countdown

Well its the second of the busiest month of the year already.

Our Advent calendars are up, the 3year old and I have lovely traditional, open a door, get a festive pic type calendars...the 2 big boys nearly got nothing, I forgot to buy their chocolate non christmassy type advent calendars and when I went to Tesco yesterday they had a choice between Ben 10 (who??), Hannah Montana or High School Musical...if they were 9 year old girls we would have been sorted. So they got a pack of choccy coins each to put in a vintage (well, a few years old anyhow!) fabric calendar. They are happy, but I did feel slightly inadequate in the festive aisle whilst looking!!

We also have this tree - it was from Avon about 13 years ago - mum had it at her house for the big boys when they were little boys to open, it also winds up and sings at you....she kindly passed it on to us when she moved away. They still fight over who opens the drawer and pops on the mini decoration...bless!!

I have almost, nearly, officially finished my Christmas shopping....I am waiting for 4 amazon deliveries, and need to pick up a wooden train set from Argos tonight - then apart from something for my dad and maybe the other half....thats me done. Its half wrapped so I will finish the rest of the wrapping at the weekend. It'll feel good to be done as I still have a birthday to go before the main event :)

I am debating when to put up my tree...we have a real one (well 2 ), so I don't like it up too early otherwise by the 25th it looks a bit sad!! I thought this weekend, thinking the 6th or 7th its borderline 'too early' but acceptable...but I don't think I'm quite festive enough yet. So perhaps I'll make a start on the decorating but leave the tree til next weekend?? My thinking is that if I slowly put away day to day pretties to replace with Christmas pretties..it'll be an easier job. I can also then go through and get rid of the decorations I don't use...each year I think I'll sort it when I put away and it never happens!!

I've peeled and pickled a sack of small onions this morning...but I'm thinking its perhaps a bit late in the day for boxing day?! Still lots of lovely pickles for 2009 :) - what a crappy job that is!!! Last years onions were peeled sat at a table following my discharge from hospital with pregnancy complications...I must have been bored senseless cos I don't recall it being such a hideous task!!!!

There I am saying I don't feel festive enough and the snow has started falling here in East Anglia... if I didn't have to go and do a school run I could get excited lol!!!