Little update

Not too terribly much has been going on up here lately. My birthday was Wednesday last week, and it was really nice what with the presents and the delicious Indian dinner we had. Although a box arrived for me on Monday, peer pressure kept me from opening it until my actual birthday! Mom and dad sent pretty much everything I asked for, plus a few extras for David, too! David got me a gorgeous necklace which I have been wearing pretty much constantly. I tried to take my own picture of it, but you know how it is with jewelry and poor lighting... so here's a pic compliments of Amazon.com!



I think mine is prettier though. I haven't yet had cause to wear the winter boots Hazel and Derek got me as an early birthday present during their visit here, but the way the weather is acting, it can't be long before I'll need those insulated flat boots!! It's a whopping 25.2 degrees right now, and should get down to around 16 overnight. In terms of weather, I think that moving to Montreal from Arkansas must be kind of like how you supposedly feel when you have your first child - you think you know what it (the winter) is going to be like, until it actually starts, and then you realize how totally unprepared you are!! Thankfully we only have to deal with one of those issues at the moment. (; Because of the wind today though, I was inspired to get a hat on my way home, and I'm glad I had it! It is very blustery, and the wind chill can be awful outside.



Despite the impending cold, we are enjoying the season here. The first Christmas lights I saw in town went up two days before my birthday (which seemed very early to us)! Here's a blurry pic of the lights that went up first on Mt. Royal, just to give you an idea:



By now lights and decorations are springing up all over town. The underground city is completely packed with garlands and oversized fake trees and lights everywhere, and the holiday music is blaring from every shop! (Except the shoe stores, which always, always play pop music.) Even my office building has a 25-foot tall tree in the front lobby, complete with fake snow! So far I've only seen fake trees, but today I noticed that the pavilion next to the metro - which in summer sells live plants and fresh produce - is now set up to sell Christmas trees! There aren't any in it yet, but the lights and signs are up and it can only be a matter of time before the trees themselves arrive. I don't know how much they will cost, where we could even put one up, or whether we will really want to drag a tree a couple of miles back to the apartment in the freezing cold (and let's face it, probably snow), but I am still excited to see that the option is there! I'll be sure to let everyone know, should we decide to go for it. (:

love,
Shannon