Great White North Christmas

To be honest I was dreading the 24 hour journey to Toronto and this may have been effecting my excitement levels.  But now I am so ridiculously excited to be here with Luis, Dad and the fabulous five.  There is a huge amount of snow and it looks like it will be a white Christmas.  Dad has done a lot of work to the house and it looks fantastic.  I slept through the night and feel ready to tackle the shops for Christmas stuff today. 

Luis has been doing a fabulous job here, cooking everyday, taking Dad out and seeing some of the fab five.  I am so lucky to have him!

Look at his tree! It is amazing, I did suggest a smaller one might be more appropriate but he insisted on 14 feet.  So happy he did now.

Maths Christmas BBQ

I have definitely landed on my feet where school is concerned.  I really just love it.  Like all schools it has somethings that need ironing out but on the whole it is pretty great.  And what makes it extra special is my department, I do not just sort of like each person but I genuinely think each one is fabulous.  In some instances we may have different views on teaching Maths but I respect and actually listen to all of them.  Last night we celebrated the end of term 1 at Tim's (head of Maths) house.  He also makes sausages and went out of his way to make pretty fabulous veggie ones for the few of us that are veggie.  It was a combined BBQ with the Science department and a very nice evening.

 Tim at the BBQ

 Two birthdays so I "made" a birthday cake

 (or bought one at Diary Queen)

Meanwhile in the Great White North Dad is being treated to breakfasts and home made dinners on his road to recovery.  Luis is even teaching him to play cuarentha as he has this ridiculous idea that he can beat me.  Unlikely!

First month casa luchanda

We have just finished our first month of Casa Luchanda.  And did I love having an Airbandb as much as I thought I would? Without a doubt!! I have loved it, missed our pool but so enjoyed meeting so many people.  We have had seven different nationalities (German, Greek, French, USA, Singapore, China, England) and I have so enjoyed chatting with all of them.  The six girls from China I just loved, they asked me if they could have six as they are just little.  They were so sweet and even brought us gifts from China.  We now have many more places in the world to visit.  Casa Luchanda is now all closed up for the holidays, Luis has already jetted off to Canada and I follow this week.  We have had a great first term in Thailand and I cannot wait to see what next year brings!

 They took photos before they left and even gave us one for our fridge.

 Luis and Lola packing together

Luis made it safely to Canada after a 24 hour flight to snow!  So exciting!!

Christmas Halloween Party

Last night we attended the postponed Halloween party (due to King's death) and as Christmas is around the corner they decided to combine the two events.  It was a great night and I must say I am pretty proud of myself.  I think I take after my idol Madonna, both so youthful no matter our ages.  Some people made Friday night, some Saturday night but if they went to both must ducked out early last night.  In fact actually I am the only one who did all three nights out (wine night being on Thursday).   With forty quickly approaching I think this a pretty good effort.  And we were up at the crack of dawn to get things ready for our upcoming trips. Not bad at all!

 Some did Halloween.

 Some did Christmas.

 A little card game.

   We finished the night, again, with some pretty amazing karooke and a little bit of dancing.   

There is Winning and Then There is Winning

I am no stranger to winning at Ecuador's national card game, in fact I would go as far to say I win 80% of the time (Luis would probably object to this). But not often do I win how me and Kim did last night.  We took on the boys and well to say we beat them is an understatement.  But we did not rub it in too much as we did victory dances and victory laps around the house.  It really is just such a great game.  We then went to watch a staff members band at a bar down the road.  We had missed the band though and they were now onto some pretty horrendous karoke.  But it was a still a fabulous place (super cheap white wine, always a winer!)

 First we had some delicious tacos

 Look at the unhappy face as we racked up the points

 Winners!

 Kim taking a funny selfie that I am sure she was hoping did not end up on here!!

What a great night we had!

Christmas Bubbles

Generally I could always do with some bubbles in my life, but yesterday I needed them.  Just one of those weeks.  The green machine is seriously sick and with some other financial pressures this is not great news.  Of course, we will sort it out and it is not the end of the world just a minor set back.  Trying to get ready to leave next week and ensure Lola is all taken care of another slight stress.  So yep, I definitely was ready to have a glass of bubbles with some lovely ladies.  We were a small group this time, people are all feeling the last week of term rush.  It was lovely, the bubbles were great, the people lovely and the headache real.

 Till next year ladies!!

Bye Bye Cozier

Craig is sadly on his way back to India, his plane leaving in about an hour.  He must be sitting at the airport right now looking outside and feeling a little frustrated.  Predictably it is beautiful sunshine today, so annoying!
However, we had a fabulous time anyways despite the weather trying to sabotage his mini holiday and hopefully he will come back to see all the sights next time in the sunshine.
We spent the last evening out for dinner at a restaurant we had heard lots about but not been to yet.  It was super yummy and really for the first time put my no fish eating to a serious test.  We then returned back to the casa to try and solve all the problems of the world.  Sadly, we did not complete all as I had to work today and 1am was my limit.  Another reason for a return trip.

 We were all team Ecuador for a day, but still had the Bajan flag flying

 This looked ridiculously good

And this is the sunniest day we have had since last Wednesday, the day before Craig arrived!