How are your Christmas preparations going?  Are you the type of very organised person who has already bought and wrapped the gifts?  Or maybe you are more like our household…..

The lovely girl has just returned from Vienna where she and class mates enjoyed a trip to the Christmas markets and the historic city.  When I asked her if she bought anything the answer was an incredulous”no”…. why on earth would you think to buy any gifts in a Christmas market?  But she did have a fantastic time, returned exhausted and is now full of cold!  Despite now earning money, Christmas shopping will pass the young engineer by completely until I get a panicked call on the 23rd or 24th December asking for ideas for everyone and “also, mum, do you have any wrapping paper?”.  Our politics student isn’t due home until next week and has several pieces of coursework to hand in by the end of term – I believe it is known as pulling all nighters or as lastminute.com!  He has always been the best at organising Christmas shopping but with his current lack of finances……..

Then are the Christmas cards to write and post.  “Kids do you want some cards to send to friends/customers/family? Maybe you could help me write some” “Mum, why would I want to do that?” “No one sends cards to each other!!” – you get the picture, although they did work out that sending cards to customers on their newspaper rounds could result in Christmas tips.  So we in the PainPals household are not evenly slightly prepared, although hubby and I did purchase some new lights last week and counted the vast number of houses already well adorned on our trip up to London on Saturday night.

This trip to Westminster was my big achievement of the week as hubby and I went to see the very talented Katie Melua in concert, supported by the Georgian Gory women’s choir.  Together they made sounds that were almost too pure to be human voices – absolutely stunning!  Yours truly made a new friend in the form of an elderly lady as we found our wheelchairs parked up close and definitely in each other’s personal space.  She couldn’t understand why the choir weren’t singing something more “jolly” for Christmas – I did try to explain that Katie Melua sings a particular type of popular music and the choir back her!  Her ticket had been booked by a well meaning son and she had no idea what she was coming to see, but we had a giggle!

I have been gathering some more Christmas related blog posts for you over the week and hope that you will find something here to enjoy!

http://www.thisautoimmunelife.com/2018/12/05/gingerbread-hot-cocoa-mix/

https://zebrapit.com/2018/12/03/support-spoonie-businesses-this-holiday/

https://rachaelstray.com/christmas-wreath-making-workshop-ad/

https://trippingthroughtreacle.com/tips-for-a-frugal-and-ethical-christmas/

https://brookeclarke.com/fashion/what-to-wear-for-your-christmas-party/

http://caseythecollegeceliac.blogspot.com/2018/12/33-gluten-free-christmas-cookie-recipes-for-holidays.html/

https://invisiblyme.com/2018/12/02/giftguide2018/

https://www.theworldseesnormal.com/the-world-sees-normal/2018/11/24/the-holiday-season/

https://wheelescapades.com/2018/11/25/festivities-and-kindness/

https://christmascountdown.co.uk/4-ultimate-christmas-pudding-recipes/

https://reclaiminghope.blog/2018/11/30/adjusting-expectations-when-things-dont-turn-out-as-you-planned-5-tips/

https://ruralgreystar.com/christmas-gift-ideas/

Please comment, like and share posts for these fab bloggers.

Have a great week,

Claire x