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!