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Sunday, December 24th, 2006
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4:03a - Unexpectedly Christmas Eve
It's...what, Christmas Eve already? To say I don't feel prepared is an understatement. Quite how I was going to accomplish all I set myself for this short time I'll be spending at home is beyond me. Oh, I've not been working, but time nonetheless seems to slip all too quickly through this sandtimer.
I've spent the past two days shopping. Of sorts. It'd be more accurate to say I've spent the mornings in bed, asleep, and with no-one disturbing me so that I only wake up in the early afternoon, and then get blamed for being lazy. Not for long, however, as I'm soon out of the door and in Beeston to do some shopping for relatives. I was going to go into Beeston, the local high street, on Friday and Christmas Eve, but Mum, in one of her odd moods (she is, alas, confused a lot of the time) decided it was imperative to get me new shoes before Christmas, rather than after, so I went again on Christmas Eve Eve. My plan to go into the City Centre was foiled, although in retrospect, all I'd have done is gaze enviously at plenty of things I'd like to buy, but don't really have the money too, and end up in some coffee shop somewhere watching other people go about their frantic last-minute shopping.
I ended up getting cheap £1 calenders for everyone bar my father and Opa. Those would serve as the tree presents, that bargain-basement ritual we engage in with the extended family around Christmas every year. Otherwise, the presents I bought were fairly standard given what Beeston has to offer. Dad's got (He'll be reading this, so...), Mum has cardigans and historical books, Kester has a £10 CD, and they've all got some form of toiletry, because I know I'd like some nice-smelling shower stuff to relax me through next year. On Friday, I ended up eating at Subway due to being very hungry, and took my time with the sandwich and drinks. They did have a restroom, however, unlike the ones I know down in Surreyland, so I made use of it before beginning the walk back. My brother refuses to walk it, claiming it's far too long. It's not. It takes me about 30-40 minutes. I did feel a little ill for the first part of it, but by the time I passed Matt's house, I was busy enjoying the Christmas lights instead of trying to keep myself from shivering.
On Friday evening, the family did its usual pre-Christmas ritual of watching the music channels. Dad had the remote, and given how we were getting tired of the same countdown each year, we ended up flicking every song or so, which made for a confusing evening. QI did come on and save us all, and, thankfully, it was better than last weeks. On the EveEve, on the other hand, I settled down in my bed with chocolate and watched the whole of the recent Sky production of Hogfather. Without spoiling anything, I really enjoyed it, and was pleasantly surprised how accurate many things were. The philosophical side of the whole thing had two effects. One was to reaffirm in my mind how clever/wise Pterry is, and the other was to make all the Christmas adverts in the commercial breaks seem even more superficial than usual. Good stuff. It wasn't perfect, but that's impossible when it comes to such a series as Discworld.
Nevertheless, I still find that I'm keeping these LJ-posts until late night, when I've got most other things done. This would be fine, only I'm tired, and I'd prefer doing them early in the morning, provided I can wake up in time. It is peaceful, though. We have a tree up. It's not the same tree as we've had since we moved here (almost 19 years ago), but one Dad picked up yesterday. It doesn't look the same at all. The old one was white, gold, red and blue, but this is green and with soft cream light. I'm not overly concerned. It is a change, but so many things have changed over the past year or so. We'll be celebrating Christmas in a small house Grandad moved into two weeks ago, after being on Tippits Mead for as long as I remember. Opa got a new car, and I still looked for his blue Orion when he picked me up on Tuesday, because that's how it's always been. It won't be long before I'm 20, and I can see the relatively-stable teenage years shifting into something much closer to how life works. I'd be scared, but that wouldn't accomplish anything.
Well, so much to say, so much to say. I'll leave it at this for now, because I'm tired, it's 4:30AM, and I'm hungry. I have dried blueberries by my bed, so that's another incentive to go. I do hope I'll get the chance to spend a few hours on here later today, but I may well next update on Christmas Day itself. Honestly, I feel like a stagehand in the production of Christmas rather than one of the chorus this year. It would be different if I had more time, but that's an excuse all too familiar with my life as of the past few months.
Now then, blueberries...
current mood:  sleepy
current music: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Wizards in Winter (3 comments |comment on this)
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