The start of the Christmas holidays

Today was the final official day of term. We finished off with a jolly school meeting complete with mince pies. I celebrated by fighting through the crowds yesterday to pick up a lovely cardie from Marks - they were on special offer for just £10, down from £35. A proper bargain! The students have exactly 1 hour to hand their essays in and I'm hoping for a couple of weeks of research. I have a pile of books to read and an Introduction to tweak.

We are looking forward to Christmas jollity and, so far, the snow has kept away from Lincoln. It seems to be attacking the other side of the country this time. But there is a chill in the air so what better way to spend our Friday evening than watching the final episode of Kings. We really enjoyed this series. It was beautifully shot and finely acted. It was also really thought-provoking...and virtually impossible to categorise. I love its generic complexity. We couldn't guess how it would end and, with just an hour to go, there seemed to be far too many loose ends. And, brilliantly, they weren't all tied up by the final credits. It was ambiguous and totally compelling. There would definitely have been scope for another series if NBC had realised what a amazing piece of TV they actually had on their hands. But, unfortunately, someone in their wisdom decided that X-Factor/Pop Stars/Celebrity Dancing show would be a better choice. More fool them, I say!

And so we are looking forward to a weekend of tidying, writing and reading. We are off to a Christmas concert tomorrow which is lovely given that for the past decade my December has been chock full of Christmas gigs. This year has felt a little quiet and sad. We are having friends round afterwards which is an excuse for something mulled and some cheese methinks! If you are wondering about my reading list which has been somewhat static for a couple of months then you'll be glad to know that I am also hoping to do a bit of extra-curricular reading during the holidays.

Anyways, enjoy the weekend one and all. I'm off to drink a cuppa and beat D at our basketball computer game. I got close last night...

CSW

p.s. students, you now have 50 minutes...tick...tock...tick...tock...