The List & A Christmas Story

It's 09.59.  I am sat here on the sofa in my pyjamas, dressing gown and slippers with a blanket on my knees.  I have just eaten a slice of hot buttered toast and enjoyed a mug of tea.  My hair looks like a small rodent or five crawled into it before dawn, had a rowdy rodent party, made a nest and slept restlessly.  Chris is upstairs, asleep in bed.  The guinea pigs are squeaking and squabbling with one another in their cage.  The kitchen looks like the kitchen of a flat rented by four teenage male students.  Outside the grass is peeking through about one centimetre of frozen icy snow.  It's -8°C out there which is not conducive to bead production in a garden shed.

Yes. It's the Monday Before Christmas.

I have written a list of Things That I Need To Buy And Do This Week.  It's a long list.  I expect you have one the same?  Or are you one of those hyper-organised types that had all your Christmas presents bought, wrapped and stashed away in various hiding places before the end of October?  If you're the latter, how do you do that?!

Bead orders are coming in thick and fast - thank you, ace customers of mine, for buying my glass creations.  And if you haven't taken advantage of my Winter Discount yet don't forget you only have until tomorrow to do so - details here.

Today I must do some Chrimbletide preparation.  I need to cross things off the aforementioned list.  If I don't do this I fear I will end up a jibbering wreck, crouched in the corner of the untidy kitchen, rocking back and forth muttering about turkey crowns, napkins, Paxo and brandy butter.

So today I need to accomplish the following :

• Get dressed
• Tidy and clean the kitchen
• Tidy and clean other parts of the house
• Clean, pack up and post what feels like 764 bead orders
• Marzipan the Christmas cake
• Nip into town and buy some of the things from The List
• Clean the guinea pig cage
• Take some pictures of my new hat to show you
• Sort out something for dinner
• Sit down with The List, hopefully cross all these things off it and then most probably replace those things with other things that I forgot to add to The List in the very first place.

It's now 10.46 and I am going to put my plan into action.  Wish me luck.  I shall report back later and let you know how I got on.

In the meantime, do yourself a favour and if you get a few spare moments (I know, I know, spare moments at this time of year are as rare as funny cracker jokes) nip over to Karl Webster's blog and read the Christmas story that he has written.  It's called 'A Week Before Christmas' and it is brilliant.  I've been reading it as Karl published it chapter by chapter but he's just made it available as a whole.  It is Christmassy.  It will make you laugh. It might make you cry.  It made me cry.  It's wonderful so make sure you have a read.

I really am going now.  The things on The List are not going to cross themselves off .....

Happy Monday!