Merry merry!

I'm home, alive, and skiinger than ever. I had a lovely time with the Kowgiers in Quebec; the mini-trip was a perfect balance of family, skiing, shopping and movies with wine. The only good ski day turned out to be Friday - it was cold enough, and a good base had been built on the mountain despite the lack of natural snow. Thanks to Matt's girlfriend Maria, the ski-instruction pressure was taken off me, and I was surprised that everything about moving around on skis came back to me quickly. The morning was spent on the greens, with a few blues thrown in for the challenge. Before lunch, Mark and I came across his parents, who succeeded in convincing me to try a black run (the same run I'd previously witnessed a spectacular wipe-out on). So, long story short, I skiied, skiied well, and skiied some black diamonds! Double-black, here I come.

Some photos:

Saturday was rainy and miserable, so I was able to rest on my superstar ski status from the previous day and go shopping. Mark's mom helped me find something nice for my mom, and aside for Mark (although now I have a plan), everyone is accounted for. We had a really nice night: dinner followed by Doctor Zhivago, and hugs all around.

I'm dreaming of a foggy Christmas?

Mark and I woke up EARLY on Sunday so that he could drive me back to Montreal. It was a slightly harrowing drive, not that we had problems, but we did see the tracks of a car that had run off the road. I called 911, and was transferred to a francophone who had no idea of what I was telling him. Eventually, an Eniglish speaker came on the line and I was able to give him an idea of where I saw it - hopefully everything worked out O.K. I definitely need to work on my French. We made it to the train station intact (despite going the wrong way on a one-way street) and I had a good trip home with my iPod, New Yorker (read! from start to finish!) and my Sunday Star.

Christmas at home has been really nice so far, and in about 5 minutes we'll be off to Newmarket for the big family dinner. More photos to come!

Finally, I wish I could say it in Polish... but to everyone: Have a very Merry Christmas, and I love you all :)