More Holiday Hoopla!

Yes, there are the Christmas lights and decorations, the mince pies and mulled wine, the carolers and the cakes, and all of the festive revelry; and there is also ice skating at the Tower of London! Today we took the tube to London Bridge, walked across to the Tower, and bought our tickets to join the fun on the ice. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and we got a work-out gliding around the rink with the Tower as our backdrop, it was great fun. Then we had a Pret a Manger picnic before heading in to see the sights of the Tower of London. We'd been there before, years ago, but it was cool to see it all again with the girls being older. The most exciting bit was when one of the ravens actually pecked an old Italian woman who was sitting on a bench! The ravens have always scared me a bit.

When we felt like our legs wouldn't make it up another winding staircase, we headed out to cross the Tower Bridge and walk along Butler's Wharf. We saw the Blue Print Cafe, where we had our anniversary lunch, and stopped for ice cream for the kids and lattes for the parents. The sun was shining the whole time. Eventually, we made our way back to the tube and traveled home on the Northern Line, with Franny and me both dozing on the train. The girls are on their winter break, and these days feel magical.

As to my break, I'm looking forward to a few days away from the craziness that is an organic delivery company the week before Christmas. It has been so busy at work! The mood is merry in the office, but the stress level can get rather high as folks are mighty concerned about their holiday deliveries (if we screw up someone's Christmas goose, we are in BIG trouble!). And the gifts and snacks around are plentiful, which adds to the fun. Tomorrow our chef is making a special table service Christmas lunch for all the staff, which should be delightful. I was scheduled to work on Saturday (Christmas Eve), but a very sweet co-worker agreed to work it for me, saying that she doesn't have kids yet, so it's not such a big deal for her. I was so appreciative- we made her a big batch of chocolate chip cookies! And the girls made their traditional Christmas cookies last night, using a tall drinking glass instead of a rolling pin, and designing their own shapes rather than cookie cutters; see, not having all the usual comforts of home lets us get creative these days! Franny also got to make a traditional English Christmas cake at school- had to take a photo, as it was just beautiful.

We're off to Cousin Julia's for Christmas, where we'll celebrate with all the family. This will be a very special holiday. Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year.