ME ME ME

As I haven't had a holiday from work since June, well apart from the 2 days during the October week I decided I would have 2 whole weeks off at Christmas. My justification being the suppliers are closed and I needed a break. The hubby was also off for 2 week, this was strange, he has never had 2 weeks off to stay about the house, he only takes 2 weeks off to go abroad and we've only been abroad twice in 10 years, but he is now salary paid and therefore still gets paid when he is off, this is also strange. Monthly pay is even stranger, I was always monthly paid, things were easy, I got a monthly wage and all the main bills came out of my bank account and then we lifted hubby's weekly wages and bought shopping and take aways etc. etc. We have been married for nearly 12 years and still haven't got around to arranging a joint bank account.

We had a very nice Christmas Day, the kids got up at 8am, my kids are great, when I was young I was up every hour from 1 am and my mum would give in and we would get up and be knackered all day. The kids slept all night and my daughter got up at 7.50 am and said she better stay in bed with us until 8 because Santa has the whole world to deal with, but he's always been by 8am (years of listening to me) at 8.01 am she decided to go and get her dressing gown and her brother, at that her brother opened his bedroom door and she was back in bed with us as quick as a flash, she obviously thought Santa might still be about!! We opened the gifts, had breakfast and I went to visit Granny, who unfortunately had no idea it was Christmas. Mum came for dinner and stayed the night, it was all very pleasant, we played Uno Extreme for a looooong time. We had delivered all our presents to my in-laws on Christmas Eve which meant Boxing Day could be a pyjama day. We went to visit my mother-in-law on the 27th, I had bought both my mum and MIL lovely Marks and Spencers pyjamas, one size 14 and one size 18, exact same pyjama's and of course you can guess what happened, my mum opened her pyjamas to exclaim 'size 18' whoops, I quickly called my MIL to explain and swapped them over on the 27th and came home via Currys with a 37" TV which the hubby has been promising to buy himself for a long time. Nice.

On hogmany we went to my best friends house, again it was a pleasant evening spend with my friend, her husband and their 2 children, my friends sister and her boyfriend, their mum and dad and a friend who was on a trial separation from his wife and in need of some good company. My friends 7 year old son was sleeping on the couch for 10.45 and missed the whole party. We celebrated the bells, I went mad and had 3 Smirnoff Ice before midnight and spent the rest of the night with tea. Shortly after the bells my friend's, sister's, boyfriend, did you get that, lets call him Ian, brought out his Wii, which they had brought from Wigan with them, on the train and he was delighted to know that my daughter had brought her DS Lite charger as his DS Lite had run out of power, now let me set the picture, he's 29, she's 38 and they have no children, this was obvious when they set up the Wii and my son being 10 and a half said 'Can I go first?' and he was told 'No Children allowed' Ha Ha Ha I laughed as I said 'You can't bring out a Wii with 3 non sleeping children and not let them play' My son was on top form it was great, he was slagging the adults, beating the adults and enjoying the company, he obviously felt totally comfortable as he commentated on the games and made us laugh. A second child fell asleep at about 2.3o leaving my 2 still standing. But at 4.30 am I called a halt and decided I should be somewhat responsible and take my children to bed. That was a bit of a performance, we were sleeping in the front sitting room which has a lovely big comfy corner sofa, which the children sleep on and a blow up double air bed for us which fitted perfectly between the sofa and the TV unit, only problem was the hubby didn't fit, after all the kerfuffle of getting the kids sorted, one in a sleeping bag, the other with her quilt and teddy, the hubby crawled onto the bed and lay down, his head jammed against the TV unit and his feet touching the sofa, leaving his knees in mid air, I just fitted, so a reshuffle it was, my son was taken out of the sleeping bag and given the quilt and hubby took the sleeping bag as it was lighter and me and my daughter snuggled up together in the air bed. New years Day is a repeat of Christmas Day, mum came, had dinner and then stayed over, we played Uno Extreme again, and that was it a another New Year. I decided not to make any New Years Resolutions this year, mainly because I never stick to them, so thought sod it, I'll fumble through with out them. We spent the evening of the 2nd Jan at my MIL where my nephew brought out his Wii, much to the delight of the children.

The rest of my holiday was spent staying up late and lying in late it was great, I am however grateful to be back to the routine of school and work.

I did make one decision at the turn of the New Year, I always text and email all friends at New Year, the ones I am close to and the ones I haven't spoken to for a while, just to keep in touch, this year I thought I would see how many contacted me, I spend time being obliging and friendly, but I have decided this year to concentrate on the people I want to spend time with. I have to say the response was poor. So bugger it, this year it's ME ME ME.