3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I shall put a photo of the decorated tree on FB. It doesn't have any lights yet but it looks lovely and I'm thinking that we may not get a bigger one as this one has such a personality.
Jen and I strung tiny bobbles and pine cones and cut up wired beads for the ends of the branches. Apart from the lack of lighting-our dining room has a low watt bulb-it was great fun.
I had picked up a couple of little sets of lights in the dollar store, which are now hanging in the living room and so we are beginning to look a lot like Christmas here.
Oooo I do love the feel of Christmas and it is a feeling. It's a feeling of Love and Hope and of Faith that all can and will be well. perhaps that's all we're meant to get from it. As the Grinch puzzles (and I can't quote exactly) 'Perhaps Christmas is something a little bit more?' than the ribbons and tags and boxes and bags?
I believe that it is and in this year of 'giving small', the girls and I are inventing ways to connect with each other and our home, without spending a fortune.
We are contemplating starting a new tradition of going to the movies on Christmas day. We love the movies and because there will be no family to visit or visiting, it is definitely a possibility. Card games and charades and 'who's on the bus' are all in the running for after-dinner-fun. Bill, if you are on Skype, you can pick a team to join-lol.
Yesterdays trek cross town was to sign Ali' up for some drama lessons, which we did. The couple who run the school are very lovely and Doug spoke directly to Ali, asking her to sign all the forms regarding rules etc and then gave her his personal number in case she has any questions, over the holidays. He's from North Carolina and has just returned from a week there and if you can hear Reese Witherspoon in your head, when she was in Sweet Home Alabama, then you've got the idea of how his accent sounds.....almost.
After the sign-up (we thought she was staying for class but she's not starting till Jan 4th) we headed to the local Dollar store. It's not the nicest of areas, West of the school but I felt safe enough. It's the Dollar store we visited when we were at Church/Shuter, Bill, so you'll know the surroundings. Jen took us for a pizza.......again, I hear you all say about the pizza (and perhaps about Jens lunch-treat) The girls split one and I had this skinny one with loads of different toppings on which also did my dinner.
Having bought bulky stuff in the dollar store, including a bargain loaf of bread, I headed home with the goods, to pick up grocery-shopping bags, whilst the girls headed to the mall. I met up with them again in Walmart, which was 'heaving' and too hot.
My plan had been to also go to the bigger 'No frills' which is beside Walmart but I decided that I can walk down to our local one later this week instead. Cheese was my bargain of the day at $4.44 and so I bought 4 blocks. The cheddar here is a bit naff and so I mix it with the mozzeralla which actually tastes more like Scottish cheddar than the cheddar does. My cheese intake is way down on that of Edinburgh....not a bad thing, I suppose.
Last evening, we watched 'The Family Stone' as our Christmas movie and all had an early night. Ali is running on virtual empty and I will have to make efforts to refuel her, over the holidays so that she doesn't get sick.
A piece of trivia: The NHL (National ice-Hockey League) have fifteen players with mumps and they are tentatively waiting to see how many others come down with them. Poor guys but that's what happens when the immunisation uptake drops and you come in close contact with someone contagious. Hocky is a very close contact sport.
And on that note, I will close. I am pleased to have got this written before I go to work-doesn't often happen on a Monday. I am looking forward to my visit with Ross and then Jen and I are going to Target, to see if we can find her a fluffy blanket.
Happy Monday Folks and much love.
Lxxx
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