In preparation for Christmas today I will……

[Beautifulsunflowers]

…….organise the freezer space and get if it stops raining I’ll go into town to WHSmiths to hopefully get the dark chocolate toblerone for ds’s stocking. I’m also going to make a few more Pom poms for my Pom Pom wreath.

Whst are you all doing today in preparation for the big day?

Cheese in checked bag.
Non-exit row seat.
Guess any other typos - genuinely haven't hit the gin yet! 🤪🤣

I’ve had a few days off - visiting ds1, DIL and our dgd - but we are back home now, and Christmas is looming, so I have got my behind in gear (a bit). I’ve finished wrapping the Christmas presents, finalised the supermarket shop that’s coming on Friday morning, and made the final to do list, and the schedule of timings for Christmas dinner.

Dh has brought the tree in, and will decorate it tomorrow.

Most of you sound so organised - or hungover, lol.

I ended up getting off work over 2 hours late so plans to do the food shop went out the window. DH was planning to do it yesterday but went down to MIL’s and is still there.

TO DO:
Rehang outside lights - one day I’ll get to this!
Wrap everything -Started… last few bits to go…still going…
Get stockings ready before Christmas Eve (Saturday)
Pop into care home I used to work at with chocolates (Friday?)
Last Amazon order to sort and wrap (coming Friday)
Try and do food shop after work (Thursday)

Random other jobs I wish I had time to do:
2 x picture frame for DS2’s posters & hang up
Clean the patio (Friday?)
Hang up all the framed artwork that’s been down since the building work started

The place was closed where I was going to buy my DHs present :-/
Didn't get DS's hair cut
But,
I returned clothes to Next
Took cat to vet to get wormed
Got gifts for three grandparents
Left flowers on my Ddad's grave
Bought an extra turkey as I think we'll need it.
Got some cheeses

Tomorrow I'll go to the chemist and stock up on painkillers
Buy moisturiser
Get medication
Wrap other gifts
Make the red cabbage
Change DS's sheets
Get other gift for DH
Cardboard to recycling centre

I think I'll give up on DS's hair, he can rock a mop!

Bought a couple of things for festive meals. A vegan sticky toffee pudding with a carton of long-life custard for Christmas Day.
Also some again vegan mini “bacon” wrapped sausages. These are for our secondary celebrations and meal as my grown up DD is on holiday with her Dad, Nan and other family.
We don’t get a lot of extra food. Just a few things.

OMG! I started this thread and only returned once or twice in the early days, then forgot all about it!
so - today is Christmas socks day at work and tonight we’re off to see a friend play Christmas carols in a pub with his brass band! Last year it was fab and I’ve been feeling really grotty these past couple of weeks with and awful cough and cold but work up today feeling like I’m getting better finally so I’m looking forward to it!
Also going to pop into M&S on way home for a few festive treats!!
have a good day everyone

Today is a lazy day. Dh has built a gingerbread house with dd1. We’ve watched The Santa Claus. Dh has dropped neighbour at train station to visit his family for Christmas. Dh has a Christmas quiz on teams with work later. That’s it really. Might make chocolate cornflake cakes with dd1 later. I need to tidy the house too.

On Tuesday I was supposed to write 4 cards, bake cookies, put a load of laundry in and wash up. I managed to bake cookies and wash up 🙈

I did the laundry yesterday and there’s more in now. I wrote 2 of the cards that needed writing yesterday morning (and wrapped 1 out of 4 of the calendars) and gave them to my toddlers toddler class teachers along with the cookies. I hand posted the final portable card.

Yesterday was the day that we were supposed to be taking cards and my grandma’s presents to my parents house and picking up ds’s Ice Cream Cart toy but my mum got sick so we didn’t risk it!! We will be doing that on Saturday now which is also the day we will drop of the last of the non-family presents that we’re doing before Christmas and my toddlers last Christmas Party and Santa visit!!

Today and tomorrow are tidying days (I really need to try and get as much done as I can!!) and in one of the days I need to go out and get more paper plates, pickled onions and anything else I think of. Ideally I want to get that done today but the weather is awful so I’m not sure what to do 🤔

I have one present left to wrap and some other presents to deliver tomorrow. Need to buy some flowers for our neighbour and drop those off too. We're going shopping for the kids to choose a decoration each (and maybe us!?) and off to watch Chicken run 2 in the cinema tomorrow 🤣

Didn’t do a single thing yesterday as I didn’t get much sleep before work. Have to push through today, though, as it’s all go from
here on out from tomorrow.

Plan for tonight:

• Tidy as much of the house as I can so I can do a really quick clean from top to bottom tomorrow (day off). Catch up on laundry etc.
• Assemble the two toys that need put up and find somewhere to hide them.
• Finish wrapping and sort out gifts for Friday

Tomorrow:

• Food shop day! Head out and buy what we need plus stuff to tide us over until Christmas
• Go to relatives houses etc with gifts
• House clean
• Last minute dump run and clear out

Saturday:

• Last minute tidying etc
• Go to work and try to get out alive! (retail management here)

Yesterday I got the tree up, and most of the presents delivered to DD 3 who is hosting Christmas, to put under her tree. She was supposed to be coming over to bake, make mince pies etc, but she and her DP have been poorly for the last few days, so she just popped in instead. I will have to make mince pies alone!

I've got work today, tomorrow and Saturday, so am in a holding pattern until Christmas Eve now. Only one set of presents left to wrap, and DD2 hopefully coming over tomorrow to help before I leave for work. She's currently stuck on a train heading north, so goodness only knows if that's going to happen! I may be wrapping alone too...

Just sitting waiting for DD to come out from last day at school. Bloody looking forward to 16 days much needed rest! Popped to the bakers on the way hereand got lots of treats for DD and my Mum - all their favourites! Went to the charity shop and found a brand new Nigel Slater book I've been after for £2. Merry Christmas to me!

Going to drop some presents off for Mum's side of the family with her now. I don't usually manage that till Christmas day - winning! I need to post her neighbours cards for her.

Still have to wrap DDs presents, clean the hob, finalise the Waitrose order and apparently, me and DD are making soft Pretzels tomorrow!!

I braved Tesco for the booze shop. I'm about to ice the cake and wrap the rest of the presents.

I've done a big Christmas shop today 💪 felt like a legend. Managed to get the gluten free chocolate log - that's no small feat - the window between the use-by date extending till Christmas and all the other scarily organised coeliacs decimating the shelf is frighteningly small.

I woke up in the night feeling very poorly and have been like a limp rag all day - I had so much on my to do list for today. Hopefully feeling better tomorrow.

I'm doing displacement activity instead of the large-scale tidying I should be doing. I'm going to start any minute now...

I filled my car up & pondered the bouquets in the attached M&S but decided it was too early & maybe I'll stick with my plan of holly & ivy & larch cones from the garden, to go on our woodland-themed dinner table.

Did a different M&S yesterday & stocked up on savoury treats for the next week. Forgot to get soup.

Want to add things to my Tesco Christmas (meat) order but am living in fear of a distracted moment or a badly-aimed finger making me accidentally cancel the whole thing. Will have to do it tomorrow, when I'm wide awake & haven't been on the Baileys.

I hope everyone on here with coughs & colds will be better by Christmas.🍇🎄

I tidyed/cleaned half of the kitchen this morning/early afternoon then got the bus to town as ds was desperate to go out and I got big tree paper plates to put the buffet food on, paper bowls for desserts/putting other stuff in, a cat laser light toy thing for my parents cat and bath basketball to hopefully extended bath time on Christmas Eve so I can make sure everything is done 🤷‍♀️😂

I am now going to get out the laundry that I put in this morning and hang it up, hopefully finish the kitchen and make tea for ds for when he wakes up from his late nap!!

I've done nearly all of today's list plus more

chemist and stock up on painkillers ✔️
Buy moisturiser ❌
Get medication ✔️
Wrap other gifts ✔️
Make the red cabbage ✔️
Change DS's sheets ❌
Get other gift for DH ✔️
Cardboard to recycling centre ✔️

Also got done today:

Washed spare bedroom duvet and sheets
Bought ham
Bought more cheese
Par boiled two dinners-worth of roast potatoes, basted in goose fat, froze on trays and then bagged up

Tomorrows plan is:

Deep clean spare room and en suite
Clean the oven
Collect turkey

Work ran late, again. I just couldn’t face the supermarket. Will try to find the energy tomorrow…

Tomorrow I cam going to get the DC to help with various jobs in the morning before DH and MIL get here. I am so not ready to see her and for everyone to be all upset all over again.

TO DO:
Rehang outside lights DONE ☑️
Wrap last few bits
Get stockings ready before Christmas Eve (Saturday)
Pop into care home I used to work at with chocolates (Friday?)
Last Amazon order to sort and wrap (coming Friday)
Try and do food shop at some point….

Random other jobs I wish I had time to do:
2 x picture frame for DS2’s posters & hang up
Clean the patio (Friday?)
Hang up all the framed artwork that’s been down since the building work started

Collect food from Waitrose, once last bits arrive (🤞🏻) will wrap them.

Put presents around the tree...something I realise is unusual but I've always done it!

This morning I have had the most marvellous time arranging the elves around a beautiful, wooden light up church I found in the charity shop yesterday. There is also a felt dog. The scene doesn't make any sense, but will make DD happy, so that's a tick for today.

I shall now wash the bedding and do the final tweak to the Waitrose order. I shall not keep going in and out of the order and fannying about adding and deleting things. I shall just do it once and leave it at that.

Post the neighbours cards (will likely end up doing on Christmas eve after crib service as always)

Make a space in the fridge by emptying out dh's beer and putting it in the freezer box. Put freezer box in the shed. Take the frozen turkey out of the freezer and put it in the fridge. Put the overflow bread and about to be made ice cream into the new space in freezer. Let the food jenga games begin.

Cleaning the house although we won’t be here at Christmas .
Got two last presents coming today that will need wrapping .
Need to find all the rest of the presents and make sure all ready to head to family tomorrow .

House is clean, everything bought that needs to be bought, apart from some salady bits, but I work in a supermarket so plenty of opportunity to get those. I truly knew it was Christmas this morning when my milkman delivered the orange juice, double quantities of milk and two cartons of cream to my doorstep! It's become my equivalent of the Blue Peter Advent Crown candle-lighting now, the Festive Milk-Cream-and-Orange-Juice delivery.

Am now waiting on DD2 coming to help me finish the final wrapping, then she can deliver the presents to where they need to be when I head out for work. I think everything is under control, apart from the fact that I seem to have acquired The Cough, and just hope it's not going to turn into anything worse.

Good luck today for the final push, everyone!