Gone In A Flash

Well, Christmas has been and gone in a flash. We had a nice few days up in Yorkshire.  The cottage was great.  Tiny, but super well equipped.  Not that we spent all that much time in it this time around, as we were only staying 4 nights and most of our time was spent visiting family or shopping for our Christmas dinner.

Christmas Eve was very relaxing.  After having done the food shopping (with a small amount of CS shopping snuck in for light relief) we headed back to the cottage and I spent the afternoon watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and My Fair Lady.  I used to love watching old musicals when I was younger, so this was bliss for me, whilst OH went out on a cycle ride in the surrounding countryside.

Christmas Eve evening was spent at OH's sister's house, playing games, chatting, drinking, etc.

It was just the 3 of us in our cottage for Christmas dinner.  Just how we like it really. We kept it very simple.  Just a chicken and some pigs in blankets with hasselback potatoes and vegetables, followed by Christmas pudding, of course.

Later, after a dog walk, we joined everyone at OH's parent's house where his sister, her husband and their kids were spending Christmas day.  We could have joined them for lunch, but decided it was too much work for OH's mum, who is already coping with OH's dad, who is currently immobile.

What followed was the usual present opening routine, a couple of face time calls from family members in other parts of the globe and then gradually everyone went their own way. A nice day though. LB went back to her cousin's house to stay over and hang out.

On Boxing Day, OH was back on his bike, and I had a leisurely morning, tidying up the cottage to get ready to go back to London, as this was our last full day in Yorkshire, picking up LB and then heading over to meet OH at his parents'. We then all went to the pub to meet my sister and her family and had some lunch whilst there. I hadn't actually seen her since last Christmas, which is unusual, so it was good to catch up, as a lot of things had been happening in her life.  Not all good.

We spent part of our final evening at OH's parents' and then headed back to the cottage to start packing up, ready to go back to London.  We had to set off at 7.30 am, as I was due at work for 1pm after the 4 hour journey. I was bang on time for work, which was a miracle really and spent the rest of the day there.  It was quiet, but we took more than the same time the previous year.

I've spent the last 3 days at work, and today is my first day back at home getting on top of jobs.  I headed out to my Zumba class first which was good and was able to catch up with a friend after her  visit to her family over Christmas, followed by doing some food shopping to see us through the next week.

This afternoon, I've been doing my banking.  I hadn't looked at my finances for two weeks and I knew it was out of control, as I had a purse full of receipts from last minute Christmas shopping, sandwiches bought on the hoof, etc. It was predictably depressing, as it is apt to be at this time of year, but I've only myself to blame. As I'm typing this, I also still haven't unpacked from our trip. That is next on my list.

I'm back at work tomorrow, but only working a few hours, as New Year's Eve is not a busy shopping day in Central London. I'm feeling a bit ambivalent about work again, as certain peoples' actions over the Christmas period have left me feeling a bit put upon. I'm not going to let it spoil my New Year though, it's not worth it. I'm planning to book some leave mid January and they can all just get on with it, without me. I definitely need a break, as I haven't booked any time off since going to Australia in July. I think it's definitely my turn.

I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas and are looking forward to 2020.  I most definitely am, as 2019 hasn't been the best of years in many ways, due to some things that I haven't really talked about here and some things that I have. It could have been a lot worse though, so I'm grateful that it wasn't.

I look forward to continuing to read your blogs in the coming year.

Happy New Year and may 2020 be a good one.