Last week was mega-hectic. The changes of situation could be compared to high-class action movies... In the end, after a lot of stress, difficult, quick decision-making and long, long journey, we arrived at home for Christmas - on Christmas Eve, at 4.00am... Now nothing else really matters anymore, since we all are here together...
Why no graduation? Because they do these only for those who are awarded a degree. As simple as that. Oh well. We will go out for dinner anyway. In the end, soon I will be able to put "Dip, RS" after my name. Like I would do it ;)
So there are three candles lighted up already on the Advent wreath and I still don't know if in a week time, on Wednesday evening, "I'll be home for Christmas"... Honestly I would rather wait longer than find out quickly and receive bad news! So for now it's all about fingers crossed and waiting... ...also for my final results from Open University, which are announced online on the 17th December - hopefully I should be able to access them on Thursday after midnight :) It's funny how it all seems to so far away and so long ago - studying, making notes and the day of the exam itself. I am not stressed at all anymore, just curious... On the 17th, but a bit later (during the day;)) we also have our Christmas lunch at work - my team goes out for a special meal. I hope it will be nice. It's quite a new group of people to me, and some of them seem to know each other for ages, but they are all very friendly and open. We also organised Secret Santa, so we shall have some fun during the lunch unwrapping our gifts :) In the meantime, while counting down days to Christmas and holiday break (I am running out of energy, and I can't wait to get some rest, proper sleep and "not working" time!), I try to figure out how to bake a proper poppy seed cake and gingerbread cookies without the traditional ingredients I cannot buy in here, where to get a nice Christmas tree and how it's going to be like if in the end we stay here...
A small addition - I watched the third part of "The Chronicles of Narnia", a new movie based on another novel from the famous series by C. S. Lewis. It was heart-warming and moving, especially one of the last scenes, with Aslan. I hope to spend more time with Narnia in my spare moments... maybe during Christmas? It seems like a perfect time to come back to this story.
A trailer just to get a little taste of the amazing picture. The real value however lies deeper than in the form :)
And so the moment has come that I had to face the family tradition and bake the Christmas cookies... without my Mum's help! I think I am really bad in cooking and all that kitchen stuff, I always need a very detailed recipe and when something goes slightly wrong I panic. But the cookies had to be made. I had to save my honour :) Luckily, they turned out to be not too bad :) The colourful decor, created by me and by my very talented beloved, made them look very special :) I am proud of us :)
This is a snowman made from a cookie and a delicious layer of white marshmallow on top of it :) And this was just the sweet beginning of the good news we got yesterday: 1. my beloved got his passport back, and in the passport - a very important document which allows him to live here with me, peacefully, for the next two years (so at least for year now we don't have to worry about anything) 2. my Mum (or Santa Claus! I am not sure...) sent us a package with presents and chocolates :) cosy and yummy surprise :) 3. I managed to book some theatre tickets for bargain thanks to a special action Get Into London Theatre. A visit to a theatre in London can be extremely expensive and although it is an amazing experience, it is not something we can afford to do regularly... And now I got two tickets for two fantastic musicals for a really small money! And the seats are good, too. Seems like we'll have some special Saturdays in January and February then...
...until Christmas of course! This year it has looked like it would be another stressful rather than cheerful time of counting, with high hopes mixed with moments of depression. And in the end of the struggle, it looks like we will not spend Christmas with our family, but we will stay here, on our own, just the two of us. But since there is really nothing more I can do, I decided to at least stop crying about this and try to prepare best Christmas ever. It's gonna be different this year, I know - but it can be nice and cosy and lovely anyway!
To start with, we prepared our Advent wreath ad Advent calendar. Well, the calendar was actually hand-made in secret by my beloved, because we didn't manage to get one in the shops (we wanted to buy it today, one day late, and we couldn't find any, how ridiculous!). Anyway, I love it and I think it is the most original and delicious Advent calendar, filled with extra love :)
Last week was mega-hectic. The changes of situation could be compared to high-class action movies... In the end, after a lot of stress, difficult, quick decision-making and long, long journey, we arrived at home for Christmas - on Christmas Eve, at 4.00am...
