270. OK, sometimes I get it wrong

 Yes, hard to admit but my Christmas predictions didn’t all turn out right. So here are my reasons for liking Christmas:

1. A husband trying really really hard, so hard it was almost tangible, to be nice and (much as I hate the word) positive over Christmas. Better than any present, to see him genuinely smiling.

2. Christmas presents, from a tiny terrarium (“I thought you can’t kill this one”), a goody box with sweets from childhood as well as Haribo and chocolate sprouts to an antique ring I chose months ago. Every present a joy - so thank you to everyone.

3. The kindness of strangers (see previous blog). The flowers are still thriving, though I can only remember watering them once.

4. Christmas dinner. Ok, the usual Sunday roast with some pigs in blankets for me. It always makes me think of that year, late ‘70s, early ‘80s? when D said there was nothing he fancied for Christmas dinner so I took him literally and served him a plate of baked beans with a sprig of holly in the middle. His face was priceless. He was more precise after that. 

5. Christmas crackers. We normally don’t have these as I find it quite difficult pulling one on my own. However, a friend sent a box of six rather up-market crackers and, being on his best behaviour, D agreed to join in. Not only were they pretty explosive, they yielded keepworthy gifts. We took the remaining 4 when we visited friends on Boxing Day and our collection included a rather pretty heart necklace (sent on to my friend’s 9yo granddaughter), a butterfly key ring I instantly coveted, a solid metal die, some cuff links (ok, who wears them nowadays??), some nail clippers that actually work and a nifty double-ended screwdriver to attach to a key ring. Unsurprisingly, gold crowns were not worn. I do know when not to push my luck.

6. Cracker jokes. Yes, they were corny but they also were quite witty. They also included charades (I drew the line at that one) and dingbats which were rather challenging. Example, a blanks space with the word ‘just’ printed to one side.* Most important, they made D smile (and groan)!!

7. Christmas cards. I am still awaiting delivery of my order from Etsy so very few people received cards from us this year. Apologies. However I think fewer people sent them anyway because of the postal strikes so the ones we received are treasured. Particularly the one designed and sent by Anne’s 7yo granddaughter with a reindeer design. It took me back to the Anna Newby School of Dancing, which I attended weekly from the age of 8 to 10. At a Christmas show at Brooklands, the local ‘mental hospital’ as it was known then, I performed Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer, singing and tap-dancing. I wore my red tap shoes, a red taffeta tunic and had red lipstick on my nose. Unfortunately, the lipstick wouldn’t come off properly so I had to go to school with a pink nose for several days. Miss Newby of course performed The Dying Swan. I thought she was beautiful.

8. Christmas TV. It’s not the same now there are so many channels and so many providers, but it was still fun to go through the tv magazine and highlight what I wanted to watch (ok, record) and there were still surprises. I watched Christmas Carole. To be fair, I tend to partially-watch as I’m such a fidget, but I got a real shock when I saw Suranne Jones, modern-day Scrooge, meeting the ghosts of Christmas Past in the form of Morecombe and Wise. It took a few moments to realise it wasn’t brilliant CGI but two actors who, in my opinion, were superb. They had the voices, posture, mannerisms, everything off to a T. Only in close up could you tell they were completely different people. 

9. Ted Lasso. This was my Christmas discovery on Apple TV (special offer for 6 months with Sky so why not?). Slowly I began to see why this has earned so many nominations and awards (including 2 nominations for best supporting actor for Nick Mohammed, my book group friend Litsa’s son, aka Mr Swallow, on the right). It’s smart, subtle behind the in-your-face appearance and so funny. It even got me past the fact that it’s based in a football club. Brilliant (and so sad now I’ve binge-watched the two series). Loved it!

10. Christmas lights. There have been fewer official lights in Bramhope this year, presumably because of the energy crisis. We still have the WWI soldier with his gun, a silhouette that always makes me smirk as it looks like a giant phallus. It’s outside the Methodist Chapel of all places!!  But driving back from Carole’s, the lights so many houses still displayed were absolutely beautiful. They made up for the hairy journey with black ice and too many headlights and traffic lights causing sensory overload. Maybe night driving is no longer for my chemo-frazzled brain!

So, unexpectedly I had one of the nicest Christmases in several years. Thank you Dennis and I’m sorry it only lasted two days till I said something to spoil it - but it’s my reality, not something to be avoided!! This week I am having another week off chemo (currently experiencing withdrawal but the next few days should be lovely) because of logistics - I either had to drive to St James’s on Christmas Day to collect my prescription or delay taking them, not an option as it would mean no longer seeing Dr T OR take a week off. No brainer.

* Just right