Christmas 2015

It was a fairly quiet Christmas Eve this year. There were four of us, having a mixture of ethnic food. And I was impressed by one of the visitors, a friend of my flatmate. She was very young, but engaged, had an education as a baker (the schoggi-mousse was fab!) but has now chosen another career, together with volunteer work for refugees. There is hope yet for the future.

So no stress, just a very pleasant evening with some Christmas music on the computer and no presents in sight. Good so.

Blood is so not thicker than water

Christmas is usually a family thing, a gathering of all sorts of family relations, food, gifts, and whether you like it or not, it's the tradition. I used to love it. That is when I still had a family.

Since quite a few years I have learned to not care, or find other ways to celebrate. Life goes on. But I have to admit that when I ran into a friend yesterday, and it turned out that he had no plans either, I was happy. So we met up, had a nice Christmas dinner and later in the evening I realized I had some sms's on my phone (ok, may consider to upgrade since I almost didn't get the msg's, it was only when somebody else called and my phone made a noise that I could hear), from friends nearby, asking if they could stop by for a drink.

Of course they could. So we ended up with four of us, good friends, no stress, drinks and sweets, and even though I got ditched about my "Switzedütch", I ended the evening having warm fussy feelings.

Tree

Time for some Christmas lights in this darkness.

Walking and smoking

Over this Christmas I met my cousin. She is tall, slim and beautiful with a great sense of fashion. Everything I'm not. In fact, she tried to give me fashion and beauty tips. Needless to say, she doesn't know me that well. Nevertheless, it's hard not to like her. And we share a lot of childhood memories.

However, I am pleased to say that I'm more fit. At least in terms of walking up stairs. We walked up, oh I dunno know, maybe 100 steps and I was as usual having a cig in my hand, while she was panting and I had to wait for her.

So while she's nearly perfect, turns out I am better at something. Good for me!

Lotary win

One of the benefits of having foreign people (yeah I know, like I'm not foreign myself living abroad) in your family is that you get introduced to new customs. Like tonight.

We were having a sweet treat including a message, like in a fortune cookie. I picked the one saying 'love'. Sigh. Tried to switched it with 'laziness' but as my brother (who normally doesn't say much at all) put it: "You don't need more of that in your life". Hmm. He's probably right.

So finally I got it traded to "lotary win". I'm hoping it means lottery win. Yeah, I'll take money over love anyday :).

Merry Christmas!

I am not dreaming of a white Christmas, but I can still enjoy the song.

Christmas is here again

At Christmas people seem to have a greater need of sending messages. That's when we remember our friends and family, even if we ignore them the rest of the year. I am no different.

But I have since years stopped to write paper snail-mail cards. Nowadays it's the blog, emails or sms's.

And I am less stressed about not getting them out on time, either I am in constant contact with the people, see them irl or if need be, I can always send a Happy New Year message.

A week ago I got a paper card from a friend, saying "I know you don't like it, but I enjoy writing cards". Fair enough and she got an email in return.

Others who sent me old-fashioned cards got either an sms, a skype or an email response.

But today I had to laugh. Got a text message from an 82-year-old, wishing me Merry Christmas and all the best for 2014. How cool is not that?

Christmas eve

Christmas eve is a nice day, and so I told the cats when waking up this morning. It's special I said, and they looked attentive before walking away tails held high.

I am so happy I did some of the food already yesterday, took friggin forever so today I just had to cruise around and enjoy.

First a neighbour stopped by, then another one, then a friend, then some other people :)...and on it went. It wasn't overwhelming, it wasn't unexpected, it was just nice and relaxed. At least for me.

This is how I want to celebrate Christmas from now on.

Christmas cards - on paper

This year I have received no less than 12 paper Christmas cards. Some of them are from family people who cannot seem to join the digital era, some of them from friends I do not hear from that often (although they have my email and skype address), and a few are from companies I made business with last year.

I don't get it. This is year 2012, and everybody (except my ancient aunt) has a computer. Why still send paper cards?

Actually, in some cases I think people do it just to annoy me, since it's not the first time I write about it.

But apart from that little irritation, I do wish everybody a Merry Christmas. And as soon as I can get my wee ones to pose for a picture wearing something red, I will post another item saying so.

Christmas in a week

Pretty happy with the look this year!

Christmas presents no

When you have reached the respectable age than I have, you realize you have everything you need. Unless explicitly stated, I do not want presents anymore. Nor do I want "events", no massage sessions, no tickets to anything, no type of cultural experiences. Seen it, done it, been there and didn't buy the t-shirt.

Unless they are consumables of course, preferrably liquid :).

But seriously, I hate it when I receive something that I do not like, and have to smile and appear to be grateful. Not that I'm not, but it's just gonna be another dust collector. And my cupboards are pretty full already.

I have bought one present this year, and that's for the wee one. A book. Educational, since that baby already has enough toys and clothes for an army of kids.

But liquids, serviettes, candles and the likes, they are welcome for people who cannot help themselves and feel the need to buy something.

Unless you wanna buy me a sofa of course...

Christmas is acoming

Prep for Christmas, it is December!

Oops, I dunno how a cat snuck in there all of a sudden! I guess she likes the purple.

Poncho

Got a delayed Christmas present today. My colours!

Lotsa food

There was enough of food, and I gently told them that whatever comes inside my doors stays there. And no, this is not an opportunity to bring your trash next time!

And as you can see I know no housewifes. Girls in the bar, and men in the kitchen. Just like it should be!

The Rectal band

I really dunno when the conversation turned to the Rectal band, but at one point it did (which the gay guy didn't get, hahaha). Ok, so not everybody is totally fluent in ze English language. Turned out she was talking about the Ragdoll band. Oh.

That was much more funny than when they tried to make fun of me.

Secret Santa

I got a lottery ticket (promised to send my friends a postcard from a foreign land when winning), a purple duck (which all my guests will see in the bathroom), green napkins (hmmm, same friend who gave it to me will be served dinner with these for the next...years), a head-massaging thingie (actually love those even though they look gross)

and some kind of oil that you are supposed to massage into your temples feeling energized, hmmm.

Merry Christmas all!

I'm caving in and giving you something cute for Christmas. Not quite as cute as my cats of course, but still.

Enjoy the holiday with food, drink and friends. Just like I will.

Christmas cards

Continuing on the subject, Pfister (pfucks-up) sent me a Christmas card telling me "Das für den Schweizer Detailhandel schwierige Jahr neigt sich dem Ende zu". Oh really! Well I friggin contributed to their profit!

But the point was I don't get why people still send paper Christmas cards. "Everybody" has a computer these days, what's wrong with electronic cards? I cannot throw away personal cards and letters, and am already stuck with "tons" of it in boxes in the basement. Somebody is one day getting the questionable pleasure of binning it. Won't be me, but I can tell you the cost for Zürisäcke will be considerable!

But people know me, so they are never expecting cards from me. You want a Christmas wish? Read the blog :).

White white everywhere

I wish for a white Christmas. NOT! But it was funny seeing Zetti exploring that white stuff.

Christmas lights

Went shopping for new Christmas lights today, and realized that there are plenty of choices these days.

Ended up buying LED-lights with a pink/purple glow :).

Gorgeous, eh?