Laissez Faire Christmas

This has been a strange Christmas. I haven't been well all week, with a flu-like virus that has thrown me for a loop. Pretty much all I have done since last Saturday is read, knit, watch TV, eat and blog. Trying to do anything else has made my head spin. I finally made it out of the house yesterday, when I went with Tevye and Cherub to do a little last minute shopping (urgent need for a new laptop power cable!), to see the Christmas decorations at a nearby shopping centre and have a treat in a cafe there (it was going to be coffee and cake, but turned into lunch). By the time we left to come home again my head was whirling round at 100mph, and that was me done for the day.

Thanks to the unplanned week out of my schedule, this has been a Christmas when whatever got done happened, whatever didn't, didn't, and there was absolutely no point in worrying about it. A laissez faire Christmas.

Stuff that didn't happen:

• Baking - no mince pies, no apple pie, no cakes or biscuits. I had already made Christmas puddings, but everything else got bought, not make.
• Midnight Mass - I was looking forward to going to Midnight Mass for the first time in years, but after the trip out yesterday morning it was obvious that I wasn't up to it, nor ready to to drive myself to Mass today (and probably not tomorrow either). 
• Christmas crafts with Cherub - I had hoped to do some crafty stuff with her last week.
• Cleaning - Tevye, bless him, did enough to stop the house looking a mess. 

Stuff that did happen:

• Gift wrapping - almost all the presents were already bought, and some already wrapped. I did the rest in bits over the week. A pair of furry slippers for Angel are still sitting at customer services in Marks and Spencer, as I planned to collect them when I went to the archive (which obviously I didn't do). 
• Christmas dinner - I already had an online order with Waitrose in the pipeline, and they delivered despite the traffic chaos caused by the snow. Tevye did a little top-up shopping and collected the turkey. We have cooking Christmas dinner down to a fine art, thanks to teamwork and a checklist. He picked up more of the work than usual, but I was able to do what I need to do. 
• A relaxed, family Christmas - a good day, with time to play with new stuff and enjoy each others company. Our friends from Next Door also came over for a while this afternoon. Now I am upstairs with the laptop, enjoying a bit of peace and quiet to slow the head-whirring again.

The downside is that having me largely out of commission meant Tevye has had to pick up more of the slack than I would like. He did so willingly, but it means he has been busy when he could have done with more rest and relaxation - and it really doesn't seem fair that the Jewish member of the household has had to pick up the tab for Christmas. On the positive side, I am on the mend, albeit slower than I would like. The coughing is easing up, and I can do a bit more before my head turns to mush. And Christmas happened regardless. Watching The Nativity last week and listening to Pope Benedict on Radio 4's Thought for the Day this morning (broadcast yesterday, but I only caught up today) made up a bit for not being able to get to Church. Everyone has reached Christmas Day evening contented. And finally

MERRY CHRISTMAS

to everyone who reads my blog. Thank you for bearing with my ramblings!