Christmas time

Christmas Eve - we did something a bit different and went with Tom's mum to a carol service. It was held at a church in her village which is shared by the Catholics and Anglicans. The service itself was meant to be about 30 mins before leading into mass (which we weren't attending) but it was a very strange experience for me. Tom's mum is Catholic and Tom was raised as one (though he is an atheist) so they were more used to the customs which were completely alien to me. People kneeled to the alter before sitting down; the songs were all old-fashioned and some had Latin in them; there were icons of Jesus everywhere. No incense though. I am determined to get back into a church group soon but I am quite sure I won't become Catholic! I just felt they place such a huge emphasis on the extra elements of religion rather than the core message of Jesus.

Well we had a great Christmas day just us two; cooked roast pork and watched DVDs of Lee Evans and Queen documentary. One of my presents to Tom was a wooden mead flagon and he drank out of nothing but that all day! It's now stained a bit pink from the cider, but at least he's getting use out of it. Tom's main gift to me was a membership to the RSPB so now we can go bird watching around the country (trips and transport willing of course) but I was so touched I cried a little! We also popped to Chloe's for a couple of hours in the evening which was peaceful.

I was back at work over the bank holiday but now enjoying a couple of days off before back to work again. At least I get NYD off and we're going to the races (we only live 10 mins walk so be rude not to!)

I'm hoping and praying things will be improving in the new year for us. It feels like this year has been a real struggle, for things perhaps of our own making and many things we couldn't control, so I really want things to settle down and get better soon. The idea of running away and living in a remote commune grows ever-tempting though it seems a bit impractical.