Organised?.... As if.

In years gone by I would frequently have been ready for Christmas by mid November or thereabouts, if not earlier. Organisation , or perhaps 'bossiness' as PG would tell you is, one of my aggravating 'gifts'....well this year has been very different!

I have at last waded my way through the card writing process, I have bought an appropriate number of stamps, stuck them on and all that remains is to see if I can manage to get them into the letter box in time to meet the post office deadlines for last 'posting dates'. This shouldn't be a problem, there is a letter box not two minutes walk from home but I always manage to forget letters I need to post. Daily I pass the box and daily I think 'damn,'i'll post them tomorrow....and then I don't!

The post office incidentally is on my current list of 'companies displaying utter ineptitude', having returned to sender a package this week, that they should have re-delivered. In fact they kindly pushed a card through the door telling me they would make another attempt.....and then sent the sodding thing back anyway! Probably never to be seen again.

But I digress. As I was saying, I am finally getting organised. Yesterday we made a second trip to Edinburgh and purchased the last of the gifts we needed, we promised ourselves we would 'hit the whole thing on the head' last week, but as ever is the case it was not to be and trip number two was required. The freezer and cupboards are beginning to look nicely stuffed with all things fattening and yummy and I have given in and made a Christmas dinner decision and purchased an all in one, one person, Marks and Spencer ready 'Christmas meal'.....Lord knows what it will be like, it certainly won't be 'mothers cooking' but I'll be damned, if as a confirmed hater of cooking, and having to spend Christmas day alone, if I am going to spend it cooking real food for just me! At least being M&S it stands an outside chance of being edible!

So all that remains now is to fight Ditto for the privilege of wrapping up the gifts, she adores to 'help', I adore her not to and then make the 600 mile trip to my sisters to 'play Santa' and get them delivered next Thursday.

On the subject of Ditto and Christmas, I was forced from my slumber on four occasions last night to rescue the tree from her clutches....only to wake this morning to find pine needles, tinsel and two smashed baubles on the floor! Heh.