Please tell me what you're doing today/tonight - Xmas Eve

[200Cigarettes]

• We have a friend with er baby dropping by for a cup of tea and mince pie
• then the church christingle service - we're not religious but thought it was be nice for toddler. Then home to watch Shrek : Donkeys Xmas carols while I make dinner. Before bed leave out a mince pie and carot for santa and Rudolph.

Once kids are in bed :

• dh and I will have a nice dinner (warm green salad with prawns and smoked salmon and fries)
• watch a Xmas film
• get all the presents laid out in the living room for dc

After a horrible year I'm really looking forward to a nice Xmas.

Happy birthday trumpton

• I'm working from home till 1pm.
• Then making a boozy berry trifle.
• Drop alcohol and presents off at my parents.
• Drop God daughters present off as nobody been in the previous 2 times I've tried.
• Go to pets at home to get the cats present
• Christingle service at 6pm with DH family + drop DH nan + Grandads pressies.
• Shepherds pie for tea, meat in slow cooker and smells yummy.
• Sleep

Well I'm currently waiting to see whether DS gets discharged from hospital today, or he'll be spending his first Xmas here

Oh JRmumma thinking of you and wishing miniJR a speedy recovery and a Christmas at home.

Buy the children their Christmas presents . Finish getting ready for our annual party - about 100 expected this evening !

Take the meat out of the freezer for tomorrow
Prepare veg and potatoes
Wrap the 4 remaining presents
Take a leisurely stroll around Asda
Take Ds1 and 2 to the cinema

Make some biscuits wih an overexcited 5 year old
Pop down the shop for batteries and nibbles
Have a bit of a tidy up
Put DS's Christmas Eve hamper out (hopefully the hamper will calm him down before bed)
Watch DVD
Help DS leave out mincepie and carrot
Get him to bed
Chinese takeaway and wine
Last minute frantic wrapping (I'm nearly done)
Sort out stockings
Bed

Waiting for my DPs to arrive after last nights aborted journey (DM is convinced the roads will be soooo much better today rather than last night- not expecting them early at all!)
DH waiting for a friend to pick up a gun he is borrowing (much cleaning and polishing of said gun has already taken place)
DS and I ice skating at 2pm if the rink is open.
Crib service at 4, may sit that one out due to the need to drink Baileys "prep"
Friends round for a buffet about 5pm then off to pub later.
Christmas hamper to fit in somewhere as well

Popping out to get the forgotten bits
Two loads of washing
Finish the wrapping
Get family to focus on DS's birthday cards and get them in a little pile
Make stuffing
Dress turkey
Boil giblets for gravy for tomorrow
Cook Xmas Eve dinner
Sit down and have a rest before tomorrow.

Am currently waiting in the car with baby while dh and toddler walk up and down the street looking at Xmas lights. It's toddler's first real xmas that he gets caught up in the excitement and boy is he excited!

While I sit here mnetting with my beautiful sleeping baby, the roomba is cleaning my house for me... Life is good!

Have not cooked or baked today, wanted to do cookies and prep tomorrow's dinner, but oh well.

No Xmas tree for us this year so we'll just pile them in the middle of the living room after the kids are in bed.

Totally chilled one for us.
Been lounging around eating croissants with DH and the kids since about 8am.
Going for a walk in a bit. We're staying in the Yorkshire countryside for a week (Londoners), so going to enjoy a stomp in our wellies across the Dales.
Then going to raid a local cheese shop and chocolatier for goodies.
Then intend to settle down in a local pub and get merry. Kids have got a bag of games and sweets to keep them occupied.

Feeling very relaxed. No guests, no big preparation for bloody once!

Lazy day today. Was meant to be open house for family to drop in, but apparently I dont fucking matter so they aren't.

My mum is coming over later though and we are taking the boys to christingle at 4. Then walking up to see the local Santa parade. Then home for new pjs from the elves and bed.

Then I am cooking for wonderful boyfriend and we are chilling on the sofa until I can fill stockings and he goes home. Wine wine and more wine.

Day at home mostly, last minute present wrapping then crib service then home for steak and chips and tv!! After years of being married to an arse who was obsessed with spending Xmas eve in the pub it is lovely not to have to put up with his fecking crap all over Xmas. Just me and my dc. Bliss!! Then working a late shift Xmas day and off to family on Boxing Day.

JRmumma. Hope your ds gets discharged. Fingers crossed for you!

Right now? Wishing the DCs would stop doing homework (never thought I'd say that) and would start being nice instead of being little monkeys.

It doesn't seem like Xmas; we're not going to church for the first time in over 15 years and it's not even snowing - we've had a white Xmas for at least the last 5 years so not having it doesn't seem right.

Christmas carols at the beautiful cathedral near us.

Dinner, bath and bedtime for the DC.

Chinese takeaway for me and DP then watching a film. Planning an early night.

Working sox off in the kitchen! Broccoli au gratin, turnips with bacon & onion, maple-roast parsnips, creamed carrrots. Yorkies (twice) lemon cheesecake and passion cake iced up ready to add F.Christmas, Robins, snowy trees etc with ribbon around as no one goes for trad Christmas cake. DH made up a filled roll for lunch and washed up. Feet up now before prepping for a Chinese meal in restaurant tonight. No alcohol as it is also midnight mass................

It's now almost 6pm

So far today I was answering work calls before 8am
Was in waitrose by 8:30 and was the only one in there (middle east)
Home and prepping food by 9am
Prepared ham, roasties, broccoli, red cabbage, sprouts and bacon, stuffing, pâté for starters with red onion salad.
Panicked when I couldn't get on delia online (entire Internet in my country crashed for 30 mins whilst I was cooking - not good when four recipes a halfway through on delia online!!)
Sent husband t waitrose at 11:30 for the things I forgot - he said it was as crazy as the UK
Made mulled wine
Went for mani/pedi/massage/leg waxing for a couple of hours.

Now it's officially Christmas. I've put One Magic Christmas DVD on, which signifies the start of the relax time! 2nd glass of wine.

From here on...

Shower and hair wash at 6:30, ready to go out at 7:30.
7:30 downstairs, glass of baileys or Cointreau, and open one present each.
8:30 table booked for our traditional curry
Home by 11pm, and then muppets Christmas carol in bed until we fall asleep

Crib service in the cathedral at three, then home for tea and present opening for 2yo DS (which happens on Christmas Eve in our house). DH and I will open our presents after DS has gone to bed -then its chocolate, wine and DVDs for the evening.

...and filling DS's stocking last thing before bed.

I made breakfast and did the bedding (DD and DS)

Made trifle, jelly and banoffi pie.

Sorting out piles of washing (towels mainly)

Christmas Eve supper/ late tea

DD has gone out to the cinema with friends (she's becoming very independant )

DH is watching "It's a Wonderful Life" (I've just watched last weeks Corrie on catch-up)

So far today I have got up at 5am to do big Xmas shop, put away said shop, baked and assembled gingerbread house which is waiting for kids to come back from FILs to decorate, made up Xmas eve box, wrapped last minute presents, helped kids wrap up thier presents to dh and each other, got put meat to defrost.
Think we will decorate house with sweets etc and then watch a Christmassy film when they all get back, then tea which includes Xmas tree shaped crumpets, bath kids and then another film and hot choc with candy canes and Xmas tree shaped marshmallows as well as tracking Santa on NORAD. Then relax with baileys and watch a grown up cheesy film with dh once kids in bed and put presents under tree/fill stockings etc.

I'm having a horrible day...and it is my own fault really..
I always go to pick up turkey and do the prep for Christmas day lunch with the DCs and make mince pies (one for Santa) and then just before bedtime we sing carols under the tree before they go off up to bed...(DP usually working in evening but he is working 4am to 10.30am tomorrow so will be in bed early anyway)...then wrap last bits and lay out and up to bed ready for the ridiculously early start on Christmas day...
But got a bit of a cold, not feeling 100% , really running behind -
hadn't wrapped DCs presents, still doing washing, upstairs is a real tip ...only just finished decorating the living room.
Thought last night I'll go to bed early, get a good rest and will have the energy today to catch up.....
Dutifully went to bed early but DD1 being a pain - I didn't get to sleep until about 11.30pm then woke up in a hot sweat at 2.30am - I'd forgotten to do the staff wages (they get paid early - on Christmas eve - and one checked that they money would be in the bank today because they needed it to do last minute shopping... ) Got up and it took ages because I was half asleep, worried I'd make a mistake so kept double checking everything ...by 4.30am it was all done but I was wide awake....after faffing for a bit decided I'd better wrap a few presents if I couldn't sleep but worried Dcs would wake up so did them one at a time, listening out for them - took ages and still haven't got them all done - by 7am feeling ready for a nap - just as DD2 woke up ...
So I'm exhausted, still got lots of wrapping to do tonight, my tumble dryer and washing machine are both beeping at me and food prep is not done...and can't decide if I should go for a nap or it will make me feel worse...
And no baileys for me tonight ...or Santa won't make it tomorrow morning...ahhh why am I such an idiot

i;m just out my bed working nightshift again tonight,preped veg set table and moved ds gifts to gARAGE for my dh to put out later tonight also done ds stocking.

Took the dog for a really long walk this am as she will probably only get a short one tomorrow! Finished off some chores, a basket of ironing, load of linen in washing machine and put the vacuum round. Now baking with DDs, mince pies and some millionaires shortbread. Off to the cinema in a couple of hours, family trip and then cake to ice when I return. Steak for Dinner with Dh and then curl up in front of the fire with a baileys and a good film. :-)