittersweet, I suppose. As I have said before, it is not easy to live so far from family. But we all have our journeys to make. Bronwyn keeps telling me that she's going to live in England when she grows up. Not if I have anything to do with it!!