Christmas

... has been pretty great so far. Definitely beats last year's. Christmas Eve was alright, I went to work which was okay as it was quiet, everyone was chilled out, we could wear whatever we wanted and the best part is that we had Christmas music on. I don't care much about that music but ANY music is welcome, it's the most depressing part of my job that I have to spend the whole day without music, it just drags so bad. And the boss buys everyone presents bless him, so I got a bottle of Chardonnay and a box of milk chocolates (Chardonnay will probably hide in our alcohol corner for years to come and the chocolates I took round for Dan's family to eat instead). So that finished then I had a four hour Samaritans shift, it was amazingly quiet, I thought we'd be on the phones solid but we only took a few proper calls each and spent the rest of the time half doing e-mails/texts and half just getting excited about Christmas. I came home after, wrapped presents, cleaned and then helped bf finish wrapping the many presents he had left to do.

Woke up 5:59am Christmas day determined to be the first to text my best mate, we have this thing, there's a Dream Theater song called 6:00 on the 1994 album Awake, and the first words spoken are 'Six o' Clock on a Christmas morning!' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDCG7daJ7cc so we have this tradition of texting it to each other because we both love DT and we're cool like that. I won this year for the first time, he was seconds too late, but said he'd been up since 5:45am with his hand on the send button lol. Then I went back to sleep for a couple hours, woke up at 8 real excited, went and dragged the presents my bf and I got each other into the bedroom and we opened them. He got me some of those big chunky over ear headphones as I've been nicking his all year and getting the wire tangled up, the SATC box set (which he loves), an amethyst bracelet (my birthstone), some Booja Booja and the stunning blue/green satin makeup bag I saw in Sephora in Paris and loved, really nice presents. He seemed to like his stuff, the thing that went down best funnily enough was this book that helps you determine the different types of farts, with a little console on the front with buttons for sounds etc. I wrapped it up then circled an area and put 'press here' so he was literally almost on the floor with mirth when it went off lol. I got him 'The Internet is a Playground' too as he's really into that site and some Clinique stuff and a few other bits. My brother got him a Nerf gun lol. And I got 'loveliest Auntie ever' socks and a notepad from Finley lol, so sweet. Then I went back in the living room and realised that the flowers work sent me had fallen over overnight, soaking the coffee table and my six-month old £800 laptop, which is now fucked. So I'm on the old one until the home insurance dept reopens on Weds and I can see how easy it's gonna be to make a claim and get a new one. Tried not to let it get to me though, but the chances of that happening seemed so slim lol. Then we had scrambled tofu and vegan bacon and my brother picked us up, took us round to his.

His house was like Toys r Us, they went SOOOO overboard with things for my nephew, he got a football table, a mini pool table, an easel, a guitar, a keyboard and tonnes of other things. It was so fun watching him run round all excited and playing with stuff and being really adorable in his pyjama top and nappy. My brother sat and played pool on the floor with him for ages showing him how to hold the cue instead of just using it like a golf club, he has such patience with him. We got him this Cookie Monster where his head flaps open and shut, and you put plastic cookies in, which slide down into his rucksack as he counts to three. It was a hit and in his top three toys apparently, he figured out what to do and spent ages feeding the cookies in then getting them out and trying again, and then trying to find other things he could feed him, if biscuits start to go missing at least they'll know where they are. So we stayed for about an hour and chilled out, they seemed happy with their presents, I got my brother Underbelly, this Australian TV series shown on sky FX real late at night sometimes apparently, it's like the Sopranos but based on a true story. We both LOVE it, our neighbour downstairs got us into it and is fanatical about it, the second series is okay but the first is fucking brilliant, and it's right up my brother's street. Plus I managed to get the Haribo he likes the most (sour ones) lol, my mum would have been proud. Then Dan's dad picked us up and took us round to his uncles where all his family were, and we spent the day there. We both got spoilt absolutely rotten, his mum must have spent hundreds on me, I've never been so lavished with presents in my life it was awesome, though I did feel a bit 'woah' that she'd gone to so much effort. It was really lovely, she put loads of thought into everything she got us both and we're both really skint so it was great to be given loads of nice things we couldn't justify buying for ourselves. The best stuff was an absolute shit load of Soap and Glory stuff, night cream, serum, moisturiser, highlighter cream, lip plumping gloss, face wash, hand wash, hand cream, shower cream, bath cream, body butter... it was like winning the lottery lol. And she got me some L'Occitane skincare stuff I've always wanted to try but couldn't afford, a set of OPI's best and most popular nail polishes (with a nude and a white in there for french and some really nice shades I wanted to try in like 'I'm Not Really a Waitress'), socks, a Yankee candle diffuser and pot pourri bag, a hoodie/top/schnood from Esprit and the most thoughtful thing, an Estee Lauder Youth Dew perfume/lotion box set, it's my mum's perfume and nothing makes me feel closer to her than that scent so I was really touched, she was gonna wait til my birthday to give it to me as she didn't wanna upset me infront of everyone but I was alright, really touched but not to the point of tears. She got us both jointly a mixer for the kitchen too, and a couple of board games, and some money we're using to buy a new sofa with. So yeah, turns out my bf's family really go mad over Christmas lol. We got them some nice presents too so all was well but yeah, totally gobsmacked at being showered with all of that. Last year was shite with my mum dying, the year before that sucked because I worked in retail and finished work 6pm Christmas Eve and started 6am Boxing Day and I can't remember the year before that but it definitely involved my brother and I somberly going to my mum's little bungalow for a token 30 minutes to see her and it really upsetting me and undoubtedly him. We went to see his Nanna for a bit, then just hung around while a few of them went to this pub on the estate that's tradition to go to for Christmas day drinks but is really, really rough and associated with BNP so we didn't go, and neither did his dad or mum or sister in law. So we just sat and I talked to her for a while then dinner was ready which was lovely, again his mum made a massive effort and made me a real nice vegan one with Celebration Roast, my own gravy etc. which was much appreciated. I'm never quite sure how to show my gratitude with things like that without feeling awkward but I did say thanks and send her a text on the night. Then we went home not too long afterwards, his family are ace but we both find days like that slightly overwhelming, we like them and it's nice to see people but after a while the loudness and relentless socialness of it makes us both want our own space and time, so we said our goodbyes and went home, lit some candles, had some sexytime which hurt and watched the Xmas soaps. Now I'm pretty sore but I took a shit tonne of antibiotics so fingers crossed I'm gonna be okay. That was the only point of the day where I felt upset about her, it's not so much that an arbitrary period of time has passed but more just that I remember what she was like at Christmas and the way she'd get dressed up and make it real special and shit herself over cooking such an important meal lol, and I miss her being here loads. Today we're off to the sales to see what's going on in Lush and Boots then off to his uncles again for their traditional Boxing Day buffet where even more family come round (he has about 20 aunts/uncles and they all have kids, many of whom have kids themselves) so it's gonna be a busy one. Merry Christmas everyone.