Happy Christmas

May I wish you all a very happy Christmas.

A Christmas Carol

It's in the singing of a street corner choir
It's going home and getting warm by the fire
It's true
Wherever you find love
It feels like Christmas
A cup of kindness that we share with another
A sweet reunion with a friend or a brother
In all the places you find love
It feels like Christmas
It is the season of the heart
A special time of caring
The ways of love made clear
It is the season of the spirit
The message if we hear it
Is make it last all year
It's in the giving of a gift to another
A pair of mittens that were made by your mother
It's all the ways that we show love
That feel like Christmas
A part of childhood we'll always remember
It is the summer of the soul in December
Yes, when you do your best for love
It feels like Christmas
It is the season of the heart
A special time of caring
The ways of love made clear
It is the season of the spirit
The message if we hear it
Is make it last all year
It's in the singing of a street corner choir
It's going home and getting warm by the fire
It's true, wherever you find love
It feels like Christmas

[Muppet Christmas Carol]

Time to go home

The office has gradually been emptying over the past few hours. I think I've worked too much, so it's time to escape now and enjoy a relaxing evening. Done all my Christmas shopping, so there's no need to go down to Princes Street to jostle with the crowds. Just got to head home, put the feet up, and enjoy a wee dram or two...

Working on Christmas Eve

One'sTube

Congratulations to HM The Queen as she launches her own channel on YouTube.
Her traditional Christmas broadcast to the nation and the Commonwealth will be made available on the site at 3pm (GMT) on Christmas Day.

http://www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel

Pensioner's Facebook

I like this a lot! Click on the image to see the detail.

3 days to go

I can't believe that it's now only 3 days until Christmas Day. Not sure where the time has flown to over the past couple of weeks - apologies for not posting a Blog entry recently (strange that I've found the time to add an entry today, bearing in mind it's the shortest day!). Been catching up with lots of friends, been selling my apartment, been looking for a new place to live, been honing my Wii skills, been sorting out preparations for Christmas, been attending a number of christmas parties, and (oh, of course) I've been working. Actually, I thought I would be on wind-down as the 25th approached, but a new project reared its head last week, and I've suddenly found myself under quite a bit of pressure and working until "stupid o'clock" most days. I won't wait until January 1st to make a new resolution - it's to reassess my work/life balance again with immediate effect. Hey, next year will be better than this. Hopefully, I will start doing a lot more travelling again - and maybe this time next year I will be in a warmer climate. Fingers crossed.

Only in America...

Lost keys

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3A or not 3A, that is the question

flyBMI's online booking system needs one or two tweaks, as I discovered earlier this afternoon as I boarded my flight to Brussels. I was allocated 3A, yet found someone else sitting there (he'd also been allocated the same seat number). To be fair, I had thought it odd when I checked-in online yesterday, as I knew that the seat number was in business class, and I'd only forked out for economy. The stewardess confirmed that this problem often occurred for those passengers using the online system. So why don't BMI fix the fault? That is the question... Anyhow, that turned out to be the least of my worries. Having ended up in 8A, I then had to endure one of the bumpiest descents I've ever encountered. Glad I had the G&T to settle my nerves and the iPod in my ears as a distraction! I was expecting a bit of turbulence, as I'd found out at Edinburgh that many flights had been delayed or cancelled today at Heathrow due to some freak winds. But this was way in excess of what I expected and way in excess of what I'd previously experienced. Clearly, the weather conditions had moved across the English Channel, and we flew right through the worst of it. Zut alors! Anyhow, I've lived to tell the tale - and just hope that the flight back on Sunday will be a more pleasurable experience. A bientôt.