Felt like I was coming down with something since the beginning of last week. Had aches and pains (non car accident and arthritis type) and was fatigued but was still able to function and go to work. Made it through Christmas Eve, Christmas and Boxing Day but became feverish on Dec. 27 with hot spells and cold shivers. Haven't had much energy to do anything and I cancelled all my volunteer shifts so I could rest up for Vegas.

Made the 12:30 boat to Nanaimo on Christmas Day. For some reason I only slept about 3 to 4 hours that day. Everyone was shocked I was on such an early boat. I took a nap on the boat - something I rarely ever do. Went and visited Uncle Johnny for a bit before going home. Curtis couldn't wait for me and already opened his presents : Actually it didn't feel weird not going over to "the house" for the first Christmas ever.

Nicole came over for a visit Boxing Day. Eliza came over Boxing Day and we went for dinner at MGM with Uncle Albert and Uncle Johnny.

Ray's sick and missed Christmas Eve at his parents' house. He was in bed when I left and is still in bed now.

Merry Christmas!

Ray's grandmother's funeral was today. I got off work at 12 noon and was lucky that a co-worker goes home that way and was able to drop me off in time. Got there just as the 2 limos were pulling in from Ray's parents' house.

There were traditions that I wasn't familiar with. The grandaughters and grandaughter-inlaws each wore a royal blue yarn flower in our hair held in with a bobby pin. These were put into the grave on top of the coffin after the service. We also had to burn fake lucky money in a barrel right beside the gravesite after the dirt and grass were put back. Kinda reminded me of when people are on strike and need to keep warm. The beautiful assortment of cascading flowers on stands were brought from the funeral hall and surrounded the gravesite in a U-shape. At the open end where there weren't any flowers we had to burn incense and put the stick into the ground. It was pouring rain. Was surprised the incense sticks were still glowing.

We went to a Chinese restaurant for the reception. At the end we got a flashlight, nice umbrella, 2 rice bowls and 2 sets of chopsticks. We turned on the flashlight as we went inside our place. Not sure why we had to do that but that's what we were told. Also got a red envelope with candy and money in it.

We go to the buddhist temple at 9am on Christmas Day for a ceremony. I'd better get lots of sleep tonight.

Saw the movie Aeonflux Friday night as King Kong was too busy. Didn't want to sit in the front row for a 3 hour movie. The ads for Aeonflux looked good and Charlize Theron does a great job. Especially when I keep flashing back to how much weight she put on for Monster. The special effects and fighting scenes are good - GIRL POWER - but the movie was disappointing. Yawn. Will hopefully see King Kong later.

Mmm, mmm, mmm! Yummy! It's Purdy's Hedgehog time!!!! I've had 6 since Friday. Haven't swayed from my self-imposed 2 per day limit, although I also had quite a few Purdy's miniatures the other day. I like the Hogs best right out of the fridge. I eat the outer layer first and then sink into the rest. Ahhh, then some soy milk to finish it off. Hot water is also good! After I finish off this box of 10 I have another box of 6. I guess I won't be losing any weight in December, oh well.

Played badminton last Sunday but didn't play Wednesday as I was too tired. Didn't do much this past week, just some walking.

Congratulations to the Arthrtis Society's Joints in Motion team at the Honolulu Marathon! Wish I could've been there with you. Monique Hurteau was in so much pain when she left last week and she finished the marathon in just over 8 hours!!! Even though she couldn't run it she must've walked. I checked online on the marathon's website to find out her time: www.honolulumarathon.org

Went to my brother and his girlfriend's housewarming party last night. He always has so many people at his parties. Considering they only moved Nov. 30 they worked really hard to unpack and get things ready.

Had a good week. Went on the treadmill for the first time since the car accident in June. Started doing the SportMedBC Walk 10K Training. I registered for one of the Sun Run Walk 10K training clinics that starts in January. Gotta get back into shape and lose about 10 to 15 pounds. The official training for the marathon will start in August or September. Hopefully my back and neck pain will stay under control and not take over.

Played badminton tonight without pain! Just had to stretch and take breaks and I was fine :) Put up the tree tonight. It's so beautiful - Ray surprised me with the tree a few years ago at the old place after coming back from Nanaimo at Christmas time. Put the star on and one strand of lights so far. Of course listened to the Elvis Christmas CD per tradition. Will put on more lights and ornaments later.

It's the last week of training for the Arthritis Society's Joints in Motion Training Team before they go to the Honolulu Marathon. I think they fly out on Thursday for the marathon on Sunday Dec. 11. Hopefully I'll be able to go next year. Good luck to all of them. Especially Monique who hasn't been able to do much running due to her whiplash injury from a few years ago. I think she just started running this year and was up to 13 miles in her training but had too much pain from her whiplash so had to start all over again. The training took quite a toll on her. Check out her website at www.movewithintegrity.ca - she is quite a trooper and an inspiration.

Went to Ariena's party last night. Was wondering how she was going to fit 17 people in her place. Turned out quite well as she has a lot of floor space for chairs. The windows were covered in condensation from all the people in there. Had a lot of fun playing Trivial Pursuit. Hadn't played for years. There were 13 of us broken down into groups of 3 and one group of 4. But the older team (Team Black) had the advantage since this game was from the late 80's. The Vancouver trivia questions had better odds for our Team Couch Potato as we were the youngest at the party. The 3 C's tried their best but ended up the losers. I wonder if any of the neighbours heard us as we were quite loud yelling, cheering and making a lot of noise. Didn't leave until close to 1:00 am.

Wrapped most of my Christmas presents last Sunday. Helped my brother move a carload on Tuesday night. That pretty much did me in as my back and neck were in a lot of pain the rest of the night. Had to take a lot of Advil. Felt bad that I wasn't able to help out with the big move on Wednesday but was at home recovering. Managed to go over in the afternoon but only moved a few little things downstairs.