It’s Boxing Day morning and I’m exhausted. Despite a lousy run-up to Christmas, we all had a fantastic Christmas Day, and I’m hoping that you did too. I got such a touching gift from someone (a Secret Santa someone). It was a little wooden plaque, with a beautiful verse and two hooks from which to hang my dogs leads. It was even personalised with their names. It was so sweet that a person, who I have never met, could go to the trouble of buying me something so appropriate and thoughtful.
Things were…different…in the morning, as my grandma used to be the link between each of the branches of the family (usually, she’d have been having lunch at one of my aunties’ houses, so one of them would have come to collect her). However, we know she would have wanted us to enjoy ourselves, and whenever something funny happened (as it invariably does), I knew she’d have been laughing with us! As my dad opened his last present (a huge box), my youngest dog started barking…which set off the oldest dog…and then my sister’s dog. They were all looking at this massive box. I tried to calm them down, saying, “It’s nothing that would interest you!” When my dad finally got the wrapping off the box, it turned out to be a pair of ‘CAT’ branded trainers!!!
Then, after being spoiled rotten, we went out for lunch. It was wonderful. The meal was SO big that I even took a photo of it (yes, I am that sad). The atmosphere was festive, the staff were attentive, the food was good and best of all, it was cheap! I was a little bit upset, seeing an elderly lady, sitting on her own opposite us. It turned out we’d all been thinking the same thing, so we invited her to sit with us for drinks. As it happens, she was in a rush as she was waiting for a taxi so she could visit her friend, who was ill. That’s the great thing about my family: no matter what ups and downs are going on in their lives, they’re always thinking of other people. My mam makes Christmas lunch for an elderly man my dad met a few years ago. She found out he had no family, and spent Christmas alone, so every year, she now picks him up and brings him to their house for tea. We all buy him presents, so he feels included. Unfortunately, this year, he was too poorly to come (he’s in his 80s). That’s how nice my mam is, and that’s the only thing that makes me a bit sad about this whole book debacle. Why? Well, y’know how Peter Kay did his ‘Mum wants a bungalow tour’? Well, my mam needs a new car, and I’d foolishly hoped that if the book took off, I could get her this…as it happens, I couldn’t even buy her a tank of petrol!!! Still, pointless dwelling on the mightabeens, isn’t it?
Not well enough to got to the in-laws house this Christmas, sadly, so hubby’s off there for Christmas mark II and my mam’s taking me to their house to lie on their sofa. I think she just wants the After Eights out of the way and knows I’m just the person for that particular job! So, I should probably get out of bed now, shouldn’t I? Hope you enjoy the rest of the festive season…or at least have a peaceful one. Take care!