What's Up Wednesday: December 2025

It's my last blog post of the year, and it's fitting that it's a "What's Up Wednesday" post. This will give you a great summary of our last month. Spoiler alert: It's been a full one! (Also, I don't know if the hosts are posting today, but I love writing these posts anyways.)

Answering these questions monthly helps me reflect on the past month and I really appreciate having a record of what we've been up to. The questions come from Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too.

image from here

 

What we're eating this week... We've been eating all the Christmas/Channukah treats this month. Latkes, cookies, nuts and bolts -- so much yummy food!!!

My parents flew out on Christmas Eve. They're going to be living at our neighbours' for a bit. Mom brought two jars of carrot pickles in her luggage and Sam and I devoured them within a few days. I didn't think I would get any carrot pickles this December and, between flying to Saskatchewan for dad's surgery and Mom bringing some jars, I think I've eaten more than my fair share! Hahaha!!!

 

Also, Sam made Portuguese tarts. He said he's been wanting to make them since we visited Portugal this past summer and he finally got a chance to do it. They were delicious!!! I'm so impressed by his cooking/baking skills and can't wait to see what he brings home from his Culinary Arts classes next semester.

 

What I'm reminiscing about... I've been reminiscing about the first time Mom & Dad lived at our neighbours' house in January - March 2022. This is their third stint here and it's been so fun for all of us!

 

 

What I'm loving... I'm loving these lazy days of hanging out in pjs, eating good food, doing puzzles, and just generally being able to relax. We've watched a lot of movies, had a lot of laughs, and have enjoyed being together with very few plans.

 

What we've been up to... December was full!!! 

I flew to Saskatchewan for my dad's hip replacement surgery. It went well and he is doing great! 

We celebrated Channukah and made it a priority to light the candles every single night. We also attended our public "Channkuah in the Square" lighting, went to one Channukah party, and celebrated with Dave's family. 

We watched Sam play in his last game of soccer in this league. You can only play until the end of the year you turn 16. Now we have to find elsewhere for him to play.

Our Christmas/Channukah gifts this year were very random and focused on "experiences" rather than "things." Rachel really wanted a Highland cow for the holidays (so practical these teenagers are), so we went to a farm where she could pet one. When the farm owner found out this was Rachel's gift, he was so kind to take some really great pictures of us with one. Rachel was blissfully happy!

In lieu of our regular gift exchange with Tim and Janice and family, we all met up at a bookstore, picked out a book each, got Starbucks, and went around the table explaining why we had chosen what we had. We're hoping to get together in a few months to discuss if we liked our books! This was so much fun!!! We also bumped into each other as we were picking our books and had great conversations. 

Rachel and I got together with Janice and Tessa and baked four different kinds of cookies in one afternoon. Janice had found material to make matching aprons (and she bought us matching socks from Target as well!) and it was so fun!!! 

 

Rachel and I did errands for two days straight to get ready for Christmas and then turned our neighbours into a festive house! We had to buy some presents on Mom and Dad's behalf, we did groceries, we got a Christmas tree, we decorated, and we did some baking. It was a full but fun three days! 

 

And we celebrated Christmas with Mom & Dad! We attended our Christmas Eve service (Sam, Rachel, and I played chimes and Dave played guitar), we toasted with prosecco, we ate appetizers, and we've just enjoyed being together.

 

What I'm dreading... Our kitchen and bathroom are getting demolished on Monday. 'Nuff said :)

What I'm working on... We've been working on a lot of puzzles this month. And the plan for today is to do another one.

 

Yesterday, Mom, Dad, Rachel, and I went to our house and packed up a chunk of the kitchen. We've got a bit more to do and then we have to move all the boxes out of the house. So I've also been working on that.

 

What I'm excited about... The reno!!! They built the addition this month!!!

And look at the powder room! The floor is installed (and I LOVE it!) and the rest is going in soon!!! Whooo hoooo!!!

I'm also excited that Sam and Rachel decorated our tree together without fighting. Hahaha!!!

 

What I'm watching/reading... We've been watching all the Hallmark Christmas movies. We also watched Home Alone. As for reading, I'm working my way through my Jólabókaflóð book, Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal by Meghan Quinn. It has funny Home Alone references so I'm happy we watched it a few days ago.

What I'm listening to... The wind howling. The weather here has been extremely wintery. We've had a lot of snow and it's been very windy.

 

What I'm wearing... Besides my holiday apron, pictured above, I've also been wearing my new Sorels (they're shorter than my Bogs and I'll use them for errands, to wear to church, or to drive Rachel to dance), and my new Target socks.

 

 

What I'm doing this weekend... We're transitioning back to reality. I'm hoping to make one last meal in our (very stripped down) kitchen and we're having dinner with a friend.

What I'm looking forward to next month... Our church's Winter Retreat. Celebrating Dave's birthday. January tulips! Seeing our kitchen come together <--- hopefully that will be starting to happen in January. And, of course, spending lots of time with my mom and dad.

 

So that's what was up with us in December -- lots of celebrating in the midst of renovations and lots of time with friends and family. Happy last day of 2025 everyone!

10 On The 10th: December 2025

It's been a bit since I've done a "10 on the 10th." In October, I did take ten pictures but they were mostly of the Blue Jays game we attended when they played in the ALCS and I used many of them on my "What's Up Wednesday" post for October. In November, I forgot to take pictures until the evening, and as it was a work day, it was a rather boring day. However, December was a work day too, but I managed to get at least ten photos, so here they are.

It was a "bus cancellation" day and my walk to work was pretty with all of the fresh snow.

Due to the "bus cancellation" day, an event at work for students was cancelled so we got to eat the doughnuts that had been purchased. Yum! This kept me going through three hours of doing attendance. On a regular day, I can get it done in less than an hour.

I'm reading this book about Premier League football on my lunch break and it's way more interesting than I anticipated. Also, we're already into the "not spending a lot of time in the kitchen" part of the renovation so my lunch was a bagel and cream cheese.

The snow looked really pretty on my ornaments. I got these hung on the tree the night before I flew to Saskatchewan, with Rachel's help!

One of our construction guys framed the wall for the powder room. This was exciting!

They also dug more of the trench in the basement for plumbing.

This will be our new living room next year! I love seeing how I'll be able to see my solar lights at night from the living room!

Thanks to the nasty weather, we made a pasta casserole for supper. It was warm and delicious.

Afterwards, we all stood in the kitchen and watched Sam touch the ceiling, with ease. He barely had to jump to get his hand flat. Craziness!

And we finished our new festive puzzle!

 

So that was our December 10th -- work, weather, and warmth! In 2026 I hope to be a little more consistent with my "10 on the 10th" posts. We shall see if that happens :) 

Hip Hip Hooray!

At the beginning of December, I flew to Saskatchewan for a few days to support my parents as my dad had hip replacement surgery. We were all so excited that his surgery was scheduled for before Christmas! This was my first time flying on my own since 2017 so it felt very strange to only have to worry about myself at the airport.

I arrived at the airport nice and early, got myself a Starbucks, and settled down to wait.

My flight was a little delayed, and Dad's surgery happened early, so by the time Mom picked me up, the surgery was done and Dad was in recovery. Mom and I went out for lunch and I had to take a picture of this very Saskatchewan looking stained glass window.

 

We spent time at the hospital in the afternoon and Dad was in fine spirits. My uncle and my cousin stopped by to visit so I got to see some family too. Mom and I watched a Hallmark movie in the evening and went to bed early. It had been a long day. 

The next morning I had coffee-hot chocolate from the fancy machine and admired the arrangement Mom had made for the bathroom. I thought the white carnations and the greenery were so pretty.

Santa brought Dad a new hip as an early Christmas gift. Whooo hooo!!!

We were also excited that Dad was home within 24 hours! It's so much better to recuperate at home.

We even created a new drink called the "Hip Hip Hooray!" It is a G&T with a shot of Mom's homemade sour cherry vodka and some vodka soaked cherries in the bottom. It was very good!

 

I tried to help Mom as much as I could so throughout the weekend I did dishes, helped with some laundry, took over dispensing Dad's meds to him (I only screwed up once and gave him his painkillers too close together -- I'm not a nurse or a pharmacist. Ooops.), encouraged Dad in doing his exercises, and did some shovelling. 

Dad decided he was the only one who could cook the shrimp properly so he stood at the stove for a few minutes.

I enjoyed more than my fair share of carrot pickles and delicious oatmeal.

On Sunday afternoon another aunt and uncle came to visit so it was nice to see them. And Dad even made his way downstairs to watch a couple of Hallmark movies.

Monday morning I was back at the airport, with another Starbucks in hand, waiting to catch a flight home.

As I walked onto the plane I saw my cousin's husband sitting in business class. We met up at the airport and had a quick catch up. It was so good to see him, even briefly.

I got home early afternoon and caught up with Sam and Rachel. While it was good to be home again, I'm so thankful I was able to be in Saskatchewan for Dad's surgery. It went really well! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers during that time. I really appreciated them.