Little Miss Marple!

Well Christmas Day has come and gone in a whirlwind of mostly pleasant activity, but I'm invariably glad when it's over and get almost as much enjoyment out of the Twixtmas week - i.e. the week between Christmas and New Year when nothing much is doing. I say "nothing much", but as it snowed a while ago and has now been sunny for quite a few days, skiing conditions are absolutely perfect. I can tell that by the traffic notifications on Facebook which pretty much show traffic jams on every road leading up to the ski resorts. I'm so glad my sister and BIL came early December so we missed all that and if they can get past the miserable traffic conditions (mainly at the weekends) I'm sure all the skiers are having a wonderful time (and the resort business owners too)! By choice I'm not going anywhere on New Year's Eve as I just don't enjoy it so the festivities really are over and done with for me!

On Christmas Eve we were up at Jordan and Jen's place for snacks rather than a heavy meal but I was nervous as hell driving back at midnight in below zero temperatures and very treacherous conditions! Christmas Day was at my place and it was bedlam, mostly because we had Charlie's toys and Elynn's baby gear all over the place. And to think I was considering maybe downsizing! Ha, fat chance right now! Lunch went really well - except for the mango and white chocolate cheesecake my sister told me about. Oh the taste was wonderful (Tate & Lyle's recipe if you're interested) but when I took it out of its tin it collapsed into a cheesecake puddle! I think I got the wrong version of French "double cream", or just forgot to whip it. Either way, it was a complete disaster!

Jordan and Jen's Christmas gift to both grandmas was a photoshoot with the grandkids towards the end of January. Yikes, what are my chances of losing 30 lbs and getting plastic surgery before then???? Still, I'm sure the photos will be lovely regardless. My Christmas present to myself was two fire blankets (thanks to Lori for mentioning them) and I might get a second fire extinguisher since there is a difference (apparently) between an electrical fire and a regular "let's burn the curtains down" fire, so I'm told!

On the Saturday (28th) Jen's mom's gift to us all was to be a "surprise" up in the ski resort of Megève (I'm thinking sleigh ride) but the night before Jen ended up at the ER with Charlie, who had been totally listless all day and running a very high temperature for about six days, despite being on antibiotics. Turns out he's got infections in both ears but they also took him for a chest x-ray, thinking they'd keep him in overnight at least if it showed any infection in the lungs - but thankfully they were clear. So the next day, instead of going to Megève, everyone stayed home, Charlie slept for 14 hours straight, and is apparently much, much better now. It couldn't be helped of course and hopefully we can reschedule later in the month, as the lady was apparently very understanding! At least Santa made it through for the big day - and that was the most important thing for Charlie anyway!

Jen had to go straight back to work on Boxing Day but Jordan's got this week off too, so he can keep a close eye on Charlie, while Elynn goes back to daycare. She seems to enjoy it very much (plenty to keep her occupied) and is settling down very well. Oh, I'm sure there will be the never-ending kiddies' infections for her too (it wouldn't be normal otherwise, would it) but at least she seems to be really happy there and when I went to pick her up one time the assistant had her in her arms and was playing with her and making her laugh so it's no wonder most of the children seem quite contented!

Do you remember in a previous post that I mentioned a 250 (lb/kg?) unexploded WWII bomb that had been found on a construction site in Annecy just before Christmas? Well that's where Jordan will be starting work shortly so let's hope for everyone's sake that that thing has already been dealt with appropriately!

In other news, I'm apparently turning into a real life Miss Marple, because the other day I noticed that my neighbours two doors away had left their front shutters open and yet I knew they were away! As another neighbour had also recently been burgled I sent them a message to ask if they realized this. They replied that they must have forgotten and could I get their keys from my favourite neighbour and go round and shut them! Then last night I was sitting reading when I heard a kind of siren sound. It wasn't the sound of emergency services here (more like the sirens in the US) and as it was really close, I went outside and realized it was coming from my other neighbour's house. So I knocked on the door and it turns out they had also just installed alarms and cameras and he had forgotten to turn the outside alarm off after testing it. It's weird that I heard it in my house and yet neither of them heard it from inside their house (kinda defeats the object, doesn't it) but isn't it sad that people now feel they have to do this when we used to leave our doors open all the time. I guess those days are well and truly over now!

And finally, the other day I saw a short video on Youtube by a distraught lady who had recently had her bank accounts wiped out in a "your computer is blocked, call this number" scam. She mentioned that if you had seen the movie The Beekeeper that was exactly what had happened to her, so I looked up the film as I thought it might be the kind of movie that interested me. I managed to get it on streaming - and what a load of shite it was! I left it running while I was playing scrabble (must have been really bored) and the guy basically figures out who the scammers are, blows them up in the first 10 minutes and then spends the next two hours single-handedly taking out the entire US military and Secret Service! A kinda "Schwarzeneger takes on the world" piece of drivel (although it wasn't Arnie, of course)! So since my walking total for this year has been pretty dismal I think my New Year's resolutions have to be (1) aim to walk at least 1,000 miles in 2025, and (2) stop wasting so much time on Youtube and crap movies! Number two should be easy - we'll have to see about the other one!

Happy New Year everyone, and I hope to see you all again in 2025!