Well, that’s christmas over and done with. Now we’re gearing up for new year’s eve.

Lots of fireworks in the neighbourhood right now. I don’t like fireworks. I like them in the night sky on new year’s eve. Not on week days in the hands of rowdy teenagers. Last week someone lit some fireworks on my doormat outside my door and rang the bell. I could hear the fireworks going off outside before I even had time to consider whether I wanted to open the door or not. And I don’t think they were dangerous fireworks, really. But I still don’t think kids should have access to gunpowder. Especially kids these days.

But it’s not like I can stop the festivities.

Speaking of festivities, I made a little video christmas eve. Here it is: youtube.com/watch?v=XOw5MYtDHjU. Starts off with the trip through the snow to my parents’ place. And some celebrations. Just a little something. I’m sure my family won’t mind me putting that on the internet.

Meanwhile, I’m having a bit of trouble with my leg. It started a couple of weeks ago. I thought I had pulled a hamstring or something. I took a week off from the exercise bike and I thought it cleared up. But then as I started getting back into the biking, the pain came back. In the back of the thigh on my left leg. It got really bad a couple of days ago. It started swelling up and hurting. Felt like there was a massing of blood in there or something. I was close to calling for help, to get a doc to come see me or go to the hospital or something. But I decided to wait and see, and it has gotten better. The swelling has gone down some and it doesn’t hurt as much. When I don’t move it at least. So I’m sure it’ll be fine, but I’ll have to take another break from the exercise bike. Which annoys me, because the biking makes me feel better. Keeps the blood flowing.

I wonder if my blood circulation has gotten better? Last winter I had a really hard time keeping my feet warm at night. Problems sleeping. I had to really power up the heat at night. This winter I haven’t had the same problems. I turn the heat off at night and open the ventilation hatch above the door to get fresh air inside. Without getting cold feet.

But then on the other hand, my feet still get very cold when I go outside during the day. So who knows.

Thank you goes out to Corrie who sent me some delicious christmas treats. That totally makes up for not liking puppies, Corrie!

Y’all stay safe for the new year, y’hear?

Well, here it is. Merry christmas.

I hope you all have had or will have or are being having a good christmas and/or other seasonal holiday of your own choosing. And I say that in the most festive way possible.

I have had a nice one. Celebrated with my parents and brother. Our traditional low-key dinner, desert and presents. Not too much of a fuss, and that’s how I like it. No singing, no dancing around the tree. No tree at all in fact. I don’t care much about the old traditions of christmas and I’m certainly not into the religious aspects of it all. I just like spending some quality time with my family. I have come to appreciate that whole lot more as I’ve gotten older.

The day didn’t start off too well, though. I was feeling sick this morning. I ended up staying in bed some three hours longer than I had planned. Just feeling weak and tired and sore all over. I’m not sure why. Maybe I’m coming down with something. Or maybe it was just a bad night. Anyway, it caused me to change my plans. Instead of heading over to my parents on my own I called my dad and had him come over and pick me up. It’s still very wintery in Denmark. Bad weather. In parts of the country police are recommending that people stay inside. And I think all of Bornholm has disappeared under snow. At least that’s what I gather from the news reports on TV. You’d think we’d be able to handle the snow by now, but every year it’s the same chaos and reporters braving the weather for dramatic live on-scene reports. Sometimes I think they wish we had real hurricanes in Denmark so they could be in real danger. I never really understood why they need to stand outside in a storm to tell us that the police recommend we don’t go outside. But I digress. Even though the weather isn’t quite that bad right here and my parents’ house isn’t that far away, I still didn’t feel like going out in the darkening cold on my own. So dad picked me up. We took the bus. For three stops. And then walked the rest. And even that short walk was enough to get me frozen to the bones.

But once inside things were much better. I was still feeling a bit weak and tired, but it was nice to be with the family. No visitors this year, just the four of us. I watched some TV. It was nice to be able to sit in the comfy chair and actually see what was on the telly. I remember several times in the recent past where I was sitting in that chair and could not really make out anything on the screen. That was the best christmas present I could get. (Although right now I’m listening to the Dizzy Mizz Lizzy 2010 reunion CD and that’s pretty rocking too).

So to sum it all up and make a short story a little shorter: good food and good times. Now I am good and ready for bed, and hopefully I’ll feel okay in the morning.

In the meanwhile here is a little christmas greeting from the goats and I: youtube.com/watch?v=6MQ53QdtOko. I had lofty ambitions to edit the footage and time it with the song and everything. It didn’t quite work out as well as I had hoped. But at least the message is from the heart:

Merry Baaaahing christmas!