It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

December, eh? How did that happen? Twenty four days until Christmas. Which is quite worrying really. So, today, I decided to pull my finger out and make a start. You know, the dreaded start?

It was a late start, too, by my standards. Mr G was home at ten past six this morning. Scared the life out of me getting into bed, having been sent home an hour early by his boss as he's covered them this week. He was bloody freezing too, wrapped himself around me, made me cold, stole all my body heat, but I fell asleep again until 9.22 am, which is really not like me. An 8 am start is a lie in for me, as I'm quite often up around 5 am.

We had to buy a new Christmas tree, as our fibre optic one gave up the ghost last Christmas. It was meant to change colour and it was stuck on one colour and made a funny noise. We had seen one in store in Asda, a snowy one and it looked lovely. Pre-lit, and so less faff with lights. It looks beautiful up, the picture doesn't really do it justice.

I don't really watch television any more, with the exception of rugby, football and darts. When the children were younger it was on all the time and it did my head in. Now they're all off in their own rooms, it can go days without going on once, and it suits me. I do make an exception for I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, at this time of year. I always say that the telly could blow up and I wouldn't care, and if it was down to me, I wouldn't replace it. As long as I have books, and music, that's me sorted. So, today, this happened...

We've noticed that our television is leaning. It's wall mounted, mainly because the living room is so small. Mr G kept popping his head behind, and frowning, and muttering, for the last few weeks, and today, before we started decorating the tree, he decides that he's going to 'sort it'.

So he's behind the TV, with spanners and screwdrivers and all manner of male faff. Finally finishes, we look at the TV, and it's still lopsided. So he said that it would need sorting properly in time, but that should do it.

Well. The tree was up and we were rummaging in the boxes for the bits and bobs, and ornaments and this happened.

With the TV still on, I might add. I saw it happen and I screamed and I dashed over to it and supported it, because a few more seconds and the weight would have dragged the whole thing off the wall. It's a 42 inch and it's not very modern, it must be a good eleven, twelve years old, because we bought it second hand about nine years ago. So it's a flat screen, but it weighs a bastard ton, unlike these new ones. The bolts had come clean away on the top row of the bracket, but all three were still in the wall on the bottom thankfully, because underneath the telly there's a table with our hi-fi, speakers, Sky Box, DVD player and all manner on. So, Mr G and the youngest quickly unplugged everything, moved the table and all the electronics, and then we had to support the TV while Mr G squeezed into the tiniest space possible to unscrew the telly from the bracket.

It gets better. Mr G said he would have to go and try and find the TV stand from the shed, and I'm stood there thinking 'Bugger.' Because, you see, this humongous, bulky plastic base that the TV came on, that I was getting fed up of moving all the time, for the last God knows how many years... yeah. I had a sneaking suspicion that it had gone to the tip. Mr G would say 'We'll keep it in case the telly ever needs to come off the wall' and I would keep replying 'It won't ever come off the wall, I like it wall mounted. We'll never use it again, launch it'. Finally, he let it go. I told him that it was his fault for listening to me in the first place, and that everyone was entitled to be wrong once in their life. Hehe.

Well, I bet my name was mud. I had to go on Amazon and order a universal stand for it, and it will go on the table, in the corner, from here on in. And I will have to get a picture to cover the patch on the wall with the holes and the different coloured paint. Oops...

All the Christmas gifts that I have bought and had delivered so far are now wrapped. This year, I'm wrapping them as they come in because last Christmas Eve is fresh on my mind. Sat on the floor, surrounded by last minute bits and tags and bows. Oh, and vomiting into a (thankfully) empty bag for life. My daughter's boyfriend's parents are both doctors, and when they came over that evening, I found out that it was the antibiotic I was taking for rosacea that was making me sick. So, those were put in the bin straight away. Along with the bag of puke. 

I've made my daughter a little hamper this year. My eldest son had one last year, packed full of chilli sauces, chilli sweets, chilli chocolate. My daughter's is a beauty one.

I just picked up a couple of bits each week with my weekly shop, mainly hair care and skin care. I wrapped that in cellophane and I think she'll be pleased with it. I have started to make one for the youngest. I have got him some of his favourite smellies, and I will pick some skin care stuff and aftershaves up this week when Christmas shopping. 

The iPod now has the 'Christmas' playlist uploaded again. I have to take it off every year, because I tend to use the shuffle mode on it and I was getting fed up of hearing Noddy Holder in July. We have a bluetooth speaker that looks like a Christmas bauble, and it hangs on the tree :-) 

I have located the tablecloths, table runner and cloth napkins and napkin rings. I have made a Christmas food and drink inventory. I've found my crackers. Not a bad start, especially given the catastrophe earlier.

Slimming World in the morning. Probably too much to hope for that we get our 5 stone award tomorrow but I'm keeping everything crossed. We kept our evening meal light tonight, Mr G had Fajita Chicken salad, and I had the most gorgeous salmon salad. I just cooked it in foil in the oven, and when it was cooked, I sprinkled sea salt, black pepper and lime juice over it. I bought a bag of salad in Morrisons, because I prefer the mixed leaves to plain lettuce. Something with a bit of taste to it, like rocket. And they had one I'd never seen before, Pea Shoots, Purple Radish and Garlic Chives Salad. Gamechanger, is all I'm saying.

And so to bed...