Well, the Christmas Holidays are upon us. I have begun my vacation from work, although it has been hard to "turn off" and not read or respond to emails, at least for the first two days. I am "working" on Christmas Eve tomorrow to save a day's vacation, and hopefully that will simply tide me over until I am officially back at work, rather than rekindling the fire for work that I have let die over the past three days. It has been nice to sleep in, wake up with Chris and Sarah here, and to be able to spend all day with them. I am really enjoying my vacation so far, and it's just begun!
Beyond our plans for the new year's weekend, we don't have much going on at the moment. The Imrie's will simply stay put, enjoy the time to relax and do nothing, and generally revel in the miracle of Christmas. We have a carol service at church tonight and I am really looking forward to it. As much as I do not have a singing voice, I do enjoy belting out the Christmas Carols. I usually sing them throughout the day at the house, but I really only know the first verse of many - so I am very excited when someone puts a booklet in my hands with the complete words! I will be nearly shouting Joy to World tonight! One thing I was almost shouting about when I learned of it was TSN's decision to charge for online streaming of this year's World Junior Hockey Championship. I have been looking forward to the tournament that Canada loves for some time now, especially with no NHL to watch. So I was bitterly disappointed to find out, when I logged onto the website last week, that if I want to watch any games, I will have to fork out some dough and pay to watch online, while the games are on regular TV for free. TSN is not in my this Santa's Good List! Very naughty indeed! In other news, our friend Dominic has landed a job back in Vancouver, and is moving there on January 1st to be with his fiancée Dani. (You'll recall that they came with us to Edinburgh). Sarah and I are upset to see a good friend leave us, but we know this is what they need to do - it's good when couples can live in the same continent, eh?! We'll miss Dom, and his ability to babysit at a moment's notice if we need him, but we wish him all the best back in Vancouver. And a final note, our new year's plans, that have us in Cardiff, include me playing a round of golf at Celtic Manor on the Twenty Ten course! I am very excited for this, and it will be a good bit of introduction to a true Championship course, in preparation for the Old Course at St. Andrews next year. I Christopher went to meet Santa today, at Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland. It was his second meeting with this mystical man who brings presents to all the little boys and girls on Christmas Eve, and he was a lot less sure this time around. But like a very good boy, he warmed up to Santa quickly and was rewarded with a small packet of crayons for his "bravery." We'll be looking forward to next year when Chris has a much better grasp of the entire Christmas present thing, and Santa will be even more magical!
Sarah and I have been hard at work getting into the festive spirit of London this Christmas! In the capital, it's not too hard to find the Christmas spirit this time of year (which is great), but you can also work to find those things that take just a small amount more effort to get to, but are really worth it. Last weekend the Imrie family went out to Trafalgar Square to see the annual Christmas tree given by the city of Oslo. It was the second year that we've gone to see the great Spruce, and it was no less special this time around. We enjoyed the nativity scene just opposite the tree, and we quite lucky and surprised to see another Christmas treat while we were there. As we were just done taking our photos, we quite suddenly heard some loud Christmas carols being played in the street. When we turned around and saw where the music was coming from, it turned out to be something we could only have imagined while watching TV commercials! A semi-truck, clad in the unmistakable red of Coca-Cola and with their distinctive Santa Claus pictured at the back, came rolling down the lane, blaring out "Holly Jolly Christmas." It was something great to see, and also something we never thought we would see! It left the Square and turned up the mall, having given everybody nice dose of well wishes. On our way home, while we were waiting on the platform for the tube to come in, we noticed an ad about a "barrel tree" that (this sounds so commercial, I know!) Jack Daniels puts up in Tennessee each year - and that this year they had put one up in Covent Garden! So we decided that since we were out, we would turn around and go see that tree as well. What a great decision! Not only because it turned out we were waiting on the wrong tube platform, but because Covent Garden was decked out to the Christmas nines, and we would never have known otherwise! We enjoyed two more Christmas trees there, a giant (and I mean giant!) Rudolph, some carollers, and the barrel tree. The apple market was decked out in huge ornaments, and the entire area was really one big Christmas celebration. That was our weekend; then about midweek we went to Regent St and Oxford Street to see all of their Christmas lights. They had great displays on, and it was really cool to see how they decorated the streets. Regent Street had a display that took you through the Twelve Days of Christmas as you walked down the pavement. Coupled with the number of carollers I've seen in the train station this past week, and the Christmas movies that Sarah and I are continuing to make our way through, and it's not just beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, it does feel like Christmas! We've posted some pictures on the pictures page, so check them out! Although this will be our second Christmas here in London, I don't think I was able to appreciate some of the small English traditions until this year. Quality Street chocolates are one such tradition that I gladly adopt. I had a few last year when we were visiting friends in Wales and I have a vague recollection of them mentioning that the unmistakable tins were a "Christmas thing" but didn't give it much thought. This year, as soon as Halloween was over and the shelves were cleared of the Halloween candy the stores were stocking the big purple tins and I couldn't help but pick one up. They have a great assortment of 12 varieties and with the exception of the strawberry cream I like them all. There is of course also Cadbury Roses, that come in a blue tin or box and sell well during Mothering Sunday and at Christmas time. According to the ladies in my NCT group, you either buy Roses or QS, but never both and it has been known to divide families during the holidays as much as religion, politics or football clubs. It's funny really, I can't help but think of our trip to Wales each time I sneak a chocolate from the tin. I wonder how many years you need to do something before you can call something a tradition of your own? I also wonder if you can get Quality Street tins back home in Canada? Do any of you have that special food item that when you see, taste or smell it you know it's Christmas time? ...but not by the chimney, but rather on the window with care. This is my first Christmas without a fireplace and mantle so it did cause me some pause as to what to do with the stockings. I was also forced to consider how Santa would arrive to deliver presents for the Imries. I was fortunate to find a rather sweet poem leaving instructions and a special way in for Santa which I have posted in our things we like section of our site. I know Chris is too young to know the difference but for the child in me, it seemed important. A big thank you to my mom who was good enough to send me her scrap Christmas fabric to make my stockings. I was able to put the stockings together using just fat quarters and left over ribbon of mine for the hanging loops. I did get started on a stocking for Rosie but I decided that the tree skirt, stockings for the three of us, baking and a wreath were more important to finish this year. I am trying to remember that it isn't possible or necessary to do it all especially when Chris and I have so much more important playing to do! One other wonderful stocking idea is sending Christmas wishes and gifts to our troops overseas. information on these projects can be found at the following sites. "The Square Stocking" project for UK forces at www.uk4u.org or "Operation Santa" for Canadian forces at www.cfpsa.com/en/SupportOurTroops/Programs/OPSantaClaus/Pages/default.aspx
Only 20 sleeps until Christmas! Chris and I were building with blocks today and I decided to tap into Bryan's iTunes Christmas playlist so we could have some background music and do some singing along. This song by Jessie Farrell came on and when I actually stopped to listen to the lyrics I had to smile. This is such a great message for me (any many of us) to remember at Christmas. Don't take on too much; work, parties, cleaning, baking, cooking... It ins't about having a "Martha Stewart" Christmas, it's about being with friends and family, decorating the tree with homemade ornaments, singing carols, watching your favorite Christmas movie, and eating just a little too much good food. I had a long list of Christmas crafts that I wanted to get done before December 1st but I'm still working on some finishing touches. Time to say "oh well" and be happy when I get them done (as long as it's before Christmas eve)! Hope this is a good reminder to all of you to slow down and enjoy our perfectly "imperfect" Christmas season.https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/christmas-at-my-house-single/id268926220 I'm not wearing that Christmas sweater Now that December has finally arrived it's time to bring out the favorite Christmas movies. We all have a favorite whether it is an old classic, an animated treat or even a movie where the Christmas season is merely a background element. Bryan and I each have a few favorites on DVD that we like to bring out this time of year. For Bryan the top choices are; Rudolph (the animated one where the elf wants to be a dentist), The Polar Express, A Christmas Story and How the Grinch Stole Christmas - although we share a love of that one. For me, the top picks are; Charlie Brown's Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Holiday. There are lots of other titles that mean something special to you, our friends and family, and what we would love is if you could take a moment to share with us which one you can't wait to find on the TV this time of year. We would love to enjoy a few new ones this year. |
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