It's hard to believe it's just a couple of days before Thanksgiving. So far, weatherwise, it's been so mild, it's hard to believe it's November. While there have been a couple of cold days, for the most part, it's been slightly balmy and pleasant.

I can't say I'm completely happy about the balmyness. I mean, after all, it is November.Inside, I really want to wear my snowflake necklace but due to its supposed influence on the weather, I've been forbidden by several people.

Ah well, I don't really mind. My sister and I are determined to get an early start on Black Friday and if that means getting up and driving off in my car without having to defrost it from a thick layer of ice, I'm pretty happy. Also, it's nice to go out without worrying that my skin might freeze should that cruel wind blow too hard against me.

Also, the milder weather allowed me to explore the weekend in an outdoor fashion. For a start, I got the remainder of my garden cleared. The dead tomato plants and zinnias are now gone. I retired the gnomes to the shed as well as the solar lights I installed just a few months ago. Even though the weather is pleasant now, this

Still, the is the Midwest. This means that even though it was 65 degrees today, it could easily be 10 below tomorrow it a blizzard. Thus, even though my gnomes looked a little pitiful as I forced them into hibernation, they're safe from any winter weather that may decide to fall our way.

In addition, I got to explore ChristKindlMarkt- a Christmas festival sponsored by the Germania Society of Cincinnati. Even though I was born and raised British, my granddad is German and I was also raised with several German traditions. Thus, I felt like it was something to explore.

It was definitely worth attending. Germany does have some lovely Christmas traditions. One of my favourites is Gleuwein- hot mulled wine. It was rather lovely sipping a mug as I explored the booths. I did come home with a few gifts/keepsakes, my favourite being a handblown dachshund Christmas ornament that looked very much like my Sookie Sue. I also discovered that while I'd love to buy my sister the cuckoo clock she once said she'd love to have, the reality of it is that cuckoo clocks are very expensive. Overall, I had a lovely time and enjoyed the fact that I was in a place where it was perfectly ok to carry a cup of beer around while browsing the merchandise. I'm not a lush or alcoholic by any means but I am a Brit. It's just nice to see a relaxed approach to people drinking. Also, the smell of fresh apple strudel coupled with mulled wine and cheated on by dill pickle soup is a specatular sensory prompt to feeling in the mood for the holidays. Also, there were cute baby goats that bleated and sheep that baa'd as I approached the festival- it made me almost feel that I was in a German village for a second. By the time, I'd finished my mug of mulled wine, I positively felt that I was in a strange German enclave of Cincinnati. It was rather a nice experience although I was slightly disappointed that Sookie and Rory weren't as impressed at their handblown likeness as I was when I showed them the ornament I bought.

All in all, it's been rather a nice weekend. Even though it was tinged with Christmas, it really is the last weeked I'll have before the holidays kick in with full force. Next weekend is Thanksgiving. After that, it's all about Christmas. It was rather nice to have a weekend that was lazy enough to reflect upon the craziness that will happen over the next few weekends.

Even though the weekend is rolling to a halt, it's not so bad knowing that it's a three day work-week that ends in turkey and shopping. Being a fan of turkey and the slightly control-freakish, manic planning that goes along with plotting a meal for 14 people, I'm looking forward to this Thanksgiving. I also like the shopping that comes afterwards because Black Friday is really the gateway to opening the doors and letting Christmas flood in.

Still, for now, we're just on the cusp before the holidays take over and where we can still enjoy the relative calmness of Autumn. Now, if we could just have a little snow and cooler air, I'd feel a little more festive.

Ah well, if it doesn't happen, there's always my snowflake necklace. It's ready, willing and waiting. So am I, for that matter. Nevertheless, I'll hold off for a couple more weeks based on the promise I've made. Of course, promises can be broken....

But I'm not that kind of Monkeypants. At least...not until I worry that we might not have a white Christmas. Then I'm bringing the necklace out. Desperate measures and all that.

Happy Monday!

Siberian Temperatures on the Monday before Christmas

It's a Monday. Normally, I'd be blogging about how Mondays are my least favourite day of the week and that I wish I didn't have to get up to go to work and that I wish it were Friday. I can't today however. I'm on holiday from work for a week. I got to sleep in until after 9 a.m. and I've been deliciously lazy all morning.

Now I'm comfortable in my parent's office, listening to the cool sounds of the Tran Siberian Orchestra (TSO) and enjoying the fact that it's very nearly Christmas. I'm enamoured with the TSO- they take two genre's of music I've always loved- rock and Broadway- and combined them with my favourite season, Christmas. It's just fun to listen to. I've also taken great pleasure in watching some videos on Youtube in which people choreograph their Christmas lights to this music. It's pretty amazing. Ok, so they probably have WAY too much time on their hands but you should check it out- here are my favourites: Christmas Eve in Sarajevo (Carol of the Bells) and Wizards in Winter.

Anyway, so my parents live in Indiana, as I've mentioned. Indiana has been hit with an ice-storm that makes the one we had in Ohio last week look like slightly pathetic. We drove up to Fort Wayne yesterday to shop and it was unbelievable to see the results of the storm. The further north we drove, the harder the storm had hit. It was the most incredible natural paradox I've seen in a very long time: Awe inspiring beauty that is destructive and crippling. It was stunning to see. Nature had crystalized the world, painting every tree, house, blade of grass and sign with a thick coat of ice. The sun glinted off the ice and it was unbelievably beautiful. Yet the power lines hung lower, the trees could not carry the weight of the ice and they had snapped. Branches lay everywhere, not just twigs but actual trees, broken down the middle. Except for the super-strong and resistant fur trees, there were few trees that hadn't sacrified branches to Mother Nature.

It's also absolutely freezing. Seriously, I've complained that it's looked like Siberia before but now it feels like Siberia. It was 1 degree yesterday. The wind-chill was sixteen below zero. It was windy. It took your breath away just to walk out to the car; a frigid sweep of blown snow could render you speechless, your face numbed before you'd even left the full warmth of your home.

You may be wondering why I decided to leave California. I have to admit, I'm wondering that too. Yesterday, apparently, it was in the 70's there, sunny, balmy and a clear beautiful day.

Seriously though, despite the frigid temperatures and the icy world outside the window where I'm sitting, I have to say I'm loving it. I love winter; unpredictable, cruel, brutal Winter who can also be incredibly generous and change her mind when she feels like it. It's supposed to rain on Wednesday, rain that will wash away the ice and clear the world ready for the next Winter blast. Naturally, I'm hoping for snow. After all, it's Christmas on Thursday. Christmas isn't truly Christmas unless it's white, not for me, anyway.

This week is all about Christmas for me; not just the gifts but the fact that I get to spend time with my family, talk to my friends, eat too much and wrap the last gifts. It's about getting to sleep in a little, stay up later and not worry about routine. I'll hope for snow to dust the world and turn it into a winter wonderland, muffling the Christmas lights until they can burn through with their warm glow.

Whether Winter complies or not doesn't really matter though. It's still Christmas, snow or no snow.

Merry Christmas.