Every year I convince myself I will be organised and will have everything ready so that on Christmas morning it will be a picture perfect film set …. every year I get to this time of year and think where has the time gone, why have those people who have not sent a card for years suddenly sent one this year, what day is Christmas, have I circled everything in the Radio Times and I must remember where I put cards, presents, school uniform and everything else I have moved around to accommodate the tree. This year we have the added bonus of a puppy who so far has crashed into the tree every day since it was decorated, has smashed 3 baubles and has made moves on presents that were under the tree so they have now been put in a safe place. An organised friend takes photos of her presents in a hiding place which I think is genius but I tend to move things around so much I would forget where I put them.
I don’t know why I get so surprised that Christmas creeps up on us, I am the first to roll my eyes when people say that yet here I am a week before Christmas and I am mentally writing lists (I refuse to say and checking them twice incase I give you a sudden and irritating ear worm, oh whoops I did just that) and wondering if I am going to travel 200 miles to get a present to someone to ensure it gets there for Christmas or am I going to take a deep breath and head to the post office TODAY and send them off. If I had been organised I would have done them weeks ago and sent them second class, but I didn’t.
There has been lots of talk in the media about sending cards, I am indifferent to sending cards in that I have every good intention and then get distracted. However I do write letters generally during the year and with the advent of social media (see what I did there!) it has all changed in how we correspond. I was recently on the phone to the States and was asked if I was ready for the holidays, I glibly replied that term doesn’t end until the 20th so I have plenty of time yet, my chlldren aren’t Nativity Play age and I must book in dentist and optician appointments before they go back to school. I can only imagine the person at the end of the line shaking their head in confusion.
I don’t do New Year Resolutions, I might in the past have made an effort to drink less, eat less, exercise more, go to bed early but I have been doing that since August 2017 when I gave up sugar and changed my lifestyle. One thing I do want to do is completely clear the LOFT out, I have mentioned the Land of Forgotten Treasures before and when I nipped up to get the decorations down I was transported to a different world with very many memories. I lost myself looking at photos of when we were younger mesmerised by how much we have changed - yet stayed the same, when I thought I was fat, what was I wearing, where are they now, look how they’ve grown, I remember getting this for Christmas back before the turn of the century. Oh yes I was distracted and then full of fond memories I climbed back downstairs and my thoughts turned to Christmas, why have those people who have not sent a card for years suddenly sent one this year, what day is Christmas, have I circled everything in the Radio Times?
Wishing you and yours every good wish for Christmas and the year ahead.
