Herself
As we are part of the adoption circle with many friends spending yet another lonely, childless Christmas, desperate to get back to work as soon as possible it made me reflect on the wonders of family celebrations.
This year hisself announced that the Christmas tree lights were far too dangerous and could not be used. He was fearing yet another fire and as I refuse to approach any shop, for anything but food in December, our tree went up without lights this year. However we failed to point this out to the dogs. The tree stands in the hall and in the darkness one of the hounds forgot its existence and collided with the the tree. Dog naturally escaped unharmed but the tree fell over breaking in the process every single glass and crystal ornament we had gathered over the years. When finally uprighted it was a sad sight with all these strings attached to a glass hoop and nothing much else.
Even sadder was the fact that I was in no condition to even bother being upset. As soon as the schools closed I went down with exhaustion and something that made every single bone in my body scream agony. I was more interested in getting the floor cleared so I could make my way back to bed than worrying about the damage. I was so ill that eating was too painful and am now very proud to announce that the festive feast has made me loose another kilo from the waistline.
Somehow, between the naps, the Christmas dinner got cooked. This is the season we truly bless our multicultural heritage as we have mixed the traditions to get a lovely Yule time for all the family. In Finland people eat Christmas dinner on the Xmas eve and Santa visits shortly after. Which means that by the time you sit down to eat the kids are far too wound up to eat anything and after Santa you cannot get them to bed. As the Xmas church service is next morning at six, you really want them to bed as one must be in church in time to avoid sitting under the chandelier.
[In that service the churches use the old chandeliers with real candles and it is so beautiful. But candles drip wax and tradition, not to mention the weather, means that most people are wearing fur coats. Real fur coats, not fake ones. Wax on fur leaves rather nasty bold patches on your best piece of mink - not funny at all. If you enter into the church at the right moment you can see everyone seated and clear circles of empty seats have appeared from nowhere just under the chandeliers.]
Here in UK I found myself kicking the turkey into the oven while Grandparents were having a fantastic time playing with the kids and the new toys, not to mention eating countless sweeties and when it came time to serve up my hours of slave labour in front of the, Aga no-one was that interested, rather more looking forward to a nap in front of the telly.
So now we eat on Christmas eve, when all are hungry and interested in the food. I cook every wish anyone is willing to make plus our traditional favourites. Santa arrives the next morning leaving me playing all day with my happy children [I have spent the whole day building Lego]. For lunch; a selection of cold meats from the deli counter, heated up extra roast potatoes from the night before and leftover salad. Bingo! No hassle, no stress and no time involved.
The hot question is: "what did I get from Hisself?", - well he did take me round the livestock on the quad on Xmas morning, all the way to the lamb field frozen pond where I was treated to some doughnuts on the quad [not the eating kind]. That man knows how to show a girl good time!!!! My real present is a day in the sales. Hisself will be looking after the kids while patiently showing interest on every item I try on and then paying for it all without a murmur.