We had our Children's Service at 6pm on Christmas Eve, after practicing for two hours. The kids did a very cute skit (complete with my fantastic props - the sheep went down well, though the camel got a bit of a giggle), and we did lots of singing. I did a part of one of the carols on my own, with the organ, and apparently my fear that i sounded somewhat croaky was unfounded, based on the number of compliments that were recieved. People at churches are so lovely.
Afterwards, Loz and i headed to the beach. We had about four hours to kill before the 11.30pm service. We headed down jetty road. First stop? Newsagents. Pack of 24 Bobby Pins = $2. Retro sunnies = $30. Awesome new look and ensuing hilarity = priceless. Then we kept wandering down the road, only to find Lath and her bf coming out of a church - where they had light up plastic candles. They were awesome, so we snuck in for some. We hit Sparkles for some cheap shoppingl we both got the same skirt for $8 and i had to pass up the awesome tee that said 'be reasonable, do it my way'. We got massive ice-creams at Copenhagen that melted all over us, and our stuff, until we did some major licking-control and got back on track. Yummy! We did the jetty walk, got coffees at Maccas and people watched for a few hours before catching a tram back to the car. We saw a man in an inflatable Santa suit, and saw lots of French people. On the way home, we got more Maccas coffee and evaded the boys cat-calling and hellllo-ing from another table. Much fun was had - it'd been a long time since we'd had one of our adventures!! We got to the church just in time for the next service.
The midnight mass service is always gorgeous, if not very silent. Our hushed whispers on arrival were by far the loudest thing in the room. Immediately, we were conned into doing a bizzare reading, but all was well. We sung lots of carols, heard the homily, and left in silence. Everyone exhanged the standard kiss on the cheek and 'Merry Christmas'. It was a late night, and we all had another service early in the morning, but i still came home and didn't sleep for hours. I was glad to see that i'd found my christmas cheer. All through the service i had a warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from being in the middle of such a caring, friendly community. Sure, there are a few minefields to navigate when you're in such tight quarters, but it was a really good night. Finally, i'm glad that it's christmas, for all the right reasons.
Afterwards, Loz and i headed to the beach. We had about four hours to kill before the 11.30pm service. We headed down jetty road. First stop? Newsagents. Pack of 24 Bobby Pins = $2. Retro sunnies = $30. Awesome new look and ensuing hilarity = priceless. Then we kept wandering down the road, only to find Lath and her bf coming out of a church - where they had light up plastic candles. They were awesome, so we snuck in for some. We hit Sparkles for some cheap shoppingl we both got the same skirt for $8 and i had to pass up the awesome tee that said 'be reasonable, do it my way'. We got massive ice-creams at Copenhagen that melted all over us, and our stuff, until we did some major licking-control and got back on track. Yummy! We did the jetty walk, got coffees at Maccas and people watched for a few hours before catching a tram back to the car. We saw a man in an inflatable Santa suit, and saw lots of French people. On the way home, we got more Maccas coffee and evaded the boys cat-calling and hellllo-ing from another table. Much fun was had - it'd been a long time since we'd had one of our adventures!! We got to the church just in time for the next service.
The midnight mass service is always gorgeous, if not very silent. Our hushed whispers on arrival were by far the loudest thing in the room. Immediately, we were conned into doing a bizzare reading, but all was well. We sung lots of carols, heard the homily, and left in silence. Everyone exhanged the standard kiss on the cheek and 'Merry Christmas'. It was a late night, and we all had another service early in the morning, but i still came home and didn't sleep for hours. I was glad to see that i'd found my christmas cheer. All through the service i had a warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from being in the middle of such a caring, friendly community. Sure, there are a few minefields to navigate when you're in such tight quarters, but it was a really good night. Finally, i'm glad that it's christmas, for all the right reasons.
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