#foxNvead

[claireinnc]

December

December brought lots of new experiences and fun times. We enjoyed a meet up with friends, Lizzie and Graham and their delightful young son , Everett ( who is just so cute) at Gibson Mill. On our trip to England, we had picked up an English bear for him. I think he enjoyed the wrapping paper more than the bear...fairly typical of babies. I'm sure he'll get some hugs later on.

As a Christmas gift my class, I bought a different type of bear - Paddington. It was by chance that I had seen these bears in Kohl's and had done the same gift last year. So we headed to the store to see if they were stocking him again and fortunately they were. We almost emptied the shelves, much to the amusement of many around us including the cashier.

The children were delighted with their gift. I was delighted with their joy at receiving Paddington. Their reaction was priceless!

As Christmas approached, we ventured out to Concord Mills for a bit of retail therapy. As we weren't going to be able to send wrapped presents to everyone, it felt even more important to go and share in the spirit of Christmas shoppers doing their bit for each other. a Christmas coffee and cake at Starbucks was our treat.

We decorated our flat with minimal cost and invited Claire and Jimie over to share an early Christmas dinner. We attempted a traditional Christmas dinner, even managed the pigs in blankets and had been able to bring over some mince pies and a xmas pudding from England, so it felt fairly similar to 'traditional'. Claire brought the crackers...hence the hats! With much laughter, great conversation and full stomachs, the evening flew by - an enjoyable evening was had by all.

Claire and Jimie not only turned up with beers for Richard, but a very thoughtful gift in addition. A supply of British goods, something that was much appreciated and warmed our hearts.

I was so glad that I had actually made the effort to decorate for Christmas. It just made it feel a little better. Knowing we were not going home was hard and despite the fact that we had a great trip to look forward to, it didn't sit comfortably being away from family.

Pre Christmas celebrations also led us to Kannapolis to watch Fox N Vead perform. Holly had sorted tickets through her daughter and had offered us the chance to join them all for the evening. I hadn't heard of them before, but the evening turned out to be a lot of fun. Starting with a bite to eat at the local Mexican cafe, we then joined a group of youngsters to be entertained by this country/rock band from Concord. It had been a long time since I stood in front of a stage amongst a crowd (fortunately not a huge one) and enjoyed the beat of drums and guitars. It was like a trip down memory lane to college days!