Merry Christmas!

The guests had left and the first load in the dishwasher is almost done. I'm totally knackered but it was a good afternoon, literally 'Eat, Drink and Be Merry'. Unfortunately, all the snow had melted after a night of rain 2 days ago so I didn't get my wish of having a white Christmas. My sister arrived early yesterday morning and the girls are thrilled to have her around. She's our special Christmas present. I'm off to bed. It'll be a whole day of shopping tomorrow (Boxing Day Sale!) which will start very early. Hope you all had a great Christmas! Happy New Year too!

The run-up to Christmas

I think the British celebrate Christmas as we would celebrate Chinese New Year. During my shopping trips to the supermarkets over the weekend, the shelves were stocked full. More fresh flowers were on sale and I was amazed when I visited Marks and Spencer yesterday. One whole shelf (about 10ft long) was packed with Clementines and crates after crates of parsnips, carrots and other fresh vegetables spilled onto the clothing shopfloor. Most shoppers were pushing the biggest shopping trolleys and they were filled to the brim with goodies. To beat the mad rush, I did most of my shopping yesterday and will buy the perishables either tomorrow or the day after. According to a report by Asda, the busiest time will be on Wednesday at 12.17pm. I shall stay clear of all supermarkets then.

The prospect of having a White Christmas is very much in the horizon. The snow which fell last week has not melted and we had more snow today. Even if it doesn't snow in the run-up to the big day, we'll still have a 'white' Christmas since the freezing temperature will mean the snow will still be around then.

I'm so relieved all the presents have been wrapped and yes, a special visitor will arrive in 3 days' time.

And so......the snow came

We were waiting with great anticipation for the snow yesterday evening. Everyone kept saying there's going to be a heavy snowfall overnight. While in the kitchen, I kept looking out of the window, hoping to catch the first fall of the flakes. When it got dark, I asked the girls to look out of the patio doors to see if there's any snow outside. 'No' came the reply. It was finally around the time we were about to leave the house to pick A from the train station in the evening when the magical moment came. White flurries fell from the sky. At first it was light. Just like white flour dusting around. The roads were still clear when we set off but they got whiter and whiter and the snow began to fall fast and furious. On our way home, the snow had begun to settle and all things were turning white. It's not the first time I'd seen snow but I get excited every single time without fail. Of course, the girls always manage to have lots of fun too!

Early this morning, I received a text from the girls' school informing me that it will be closed today due to heavy snowfall. It was supposed to be the last day of school for the year. Good thing they'd taken back all their PE Kits. Louisa kept saying her plimsolls are still at school. Nevermind, she'll be back at school in two weeks.

Today also marked the first time I drove in snow conditions. I always hibernate at home when it snows. Never dared to venture out. It's treacherous to drive. Not when there's at least 20cm of snow outside. But it's my school's Christmas Party for the children and I'd promised my boss I would go and help out. I rang one of my colleagues who lives near me and she said she's not going to take the risk. I was at a dilemma. If I go, I had to bring the girls with me. Driving out alone is a risk by itself, let alone bringing along the girls. So I called my boss and she asked me to drive out and if I were to feel uncomfortable with continuing the journey, I should then turn back and go home. Most roads in my estate are still private and not adopted by the council so they are not gritted. I live in a cul-de-sac so the roads were covered in thick snow. We also had to scrape off the ice and snow off the car. That took a while. When we finally set off, I drove so slowly. My average speed was perhaps about 20 mph. All went well until we were about to reach the school. I was slowing down and coming to a halt at a traffic junction, holding tightly to the steering wheel and using engine brake when it kept skidding to the left and towards the traffic light pole. I started to panic. Luckily, I managed to stop but I wondered if I'd gotten stuck or if I would continue to skid forward to the left. Alas! We made it safely to our destination. The party was a great success and by the time we went home, the sun had melted the snow on the roads. The only difficulty I had was driving towards my drive. The snow was so thick the car could hardly move forward. I heaved a big sigh of relief when we got back in the house. Will we have a white Christmas? I don't know. But it sure is very cold here and will get even colder (-7 degrees C apparently) as the week progresses.

Junior Nativity Play

The infant play was held in the afternoon during school time. I don't know why the junior play is always in the evening. Maybe they think older children sleep later? It was a mad rush for us that day. Right after school, Louisa had to go for Kumon. Then we came home and I prepared some dinner for them. Soon after it was back in the car, to the train station to pick Adrian and back to school. We barely made it there on time. Phew!

The play was rather similar to the Infant's (it's Nativity Play afterall) but they added some rock music to it. Some of the costumes were recycled. I think Louisa looked really cute in hers. It was hard to take a clear picture of her during her routine as I had to do it discreetly. In the end, all the pictures turned out blurry. Sigh! I got to brush up my photography skills.

Infant Nativity Play

I braved the great chill this afternoon and attended Lavigne's Nativity Play at her school and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Apart from straining my ears to hear what the children were saying, I found myself tapping to the beat of the songs they were singing. Unlike last year, Lavigne (she was a star) sang along with all the other children and performed her part very well. She kept turning around and smiled at me. What a vast difference a year has made. She even suggested posing on stage for me. My little girl is growing up.

There's some problems with my photoshop software, so I can't edit them.

It'll be Louisa's turn tomorrow evening. That's going to be a fun one!

Let it snow.....

Strangely after I talked about snow earlier in the previous post, I heard over the radio that there's going to be snow showers this evening and tomorrow morning. Apparently, more snow is on its way this Thursday. We may have a White Christmas afterall!

MIA again

I didn't realise it's been that long again since I last blogged. Life's been pretty busy at the moment. It's near the end of term and lots going on at schools (both mine and the girls). I'd also been given more responsibilities at work and covering for colleagues who are busy with paperwork now.

Last year, I put up the Christmas tree pretty early and most presents were bought by mid-December. However, it's a different story this year. Well, the tree and decorations (minimal) are up but I still can't find the right presents for friends and family. I'd been going to the shops, hoping to find something for everyone but each time, I came home empty-handed. At this moment, I'm starting to panic. I don't want to buy something for the sake of giving. But then again, I can't go on searching forever. Christmas is just next week!

At least the Christmas menu has been planned. Phew! First time hosting a Christmas party and I hope all will go well. There's not going to be that many people anyway, just us and 2 other families. Now the question will be 'Will it snow on Christmas Day?' I doubt so. I heard that it's never snowed on that day. Still, I'm really looking forward to Christmas because my sister will be here.

Are you ready for Christmas? I know S is!