“At the beginning of December I’m going to go all out with the Christmas decorations,” I said to The Bloke last month. 

We’re moving house at the beginning of January and so it is going to be the last Christmas we have here. I had every intention of making a huge effort – Christmas over the last few years has been haphazard and last-minute and both The Bloke and I have felt like we’ve just gone through the motions rather than actually feeling festive and celebrating. 

And then at the beginning of December I got covid. I’ve been pretty careful at trying to stay as safe as possible, but I met up with a friend at the end of November and must have picked it up on the bus on the way home – there were lots of people coughing and spluttering and because it was minus temperatures all the windows were closed. 

Awesome.

It knocked me on my arse for about ten days, and this was followed by a kidney infection for which I now have antibiotics. Not easy when you’re self-employed – I got into a pattern of sleep, work, sleep, work which helped, but it wasn’t the easiest few weeks. 

Consequently, it’s a week until Christmas Eve and up until this morning nothing was done. I’m certainly feeling better, but I’ve not been in the mood. The Bloke and I even discussed not bothering this year – the effort of even decorating the tree seemed like an unnecessary hassle. However, I knew that on the actual day I would have regretted leaving it, so today we hastily threw the tree together in about half an hour and decided to leave it at that. The plastic tree has been with us for about thirteen years, and it looks more and more dishevelled every year. But the decorations always make me smile – a mishmash of random things that we have picked up on our adventures that carry lots of nice memories. My favourite is the ridiculous gaudy pink duck with red lipstick that is featured in the picture above – I bought it from Liberty in London on a trip last year, just because. It always makes me smile.

Now the tree is up and leaning in a wonky fashion in the corner of the living room, I’m glad we did it. It’s actually the first time that I’m feeling excited about it, and I have found myself going through different Pinterest boards to look for some fun ideas for Christmas Day. I haven’t posted any cards or wrapped presents yet, but at least I’m now in the mood to do so. 

What about you? Are you already prepped for Christmas or have you yet to start?