Sleepy Santa's

The week has been quite hectic as we run towards the holiday period. It's one of those times almost unique in the year when it appears that we have to fulfill two weeks worth of tasks in one. We are both actually working this Christmas day which is nothing unusual in itself but it is rare that I have worked on Saturdays, I usually enjoy a weekend off but sometimes schedules simply won't allow.

On Sunday, Hitomi and I were attending the hymn singing for the Children's appeal in the Shiodome next to the Nippon TV building in Minato. The event wasn't actually being televised but it's worthy of a mention anyway.
We'd had a late night at the Mars on Saturday night as we celebrated one of the regular girl's birthday and everyone had to give her birthday kisses and birthday drinks. It's not too much effort of anyone's imagination to see how such an event can get simply 'out of hand' regarding consumption of giggle-water. We dragged ourselves into our bed at some where close to the alarm going off and when it did I wished that humans were a hibernating species.
Miss Behave had to be dragged kicking and screaming from her bed and only the smell of hot coffee seemed to have the desired effect.

We'd ordered a car to take us and pick us up from the event just for the sake of convenience and not having to go through all the train changes. The car duly came for us a 7:30am and she fell into the back seat and slept next to our bags while I sat next to the driver.
When we got to the mall, we met the others had a little room assigned to us to get changed into Santa outfits.

The event itself started slowly as we took a spot in the mall. They had already erected two posters up on easels showing the public exactly how their kind donations would be used and we had two donation bowls on each side of us as we sang our Christmas hymns. The morning started off quiet slowly and Hitomi whispered to me that we could have had an extra hour in bed. I elbowed her ribs in a Jingle-bell rock moment and we carried on after her sudden and unexpected 'E flat minor' hardly noticed by anyone except the band leader.
Lunch was a quick but hot bowl of soup and rice and a lovely hot tea from one of the vendors there and quickly consumed in the changing room. It was just the thing to take the chill away from standing in such a cool place. Then in the afternoon we found that the crowds were much larger and quite more generous as they shopped and dropped us kind donations. I got an elbow in the ribs from her when I suggested that they were actually paying for her to stop singing.

Our breath was visible in the air on the way home in the cold dark evening. Miss Behave had woken up and was talking quite animatedly as the car took us home. I feel asleep quite mercifully and happily my sleep all the way home was elbow free.

Please do remember the children and if you can spare a little for those innocents around the world who find reasons to smile quite difficult. Every little we fortunate's can give is most welcome.

Have a happy Christmas everyone