WINTER 2009

Christmas is coming....

Presents
Only one christmas present to buy...that means I have got all the other ones! I started way back in October this year, and the one I was looking for there (or the most difficult person to buy for) is the one I still haven't got. It is for my sister who retains the role in my life as being difficult to buy for - she has most things she wants, is moving into a new house soon and getting married - more than enough opportunities for present buying.

In past years I have bought her joke presents, useful presents and jokey useful presents (Green Gecko shower gel dispenser anyone??!). And I really have no idea what to buy her. I always assume the worst reactions in other people such as "What do I do with that?" "Why?" and "Thanks, it's interesting". Thus I end up thinking about what to buy them for ages then wrack myself with worry about whether they will like it, until i give it to them.

This year, me and some school friends, whom I haven't seen for between 3 months and 5 years (bear in mind we left 6th form in July 2000), are all meeting up on Christmas Eve. We have decided to do a secret santa style thing which should be fun. This added a further complexity to my christmas present buying.

Christmas Dinner
This year I will be having two Christmas Dinners - next Tuesday with Mum, Dad and my sister down at home, and one tomorrow. The one tomorrow is with a group of my former colleagues from work. Ten of us are meeting at someone's flat for a full Christmas Dinner. Somehow I got roped in to do the cooking and shopping. So today Butcher Boy and I were out buying stuff - potatoes, carrots, sprouts, custard, chocolate tart etc. Oh, and you might notice the Turkey missing from that list - that is because the shop we were in (where we all used to work) had sold out for today, so Butcher Boy (like a ninja*) was going to wait around for the delivery tonight and grab one and buy it before the delivery reached the storage chill.

*Actually when I say wait like a ninja, I do in fact mean, do his normal shift, since his job involves waiting for, then bringing in the fresh food delivery anyway.

Expect a Christmas Dinner update at the weekend!

Christmas Videos
Following the sad death of Kirsty McColl, my favourite Christmas pop song has been surviving only in recordings from the 1980's and 90's. However Youtube has recently delivered this gem of Katie Melua and the Pogues performing it. The Pogues are hardly wearing well though, and the gumminess of singing is obvious compared to the clarity of the 1980's version.



Happy Christmas!

Roll up, roll up, Bargains to be had

One of the issues with a December birthday is the fact that any gifts come in one month. This means that you have spent them all by November. Due to the English LEA Student Loans system paying out on a termly basis for me (pre 2006 entrant) as opposed to the new monthly system which applies in Scotland and to new entrants in England, I also got my Student Loan at the end of September.

Thus November is always a bad month for me financially, and I;m having fun at the moment trying to find things to sell on Ebay / Amazon.

Examples include a textbook which I owned but then was sent for review purposes by a publisher (So as not to break the rules, i am selling my copy, not the one that the publisher sent me.) and some DVD's. Sadly I tend to break the CD cases so none of them for sale...actually i can't think of anyone who'd want to buy my CD collection... Anyway, this is how I'm spending my Saturday evening!

Christmas Decorations

They have been putting up the Christmas decorations in George Square for quite a few weeks now, and are almost complete. they have also been putting up my favourite bit - the lights over Royal Exchange Square which produce the "ceiling of light effect". The lights officially get turned on in mid November, just before the "Radiance Festival of light" starts.

I had never realised just how big the lights are, until I saw some of them on the ground today - see pictures.