Beginning the first year we were married we made a gingerbread house every Christmas. I would make the gingerbread. E would design and make the structure and later when we had kids they would gather around the kitchen table with bowls and bowls of candy to decorate.

The houses became more and more complex. At one point E was melting hard candies to make stain glass windows and lighting was fed up through the floors to illuminate the colors.

Years ago, I worked for a big blue company. There were a lot of woman in the office who were around same age as me with small children. One winter a Christmas cookie exchange was organized. Mainly the event was an opportunity to drink wine and have some fun . Coming home with a car full of cookies and treats was an added benefit.

So the concept was each of us was to make ten dozen cookies of one type. Ten woman were invited and each one would go home with ten dozen cookies, ten different types. You would be well supplied with a selection of baked goods to take to family dinners, children’s parties at school or for some of us, to eat when no one was looking.

My friends and I gathered in a beautiful new home in Lynne Valley. The evening promised to be great fun and it did prove interesting to see what each woman made. I remember my contribution was less than stellar. I made thumbprint cookies with store bought strawberry jam. Not my finest moment but still I tried.

I did better than the skinny co-worker who showed up with one dozen cookies. She thought she would just take one cookie from each batch. One dozen cookies was all that skinny could imagine needing over the holidays.. Imagine???????

The last woman to arrive to the party brought her contribution in large card board boxes. She had to go to her car three times to get all of the boxes. The other nine of us stood proudly beside the dining room table where our achievement was so beautifully, we thought, displayed. Once her coat was off and her boxes assembled  in the centre of the room  she sighed  “There. Now can someone help me get these on the table?” We all stared in disbelief as the box lids opened to reveal ten individually created gingerbread houses.  Each house came with fencing and trees and lego people playing in the yards. She had made ten F*#@ing gingerbread houses.

You gotta appreciate having people in your life who

are over achievers