For several days I’ve been thinking about today’s blog post. In my mind – and while doing other things, actually – it grew to more than a thousand words or so. Now I’ve got exactly one hour free time till a 2 kg piece of pork shoulder has to go into the oven, and I find myself lost for words.

Last week’s on-line poll of The Times of Malta asked its readers whether they’d expect 2007 to be a better year then 2006. Without even blinking I immediately replied “yes” – and wholeheartedly so. But then I considered this year on the whole and had to admit that it’s not fair – or even correct – to label 2006 as such a bad year. And it certainly wasn’t just a year like any other either. These past twelve months plenty of good things came to me and should have made 2006 a rather special year to me!

In no particular order of importance, these are a few of those blessings in 2006, which I must be – and am – grateful for:

• My book made it into print. I was over the moon about the accomplishment as such – and then about the fact that it was actually bought by quite a few people.
• And the achievement of publishing my novel would never have occurred without my husband’s support, of which he’s always giving me more than I deserve!
• One of the most popular “glossies”, the First magazine, published several articles written by me. (Thank you Marie!)
• A whole summer season was entirely at my disposal. I was free to do anything I wanted to do, without the “emergency” mobile calls at night or on weekends that used to wreck my nerves for so many summers.
• Last but definitely not least… My very good friends, who are scattered all over the world as well as in Gozo.

If I gave it a bit more thought, I’d come up with more, I’m sure. But my hour is almost up, so I have to leave it at that.

My conclusion is that my reply to the Times poll wasn’t quite honest – even though it was what I perceived at that moment. I had no intention of making resolutions for the coming year. No, not even that of quitting smoking (it doesn’t work that way, anyway)!! I’ve changed my mind, though (nooo, not about quitting smoking!). I resolve to count my blessings in the future, before falling into tirades of how bad I have it! (And if I go astray, please do remind me of that!)

Well, it’s time to heat the oven. A Happy New Year to all!

After all the hectic partying and celebrating, I had reserved Boxing Day for serious slouching without a worry in the world. Once in a blue moon I fall for a movie trailer on TVM – and yesterday was one of those occasions: I was utterly looking forward to A Christmas Carol whose story-line was set in a current-day scenario, which looked very interesting to me.

Rant Part 1
I think the trailer had said 4.15 pm (but I admit I’m not 100% sure!); when I switched on the TV at 4.20 some kids’ show was on. I consulted the TVM online schedule, which promised A Christmas Carol for 4.30 pm. OK, so I had stored the wrong time in my memory banks. No harm done. Alas, at 4.30 pm the signature tune of Ghawdex Illum – I thought it was merely a trailer – promptly led to the full program, which I refused to watch. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against it as such. But to watch the same episode three times in four days is just as exhilarating as watching a Dettol ad over and over! To cut a long story short… Ghawdex Illum was followed by a boring Intervall and the icing on the bitter cake was Waltzing Matilda, which in my humble mind is the epitome of boredom. A Christmas Carol never aired. (It did on Christmas Eve, but I didn’t have the chance to see it then.) Grrrrrrrrrr!

I was going to let it go. Honestly! True to the Christmas spirit I had decided not to let my aggravation show. But when exasperation is piled upon annoyance you reach a point where you either go ballistic or implode. Since my stomach is already the worse for celebration wear, I thought it was healthier if I just let it all out rather than swallow it. – And anyway, for once, this is a post that does justice to my blog’s title!

Rant Part 2
Yesterday morning I was going to mail a couple of packages, but a sudden bright spark made me check on Maltapost’s website for festive season opening times. And what do you know, I found out that all post offices were to remain closed on Boxing Day, and that “Normal Service will resume on Wednesday, 27th December, 2006.” (They even provided a downloadable PDF file containing that message – but what for?)

Fair enough, I thought by myself, we all know how busy they are in the run-up to Christmas; they probably deserve a break. Well, I guess for our little village post office one additional day just wasn’t enough. When I wandered over at around 11 am today I found the place padlocked…

Rant Part 3
Another one that I had meant not to air publicly, if only because I’m starting to find myself a little less likeable with each tirade! But as it fits in with the subject, I’ll spit it your way too: The local council of our village is extremely cost-conscious. Outside the summer season garbage is only collected every other day, and we receive a note at the end of September that reminds us of it. This year, that note also said that if any of the designated garbage collection days fell on a public holiday the service would still operate. Well, it didn’t on December 13^th – and apart from the inconvenience of having all the rubbish piling in the entrance hall, I had insult added to injury because my husband thought I had either misread the note (I had not!) or I was going gaga (am I??). The fact that garbage was collected yesterday (normally there’s none on Tuesdays!!) only served to reinforce his opinion.

Bonus Track
This doesn’t concern me personally but it irks me just the same… This nativity scene bang in the centre of Victoria aptly portrays the prevailing attitude and complements all I said above…

Conclusion
Maybe it’s just me?! I’m starting to suspect that if only I was as apathetic as everyone else, it would go a long way in helping me to simply enjoy a beautiful, sunny day without a care in the world…

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The hectic days are behind us at last. Our little party last Saturday was the starting shot for a flurry of more parties, and it felt as if we only came home to catch our breaths and get ready for the next one! We usually celebrate Christmas Eve at home, the German way, but that plan was quickly overruled as we were invited to join my sister-in-law – along with the rest of the family. Last night more of the same followed. Now I have some down-time until Saturday. Although I’m not exactly overweight, I do feel my stomach can do with a rest!!!

There was one totally relaxed and stress-free being in our household, who enjoyed himself to the max and just wouldn’t stop asking for more… At times he does instil some form of envy in me!

So here it is… What a build-up to the day, and then it’s over so quickly! Last night we had a wonderful pre-Christmas celebration at home with all our family in Gozo. That amounts to 6 siblings with their respective spouses and kids. In other words, it was big! :D

Late morning we still had to go to Victoria to tackle the usual last minute crisis of missing stuff, and at exactly 7 pm I noticed that the basil container was practically empty. By the time the first guests arrived at 8 I was so exhausted that I dreamt of going to sleep, though that was forgotten quickly.

We all had a really great time, and cleaning up this morning was not as bad as I had feared. Tonight it’s our turn to be invited, which I’m looking forward to, too. I must admit, though, it makes you feel really good to get as many compliments as we did last night! :)

I hope each and every one of you is as lucky as I am and gets to celebrate with their loved ones, with family and friends! Yes, I do miss my dad and my sister, and very much so, too! But I’m certainly blessed to have my husband’s family which I’ve been part of for two decades!

OK. So what do you do to escape the grip of a blue mood? Right! Face head-on whatever it is that’s causing it!

And so I came up with this hare-brained idea to invite the whole family for Christmas “drinks” next Saturday. Hare-brained only because celebrations like that can never be just “drinks”. I’m preparing a whole menu of snack food – and although not less than twenty people will be fed, we’re all very likely to be stuffed to our limits by the end of the evening!

Most of the food has to be done on the day, because I don’t want anything to taste stale. But today I started by preparing 3 litres of Glühwein (that’s mulled wine, in case you’re asking :D ). I didn’t taste more than a teaspoon full (promise!) but the smell got me almost drunk anyway… mixed with the scent from our cinnamon candle, our whole house carries a very inviting Christmassy fragrance now!

Mulled wine can be made in different ways; as a matter of fact, I’ve never stuck to a particular recipe but just mixed what I had available. However, for the occasion I’ve perused the recipe from the last Taste magazine that came with the Independent. It’s pretty simple and the result is delicious (although I had to leave out the star anise because I couldn’t find it in Gozo).

You’ll need:
2 bottles of dry red wine
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
5 pieces of star anise
200 g of brown sugar
2 oranges (sliced)
1 lemon (sliced)

Method:
Heat the wine, together with spices, orange and lemon, in a medium-sized pan. DON’T LET IT BOIL! Turn off the heat, add the brown sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Leave for a while, then heat once more for a few minutes – again, take care not to let it boil! Put the citrus slices into a large bowl or jug, then pour the wine into it through a fine sieve. (I did not use the citrus slices as instructed, but will add some fresh ones on Saturday when I re-heat the wine.)

ENJOY! :)

You Know a Lot About Blogging

You got 6/8 correct! You’re not a total blogging geek yet… give it time.

I admit I rather guessed than knew most of the answers – but still… :D

Christmastime… Today I thought of it even more than I did lately, maybe because reality finally really sank in when I saw the 20 on the calendar. For me Christmas is mostly about family and memories of my childhood. Ever since I stepped onto the wrong side of forty, I’ve been afflicted with chronic nostalgia. That means I don’t necessarily translate Christmas into pure joy. Rather, I’ve reached a point where melancholy has almost completely replaced delight.

With each passing year I’m missing my youth a little more; and now that my kid has grown up too, re-living my memories of Christmas through him – which used to be some form of compensation for not being a child myself any longer – isn’t an option anymore either.

I miss the smell of a real Christmas tree, which greets you upon entering our home. It makes me sad that anyone would leave their home on Christmas Eve for anything else than midnight mass. You’ll probably not believe this, but it’s true: until I came to Gozo it had never occurred to me that people actually would want to go to a restaurant for dinner on December 24th!

I know for my friends this has become a bit of a standing joke, but I sooo miss the snow! The first snowfall – though unfortunately not always for Christmas! – meant Christmas was close. Have you ever gone for a walk through a snowy landscape, be it a park, a forest, or merely streets in the neighbourhood? It’s literally enchanting to find all everyday noise suddenly muted. All is calm, all is bright…

For over 20 years, come December and I just can’t help myself: I start wondering what on earth made me move to Southern Europe! (That, of course, is a rhetorical question – I know full well what [who!!] made me take that step!)

Right now I feel as if I’m drifting into depression; well, maybe I’m exaggerating just a little bit. But for days on end I haven’t managed to do anything useful; on a daily basis I end up surfing websites with Christmas photos (yep, the snowy ones… ), and if I’m totally honest, I’d much prefer to sleep right through it all. I know that this will pass, so I’m not overly worried, although it does drive me nuts!

What can I say… wish it was summer – or at least real winter. I know I’m pathetic. But tell me what I can do about that!

…but at least an excuse for not blogging!!

Would you have the heart to wake up the little bugger just for the sake of typing out a stupid blog post?? (Thank you, Petra, for sharing it!)

The other day I woke up to Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” playing on the radio. As music has a habit of doing, it instantly transported me back to my teeny bopper days (I was 13 when I first heard this song). But listening to it nearly 35 years later, it doesn’t sound dated to me at all… I really wish I still had all my cassettes and singles from those days. Only God knows where they ended up!

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Yesterday we celebrated hubby’s birthday, and I’d like to send a huge thank-you over to Fred, who is awfully busy at the moment but still let me talk him into making a chocolate birthday cake. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! :)

For dinner we went to Maji Wine and Dine in Victoria, which had been recommended by a friend. It was very good, the food was tasty and beautifully presented, the service attentive and friendly. However, it came as a little bit of a surprise to find out that the place is more or less in the same price bracket as Ta’ Frenc. Given the ambience and atmosphere of the latter (not to mention the investment that went into it!), there is a huge difference between the two. And no, I’m not saying this to get into the good books of my former bosses… would be too late for that, anyway!

But that was only a detail that came to mind; on the whole we did have an enjoyable evening! Tonight we might go and see ‘Zoo goes Gozo’ at the Astra. (Incidentally, they were having dinner at Maji too, but nope, we did not talk to them, and we had the idea to go and see Zoo before last night! )

Tomorrow we have not one but two invitations, for lunch and for dinner, and so it seems we’ve been catapulted straight into the thick of the jolly season without really noticing it!

Slight change of subject… here’s Simba in his favourite pose :D