Hang onto your hats; we're on the home straight, sprinting to the finish line! It's the Countdown to Christmas, thread 10!

[NoWordForFluffy]

Evening all! I'm not sure if this will be the last or the penultimate thread, but here goes!

Nero, O2 appears to be working now (conveniently now I'm home and don't need mobile data!).

Mrs I'm so glad your dad is doing ok after his transfusions. Hopefully this will help him a lot!! Also I'm glad the little girl is breathing on her own!

acey I love that cot!

seafood Thank you! It's a lovely soft blanket!

My (nice) bro and I, have this tradition of wrapping each other’s presents in completely random wrapping paper that doesn’t relate to us in any way, so I’ve got him some lovely and manly unicorn wrapping paper

acey I adore that wrapping paper so so much! WOW. My husband has pastel unicorn sleep pants of all things haha

Gah, finished wrapping paddy, my bro’s & my grandads stockings - I’ll do all the bigger stuff over the next few days 😂

Wheelie - sorry to hear you’ve had a rough day so far I’m glad your new pcp is amazing, although sucks what you’ve both been through! At least she understands you and your anxieties etc. I’m not surprised you were both teary!
I’m not surprised you are scared, but your practitioner knows what he’s talking about and I’m sure its just a contamination as he says! I would be freaking out too though so it’s completley understandable!
Your husband sounds awesome haha! Paddy has lounge pants with llamas, sloths & flamingoes on, but he won’t tell me where he got them from! I want some 😂

I’m in bed with paddy watching Gilmore girls

acey You wrap stockings? Like the gifts inside? I've never heard of that! Maybe I'll try that! We just put the stuff right in!

I'm trying to relax and not worry. I'm watching It's a Wonderful Life which is helping me calm down a little. Hopefully the new tests will help us figure out what's really going on

My husband has a set with dodo birds on them too!! He's probably wear sloths and llamas if he found them haha

Hope you enjoy watching your show! And sleep tight when you eventually doze off! lol

Doing wash, have packed Maltesers and a Dairy Milk Caramel bar for DS2 for tomorrow. 😋🍫🍫

Wheelie, we wrap with tissue paper only, not neat but hidden a touch!

Mrs, fingers crossed your dad is on the mend.

Woolly, hurrah for resigning! I'm glad the funeral went well.

I'm so tired; work is killing me! Only 2 days to go!

Wheelie - yep we always wrap stocking gifts, it means they take a lot longer to open and it’s so exciting trying to guess what’s inside before you open it
I love it’s a wonderful life! Such a great movie! I’m glad it’s helping you calm down a wee bit
Dodo birds are awesome haha, men have such cool lounge pants!
Paddy is fast asleep, I’m currently wide awake and wired like I’ve had 10 red bulls or something lol! I had my coffee at 7am so lord knows why 😂

I'm mid crochet last minute panic 🙄 I have to wrap the first Christmas scarf I made to give tomorrow but I completely forgot I had ends to sew in. I've been sat downstairs merrily making a crochet cactus (which I'm putting in a little plant pot) for my friend for gift
Exchange on Monday then remembered. Bugger.

Wheels as sad as it is that your new PCP understands, it's good as you know when you're having a bad day, she will understand.

MrsMad I hope your df is feeling a little better today. And wonderful news about your ex patient / friend!

Acey May I suggest wrapping using the ironing board? That's how I do mine. Board in front of sofa, at a comfortable height. Thick cushion behind. Wrapping paper on seat next to me, cello tape dispenser on the end with scissors plonked inside it. So much easier (or get your Grandad to wrap Paddy's presents and Paddy to wrap your Grandads

Hope everyone else is ready?

acey I've never wrapped stockings but now I really want to hahahaha Goodnight Paddy fellow!

Sleep tight Paddy!! My hubby is all at work tonight haha My carer went home for the day. Just me and the girls and kitties

crazy Crochet panic I know that feel! I've had those moments too!

Yeah it is sad but I am glad she's my PCP now. She's very thorough and her outlook on medicine is 'Rather be safe and test than sorry' so I appreciate that too.

I wrap on a tv tray. Do you guys have those in the UK? I think you do? I just put it in front of my chair and wrap all the things lol

We are pretty much ready! I do think I'm going to wrap stocking pressies now. And I still have to get the kitties some treats but beyond that we are gold.

I have mostly finished wrapping. I've got 2 small parcels to wrap for DH and DD1's stocking gifts to wrap (in tissue paper) and then I'm done.

Crazy Well remembered! I'm almost finished crocheting a blanket for a Christmas present for DD2's friends. It's driving me crazy and I can't wait to finish it and get on with my next project.

6

No wrapping until Christmas Eve, after DS2's gone to bed, DD wraps all of them apart from hers.

Drinking coffee, who's doing the weather Mrs?

I couldn't be arsed waiting until Christmas Eve. At that point it's all about sitting down and relaxing for me! I'm already exhausted and seemingly permanently under the weather right now, so I'd rather space stuff out. Especially as I'll be baking for most of the day on CE, so will want a sit down!

Only today and tomorrow at work, and I'm finishing at 4.15 tomorrow, so only one whole day! I I've got my work planned out OK, though I suppose that a curve ball may come my way to ruin it all. I've a meeting about my shoulder injury and the OH recommendations today, so that'll be fun! I'm seeing the Ortho on 10 Jan, so essentially 6 months' post-injury.

We're swapping our Secret Santa gifts tomorrow, so that's something to look forward to! 🎅

Morning!
6 days eeeee so exciting!! 🎅🏼 🎄 ☃️ 🎁

There’s no way in hell I’d spend my birthday wrapping presents! It’s bad enough having an Xmas eve birthday as it always gets completely overshadowed and usually completely forgotten about too as everyone is more focused on Santa and Xmas day prep etc! 🤷🏻‍♀️

Crazy - I hope you manage to get the crochet sorted, I’m sure you will! The ironing board you say? Well I’m definitely going to give that a go as it sounds much easier I’m currently using the breakfast bar, but it doesn’t do my back any good as there’s no support!

Wheelie - I think we have TV trays though I have no idea 😂 wrapping stocking presents is all part of the fun for us I will be wrapping Addie’s stocking presents next year, even though she will only be 9 months and not have a clue

Woke up with a banging headache and very wheezy today, gah! No idea why. I don’t feel Poorly or anything for once!
Time for coffee

Morning everyone
Poor Shaky had diarrheoa x 2 in the night so we have been awake since 3ish, couldn't get back to sleep. He seems absolutely fine eating and drinking as normal but l did give him new sachets yesterday, Hey Diddlediddle ones and they have veg in them so it must have been them poor boy .
Off up the parents early to take Mum to the hairdressers. Will see how Dad is , hopefully he is responding well to the 2 units of blood he had, things like this make us realise how lucky we are that Peeps are generous with their time and energy to donate their blood to others. So to all the blood donors out there and l know you, Fluffy are one of these such peeps a huge thank you for your generosity in helping others. It really is so kind and selfless of you and others like you to do this despite your busy lives . It isn't something you think about until you experience it first hand.
Biddy so glad the dentist went well for you m'dear and l hope DD enjoyed spending your money bless her , good luck with the lists today but the cracking open of Prosecco sounds too good to miss ENJOY!
Acey thank you my dear , l love the unicorn paper no wonder you ordered it espesh ! l am sure your Dbro will love it heehee.
l cannot wrap the stockings too just have not got the will but good on you to do that , we will remember your birthday no fear of us forgetting , hope your chest is better too enjoy the cuppa !
Addie sounds a very strong healthy young lady kicking you so strongly thank God for that too. I understand your relationship with your Paddy, l have a BFF who is just like that , who l really love but could never be romantically involved with , mores the pity. I think he would have loved to have been though but l felt like he was my BFF and l didn't want any extra benefits lol. He was a lovely person but it was just a huge No No for me and l just can't explain why , how nuts is that .
PSB excellent news on the hamper winning and l love hot dogs too with lashings of onions ....drool . Have not seen the weather , l watched 2 very good Christmas films l taped and thoroughly enjoyed them too, nothing like a bit of escapism , your DD is a little treasure PSB Bless her very kind heart to do all your wrapping
Wheelie ahh bless you and your Dr my dear, that is so sad but so bonding for you too, you can totally get her and she can totally get you having both been through such horrendous trauma and loss
Thank you for the well wishes for Dad, l am sure he will benefit from these transfusions, I hope so anyway, am keeping everything crossed & praying so much . My little patient is doing great her Mum rang me last night , she is doing so well , it is totally unexpected and they had planned to start withdrawing treatment if she hadn't of pulled the tube out and breathed herself. Miracles do happen . It's a wonderful life is just the best film ever , l love Jimmy Stewart
Crazy thank you so much my dear for the well wishes for Dad, good work with the crocheting and great tip for the ironing board , l do mine at the dining room table , it is such a mess in there though l really need to give it a good clean ready for Christmas Dinner , l want some new curtains in there will have to have a good look in a bit . Hope work in ok and you are feeling much better on the home run now YAY!
Woolly well done you are doing great , get crocheting that blanky am thinking of you my dear
Fluffy on the home straight for you now , good luck with the OH meeting today , hope it is feeling better for you and mu CE sounds a lot like yours , total exhaustion coupled with cooking and eating , have a good day m;dear !
Hope all ok, take care everyone nearly there! Have a good day

Morning all. Had a crazy day yesterday for dd's 1st birthday. More people than expected turned up, so I had to do a quick dash to the shop to buy more nibbles.
I have to do my wrapping on Sunday. Before children, I had everything bought and wrapped by 1st December. My dh doesn't wrap anything. He just buys gift bags and tapes them up, but I don't thing opening a bag is the same as unwrapping a present.

Will try and catch up properly now

Mrs - oh no poor shaky! I hope he’s feeling much better this morning, poor boy! I ordered unicorn and then pink princess paper for my lovely brother, heehee he’s coming over with my nephew on my birthday and will stay over night, so I’m looking forward to seeing what wrapping paper he’s got for me you have a busy day this morning bless you!
I hope my wee princess is strong and healthy, I just want to keep her safe and growing ❤️ She’s kicking loads this morning she always worries me because there’s days where she doesn’t kick as much, but I have an anterior placenta so that doesn’t help matters, then she has days of going completely wild! The past couple days she’s been quiet in the morning, kicks quite a bit in the afternoon then quietens down again until the early hours! She just likes worrying mummy
Paddy and I have always been the BFF, but then probably just over a year ago we both admitted we have feelings for each other, but the timing then was bad because I was off to the UK for 8 months and he was going to America for 2 months, so we decided we would re group and discuss again when we were both back in Ireland. We were in contact the whole time that we were apart, then I fell pregnant and I thought I’d never even hear from paddy again! So when I returned to Ireland, we met up and the feelings have intensified for both of us even more! He wants to be with me and be a family with Addie, and I want that more than anything, I just worry what people will think but it’s none of their business. My dad said before he died that we are perfect together and fuck what other people think, it’s none of their business! He was right too! It’s like lightning bolts running through my veins whenever I look at paddy 😍 he’s been so fantastic with the pregnancy and He will be such an amazing father figure / dad to Addie. I’m obviously not trying to replace her real dad, but he wants nothing to do with her and we all deserve to be happy! Paddy said last night that he doesn’t want to go another day without calling me his other half (ahhhh) so as of today, we are starting the first chapter of our lives together 🤰🏻👨‍👩‍👧

We are waiting for our grocery delivery due between 9-10, then quickly nip to the local shop to get my grandad his newspaper

Bloody hell that was long, and I hit send too soon 😂 long story short; I wouldn’t have anyone in Addie’s life that wouldn’t be consistently around. I won’t have her getting attached to someone who would just leave and mess us both around. I’m not prioritising my relationship over Addie, paddy knows, respects and understands that Addie always comes first!
We told my grandad this morning and he said ‘about bloody time I’ve been waiting years for this to happen’ 😂
This isn’t a decision we’ve taken lightly, we have discussed it thoroughly and we are both over the moon

Oooo grocery shops here, be back on later! Sorry for the life story 😂

Xmas pudding cupcakes 😍

Morning all,
Well DD bought 6 festive selections of choc last night (slightly smaller than selection boxes), unpacked them, and then wrapped each of the 36 bars of chocolate in Christmas wrap for the rest of the class in school today. I think she needed to do something after the dentist - better than a row I guess! (Bonus - it gave me time to actually cook food for her, as she had been "starving" when we walked in home, and then she went to bed slightly early but without a row and voluntarily!).

DH and I also enjoyed having an actual proper dinner, then he did his expenses while I wrote the last cards (posted this morning - a whole DAY before last posting date!!).

Paperwork day today. DD's draft assessment report came through from ed. psych., useful, practical suggestions, but still a "squeeze around the heart" feeling to read the objective findings. But so so SOOOOO much better than her original one, and we can see such changes even this year! I also get to take over one set of paperwork on one committee, and have to try and do a handover on another set now that I'm off that one (Christmas hols job). And a promotion competition was announced yesterday, which looks like a dream job so that's a form to fill over Christmas as well.

Festive jobs today include meeting an Aunt for lunch, and hopefully buying some mistletoe. Bought festive magazines to keep us all quiet on my way in this morning.

Baby steps.

(Denying that I still have a lot of ends to sew in yet on my scarves, ignoring Crazy's panics, nope, not a problem, nor the fact that there is NO wrapping done yet, nor baking done of any description, ....I got the "twitch" last night and bought a 6 kg ham, for just us 3 , so I'm not in denial at all!! )

Houston we have a problem; I remember buying my brothers PS4 console, but I can’t for the life of me remember where I’ve put it 😂

Woolly Do you have a pic of the blanket? I get bored making big projects, I like smaller ones that I can finish before I get bored. I've posted some pics of mine.

Fluffy we're doing our work secret Santa exchange tomorrow too. Dreading it slightly!

Acey definitely try the ironing board but remember to put a cushion behind you or you'll end up hunched forward.

CONGRATULATIONS on you and Paddy 💞💘💖 I did wonder when you said you were in bed cuddling

I also have a BF who sometimes gets mistaken for my H. We've been friends since school and he's lovely but 100% not my type. Like a brother - he takes me shopping every Christmas so I can help him pick gifts then buys me lunch. I helped him pick a ring and plan his proposal to his DW. Always makes us giggle when strangers thing were a couple

For missing Christmas presents - try under the bed, back of wardrobe, top of wardrobe, cupboard under the stairs, boot of car (if you have one), attic, under spare beds, in Christmas tree box.

MrsMad poor shakey. Hope he feels better soon.

Biddy Can you set DD to do some wrapping? I'm a big fan of delegating where I can (DNephew wrapped one of DHs presents and it is, um, interestingly covered in ribbons, stickers and bows) lol.
What is the promotion? How does a competition work?

Good news is that my crochet scarf was neatened up and is now wrapped waiting to be handed over later. We're going to TGIs for tea and I am wearing Christmas earrings, socks and jumper.

I have no time at all before Christmas now. I'm out for tea today, work then out for tea with different friends tomorrow (with a 2 hour gap which will be used for an Aldi shop), Friday is work then straight to airport for a short weekend away, back Sunday pm, work Monday (finishing at 2) then hopefully a visit with another friend to deliver presents, home to take DH to pub then over to see niece and nephews before picking up DH to go home, enjoy twinkly lights and Die Hard [🙄] with a curry before bed. Phew.

Afternoon!
Just at the physio at the moment, he’s running 45 mins late though, gah! Good job Paddy is here to keep me company

Addie has been so active today, I absolutely love days like this when I feel her move and kick so much 😁❤️🤰🏻

Crazy - you are a genius! I’d hidden the PS4 in the bookcase behind the armchair so I couldn’t see it
You’ve also reminded me that there’s presents in the boot of my dads car, starting to panic that I’ll never get it all wrapped 😂
Thank you for the congratulations, we are both thrilled
Cor you are non stop up until Xmas bless you! Paddy also has the die hard movie tradition on Xmas eve too 🤷🏻‍♀️🙄
That’s so sweet that you helped pick the ring and plan his proposal, ahhhh so sweet!
I will be trying your ironing board idea tonight, cushions will be at the ready too! I thought about getting paddy to wrap my grandads and vice Versa like you said, but they are both blabber mouths and would tell each other what I’ve got them

After physio we are off to get paddy’s key cut, then going for coffee and cake 😁 need to get some major wrapping done tonight too!

We managed to get a grocery delivery slot booked for the 23rd at 8-9am, so anything they don’t have we can pick up locally. Need to go to my dads grave too and put his wreath down

I hope everyone is having a grand day so far

Acey Congrats on you and Paddy making it official!! I missed that this morning!

Crazy delegating might work - she's gotten much neater!!
Competition is that you put in your form where you explain just how wonderful you are and how valuable you would be, and go through a seriously tough interview, and if you win the prize, you work 3 times as hard for (not very much)a suitable payrise !!

Bought a jumbo sausage roll and an Innocent smoothie for DD and carrot sticks and houmous and Innocent Bubbles for me for the bus, had a cheese and mushroom omelette for breakfast, picked DD up, went to CAMHS, picked up bag 2 from the hamper, DS2's at Adventure. 😋🍄