Christmas Holidays.

PART ONE.

It seems I neglected this blog somewhat over the Christmas period, so while the festivities remain fresh in my mind I thought it best to record them. WARNING: a wordy post if ever there was one:

I arrived home on December 12 by way of Oxford, my auntie and the Les Miserables soundtrack. At first it was very surreal and peculiar. I hadn't been home in twelve long weeks and while nothing had changed in my absence, the house seemed warmer, brighter and more homely than ever. I spent much of the first night wandering from room to room, enjoying the freedom and noting that each activity had its place within the house, rather than within one confined space. I spent the first few days in a similar adjusting state. I enjoyed the comforts of my own bed, I took a long hot bath, I watched TV and I made the most of any home-cooking on offer. With over a week until schools dispersed for the Christmas holidays, I 'made the most' of my free time and for a while I did little but lounge.

Soon however, there was plenty to do. One night I caught up with Charlotte, Harry and my friend Vicente who is taking a gap year before starting University. We chatted, watched a particularly amusing addition of University Challenge (Sociology face guy!) and, as usual, played Crash Team Racing.
On the Thursday I went to a Christmas tea party at Vicki's house. We ate tiny ham sandwiches with the crusts cut off, mince pies, star-shaped hula-hoops and Vicki's homemade snowman cakes. In the evening I went to a Mediterranean restaurant in Llandudno with my former lit class (Elite♥). It was a gradual collection of people, but eventually everyone arrived, bar Suzi and Kim who were still at University. The biggest shock of the evening was Will's stick-thin appearance. It looked as if he hadn't eaten in months and we were speechless when we saw him. Soon however we reverted to our usual merry selves, recounting stories from the past three months and partaking in a bit of local driving, with some hilarious consequences.

I went to the European Market in Manchester on the Friday, where my mum and I wandered about the little wooden stalls, sampling fudge, woolly hats, German teacakes, gluhwein, cheese and crepes. When the market shut at 9 o'clock we drove to the Trafford Centre for an hour or so, where we continued our food-tasting with Krispy Kreme doughnuts in Selfridges. Then we returned to the city centre to collect Josh and friend from their Biffy Clyro concert.
Late night and tiring drive home regardless, we were forced to set out again early the following morning and return to Manchester, where we collected my dad from the airport. It was another happy reunion and we enjoyed a day of catch-up and shopping in nearby Chester.

The following week signalled the true lead-up to Christmas day and as ever it was an action-packed few days. On Monday evening I went for a Chinese meal at Jasmine House in Llandudno, where we succeeded in squeezing seventeen people around a table set for twelve. Afterwards Hannah, Vicki and I drove to the West End where we set about collecting a sleeping Gaz. Once acquired we took to the sights and supermarkets of North Wales with a camera, a car and a small, plastic Wall-E! The next day and the next were dedicated to last-minute shopping, inflatable Christmas presents, wrapping paper, my Gran and profiterole sundaes in BHS. Oh and of course there was the mandatory Santa and sing-along in Conwy on Christmas Eve. Charlotte and I will never change.

Christmas Day shone bright and early, as usual, with impatient family members shooing me from my bed! It was a lovely day with all the regular occurrences and then some. We opened presents, ate twiglets for breakfast (that one was just me :D), dressed in warm, Christmassy garb (reindeer socks, robin pants!), ate a delicious Christmas dinner (turkey! duck! sausages! roast potatoes!), played festive tunes with the whistles and songbook from our crackers, opened more presents, watched some Christmas television (Doctor Who and Wallace and Gromit♥) and eventually, as Boxing Day approached, we went to bed. Some of my favourite presents included: IT Crowd boxset, a book of 1001 Days that Changed the World, fleecy lady-bird socks, egg-shell egg cup, Sparrowkids make-your-own bag kit, writing paper, a box of handmade thank-you cards, David and Goliath t-shirts from Harry, Disney Singstar from Charlotte, framed Monty Python drawings from Hannah, Santa hat hair clip from Vicki (!), crocodile clip clock. Okay, I liked them all♥.