It's Christmas time!

This year we are spending Christmas with our families, just before leaving.  It is always fun to celebrate with our loved ones during this special moment of the year. This year my dad and his partner came to visit early and a few days after my mom and my grand-mother. It was fun to have them close to me, in Quebec City.  They couldn't stay with us, the house isn't in a sleep-over state, but a good friend works at the Chateau Laurier, so he managed to get us had a great room overlooking the St-Laurent river. Thanks Guy! We visited the old city, had dinner at Bistro B and Cosmos Cafe.  In the morning I made them brunch. Good times before saying goodbye.

This Christmas we are with my in-laws in St-Pascal, just north of Kamouraska.  It seems like we just eat, play cards, eat, nap, eat and drink.  I need to finish this post quickly because I want to regain my position of President at a game of Trou-de-cul! Fun times!

This made me think of past Christmas and future ones to come. When you live away from your family, spending Christmas with them is a choice. It is not an easy choice to make, because you want to be with your family, but traveling over Christmas is a big production. Flying during this period is never easy and not the cheapest time. You want to visit both families, if not more with the reconstructed families. Then there is the car rental, the winter driving, the temporary bed in all the places visited, etc. A few years ago I felt like touring across Quebec. I even received a touring t-shirt from a friend! The cost (time & money) of visiting during Christmas is high. So over the past years when I was living in Vancouver, I spent a few Christmas on my own, away from my family. 

There are two things that come to mind when I think about those times. Vancouver is a ghost town on Christmas day.  Seriously a ghost town. There is no one in the city. Everything is close. The 1st time I spent Christmas alone ('02), I just landed in Vancouver and the only thing open was a Subway. Very tasty Christmas dinner! Later on I discovered that movie theaters are opening at noon and everybody is in Whistler. Christmas in Whistler is a lot of fun!


The second things, which is awesome, is that as soon as you start having a few local friends, they invite you over.  Even if you don't know them a lot, they invite you in their families for dinner. It seems like there is a tradition of not letting friends alone on Christmas. Probably because Vancouver is a transient city, with a lot of newcomers, people think of others' situation. I don't see this as much here in Quebec.  Probably because I have my family here. But this made me think of those who I know are not local and I make sure they are not alone. In fact, on most holidays, you either get invites to join a friends with their family or you get an invitation to an orphans dinners. Easter, Thanksgiving. I ended up having memorable Christmas diner this way.


Well I miss my turn at a game of trou-de-cul.  Now it is 500! 


Merry Christmas everyone.

All I want for Christmas is a transporter

After the public announcement of our departure with the 1st blog post, I realized there were plenty of relatives and friends I wish I could have taken the time to tell in person instead of via a blog post.


I wish I had the chance to visit everyone. Go see them at their new house, newly renovated apartment, see their kids, or sit down in a coffee shop, around a nice meal and a great bottle of wine and talk. But I couldn't get to it. Busy personal/professional life, schedule conflicts and different cities. 


We were living in Quebec City and most of my relatives and long time friends are in or around Montreal. It has been a pleasure to tease them about the Habs, the mayor Tremblay or the road conditions, but even an easy 3 hour drive is just enough to make it think twice about a quick back and forth the same day.  You can't go just for a coffee and come back.  It has to be an entire day thing. It's frustrating because it's so close.  You don't need to take a plane. When I think about it. I saw my mom 4 or 5 times this year, compared to 2 or 3 times when I was living in Vancouver.  So then why not live in Vancouver?


The other main reason why I couldn't tell earlier is that as a team manager I wanted to make sure I was leaving my current company and my team in a good condition.  Making sure they where in good hands and on a good path.  So I had to tell everyone just a week before my last day. I'm sure my friend Liza Wood know what I'm talking about. She has a good blog about management, process and leadership.  And now these days the only way to keep something out of the public is not to tell anyone.  Because soon enough it ends up on Facebook.  


So all I want for Christmas is a transporter