Mesh and Lace***

...Or to some the season of chapped lips....have it as you will!
I have really enjoyed the past few days (despite a lapse in health)! I am not really in the Christmas mood but I feel that will come when I go back to Birmingham tomorrow and see mom. Institute was changed up and we ended with a carol concert, Friday we went carol singing in town with the missionaries....froze my toes off but I enjoyed it, two hours singing Christmas carols in the centre of Manchester with all of the shoppers rushing past made me think, in the way that most things do. I was glad that I had taken the time out to sing some carols and spends those two hours reflecting on the real meaning of Christmas rather than the consumer driven fodder that we now get year upon year. After Carol singing we went to Nexus for lunch (LOVE) followed by Avatar which, predictable as it was I loved (My 3D glasses are still in my bag!) Saturday was the day of reckoning....Acoustic Christmas! It was fun! I overcame my fears in the typical me way.... I avoided them! The dread of singing on my own meant that I roped Leah into singing with me. It was nice to have a nice relaxing gathering at our house rather than the usual rave which people still demanded...the classic 5 people bouncing about while everyone else sat around wearing Christmas jumpers having a chat. One day I won’t care as much as I do but for now it's lessening and that's an improvement I'm willing to take. Sunday was the nativity at church it came off smoothly, I had to conduct all of the hymns...people pay no attention to you what so ever! The children did really well which put a smile on my face. in the evening was the Manchester stake carol concert, poorly attended...we'll say because of the snow which did make it impossible for Swinton, Hyde and Macclesfield to come add to this the members of the Institute choir from Ashton couldn't make it because the snow there has been four times as bad as it has in Manchester. Institute choir weren't too bad; we did Emma proud especially bearing in mind the numbers. Monday was pretty uneventful apart from me getting lost in thought again while staring at the moon... I love the moon, I always have and I always will! I was ill in the evening but recovered mid way through FHE which was at our house. Today we were meant to have a very festive day and finish it off with a trip to the theatre to see Grimm Tales with the free tickets we got but when we woke up all of us felt like we'd rather go to the temple instead. What better way to celebrate Christmas and see the year out than by doing some service in the temple with a small group of friends. I am so grateful for the friends that I have and all the things that I have been blessed with through being a member of the church. I’m so grateful for the opportunity I have to frequently attend the temple while I am living in Manchester. Tonight kindled my excitement for the festive season. I usually have a face on whenit comes to goingback to Birmingham but I do love it at Christmas, the family puts most of their differences aside and come together for the joyous family banter (I can now enjoy it as I'm not te focus of the jokes...only took 16 years!) This year has been a good one for lots of different reasons, I have grown as a person and learnt alot about myself so here's to 2010 and more of the same.