Christmas parties, Snowball fights and challenging days

It's 22:07 and I am sitting at mz brother's computer, waiting for my dad to come pick my brothers and I up. I am so tired, am still sick and really just want to go home. Tomorrow is the dreaded meeting and I am not to sure what to expect. I guess, honestly, only God knows.
My Christmas was great. Typical Bowles Family madness but lacking the person who brings the most maddness, my older brother Matt. He had to stay here in Leipzig and couldn't join. That makes this Christmas the first Christmas we weren't all together. It wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be though it was obvious that something was missing.
Yesterday we drove the six hours down here and then did Christmas with Matt and Lisa. That was really nice and a really big laugh. Not only that but (drum roll please) IT SNOWED!!! Beautifully formed massive wet-snow flakes filled the air and made my Christmas picture perfect. There was a little snow ball fight on the way home from the restaurant and I went crazy with happiness. I missed snow so much.
Today Lisa and I went on a really unsuccessful trip to buy some pants (trousers for you Brits) and, having looked in vain for what felt like ages, we returned to their flat where Lisa decided it was easier if she just gave me a pair of her pants. So, a waste of time but I got to see some of good old Leipzig again.
The rest of the plan is as follows: tomorrow Berlin and then helping mom in the kitchen for the New Year's retreat. Fly home very early in the morning of the 31st. I hope my bag isn't overweight.

Carolling, a flight and a hair cut

Here I am in good old Germany, glad to be back and realxing at my parents home. I'm so tired and have had a long day, but I thought that I would write something quick before bed.
Carolling yesterday and the day before was great fun, no real big highlights or anything, just basically laugh after laugh. If I hear Starry Night one more time I think that I will go insane.
I didn't have to wake up as early as I thought I did and everything went pretty smoothly. I got to Duesseldorf and then got the train with my mommy to Cologne. We brought my stuff home, then went to the Christmas markets. I got my hair cut (not at the market, at the hairdressers) and then we came home to eat some yummy lasagne. I'm still pretty sick so I'm gonna go to bed as soon as my brothers are sleeping. I'm sleeping in their room.
Good night all.

Christmas Carolling 1 and 2

I was going to write yesterday and keep it kind of as a four day thing, but I was so tired (and you will soon understand why) that I couldn't be bothered so I will summarize day 1 and 2 together.
So, yesterday was the first day of carolling and collecting on Oxford Street. For those of you who have never heard of Oxford Street, it is apparently the busiest street in England. So it's busy. About 7 of us are there for 8 hours a day collecting to keep our lovely church alive.
Yesterday started well, clear blue skies, warm and good spirits all around. I won't say much about the day except that it was hard. I was freezing by the time we had break despite my 4 layers of clothes and my back and knees were killing me. I have often noticed how out of shape I am but standing 8 hours brought that realisation back in the form of aching back, knees and a massive headache. The best thing was telling Vicky that I had seen McFly and her believing me and almost crying.
Today wasn't much better. Vicky woke up in a mood which was not a huge motivation and Ben wasn't here to compensate. So off we went to Oxford Street, Vicky moaning and my making bumbling attempts to cheer her up. Things were ok from then on, colder than the day before. Highlights were the great things some people had to say about us as an Army, we don't hear that a lot. Vicky and Ben saw Sienna Miller. Funny thing: Ben (with Jonny's encouragement) told Vicky that he had seen Jordan. I played along and Vicky spent a good part of the day looking out for her. Jonny talked to some famous news man, and I had my picture taken with some guy. So, I'm in bed now, listening to Damien, trying to decide whether to sleep (its 8:40) or to watch Ben play Diablo 2 (wohoo!!!!! the game finally arrived!!!!!)
Love to all and I hope to get some pictures up here soon.

Nando's, Mullets and Tomatoes

It's been a while since I last wrote (at least by my standards) and there loads to talk about, but I'm sure I'll forget something. Oh well.
The last week has been manic. I had a great few days at school (or college or uni or whatever it is) where it was basically laughing and mucking about. Thursday a bunch of us went out for a drink after, which was fun, and then Sarah, Gemma, Huw and I went to Nando's. For those of you who have yet to be introduced to the beauty of Nando's, it is (at least the one on South Bank) is a restaurant in a gorgeous building, selling edible portions of perfectly (or usually perfectly) grilled chicken at the prices of a McDonald's meal. Needless to say, I love eating at this one in particular.
Anyways, Huw is a friend of Sarah's that I met on Thursday. He is a genuinely great guy with, as far as I have been able to tell, one oddity: mullets scare him. Hmm. Our waiter had a mullet so the evening passed with Huw making gaging noises after this poor man (Felix) left our table. Apparently there is a whole mullet world out there that I have previously lived unawares to. I am now looking forward to Huw sending me the websites about them as promised. My favourite moment of that day was Huw describing the ethos behind mullets: all business at the front, but it's all about the party at the back (said, of course, with utmost disgust). So needless to say, that was a great night.
Friday and Saturday were spent getting ready for our pantomime with the kids on Sunday. Now this was written by Ben and Simba and I was in charge of costumes. I thought that it was going to be the worst thing that I have ever seen, which would not have helpt the quest to win over the confidence of the parents. But after making the halos ten minutes before church started, and changing the actors five minutes before church started (our Mary didn't show) things went great. The service was very different from any carol service I'd ever been to, but I loved it.
Oh and the tomatoes previously writen about... they are finally dead at the age of 2 months (I think). They still look good but have now begun leaking a green liquid. About time is all I have to say.

Alright, this rant actually has nothing to do with Christmas, but with sleeping bags. Do let me know if you feel the same. I've had my fair share of exposure to the stupid things in the last two weeks. My mommy was here and then Lisa was here so I, being a good hostess, slept in a sleeping bag (Ben's cause I left mine in Germany) Now, I do twist and turn when I sleep. I kind of have a pattern to it. The stupid thing then twists all around me and wakes me up by making me feel stuck and kind of suffocated. One night I woke up and the head bit that is supposed to be on the bottom was on top of my face. As warm and cozy as they may be, they are a ridiculous nuisance to someone who squigles around like me, and I think that someone should take the task onto themselves to invent something more practical for those of us who only exercise during their sleep. So I guess this is a bit of an appeal. Put on your thinking cap and start inventing. Oh and Merry Christmas.

New look, same me

Alright, it's kind of pink, I know. A bit girly I know, which isn't really like me, but oh well. This is the first time I've ever done html or anything. I know it was simple, but I'm really pleased with myself. take care...

The magic Tomatoes

Allow me to introduce you to the phenomenon of the kitchen in the First Floor Flat, Elephant and Castle, London, England.
Come back with me a few weeks (5 to be exact) Ben and I are on a mission to get some food for us to live off of for the week. We have discussed it and decide that we need some healthier food than what we have been eating to date. So, while gazing through the aisles, I decide to get some tomatoes and mozarrella to show Ben what we eat in Germany sometimes. We get them (and lots of other food products that I won't go into here now) and then went home.
Well, to make what could be a boring long story short, we came home with the good intent of making the tomatoes and mozarrella, but didn't. The mozarrella was eventually consumed by, um I can't remember, but the tomatoes remained.
They remain there to this day. After about two weeks, Ben and I noticed that our tomatoes were still looking very healthy for their ripe old age. We have made the decision to keep them in until they show signs of their age. Right now, it seems as though they will live forever.
Worrying, though, how many chemicals must have been sprayed on these Tesco Tomatoes. I think I will start buying my fruit and veg (the little that I do eat) at Borough Market.
I'll keep you updated on the magical tomatoes. Life count: 5 weeks and counting