merry Christmas

 Up with the larks, I got into my painting gear and did another coat in the dining room and BigA set off to get his 24 hour blood pressure monitor. I woke A up with crumpets and coffee and then did a little paperwork for my new contract, getting the right things signed so I will get paid. 
I thought about some of the admin for the other, now feeling rather random, job for Best Practice and didn't feel quite in the mood to really learn any of it. 
M and D arrived with piles of things, gifts and food and then they went to D and D's for cat duty. A and I wandered there to help unpack but quickly had to come back home for us to meet up with O for an early evening catch up. She then went off on a date and I felt grateful that it's not something I have to do!

As it's been Hanukkah we've aimed to do candles and of course presents for A each night, culminating in an air fryer for her so we have had to concede that she will need a lift back to Liverpool. 

Sunday felt like a day to do all we could to finish the dining room and A had a shift at the hub. Me, not being so productive still avoiding the work I should do. And actually the dining room is looking rather good I think. The green and light blue work. BigA has done a lot of the fiddly bits, including more patching of wall on the other side that has fallen out. So poor J had to sleep in there with no curtains until fixed. The jigsaw we started was helped a long a bit because J came over and A's young eyes spotted a fair few bits. Although A's old history teacher who came over (we were going to go to the pub but it was shut!) didn't join in. 

That night we had a delightful mix of posh and cheap Chinese and now A has completed the list of meals she wanted while home. I spent a fair bit of Christmas eve doing bits of cooking and decided on individual trifles for the pudding for that evening meal, with A helping and putting in just the right amount of sherry. I feel like it was Christmas eve when we used to have a massive one when I was younger. At one point I was suddenly home alone and felt obligated to at least look at the course I'm delivering and wondering about lessons next term. 

Of course the big event of the week was Christmas day and my favourite bit of the day, my stocking didn't disappoint. I got a great mix of books, food, smellies and things for the garden. A and BigA were happy to, BigA now getting low salt stuff. 

Because I'd done a fair amount of prep the day before it wasn't too stressful cooking, even though I'd sliced through a bit of my thumb the day before. M made a lovely light brunch that we had with champagne. I think this is only the 4th time I've done Christmas day in my own grown up house and I know A really wanted to be home for Christmas, it was so nice to have everyone here to celebrate and make it feel so special. I am, however, tempted by mum's suggestion of a cruise one year, A says she'll be happy to join in too! 

The meal went well, although I was a little disappointed with the roast potatoes, everyone else was happy. We had a lovely day, made even lovelier with the karaoke machine I got and the youngest members of the family singing their hearts out. Plenty of food and treats. We used A's air fryer to solve a couple of problems and I am now a convert. 

The white elephant didn't disappoint and we are now the proud owners of the light up candle thing and a odd hat that get put back in each time we do it. And of course we finished one jigsaw and started the next. 

Boxing day, as is most people's tradition, involved left overs and BigA made a lovely soup out of some of them. A good walk and more jigsaw, saw us too the end of the day. Snacks of cheese and then a delicious home made falafel evening meal. And managed to finish the next jigsaw. 

A very Merry Christmas and have a wonderful New Year

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