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Posted by admin on January 20th, 2009

Happy Wednesday

‘Tis the season for school nativity plays. And doing the big Christmas Shop. And getting the guestroom ready for the in-laws. And buying gifts for people you haven’t seen since last year. And office parties. And writing Christmas cards. And untangling the Christmas lights. And pantomimes. And picking up parcels because you’re never in when the postman calls. And catching up with friends. Oh and work – that’s still got to fit in somewhere. And the blog.

Damn, I knew there was something I’d forgotten. So that’s why this week it’s happy Thursday. Still could be worse, might have forgotten to send a card to my Mum. That really would have been a disaster.

Feeling a little stressed by the festivities, I’m unwinding with Family Guy. I can’t recommend it enough. A recent episode brought particular cheer. Lois (the long-suffering wife and mother) had, after huge effort and running around as described above, prepared the perfect Christmas for the family. Feeling quite pleased with herself, she finally relaxes. Then things start to go wrong …

Her idiot husband mistakenly gives ALL of the family gifts to charity along with the donations she’d prepared. Lois manages to forgive this and even congratulate said imbecile on his generosity. Taking the entire family to the mall to buy replacement gifts on Chrismas Eve, she leaves the dog to look after the turkey (if you haven’t seen Family Guy, just go with me on this).

A series of further mishaps ensues, which climaxes with the dog forgetting to turn off the oven, the turkey catching fire, the fire spreading to Christmas decorations and the dog filling the house with foam in his attempts to extinguish the flames.

Lois refuses to be defeated. She is determined to maintain the Christmas spirit in the face of all adversity. So she asks her teenage daughter to fetch the kitchen towels so they can all pitch in with clearing up the mess. But daughter returns empty-handed. Mom, we’re out of kitchen towels.”

This, I believe, is what might be referred to as the straw which broke the camel’s back. Or which finally popped Mom’s indominatable festive cheer. Lois goes postal, with me cheering her every atrosity. After running rampage through the town’s festivities, she is finally brought down with a police tranquiliser dart. And spends the rest of Christmas quietly drooling in a corner of the sofa. Which is where you’ll find me next Thursday afternoon.

Because, thanks to lots of research on Google, those Frugal Friday emails I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, e-commerce, e-cards and social networking, this year I think I’m on top of things. And if it all does go wrong, a family get together in front of Christmas tv with a box of Quality Street always seems to make for a Happy Christmas in the end.

One week to go … keep smiling.