Christmas madness

It's a crazy time of the year, this thing we call Christmas. I'd be quite happy to bypass all the hype and commercialism. I have mostly managed to avoid getting sucked by it all this year but, nevertheless, can't withdraw entirely. This time last year we were getting ready to go away for a week and face another kind of madness: Christmas with the rellies on a remote island. It's hard to believe that it was a year ago already!

In among all the madness, here are some things that make me smile at Christmas time.

• Chocolate truffles.
• The digital nativity - this is awesome!
  

• A Christmas Story (1983). We tried to find this on Fatso but it's not in their catalogue. For years, our family used to laugh about the ugly leg lamp that arrived and Ralphie's dad's comment when reading the sticker on the box: "fra-gee-lee - must be Italian". (I guess you have to have seen the movie to know what I'm talking about.)
• Looking forward to an almost-3-year-old opening his presents.
• Fairy lights. They're everywhere at the time of year!
  
• Snoopy's Christmas. Love it or hate it (obviously I love it!), this was the one Christmas song my band played every year and I never got sick of.
  
• Cherries and strawberries.
• This gorgeous Wellington advent calendar.

 How are you surviving this Christmas season?