5 More Sleeps!

Hi there.  It's been a busy time of late! So apologies for the lack of posts.

Well now, I said I wasn't going to do much for Christmas this year......hahahahahahaha, well that went out of the window!  I have spent so much more than I anticipated, mainly on food, drink and such like.  But actually looking at it, it's pretty modest still, the pile of goodies we have so it just goes to show how much more items are costing now I guess.

Mum is coming to spend three nights with us.  Bless her, last year was her first year on her own as she split up with her husband (my stepfather) and I think she felt she couldn't be a burden on anyone (I have siblings with children) so she booked herself a trip away over Christmas 2010.  She did this before talking to any of us.  She didn't enjoy the holiday though and felt lonely.  It broke my heart to think about that so earlier this year I made it clear she could come and spend some time here.  I am a bit anxious about it but hopefully it will be ok and we can have a nice time and this Christmas will be more comfortable for her.

Hubby has done a 'dry run' of the Christmas dinner he is going to make.  As we're both vegetarian and hubby doesn't eat dairy products, it's not "easy" - it requires a bit of effort to find a suitably festive recipe.  We have found one which involves puff pastry with blended chickpeas, walnuts, breadcrumbs, leeks, sherry, mushrooms and a few other yummy bits wrapped up within it, which we'll have with roasted potatoes, parsnips, broccoli and carrots.  It's massively filling so no starter required but hopefully room afterwards for warmed Christmas mini lattice pies and dairy free cream or custard.  Mum's making a dairy free Christmas cake as well bless her.

We've got chocolates, nuts, fruit cocktail and other nibbles for the festive period...we're certainly not going to starve!  We're popping over to my parents-in-law for Christmas tea-time with my Mum as well, where there will be a feast laid out I am sure, should we feel like we're fading away...!  (As if.)

So all we have left to do now is buy the fresh vegetables required....we may venture out tomorrow night for those as they should keep till Sunday.  I can't go out Thursday night (unless I go really late) and I am not sure I can face Friday night or Saturday, I am sure the shops will be bonkers on those days.  I can feel  myself breaking out into a sweat just thinking about attempting to walk around a supermarket on either of those days.

How are you all getting on with your preparations?

I did get some shopping delivered tonight and I have had to put in a complaint to Sainsburys.  We didn't notice till everything was being put away that, some of the chilled items we'd ordered for Christmas tea-time i.e houmous for dips and coleslaw/potato salad all have sell by dates ranging from 21st - tomorrow!!! - to 23rd December!  I am so disappointed as it leaves me two choices:

1. Eat them and hope for the best (i.e. no 'off' mayo)
2. Waste them and spend even more money buying fresh ones towards end of this week. 

Hubby thinks they will be fine and I guess I am thinking the houmous probably will be (it'll all be kept in a very chilled fridge) but it's the mayo based stuff I am worried about.  :-(

Any advice?  It's a use by date not a sell by date.  The more I think about it the more annoyed I am!

I had to buy a new front light tonight for my bike.  The one I had got smashed tonight so I had to risk getting stopped & told off (and fined!) by a policeman and I felt like apologising to every other cyclist on the way home...wanting to say "Sorry...usually have lights....got smashed on way home....sorry...please don't hate me....sorry!"

Anyway had dinner then dashed down to Halfords and got another one....£16!!!  And that was a cheap one!  Things really have changed.  The one I had was a bulky bulb light that takes C (or is it D?) batteries...the chunky round ones.  Well you'll be lucky if you can find any more of those these days it seems.  It's all bright LED stuff.  Hopefully it will last a long time and it does seem pretty hard wearing and very bright for such a small thing.  My old fashioned back light is perfectly fine (fingers crossed).

I have to wrap things up here now (no pun intended honestly!) as my eyes are stinging and I need my bed.  If I don't get a chance to post again before the weekend I would just like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very happy Christmas, may it be what you want it to be.  I also wish you a healthy and satisfying new year which I truly hope brings to you, what you need.

Take good care....and enjoy!

xxx