{maique}

📷 The workshop! Classes were great, and I actually had a lot of fun walking around the city with a group of people who had never thought about photography beyond the “Let me take a photo” part. The cold, foggy, weather was a first for me up there, so that made it even more interesting for me. I walked to the classroom every day, leaving the hotel with plenty of time for a few photos before class, edited them in a cafe close by, and showed them to the gang before we started. In the end everyone had a good time, and came away with something new. Mission accomplished.

📝 One thing I should have done before classes began was getting a list of references to share with the attendees. Since this was all about mobile photography, and they’re all on Instagram, I’m now working on that list. It’s already shareable, but not complete.

🌰 The whole festival is an awesome idea. Setting things up in a small town can be a challenge, and the gang at Indieror are pros at that. Overcoming difficulties is something they have become quite good at. I haven’t met a single person who comes into contact with them that doesn’t fall in love with the things they do, and them. The fact that they’ve done it in the middle of December, in a place that feels so isolated as their city does, is incredible. Proud to have been invited, proud of them.

🥶 It was cold! It was very VERY cold. We couldn’t find a way to keep tinyMovieStar entertained for longer than 4 days, so ended up moving back south two days earlier than expected. We gave a lift to an old colleague from the paper, now a famous writer/scriptwriter, and that made the drive even better. There was a lot of catching up to do. The trip is a long one, so we decided to have a layover at my in-laws, resting for a day, and then drive the final hour to our hometown.

🎄 Christmas is VERY close, and we can certainly feel that at my in-laws. The house is in full Christmas Mode already, I’m sure the electric bill is going through the roof this month! My father-in-law is probably the biggest Christmas fan in the country, truth be told. He used to build giant Nativity Scenes for display on malls and such. As a hobby! Decorations are all over the place already, the only music allowed is Christmas themed, and he will look menacingly at you if you dare suggest a movie or tv show that’s not in the spirit of the season (mostly joking, of course). It’s also the first Christmas that tinyMovieStar is old enough to get, so she’s having a great time playing around the house with all the extra toys scattered about. She loves Santa already (white beard helping the old man), but Rudolph is the clear winner of her heart.

🍿 We did manage to watch a couple of non-Christmas movies in the end, even with our physical well-being on the line. Sing, and A Man of Action. We spent the whole afternoon at it. It was amazing. Another one on the following day: El Pepe: A Supreme Life, just before picking up the car and, finally, heading home.

🗓️ Adam is having an advent calendar with weblog.lol. It’s awesome, and I just want to sit in front of the computer to explore it better. Not sure when that will happen, but I’m really looking forward to it. There is still a lot to do, but it’s great already.

🤪 In tinyMovieStar news, there’s not a lot to say. She’s still her sweet self (that seems to be growing daily), but she will not sleep before 11PM, if we’re lucky. She is a night toddler. And she’s definitely growing up. She’s no longer a baby, and it’s incredible. She now makes very grownup faces, and she jokes a lot. Arranging words into funny expressions is something I love watching her play with.

🇸🇪 IKEA run. A quick one, at least at the shop, but then there’s the second “half”, with hours spent trying to figure out how to assemble the damn things.

💬 WhatsApp groups, and email threads, another Christmas tradition. Sorry if this is turning into a Christmas themed report, but it’s mostly unavoidable. The day is getting closer, and everyone wants to coordinate things. Family, families, want to know when, and what, and how things will happen, and there’s a ton of activities at school that need planning as well. It’s messy, to put it mildly.

🎁 Christmas shopping. One of the things I simply won’t do. I know it’s not cool, but movieStar loves picking stuff for people as much as I hate doing it, so it’s perfect. I’ll drop her off at the chosen place, and pick her up when she calls. I’m lucky, and I thank her, as this saves me from the embarrassment of getting to Christmas Day without a single present. That’s what happened before we met.

📺 Still time to watch the first three episodes of Harry & Meghan on Netflix, and The Masked Scammer. I know, I know, not the best, but there’s no way to escape the royal shenanigans in this household, and I love scammer stories as well. Beats watching the WorldCup, in my opinion.