Dust off your decs and bring out your baubles; this is your 5 week warning! Countdown to Christmas thread 9

[NoWordForFluffy]

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Morning! Brand new thread for the new week!

Thanks for the reminder Nero! (DH actually announced over breakfast that it was banned - and then relented to say that DD and I could do what we like, but HE won't be watching it!). I'll probably be in bed before it starts anyway....

Looked at Christmassy things, not buying anymore presents until Monday as I'm saving money for Winter Wonderland tomorrow, it'll cost around £30. Entry and Father Christmas are free, so that's for food and rides. The ice rink's already booked and paid for. 😆

I had a bigger breakfast, a banana and a coffee today. 😋🍳🍌☕

I'm the same Biddy. I make big plans every year to watch it with a bottle of wine and I buy wee nibbly things, and then I fall asleep at about 10 o clock holding a cup of tea

Red Could your DH do night duty at home tonight and go to his parents tomorrow, coming back Sunday so you still get your weekend off?

Wreck your DD sounds so sweet. I particularly like that brother is alright
Your day sounds nice - enjoy your 🍰

Fluffy Your cross stitch is beautiful. I may break mine out and attempt it this weekend (it's a starter kit from Aldi - a robin I think).

MrsMad Fingers crossed for social services. As Firefly said, a meals on wheels service can be great. My Nan had it when she lived on her own and it was fab.

Wheels I love your tree skirt

Neros I've never heard of 12 Dates of Christmas. I'm going to look it up as need a new Christmas film to watch.

What's the Toy Show?

My car is in the garage so I got the bus to work. I hate it - the bus stop is a 10 minute walk down an unlit, steep hill. Luckily DH has taken pity and is going to pick me up from where he works so I don't have to walk up the hill to get home.

I was thinking about Christmas films the other day. I tend to rotate this list:
Home Alone 1&2
Christmas with the Kranks
Deck the Halls
Miracle on 34th Street (the Attenborough one)
The Santa Claus 1&2 (the Tim Allen ones)
Fred Claus
Muppets Christmas Carol

Last year I added Arthur Christmas but I know them so well I need something news

Another guilty pleasure (and I know a lot of posters on MN don't like him) - I have set some of Jamie Oliver's Christmas shows to record. I don't even do the cooking but I think DH watched them so much in the early days when he was learning how to cook that now they instantly make me feel festive

Afternoon!
Just finished work and picked up my dads ashes. Going for a walk round Sliabh League Cliffs shortly, clear my lungs out and get some fresh air the views are beautiful - here’s a couple pics off google.

Hi Crazy yes that is the plan now :) He is going to buy us both a Deliveroo tonight and do bedtime and any night wakings. He will then head off first thing in the morning and come back late Sunday afternoon so it's not a complete loss :) MIL would have been devastated if he hadnt gone at all as well.

Love Actually is my go to Christmas film, think I will watch it tomorrow :)

firefly I need to print that off! It's just as well I can't have anything alcoholic or I would be very sloshed very quickly! wrapping presents is the closest I've come to believing in the occult, the sodding scissors and tape disappear so much that it can't be natural!

crazy glad to hear your dh is giving you a lift back, my bus stop is at the top of a hill so you have my sympathies.

mrsmad Fingers, toes, nose, hair, legs and everything else crossed that social services offer help.

wheels love the tree skirt!

redgreen Sounds like it was a stressful evening/night all around, it sounds like you'll still get some time this weekend at least though.

wreck that's too sweet for words! What a lovely letter.

philomena I'm glad to hear your dd was able to go to school today, I hope she's feeling better.

DS1 only though of 4 things he wanted, 3 of which are books so we got him the argos catalogue (it's really tiny compared to what we had as kids!) and he has essentially circled something on every other page so we need to massively cut that down to a short list!

I had a phone app with my gp today, they called whilst I was on the bus, perfect place to discuss thrush good thing that it was a time of day that has only very elderly people on board...

I love chicken run, I wait for it every year!

Afternoon! We are on the way to collect the car after its MOT. I assume it didn't need anything big doing as they didn't contact us! Not bad for 13 years' old!

It's a couple of miles, so I'm stopping at Tesco, which is just over a mile, to do the shopping while DH goes the remainder of the way for the car. I'll then wait for him to collect me having done the shopping! Team work.

I cleaned the lounge and dining room windows and most of the woodwork in the lounge after getting back from town. Not much more left to do downstairs and the tree locations are sorted, which was the main reason for doing it!

Hope everyone is having a good day.

Acey that is so beautiful! I wish we had something like that nearby. Have you thought about what you'll do with the ashes? .

DD1 has saved the day. I couldn't find the hanger for the advent calendar and I had searched the obvious places (twice). Thankfully she remembered a not-so-obvious place.

Fantastic news about the MOT Fluffy DH and I often do the drop and shop and then finish off with a cup of tea together in the cafe afterwards.

Ooh I've heard about the Toy Show (I googled , its The Late Late Toy Show? ). Never seen it though.
I've done the DC Christmas Eve Hampers (which they have on Dec 1st )

Just washing DS Christmas bedding now to sneak onto his bed while he's out

Cleaning the bathroom, the oven and the Deep Fat Fryer today (all the glamour jobs) then I'll look through the kitchen cupboards and see what needs to be recycled.

Keep busy , keep well y'all.
And tomorrow , December truly begins .

Red I'm glad you and hubby got things sorted out. Waking up and hubby not being there would have scared me to death. I'm a nervous nellie like that

Wreck That is the sweetest letter in the history of time. I just melted a bit. Yay for festive decorating! I have to buy some more strands of lights and some command sticky hooks

PSB Most of the pokemon yesterday were water because of the rain. LOL I did catch a charmander right near that grave though! Since it's gotten so old usually hubby just drives us around for pokemon now haha

Crazy My kid loves loves loves Home Alone 1 & 2 and watches them on repeat lol we love the Santa Clauses with Tim Allen also. Also the cartoon version The Snowman is a big hit here. And Frosty! LOL

Acey That is the most beautiful scenery ever! Wow. We have nothing that holds a candle to that.

seafood Oh my goodness. lol my doctor has done those calls to me in public too. I was red for days haha

fluffy glad the car didn't need anything major! Ok I'm going to totally show how little I know but what kind of shop is Tesco? Grocery store or store with other things like a Walmart?

woolly yay for DD! I wish I had enough hooks for things but alas a new house equals new way to hang things haha. At least next year we'll have it down

So we have a very large chain of thrift stores called Goodwill. I don't think you guys have them over there. But on the first Saturday of every month they have a huge sale where everything is 50% off. But my dad discovered if you go the Friday before the sale they have put out all the best items and stocked things neat and tidy. So guess where he's taking us today? HAHA gonna beat the system and see if we find some nice thrifted goods. I'm hoping to find some nice Christmas decs

I've just woken up it's 9:20 AM and I think I'm going to do eggs for breakfast for me and the kids. Oldest DD is already doing her school but the youngest is hanging out next to me.

Got my first chanukah and Xmas pressies wrapped yesterday. About 13 more are showing up at the door today haha. YAY for Amazon.

70 Damn girl you are on the ball! Way to go! I am still on the hunt for Christmas bedding! I'm so disappointed that I've found nothing

Ooh enjoy the shopping wheel!

I am very impressed with your organisation 70. I am picking up advent chocolates after work.

Afternoon all, just put all my decorations up, only got the tree to do now. Will try and take some pictures later and send them to you all

Wheelie, little Tesco stores (named Express or Metro) are groceries only. Big ones (Extra) are like Walmart (without bullets!).

We got loads of stuff on multi buy - mostly Christmas snacks and cheese! - and I had loads of coupons too, so only spent £34.00. Bargain!

I had time to do a bit more in the lounge when we got back. Need to finish off the cleaning and re-hang the voiles once we've got the kids home. Then it's back to school again. I'll meet myself coming back soon!

Afternoon all.
Jealous of everyone with the decs up already. It will be at least next week (probably the week after in reality) before it gets done here!

I did manage to add some festive snacks to my stash though at lunch - I had a €5 off for M&S, stocked up on fruit for my desk etc, and grabbed some crisps and nuts with the voucher.

Yes, The Late Late Toy Show - its' an Irish institution! Do you all remember Zig and Zag? Well their friend, Dustin the Turkey, used to pop up on it every year and really annoy the old presenter, Gay Byrne. Then we had Pat the Plank (Pat Kenny) for a few years, but he never really got on half so well with the DCs as Uncle Gaybo did. And now we have Ryan Tubridy - who really is just a (very tall and lanky!) kid himself! It marks the start of the Irish Christmas Season. The Billie Barrie Kids always did at least 1 musical number, and there are loads of small DCs who have tested various toys demonstrating them and being interviewed about them - and the presenter gets into knots trying to demonstrate them as well....and always a video segment of when they let very small DCs and often ill/SNs DCs into the quieter studio to play with everything in the magical wonderland.....It's great.

I've been trying to figure out how to explain the toy show, so thankfully Biddy has done it for me.
It's really a nostalgia thing. If any of you want to watch it you can on RTE player at 9.30

Frange great going on the deocrations!!!

Fluffy oooooh that makes sense. We do have some Walmarts that are grocery only. They are called Walmart Local Marketplace or something like that.

We've not gone out and about yet. Looks like it will be about 4 pm. Our washer died and now we are trying to find a new one to buy. Why is being home owners so pricey lol

I adulted today. I paid our electric, gas, and our car insurance. I have to get the money off my card via atm to pay our land rent. Then I'll have a whole $15 to my name. Thankfully the hubs gets paid today.

Chanukah starts SUNDAY. Are you all going to want nightly photos of our candles being lit? lol

Biddy The toy show sounds really cool! I wonder if I can turn to youtube to find old ones. lol

Evening!
Just got home. Really needed that walk it’s my favourite place to go when everything feels like it’s too much, it silences the world and is just such a wonderful place to clear my head and process things

Need to put dinner on now, will try to catch up later but seems I’ve missed a lot!

Picked DS2 up, making chilli beef burritos for tea. 😋

Wheelie DD would like to know what your top 3 Pokemon are?

Evening!
Can only seem to go back one page, so I’m not being intentionally rude if I’ve missed anyone.

I’m currently taking an absolute battering from Addie at the moment

Can’t believe it’s December tomorrow, so excited! Somehow I’ve ended up with 3 advent calendars as has my one wonderful brother 😂🤷🏻‍♀️

Mrs - Addie really is my one and only, and my absolute lifeline, as well as my ever constant happiness and source of strength ❤️💙 I hope you’ve had some good news from the social worker today my lovely!

Wreck - I’m far too pregnant, god that letter had me bawling like a wee baby! So so sweet.

Firefly - I feel so much better after a good nights sleep, it really can be a miracle worker.

The toy show is fantastic

Seafood - I’m scattering his ashes on Sunday, he’ll be scattered where my mum was, not too far from the cliffs

Wheelie - I’m sure you have some beautiful views where you live! I adore where I live, it’s where I was born and raised too, and to me it’s the most beautiful place in the world

Sorry if I’ve missed anyone and hope everyone’s had a grand day.

PSB Hmmmm that's a hard one. Probably Wailmer, Mr. Mime, and Breloom.

LOL the story of how I got a Mr. Mime is kind of funny. See we don't have him in the USA. He's a UK pokemon only. But one day I was at the doctors office kind of upset and scared and playing pokemon. This lady sits down next to me really close and watches me play pokemon for a bit before leaning over and going 'Do you want a Mr. Mime?' I'm all 'Wtf Stranger there are no Mr Mime's in the USA' and she's all 'I visited Scotland last week and I got like 11 Mr. Mimes ) and I'm giving them to strangers who look like they need a Mr. Mime in their life.' So I friended her and got a Mr. Mime out of the deal lol

Acey I too can't believe it's almost December! It's almost absurd to think of. We definitely have some pretty places but it's hard to find them sometimes haha. I need a drone then I can take all the photos.

My arms are sore from painting. We have about an hour until we go to the thrift store. I've been eating a chocolate orange all day instead of real food and now I'm hungry and I'm going to make scones (They are called biscuits here but I think scones is what you guys call them) sometimes I eat them as a full meal. Just pile them with butter and jam haha