Not the Liquor Cabinet

(Thanks Audrey!)

I found the missing "spirit" in the end. Well, a while ago now. I think what helped was Emily's raw excitement about everything. At almost 3, it's the first Christmas that truly has any meaning to her. She's been preparing for the season for weeks at school, has been busy crafting and even made a crib! It's hard not to pick up on at least some of that enthusiasm.

One of my favourite Rochester-bought decorations. Always guarantees a smile.

The balustrades had to be babyproofed with perspex when we moved in as the gaps between the uprights

were too wide and the first thing Emily ever did upstairs was almost walk straight through them.

Despite this, I managed some basic decoration along the staircase.

Bunting made by my Rochester neighbour Maria! She'll be pleased to see this ;)

Emily's Christmas card to Mummy and Daddy, and pine cone decoration,

along with our little crib that she visits on a regular basis.

The crib she made at school. 

My original angel. I have several more Christmas angels but this one has a very special place in my heart.

Emily's gulbiena.

"I put in a seed and I watered it and it grew!"

We'll make a gardener out of her yet.

Our version of the elf on the shelf. Until a few weeks ago, I had no idea what was so special about the Elf,

then some twitter friends enlightened me. I had always planned to have something in the house acting as

Santa's messenger. Emily has named him Pat.

I am thrilled that I found a "matching" stocking for Adam.

And this ebay personalised purchase is another thing I'm thrilled about!

The larger of our TWO Christmas trees! The old UK-bought one is on the upstairs landing,

just outside Emily's bedroom. It is specifically hers and Adam's tree, whereas this one is

Mummy's and Daddy's because she's not allowed to touch the decorations.

Adam's First Christmas tree decoration, thanks to HollyBerry Boutique once again!

(This is Emily's First Christmas decoration)

Yesterday I decided to risk it and while both kids were napping, I hid all the presents under the tree.

I say "hid" because the tree is so big, they are literally hidden under there.

The kids don't often use that room, so I wonder how long it'll take Emily to notice they're there!

So yes. Christmas spirit: check!

Escape

A few weekends ago, one of my very best friends in the whole wide world and I went to Venice for two nights. The last time we travelled together was in March 2006, a few weeks before David and I moved to the UK. It was high time we did it again.

We travel well together, we're both relaxed tourists. We don't have lists of things we have to see and we don't do organised tours. We're both happy to sit in a cafe and watch the world go by. The unique version of the world of whatever city we happen to be in.

At first I wasn't sure I'd even be able to sleep being so far away from my babies. But then, once I relaxed slightly and some facetime assured me David was coping, I let go.

There were perks.

I could eat ice cream without having to stop to think "Has Emily had her lunch yet? Will it ruin her appetite if she inevitably eats half of mine or wants her own?"

I could stay out over their bedtime.

I COULD GO TO THE LOO ALONE.

I didn't need to stop and think about the salt content of my food (to be able to offer it to Adam).

I had no nappies, or wipes, or bottles, or magic cream (arnica) in my bag.

I shopped for clothes for me. JUST ME.

I had time to wear my lenses every day, and make up.

I drank HOT coffee. And had to go back for more because the stuff is just so good when it's not cold.

There were probably more. But I did miss them, and the looks on their faces, the hugs, and Emily spending almost two weeks telling me how glad she was that I came back, were enough to make me really glad to be back. Doesn't stop me from hoping there might be another little break on the horizon though...

Misplaced

We all know how much I love Christmas. I've mentioned it often. I love preparing for it and having the house decorated. I love the atmosphere, the cold outside and the warmth inside. I love the lights in the streets and the bustling shopping malls (though not because they're bustling, I'll admit that). I love browsing and choosing the perfect gifts for loved ones.

Only, it seems, that this year all the above needs to be switched to the past tense. There is none of that happening. I seem to have misplaced my Christmas Spirit. It's making me feel quite sad.

Has the season been tainted with the insecurity of the move last year? I know my Spirit was more than lacking then too, knowing the big move was coming up on the 17th January. But I kept up the act, I decorated the house for Emily's sake and it was worth it.

But this year... my Christmas boxes are still buried under more boxes. I'm not yet sure where everything, including the tree, will go. Not to mention the house is much bigger so I probably need new stuff anyway and I'm not quite sure where to get it.

The weather is most definitely not cold outside and the houses are not exactly warm. More chance of needing long sleeves indoors half the time.

Atmosphere seems lacking. Perhaps it's because I don't have Rochester High Street on my doorstep any longer. I was more than spoiled there.

ALL gift shopping has been done online this year, because let's face it - I'm not thrilled to be ripped off by shopping in person in most Maltese shops.

Shopping malls are decorated but I'm just not feeling it. I look and don't quite see. I don't feel.

I've become Scrooge.

Where have I left my Christmas Spirit? I am slightly worried that it got stuck in 2011. How on earth am I going to pull it all the way into 2013?!

---------------

Note: I wrote this on Friday (and forgot to post it). On Saturday we went and bought a Christmas tree. The decorations in the shop did pop some Christmassy thoughts into my head, and on Saturday afternoon I was shuffling boxes around to get to the stuff I wanted. The weather even got significantly colder over the weekend! 

This year we will have not one but TWO Christmas trees, so we've set up the smaller one (which I've told Emily is hers and Adam's and she can play with the ornaments on it which she is loving), but things have more or less stopped there. The boxes are open, I'm surrounded by Christmas decorations and yet I feel no real motivation to do anything with them.

On Saturday, walking into that shop, I thought it had done the trick. But I guess it's going to take a bit more than that... and I'm running out of time! 

[image]

Fresh Perspective

Things are really mad around here at the moment. We move in a few days and the flat is far from packed. But we'll get there.

However, while taking a break from it all I wanted to stop by and say something. Two weeks ago, two people who are very important to me visited from the UK. They were here for a fleeting visit, just two days. But they loved it. They enjoyed themselves and they loved Malta and the slow island pace. There was talk of them coming back next Summer with their families.

But since they visited, something interesting has happened. My perspective has altered. It's as though I could finally see Malta through a fresh pair of eyes. And it's helped immensely. Six months after our move back to Malta, I no longer hate it. Sure, it frustrates the hell out of me sometimes, but sometime during the last few weeks, the war ended.

I am finally able to properly appreciate lots of good things about living here, despite of and along with its quirks. And as a result, daily life has become significantly less frustrating.

And even if there was nothing else, who could complain about this...

Not a cloud in sight for days on end. (Yeah, I forgot to snap a piccie on Tuesday!)

Maltese Heat

I'll be lying if I said I hadn't hoped to come back to a rainy England after hot Malta. As high as the temperatures were - Maltese heat isn't impossible to deal with when most houses have air-conditioning and when you can jump into a pool or the sea if you feel too hot. Here, the houses just aren't equipped for the heat (Emily's had to move into the spare room this week) and my hayfever rages on, making it all very frustrating.

But then, when you can wash and dry four loads of laundry in a day, outdoors, and let the little ones splash around in paddling pools to cool down, have windows open all day (and night) long, and not need to do anything else in particular... well then's it's quite alright really.


I had 466 pictures to sort through after our holiday in Malta. And there were more to start with, but when with 3 days still to go, my memory card was full, I had to painstakingly go through them all and delete doubles or pictures that didn't seem great. I do take a lot of pictures of the same thing!

(And after doing that, I went online and ordered a larger memory card to be waiting for me when I got home.)

Here are my favourites from the holiday. Enjoy!

We did spend most of our time by the pool. There were no other motives behind this holiday: we wanted to chill. And that we did.

We had small gatherings of friends and family over, and some mornings we ventured out to the (air-conditioned) shopping centre for a change of scene.

David had a couple of boys nights out and I had a cinema and cocktails night with my girls (we watched Magic Mike - perfect girl's night out movie!). David and I had two date nights - more than we've had in months!

Emily loved all the attention, and she loved the water. But by day 2 or 3, when she realised we weren't going to let her "swim" alone (because she doesn't know how), she refused to get into the pool and took to having refreshing showers instead.

Best holiday in years!

Holidays!

We're just back from our holidays in Malta with beautiful, golden tans and big smiles on our faces. It was an excellent visit, mostly spent in the water with family and close friends. David and I even got two date nights (no, we didn't spend those in the water)! But more on the whole trip later - for now, here's little missy strutting her stuff.

Hope you're all enjoying the good weather if you're lucky enough to have it!

Paris, Part II: Aquarium de Paris

[Read Part I]

Visiting the Aquarium was a stroke of genius. Emily could finally get out of her buggy and crawl around. She has recently become very interested in animals so this was a good opportunity to show her something different. She loved the movement and the colours of the fish, although not so much the larger fish.







She spent most of her time at the Aquarium shouting at the fish, or trying to catch and lick them.

And then we found the petting pool. She stood by the side for a while, just watching. Then tentatively, she touched the water. Then a bit more and a bit more, until five minutes in, her top and cardigan were soaked right through (she kept turning around to try and dry her hands on David's arm!) and she was even trying to catch the poor, terrorized fish.







We stopped to have lunch shortly after that (sushi - a bit ironic to be serving sushi at an Aquarium, we thought!) and we stripped Emily down to her vest and dried her clothes under the hand drier in the toilets which did the job and she was fast asleep, fully content, soon after that. Suddenly we didn't feel like such bad parents any longer: we had found something for Emily to enjoy in what seemed to be the land that forgot the toddler!

More Paris adventures to follow...

Paris, Part I: Hmm...

Months ago, we booked a long weekend in Paris. As part of his Ironman training, David was going to run the Paris Marathon on the 15th April. Then, due to injury, he was unable to run but we decided to spend the weekend in Paris anyway. It had been a few years since we were last there, and it was a good excuse to be back.

We couldn't quite make our minds up about how to get there and when we finally decided to take the Eurostar, prices had sky-rocketed so we fell back on our original plan to drive there via the Eurotunnel. We were both not very keen on this option because Emily had recently begun being very impatient in the car and we didn't want to have to listen to her moaning for over 3 hours. Still, we didn't want to fly there either, so we decided to risk it.

Turned out we had nothing to worry about. She was perfectly fine getting to Dover, spent the crossing out of the car, and spent the drive from Calais to Paris asleep or blowing us kisses.



We were the last car on board the train so she had ample room to roam.


Once we'd checked in to our hotel, we moved around the furniture in our room (we must be every hotel's favourite guests) to ensure we could actually have a quiet conversation once Emily was asleep. Then we headed out for a stroll down the Champs Élysées and to get some dinner.



This was when reality kicked in. Stupidly, we'd done no "Paris With Toddler" research. Since we'd been before and done all the sights then, and we're not big on much sightseeing anyway - we much prefer to take it easy and just soak up the essence of a place, we figured we'd just chill and let Emily roam around while we do, as we'd do in England. We'd take a few walks, perhaps a boat ride, a spot of shopping, nothing stressful.

It was at this point, looking for a place to have dinner, that we realised that we might be in for an interesting weekend. Most restaurants and brasseries we attempted to have dinner in had no highchairs (and we'd stupidly left our portable booster seat in the hotel room). Emily was looked at as if she was some sort of alien fallen out of the sky. A child in a restaurant?! When we did eventually find somewhere that had a highchair (one without a harness so she spent the entire time climbing out of it), and after I was almost run over by a very rude waiter carrying a tray of empty glasses and got shouted at for being in the way while we waited to be shown to our table, Emily was given stainless steel cutlery, a plate and a glass. And the waiter seemed taken aback when I moved everything away from her.

From where we stood, it seemed like no Parisian had even the slightest concept of an infant. Playgrounds (we found quite a few) include slides, see-saws and monkey bars. Emily loves swings, but there are no swings, anywhere. Signs state that playgrounds are intended for children over four years of age.

Even shopping started out feeling hopeless. In Zara, we tried to get to the first floor. We spotted a lift. Good, this was progress. After what seemed like an eternity waiting for the lift to arrive, it was packed with boxes and clothing rails. There was no way more than one person would fit in there, let alone a buggy. The sales assistant close by looked up, then carried on doing whatever he was doing. We walked out. (We were more successful in other shops, but it was at this point that David looked over to me and, laughing, said "I can actually see the blog post writing itself in your head." He wasn't wrong.)

By the morning of our second day, Emily was bored out of her mind and we were becoming slightly concerned as to how we were going to keep her entertained, and feeling very bad for having brought her all the way there to have no fun whatsoever. I said to David let's find some grass and let her roam around for a while. But there on the grass was a fresh delivery of dog poo. Back to square one.

She was getting increasingly impatient to not be allowed to move around anywhere (remember, she still just crawls!!) until David spotted a sign. There was an Aquarium. We ditched the Eiffel Tower and made a bee line for the aquarium.



I'll tell you all about that in my next post, and I promise it does get more positive after this!

[Read Part II]

Scotland Lite

Our trip began with a wedding in Preston. We missed the first train to Manchester due to overcrowding, managed the next one. We got to the hotel in Preston shattered but looking forward to the wedding the next day. Which really was lovely. We knew several people including a cousin of mine and some old school friends from Malta. I conserved enough energy to dance for about 3 minutes before I almost collapsed on my very high heels but was very pleased with the effort.

The next day, I paid for it tenfold. It was possibly the worst day of the pregnancy to date. And what made it even worse was that I had no bed to retreat to as we'd checked out of the hotel by 11am and were headed to the airport by lunchtime for our 5pm flight to Edinburgh. We figured we'd hang out at the airport, if for a rather long while, but at least we'd have access to food.

At 3pm, our flight was cancelled. At that point I think I slightly lost my mind. I was so unwell and was putting so much effort into staying awake and keeping my stomach from lurching every 3 minutes, it was too much to even consider another 3 hours of that until the next flight, at 8pm. So David and I took over a row of four seats in the departure lounge for the rest of the afternoon/evening, me lying down with my head on his lap as a pillow. On the plane, any control I had gained over my stomach seemingly didn't board the flight with me, and that was that.

So an hour later, thanking a very patient flight attendant and my bag stuffed with as many sick bags as I could smuggle out of other seat pockets on the way off the plane, we landed in Scotland.

After that, it wasn't so bad, but as I needed to rest regularly throughout the day, our sightseeing trips around Scotland could never be as long and in depth as we'd have liked. It is for this reason that I refer to our holiday as "Scotland Lite" because we did not see as much as we should and could have had I been feeling "normal."

But what we did see, I loved. It's been a very long while since I've been in a country that struck me as simply beautiful. Even the people were friendly and welcoming. The weather was not as cool as I'd hoped it would be - I was really looking foward to needing to snuggle up in a fleece most of the time, but as it was, a t-shirt generally did the trick! (The picture shows me feeling cold on the Loch, but that was an exception!)

A friend who knows Scotland well told me the other day that Scotland has two seasons: August and Winter... lol, I'm inclined to believe it!

Anyway, to name a few places, we stayed in a lovely little cottage in Callander. We spent half a day in Edinburgh, another stunning city - and another half day in Oban, where we visited the seal colony. So cute! We visited the Blair Drummond Safari Park and Stirling and Doune Castles, and another quaint little place which I will be spotlighting in a few days' time for my September Spotlight...

My final verdict is that it's definitely a place I'll be heading back to, perhaps in a few years, when the little kid can walk and hike, and we can really properly see Scotland in all it's glory.