Days 20 & 21 ... unexpected things

Well, I didn't expect to be not having a lovely dinner with OH tonight as our Christmas celebration before he goes to his folks' ... I thought the flat would be all decorated and we could just relax and enjoy. Well, ho hum. I just haven't been able to shake off this lurgey buggy coughey yeuchy thing, so the flat is a mess, I can't really get interested in cooking anything (though I am trying to eat healthy things, honest), there are no decorations up and to be honest I don't really think I'll bother now cos I'm away on Christmas Eve, and OH is just going to drop in for a quick visit tomorrow morning instead of our nice romantic evening. And you know what? I'm not that bothered really. It's just the way it is this year. As long Mum and I are fine for our lovely relaxing Christmas away then that's fine. OH and I will have a quick catch up tomorrow, and the nice candlelit dinner can get rescheduled for the new year sometime. Now if only I could muster enough energy to just wash the dishes and tidy up! Everything is now bought in and mostly wrapped up, so once the tidy up is done it's just a case of relaxing and getting well...

Dear Santa ...

I can explain! Honest! Well, I wrote a big letter to Santa last year, and felt like something quick and fun this year, so here it is!

Day 18 ~ Christmas Dinner

Today's prompt was about christmas dinner, which this year is going to be so relaxed, elegant and stress-free in a lovely Highland hotel. So this was a quick page that hopefully conveys some of the atmosphere we'll be enjoying! My OH and I are planning a dinner this Friday, but that one's not planned yet ...

A special present

Day 17 and I found it hard to do this prompt as stated - journalling about the perfect present you've got for someone. I'm not sure I get things that perfect! And I find I'm getting a bit uncomfortable focussing on presents a lot. So I wasn't sure what to do, except that I quite fancied trying out these Heidi Swapp star masks, which was fun, and they were so easy to use. The journalling is about what I'm thinking of as my special present this year - time to recuperate properly, get well and rest and recharge the batteries. Having been off work last week with this rotten cold, I'm off til about the 8th January - and though I'm not doing much at the moment other than trying to shake this virus off, I am excited about having this time to chill out. I'm so looking forward to going away to the hotel on Christmas Eve for 3 nights, then chilling out back here then down to my sister's for Hogmanay.

Gratitude

Having a lazy Sunday morning - can't do much else with this cold, though I think I might need to make a foray out to tescos for more tissues - I've just about used the two boxes I got on Thursday... so decided to get today's page up. The prompt was gratitude and I decided just to keep it simple, and was brave enough to do some doodling too!

14 & 15 ~ songs and plans

Day 14 was about Christmas music - so I used this paper which has bits of music in the background as well as tree baubles as well. It's nice to have Christmas music at Christmas, and I usually do some new arrangments each year, so have gradually built up a wee collection! Day 15 was about visitors, which I've turned round slightly as we're going to be guests instead! My mum and I have booked into a lovely hotel for a 3 night Christmas package, which I am so looking forward to. I've had to stay off work this past few days due to a really stinking cold which has set off my asthma, so the thought of some real relaxation time and a chance to get back to full strength sounds heavenly!

12 & 13

Which means I'm up to date! At least til tomorrow ....

Day 12 was about tales of Christmas past, but I was really struck by a line of Shimelle's in the prompt about accepting change :"accept change with grace and a laugh, and enjoy each year for its unique celebration." Day 13 was about how you give out the presents, well I did this in detail last year so just kept to a general present theme this time.

10 & 11, wrapped up trees!

Onward with this year's journal then. Day 10 was an easy one - luckily I had already bought my IKEA wrapping paper and tags so that didn't take long, just the addition of a little word fetti sticker about making presents look luscious. Day 11 was about the tree. Well I don't have mine up yet, and don't plan to put it up for a bit yet, and anyway I used a piccie of it last year, so wasn't quite sure what to do. Then I realised I had lots of stickers with trees, and that they kept featuring on paper and so on. So I stuck on lots of trees, then added a tree stamp. Then I didn't know what to write so tried googling for an appropriate verse, but couldn't find one quite right. So I just wrote my own! Well, it works for me...

Okay, so my piccie taking skills are pretty poor, and apparently folks would like to read my wee tree verse so here it is:

CHRISTMAS TREE

A symbol of the season

Of memories and lights

Coloured balls and trinkets

Glittery and bright

A focal point to gaze on

To just enjoy the sight

And feel the peace of Christmas

There for all this night.

Christmas Journal 2007

I've decided to do Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class again this year - and in so doing have just realised my blog is now one year old! Happy Birthday Blog! I couldn't start straight away on the 1st as I was away working but have spent the past few days scrapping with my mum and am now up to date. Yay! I'm finding it different this year as I already know what the posts are going to be of course, but have chosen a very different size this year, much smaller, and am trying to do different things. So that's a useful task in itself. So here's the catch up then....

THE MANIFESTO

I declare my intention to Journal my Christmas. Writing something down every day. Creating a little bit whenever possible. Getting my stories documented for myself and maybe for others to read too. I hope by taking a little time each day to reflect, to write, to create, I will keep my Christmas alive and well, despite the commercial pressure that exists outside my door. Family, friends and hot beverages will help. I will try not to get too reliant on chocolate. I may meet others taking this same journey. I may share my work from time to time. I may remember just why I loved Christmas in the first place, and that may be a very magical moment indeed.

Flapsi Hapsi x

Thanks to Cherylol for seeing her inspiring day 6 with the Oliver Herford poem 'I heard a bird sing'. I didn't know the poem and was so struck by it that I used it for my day 6 page too. The rest are pretty stratighforward: 1 was to say why you are doing this / 2 was about the weather - as I travel a lot it's a real worry here / 3 was cards - which I've not really thought about yet! / 4 was about your perfect Christmas. Now I had a bit of a problem with that one - I'm not really into shiny materialistic out of a magazine Christmas and I hate all the stress and tension that comes with it so for me a perfect Christmas would be chilled out and relaxed! One day maybe ...

Day 5 was about Advent Calendars - I don't use these anymore so I did a diary excerpt as my own countdown - pretty hectic really/ day 6 was meant to be good and bad memories but I don't see the point of dwelling on bad memories or silly things like not getting what you wanted as a kid - life is too short, but I loved this poem / 7 was about shopping / 8 was the sights of Christmas /9 was about traditions. Off to have a look at number 10 now ...