Start as you mean to go on…..

…… I kinda hope not.  I’ve spent the last few days wacked out on codeine and waiting for the penicilin to kick in.  So the start of 2011 has consisted of slobbing about on the sofa, watching random telly and snoozing and eating popcorn.  Never mind.  Hopefully, I’ll feel loads better tomorrow and can start getting ready to go back to work on Tuesday.  Then I can get my ass back in the gym and bin the Xmas choccy.

Christmas has passed……

…… in a whirlwind of food shopping, suitable present shopping, driving 100′s of miles, eating too much nice food, drinking far too much nice booze and spending time with family.  We drove to Scotland in record time on Christmas Eve and contrary to all expectations, got there before midnight.  Had a lovely few days with family and drove back yesterday.  Santa was good and brought me a new laptop, and with some money from Gran, I bought some new boots in the sales today. Brian and Karin made all their Xmas presents, so got handmade soap, handmade fudge and other sweeties and handmade cherry liqueur.  Which was very very drinkable.

Stinky gifts

Why is it that at Christmas time, relatives feel inspired to give toiletry gifts that smell, well, awful?  Thankfully this year’s bubble bath/shower gel set was a lone one, but it was truly stinky.  Apparently, it was on the theme of “sea mist” or something nautical.  The last time I smelt sea like that, there was sewage and rotting seaweed involved.  I have no intention of applying the scent in the shower.  It will hum.

However, what will not hum (hopefully) is me, as I lobbed all cigarettes and relating stuff (rizlas etc) in the bin, and have announced my intent to give up smoking.

Happy New Year…….

Well, another Christmas and New Year over with a minimum amount of fuss.  Gave and recieved some nice presents, possibly apart from the Santa cookie jar, which was rather tasteless and will probably be making a short trip to Oxfam or Cancer Research.

Christmas was nice and quite at Mum’s.  Rob and Iain decided to spend a night working their way along the whisky shelf in the Cardwell, so Rob spent Xmas eve (day) in bed with a hangover.  I went for a nice walk down into Gourock and saw lots of eider duck, curlews, oystercatches and other wintering birds in the bay.  Went to have a coffee at Flava, which was absolutely rammed, so I got takeout and wandered home via the chocolate shop and the Bluebird cafe, where I had an ice cream (best in Greenock, possibly apart from Orangefield’s). 

Drove to Largs to visit Gran H in her new bungalow, which was quite a nice wee house (complete with excess amounts of Christmas tat).  I was disappointed to find that Nardinis (best ice cream in Scotland) had shut its big original art deco restaurant and cafe.  I was looking forward to popping in there, as I spent a lot of time there as a kid when I worked with horses on the beach at Largs.  It was the sort of place you got taken to for a special treat, as it was really expensive to sit in and have something cold and sticky, like Knickerbocker Glory.

Christmas Day was nice and quite, with lots of eating of good food and lying round dozing in late afternoon.  Rob and I had to drive back south on Boxing Day as both of us had to go to work for the rest of the week (nice).  Not that there was much work done in our office for two days.  There was much gossiping and eating of chocolate and a few phonecalls and visits to clients.

Friday night, I drove down to Rob’s parents and crashed out as I was knackered.  Saturday (lie-in) we wandered into Swindon.  Al  I wanted to do was buy some socks, but Rob drove to a retail park that did not sell socks and was full of people bargain-hunting with wailing children, so we went home and I bought socks in Tesco’s.  Saturday night was a big meal at Sam and Nick’s, two of Rob’s friends of whom I am not overly fond.  However, they were fine, food was lovely and the company was good, so it was a good night.  We had a lie-in on Sunday, went out for a drive and then lay round watching telly before I drove home.

Only had Monday at work and then we were all off for New Year’s Eve.  I cooked a nice big meal for Rob and I and then we went to our local pub for a few pints and to see the New Year in.

 In the spirit of New Year resolutions, I have finally come to the decision to give up smoking, and will pull my socks up about being down the gym more often.

Ho ho ho

Finally – finished wrapping all the presents, thank god.  I hate Christmas shopping.  Trawling round the shops with a million and one other slow moving people, with inane Xmas songs on loop and driving everyone insane.  Perhaps I should learn from this and do my shopping in June, as at this time of year, everyone seems to be rushing to buy as much plasticky tat as possible.  Bah humbug.

However, Parsley is thoroughly enjoying Christmas, with a tree to maul, baubles to liberate, presents to puncture and sellotape to frolic in.  He’s banned from the living room unless I’m here to shift him off the decorations.  He’s also taken a chunk out of a very nice orchid which I had bought for someone.  Little git.

Last day at work till 27th Dec – woohoo!  Not that there was much to do, so I finished at lunchtime, which was nice.  There was only two of us in anyway, and the good news is that my colleague will be back in the New Year.  Saw him when he popped in to join us for our work Xmas lunch and he seemed much more like his old self.  Hopefully he’ll have a quiet and stress-free festive season and then come back with a light workload.