Are you Ready for Christmas?

Are you ready for Christmas? I’m nearly there, I think. I’ve got one more present to buy (must do this immediately after writing this blog post), a handful to wrap, a fresh food shop to do (tomorrow morning at the Farm Shop), the house to tidy and sort, a cottage pie to make (yes, for Christmas Day, not exactly traditional but hey ho), some ice cream to make, and a few other bits and bobs. Yes there are a few things left to do; but I have a list and I’m working my way through it.

It’s all a bit ridiculous, though, don’t you think? All this stress and expense and rushing around for one day of the year. I know it’s a particularly special day, one that is very important in our religious and cultural calendar, but still, it seems a bit overwhelming at times.

I’ve definitely found myself guilty of stressing out over Christmas myself this year. Yesterday afternoon, for example, I went to Morrisons to do a reasonably-big-shop, and ended up just one tiny thing away from abandoning my trolley and walking out to my car crying because, well, other people, and not being able to find things I want, and getting tempted by other things put deliberately in my path to make me spend more money. I don’t know why I did it; I rarely go into a supermarket because I find them incredibly stressful places to be not a few days before Christmas, so I get my monthly shop delivered to my door and rely on the smaller shop in my village and the farm shop down the road for everything else. But I had a couple of hours to kill and thought it would be a good idea to pick out certain things with my own eyes. Thankfully I did make it to the checkout and ended up having a great conversation with the lady serving me, she made me laugh and I needed that!

The problem with all the stress is that I’ve not really been feeling particularly festive either. I totally blame the weather for that, I think; it doesn’t feel like December. Where’s the frost? When do I get to wear my hat, scarf and gloves? Why are there Spring flowers blooming?! There’s even a tree down my street with blossom on!!

The best things about it all for me are spending a few happy days with my family, having some time to relax and get outdoors, and being able to take the opportunity to say thank you to some special people. And all that starts today for me; I’ve finished the day job until the New Year (woohoo) and am looking forward to spending this afternoon and evening with my sister, brother-in-law and nephew, playing (hopefully outside if it doesn’t rain like it did yesterday), eating the gammon that’s already in the slow cooker, chatting about nothing in particular, and relaxing on the sofas. Perfect.

I hope you are ready for Christmas. I hope that you have a few things to look forward to that will make you smile over the next week. Even if you’re still at work, working Christmas day, have already exchanged all your gifts, or whatever else, I hope that you will be able to find time for getting outdoors into the fresh air, chatting with friends and family, eating some nice food, and putting your feet up. I’m certainly not going to tell you to stop stressing, as I know it’s not so easy, but at least let’s all try to remember Christmas is all about love and not Pinterest perfection – it is only one day, and it doesn’t really matter.

I wish you all an incredibly happy Christmas, and whatever it is that you need to finish off your list of pre-Christmas chores and enjoy the festive period without any undue pressure, hassle or worry.

Life is all about the journey. Have a happy Christmas x