Adventure me...
Monday, December 7, 2009 at 1:55PM Two weeks (more or less) until Christmas! Emma and I are all over the holiday, we have ordered our Christmas turkey and ham (Emma wanted both!), we have finished our Christmas cards, we have our Christmas tree up and decorated and we have had a Christmas party with some of our friends! Not bad at all.
Christmas shopping is a bit behind schedule, we are starting to cut it very close indeed if our gifts are going to get to their recipients by the 25th…far flung family does have its challenges as well as its advantages.
Our Christmas tree is great, very different than the tree I would have got in Canada though. We bought a real tree, a noble fir. It is 6 feet high and VERY bushy. It seems that pruning a tree into what we would consider a Christmas tree shape (or a big cone shape) is not required here. Emma and I debated pruning the tree into shape ourselves but in the end we figured when in Rome…err London, do as the Londoners and left the tree au natural. We spent most of Saturday night trimming the tree, 288 led mini lights, a fairy (for the top), 5 birds, 3 Santa Clauses, 1 nutcracker soldier, and many red and gold Christmas ornaments later we have, if I say so myself, a great tree.
Putting up the tree and decorating it triggered some long buried childhood memories. I suddenly remembered Fisher Price Adventure people. If you don’t know what these are I am feel very sorry for you and marvel over how well adjusted you have turned out despite your obviously deprived youth.
What is interesting about this memory is that I discovered (after looking up Adventure People online) that my entire life, probably even personality has been shaped by these toys!
For example my brother and I had all these sets;
The TV crew, I wanted to be a journalist for a long time and originally went to university to do a Journalism degree!
The dive boat and crew, I love scuba diving and have dove in many great places
The plane, I toyed with a career as a pilot and flew little Cessena’s for a while in my 20s, I still love flying. My sister is married to a pilot!
The adventure set, I took up kayaking as teenager, I love camping AND while on holiday in Australia…rented a van to sleep in!
The outdoorsmen set, well just look at the dog in the picture, thats virtually my dog!
Freaky, my life is a strange parallel of a Fisher Price toy line.
Look even Emma looks like one of the Adventure People…spooky.
Not related to me at all…but for those of you that know of the program Top Gear, could this be the inspiration for The Stig?
Reader Comments (1)
Your tree looks very beautiful, goo djob. What amazing restraint you showed by spending only 50 pounds on your Christmas crackers....we are having pretend Christmas tomorrow, with Eggs Deredict and Turkety dinner, and limited gift-opening (we only have a limited amount of gifts, from Grandma and a couple of Derek's relatives). Yay, fun times. then we leave on Wednesday. Really fun times!
XO
Christie
All your pics are fantastic, and love reading your blogs.......