Hey everyone It’s been a lovely Christmas this year spent mainly in the company of three families The first is my the family of my flatmate Janette and the and the second is the family that is the community of believers that is the parish of Baillieston St Andrew’s and the third is the family who are the core group within my virtual village of facebook and twitter.
In keeping with my own personal tradition I was up as soon as I opened my eyes on the day itself. There has always been about Christmas for me and it’s something I try to hold on to even now. It’s like a day of kindness and hope based on family faith and friendship where we care for those around us rather than show selfish individualism and greed we are relentlessly encouraged to pursue for the rest of the year.
Anyway, mindful of the fact that Janette and I were going to her family for Christmas I was up early to get ready. Well a woman can’t just wave a magic wand and hope for the best you know. Believe me that idea is fantasy though there isn’t a girl on earth who doesn’t wish it did.
Once I had achieved this feet and was dressed and made up to my satisfaction I reflected on the fact that Christmas Eve had saw me attend two services rather than one and both were held at my local parish. It was great to see that despite the horrendous pressures only Christmas Eve can bring like last minute shopping, having what seems like a million pressies to wrap and on this occasion gale force winds both services were I have to say reasonably well attended.
The services may have contrasted in style, delivery and content perhaps because one was an early carol service and the other the more traditional watch night variety and they were delivered by two very different ministers but the underlying message was still the same. Namely that we are celebrating the reason for season and that is birth of the babe in a manger.
I have to say I enjoyed them both for very different reasons. The first one which I was taken by our regular minister Malcolm Cuthbertson brought a contemporary twist to the Christmas story and asked us to imagine that Jesus was to be born not in Bethlehem but in Baillieston to Jamie and Jennifer not Mary and Joseph. Whilst I will readily admit that this took a leap of faith I and all others who attended will admit it was brilliant way to bring the story to life and make it relevant for our times. As Malcolm said quite rightly in my opinion, all too often the Christmas story is dismissed by those people who say it happened a long time ago in a far away land and is not relevant to our modern world of Scotland at the Christmas of 2013. Therefore by making relevant to the community in which he ministers his No Room at the Rhinsdale or Log Cabin contained a powerful message and helped us to emphasise with the Wise Men, Shepard’s and onlookers who went to visit the new born baby Jesus in that little town of Bethlehem.
The watch night service which was taken by one of Malcolm’s assistant ministers Howard was delivered in a far more traditional manner. I have to admit I love watch night service as it takes us through the last stages of Christmas Eve and in to Christmas morning. It was also good to see my friend Fiona who has attended every watch night service I’ve ever attended at Baillieston St Andrew’s and it was good to catch up with her latest news.
As I made my way back to the flat I found a very sleepy Janette snuggled up on the chair. This meant I could take a wee wander round my virtual villages and make a start on delivering my Christmas messages to certain VIP’s who are always at the top of my Christmas list before going to my bed to sleep and dream of Santa and what he might bring me. The fact that I managed to perform both feets in a world of sin capitalism and relentless marketing whilst remembering the reason for the season is I believe a real achievement an example of what I call real quality multi-tasking.
As I said earlier I was up with the birdies on Christmas morning. It’s just the way I am and always will be. It really is the best of the year providing you spend it with good company and I certainly did. Well I went to visit Janette’s family and I always enjoy their company. They are a good crowd, especially her young brother Ed to whom she has always been close. On the subject of Ed he has recently announced that he will be getting married to his partner Louise in March, so that’s a wedding to go to next year and I have to say I think it will be one to remember. Well how many couples do you know who get married then go to the dogs for a reception? Not many I’ll bet but look out Shawfield here we come. Who knows it might be the first time I ever come back from a wedding with more money than I had when I went there.
Talking of dogs, I now believe I have met the most hyper active in the history of the world as Ed brought Louise’s dog over to pay us a Christmas visit. Honestly I have seen some crazy animals, but this one
a staffordshire bull terrier called Boston just can’t seem to sit still. This meant Janette’s mum evacuating the living room for what she calls the chill out room with her new ‘companion’ Billy. This was the first time Janette and I had met Billy and I have to say he seems like a really genuine guy.
Meanwhile as the presents were unwrapped I found that I had done rather well. I got perfume, body sets, tights, and loads and loads of chocolates. What more could a girl want? I mean seriously I did well and it is obvious at it is to me that someone had been Santa’s case this year.
I don’t know how it happened but there was no telly on in Marshall Mansions and but this was house filled was with Christmas songs thanks to Janette’s very musical mother. On the plus side, this meant no queen’s speech but the minus it did mean a wee bit too much Karaoke than is suitable on such an occasion but it allow me to get on with my Christmas messages be they by facebook text or tweet.
Eventually when the singing stopped it was time sit down to a dinner prepared by Louise aka Ed’s future intended. Now I have this was seriously brilliant and I was so stuffed I honestly didn’t want to move. This has to be the best Christmas dinner I have ever had and the lentil soup was to die for. Now considering I was brought up on massive three course meals during the festive season I don’t give out complements lightly so when I give a meal a five star review then it must be seriously tasty and deserving of the praise and believe it certainly was.
Honestly I’ve never seen so much on a plate it was enough to feed the 5 million let alone the 5 thousand. However with the CD player blaring out the festive times I have to point out that the biggest feast I have ever seen was brought to the table to the strains of Do They Know It’s Christmas which was released in 1984 to raise money to help the victims of the Ethiopian and wider Sub Saharan famine who were dying in their millions from poverty. I must admit the irony of this did not escape me.
After the meal myself and Janette had a chat with Louise and Ed before Janette decided to get Ed to drive us back to Baillieston and though I regretted this at the time it was probably just as well we did as five minutes after arriving at Smith and Marshall Mansions Janette had fallen asleep on the chair. This I thought, was a result as it meant at least in theory that I could win the battle of the box.
My optimism however turned out to be cruelly misplaced as she woke up just in time to see the soaps and to be perfectly honest I could really have without Christmas visits to the dales or the cobbles but Coronation Street and Emmerdale are must sees for Janette though I’ve never understood the reason why. However managed to see the Christmas edition of strictly so I suppose I did get some kind of result.
As for the rest of the night well that and most of boxing day were taken up by contacting my friends in my virtual village as a refuge from Janette having hogged the remote control. It seems that everyone has done well and though there was no room at the inn the village was full of good cheer. So, job done Santa can now rest and begin his 48 week annual holiday. As for me I think I’ll need to get tucked in to some more from my selection box well it’s just that time of the year. As for the diet, well that can wait till January.
Love And Best Wishes
Gayle X
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