There were two things I disliked about this Christmas. The commercial lead-up to the day and the commercial aftermath the day after. Yes, I know this is the real world, and commerce is the big daddy, blah blah blah, but I am sick to death of pre-Christmas sales, post Christmas sales, sales, sales and more sales. I'm not thick. There might be bargains to be had, but how about a few days where we stay at home and actual enjoy the things we do happen to own already. And while we're at it, how about enjoying the people we live and love with too?
Rant sort of over, we had a lovely Christmas. There were a lot of presents involved, bought with money, in a commercial way of course, but it was a day where we simply sat at home, enjoyed the time with each other and ate good food. After returning from the Christmas service, my wife and I cracked open a bottle of champagne and ate smoked salmon with black pepper and lemon juice. Later we cooked a large rib of beef, with port and stilton gravy. It was kind of inspired by Nigella and it worked very well indeed. And the kids ate it too, which is always a bonus! Dessert was a much simpler affair - no Christmas pud, but rather jelly and custard. The kids loved it and we amped it up somewhat by having some Panettone as well.
Santa treated me rather well this year. I received two perfume-related books. One was Roja Dove's The Essence of Perfume and the other was Perfume, The Story of a Murderer, by Patrick Suskind. I also received the updated version of Bob Dylan No Direction Home, by Robert Shelton. Music and perfume, my two great loves - I couldn't be happier! My wife also knitted me a wonderful jumper (no Christmas reindeer, I promise).
On Christmas eve we spent about 4 hours putting together a bloody Playmobile hospital clinic for the kids. The box said it would take two hours. Bloody liars.... We got to bed at about 1.30 am, exhausted and emotional wrecks.
So, Christmas is over, but we enjoyed it. I hope everyone who is reading this enjoyed it too, and most importantly, spent the day with people they love, need and who in turn, love and needed them too.
I love the way you convey the frustration of putting the Playmobile Hospital Clinic together - how apt that you were in need of a clinic by the time you got it done:-)
ReplyDeleteJust so you don't feel too hard done by, OH and I spent the wee-small hours of Christmas Morning trying to stop a smoke-alarm from beeping plaintively, noisily and regularly outside our bedroom, and OH managed to drop said alarm on my up-turned face from ceiling height! By the time we changed the battery and put the wretched thing back up, having had to turn off all mains power during this time and use a hand-cranked torch for light, it was 03:55 hours on Christmas Day morning, and we could've used a hospital clinic's services ourselves.
It's such fun being grown-ups!
cheerio, Anna in Edinburgh
I'm with you on the rant, Michael and am glad you had some downtime with the family-except for the Playmobile crisis! The updated Robert Shelton book is a great read-you'll enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteWe had a delicious dinner with friends on Christmas Eve (wore Puredistance 1), followed by a mellow Christmas Day at home-never even got out of pajamas :D
Aw, Michael, I share many of these sentiments. I am trying to focus on enjoying the current flow of life (activities, possessions, experiences) rather than focusing on the next big whatever. Well, that's the goal for 2012. Let's touch-base this time next year and see how it goes. :)
ReplyDeleteMy husband is currently putting together some nursery-changing-table-crib thing the kids got on Christmas from (my) Michael's mother -in the box, because grandparents aren't stupid. He's exhausted and frustrated, but at least he's pretending to be cheerful about it. :)
xoxo
Anna, your Christmas eve seems horrendous - makes ours appear like a walk in the park! Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteCymbaline, that seems like a restful Christmas. I'm envious!
ReplyDeleteJen, the joys! And don't even get me started on IKEA flatpacks....
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