Kelly Date December 28, 2009

HAPPY HOLIDAY ! ! !

I would have to admit that being away from my family at Christmas was very different and I missed everyone very much.

However, I made it through the holiday with the help of some very kind people in Wolfville who invited me for dinner on Christmas day. And, a fine dinner it was too.....lobster thermador, rissotto rice, salad, and plumb pudding with hard sauce.

It was actually amazing and I ate way too much. Good wine, good company, and good food made for a great day that went much more quickly than I thought it might. I think the 'hard sauce' was my favourite lol. I had never had it before and could have eaten a whole bowl all to myself. A happy thank you to Susan and John for sharing the holday with me!

Actually, most of the day was spent chatting with people on the phone, skype, or ichat. Chelsey, Celise, and Carissa also had a good Christmas and spent the day with friends and loved ones. They also liked the presents I had sent - pictures of my trip across Canada and the States. I received cards and pictures and letters from home, which were much appreciated. I didn't get many pictures as it has rained so much these past few days. In fact it is pouring right now and doesn't seem to be letting up at all.

I did get pictures of a snow storm a few days ago of several decorated homes in the area. Some of the homes

here are quite pretty and the snow storm made them look amazing. You can see the Christmas trees decorated outside and one fellow almost invisible in the snowy landscape.

I trust you all had a wonderful holiday as well and looking forward to an amazing new year. I know I am.......

Kelly Date December 20, 2009

HAPPY HOLIDAY TO YOU AND YOURS ! ! !

Hello, I have to finish up the blog yet, but waiting to get one more thing finished......I do have a picture though of Mr. Finnigan's new boots. I can assure you he was none too pleased by the addition to his feetware lol. It was so funny to watch him try and flap them off; wouldn't put one foot down or the other. Then we went for a walk and he kinda got it sorted around. He was doing quite well with the new equipment by the time we got home. The next night he did much better with his walk and seemed much happier with his warm feets. Ha, such a cutie.

This week will be taken up with work on my thesis proposal. I have been gathering journal articles that speak to Aboriginal and Indigenous tourism, community development, and related issues to ecotourism. It's actually quite interesting and there is a lot of discourse about the impact on social policy of tourism development. I've read a number of article on circumpolar tourism and related background material on Nunavut's history and present day development, or rather non-development in some instances, of their tourism industry.

Other than work I have been low key what with the snow and everything. Mr. Finnigan and I have been managing walks and still jogging, but the snow and ice has kept us somewhat homebound. I've watched some movies, a bit of television, but of course some reading. It will be a great Christmas week and I was happy to hear back that all of my presents had actually arrived and unbroken. Yes! I guess my extra care and effort to wrap the gifts really well paid off.

I will be having Christmas dinner with Susan and John Markham-Starr. They are serving lobster - wow - and I am to bring dessert wine, myself, and Mr. Finnigan to the festivities. This of course means that I have to get out and go shopping asap and pick up a few gifts. Should be fun! Bye for now....ho ho ho!

Kelly Date December 14, 2009

It's Sunday evening 12:04a.m. and I've just finished my last paper. Yea. However, given the lateness of the hour I plan on updating the blog in the morning. I'm too tired just now to give it a go with any umph at all. Until tomorrow.....

Considering I was up so late last night I surprised myself by being awake at exactly 8:18 and ready for the day. Slept like a baby. Yesterday, I had asked the English professor if he would edit my paper for grammar and technical errors, which he kindly agreed to do. I met him at the little coffee shop at the far end of town and had just settled in to work when about 10 carollers came around the front of the building and sang a Christmas song for us. That was the very first time I had ever seen anyone do this and it was so very nice.

There were two very young children at the front who stood quite close to the glass with big smiles. They were so cute, but since I didn't have my camera with me I decided to use the built-in camera in my laptop to snap a picture. As you can see they were adorable.

My other Christmas moment was when Doreen, my 86 year old landlady, put up the tree last night. Her son, Jim, brought it by for her that afternoon and called it a 'ditch' tree of little or no value whatsoever. I beg to differ. Doreen dragged out what few decorations she had and one string of small red lights and fancied it up all by herself.

I was huddled in my room working and didn't realize she was quite so busy. When she finished she was quite pleased with herself and came to get me so I could see for myself. So, I turned out the living room lights and after some fiddling around she succeeded in getting the tree lights working. Perfect! She had managed to get the ornaments placed all round the tree nicely but the lights were mostly on the bottom to the left. I love it and is quite possibly the best tree I've ever seen.

These things have decidedly put me in the Christmas spirit and suddenly it actually feels like that time of year. I will spend the remainder of this week doing some marking and getting busy with my thesis proposal. In addition, I plan on getting out with the camera to get some photos of the snow when it gets here. Ha, I hadn't anticipated a green Christmas here in Nova Scotia, but it is a possibility seeing as it rained last night.

Have a fabtastic day and merry ho ho ho.

Kelly Date December 6, 2009

Hi again. It's been a fairly hectic week for me, but I was able to get out and have a little fun over the weekend. The best thing was that it snowed finally. On Saturday evening the 5th of December it actually rained until very late at night and Mr. Finnigan and I woke up to a blanket of white outside on Sunday morning. Mr. Finnigan was none too impressed and his usual lazy wandering and sniffing lasted mere seconds by comparison.

With Christmas just weeks away I managed to get most of my cards written and even a few gifts wrapped and ready to post. It's funny, but I started getting things together rather early this year and here I am again scrambling to get everything in the mail on time. I had good intentions, but somehow they escaped me again. Oh well, by the time I'm completely done I will be no doubt be vowing to do a better job next year lol.

This week will prove a bit quieter for me as far as my assignments and classes are concerned. I've almost completed everything and I'm hoping to turn my attention to some photography. It's a changing scene outside with the snow and I want to make sure to capture it. I would really like to catch a sunset over the little swimming hole at some point. I think it would

be very pretty this time of year. However, I plan on getting a lot accomplished over the break as well and get a head start on some of the work for next semester.

Sorry for being a bit late getting the blog finished. I got caught up messing around on the computer with Randy last night.

Have a great week.