It’s been a very frosty day. As such, my morning run was beautiful but very cold! I’ve been enjoying the warmth inside for the rest of the day, and caught up with the Strictly final, which I really enjoyed. I’ve got a bit of work for the week ahead but on the whole things are winding down for Christmas now.
Tag: Christmas
Another tree decorated…
I’ve been at Mum and Dad’s doing their Christmas decorations today, including this gorgeous tree – I think it’s one of the nicest they’ve had over the last few years.
It always properly feels like Christmas is nearly here when I decorate Mum and Dad’s tree! Not very long to go now… though it’s going to be a busy couple of weeks.
Back to rejoin Geth in Newcastle tomorrow. I hear he’s wrapped my Christmas presents now! 🙂
A different kind of busy
Friday evening is here, and so we move from weekday busy to weekend busy. A nice change of scenery!
It’s been a really busy week with work and so I’ve not had time to do any studying. Hopefully I will be able to fit that in next week. The course organisers have just released three new modules so there’s plenty to get on with between now and Christmas.
Geth and I were meant to be volunteering at Jesmond Dene parkrun tomorrow, but unfortunately they’ve had to cancel. Under normal circumstances this would mean I’d be scrabbling around trying to decide on a replacement parkrun, but there’s an all-day TechUp online event tomorrow and it’d be nice to attend all the sessions for that, so I think it’ll be another week with no parkrun. I definitely want to get back to it next week though!
On Sunday I’ve got my last race of the season. A bit late this year – next year I’ll definitely be ending the season with the GNR in September! But it’ll be nice to tootle along for 10k and get some fresh air, assuming the weather’s not awful. We’re then seeing Mum and Dad later in the day, which will be lovely.
The weekend after should be a lot quieter… which will be a well-timed lull before the busy Christmas visiting period!
This week’s earworm playlists:
Saturday
Masashi Hamauzu – ‘Thunder Plains’
The Running Channel – ‘Run With Me’
Celine Dion – ‘It’s All Coming Back To Me’
Sunday
Bing Crosby – ‘White Christmas’
Monday
Chris Rea – ‘Driving Home For Christmas’
Masashi Hamauzu – ‘Thunder Plains’
Tuesday
Herman Hupfeld – ‘As Time Goes By’
Wednesday
Elton John – ‘I’m Still Standing’
Thursday
Masashi Hamauzu – ‘Thunder Plains’
Friday
Masashi Hamauzu – ‘Thunder Plains’
Boyzone – ‘A Different Beat’
Outside is still there
I finally left the house today so that I could do some Christmas posting at the post office. I’ve been a bit anxious about it but it was nice to get some fresh air. I feel a bit better about my upcoming outdoor activities this weekend now.
Today also marked the start of a very busy December. The to-do list still feels a bit endless but I’m gradually getting on with it!
Weekday hibernation
I’ve not set foot outside the house for nine days. It’s cold out there and it’s got to that point in the year where I’d far rather be on the treadmill with a YouTube video in the background than outside running in the cold, even though the treadmill is not at all ideal for my running. I’ve got some outdoor time booked for the weekend, and I need to go to the post office at some point, but in general I am very happy staying at home. To be honest, that tends to be the case all year round.
Things are still very busy with work and studying but I’m getting lots ticked off the list every day. I’m not going to wish December away, because I absolutely love the run-up to Christmas (and I always get really depressed in January when I have to take the decorations down), but I will be really glad when I can sign off on Christmas Eve for a couple of weeks of downtime. In the meantime, it’s one day at a time, as ever.
It’s beginning to look a lot like…
…well, you know the rest.
I’ve spent three months now gradually doing Christmas prep (I’ve been following Organised Christmas on The Organised Mum Method app – not just for mums, it’s helpful for everybody!) in the hope that I won’t have to rush around doing it in December. December will be very, very busy as Geth and I will be doing all the family visiting that we couldn’t do last year, and I’ve got work and studying and my last race of the year on top of all that. As such, I’m not going to have any time to write cards or wrap presents or put up decorations*, so I’ve been getting all of that finished this weekend instead.
Helpfully (and unusually), it has been snowing all weekend here, which has made things feel very festive. Also helpfully (and also unusually), Geth appears to be in the Christmas mood early too, and has been watching Christmas films for the last few evenings. This has been a very nice soundtrack for all the card-writing and present-wrapping!
I’ve also bought a few extra gift bags this year. There are some gifts we won’t be able to buy until closer to the time, but after the end of this coming week (once the last of the Black Friday purchases arrive), I refuse to do any more wrapping. Gift bags will be fine!
*Though I will be helping with Mum and Dad’s decorations early in the month!
This is the weekend…
…when I will finally get all the non-work/studying stuff that I’ve been meaning to do for the last few weekends (and not had time) done! Including the last of my Christmas prep, which I’ve been spending three months doing gradually so that I don’t have to rush around doing it in December. December is extra especially busy this year, because this year has been extra especially busy in general.
Storm Arwen is due to hit tonight, bringing high winds and snow, so Geth and I are not planning to leave the house this weekend. The treadmill is available for running (we won’t be parkrunning tomorrow even if by some miracle our local ones are going ahead) and our supermarket delivery has just arrived, so we’re looking forward to a couple of days of hibernation.
If I’ve got time, I may even do some game planning, seeing as I feel a bit bereft after finishing my two recent short ones! I put up the post-comp release for The River of Blood today (the EctoComp results were announced this morning – my game came 9th out of 23 overall and 7th out of 15 in the Petite Mort category so I’m pretty happy with that), and it looks like a good number of people are playing Morris as well, so I’ll be excited to see how that does in the next couple of weeks.
This week’s earworm playlists:
Saturday
Soft Cell – ‘Bedsitter’
Taylor Swift – ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together’
Sunday
Cast of Moana – ‘How Far I’ll Go’
Monday
Masashi Hamauzu – ‘Thunder Plains’
Goo Goo Dolls – ‘Iris’
Tuesday
Pointer Sisters – ‘I’m So Excited’
Wednesday
Kuana Torres Kahele, James Ford Murphy and Napua Greig-Nakasone – ‘Someone To Lava’
Goo Goo Dolls – ‘Iris’
Thursday
Masashi Hamauzu – ‘Thunder Plains’
Friday
Harry Belafonte – ‘Jump in the Line (Shake, Señora)’
Another busy week begins
I had hoped this upcoming week would provide a bit of a breather, but as ever there’s a lot to do. Today I did a bit of day job work and caught up with most of the housework, and the rest of the week will mostly be spent either working or studying. I am going to prioritise some evening downtime, though, as it’s badly needed at the moment.
Still hoping to have everything organised for Christmas by the end of November…
Planning a short break before the Christmas madness
It’s been a really productive week! Lots of work and game creation done and another interesting TechUp module finished. I also have a giant pile of parcels from various postal services that need to be opened and wrapped in Christmas paper this weekend!
Next week, if all goes well, I will be taking a bit of downtime. I’m well caught up with work and studying and will be blitzing as much housework and Christmas admin as possible over the weekend. My game is also now drafted and in the testing process, meaning I just need to finish tweaking and finessing it before the jam deadline on Sunday evening.
The main reason I’m going to be trying for a quiet week is that December is going to be non-stop. Mostly in a lovely way (proper Christmas celebrations with family etc.), but I get a bit unsettled when lots of non-routine things are happening, so it’d be good to have some mental recharge time beforehand.
Geth and I have both had head colds this week. I shook it off fairly quickly, but Geth has been feeling fairly rough and has decided on a strictly-indoors weekend in order to try and shake it off before Monday. This means that if I’m parkrunning tomorrow, I’m doing it by myself, and I still can’t decide where I want to go. Might end up making a very last-minute decision!
This week’s earworm playlists:
Saturday
Duran Duran and Chai – ‘More Joy’
Soft Cell – ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’
Soft Cell – ‘Sex Dwarf’
Sunday
Soft Cell – ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’
Soft Cell – ‘Bedsitter’
Duran Duran and Tove Lo – ‘Give It All Up’
Irene Cara – ‘Fame’
Monday
Roger Miller – ‘King Of The Road’
Soft Cell – ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’
Duran Duran and Tove Lo – ‘Give It All Up’
Tuesday
Roger Miller – ‘King Of The Road’
Soft Cell – ‘Sex Dwarf’
Wednesday
Chris Rea – ‘Driving Home For Christmas’
Duran Duran – ‘Anniversary’
Thursday
Arcadia – ‘Lady Ice’
Traditional – ‘Deck The Halls’
Friday
Dr Hook – ‘When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman’*
*AWFUL. Get out of my head!
Sunday lull
A fairly routine week ahead in the sense that I’m not going out anywhere, but as ever there’s a lot to do. I’m hoping to get it all done on schedule so that I can have a bit of downtime the week after.
Geth and I got back from Leeds this morning after a great gig last night (review to follow… eventually) and are having a quiet evening in before the weekday chaos begins again.
Being in a town centre felt slightly odd yesterday evening… Christmas is apparently suddenly here! (Or it is in commercial areas, anyway.)
