Introducing...

This is Moonsong Hasselbeck - my soon-to-be-in-Canada puppy. That's his official name, though I haven't settled on one. (Feel free to leave a comment with your suggestions) I was thinking maybe Scooby. Never met a real Scooby before, so ... OK, maybe not. The breeder, whose line of Chinooks is called "Moonsong", has named all the males in the litter after football players, since the sire was named Moonsong Brett Lambeau Leap. Yep. I'm getting me a little Favre. Oh, the humanity...
There are three other males in the litter: McNabb, Rothleisberggerser, and Palmer. Thank god there are no Brooks or Walters - I'd have to wait another year before getting a dog.

OK, down to the Christmas report...
Drove up from pops' house on Christmas Eve with my sister, through a blinding snowstorm that lasted from Hope to K-town. Of course, being the experienced, skilled and talented driver that I am, we made it in about four hours. I'm like a rock, baby...
Christmas Day came, and the cooking began. There were those who doubted my cooking ability, questioned my culinary manhood, even queried as to whether I knew how to use an oven or not. Yes, the haters were out in full Christmas effect.
But if my kitchen had been the Iron Chef, there couldn't have been a more dazzling display of dinner-making skills. The 14-pound fresh turkey (Thanks to Clancy's) came out of the oven with the meat practically falling off the bones. The stuffing was moist and delectable, the gravy thick and tasty, and the side dishes cooked to perfection. We had a mandarin-baked sweet-potato casserole (with a dash of rum), mashed yams, and green beans and carrots sauteed and baked in a brown sugar and apple sauce glaze.
Emeril who?
And I did all this despite the annoying and annual playing of my sister's favourite holiday movie, Love Actually. We were lucky there was no vomit in the food, as nauseous as that movie makes me. After dinner, it was back in front of the TV to watch one of my sister's favourite TV series, Firefly. I think you can see how most of the holidays were spent...
I did manage to catch a couple good movies, though. A couple must-sees: Blood Diamond, and The Pursuit of Happyness. One movie that I will NOT see will be Rocky: Part 1,032. I think Eddie Murphy said it best (see vid at end of post)
Didn't do much boxing week shopping, apart from a jacket and a tuque. I'm quite proud of myself, really. Usually I head into that Dec. 26-31 stretch already planning to spend what my April tax refund can cover. Almost.
Hit up Jen-Jefa's place on Boxing Night, had a few drinks, and whupped Keiron's ASS in Madden. Yep - I'm still the king.
Now I'm getting ready for New Years, which will be spent in Kelowna, after having received my MasterCard bill on Thursday. Apparently, my holiday spending exceeded my budget - by about the GNP of Kazahkstan. So I will be frugal like Borat on Sunday night, spending it holed up in my basement watching Times Square on TV.
Yeah. Right.

Mahalo!