In the blink of an eye

 And in the blink of an eye Christmas is over.

It's been a really strange one this year, I don't think I've ever felt less Christmassy. However, I played the game for others and played at being full of Christmas spirit.

Far too much happened in November and December and all of it was bad. It has finished me off somewhat. Add to the fact that work was so horrible before I finished and that was praying on my mind, sneaking into my thoughts at all times - no matter how much I tried to push it away. I'm starting work again shortly and am writing this before I go into my emails and messages and so don't know if there is any fall out.

Bricks were due to be delivered before Christmas so they could start rebuilding our wall, but as we got closer to Christmas and they hadn't arrived I knew that realistically we'd not see any work done until the New Year. So I put up a temporary fence so the dog could go out the back again. I was far too nervous she'd fall 10 feet onto steps and cost us even more money.

Following on from last post - just as I'd finished my Christmas shop and the time had gone passed that I could change it - I realised I hadn't ordered any Parsnips. So I whizzed to Asda, which is the nearest supermarket. I was anticipating chaos, but actually it was extremely quiet. Surprising for Christmas Eve Eve. In the car park was the most amazing car absolutely covered in fairy lights. It wasn't anything to do with the store, it was parked up just like any other car - though lots of people were taking selfies with it.

It managed to raise a smile from me - so well done whoever did that. Parsnips in hand I headed home to have an early night, ready for Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve we did all our normal family bits and bobs, though a bit pared down this year. We decorated the tree outside, put out carrots for the reindeer, put stars on top of the tree and watched Mickey & Donald's Christmas Carol. We didn't go out for hot chocolate and we didn't do the carol service this year because the church is shut for a refurb and we didn't fancy going to the village hall.

At about 14:00 my parents turned up and we headed for the Airbnb they were staying in. At first glance it looked amazing. A bedroom and bathroom downstairs and a sitting room and kitchen upstairs. Loads of room. However, it turned out to be quite unsatisfactory. The shower didn't work properly, the heating was on a timer (no good for my parents who are in their 80's) and the TV was unusable. Such a shame.

In the evening we went down to a local pub where we'd booked a table for supper. The pub was heaving and they forgot our table. We sat their for an hour waiting to be served. Then husband went up to chase the meal only to be told the kitchen had shut. Husband was very firm and they reopened the kitchen, but by then they'd run out of most food. I KNOW - WHAT NEXT!!!!!

The rest of Christmas Eve was spent preparing as much of the food for Christmas Day as possible so I could spend time with family first thing. 

Guess what - we forgot to leave out a drink and cookies for Santa - I don't think son has realised yet. Though Santa clearly wasn't too put out because he did visit.

Son loved all his Christmas presents - which was great. Then at 12:30 my family turned up, my brother and sister-in-law (now ex) and my nephew. There were 8 of us in total. I was nervous how the day would go because brother and sister-in-law have now split up, also brother was leaving a bit early to have supper with his girlfriend. #Awks. Though credit to everybody, the day was good fun and there was no animosity.

The meal went well and everybody suddenly left at about 17:30 - the house was empty again. Husband and I started the big clear up. A clear up that went on for 3 days!

Boxing Day was a quiet one, as was the Friday, though I did whizz out to look at the sales and picked up some new jumpers (exciting, I know!!). Husband and I went for a walk with dog and popped into Elate for lunch. Where, guess what, I managed to crack a tooth on some sour dough bread. So that's another thing to sort out.

Then on the Saturday we went to husband's family in Horsham, really nice to see everybody. It was also nice to have two small ones running around. As husband's nephew has a two year old and three year old. Though dog behaved absolutely appallingly and every time the kids came near she started barking. This was quite upsetting for the kids. We kept dog on a very short lead, but in the end it got so bad we had to leave. I think we'll need to leave her at home the next time the kids are around. I'm not sure why she's so rubbish with kids. She's not aggressive, it's just barking - but it's just not one of those things I'm prepared to risk. 

So really that's it. Christmas over and done with. I think you can probably tell from my post just how empty it all felt this year. 

Anyway, no point dwelling, onwards and upwards (hopefully). They say that problems come in 3's - right now we are at about 8 - it has to stop at some point.