from end to beginning

As 2011 was drawing to a close and all my friends in other countries I had to organise some fun on my own. I started in the middle of my day with seeing in the new year with Mum and Dad in Australia via Skype. But the main event for me was in the early evening when I dressed up and headed into London's centre with my ticket to be entertained.

I've been hoping to see Billy Elliot the Musical for a long time and decided I'd treat myself to it during the Christmas/New Year holidays. Thanks to a wonderful present from my boss I was able to book a ticket without using any money of my own. I got a good seat at the front of the balcony and settled down while admiring the detail of Victoria Theatre.

The show was great! I really like the story anyway but there's something special about watching people perform right in front of you. There was obviously kids in this one too--even a young boy who looked about 5 years old. (He was so cute and did an awesome job.) The boys who played Billy and Michael did an awesome job too but I did see them on occasion glancing at the crowd or break a smile during an applause. As always I am fascinated with the sets and how they change to create different scenes and I was with this one too. There was a glitch when Billy was suppose to soar up in the air in a dream-like dance number and they had to close the curtains and apologise for the short delay as they worked it out. But I found that entertaining too. By the time it was all over and I stepped outside it was about 10:30pm. It was raining so I was thinking about just heading home. As I started to walk in the direction of home the rain stopped. It wasn't very cold and I thought that maybe I would just walk around a while and then see the fireworks since I was here in the middle of London. By the time I figured out where I was, where I wanted to go and walked there it was almost midnight. I thought it might be packed but there wasn't as many people there as I'd anticipated. The bridge was but the street I was in wasn't. I couldn't get as close as I wanted as the street had been blocked off. So through the trees I saw the fireworks shoot off from the London Eye. After about 10mins I decided to head off early in hopes to avoid most the crowd. But they finished as I was still walking off.

Unfortunately my SD card was being rebellious and I only found out once home that it had stopped recording my photos. There were masses of people heading for the tube, which I by-passed in favour of the bus. But when I found the bus stop I needed there was a crowd there too. I decided to just keep walking. So there's none of the actual fireworks.Distances on my London map always seem shorter than they actually are. It took me just over an hour to walk home and my feet were indeed ready for a rest. I cosied up in my pjs and watched the end of a show I'd run out of time to finish viewing and then talked to some people online before I finally turned my light out too close to dawn. That being the case, I had a most lovely relaxing pyjama day for the first of the year. Sleeping, reading, tv and other such indoor things.

Now one week into 2012 and I'm back at work. Holidays have finished and the regular routine is kicking back in. I have to try and eradicate this lingering chest cold I have. Grr. This year is bound to have it's own set of adventures. I already know I'm about to be an aunty again any day now which also means another quilt to make for next Christmas. There's the planned Iceland holiday to see the northern lights and visit Blue Lagoon with a friend who's finally arrived in London. There's also a new baby due in this household where I work. I'll also be amongst the buzz of the London 2012 Olympics. Who knows what else this year will hold?