Christmas Cards

It was my last day at work yesterday ~ yipee. A whole 2 weeks off OMG it's bliss :O) Got everything I need for Teresa & the gang now, caravan mattresses, quilts, pillows etc. (Gemma says it looks like the princess & the pea lol) .The freezer is full to the top so I think we are all organised. It seems so long since we've seen them but it was only a few weeks ago. Just one disappointment today so not too bad I suppose in the grand scheme of things. I ordered a new 13.5 tog duvet so that we would have one for Teresa & Nik . It was delivered today but when I unfolded it, it had a big black stain on it. It looked as though it was part of the material so I've parcelled it up & they are collecting it on Tuesday. Andrew found another one on the BHS website so we've ordered that instead. Fingers crossed it will get here before the 27th Dec.

Lisa & Liam came back from Uni yesterday too so we now have a full house again. Tonight Andrew cooked a gorgeous roast beef diner for the five of us plus Liam, Sam & Matt with trifle to finish. It was scrummy! Thank you Andrew xXx

We've spent the day doing housework, shopping, washing etc. the usual Saturday jobs. Elena's done a load of ironing for me too. She's a good un :O) Blutacked all the Christmas cards to the doors today. I love receiving Christmas cards. The really special ones from the girls are on the hearth in the front room. I had a lovely one from Kerri at work saying to a fabulous friend with love ~ aww. Sandy & Steve sent one with 'For Our Neighbours' on it. But the one that's had me in tears arrived this morning. Just a little card, nothing very special until we opened it ~ to Andrew, Vanda & the girls from Tony (& Edith). Edith died when we were on holiday in Jamaica back in May and she was Andrew's favourite Auntie. She was my favourite too. The Christmas card is a teddy looking out of the window up to the heavens. Not everyone is going to have a great Christmas are they.

I was thinking ...

Have you ever seen the film Shirley Valentine? She talks to the wall in her kitchen as everyone else is out & about doing there own thing. It's funny!

I have enough people to talk to but sometimes it's just nice talking to the computer as all it does is listens, never butts in or starts talking about something else. It's not an ideal companion but it does help to sort stuff out & it's much less obvious than talking to the wall lol.

When we were on holiday in Jamaica back in May, Andrew's sister Claire sent a text message saying that his Auntie Edith had died. Auntie Edith was brilliant, she was one of Andrew's Dad's sisters and we were more close to her than any other Aunt or Uncle. Edith made all the flower arrangements including my bouquet, when we got married. She crocheted a gorgeous white blanket for Gemma when she was born. She spent hours tracing her family history & sharing it with us and everytime we went back 'home' to Chinley we would visit and always be made very welcome. Her grandchildren adored her, she would text them or phone them on her mobile phone or e-mail them. She had a web cam installed & would talk via MSN etc. to her two sisters in Australia. She kept up with all the modern gadgets, which is quite cool for someone born in 1940! What I'm getting at is, she always said she would come down to the Isle of Wight to stay with us for a week or so, but sadly she never made it.

So bearing that in mind, I had a really great thought yesterday. Next year why not have 2 holidays! There's only really 2 things stopping us, money & holidays from work & school.

Elena goes up to High School in September so holidays will be a bit difficult. Andrew has loads so he's no problem and I shouldn't have school holidays at all because that's our busiest time. So what if we went to the Maldives at Easter as we are never very busy then and like Andrew says, not many people get the chance to take their children to the Maldives so it shouldn't be fully booked. Then, in the October half term, visit Chris in Florida. We could get a flight, stay in a cheap & cheerful hotel & take Elena to Disneyland (which I've been promissing her we would do for ages). It would mean she may have to have about 8 days off but it would be split between 2 different school years.

Now the money! We should have enough Tesco points to pay for 2 weeks in the Maldives (we have just over £5,000 worth at the moment). So all I would need to do is save up for Florida. I managed to save up for Jamaica so I'm pretty sure I can do it again.

I wonder how much money we would need? We'd need the flight, hotel, food, car hire, entrance to Disneyland & maybe a couple of other theme/water parks like seaworld & Blizzard Beach. I have no idea where these places are in Florida so a bit of research is needed. Maybe we could just pick a few thing that would be close to where we stay. I know Andrew & I would be quite happy just chillin' near a pool or the sea but Elena needs some excitement :O) I've heard that Busch Gardens is lovely but again I have no idea what it is.

Chris, if you're reading this, we may be picking your brains ~ a lot :O)