Knilly Frickers

I haven't had a bad day, far from it, I had a very nice day....but it was a very nice day that felt a little bittersweet.  So I made a happy list to remind me of some of the things that make me smile and encourage me to focus on positives.  If, like me, you are into stationery and thought that looks like a fun notepad, my notepad is from Paperchase - http://www.paperchase.co.uk/all-change-a5-notebook.html

Today my festive spirit has really kicked in....well, you'd hope so on Christmas Eve!! Technically it kicked in yesterday when I opened my Secret Santa Present at work - it was a book!! Kudos to whoever my Secret Santa was - perfect choice!! Today I did some last last last last last minute shopping, accompanied by James who very kindly wandered around shops with me and carried things! Instead of getting annoyed at people who bumped into me in shops or forgot their manners I sang festive wishes to them! I got ridiculously excited when a self checkout in the supermarket wished me a Merry Christmas...so excited that I wished it one right back! Once I got home I set about finishing my wrapping and I'm not sat watching The Grinch, quoting every single line...because The Grinch.  I had so many great ideas for Blogmas and then December sort of disappeared before I had a chance to really do anything with them...........maybe next year I'll be better.

Rudolph the Post It Reindeer, sat upon a shiny phone...and if you ever rang it, he would maybe say hello........ Three days until Christmas - Three Festive Facts From Today Christmas Song I sang along to at the top of my lungs Merry Christmas Everyone.  Number of Cheesy Christmas poems I wrote about Monkeys Just the one!! Festive Friend Meet Up Total Technically one, but two if you count saying a quick hi and bye to the friends my mum was with when she was meeting me later in the day.

A desk elf....because desk elf!! Four Days To Christmas: Four Festive Facts Today Christmas song I sang along to at the top of my lungs Christmas Time (Dont Let the Bells End) - The Darkness Character I played in a Nativity Tonight Wise Man Christmas TV special I'm Most Looking Forward To Doctor Who Christmas Presents I Still Need To Buy One!!

There are precisely 5 days left until Christmas, which means there are precisely 11 days left in the year! What even is that? When did it happen? I did not give my permission for the year to move so quickly! I've decided that everything about the next 10 days will be awesome..........today has about an hour left, it's a write off.  I'm also going to go back to my do one thing every day that scares you thing, even if its changing the radio station on the way to work in the morning, the festive season has totally messed with my morning listening schedule anyway! Five days to go - Five festive facts from today! Christmas song I sang along to at the top of my lungs Fairytale of New York. Christmas song I hummed as I worked throughout the day Good King Wenceslas. Christmas song I attempted to teach myself on the ukulele We Wish You A Merry Christmas. Christmas Origami I attempted to make with a post it note Christmas tree....didnt look like a christmas tree, made several and now...

Today's picture was taken from George Square as I went past. 1. What does a typical Christmas day look like for you?  Waking up early....waking my mum up...opening presents, watching mum open her presents....making my dad get up and open his presents. Breakfast made by my dad......mess around with presents for a while.  Go to my brothers house, spend some time there with him, his wife and the kids......head home for a while and chill.  Head to my uncle and aunts for Christmas dinner, open some more presents, play some games, occasionally sing some christmas songs, watch some tv, come home and chill. 2. What's your favourite Christmas time tradition? It's definitely my christmas dinner!! A close second is watching Christmas Movies with my mum.  3. What's your favourite Christmas Song and/or Carol? Christmas song is Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty McColl Christmas Carol is either Do You Hear What I Hear or Oh Holy Night. 4. What's your favourite Christm...

I feel like December has crept up suddenly and disappeared all at once!! I finally finished my Christmas shopping today! The downside was that I went shopping....in the city centre...on a Saturday...in December.  That aint a sensible thing to be doing in December. Lots of Christmas shoppers meant there was lots of humans, lots of humans meant lots of crowded streets, lots of crowded streets meant lots of people stopping to look in windows, look at their phones, talk to a friend, look at a product in a shop....all of which made it pretty difficult to navigate my way from shop to shop. My pavement rage is the stuff of legend....well amongst my boyfriend, my mother and my friend Nicole.... I'm not unbearably angry or anything like that, I just get a little exasperated when someone in front of me stops or cant decide what direction they need to go in next, meaning I too have to stop, which then kicks in my impatience, which then leads me to getting annoyed at myself and in turn th...

After many days of stalling my tree is finally up!!  Also made up for previous December laziness by doing some late night Christmas shopping - survived my first multi story car park with minimal stress!!  I'm still not done yet.....but closer to it!! Proper blogs after today, I promise!!

I missed a day again....this time out of sheer tiredness, I could have stayed up to write a blog last night....I chose to go to bed instead.  As you can see my tree is up.....its just not decorated yet...that's tomorrows task.  It'll be the usual Disney meets doctor who mash up!! Feel free to suggest any other wacky decorations. 

While I love Christmas, I can totally accept that not everyone gets as excited as I do.  When you don't feel festive, there is nothing worse than being in the company of someone who is, however, when you do feel festive and are enjoying the activities that Christmas brings, there is nothing worse than someone who is not enjoying it being determined to ensure that no one else does either.   It's totally fine not to feel Christmas spirited, but that doesn't make it okay to be mean spirited.  Almost everyone is familiar with A Christmas Carol, there have been so many versions of it...my favourites are Muppet Christmas Carol and Catherine Tate's 'Nan's Christmas Carol' It follows the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge, a grumpy unpleasant man with no time for Christmas or kindness and a disdain for those who don't think like him.  He's visited by three ghosts, each one focusing on a different time in his life, the past, the present and the future and what could ...

I finally started Christmas shopping today and almost completed it.... Check me right out. I still have my parents to get (pretend you didn't read that mum...I have one thing for you, please dont look in the gnome bag in my room,one of your small things is in it)but beyond that I'm nearly done.  I've also broken my rule and kinda know what I'm going back in for next Saturday, so fingers crossed all should be well! If anyone has still got loads to do and is starting to panic...here are my top tips for surviving Christmas shopping with little time to spare.  1. Just accept that the first few shops you go into will be complete and utter duds - time is short, you will probably need to panic buy and you're not actually sure where to start....that first shop will probably no come through for you...its also possible that the next three or four wont either...and thats totally fine....honest!! 2.  Don't shop for a demographic... I'm quite guilty when I'm pushed f...

Missed a day again! I'm rubbish.... I also planned to start my Christmas shopping today and didn't, again I'm rubbish.  I tell a lie....I ordered something off etsy for my friend Nicole tonight,which may or may not arrive in time for Christmas! I've mentioned before a few days ago that I tend to leave my Christmas shopping to the last minute and that I thrive on the pressure, but It occurs to me that I only actually have one more weekend in which I can shop because the next one is Christmas....yikes!! Tomorrow my aim is to actually do some Christmas shopping, write a decent blog post and also to put my tree up in my room.  Our living room tree is in the picture above....decorated by Mum, with zero help from me.......I'm rubbish. 

At time of typing, I can currently watching the original Miracle of 34th Street from 1947, which I'd never seen before. 'Oh Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind, and that's what keeps changing' That quote jumped out at me... almost 70 years later, it's still pretty strong.  Christmas movies have some of my favourite movie quotes... The Grinch is full of them "Hate hate hate, double hate, LOATHE ENTIRELY" "I myself am having some Yuletide doubts" "Blast this Christmas music, it's joyful and triumphant"  "One man's toxic sludge, is another mans pot pouree, I dunno it's some kind of soup" It's a Wonderful Life "What do you want Mary, you want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a laso around it and bring it down, say, that's a pretty good idea, I'll give you the moon Mary" "Atta boy Clarence"  Flint Street Nativity  "She's not Mary, I'm gonna ...

If I got money every time someone asked me if I was all set for Christmas and all my shopping was done, I'd have enough money to buy myself lots of expensive presents. I know plenty of people who have it all done and dusted or know exactly what kinds of gifts they need to complete their list.... I can't operate that way.   I have to happen upon a gift while browsing shops, I have to see it and decide on impulse, if I forward plan, it doesn't work.   I end up with something generic or not quite suitable and end up shoving it in a cupboard somewhere in the hopes it suits someone else and just go out shopping again until I get it right.  It's only the 7th day of December, so I still have time before any sort of panic has to happen, but I also can't bring myself to do Christmas shopping in advance.  I'm a last minute girl, I thrive on the pressure of knowing I have a very limited amount of time in which to find the perfect gift....it helps me bring out my A game!  I...

I recently started watching the Gilmore Girls revival....A Year in the Life - I'm only two episodes in at time of writing..no spoilers please.  I've been a long time Gilmore Girls fan, I think I was around 14 or 15 when I saw my first episode after my mum had discovered it on one of our cable channels, we watched the series right through.......then when it ended about seven years later....we watched the whole series right through again.....and again....and again.  We became word perfect, we have scenes we watch over and over again, we have scenes that we just can't watch, we have quotes we slip into every day conversations that make no sense to anyone else unless they too are a Gilmore Girls Fan.  I even named my ukulele Paul Anka after Lorelai's dog (who was named after the singer...yes I know,I'm nuts).  If you've never seen Gilmore Girls - do so - it's a tv show about a mother and daughter who live in a very unique small town, their lives, friendships, re...

I know it's only the fifth of December but Christmas is almost in full swing already....Christmas services have started, Christmas shoppers have descended upon retailers, office parties are about to take place and lights are everywhere.  If you weren't paying attention, you'd think it was Christmas Eve with the sheer volume of Christmas decorations.  Everyone has there own marker for when it's officially Christmas for some its the Holidays are coming advert, for some its the John Lewis Advert, for some its when the lights go on, for some its when Eastenders comes on during Christmas Day or when the office closes.  Mine has moved around over the years. One of my favourite things to do as a kid was to go with my parents, just a few streets over and view the lights of once house in particular - everyone knows someone who goes overboard with their Christmas decorations and one family a few streets away from me, really did go to town.  There was Santa waiting by the ...

It's been a busy old weekend.  today my mum and I spent the evening with our friends who recently returned home from abroad after living in another country for several years. We had hot chocolate (well everyone else at the table did, I had Irn Bru) and went to see some Christmas lights.  It was both lovely and surreal to see them, their children are older now than they were the last time we saw them so it was strange to have a change from how I've seen them in my head over the years while they've been gone.  It was a nice reminder that with friends, it doesn't matter how often you see each other, what matters is that when you do see each other, nothing changes,  Welcome home x

On the third day of Blogmas Rachie blogged to me.....absolutely nothing! Day 3 is a day late........ I left the house in the morning, tenor horn in hand to go play some Christmas music and got home just after midnight, yesterday was a busy one.  I began my day playing carols in the city centre before hopping over to a Christmas Fayre a little further afield to help out at a Christmas light switch on.  After that, I went to see a friend and hear all about her wedding plans. It was a fun day and I even met a few familiar Disney faces without having to travel abroad! It was definitely a day where it was hard not to feel festive but I've had similar days in similar years where I've really struggled to see the festive side of things because I've been too stressed or highly strung to think about the bigger picture.  Family The fayre I was at yesterday was in a small village but the hall was absolutely packed with children and families.  It's very easy to forget amid t...

Cards on the table.....I don't feel very festive today. I started my day at the funeral of a very lovely lady, one I'm exceedingly fortunate to have had be an influence in my life. The funeral itself wasn't really a sombre occasion, it was upbeat and positive. I went to work afterwards, which was pleasant, got some tasks accomplished and had some enjoyable banter with colleagues, even discussing blogmas with one of them! Hi Chelsea by the way, I promised I'd get a blog up tonight!! I'm also sticking some of your ideas into my plan....I say plan....it's a page with scribbles and headings but it's the beginnings of a plan!! Sometimes in December, I feel Christmas-y (its totally a word....and if its not, it should be) straight away and other times it takes me a few weeks. For anyone else lacking in festive spirit, I've prepared a list of things that help me get into the festive spirit. Also feel free to suggest your own! Watch Christmas Movies It's hard...