h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Here it is, my first Christmas just me and the dogs, although I expect I will drop in to see my parents.

Just had breakfast and opened my pressies.

I'm going to lounge around in my jim jams until, ooh, 10ish I suppose. Then I'll take the dogs out for a long walk - just the littlies, Beauty can't cope with this uneven surface very well so she'll stay at home with a pigs ear. We'll be walking to the park as I have a suspicion my neighbour is hosting xmas so I won't move my car as she'll have my space otherwise. She's happy to moan about cars parking opposite her drive making it difficult to get in and out (even though she doesn't even drive let alone own a car) but is happy for her mates to constantly block me in or steal my space. And yes I know we aren't entitled to park outside our own houses, but you know, for neighbourliness, why can't she ask them to leave my little space alone!? Anyway, no noise yet from her place so I'm hoping I'm wrong and she's off to see them. Or already gone, as there's been silence from her place all night. Very unusual! No screaming because some numpty won some stupid tv show.

I'll drop in and bother my parents on the way back. Then I'll feed the dogs, cook dinner, eat it obviously, and then we're on for dog games! Which will involve newspaper, slightly gone off ham and chicken, toilet rolls, proper dog board game type things, and dogs.

At some point I'll have to go through my India information so I can make a shopping list as tomorrow I'm going Shopping. With a Capital S. As you could probably see.

What's everyone else doing?

Merry Christmas

Most probably I'll be staying at home with , eating cookies and other festive stuff, watch some star trek or something else if I have.

Mmmh, actually, now you say it, I might go for a walk somewhere. Good idea indeed

Merry Christmas to you too!

It's now 10ish so I've put down the xbox and am preparing to go for our walk. So far I've avoided opening any of the 5 big boxes of I got from clients. They've got to be gone before I get back from India as I'm going cold turkey out there and don't want temptation here as soon as I get back! On the other hand, I don't want to eat them all.

At work and those off to sunnier climates

I plan to catch a bus to work in about 30 minutes, at 8am, and spend the day pouring drinks for people who always seem to be far more grumpy and irritable and just plain crabby on Christmas Day than on any other of the year.

I'm going to do my best to get home by 6pm and have a Christmas dinner of pork loin roast, mash, Brussels sprouts, carrots and gravy, and while I'm eating it I'll be steaming the Christmas pud I made a month ago If I get home at 6pm it'll be ready soon after 9.00 cos it needs another three hours of steaming (on top of the nine I've already given it).

I'll watch an episode of Morse, I think, catch up with the final day's TMS commentary from the Perth test, drink some good beer and then go to bed and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.

Change of plans - I think I'll watch Hobson's Choice

Came back from the walk. It was very beautiful, but

Saw a frozen shrub too

Thanks for the idea!

No problem! I found a stray dog on my walk, but managed to avoid having to fetch it home with me as it wouldn't let me catch it - as soon as it saw my dog leads it ran away.

Sounds good Gosho - I had thought of going to my local social club just for couple of drinks but couldn't be bothered to walk in the end!

Hmm. Well, my last thought as I crashed out at 2am was 'I wonder if I should have taken the joint out of the fridge', and my first discovery this morning was that it hadn't thawed So I have had to completely re-jig the day's timetable and it's all been a bit weird - we don't normally eat an evening meal on Christmas Day. Pork loin now in the oven and I'm about to put the pud on, then I get 45 minutes off.

It's also been a bit fraught because *everybody* is tired and grumpy, and we have our new Wii. DH had lashed it all up and had a go after the kids went to bed last night, so at least it was ready to run as soon as we were all up. But co-operative play doesn't come naturally to siblings so we have had one or two stormings off and tellings off.

But I have unwrapped presents, cooked a fry-up breakfast, played my karaoke Christmas Carols CD and had a good singsong, watched TOTP, drunk nearly half a bottle of bubbly, hung up the laundry to dry, had a very nice munchable lunch, listened to Ed Stewart and the Queen (separately), and watched the sunlight sparkling on the snow. And in between and while doing all that I've rested my foot, so it's been a good day. V cold though - -8 according to the thermometer I stuck in the outdoor fridge (ie the garden).

The doggie board games sound good. We will be playing Top Trumps (farts edition). Santa knows what 8 year old boys enjoy.

Mol

Oh yes, sounds like the family christmasses (sp?) I remember! Especially when computer games are at stake - although I thought the idea of the Wii was to share and enjoy as a family. Ha!

Although you've robbed the kids of dad trying to put things together on xmas morning with 'helpful' children around which I feel is a shame.

I've just put my oven on (I hope, wouldn't be the first time), I have turkey breasts, parsnips, special gravy which apparently needs heating up in a saucepan and brussel sprouts. I have another lot of food for when Teenacher is home, which is when chaos will rule as it's a big lump of turkey breast roll stuff I think from butchers which will need carving. We'll hack at it with small knives I should think.

For afters a teeny tiny christmas pud which I shall probably flood with an entire tin of custard and all the brandy sause.

Dog board games not such a success as they have to queue. Fred's okay with queueing (surprisingly), as is Beauty, Bobby's no idea what's going on at all, Scamp is doing his usual Stealth Ninja thing and is determined to steal another dog's turn. Second time round I had to rescue Bobby's biscuit from Scamp's throat.

Tomorrow I'm loading up 3 boxes with newspaper, toilet roll tubes, that pate I didn't finish before 3 days were up, and anything else I think might be fun and let the dogs just deal with it themselves instead of having to queue up!

Still at work By the time I get home kids will have gone out daughter will be playing the poor student bit to get her older brothers and their friends to buy her drinks all night. Mrs Norti will say she's tired and go to bed, leaving me glad I recorded Hobsons choice (With you there all the way Gosho ) or wiatch my Crimbo DVD 'The Water Margin' Haven't seen that since I was a young boy

Where is there to go for a drink?? There was never anywhere open by the time I was trying to escape my parents house! Lunchtime was open, then everything closed!

Ah well, looks like bottle of + and a DVD. Welcome to my world