Just One Festive Sleep To Go And It's Already Christmas...Somewhere

Here I am on Christmas Eve, catching up on all my Christmas emails and trying to respond in kind with a fab e-card (which is presenting some technical challenges to say the least!) when I realised that Christmas Day has already arrived for my Aussie family and friends so although they might not be up and about just yet, in case I don't crack the e-card....

Wishing you all a magical Christmas

and every success and happiness in 2010...

Love from me, J & Alfie Bear (of course!)

xxx

12 Festive Sleeps to Go...Winning Performances

Well it's that time of year when  two of my favourite shows start drawing to their inexorable close - Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor.

X Factor will finish tonight in a blaze of stage effects, judge's tears and testosterone now that it is down to Olly and Joe and for my part, I would love Olly to win.  Entertaining, cheeky and gutsy...although it will be a fight to the end and in two hours time, the artist with the 'Christmas Number One' for 2009 will be announced...

But more than that, I loved this weekend's Strictly.  All of those amazing, amazing performances and the most wicked Argentine Tango from Ricky and Natalie...I just so want them to win.  So nothing pleased me more than to see them go through to next week's final. 

So there it is - my votes for the winning performances.  Saturday nights will just not be the same without them...

13 Festive Sleeps To Go...Gratitude

I opened up my blog today not knowing what I was going to write.  Sometimes it happens like this and today it meant that instead of rushing in knowing exactly what was there to be said, I took some time to read some of the other blogs I follow.

Earlier in the year, a friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer.  She weathered an array of aggressive treatments and has spent the last 5 months in India, giving herself the space to heal.  She only started blogging again recently and I read today that she has come home to Paris and it reminded me how much I love my little maisonette flat tucked away up here on Kingston Hill.  My sanctuary, where I can either invite the world in or take a brief respite from the little battles life presents on a daily basis.

Her words reminded me what there is to be grateful for and straight away it brought up some of the little pieces of news from family that have made my heart swell over the last week or so - like when my little sister was honoured as a life member of the NDSOC car club and I cried on the bus going to work reading how stunned and touched she was - or when my Mum's partner got the all clear after being rushed into hospital with an aggressive form of melanoma. Or the regular newsletter from my itinerant Dad-and-Stepmum chronicling their latest travels through Western Australia over the last few weeks and reminding us all that they having been living this gypsy dream of theirs for 3 years.  Or when when I sat with my partner, his ex and his son, cheering and clapping furiously at his daughter's end of year Christmas Dinner Concert last Saturday...

What a couple of weeks it has been.

So my brave, brave friend, in the midst of her journey, wrote her blog...and without even knowing it, became the inspiration for mine...

20 Festive Sleeps To Go...

I cannot quite believe we are in December and I am already starting to put things in my diary for next year...like next catchups with friends (we are now hugging goodbye saying 'see you next year') and routine appointments (like my next hairdresser's appointment is now January 30th!) 

There are only 20 sleeps to go until Christmas Day, the shops are getting crazy-busy, parking in Kingston has officially become challenging and brightly-wrapped parcels from home are starting to form quite a festive pile under the Christmas tree. And we are off for our first Christmas event tonight - J's daughter's Christmas Dance Show - complete with roast turkey meal and all the yuletime trimmings. 

Just where did the year go?  Can anyone tell me??