Christmas is nearly here! I have put up the tree and wrapped all my presents and I can’t wait for the day to come! This year I was actually feeling a bit down about christmas It’s such a stressful time of year, with the Convention and my stall I had even more work than usual. Not to mention these days it is such a heavily commercialised event, I think its a lovely holiday but sometimes the masses of christmas merchandise and the amount of money that is spent on gifts and food takes away from the simple pleasure of what christmas means to me - which is spending time with your family and loved ones.

I used to love christmas as a child, and I’ve been trying to find some of that magic again this year. I think part of the fun of christmas is in traditions, everyone has different traditions based on their religion, family or culture In my family we have Christmas morning, when we all gather around the tree and share presents and then have a big yummy lunch with lots of cold meats, seafood and salad. Since I’ve had a home of my own I’ve started some other traditions. A couple of years ago, the Prince and I bought a tree. Its white with little pearly strands in it and we have strings of beads that are clear and pearly like bubbles, large and small glass balls in pink, purple, silver and pale green. This year I made some bows out of pretty wire edged ribbon and bought a star for the top. Putting up the tree itself is a bit of a tradition for me, but I’ve also decided to buy or make one new ornament a year. This year I found this beautiful resin Swan, she reminds me of my favourite ballet ‘Swan Lake.’

I also love christmas parties, we had ours last night. It was so much fun, we played games and exchanged presents and cards and I baked a Christmas Cake! Christmas Cakes are a modern Japanese tradition, they are iced with whipped cream and strawberries and usually have some christmas decorations. This was my first time making one and think the cream I used was too soft, so I’ve learnt for next year. I hope it was yummy anyway!

Another thing I like to do, and I know its a bit cheesey, is watch Christmas movies. My favourite of all time is “Prancer” which I really reccomend if you haven’t seen it! This year I watched “The Polar Express” which was really very sweet, the animation was amazing too and I liked the overall message of “Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can’t see.”

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season!

I would like to clarify my last entry a little, as I have recieved some criticism on the subject which may have been based on misunderstanding and poor expression on my part. I would like to first of all thank those who sent me their feedback on the issue, I have tried to email you individually in response to your concerns. I always appreciate feedback, even if it is negative, but I do not appreciate inflammatory comments and arguments on this site so they have been removed.

The purpose of the Princess Lesson - Dealing with Ogres, was about self defence against bullying. Unfortunately, bullying does exist and whether you call the people that behave this way Bullies, Rude People or Ogres it does not change the fact that they have a negative effect on others and that their behaviour is both uncalled for and offensive.

Using the term ‘Ogre’ was not a personal attack on any specific group of people, but a general reference to the behaviour of some individuals on certain occaisions. It was also, as many of the fairy tale references I make on this site, not meant to be taken literally. I apologise if it was seen as an offensive term to use by others, it was not intended thus but was purely in reference to the behaviour described. As an example, the word ‘Troll’ is often used to describe people who are behaving badly online, I am using Ogre in much the same way, but for real life examples.

I do believe that in this world we are defined by the choices and actions we make, and not everyone who makes a mistake or behaves rudely is a bad person, but that doesn’t mean that others will not be offended by that behaviour and I merey intended to make some suggestions on how to respond to such attitudes.

Thank you again for your feedback, I hope that I have managed to clarify some points that may have been misunderstood. I know that this is not going to please everyone, but I have tried my best to explain my choice of words. I apologise for any unintended offense I may have caused.