Today was supposed to be my big cleaning/preparation day before Christmas. The babies have been packed off to Nana’s for the day giving me time to get all the little jobs done that I always complain I don’t have time today.
Sleeping in until 10am should probably have been a good sign that I wasn’t in the mood for being ruthlessly efficient.
Still, before lunchtime I managed to write a (very detailed) shopping list and make a trip to the dump, clearing some much needed space to make room for the mountain of toys that will no doubt be arriving come Christmas Day.
After lunch it was time for the big Christmas food shop. I had been completely dreading this, as my experience of supermarkets near Christmas has been less than jolly. People seem to completely forget goodwill to all when they are desperate to grab the last jar of cranberry sauce.
Although the car park was heaving as expected, the shop itself was quite pleasant and I managed to get everything that I needed. To make it even better, I used some ancient Sainsburys nectar points to take some money off and ended up only paying £11 for the lot! In the last year I have switched from being a regular Sainsburys afficianado to being a much more frugal, Aldi shopper, but I figured Christmas is the time for something a little special, and using up those points mean I don’t have to feel guilty about spending too much money.
Once the shopping was home and packed away I had planned to start on the housework, but as normal I managed to procrastinate my way through to an early dinner.
This evening I attended Carols by Candlelight at a local church. I’ve been a few times before and it’s a lovely service with beautiful carols. I don’t think adults have enough opportunities to sing their hearts out and it really helped me to get into the festive mood. I decided to make a bit of an effort with my outfit:
I’m wearing a new dress, from a vintage reproduction website that I love “Lindybop” and my new red coat from George at Asda, an early Christmas present from my Nanna. I felt very pretty and Christmassy and couldn’t wait to sing beautiful songs in a beautiful environment.
The service was wonderful, the candlelight magical, and although the choir was a little…hmmm…amatuer, everyone seemed to have a lovely time and really entered into the spirit. Now I really feel like Christmas is coming…
This evening I plan to re-watch an old episode of Jonathan Creek and finally get some serious wrapping done. Maybe with a cheeky mulled wine and mince pie. So while the day could have been a little more productive, I don’t feel it was a complete wash out.
Are you looking forward to Christmas? What preparations have you been doing today?
4 sleeps to go!