Christmas Cheer

My extremely talented friend Iona, who gets VERY excited about Christmas starting in about July each year, sent me this beautiful hand-painted advent calendar. It gives me great joy every day to open up a little port-hole and see what clever thing she has drawn that lies underneath. The month started with a robin, and I'm excited to see what Christmas day will bring!

Andy and I are working flat out til Christmas week and looking forward to the break. This year is the first time in a LONG time that we have been in the UK with family for Christmas so its extra special, though now that Dave is back from Cambodia as well there's plenty of tug-o-war to be played between families!

Some of my very favourite Christmas things:

1. The German stuff. Having grown up on the traditional German Christmas experience, I just can't get enough of the lebkuchen, linzertorte, stollen, wooden ornaments and St Nikolaus tag where you leave a boot out at night and on the 6th December, wake to find it filled with sweets! Random tradition but one that carried on well into out teens... :) Our family also incorporates the german tradition of opening present on Christmas Eve by always opening one present the night before Christmas day.

2. Mulled wine. I never really got into the whole English minced pie thing (probably because for years, I didn't understand that they use the same word as for mulched beef), but mulled wine is always a winner.

3. The covered market in Oxford at Christmastime. You kind of have to go there to understand...trees and turkeys and hot chocolate...it has it all. It has a special magic at Christmastime.

4. Going from the pub to the midnight church service on Christmas eve with all the old gang from the village and at midnight, whispering and pinching each other in the middle of the sermon 'cause its officially Christmas!

5. Helping dad put together our archaic fake tree from the 80's (maybe even 70's!?), that inevitably seems to get smaller every year. Truth be told, its actually a horribly ugly tree but so strong are our fond associations with it we wouldn't dream of having anything else!

6. FAMILY. Yes, this holiday has become trivialized, commercialized, and cannibalized of any relevant cultural meaning (we had "Winterval" one year in Birmingham instead of Christmas), but one thing that Christmas has always been a celebration of for me is family. We try to make a point of getting together, be it on actual Christmas Day or not, be it through a phone or Skype or in some random country, to touch base. A tradition we started a while back is to say what our highlight and lowlight of the year has been, and our hopes for the year ahead. I'll mull that one over and let you know.

Lisa

Even though her real name is Lara, our whole family has always called her Lisa. Like a nickname that's not actually a shortening of anything. To be honest it weirds me out when Matt, my brother-in-law, calls her Lara, because I forget that's her real name and somehow it doesn't sound right.

Lisa's my sister and, as the years have passed, more and more of a great friend. When I was little there was such an age gap that we didn't really relate as friends or share clothes or any of that stuff. Part of growing up and then living in New York for the last 4 years has meant that we've become friends, equals - i love that. I feel like if we were ever flatmates we would have the time of our lives.

This post is to tell you a little about why Lisa is an amazing sister and an amazing (and as you can see gorgeous!) person:
- She is incredibly kind-hearted and wonderfully gifted with people. She would be the one you would want baby-sitting your kid, answering the phone on the customer service line, looking after your grandma in the old folks home, organising your wedding decorations (thanks!).
- She is an AMAZING mother. Really, I'm blown away by how patient and loving she is with raising two adorable but seriously hyperactive boys. She totally inspires me that parenting is doable and worthwhile.
- She knows how to have a good time. There' something kind of Irish about her outgoing impulses, her humour, her social ease. Oh, you also really want her on your team for games. Especially card games. If she's playing against you, prepare to die.
- She is the only person in the world that can get me into absolute and irrevocable fits of giggles. I don't even know how she does this, but ever since I was tiny she could bring this hysteria out in me in a way that no one else has been able to replicate.
- She's tender-hearted. She cries at commericals.
- She's fiercely loyal and can be tough-minded, steely and protective when someone she loves is threatened.
- She's an eternal optimist. She's had a really winding and often tough road through life, but in every situation she finds a way to see the positive side and to put a smile on her face.

I know they say you can't choose your family, but Lisa would be my first pick every time :)

Family frolics

Last weekend we played host in our Manchester flat to Andy's dad, mum and brother and my brother and sister in-law. Wow! A busy but really fun weekend. Andy's dad is in a professional choir and we watched him sing (in Russian!) at the beautiful Bridgewater Hall on Saturday, after a day out exploring Manchester city centre (including a ride on the Manchester wheel - the view and Simon, Andy's bro, pictured above). Sunday we pottered around Liverpool and nosed around the Tate for a bit. Sunday night I stayed up til 2 am gabbing with my brother. The two of us are a deadly combination for all night talking!

The weekend made us realise what an incredible bonus it is to be near family again. Well, the same country at least! Though our pangs for New York are still very much with us, for me nothing can compare to being able to sit up with your brother putting the world to rights late into the night.

This weekend we're bringing some of America to Manchester by throwing our northern friends a Thanksgiving day! Watch this space to see how many people we can cram into our living room...