The boys have been away for a few days now, and house feels very, very quiet. I've been watching on the webcam, but it's really impossible to see individuals, although sometimes ! see a group in the right colours and wonder if it's them! On the plus side, I've actually been able to play on the play-station this afternoon!
It was only a short go though, because we have family and friends coming round tonight, and Handsome has been cooking up a storm all day, whilst I've tidied and prepared the rest of the house. It's all looking good now - he's about to go and shower, and I'm about to go and play Ratchet and Clank!
My boys left yesterday to go skiing with their school in Austria. They're still on the bus. I can't imagine what it must be like for their teachers to be on a bus for that long with forty eleven to eighteen-year-olds! But I am grateful. The kids will have a wonderful time, and it's an opportunity that we can't give them. Neither myself nor handsome can ski - I have no sense of balance, and he has no knees!
Eldest has been skiing before, several times now, with the school, and really enjoys it. This is youngest's first time, and he was a little apprehensive - until we arrived at the departure point and saw everyone else. He and his mate were happily ensconced in their seats with DS's running long before the waving-goodbye bit!
Both eldest and youngest think that I should think up more original names for them - perhaps I should - I'll think on't and perhaps rechristen them online for the new year. Handsome appears to be quite happy with his screen name...
It's been cold all this week, and I've been taking photos through the freezing fog, and into the sunset, to experiment with effects. An awful lot of them didn't work - but that's how to learn!
Today we went down the Clyde Valley to get wood for the fire (we have a fireplace, but we also have central heating, so we only really use the fire during the holidays), and came back via the falls of Clyde at New Lanark - wonderfully dramatic icicles.
There was a dipper in the river - it looked very, very cold...
I finally feel like I'm almost there - I now have all the Christmas presents, the tree is up (and looking fantastic), I've posted everything that needs to be posted, and all I have left to do is wrap things and send my virtual Christmas card. The money's going to the school charity this year - street children.
Everything's shiny!
So, me and the boys went to see The Golden Compass, which, quite frankly was the mistake I thought it might be... It's a very disjointed film, that totally fails to fit in as much as it needs to to make the story make sense. The daemons are well done, and the polar bear fight is good, but so much of it is over-sentimental (the wonderful story of a girl and her polar bear...), and none of the really bad stuff that happens in the book happens in the film. I wish I'd had the courage of my convictions!
Last night was littlest's school Christmas concert - and it was wonderful. Obviously the bits littlest were in were the best bits (!!), but all the rest was good too. I really like the fact that the school is not elitist. They put everyone up on stage, from the first year flute group, some of whom have only been playing for five weeks (and who managed a very creditable 'Silent Night'), to their Advanced Higher musicians, some of whom are really good. And they are all so confident!
They have pupils selling programmes, doing the backstage stuff, and announcing each act on stage - one of the boys had a really interesting pronunciation of Prokofiev... Their school really is inclusive.
We really enjoyed the evening, so did Mum and Dad, from the sound of it so did the rest of the audience - and more to the point, so did littlest - the saxophone group's 'Santa Baby' got a big round of applause!
I'm starting to feel a little less stressed about the rapidly advancing festival of consumerism. Quite a lot of the stuff I ordered on t'interweb arrived today (although handsome's present, which was specially selected to be delivered by the 10th December, has been 'delayed'). On top of which, eldest's new school jumper arrived as well (he lost the last one, and it is winter).
We ventured down to the shopping centre after work as well - the car park was pretty full, which didn't bode well, but it wasn't too bad inside. I picked up some bits and pieces for stocking fillers - I like my stocking fillers to be really, really cheap, which means that it tends not to be worth paying postage and packing for them!
I also finally managed to find a reasonably easy-looking chocolate fudge recipe, in a book not on the internet, so me and the boys will experiment this weekend, and see how many batches we have to make to fill the jars...
That's the problem with being off work - no-one else does it for you, so I have rather a lot of catching up to do. On the plus side, I appear to have a semi-usable office again. Whoopee!
Littlest (and I really must stop calling him that, as he now towers over me) has been in full-blown I-am-a-teenager-and-I-hate-everyone mode today - all day. I'm very tired, and inclined to be a bit grumpy. It's catching. I have jollied along, pretended not to hear grumps, been firm and insistent (sax prax and bedroom tidying), and occasionally blown-up back (oops - a long way from perfect here). It's taken me three times as long to make him do any chore as it would to do it myself, and I'm not altogether sure why I don't just do so - but there's a principle involved. Eldest and hubby decided to go out for a very long driving lesson this afternoon, and just leave us to it....
I thought I'd re-read the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, before we went and saw the film - I'd forgotten how wonderfully complex they are. Don't think I want to see the film at all now, especially after some of the reviews in today's papers.
We had to go into town today - we needed some stuff from the big farmers' market, and I had a hair appointment (long, long overdue - been looking a bit unkempt recently), and we tend to build up a list of things we have to go into town for, so when we do actually get around to it, there's always lots to do. It was however, a big mistake. I did know that it was an only-x-days-to-christmas day, but I didn't think that would be a problem, it never has before. I'm patient enough in queues!
When did Christmas shoppers become so aggressive? And rude? Whatever happened to Christmas spirit? There were people playing carols on street corners, and singers in one of the cafes, and the shoppers didn't even smile, let alone stop and listen (me and littlest did - we particularly enjoyed the brass players outside the Christmas market, who were playing their hearts out...). Nobody seemed to be happy, they were all in far too much of a rush.
I like Christmas - but I like the singing, and the music, and kids getting excited, and family and fires and jolly-holly and playing games and all that stuff (eldest is asking a girl to his Christmas prom - that's exciting too). I definitely don't like big towns two weekends beforehand, and I won't be going there again in a hurry.
