I am still feeling the effects of last weekends relaxing jaunt to Point No Point. Because of that, I am only now getting pictures together for the web. The pictures from last weekends trip to Point No Point are now up.

What a weekend. As a Christmas present to me, Sox booked us in to Point No Point for a weekend. It was just what I needed. I’ve had a hellish few weeks, so the chance to get away from everything and spend some time with my wife relaxing, was sublime. The Eagle cabin (our usual) was gorgeous as usual. Overlooking the water we could hear the surf all weekend. Sox had to refrain from the hot tub this time, but I managed to get in a couple good soaks.

On Saturday we took a side trip to French beach, then back up to Sharky’s in Jordan River for some hot chocolate. Later, I took a hike on the Point No Point trails while Sox napped. Saturday night we ate dinner at the resort, and it was fabulous as always.

With some reluctance on Sunday we packed our belongings and headed home. I definitely felt relaxed and refreshed after the weekend. Back at home we dove into the continuing paint job. Hopefully we can finish this up quickly.

Ahh Home Depot. I could see myself spending lots of money there. Wait, I just did. Sox and I decided that we need to spruce up the shack a little so we decided to paint. In retrospect we should have asked our landlord for some money for paint, but we didn’t.

I know people complain about big box stores, and I know I should help the local economy but the store is pretty convenient. Add on some knowledgable staff, and we are set for painting this weekend.

We still have some prep to do before we can actually paint, and I hope I can get it done before the work party starts. Washing the walls sucks big time. With that out of the way we will be able to spackle and sand.

If anyone is interested in joining the work party, we would be grateful, and you will be full of food and beer. Just let me know.

Christmas this year was pretty awesome. Sox, her mum, and I joined my sister and my mom at mom’s newly renovated house in Nanaimo. We went up on the 24th, spent a lazy day with the dogs

ate some yummy food

and dreamed of what was under the tree for the next day.

Christmas morning we opened our stockings, played with the toys inside, ate a fabulous eggs benedict breakfast, then settled into opening the gifts.

It was a pretty tiring morning.

Games and fun were had.

Christmas dinner was yummy.

Soon it was time to turn in.

Boxing day Sox and I took Yoshi for a walk on the beach,

enjoyed the sunset,

then loaded our car and headed off to Powell River to visit her dad and step-mom.

On the 27th we took the dogs for a walk around Mud Lake. Very lush and wet forest.

The 28th saw us board the ferry

for the return trip to the island, and the drive home. Very relaxing and fun despite the amount of travelling in such a short time.

Some tidbits for my neglected blog.

Friday at work there was a bit of a celebration for the team members who worked on one of the projects that our customer GA’d. The celebration was an indoor rock climbing session at CragX here in Victoria. I hadn’t been climbing there in close to 10 years I think. It certainly was a blast. We had a couple hours to play there, and I made the most of it. By the time we were ready to leave, my arms were pretty fried. The last climb I attempted I got up about 10 feet, then my arms gave out, and I came down to the ground (quickly). The belayer wasn’t expecting that, and by the time the slack was taken up by the rope stretching, my harness was pretty tight, and my tippy toes were just barely touching the ground. Yowch. Back at the office, typing was quite difficult. My fingertips felt like they had been sandpapered off. Very odd feeling.

Saturday I had a course I signed up for. An 8 hour long Photoshop course. I got a lot out of the course, but I think a couple of the other people in the class got pretty lost by the end of it. For me, it was a great way to complement, and pull together all the knowledge I already had. Photoshop has some pretty powerful features. I currently use PaintShop Pro at home, but I think that translating what I learned will not be that difficult. Some of the info on color management will be put on hold until I start printing at home

Sunday I had a great mountain bike ride with Yoshi and a couple other people. Not a very long ride, but it had been a while since I had been out. Yoshi certainly enjoyed it.

Tonight was the annual trip to Butchart Gardens to see the lights. A little wet, but the nice thing was this kept the crowds down. Each year there is something different. The have finished the 12 days of Christmas, so this year they added an outdoor skating rink.

I originally wanted to have separate entries for all of these, but I am running out of steam. The Christmas season is catching up to me, and I am definitely ready for a break.

This is how my family spent a chilly winter Thursday night.

Cozy, warm, toasty, relaxing. Definitely needed after a rather brutal work week.

Now I am off to bed early. Novel concept.