It is December and many households have begun the month with the opening of Advent calendars.  Gone are the calendars of my childhood where a picture of an angel or a sleigh nestled behind a cardboard door, to be replaced with calendars filled with chocolates, beauty gifts and some even alcoholic delicacies.  For the first time in years I am the only one in the house with a calendar and mine contains pamper gifts, perfect for a chronic spoonie who is in need of a bit of “me time”.  To the embarrassment of the adult kids, I am posting pictures of the lovely little bottles of niceness on Instagram each day!

This week hubby and I had a double cause for excitement on a night out into London.  It was a Christmas/thank you drinks evening hosted by the young IT engineer and his business partner in the 5cc bar situated in the grade II listed Singer sewing machine building in the City, London.  As “the parents” it felt rather surreal!  Our boy turned into a man in front of our eyes as he and his partner spoke with the investors, clients and share holders for their new tech enterprise.  Whilst the young engineer lacks in confidence in his ability to speak with people yet speaks “computer” as a native tongue, his partner compliments him beautifully with a personable, confident, easy manner and effortless, articulate way at speaking with and putting others at ease.  Hopefully their combined ideas, IT acumen and youthful ambition will be a winning combination for a successful venture – just don’t ask me to explain what they are actually doing!!  We were very proud parents – who actually didn’t put a foot in it, at least not too deeply, and were actually described as “cool”.

 

This was our very first venture out on the train with my wheelchair!  We have tended to drive into London since my mobility had decreased and pain increased, but the thought of driving into the City at rush hour and then seeking out a disabled parking bay was not appealing.   We travelled on the Thameslink line, which is a newer line and as such has modern trains with designated accessible carriages, and I appreciate that this makes travelling easier than it might be on older lines.  But I can’t fault the assistance that we were given by rail staff – someone was waiting on the platform with ramps to see me onto the train and he phoned ahead so that another staff member was waiting on the platform for us at our destination.  Our journey was comfortable and relaxed, taking a fraction of the time that driving through rush hour London would have…..we will take the train again!

 

Sticking with our December theme, the blogs that I shall share leading up to Christmas will be as wide a variety of winter festival posts that I can find.  They won’t all be about the joys of the season, as for some it is a difficult time, but I hope to bring you some great reading!  Enjoy.

https://pinkfortitude.com/best-gifts/

https://www.chronicmom.com/2018/11/15-thoughtful-christmas-gifts-for-friends-and-family-with-chronic-illness.html/

https://trend-able.com/holiday-survival/

http://www.sewhistorically.com/old-fashioned-christmas-wreath-from-scratch/  

https://piggybankprinciples.com/cheap-easy-diy-christmas-decorations/  

https://joyfullyunexpected.com/toddler-gift-guide-15-toys-under-15/

http://preppyemptynester.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-sentimental-gift-idea.html

https://www.smallworldspreschool.com/christmas-sensory-activities-for-preschoolers/

https://grammysgrid.com/is-it-ok-for-kids-to-believe-in-santa/

https://www.ajourneythroughthefog.co.uk/2018/11/for-many-people-the-festive-season-is-not-a-time-of-celebration/

http://www.sewhistorically.com/victorian-christmas-gifts-for-the-home/

https://www.sizzlingtowardssixty.com.au/25-day-countdown-to-happy-christmas/

https://itoldyouiwassick.info/2018/11/23/perfect-gift-chronic-illness-spoonies/

https://awandafulthing.com/2016/11/28/day-1-hershey-kiss-christmas-cookies/

Please share, like and comment on your favourite posts.

Have a great week,

Claire x