Christmas Greetings and Great News

Hello all,

Am sitting here, finally on holiday with most of my Christmas shopping done. I have been crazy busy this past term trying to get a lot of my QTS, qualified teacher status, stuff done and trying hard to impress the school with my teaching skills. I am about 2/3 of the way there in the QTS department. But, the best news is . . . . .


I have been offered a teaching contract for three years starting next school year at St. Joseph's Catholic Primary in Barking. I like the school, the staff are lovely and the curriculum is very challenging to teach. The borough is going to pay for my new work permit and sign me up for three years, all the way to 2012. After that I can apply for 'indefinite leave to remain' and sign a permanent contract with the school. This means that starting in the fall I will have sick days, holiday pay, a raise in pay and can start a pension! Woohoo!

It has been really rough, I am not going to lie, but the experiences I have had have been worth it. I love it here so much and want to stay. I know some of you are waiting for me to come back to LA, but well, I think it IS just going to be for visits from now on ladies and gents.

Yesterday I was walking down Oxford Street doing some Christmas shopping with John for his family. The chestnut sellers were out, along with carolers and metal drum bands playing classic Christmas songs. There were cider and mulled wine stands about for the warming of the tummies. The decorations on the street were amazing and I even got to see Santa. Once we were done, we met up in a pub with all of our friends who were also doing their shopping on Oxford Street as well. We sat right by a coal fire and chatted, showing off presents and just sharing our time with each other. It was good fun. After that we went to a bar in Soho that played classic rock and roll and danced our night away to Elvis and Run Around Sue.

Today was wrapping presents, having breakfast burritos for breakfast (What?? You can take the girl out of California, but you can NEVER take California out of the girl!) and just enjoying a warm cup of tea by our Christmas tree as the cold wind blew outside.

I have come to appreciate winter and the coldness here as an integral part of the season. I think it was just the massive amounts of snow, mean people and gray skies that always bothered me in Montana. Here it can be gray as well, but somedays, it is just so beautiful and clear. It hardly snows at all and never sticks for more than a few hours, if we are lucky. Transportation or difficulty walking are not an issue. Not only that, but England knows how to do cold weather right. They have warm cider, tea and mulled wine to drink. They have hearty dishes like roast lamb and duck that taste perfect while sat next to a coal fire. I am really starting to enjoy the tea in the afternoons and it is truly amazing how tea CAN sort out a bad mood or most other problems. It is MAGIC I am telling you! I still have my coffee in the mornings . . . . oh must start morning off with coffee NOT tea, but in the afternoon tea is the perfect pick me up.

All TV shows and music do eventually come here. I am pretty much caught up on all TV shows by the end of summer. The CSI's will run starting in January, then when they are done in the spring Criminal Minds, NCIS and Ghost Whisperer start; as well as Cold Case. Heroes runs the same time as it does in America, Arthur Patrelli just died . . . . again, for those that watch the show. I do miss 'The Amazing Race' but can catch reruns of previous races, so eventually ones that I haven't seen will pass me by.

John is fine, wonderful, the best thing to happen to me ever. He is realising he is getting old as his 30th birthday approaches, 17th of January, and he is starting to ache. He is still working for Harper Collins and still enjoys being creative with the books and clients he is in charge of.

In the Spring John and I are most likely moving to a new home in Muswell Hill, further North. Our friend Dan is looking to get a job for two years abroad and needs someone to look after his house. It is a simple row house, with a small garden patio area, two bedrooms, etc. He is having the kitchen, bathroom, and carpets all redone as I write this so the house will be decent when we move in. The only downfall is that it is in a residential district and not that close to public transportation. I am just excited at the prospect of a garden area!

Gidget is getting fat. Actually, she is just looking healthy for a change. Ever since the doctor put her on this dental food she has been eating like a pig and developing a really good coat and body. Not only that but she is a lot more lively than before. She never use to mess with the Christmas tree but suddenly this year she is fascinated with it. She hasn't knocked it over yet but is loving the lower ornaments and playing her usual hide and seek behind it. Yes, Gidget plays hide and seek, you have to see it to believe it, but really, she does do it. Our friends are fascinated by her and love to come and visit just so they can play with her. She has lots of aunties and uncles to play with now. ;-)

The one thing that still throws me off is the amount of daylight we get in the winter. It literally is full on dark by a quarter to 4 to 4pm. I am not joking, I dismiss the kids at 3:30 and it is dusk. John encourages me to learn to be nocturnal but still, I can feel it getting to me sometimes, all the darkness. My boss Jim said to me the other day, "You and I are like moles, we come to work in the dark and leave for home in the dark. That is why I am very VERY happy that today is the shortest day of the year. After today I know that the days are going to be getting brighter and brighter.

Anywho, am off to Colchester, the oldest city in England, on Tuesday to see my friend Natalie. She just got a new job at her newspaper, the Telegraph, in the travel department, and promises to take me on some of her work adventures. Then on Wednesday we are taking the coach out to Winscombe for Christmas revelry as John Sr. and Janet Rivers throw their annual Christmas Eve bash at their house. Lots of our friends will also be in the neighbourhood over Christmas and plan on attending the party as well. Hopefully I will NOT have the flu this year over Christmas. FINGERS AND TOES ARE CROSSED! Then I will awake Christmas morning to the sound of church bells being rung from Winscombe Chapel in the village centre. The 27th will find me singing keraoke for Matt's birthday bash again and the 28th will find me back home in London with my kitty and my man waiting for the New Year to arrive.

Oh well, that is enough of an update now. Happy Christmas as they say and Happy New Year's too!

Wishing you all the best and sending my love,
Cory