Christmas

The week of Christmas started off stressful. About a week and a half earlier, my car broke down. It would've cost $500 to maybe get it running somewhat reliably, but there still would've been a major coolant leak in the head. So I decided not to get it fixed. I borrowed my parents' car for a couple days, then I spent the weekend in Calgary (I took the bus), and then I rented a car for a week. The next weekend, I picked out a car and I picked up the car on Christmas Eve. Meanwhile, I had some Christmas shopping to do.

The Cavalier and I had some good years together. She carried me 80,000 km, to various jobs, to Colorado and back, and to Fort McMurray and back quite a few times. Now I have a Neon (one of the newer ones, so it should be fairly reliable), and it has a manual transmission, so I'm getting lots of practice with that.

Once Christmas came, I was relieved. The urgent items were taken care of. I got to celebrate the birth of Jesus with a lot of my relatives, and my girlfriend (yes, I have a girlfriend now) spent a few days in Edmonton starting on Boxing Day. We had some quality time together and she got to meet lots of my relatives. They seem to get along well.

Later in the week, I got to see my friends who moved to Toronto a couple years ago. I've seen them a couple times since they moved, but this was their first time back to Edmonton since they moved.

I'm sure some new stresses will come soon, and I know there are some things I need to get done in the near future. But it's been a good break, and I really feel blessed to have all these people in my life.