After a flurry of activity around here in November, I seemed to run out of ideas. Plus, the arrival of December has meant a step up in activity at work and at home. Today though is much less fraught, in fact today is proving to be a wonderful day of relaxation and recovery.
Master and I take it in turns to spend weekends at each others homes, this weekend is my turn. Four days a week at work and the 5th spent running my mum to various shops, as well as my slimming club and an invariable encounter with the ex means that these weekends are something precious. Unless something special is planned, we tend to do little; get up late, a leisurely coffee then lunch, more sitting around, dinner and drinks, some TV or a film. These for me are perfect weekend days.
Everyone else seems to be spending December days out shopping, battling against the ever present pressure of spending all of their money for a perfect Christmas. I know this to be the case, because I myself have been there.
This year though I have pretty much done it all. I have written and posted my Christmas cards. I completed this task early because I needed to tell some people about the end of my marriage and the changes to my life. Last year I didn’t send any cards, I wasn’t feeling in the mood to cope with dealing with that kind of reality. This year though I feel in a much better place. I have also pretty much bought all of my Christmas presents. I have had a couple of trips out with my mum and have taken advantage, plus I have bought a few things online. All that is left now is to wrap things up and put them somewhere ready to give to family. You see, this year there is no tree to store presents under.
This year Master and I are going to be away for Christmas. In just under 2 weeks we set off for Spain, where I will spend 3 weeks and he 5!. This is one reason for my hyper organised state – Next Sunday I am hosting a family dinner for my mum, son and girlfriend and niece and nephew. Pretty much all of the presents can then go off with them and then there will be just a few days to get ready and pack before we leave. During that week I will be working and there will also be an evening at my mums for what would be my dad’s birthday and my work Christmas ‘do’ (if I can make myself go).
Christmas in Spain will be completely different. Our days will be much more like our weekends here, except we will be able to get out and about in the warm sun. We will find ourselves in some lovely buildings, we will eat tapas and drink wine. The big difference is that from 18th December there will be no fraught Christmas preparations, and no last minute shopping trips. Of course, it means no family Christmas, but as I have told my loved ones, there will be other years for that.
The great thing is I am pretty much already ready and it is only 5th of December!
I'm glad things seem to be going well and that you've gotten your holiday madness under control so quickly. I haven't even gotten my Christmas cards yet and there are boxes of decorations all over our place. Forget gift shopping!
I know that feeling, the funny thing is that it always comes right in the end doesn't it?