Building up to Christmas.

Ok. I admit it. I am now starting to get excited about Christmas. I have to keep a lid on this, because I have a ridiculous amount of work to do between now and the end of term next week, but Christmas is definitely coming, and I don't mind.

I mind in October, when I can't find a birthday card in the shops for Christmas cards in the way.
I mind when adverts for Christmas presents take over my TV.
I mind when a major department store has its 'Christmas sale' at the beginning of November.

But it is now December, it's nearly the end of term, and the frosty winter weather (when it is not raining cats and dogs) and darker evenings make the delicate Christmas lights in the city centre twinkle just enough to suggest some magic for the season. I think the City where the Castle is also a Prison do a very good job with their decorations.

That isn't to say I'm entirely ready for Christmas. I'm not. But I have now got a little 'Bag o' Christmas' where I'm putting the Christmas cards and presents I have already bought - so I know what I've got, where it is, and for whom I have still to buy a gift. And as my little 'Bag o' Christmas' fills up, I realise I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year (despite the fact I will have 140 assignments to mark over the festive period). I'm even playing Christmas music as I'm writing this!

I was doing some reading in the Red Coffee Chain shop this afternoon, and the poor staff didn't get a break for the 3 hours I was there. They are very efficient, but the queue never seemed to get any shorter. Outside I could see people struggling their way around town with big bags of shopping, and they would come into Red Coffee Chain and show each other presents for mutual friends. There was a fair amount of pushing and jostling going on too - that's one part of the build up to Christmas that I don't enjoy. It's not about getting to the counter first, people. It's about peace and goodwill towards all people. And the lady in front of me in the till queue at the shop that is not 'just a shop' where I had stopped in for milk and vegetables looked both surprised and grateful when I offered to steady her precariously balanced basket while she unloaded it.

There is no need to be grumpy with the random passer by who is also trying to get their shopping done. In fact, a bit of co-operation would make everyone's Christmas shopping experience a little more, well..., Christmassy!

The wearing of jeans to work

Whenever I begin teaching a new group of students, I make an effort not to wear jeans on seminar days. This, I think, stems from my days as a postgrad teaching assistant, when I felt I had to look semi-authoritative because I didn't have any Dr. title to provide this authority. I tried then to project to the students (and myself?) an image proving I was qualified to teach them. I suppose I now do this as a confirmation of that. I set off with the intention of wearing 'tutor clothes' every week, but as term goes on I start to slip, and by the end of the year I'm wearing jeans to seminars. I figure by that point if they don't see me as their 'tutor' jeans won't make a difference (and I do like to promote equality of ideas and opinions between tutor and students in my seminars!). I have never given a lecture in jeans. This, I know, is a matter of maintaining my own confidence.

For my new admin job, I wouldn't wear jeans to work. Not as a spur to my confidence, but because my image of office/secretarial workers is smarter than that (smart casual, not necessarily suits). None of the other ladies in my office wear jeans either. Presumably they feel the same as I do.

There are only three men in the administrative unit in which I work. One at my level (lowly admin assistant), one is my line-manager's manager, and the other is my line-manager's manager's manager. Both top level administrators wear suits and ties for work. Lowly administrator wears jeans and a sweater or a casual shirt. No one seems to question this. No one seems to object. But I wonder what would happen if I turned up in jeans and a hoodie tomorrow? I'm sure someone would notice, and probably they would object.

So, ignoring my seminar jeans issue (which is, I acknowledge) entirely of my own imposition) what do you think about wearing jeans for work? Do you think its appropriateness is gendered? Am I imposing my own rules again?

Packing

Well I'm just about packed up for my trip to Supermum's house for the - to use an Americanism - "holiday season". I had to pack last night because I am at my secretary job all day today, and am being picked up straight after work. But now I have packed, I seem to have an awful lot of stuff for the two weeks I'll be there. It looks like I've packed for months!

Two of the bags are work-related stuff, though (a note to the London Busdriver - I may not have to be at work for two weeks, but I do have to work during that two weeks) to finish a couse handbook, write a review, mark essays and prep. for teaching. The good news about the latter is that I get to read novels and call it work. The bad news is that I need to read at least 4 of them. I have also packed a couple of pairs of fabulous shoes. Because at Christmas, New Year and on my birthday, I will get the opportunity to wear them. And I won't be able to wear them if I don't take them with me, will I?

The rapidly increasing number of bags I found I had packed reminded me of a friend from school, who would always pack two bags when she came to stay, even if it was only for one night: the bag of stuff she actually needed (nightdress, washbag, change of clothes) and then the stuff she brought just in case she needed it. Her "just in case" bag. It usually had other clothes in it, in case we went anywhere that required a particular outfit, and there had to be at least two outfits to choose from in case one didn't look right. And a variety of make up. And other strange items that I have now forgotten.

Because I can't drive, I tend not to pack a separate "just in case" bag. In much train travelling, I have learned that the smaller your bag, the better for ease of bag storage on the train, and - and this one is important - only pack what you can actually carry. That said, my New York friend once said to me, as I juggled suitcases onto a train to Newark airport, "my, you're strong for a wee thing". Well, I don't know about that, but I can usually carry my own suitcases.

But this time, for my Christmas trip to supermum's, I am very grateful I'm being collected. I have packed way more than I could possibly carry, and none of it is in a "just in case bag".

OK. Maybe I don't need all of the fabulous shoes. But if you can't wear fabulous shoes during the holiday season, when can you?

Fashion?

I've never really been into fashion. I wear clothes that I like, that are comfortable and that, I hope, suit me. Even when I was a teenager the girls my age wandering around in the evening / at night wearing tiny dresses and no jacket because "coats aren't fashionable" puzzled me. I'll take unfashionable over hypothermia any day. So, clearly, I'm a lost cause when it comes to fashion.

But last week, when I was in a fairly fashionable high street store, looking for something specific, this lack of fashion understanding was pressed home to me in a big way. I looked at this 'item' (I was going to say 'garment', but I'm being deliberately vague) and thought "What is that? A skirt? a dress? a top? an Elizabethan ruff collar? How would one wear this item?"

I think I won't shop there again. It makes me feel very old. And I'm not.