Notes of Life

Christmas is over and the new year isn’t far off. Where has time gone?!

Christmas Day was the usual family affair (Me, Mum & Dad, Nan & Granddad  and my brother & sister-in-law), but with a brand new member this year – my baby neice! Of course, I got lots of cuddles in with her, but she was none the wiser as to what was going on anyway. However, my brother & sister-in-law had dressed her up in a lovely Christmas babygrow & hat, so she looked Christmassy cute! As always, it was great to spend time with everyone.

I did well on the present side of things… I got a year’s subscription to Wanderlust (a travel magazine) which also came with a free book, a large photo of my baby neice, money, a bag full of goodies from Sarah (including a couple of books, a diary, bath stuff etc), a wine gift set (a small bottle of wine, wine glass & chocolates), books (including Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson from my cousin), a diary and a few other little bits & bobs. Nothing big, but lots of little goodies, so I had plenty to unwrap!

I think everyone liked what I gave them. I gave Dad A Wild Life on Exmoor by Johnny Kingdom as part of his present and he started reading it on Christmas day. He’s finished it already! He’s given it a raving review, so I might just read it myself once I’ve got through my ever growing pile of books.

In fact, I gave a few books as Christmas presents. My sister-in-law was an easy one because she’d asked to borrow my copy of The Time of My Life by Patrick Swayze & Lisa Niemi while I was reading it (she’s a big Swayze fan), so when I spotted it on sale I grabbed a copy for her. Now all she needs is the time to read it! Of course, I’ve offered to go down and cuddle my neice while my sister-in-law gets some reading done…….

I don’t go back to work until next Monday, so I’ve pretty much been having a lazy break since Christmas Day, apart from visiting Nan & Granddad a couple of days ago. All I’ve really done it watch TV & films and write some reviews for Dooyoo. Oh and I’ve finished off the Port!

It’s New Year’s Eve tomorrow and I’ve no plans at all (so lazy!), so it’ll probably be an evening of drink and TV/DVDs unless we have visitors.

I think my on-going migraine has gone now, although the port has ensured I’ve had a fuzzy head most mornings! As I go back to work on Monday I bet the migraine will join me. We’ll see!

It’s Christmas Eve and I still have a bit of present wrapping and card writing to do! Not much, but I need to wait for everyone else to go to bed before I can finish it.

It’s been a busy day today… Some last minute present shopping in town this morning (which wasn’t as busy as I thought it would by – possibly because of the weather) and some last minute Christmas food shopping in Churchstoke at lunchtime. Then this afternoon I wrapped a couple of presents and delivered them to my friend Kim and her daughter. I spent the afternoon with them both and even helped Kim chop the vegetables for her Christmas dinner and make a cheese cake for her and her out-laws (sorry, in-laws!) – I hope they enjoy it!

By the time I left Kim’s, thick fog and darkness had descended and it was a cold walk home in the snow. Yes, we have snow! I don’t know if any will fall tomorrow (making it an “official” white Christmas), but I’m sure it will still be on the ground in the morning as it was pretty cold outside earlier!

I don’t tend to make New Year resolutions, but I think I should make an early one… To post here more often! This is only my 2nd post of the month. I’ve had a migrane/headache for nearly 3 weeks now, but it’s on it’s way out (I hope!), but otherwise I can’t think of why I haven’t really been posting… Lazy, maybe!

Anyway, I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful and merry Christmas! I’ll be spending it at home with family, as per usual. If you believe in Santa (Father Christmas etc) then remember to check out NORAD Tracks Santa this evening.

Merry Christmas! / Nadolig Llawen!

I recommend this website every Christmas, so since I wrote a review for the site on Dooyoo yesterday I thought I’d share it with you…

NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) and it’s predecessor CONAD (Continental Air Defense Command) have been tracking Santa for more than 50 years now. This is where the noradsanta.org website comes in, because now you too can track the big man in a red suit online!

So why would an important defence unit such as NORAD take time to track Santa (a.k.a Father Christmas!)? Well, back in 1955 Sears Roebuck & Co. produced an advert which told kids they could phone & speak to Santa. However, they misprinted the telephone number, so when kids phoned Santa they reached theCONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline ” instead of Santa! Rather than turn the kids away, The Director of Operations had his staff check the radar for Santa and the children who phoned in were given updates. And so, the tradition ofCONAD (and then NORAD) tracking Santa began. (See http://www.noradsanta.org/en/whytrack.html for more information).

With today’s technology, NORAD have produced a website (available in several languages) where you can track Santa on Christmas Eve! As I’m a big kid, I’ve been visiting this website for several years now and recommend it to those who believe. The website has grown and been updated over the years.

Each year on Christmas Eve there is usually a map of the world on the Home page (for your language), so you can track Santa throughout Christmas Eve. A graphic will show you where Santa currently is and the main cities of the countries he has already been to will be lit up. Clicking on a city that is lit will show you a video of Santa passing by… NORAD give a bit ofcommentary and sometimes you will get a “Ho ho ho” from Santa too! Now, Santa can also be tracked in 3D with the use of Google Earth – Just make sure you have Google Earth installed beforehand and then visit the “Track Santa in 3D” page on the website on Christmas Eve to track Santa in 3D. It’s as simple as that!

The Santa Tracker usually stays live for a while after Christmas Eve. This is handy, because depending where you live, Santa will visit other places afterwards and so you might miss them on Christmas Eve (because you should be in bed and fast asleep before Santa visits you!).

As I write this there is just under 3 weeks until Santa starts his annual epic trip around the world, so the Home page currently has a “Countdown to Track Santa” – it’s on 18 days, 23 hours, 23 minutes and 41 seconds… Not long really (I’d better get that Christmas shopping finished!). You can also download an iGoogle Gadget which will add the Countdown to your Google homepage or you can follow NORAD as they Track Santa throughFacebook, Twitter or Picasa (just click on the icons on the Home page).

Visit the Videos page on Christmas Eve to see images & videos of Santa as he makes his journey around the world (there isn’t much there until Christmas Eve).

For something to do in the run up to Christmas Eve, visit the Kids’ Countdown to Track Santa page of the website. This page is updated every day so it’s worth visiting often for something new. Today’s “Hot Update from the North Pole” is that Santa has reached his pre-Christmas target weight! What with all those tasty treats children leave out for him every year, Santa gains a substantial amount of weight on Christmas Eve and so it must take him the rest of the year to work it off. This page also has an interactive graphic of the North Pole village which updates each day. As it’s the 5th December, there are currently 5 places to visit in the village:

The North Pole Clock Tower – This is a game where the aim is to light up the Christmas Tree.

Cookie Shack – This is a jigsaw puzzle.

Prancer’s Puzzle Productions – This is a downloadable crossword.

North Pole Radio Station – Here you can listen to songs.

Santa’s Bureau of Investigation (SBI) – A card game.

So there’s plenty to do and see on the Kids’ Countdown to Track Santa page and it’s all fun!

The About Santa page is, of course, all about the big man himself. Is Santa real? (Why else would NORAD be tracking him every year!) There are various FAQS (Frequently Asked Questions) and other information about Santa.

There is also a section about NORAD, including how and why they track Santa (some of which I’ve mentioned already).

The Contact Us page gives information about how you can contact NORAD’s Santa Tracking Operations Centre. Come Christmas Eve (and Christmas Day) you can phone them and email them for Santa’s current location! Though, quite frankly, asthe website is there, why not just use the website to do the job!

So all in all, the Norad Tracks Santa website (www.noradsanta.org) is a fun and informative website to visit. I think it can also be used as a great tool to get the children to bed in time for Santa’s arrival – after all, they should be fast asleep by the time he arrives! So when he’s in France, you know it won’t be long until he arrives in the UK, so point that out to the kids!

If there’s just one website that you visit on Christmas Eve, make it NORAD Tracks Santa!

Visit the NORAD Tracks Santa website.