Christmas Cheer and a Happy New Year

Lola's Christmas picture, drawn using Photoshop.

Calum, Joe and Lola at the dining table

Me and the lovely Ken

Calum and Lola and lots of Christmas presents!

So, Christmas is now well and truly over the New Year is almost upon us. How was it for you? In the Hale household we've had a lovely, if low key, time.

MA Madness
I spent most of my time with my head stuck in a book with papers spread everywhere, working on my MA assignment. At times it seemed never-ending. Even though I'd done all the reading and planned it meticulously, somehow it just wouldn't come together and the stress levels have done nothing for my coffee and chocolate consumption!

The good news is I finally finished it today (hurrah) and even though I've already effectively re-written it two or three times, I'm still twitching to have another look and change it some more. But enough is enough.

I've done several seven hour days on the trot and am beginning to go cross-eyed from staring at a computer screen. The fact is, I'll never be happy with what I've written, not matter how much I tweak it, so, as my tutor Nick says, 'good enough' will do.

Except that I'm hoping it's better than 'good enough' as I've put such an enormous effort into it. Now I'll just have to wait until I get my mark after I've handed it in. At least I've achieved my objective of having it ready a week early. I didn't want to go back to work with it still hanging over me as it's been dominating my life for the past two months.

Texas Talking
However, Christmas has had its moments and one of the best was talking to Joe's brother, Colin, in Texas, after literally years. Colin, his Texan belle wife Cindy and their gorgeous girls, Maddie (12) and Emma (10), sent a bumper package from the US full of Christmas goodies (thank you Colin and Cindy). When it arrived it was, well, like Christmas. The package contained Christmas presents, all of which we loved, plus two long letters and some great photos. Having only ever seen the girls when they were little, they now look incredibly grown-up. But then again girls always do!

It was great to catch up with Colin and hear all his news, even though his accent, a mixture of Glaswegian and Texan, sounds very strange! He spoke to each one of us and couldn't get over Calum and Lola as Calum's voice has broken and is very deep and Lola, according to Colin 'sounds like Kate Winslet' - which she does. I hope we'll keep in close touch now that we've made contact again.

Bubbly and Babies
On Christmas Day we went round to our neighbours and close friends, Ken and Shirley, who were being visited by their two adorable grandchildren, baby Ben (less than a month old) and toddler James, Ben's brother. James has the same passion for Thomas the Tank that Calum had when he was little - it really took me back.

We'd already had Buck's Fizz for breakfast and a bottle of Kir Royale while we opened all the Christmas presents (which took nearly two hours) so we were in a very jolly mood when we arrived at Ken and Shirley's and didn't say no to drinking more bubbly. We also met Ken's friend Geoff, who was very nice, and his extremely well-behaved Tibetan terrier called Max who wore Kirby grips to keep the hair out of his eyes. I am not a dog lover, but I really warmed to Max.

Turkey and all the Trimmings
We didn't get home until nearly 2.00pm, but that's the beauty of having Christmas at home. You set your own timetable. When we did sit down to eat around 4.00pm, it was already dark which made the Christmas lights in the dining room really twinkle. We were definitely ready for turkey and all the trimmings and it tasted fantastic. Afterwards, we curled up on the sofa and watched dvds - bliss.

As always, we all got loads of presents, so there were clothes to be admired (including very 'cool' t-shirts for Calum and Lola from Colin and Cindy) and jewellery to be worn, CDs to be listened to and PSP games to be played.

I tried (and failed) to to make room under my bed for yet another pair of shoes, but I'm just going to have to put some up in the loft, together with some clothes, as my collection keeps growing.

So, it's been a good Christmas this year and I'm really looking forward to celebrating the New Year this evening.

Being with Joe and the children is the best bit of all as we're all so busy, rushing round all over the place that we rarely get time to enjoy simply being together.

2008 looks set to be another busy year, and if it's as good as the last one, I'll be very happy.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Sue and I at the party and enjoying our Mudslide cocktails

It's very rare that I get the chance to go to a party, so when we had our work Christmas event at a local nightclub, I decided make the most!

It was the best fun I've had in ages.

My partner in crime was my friend, Sue. Usually the epitome of polished PA perfection, I discovered she was a closet disco diva and a demon on the dance floor. There was no stopping her!

Sue and I did all the things we used to do when we were much younger and thoroughly enjoyed behaving badly (although not too badly, of course). So what did we do?

• We drank enormous cocktails (I discovered the deliciously chocolatety Mudslide)
• We put tinsel round our necks and sprayed glitter in our hair
  
• We danced round our handbags on the dance floor and pretty much everywhere else - queue dancing could well catch on ...
  
• We laughed hysterically at anything and everything, well it all seemed funny at the time
  
• We sang along to 70s and 80s songs at the top of our voices and, embarrassingly, knew all the words (they don't make pop songs like they used to)
  
• We had glitter tattoos done (mine still hasn't come off!)

Amazingly, we managed to stay reasonably sober, probably because we did more dancing than drinking, plus we switched to soft drinks at the end of the evening. That proved a very good move judging by the state of some of the people by the time we left!

Joe drove all the way to Cambridge to collect me which was lovely of him and meant I didn't have to worry about getting home as the last train home is ridiculously early at 9.00pm. He said he just wanted me to have a good time and I certainly did that.

Now I can't wait until next year - all I need is a new sparkly top, and perhaps some shoes, oh and a handbag ...

Happiness is ...

Chistmas lunch in the canteen

• A red Macy's handbag with stars on it - My cool friend Ron brought it back for me from New York. Thanks Ron.

• New friends - My two new friends from Korea, Hyun Sook and Hyesuk are simply lovely.
  

• A funny email - My boss sent an email saying he would be late into the office because of an 'unexpectedly enjoyable' evening. Well, it was work after all.
  

• Christmas lunch in the canteen - We all wore silly hats and had a very jolly time and all for less than a fiver!

• Being at home with Lola - It was just the two of us today as Joe was in London and Calum was at work. We were both studying but still found time to chat and laugh. it was lovely having her to myself.

• Getting lovely Christmas cards - I love this time of year because I get to hear from lots of friends and find out what they've been up to. My favourite so far is from my friend Sally who sent me a very long, chatty letter. I responded with three sides of A4!

• A party to look forward to - It's our Christmas party on Thursday and my last day in the office so I won't have to get up at crack of dawn the next morning - hurrah! I will be getting a glitter tattoo and dancing the night away.
  

Christmas Cheer

Our traditional Christmas tree

Our modern Christmas tree

Twinkly lights in the living room

Twinkly lights in the dining room

Twinkly lights in the hall

Now that it's December I can no longer remain in denial about the fact that Christmas is nearly upon us. I still have lots of presents to buy (eek) and I haven't written one Christmas card. it all seems like too much hard work. However, the family tradition is to put up the Christmas decorations on the first weekend in December, so Joe and Lola valiantly tackled the task while I did some studying and Calum went to work.

When I went downstairs everything looked twinkly and lovely and for the first time I found myself really looking forward to Christmas.

Now I just have to get round to writing those cards!

All Work and No Play

The library at ARU

The Salisbury Arms

... makes me a dull person. Which is probably true. At the moment I feel as though I never have my head out of a book (which I don't). It's because the deadline for my MA assignment is looming and I'm really struggling with getting it done. I'm doing all the reading but it seems to be never-ending and just when I think I'm close to getting my assignment sorted, I read something else which sets me off in another direction.

I think I have to stop reading and get on with writing.

Which is what I've been doing this weekend.

A study trip to Cambridge
I went over to Cambridge and spent the afternoon studying in the library where I managed to get quite a lot of work done, but not quite enough.

It was one of those lovely crisp, cold, bright mornings.

I took my camera with me as I thought the light would be good. it was.

I took a picture of the Salisbury Arms in Tennison Road, firstly for sentimental reasons because I used to go there was I lived in Cambridge as a student and secondly because I really liked the colour and composition.

I then stopped off at Cafe de Paris in Mill Road. That's where I have my regular pre-study fix of two large black coffees (one is never enough) and a piece of wicked chocolate cake. That sets me up for the day.

After that, it's a quick browse round the Salvation Army shop to see if they have any good books (at 70p each they're a snip). This week I found loads and spent a whole £6 - but that did include a hardback. :)

The university library
I really like libraries and I especially like the one at ARU. It's not stuffy like some libraries and the staff are very friendly and helpful. I like sitting amongst the students and listening to their multi-lingual chatter.

I plug myself into my i-Pod and then I can focus on what I'm writing. The time simply flew by.

Shoe-shopping
Then it was home on the train to meet up with Calum and Lola in town and buy Lola a new pair of shoes, as well as suss out a pair for myself.

When it comes to shoe-shopping Lola and I are experts and the shoe purchase was accomplished in minutes. Calum went off to have a passport photo taken - I don't blame him.

Polar Express
By the end of the day my brain had had enough, so it was time to relax in front of the TV and watch a cheesy Christmas film.

I chose Polar Express which is very cheesy indeed (and meant for six year olds) but I have to admit I enjoyed it, much to the children's amusement.

Well, it is nearly Christmas after all!

Birthday Cards

Lots of birthday cards

This has been one of my best years ever for birthday cards. I've had so many lovely ones I wanted to record them for posterity, so here they are.

My favourite? Well, it really hard to choose. Of course the ones from Joe and the children were as tasteful as ever (good choice Joe) and there was a hand-made one from Lola which contained a special message, basically telling me to stop worrying about getting old (thank you Lola).

I was also delighted to receive cards (and presents) from my new Korean friends on my MA course whom I've only known for a few weeks. It was very thoughtful of them.

However, a couple stood out. One from my friend Pauline as it made me laugh out loud. It read 'Chocolate is the answer - and I don't give a damn about the question!'. She knows me very well. The other was from my friend Caroline who always buys me incredibly beautiful cards. This year's featured a pair of sparkly red shoes that I'd love to own in real life.

Cards kept arriving all week which made my birthday feel like it went on for days - which it did!

It's nice to have so many lovely friends and receiving so many cards made my birthday really special.