It has been an important pause since my last
posting. We have a valid excuse though: my little family has shown exemplary
solidarity in being sick - nobody was left untouched. A good thing in
being stranded at home for several weeks is that the usually fretted Christmas
rush became actually a joyous and long-waited return to the civilitation! What
a glorious an hour-and-a-half of wondering in the Christmas fare.. I
managed to do all the planned Christmas shopping AND even get a haircut
impressing even myself of my time management..Besides, there was going to be no
preparation stress this Christmas anyways - we would be spending it peacefully
at home with our little family of three. Looking at the news with people having
spent a small fortune to spend the Christmas period on a mattress at the
airports made us feel very lucky..
For some reason the need to prepare to-do lists
emerged anyways: finish projects at work, send thank you notes, clean email
box, get Christmas photos for cards, search missing addresses, send cards, get
Christmas tree, book the cleaning lady, get Christmas star and red candles, prepare
menu and grocery shopping list..the list goes on..strangely enough, in these
times of prosperity that we live in, a most peculiar phenomenon occurred to
make our preparations even harder - many of my strategic Christmas
items are OUT OF STOCK in this city!
Ice-prevention liquid is out from the whole
country and therefore airports closed for days, cleaning services are
"out" because my girl is sick, no red glu wine in Ikea or Christmas
cookie dough for cookie houses..the cherry on the cake was that my personal
Christmas Tree Hunter went to 5 different places to get 1,5 - 2 m tree with no
success! And one was finally delivered at home. How poshy is
that. It's beautiful. And you can smell the price. But let's remain
positive - our Christmas is saved now! Another positive thing I need to share,
cleaning my house all by myself made me realize two things: 1. I am definitely
not over paying for my cleaning lady. It took me 7 hours instead of 5, but
compared to her I am an amateur and perfectionist 2. There is something
therapeutic in cleaning Your Own House. Your (not so little) Love Nest. And it
definitely contributes to the Christmas feeling.
Then the moment comes; everything is finally
ready: cooking, cleaning, wrapping, decorating - all done. It is evening, I sit
down and enjoy. Christmas tree decorated, the table beautifully set with
fruits, candles and chocolates, the Buche de Noël taking savour in the fridge.
We did a long walk the three of us in the snow and admired the houses in
Christmas decor, so white and peaceful. I feel utterly happy. It will be a
Merry Christmas.
