Went to Butchart Gardens the other day and took this video on the new carousel. The last time I saw it, the structure was under construction. It is an impressive merry-go-round. If you ever have a chance, do check it out.

It is 2am. That is all I have to say. Silly pugs woke me up.

I hate losing things. I don't think many people do. You either freak out like a crazy person or you are grumpy with yourself or someone else. Today, I lost a gift card and a pug - and, lucky for me, it was only for about twenty minutes in both cases.

The first thing I lost was the gift card. It wasn't a $300 dollar gift card but it was enough to make me want to find it. I had it in my pocket the day before and then - poof - it was gone. A bit of searching and I located the card in my car. It wasn't easy to find but hard enough to force me to contort my body in a few positions that would even make me blush. It was under the driver's seat in the car and I then whisked off to the store to pick up some fancy gifts for myself.

I came home and decided to clean up the backyard of my parents home. It was neglected and needed a bit of a scrubbing. This made the pugs happy as they were able to run around the grass and patio and chase each other around in the brief sunshine. I was busy doing my thing when I realized I only had a single pug in the yard. This would not be cause for concern if Serendipity had escaped as she tends to stick around familiar surroundings. Faith, on the other hand, is an adventurer and incredibly trusting of other people - she also hasn't a clue about why cars are dangerous.

I was in panic mode within a micro-second. I was amazed at the level of control I was able to exert but it lasted only a few minutes until panic set in.

• Grab other pug.
• Toss pug into house.
• Close door.
• Leave backyard.
• No panic.
• Check street.
• Push panic away.
• Check front yard.
• Ask mail carrier if she saw a "stupid pug".
• Call the other half. Request back up.
• Panic laughs.
• No pug anywhere.
• Panic.
• Think about where a pug would go.
• Look in neighbour's backyard.
• Pug wiggles.
• Relief.
• Call off back up.
• Lock pug in house, cursing pug all the way.

There is my quick tale of woe. I am going to get back to the yard now but, wow, I love yet hate that feeling and had too much of both today. I think I will block up whatever part of the fence she discovered was open and inviting.

I just saw this short video and it brought back memories of 1996. It was an amazing and rare snow storm for Victoria dwellers and I am going to see if I can find any photographs from that time.

Many, many years ago, I remember waking up at 4:30am in order to get in line at A&B Sound's Boxing Day sale. It was quite the event and making sure you were in line as early as possible was critical to your (perceived) success. I remember waking up to a friend (the one who had a car) jumping up and down in front of my parent's living room window. We managed to wake up and fifteen minutes later we were in the A&B Sound line. I recall we were the tenth people in line and I felt like I was one of the coolest people in the world. I was filled with Christmas excitement. I was taking part in a tradition that has been going on for years and I was a part of the season - it meant something.

I was reminded of this story yesterday when I was trying to get active and leave the comfort of my parent's home (with pug cuddles) and head out to join in on some Boxing Day sales. I struggled against the warm and snoring pugs but I wasn't able to break free from their tractor beams until the early evening. I made it to a couple of stores and did pick up something useful but the magic was lost. It wasn't cool any more. It was just shopping with a bunch of other wandering zombies. I am sure there were people enjoying the experience but, somehow, I finally realized the miracle was dead. It clicked for me. The season of shopping on Boxing Day was gone and the infection had already spread to the rest of the holiday.

I have struggled the past couple of holiday seasons because I haven't felt excited. When I was seven, the holidays were exciting - I vibrated with anticipation. As the years went by, I was still able to hold on to that excitement. For example, only a few years ago, I remember driving on to the ferry to Victoria and I started to vibrate again! But the last couple of years have been very hard. I have to expend a lot of additional energy to get into the spirit of Christmas and it has taken me some time to realize why - the season of Christmas has lost its' soul. I am sure this is nothing new for a lot of people but, for me, I finally picked up on it. I used to love the holiday and wish I was celebrating with the most joyous part of it but, I can't lie, I haven't enjoyed the holiday to the fullest for a while. I thought it was that I had forgotten the "reason for the season" but that isn't it. It is because the commercial exploitation has tread over other holiday territory. This creep effect has killed the holidays for me.

In October 2010, about a week before Hallowe'en, I witnessed something horrible - a Canadian Tire employee hanging Christmas Tree ornaments on a Christmas Tree display. I mentioned it was October, right? I remember saying to whomever I was with: "Come on! It isn't even Hallowe'en!" I was shocked. I couldn't process how any one would think of setting up a Christmas Tree in October. I could understand maybe setting up a tree display in preparation for the holidays on November 15th or so but October 24th? I finally realized it is this type of behaviour has been eroding the special feeling that one gets during the holidays. I became frustrated as December drew near and declared that no Christmas carols would be played at the office until after December 1st. I thought this would help get me in the spirit when it was it was appropriate. I fast forward to November 10th, 2010 - in a Starbucks near my office. Christmas carols were played over and over again in the store. November? Are they serious?

I don't know what to do about this feeling I have that the world has gone commercially crazy. It has been going on for a long time but, wow, is it really that bad now? Have the retailers felt the pinch that much that they need to start advertising their wares in October? I am sure this is nothing new for a lot of you out there but, for me, it took until the feeling was stomped on one too many times. The sad thing is, when I left the store on the Boxing Day I woke up early, I only bought a couple of compact discs - one was AC/DC's Razor's Edge. I don't remember what the other one was but it was something significant. Most likely, it was a soundtrack to some movie that I love.

This season I decided to force myself to feel the spirit and start formulating a plan to claim Christmas back. One part of my plan is to make sure I blog throughout Christmas. What else can I do? Thoughts?

Good morning, everyone, and Merry Christmas to you. Yes, I did post something yesterday that covers the holiday but I must tell you one thing about the holiday season. I only just realized I had forgotten a ritual I particularly enjoy around Christmas - watching the Queen's Christmas broadcast. You can watch it below, if you like.

I have watched the Queen's broadcast for years but have missed many of them as well. With the Royal Family having their own Youtube channel now, I suspect we'll be able to see more messages like this and far more accessible than ever before. Lucky for us, you can watch all of her broadcasts here.

As I sit here with a cup of tea and a shortbread butter cookie, I am going down my list of things that I need to do before the holiday hits tomorrow.

• Nothing.
• Wrap presents.
• More nothing.
• Sleep.
• Open presents.
• Perhaps more nothing.
• Drink good coffee.

I love it when I come up with a list like that. I have very little to do for the next week (enforced, of course) and will be resting, reading, and doing a whole lot of nothing. I hope you all have a great holiday and are able to take a bit of time to do as much nothing as I am going to be doing.

I discovered the best candy store in the world today. For many years, I have tried to find one particular candy that my father adores and it seems to get harder each year to purchase it. This year, no one at all seemed to carry it. I was sad. I had looked in two cities but the candy cabal was against me. That was until I wandered through the Uptown Mall (of Zombie Apocolypse Doom) and found Candy Cures.

Holy awesome candy store, Batman. I waltzed in with very little hope that I would find what I wanted and I asked the question:

"Do you have (insert candy name here since my parents may read this) because I haven't been able to find it anywhere."

"Why, yes, we have some right beside you there. They are Dutch made."

I bought some immediately. The man in the store (one of the owners) was awesome! He had all kinds of candy knowledge and even gave me a free sample to try a different brand of lollipop. It was amazing.

Okay, enough praise. If you want candy and the knowledge to go along with it try them out.