Love and Joy and Waffles Come To You

It's undeniably Christmas. The Christmas spirit takes a little work to generate in Halifax. I know I knock Edmonton a lot, but it's not hard to feel Christmasy in that city, when it's blanketed with snow and all the twinkly lights are reflected in the drifts at night. In Halifax, all the lights are ripped down by windstorms and it's pointless snuggling in front of the fire with mulled wine when it's 12 degress and raining outside. My point being, I tend to throw myself into Christmas-themed things this time of year.

 This year, I started with the Christmas Parade.  The following weekend, Other Auntie and I went to the annual Christmas craft fair at Dalplex. Dalplex is Dalhousie's gym facility. The last time I was inside was 2005, and I was writing an exam. I can't remember which exam. I can't even remember what I took my last term at Dal. Anyway, I was worried I'd suffer location-induced exam stress just from being there, but that didn't happen. After the fair, we met the kids and their parents for the Citadel's Victorian Christmas. I'd never done the Victorian Christmas, and while it's geared more towards kids, I want to go back again next year. I like historical re-creations, especially ones that involve cider and bayonets. Also, the Citadel is a great location, and offers great views of the city.

Last weekend was the Dartmouth Tree Lighting. I went with Other Auntie. It was insane. It was high-child-density chaos. Kids everywhere. I mean, yeah, of course there's going to be kids there, but god. So many children. I literally almost stepped on one kid's face as he was throwing himself around on the ground. The tree lighting was a bit of a let down. Any one-second event with a two-hour lead up is bound to be anticlimactic. The fireworks afterwards, however, were kick-ass. Even the most jaded, child-hating, anti-Christmas person in the audience would have to admit, they were surprisingly good.

I don't know if everyone else is in the Christmas spirit yet, so to help you along I'll first recommend the genius Christmas episode of Community that aired this week (Community freaking rocks. If you're looking for a Christmas present for yourself, get the first two seasons on DVD). Secondly, I'll point you to the videos below which come from my most favourite Christmas Special ever. Seriously, my little heart broke when they stopped airing this on TV.