Back to Normal

Thursday evening my sister flew home to Australia.  We were both a little sad at the airport and a few tears were shed.  I'd really enjoyed spending time with her during her visit and the thought of not seeing her again for a few years was upsetting.

However, I'm trying to keep focused on the positives and how lovely it has been to see her over the past few weeks and catch up with all her and her family's news.

Friday, it was back to normal life and back to the CS for my first shift in three weeks.  It's been good to have a rest.  I definitely needed it.  It was nice to go back though and see both old and new faces. It took my mind off my sister leaving.

There were a few new young people to meet and work with, some familiar faces that I've worked with over the last few months and there was also the news that one of the volunteers had left. Things change so quickly there, in such a short space of time, which is probably why I enjoy volunteering there, as there are rarely any dull moments.

The day passed pretty quickly, as it was pretty busy all day and I spent quite a lot of it re-familiarising myself with the shop and it's new Winter/Christmas orientated contents.

The manager is still there and has two more weeks of her notice to work before she leaves. Hopefully, the last couple of weeks won't be too stressful for her. I had a discussion with another volunteer on the way home about what we can do to celebrate her leaving.

I was interested to see a couple of books in the shop, that I couldn't resist buying to read at some point. I've heard a lot of hype about both of the authors, but wanted to read their work for myself.

I also bought a couple of small Christmas gifts that I won't photograph and show here.  I'm now starting to think about Christmas and what shopping still needs to be done.  The gifts for my sister and her family have all been bought and sent back with her to Australia, so I have just the cards to send nearer the time.

This does now mean that I can focus solely on family and friends in this country and from the beginning of next month, I will be in proper Christmas Shopping mode. I am going to try to do as much of my shopping as possible, either from ethical companies/websites or from Charity shops.  I will be keeping this in mind each time I go to the CS and I hope to find things that will fit the bill for the people I have left to buy for.

I have to admit that I do really enjoy this time of year, but I'm trying not to go too mad on the Christmas present buying front and buy too much for people, as I have had a tendency to do in the past.

How are your Christmas preparations coming along, or haven't you started thinking about it yet?