25 December, 2010

Low points and high points of our pre-Christmas holiday

You know I find it easiest to blog every day or every second day, as soon as I let it go more than that, it is hard to get back into the habit! Or perhaps it is that too much happens in a week and I struggle to know what to include in a short blog post!

We went up in to the mountains north-west of here. Not very far away, but about 1000m above sea level, so about 10 degrees (Celcius) colder. We didn't see much snow, unfortunately.

I think, though, that I might have preferred to remain at home. It wasn't the nicest of holidays. The high points were watching the boys have a go at a new sport - ice skating - and having a lot of fun (and a reasonable amount of success) and watching an outreach even on Thursday evening that the local Christians run and that has become a part of the tourist pull for the season (there were bus loads of tourists dropping by). 

My husband - not skating!
The low points would be pushing and shoving boys around to get done what has to be done, even when on holidays - hygiene things as well as just getting ready to go out and have a fun time (like dressing warmly). I think what made it more difficult was that we were in an even smaller space than what we usually squeeze into, as well as being with one another 24/7 - not something we do so much of any more with everyone at school.

Back to the high points. Ice skating was fantastic - no fighting and watching boys conquer their fears to a point of having a great time. The not-so-fantastic part was falling heavily a few times myself and the pain and bruises afterwards. Very thankful for no broken bones or stitches.

The other high point was the Singing Christmas Tree outreach at the local Christian retreat centre. Lots of lights and goodwill cheer. The tree filled up with about 60-70 singers. Not a fantastic choir, but very photogenic. And very cold too! There were roaming helpers who were giving away lollipops and tracts and a free hot apple cider stand too. Many tourists dropping by.

Another high point would be completing two jigsaws as a family. We didn't usually all do it together, but as we had time and inclination, which reduced the less enjoyable moments, yet gave us a sense of joint achievement. 

One last noteworthy point of our holiday is the waterfalls we went to. We drove and hiked to two waterfalls in the district, both of which were fun occasions. Even if I had to issue safety warnings on a regular basis, it didn't matter if they yelled or ran - we were outside.

But now we're home. Home-sweet-home, where we can spread out just a little more. Where we have more than one toilet and a separate room with the hand basin in it. Where we are close to a train station and have our own bikes to get around on. Where we now have all the Christmas presents that everyone has been waiting for for months, it seems. 

Hopefully now we'll find some of that "Peace" that seems to be associated in some way with Christmas.




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