Christmas spirit

Over the past few days, many events and outings have been stirring the Christmas spirit and made it feel like the holidays are upon us. The office Christmas party was obviously a good way to start the celebrations. Pictures were posted in Flickr over the week:

• With my colleagues Nehul, Ben and Brian here.
• With my colleague Brian here.
• Candid shot here.
• Late evening silliness here.

So much fun!

Then, there are the many opportunities to catch up with friends for lunch or dinner, like today when I met Stephen for a bite. Stephen brought a gift, "not a Christmas gift" he said, but something to congratulate me on completing my applied project. It's a book I am looking forward to reading, The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World we Need, by Chris Turner.

Last night, I went out to see the Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden. The entire garden is decorated with Christmas lights, it's simply unbelievable and mesmerizing, almost magical. We almost didn't make it, because the weather was nasty all day, but it stopped raining in the afternoon, how lucky is that?

Now, all that's missing is some time well spent with the family. Soon, soon.