Wishing You All a Very Merry Christmas!
As Christmases halfway across the world from family go, this one has been pretty darned enjoyable. There was not-working and Christmas-decoration-shopping with Holly on Friday, the party at Todd & Midori's on Saturday night, and a day of holiday kolace-baking on Christmas Eve with Elina and Fabio. (Yes, that's right, the Finn and the Italian with the American making Czech sweetbreads in China. Merry International Christmas!) Finally, there was a quiet Christmas eve on my own, watching "A Christmas Story" (which has become my traditional Christmas Eve fare in recent years) and drinking some warm eggnog (yes, from a can, but it's China, what can you do!?). I curled up on the sofa with kitties and spent the night in the glow of the slowly-blinking multicolored lights on the tree.
Woke up at about 7am, feeling a little stuffy, and had to have a cup of lemon-echinacea-licorice root tea in order to get my head clear. I still have quite a headache, hours later, but at least I can breathe. I opened presents from mlion and Momcat (Christmas cookies, a book, a magazine, a pendant filled with sand from the beach in Oregon, and a crocheted copper wire-and-pearl bracelet made by Momcat)! :) I then called my parents on a Skype video chat, wherein we were able to open our Christmas presents "virtually" with one another - due to the time difference, they got to do the European-style "presents get to be opened on Christmas Eve" thing, whilst I was opening mine on Christmas morning. I got a USB vacuum for my laptop, USB lights for my laptop, a sweatshirt and a long-sleeved shirt (both in perfect colors for me, thanks Mom, they fit great!), and a Christmas ornament that was personalized - "Beijing 2006" on the brims of the hats of the two gingerbread men in the ornament, and "Merry Christmas, Love, Mom & Dad XO" painted across their bellies. That video chat made all the difference in my day; thank God for making the technology to do that possible. Then I called Angela and was able to open her presents to me on the phone with her. I got a book, yummy scented votives (candy cane and pine berry) with glass holders, nail polish, and soy nuts (one of my favorite healthy snacks!). She also made me a personalized ornament, glass filled with snow and tied with a pretty silver ribbon, and with "Cheryl" and "Merry Christmas 2006" written on it!
I spent most of the next two hours cleaning up the rest of the kitchen from the kolac-baking adventures of the day before, and whilst cleaning the kitchen I decided to take advantage of this being Christmas in China. You see, unlike the States when you have Christmas Day off work and everything's closed, here everything is open for business! So, I called maintenance to come replace the 3 burned-out lightbulbs in my kitchen ceiling, and then they ended up replacing a fuse and two more bulbs in my display cabinets, and finally, I made an appointment for 10am next Saturday morning for the installation of a new stove. All my burners are "really slow" according to the electrician, something I've been noting for a long time and which has gotten worse in the last few months. When it takes 25-35 minutes for a gallon of water to come to a boil, you need to have something adjusted. While they were doing all the minor repairs, I dusted all the glass shelves in the living and dining room, and when they'd departed, I sat down in the beautiful candlelit living room in the glow of the tree to write some in my longhand journal, and relax.
I'd fallen asleep when the phone rang, and it was Todd, calling to see if I wanted to go to the premiere of "The Painted Veil" with him and his family tonight; they'd gotten tickets from WeiWei, a woman they're friends with who works in marketing for Warner Brothers China here in BJ. So, right now I've got about an hour to go before we leave, and I'm going to hop in the shower and get cleaned up and properly dressed for a movie premiere after a day hanging out in jeans and my lovely comfy cranberry-colored fleece sweatshirt from Mom & Dad all day. :)
I hope that your Christmas, wherever you are and whomever you're with, is filled with love and hope for the coming New Year. Blessed be!
Woke up at about 7am, feeling a little stuffy, and had to have a cup of lemon-echinacea-licorice root tea in order to get my head clear. I still have quite a headache, hours later, but at least I can breathe. I opened presents from mlion and Momcat (Christmas cookies, a book, a magazine, a pendant filled with sand from the beach in Oregon, and a crocheted copper wire-and-pearl bracelet made by Momcat)! :) I then called my parents on a Skype video chat, wherein we were able to open our Christmas presents "virtually" with one another - due to the time difference, they got to do the European-style "presents get to be opened on Christmas Eve" thing, whilst I was opening mine on Christmas morning. I got a USB vacuum for my laptop, USB lights for my laptop, a sweatshirt and a long-sleeved shirt (both in perfect colors for me, thanks Mom, they fit great!), and a Christmas ornament that was personalized - "Beijing 2006" on the brims of the hats of the two gingerbread men in the ornament, and "Merry Christmas, Love, Mom & Dad XO" painted across their bellies. That video chat made all the difference in my day; thank God for making the technology to do that possible. Then I called Angela and was able to open her presents to me on the phone with her. I got a book, yummy scented votives (candy cane and pine berry) with glass holders, nail polish, and soy nuts (one of my favorite healthy snacks!). She also made me a personalized ornament, glass filled with snow and tied with a pretty silver ribbon, and with "Cheryl" and "Merry Christmas 2006" written on it!
I spent most of the next two hours cleaning up the rest of the kitchen from the kolac-baking adventures of the day before, and whilst cleaning the kitchen I decided to take advantage of this being Christmas in China. You see, unlike the States when you have Christmas Day off work and everything's closed, here everything is open for business! So, I called maintenance to come replace the 3 burned-out lightbulbs in my kitchen ceiling, and then they ended up replacing a fuse and two more bulbs in my display cabinets, and finally, I made an appointment for 10am next Saturday morning for the installation of a new stove. All my burners are "really slow" according to the electrician, something I've been noting for a long time and which has gotten worse in the last few months. When it takes 25-35 minutes for a gallon of water to come to a boil, you need to have something adjusted. While they were doing all the minor repairs, I dusted all the glass shelves in the living and dining room, and when they'd departed, I sat down in the beautiful candlelit living room in the glow of the tree to write some in my longhand journal, and relax.
I'd fallen asleep when the phone rang, and it was Todd, calling to see if I wanted to go to the premiere of "The Painted Veil" with him and his family tonight; they'd gotten tickets from WeiWei, a woman they're friends with who works in marketing for Warner Brothers China here in BJ. So, right now I've got about an hour to go before we leave, and I'm going to hop in the shower and get cleaned up and properly dressed for a movie premiere after a day hanging out in jeans and my lovely comfy cranberry-colored fleece sweatshirt from Mom & Dad all day. :)
I hope that your Christmas, wherever you are and whomever you're with, is filled with love and hope for the coming New Year. Blessed be!