18 sleeps 'till Santa!

At last I'm starting to realise that Christmas is only 18 sleeps away.

The rain eased for the walk to school this morning, and on the way we chatted about the last few days of term and what activities were planned. It dawned on me that technically this was my last day off sans Sibs, and my Christmas shopping  for her consisted of a $10 gift that I bought in Sydney a few weeks ago!

During this morning's school play we were watching the story of Santa breaking down in his sleigh and being ripped off by some dodgy mechanics...I'm serious...!?!  Not a manger, Mary nor Joseph in sight! Anyhow, during the play my friend's little three year old confidently shared with me that there were 18 sleeps until Santa came to visit...

This called for some serious re-think on the "Christmas is ages away yet" mentality.

Back home, out came the decoration box again and three year old, (who came back for a 'coffee' aka  hot milk with some marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles), and Sibs's cousin who is staying for a few days set about wrapping up some boxes to make pretend presents to put under the tree. There was some serious team work going on. They stuffed the boxes with newspaper, I wrapped, three year old covered boxes with Christmas stickers and cousin tied the ribbon.

So well and truly in the Christmas frame of mind this afternoon I thought it was probably a wise thing to go and brave the shopping centre to part with some cash and fill a few Santa sacks.

Things were looking good - I got a park straight away! A few deep breaths, and I ventured into the cauldron... Can you believe it, two, yes two hours later I've finished!! What a record! What have I been doing wrong every other year that it takes days, weeks even to do my Christmas shopping? I even managed a quick peek in a few shops just for me. (Why did Laura Ashley decide to have a 'up to 70%  off ' day??)

I'm feeling quite smug tonight...

I'm sitting on the sofa admiring the twinkling lights on the mantle and on the tree. The opening doors on the advent calendar don't scare me...I'm back in control....

...well sort of!

memories on the tree