Christmas and snow come around the same time each year...

Today is a blessed day, I’m so pumped about what is happening for us today. I believe that the National Ballet of Canada not only has one of the most beautiful theaters to perform in, but I also am quite biased in believing they have one of the world’s most wonderful versions of The Nutcracker. And, tonight we’re blessed to be going to see the National Ballet of Canada’s The Nutcracker. We’re all totally crazy for it, and because of schedules, and this kid lives here and the others live in LA, we haven’t been able to see it for years. We’re all super excited to be going, well four of us are going; Brianna went last Friday night, for her third anniversary, and then as you all know got engaged afterward, so it will forever be special for her!

There is one thing I’m not excited about, like not remotely looking forward to, and that is the getting there part. The ballet begins at 7pm, but in order to eat at some point during the night, we have a 5pm dinner reservation, which means trying to get from our house to the center of the city during rush hour. Not only regular rush hour, but two days before Christmas rush hour, and with snow banks to deal with. Yesterday every where we tried to get to, appointments, the airport, all of it became exercises in futility.

It never ceases to amaze me how so many drivers in Toronto are taken by surprise by two things: SNOW, and CHRISTMAS.

How can either of these “sneak up” on anybody? They come around every single year. Every year. Which means you all have an entire year to prepare for Christmas. I get that you probably don’t want to begin Christmas shopping in July, but do you really want to start it on December 22nd? I mean honestly. Why? The parking lot at our local Shoppers Drug Mart this morning was INSANE. All we wanted was some bacon, that was all. We encountered people driving on the wrong side of the road, parking in non-parking spots, losing their patience, you name it. The place was rammed! And inside was no better. People on their phones talking, walking into you, not looking, zombie last minute Christmas shoppers everywhere.

Holy hell. How can you all be so ill prepared? I don’t understand it, it comes at the same exact time EVERY SINGLE YEAR. It truly makes me go “hmmm”. As does the snow. Yet all the drivers jam up the roads, get in the way because they’re out there driving around without snow tires. They know they don’t have them yet insist on getting out there on the roads DURING snow storms anyway. Like why? Why would anybody do that? When they know their cars can’t climb hills, nor can they effectively drive DOWN HILLS either. So stay home. Or, take the transit, but for the love of God stay off the roads.

So we’re venturing out to brave the world of last minute shoppers, and the people out on the roads without snow tires, which means they all need to drive in the left lane because their cars aren’t equipped to drive in the right lane where the snowbanks are. Le joy. Le bliss. Hopefully it doesn’t take us an hour to travel fifteen minutes…