Thursday this and that . . .

 

I had a wee tiny bit of a nobody loves me everybody hates me wobble yesterday and felt very very blue for a few hours.   I think that is quite common this time of year, especially when you live far away from family and friends and you have a family which is highly uncommunicative, and very busy with their own lives.  I don't expect them not to busy with their own lives.  I am grateful that they have their nice little families and are settled, safe and happy . . . sometimes the missing them just gets to be a bit much, and I feel quite left out of the loop and that is made especially worse at this time of the year.

In any case I did what is always the most helpful when this happens.  I forgot about myself and got to work.  Wallowing in self pity never did anybody much good!  And so . . .



I braced myself and went shopping for those last few bits a person needs this time of year.  The crowds were not as near horrific as I had thought they would be and it was kind of cheering being amongst them.   I picked up my coctail sausages for Christmas Dinner.  Over here they serve little cocktail sized pork sausages wrapped in bacon along with the turkey.  Quite tasty!  I also picked up some sage and onion pork stuffing balls, which is something else they serve with the bird.   Both are ensconced in the freezer until the day.   I got all of the dog food that Mitzie will need over the next week or so, and I picked up a slab of fruit cake, just in case I don't have the time to make our own.  (I know!  I did bake one a few months back, but Todd just loves fruit cake and he ate it all up!)   I also picked up a few tiny little gifts for Todd.   I know we said we were not going to do that this year, but I couldn't help myself.   He's such a good husband and I wanted to give him something.  I'm sure he won't mind!



I cooked us a chicken curry for supper . . . butter chicken . . . not from scratch, from a jar.   We ate it together in bowls on top of pilau rice along with some poppadoms sat in front of the telly watching the Boyzone 20 year anniversary special I had taped on Friday night, which was very, very good.   The Boyzone special that is.  The curry was ok, but it left us both very thirsty, so was probably very high in salt.  So much for jarred curry sauce!  Never again will I be tempted!  In any case we did enjoy Boyzone.   I had never heard of them before I came over here to the UK, but do so love their music . . . the old and the new.   I really enjoyed learning more about how they got together and what they have been doing over the past few years.  Ronan Keeting is probably the most successful one of the group, and you North Americans may have heard of him, but my favourite one of the group is Keith Duffy, who also played Kieran on Coronation Street.



A little bit of that in my stocking wouldn't hurt I dare say!  A woman can dream, haha.   Oh but he is very nice to look at and I am under no illusions, yes . . . I am old enough to be his mother.  Those baby blues just tweak my heart though.  I have always been a sucker for big baby blues . . . and a sweet face.



Nevermind, I have my own little piece of eye candy with baby blues and I don't have to worry about the rest of the world wanting a piece of the action either, so I am content and happy with what I already have!  Joy isn't found in having what you want . . . it's found in wanting what you already have!



And then we went to the chapel and helped to set up for our One Night in Bethlehem Activity on Saturday night.  It was hard work . . . there were chairs to be taken down and put away, a dias to unpeg and put away, things to hang up and to paint and to light up . . . a dress rehearsal to get our lines down pat, etc.   It was good to be around friends who feel like family and to joke around and to just be busy. Losing yourself in work with like minded people . . . that is a good way to forget yourself and move forward.

After all of that I had quite shaken off the blues and was my old self again.  What do you do to help YOU shake the blues when you find them settling down upon your shoulders???  I expect it is some of the same.

  

This is the Plas Hafod Hotel, which is near Molde in Wales.  I am off there today to go to a 60th Birthday luncheon for a dear friend.  It's a very nice hotel and will be particularly so this time of year, when it is all decorated up for Christmas.  Normally that is where we have our church ladies supper in November each year, but this year we had it at another venue.



It's gorgeously beautiful at Christmas time when it is all decorated up and lit.  So very pretty.  I just know we will have a fabulous time.   We each had to pick our lunch ahead of time.   I have picked the Welsh Goats Cheese, Cranberry and Rocket Pizza with Caramalised Onion Compote for my starter, and Turkey with all the Trimmings for my main.   I know . . . we will be having turkey next Wednesday for Christmas dinner, but . . . can you ever really have too much turkey???  I think not!  I am a turkey dinner kind of a gal!  It will be nice to be with my friends and enjoying a lunch together.  Another opportunity to forget myself and my small problems which really aren't problems at all.  I am blessed, truly.  All that, and all of you . . .

What more could anybody want?

A thought to carry with you through today . . .

(¯`•.•´¯)
¸.•´ ☆ .`•.¸¸.•¸.•´ ☆ ¸.•´ ☆ ¸.•´ ☆

On Choosing to Live Well
I choose to be GRATEFUL,
not HURTFUL.
I choose to be BETTER,
not BITTER.
I choose to be CONTENT,
not CRITICAL.
I choose to be ATTENTIVE,
not INDIFFERENT.
I choose to live WELL, not just LIVE.
~Unknown
¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆

 

Gifts in a Jar in The English Kitchen today . . . a repost from last year, but there are recipe cards and labels to print off if you like.

Have a wonderful day!