So this is Christmas, and what have you done? More importantly, whats left to do?

[SantasWearingHisTrampyPants]

all presents bought and wrapped
food shop ordered for the 23rd

I need to ice cakes
collect turkey
get ds's Xmas day clothes
clear backyard.

Wrapping
Finalise 2 x sainsburys orders
Collect beef on Monday
Clean!

it comes round so quickly, doesnt it?

Need to ice cakes, make a couple more hamper things. Put together 7 hampers. Go to school xmas play, and panto. Pack suitcase and all presents as going to my parents on Saturday. Clean and tidy. Do some work.
Oh dear.

Food shop.
DH to do some vacuuming before parents arrive to stay.
Probably should make some mince pies. Maybe Mum will make them for me!
Bag up Christmas biscuits for gifts.
Think that's it. Sit back and look at the sparkly lights, and think about ds's face when Christmas finally comes. So EXCITED.

Working until 4pm on Christmas eve.
Still to do deep clean of kitchen and lounge.
Big food shop
Smaller M&S shop
Deliver family presents
Have hair colour done
Put wreath on gate....have got it but it has laid on kitchen table for 3 days.
Wash and hoover my car as ferrying relatives on Christmas day.
Bit of cooking
Buy flowers for the house
Suprisingly under control........
Love it.

ooooh, I love the xmas m&s shop! I always treat myself to goodies I wouldnt normally. We are getting our turkey on Xmas eve from the market, I'm dreading it. in and out as quickly as possible. We have been invited to a friends house for wine/tea/mincepies in the afternoon.

Oh, I forgot about buggering marks and spencer, sigh.

Oh do I have to bugger Marks and Spencers as well?

Oh, well. In for a penny.....

Working til 11.45pm on Christmas Eve but I'm not hosting at my house thank goodness. My mum is hosting but had a back op recently so I've got to do the potatoes on Christmas days.

Finalise the food order.
Wrap 4 or 5 presents.
Decide whether or not to wrap stocking presents. And then do them. Or not!
Write some cards for dd's nursery.
Finish making mustard for hampers
Bottle up Christmas vodka/gin
Finish making chocolate bark for nursery staff
Make biscuits for ds's teachers and wrap their presents.
Take dcs to see Father Christmas on Saturday.
Clean and tidy house (not massively as we're not hosting here)

Wrap six last minute presents
Pick up the turkey and ham
Make Christmas rocky road for DS's teacher
Make marshmallow fudge for DD's teacher
Feed the Christmas cake (MIL made a teetotal one )
Marzipan and ice Christmas cake
Play fridge Tetris and freezer Tetris when my food shop arrives

Too much, I've been working lots of extra hours at work recently and have been totally exhausted, thankfully the project I was working on finished yesterday, so work can take a back seat now and I can catch up.

DD has three birthday parties to go to this weekend.

Buy a chicken, make teacher presents, make crackers.
That's it, all presents are wrapped under the tree, cards sent, pigs blanketed, veg bought.
We don't get extra food for Christmas, or have guests. Perhaps that's the difference?

Working til 1 pm Christmas eve then straight to a lunch for a charity I am a trustee off.

Entire house needs gutted.
DH needs to clean the oven and shampoo an upstairs carpet.
Presents to grandparents/uncles/friends
Two presents to still wrap for dd1
Mixers, cheese biscuits etc to buy
Large cake to be iced, baking to be done, baking ingredients to be bought :-S
Dd2 to see Santa

Probably more but I don't want to panic myself. Then on the 27th is dd1s birthday so 26th straight into prep for that, buying balloons, making a cake etc.

I have bought presents. Nothing else really! Real life has been particularly shit got in the way.

I have bought all the presents and wrapped most of them. Still need to wrap a handful that haven't been delivered yet. Also need to print out a voucher for my parents and find a nice way of presenting it.

All cards have been posted/delivered.

No need to do a big food shop as eating at parents but need to get a couple of things in.

Need to tidy house and put up the Christmas tree!

Need to help dd finish her homemade gifts - she has done some but have a couple more to do. Then wrap them.

Need to sort out something nice to do on Christmas eve with dd and DNephew so that DSis can have her annual last minute panic in peace!

Write 2 cards for overseas (posting date gone 3 days ago) and 2 more for locally.
Finish work
Tidy house (mainly clear dining table)
Wrap last of presents
Clear out study
Hang wreath (I think I've left it too late to refresh with new greenery - the old stuff is dried well and still greenish)
Do big food shop
Buy Christmas Day joint (preferably turkey, but whatever looks good) and spiced beef
Help DD finish homemade gifts for certain aunts
Help DD wrap socks for all remaining aunts and uncles (apparently we have 3 "Greatest Uncles!!" )
Consider icing the cake
Have a shower
Make sure DD gets to swimming lesson tonight
Make sure au pair gets to airport for her 7.30 am flight home tomorrow morning
Finish the 30 Snowman soups for DD's class by tomorrow morning
Enjoy my office lunch (tomorrow) and entire workplace party Friday night
Sleep some more
Think about what to wear for all events (what's even clean?!)
Tidy DD's books before someone kills themselves walking across her floor
Could I possibly get a snooze??
And I had hoped to go to the gym 3 times this week - Mon it was bittterly cold so I just showered and went on in to work, yest I was too tired, today there was an accident en route so delayed, tomorrow I have to drop DD to school and Fri I am on bus so late (and that's not even considering my head...)

I reckon that my quiet peaceful time I have had every year since I was 16 of a drink lying on the floor with only the tree lights on and pondering the past year and hopes for the year ahead, is not going to happen this year.

Buy some more cards to send to neighbours.
Buy more champagne.
Get the dog a stag bar.
Make the rocking horse and ensure no bits are missing.
Final clean of the house
Attend carols at the Abbey

Then - nothing. Everything wrapped, food ordered, menus decided. I have to cook all the food but that's a lovely job. Oh yeah - eat, drink, and be merry. That's top of my list.

wrap all presents.
buy most of food.
Make big bottle of Baileys (but with brandy and chocolate syrup so tastes like Brandy Alexander)
Yay for Xmas eve!

I've just iced 6 Christmas cakes so feel a bit more prepared now. I've made all the hamper stuff I'm going to make so I need to start putting them together now, and make table gifts for 16 which I had forgotten!

Well it should just have been a few final bits of wrapping and then packing for our annual perambulation around our families, but dd has come down with a vomiting bug so everything is suddenly up in the air

I now feel like weeping

Oh Lord, everything.

• Cards, still.
• Deliver cards already written and presents to extended family that we won't see on Xmas.
• Order pressies for DSD on behalf of aunt and uncle who sent an Amazon GC our way.
• Order and ship present for Dad.
• Order and ship present for DB.
• Order and ship present for my family Secret Santa.
• Source a couple Yankee Swap presents, as DH and I forgot about this last year.
• The food shop. Xmas Dinner is at SIL's, but somehow we're on the hook for turkey.
• Pick up the turkey.
• Make gingerbread.
• Make a pumpkin pie.
• Make the Nigella Christmas Cupcakes my husband and I like, with buttercream instead of ready-roll icing (we don't like the icing).
• Clean.
• Wrap presents.

I could make less work for myself by forgoing the baking, but the baking is my zen. Some people garden. Some people knit. I bake.

Need to get more wrapping paper
Wrap dh pressie
Buy another gift bag for my pressies.
Sort out clothes and pack suitcase (going on holiday 23rd-27th)
Want to buy slippers for dh and ds
And if we have the money possibly get them hat/scarf/gloves sets
Need to buy pressie for 1 friend and mum and dad.
Then wrap em

:)

Still need to:
Write and post cards (whoops) - they'll all be late as they're nearly all for the UK from Australia - hopefully they might get there by New Year.
Check I actually have all the presents (still waiting for one to be delivered - eek!) and buy more as necessary
Wrap presents
Make mincepies
Do food shopping

I have an excuse this year - a 10wo baby - but it's not a good one, not really. I managed better when DS1 was born - he was only 3wo on Christmas Day! I was more organised before he was born though. This time, nah.

Presents are bought and wrapped.
Pre-school teachers have been given their gift and card.
Fudge, Marmalade, Jam and cakes are made for hampers.
I am half way through the second stage of biscotti cooking for hampers.
When cool biscotti need bagging.
Cakes need icing, jam and marmalade need labelling.
Hamper goodies need to be put into hampers.
Need to pack for week of xmas visiting.
I'm now panicking because I'm too organised and therefore must have forgotten something major! oh fuck.