Christmas is coming

Hmmn... I haven't finished buying Christmas presents, I haven't finished writing Christmas cards, I have got only as far as writing up the food list, I've barely scratched the surface of the cleaning and rearranging required to make it possible for us to sit down for Christmas lunch... that was the state of play as of first thing this morning, and I woke late with a hangover.

The offspring has finished school for the (calendar) year and so I had great difficulty dragging myself out from under the duvet.

Somehow, though, the day did get better. I ... well I said I was hungover, didn't I ... I can't quite remember what triggered it but by mid morning I was out side tidying the garden ... yes the garden got the once over. I swept, straightened cut back, pulled up and bagged it all up. It actually looks quite presentable.

A taste of success can have a peculiar effect on a person. I went straight from my minor triumph among the weeds to the interior and by the end of the afternoon we could have eaten at the dining table (although of course, we didn't; we sat down to re-runs of Series 1 of the West Wing).

We might, just might get there. I cannot quite believe it, but it is true. The fat bastard provided food and drink again tonight - given we don't get paid until tomorrow I'm increasingly sure he's borrowed the money from his mother to keep us afloat up to Christmas.

Who cares. We'll get there and the offspring won't know how close a run thing it was.