I've found the perfect cure for insomnia. Two pints of lager, a glass of sherry and a plate of turkey dinner.

Evening all.

The day started early today, my daughter waking up early in the morning and prbably not getting back to sleep.  At 0600, we gave in and let her come out of bed.  To say that she was excited was an understatement.  And when she saw ther size of the present that Father Christmas had left her!  My son was the same, but later in the morning.

My Mum and two brothers came up from London for lunch.  I had made a late breakfast for the kids while my wife had been cooking lunch and they had a great time.  The kids however were shattered towards the end of the day, more so my daughter who spent the first few hours as if she had a sugar rush.  I think that the last time I had seen her with so much energy was when she was very little and I had given her a sugar straw to play with.  I turned away for five seconds and when I had turned back, she had managed to bite through it and had eaten all the sugar.  But that rush did not last the several hours this did.  All in all, a good day and one where we finally finished a bottle of Whiskey thanks to my brother.  Once upon a time, when one of our friends Tony, lived close by, in the years before kids, we did go through a lot of drinks.  The whiskey though has been untouched since he left the area.  Afer ten years, it was finally drunk!

Anyway, Merry Christmas all.  Take care.

Christmas Eve

Christmas is almost here, it almost being the night before Christmas.
The kids are excited, and they are on extra special good behaviour.
And we are going to go out to a Christmas eve meetup before going to our local Church for a Christmas Eve service.  The kids have loved it each year so far.

But I can not help but think of those for whom this is not a good time.  There are those who have lost loved ones both nearby, as well as those abroad, and of course, those in the Holy Land.

For the record, I am in favour of a just peace for all those in the Holy Land.  One that does not mean living under threat from bombs, missiles and one free of injustice and oppression.  Israel has been accused of behaving like Nazi's and I think on the whole, this is not a fair comparison.  Even though I feel that they are stealing land from the Palestinians for Living Space, they do not murder in the manner that the Nazi's did.

While I do think that Israel should exist, and that people of the Jewish faith should have the right to return to Israel, that should not be at the expense of the people who have lived in Palestine before.  The Holy Land is being tainted by violence against Jews, Muslims and Christians, which is sad when all three religions preach peace.  Arabs in Israel had more rights comared to Muslims in most other 'Muslim' nations, but the Arab Spring has put and end to that with democracy spreading.  The sad thing is that democracy should have come about in Palestine.  But after Hamas won the elections in Gaza, Bush the second with the PLO plotted to over throw the democratically elected officials in Gaza.  Mahmoud Abbas was elected into office but from what I understand, he has held onto power beyond his term, and therefore like Hamas who have refused to hold any elections, is in essence, a dictator in name.  And while this goes on, more land is stolen from Palestinans and the world watches.

Tonight I will be saying a prayer for all those in the Holy Land.  A prayer for a just peace for all.

And I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

I don't understand, why everyone was getting so worried about the apocalypse. If the Mayans where that good at predicting, there would still be Mayans today.

Okay, I will admit that the title is not right are there are Mayan people still around today.  But you know what I mean!  Well, it has been a while since my last post.  Let me update a few things.  My daughter had her nativity play.  Last year she was a narrator, this year she was in the choir.  My son who last year sat with his arms round two girls just wanted to spend the time singing all the time as he knew all the words as well.  Both love their advent calenders which are helping them work out how many sleeps it is till Christmas.  I did threaten them earlier today that I was going to leave a message for Father Christmas so that when he came, he would just leave knowing that they were naughty.  And then today, when I was at work, they did do something.  Something bad.  So bad, that they might not get a present!  My son is convinced at the moment that he has a box from Father Christmas with nothing in it.  He knows this because he has shaken the box and could not hear any noises.  While I have told them that Father Christmas will allow them to be a little bit naughty, I have also told them that I was too naughty when little to get a present from him.  I have been told by then (after telling them off) that I might be on his naughty list this year.  They loved watching the Strictly Final.  My daughter wanted Louis to win, my son prefered Dani to win.

Anyway, Arsenal have won a game, thanks once again to some dodgy decisions from the referee.  Time to go.  Good night.  The song is for my daughter who loves it.