The beginning of 2008

Well the first week of 2o08 has almost come to an end.
Let's recap:
New Year's Eve - we spent at Raju's friends (Josh and Carrie). We had a mellow evening with dinner and good conversation. However, we got tired and shortly after midnight headed home and were in bed by 1:00p.m. My parents on the other hand crawled into their bed at 5:00a.m.
New Year's Day - We woke up early (8:00a.m.) to no snow but by 8:45a.m. it really started to come down. Fortunately it calmed down by the afternoon for our traditional dinner with my Dad's family. It keeps getting bigger and bigger with new spouses and kids being added to the mix. Us cousins did our regular Kris Kringle exchange. Raju and I got a nice big skillet and kitchen towels and kitchen mittens. The kids this year also did a Kris Kringle. I think they were a little confused but were happy to open presents after Christmas just the same.
January 2nd - My birthday!!! I wasn't quite sure what to expect this year, but my husband had some tricks up his sleeve. The day started as usual, going to work etc. At 10:00a.m. I got a call from reception that a very pretty delivery had arrived for me. I went upstairs to pick up my roses and to be told that Raju had dropped them off personally. Funnily he did not stick around to stay hi so I called him on his cell where he continued to act very mysteriously.
On the way home, I stopped at the gym for a long overdue workout. When I got home, the house was clean and Raju was busy cooking in the kitchen. He had invited Diana, Caroline and Mahi over for dinner and made Tilapia covered with Macadamia nuts, mushroom risotto, grilled shrimp and zucchini and roasted cauliflower and broccoli - yummy!!!!
Jan. 4th - The birthday celebrations continued. It's been a long time since we had a night out so I decided that I wanted to go to CIRCA. I am so impressed that I managed to drink Rye and Coke, stay out until 2:00a.m. and did not wake up with a hangover. In fact I even made it to IKEA Saturday morning. Mind you then I came home and took a 3 hour nap :)
Today I went out to Hamilton to celebrate Fariena's birthday. Her actual birthday is on Tuesday but her mother-in-law wanted to have a nice dinner for all of us. She likes to entertain and it's been a while since we have been to her house. It was very tasty, lamb burgers, chicken, potato salad, crab pasta, green salad, crescent rolls. Next week it's back to the gym to work off all these holiday pounds.