Festive Tunes

I'm a sucker for tradition, and there's no x-mas without a few good tunes. I've been singing All I want for X-mas to myself all day long, so I figured it's about time I share it with you. Happy X-mas!

Merry Christmas!

Ho, ho, ho! Season greetins to you, my friend! I trust you've had a very merry holiday so far? Christmas eve has come and past here in Mandal. I'm at my father's house; just him, my brother and I for christmas this year. Mommy Dearest is still in South Africa with the family, and the latest update says they are all fine.

It's been a rather quiet holiday so far for us. Been a bit behind on the holiday preparations. Only decorated the tree & the house earlier "today"! He, he, guess we're a bit helpless without Mommy Dearest ;) ! Other than that everything has proceeded according to family tradition.

Woke up early this morning to watch NRK's annual screening of Tre nøtter til Askepott (Three nuts for Cinderella). Like many other people I know, it has been a x-mas tradition since I was a young girl to watch this Czech movie from the 1970s. Though this year I made a compromise with Chaz, half of my movie and half of Home Alone. Then followed a long day in my PJs; we decorated the tree, had julegrøt (rice porridge) for lunch, and watched way too many stupid movies on the telly. Even had time for a nice long nap followed some reading in Pratchett's Hogfather.

Dad & Chaz at the table ready for dinner

Dinner was delayed this year. We usually eat at 6pm, though we only had dinner around quarter to 8. The Lemley/Nilsen christmas tradition food-wise dictates that there's boiled cod, served with potatoes, veggies and buttersauce. Quite common option in this part of Norway. Afterwards there was a short break before dad did the dishes, while we readied the platters of cookies & chocolates to be enjoyed while we opened the presents.

Our tree in all its glory ready for the fun part of the evening ;)

Perfect catch this year with quite a few surprises! Wollen socks & a cocktail-book from Chaz; first season of The Tudors from my dear roomie; money from both mum & dad - very, very handy as I'm off to London in less than 3 weeks!; things for the kitchen and some more. The biggest surprise of all came from my beau. He's been torturing me for weeks - well, that's completely my own fault since I've been trying to get his giftplans out of him for a while - and after much anticipation and pondering of the oddly shaped gift (shape and weight of a bottle + something that rattled like a puzzle), I'm happy to report it's one of the all time bests! A trip for us to Copenhagen in the spring!!! Thank you, darling!!!

Thank you for all the wonderful presents!

...and a merry Christmas day to all!

X-mas F-U-N!

Happy Weekend! Hope you're having a fabulous Saturday - the last one before X-mas. I've been working, working & working all week long, and it's been really hectic! Doing my last shift before the holiday now, and later tonight it's time for some much needed fun.

My beau & his roomie have invited friends & family over their annual, pre-x-mas celebration. According to tradition they're serving Julegrøt (traditional norwegian rice porridge) & screening Nightmare before Christmas! Beer & akevitt in bucket loads and a few good laughs is just what I need.

It's going to be a blast!

Grim Prospects for the Future

Dear World Leaders,

Get your ass into gear and save our planet!!!

Best regards,

Shekira

Friday Fling!

Back in Black! Wishing all a happy Friday even though it's now 1:09 Saturday morning. So, what have I been up to today?

Pretty much nothing at all. Spent the morning and early afternoon at home catching up on some sleep. Really needed that 'cause I'm still jetlagged from all the criss-crossing to & from the south! More on that subject later - I need to process the whole experience & situation first. While this evening has been spent at the restaurant working my little a** off with the other girls! Hoards upon hoards of people out celebrating an early x-mas, yes it's julebord-chaos indeed. Anyways, all went fine & we didn't run into any big problems with the service. In fact, all the jackets have been fetched which means I'm out of here!

Have a great night!