Friday Round Up

hot choc with my sis - yummy carrot cake - how cute is my poppa smurf??

festive pillow - festive candle - festive plant

surprise voucher from the white company - cheeky chickens - friday night treat

I fully expected my first Monday back at work to be grim but I had no idea quite how grim. It was awful. I'd been trying to keep on top of my emails whilst I was away so the catching-up part wasn't too bad, but just the sheer comedown of getting back to the daily grind completely floored me

I enjoyed my time off SO much! Relaxing at home, taking Matt to Edinburgh and taking our traditional family trip to Windermere were only part of it. Mostly I just enjoyed the lack of stress, the lack of responsibility. Not getting up and wondering what was going to go wrong that day. Not planning my diary, preparing for meetings, driving all over the country and lonely nights in a Premier Inn! It was great. Only a month now until Christmas and another week off, I'm already counting the days!

I was feeling a bit festive mid-week so I lit my Winter candle and did a bit of shopping. I do all my Christmas shopping online. In fact I buy pretty much everything online all year round but from mid-November onwards I don't go near the shops unless I have to. With the exception of my annual pilgrimage to Chester the weekend before Christmas with my pal Liz - by that point we've got everything we need and it's all about soaking up the atmosphere and buying the odd treat for ourselves. Last year we ate and drank in the hotel bar and were tucked up in bed in time for the Strictly final - we've discussed actually Going Out In The Evening on this year's trip but to be honest, I'll believe it when I see it

This weekend I'll be spending as many waking hours as possible at the new house, painting the kitchen. I'm not over-excited about it but it's a job that needs doing and it needs doing before the Aga arrives next week. Tomorrow night we're at the presentation night at Matt's motorbike club where he'll be picking up his trophy for coming second in this year's championship. I'm so proud!

What will you be getting up to this weekend?