Christmas 2012

I'm back in Australia now after spending a month in Canada over the holidays.  It's been a great first year down under, as I love my job (collegial, dedicated co-workers), enjoy the climate (spider invasions and occasional heat waves & freezing nights excluded), and The Wife has adjusted after a tough first couple of months.  Still, I'd been looking forward to Christmas in Canada for months, and it didn't disappoint.  I'm a fast-food junkie, and there's so much I just can't get in Australia:  veggie burgers from Harveys & A&W; tofu teriyaki; Taco Bell, etc.  The prices on most things are so much lower in Canada, and there's more used book and DVD stores.  The grandparents were nice enough to watch Lan for a weekend so The Wife and I could spend a couple of days in Toronto, the first time we'd been alone together in months.  It was a good occasion to catch up with old friends, revisit old haunts, and generally enjoy what's probably my favorite city in the world.  The days running up to Christmas were great, as my Dad from Colorado came to visit, which was especially nice because I wasn't able to make it home for Thanksgiving.  Boomer, of course, had a great time over the holidays--sledding, opening gifts, and just being generally goofy and adorable.  My birthday was also a lot of fun--The Wife kept teasing me, because now that I've turned 35 my travel insurance has gone up $ 15!  But she was brave enough to join me and friends from Toronto and near Ottawa for some mini-putt and laser tag prior to the New Year's countdown.

Although it was hard to leave Canada, especially knowing I wouldn't see Boomer & The Wife again for three weeks (except via FaceTime), there's a lot I'd been looking forward to getting back to.  And on the long journey back, I had a day free in L.A. and got to take a short tour to see some things like Rodeo Drive, the Walk of Stars, Venice Beach, and more.


All in all, 2012 was a year of some major transitions, but they were worth it, and 2013 promises to be even better.