A couple of pics...

Many of you will, by now, know my bitter disappointment over the POSTPONED Kings of Leon concert in London last week (I know, after all that... Heartbreak)! Anyhow, we were there so why not have a little fun right? Right! So we headed out for a night on the London Town. One of the places we stopped was Wahaca... Yummy yummy Mexican!

Not sure if I mentioned the rain we had in Munich around when I left for London (Last week Tuesday)? So after all the stress of flights being cancelled, I came home to this:

There is a really great festival here in Munich called Tollwood. It is held at the same grounds as Oktoberfest, but is more of a Christmas Craft Market come Music Festival. Very merry, jolly, seasonally appropriate.

So with these I leave you...

From The Land Of Sensible Shoes (Germany) we now head to The Land Of Sensible, ummm, Wine Drinking?? (France) for new years, some skiing, and of course, the Apre Ski... Hooray!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas

After successfully managing to create my First Christmas Meal, which surprisingly very enjoyable (HOORAY!) we are now all relaxing on the couch, watching Planet Earth (one of my gifts to my lovely, finally I see what the fuss is about!).

So enjoy my wine and wait for my tummy to free up some space for my lovely's moms TRIFLE! (I cannot wait!) I shall reflect on this christmas quick.

I was genuinely excited for Christmas this year. Perhaps this is because I have my own little 'home', perhaps because I have finally realised that the Christmas Blues that I usually feel are probably more a result of the whole year that was rushing into my rear view mirror all at once, completely overwhelming me. Perhaps this year I had more time to reflect before the Big Day. Perhaps, too, I have finally accepted what Christmas means post Santa-beliefs, and can finally stop being completely disappointed when it turns out to be just a regular day, but with family and food in excess. Perhaps it was the prospect of a few days off from work. Or perhaps, but this may be a long shot, it was that I was going to be able to cross A White Christmas off my bucket list WELL before my 30th birthday!? Or just the snuggling on the couch with this lovely man!?

What ever it was, it was. And Christmas was great. Very relaxed. Too much food, but no stress and fluster in the kitchen (for some reason the meal almost made itself... - will post pics tomorrow when I am capable of movement). I spoke to my fandamily, and even saw some of their faces too!

The presents were perfect... The wine too.

And now, here we are, on the couch...

Spoilt, full, content.

Merry Christmas my dear friends!

Until we meet again...

xxx

London Town

Now, most of you know that my first attempt at getting a visa for the uk failed horribly. I was left feeling like a lump of nothing...

So I tried again, and many stressy nights later, I got the damn piece of paper in my passport. Hooray. (They actually thought I might want to run off to London where I have no work, or lovely other! Are they CRAZY!)

So I then began to get incredibly excited for this KINGS OF LEON concert that I am rushing over there for... Flying in, watching the show, dying in a state of bliss (they do sing the soundtrack for the lovely's and my whole life together!) and then POSSIBLY having a small disco dance, and flying back at an absurdly early time the next morning. Sounds extremely simple, right?

Wrong. You see, dear, dear London does NOT know what to do when it snows. (I find this quite humorous as it surely snows there for at least one day every year!?) So, while I may not have a visa, I am STILL not guaranteed of seeing the glory that is 'KOL' perform. In fact, my South African team members (yes, the same ones I was urging to prepare by spending time in the TOPS beer fridge) have already received notice of a cancelled flight. No, not delayed... cancelled!

The shock! The Horror! The drama! The HEARTBREAK!

So now, we wait. We sit in front of CNN (the only english tv channel we have), whilst simultaneously checking the flight status online, in wait.

PLEASE hold thumbs for me!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

If I cannot be in mozambique or with my very peculiar, but special friends and family for xmas/new years, I at LEAST need to hear this band perform. I need to get THAT feeling that they give me in my tummy again...

p.s. If you need me, at any stage between now and Tuesday night, I will be outside, in the snow, wishing on stars...

New Lessons

There are a few more things I have learnt that I thought I would share...

1. Lessons from hiking apply to snow too. Always take the high ground and (I think I left this one out before) always take the path MOST traveled. There is a reason no one else is stepping THERE!

2. Once your feet are cold, there is absolutely no possible way you are going to be able to get warm again, unless you go inside and put on your slippers. Or take a bath.

3. German folk deem it very necessary to wear 'Haus schuhe' (house shoes). These are basically slippers. You should not wear your shmooshy, snowy boots/shoes past the front door. You should also not send a kid to a sleep over with out their 'house shoes'.

4. When playing in the snow, take snowboarding gloves. Wool absorbs water, and freezes. Your fingers will freeze along with the wool.

5. It is very hard to hide Christmas presents from your lovely other when you live in a small apartment.

6. It is even harder to hide presents when your lovely others parents come stay...

7. Around christmas time, always made SURE you have your name on your amazon deliveries. To avoid confusion.

8. Sledding is great fun. But if you notice that the other adults are not doing it, it is probably because they don't want to run kids over, and you should PERHAPS wait till the smaller kids go home. Or till every one goes home.

9. Chilli's are a GREAT way to warm up... they go with everything.

10. Too many chilli's may result in losing said warmth to the bath room floor. (Unless you are wearing your house shoes!)

11. Moms are very sneaky.

12. Moms will also give you the words you need at the exact moment you need them, with out you even having to express your need.

13. When feeling home/family sick, have a glass of wine. Then latch yourself onto the nearest family (the lovely and his parents for example) and get involved. Do not stop drinking until the threat of tears is gone and you are convinced you are one of them.

14. No substitute family can replace your own.

15. Children REALLY love christmas. The threat of no presents will provide instant table manners and general niceness.

16. If you don't believe, you won't receive. I believe I deserve to be spoilt by my lovely. Don't you?

Cold Toes, Freezing Nose

It's cold. I mean really, really cold. There is snow on top of the ice that is covering the once glistening pond in our
used-to-be-so-green-but-winter-has-turned-white park.

I can feel every ounce on of fat on my body congeal as I step out the front door, and no, this is not a dramatic exaggeration. My feet slide out from underneath me like new-born giraffe at least 5 times a day.

And sometimes, I can't get the chill out my feet unless I have the hottest hottest bath when I come home so late night. Or some wine, whichever seems like less effort... (One guess which... )

BUT
Oh how the snow changes things! Apart from the muddy smoosh the cars leave on the roads (silly, stinky cars) everything is white, fresh, new. And the air is crisp and clean. Everyday!
And everyday as I walk out the front door I am utterly amazed at the beauty that is surrounding me! (And at the incredible warmth of my lovely's feet!).

So while I am consuming large amounts of Gluhwein (it is necessary, it is freeeeeeeezing, ask your doctor), during the can't-help-but-be-festive-forget-you're-christmas-blues windup to the silliness, I will be sure to breathe in a couple of snowflakes just for you!

I just hope that the New Years Ski Adventure Team Members (we have badges, we're official) that are currently enjoying the glorious South African summer and sunshine are taking a little time out in the Tops beer fridges, with out shoes, to start getting their bodies used to the coooold. :)

Sno Rain

It seems that just as I started to get used to the snow, and really enjoy it's presence... it all disappeared!
Yesterday it rained. Hard. All day. (and I suspect through the previous night too).
And now? Well now, there is not much snow left.
It is a stunning day today, blue skies and sunshine. A whopping 6 degrees! and my garden on has a teeny tiny bit of snow left.
And the grass that has been revealed?! Green as grass could be! (I am not sure how this is possible or quite WHAT the German soil contains!)
Hopefully the sun will dry up all the rain so the roads aren't filled with the same icy sludge as yesterday. Snow is just so much more crisp!

And to think I was telling my lovely that he should hurry home from Thailand because he was missing all this wintery fun...
It's not even minus anything any more!!!
But not to fear, I will still be drinking wine (although I may need to think up a new excuse... "I'm warming up from the inside") and tea... no excuse needed. It flows through my veins!

Excited as I am to see the grass, I just can't shake the feeling that this is mother nature trying to tease me, and say "Hey, look here, how beautiful is this day" before it is replaced with snow and ice for the next 3 or so months, and I am forced back under my multiple layers in an attempt to warm my bones.

Oh well, at least there is that super warm, excessively large Christmas dinner to look forward to!(and the many hours in front of the warm stove that go with it).

What are YOUR Christmas plans???