Christmas Eve

Working on Christmas Eve when you work in a library is never bad, it’s really quite nice! It was a backbreaking shift….ok, I'm telling fibs, it was two hours! But that was the time the library opened, and that was the time the council said we has to close! I was awake by six in the morning and positively squealing with excitement, I waited until half past until I put the radio on in the bedroom and played Chris Evans loud! Bless him, I just adore him so much and he’s the only reason I listen to radio 2 in the morning.

To make it up to The Husband I made bacon butties breakfast as well as a giant pot of tea for myself and some of the Whittards of Chelsea herbal teas The Husband has gotten himself right into! Something in the air made this very humble breakfast a lot more delicious than it really should be considered. Everything at this time of the year is an absolute feast and occasion.

Poor Mother in Law is terribly ill at the moment and unfortunately just in time for our nieces first Christmas. The Husband went round to drop some necessities off and pick up our lovely Christmas presents. By the time he was done I was ready to go after picking up loads of lovely presents from all of the wonderful patrons of the library!

We headed into the bright lights of town and ate at the beautiful Caledonian Hotel and walked to the Panto by the fabulously magical twinkley fairy lights adorning the trees of the park in town. I half expected to see sugar plum fairies dancing about as the whole place was alive with lights and joyous revellers. The cold air whipped around us, but it means nothing to us now, not after having it for so long, and especially at this time of the year. We are much too used to it in this village.

The Panto was great fun and I shouted myself hoarse! I've always loved it and had it as a tradition, and I hope I always will, this was last years adventure at HMT!  Too many boos and screams! I especially enjoyed watching the two darling little girls that were dressed as Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Completely overwhelmed by something as silly and as simple as a panto, a relatively inexpensive night out, the day before Christmas, at the same time as Father Christmas is setting off from his home. Beautiful simple things I would like to share with my own children one day.

From there we headed home to sprinkle reindeer dust and get to bed so that we could sneak about filling each others stockings. The Husband made part of a video diary for my Mother who is holidaying in Cyprus at the moment, as she never got to see any of the house decorated for Christmas.

We could hardly sleep…we lay awake picturing the Christmas that was only a couple of hours away. The Christmases we hope to have in the future and the first Christmas in our home. We pictured the most beautiful images of white Christmases and fairy lights until we woke to one ourselves…