When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney, The Chimney We Did Not Possess...
What am I doing up at this hour? Well, Toni has an early Doctor's appointment (don't worry, nothing that isn't in hand) and my snoring was keeping her up.
I think I got up around 5AM but I can't be too sure. Toni won't be up till around 8.15, I finally caught up with LJ properly, I can sleep in the late morning or afternoon (or maybe when I'm dead!) so I can still go out tonight for New Year's Eve to the Star and Garter. As you may not have heard, it's a fine (albeit rundown) drinking establishment in Manchester that may be getting torn down:
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/star-and-garter-manchester-pictures-10595403
There has been a pub (in some form) on the same site for around 200 years. Interestingly, two mates who visited in 2015 after leaving Manchester (Jessica who now lives in Seattle, USA and Nikki who lives in Newcastle, Australia) both noticed that there are fewer and fewer pubs, there is an ongoing campaign to keep this one open, one that is definitely worth fighting for.
Christmas has been wonderful. Christmas Eve carried on in the fashion it has for over half my lifetime, having beers round my Mum and Dad's. This tradition has been going on for around half my life now, it only started when we were 16 and just bored of waiting to get served in the rammed White Horse on Christmas Eve, so we resorted to buying beer from the shop instead and drinking at my folks'.
Over the intervening sixteen years, a vast number of friends have attended (thankfully not at the same time, as there may not have been the space!) This was the first time it was in a room being redecorated, with Christmas music played from a laptop as the power sockets were not in action. Me, Toni, both sets of parents, my sister, Stevo, Ben and Vausey (after a couple of late drop outs), all in attendance. It's great as I get the chance to say Merry Christmas to my folks and some mates I otherwise wouldn't see on the day itself.
Christmas Day we thought would be spent largely just me and Toni, but our mate Nikki is visiting from Australia for a few weeks and as she is now big on 'Park Runs' she ran 5KM on Christmas morn'! Insanity! Happy to share our shower facilities with her and her fella Andrew though and get a chance to hang out for a bit.
This delayed present opening till late morning... Very happy with what I got though, some skull patterned trainers, beer, kooky shirts, the odd CD and Dairy Milk Strawberries and Cream, nom! Plus I won the twee off with Toni, woop!
Toni opted into eating the duck, after being pescatarian for most of the year but the sheer amount of vegetables meant that I reheated the pigs in blankets for breakfast on Boxing Day! She then passed out during Home Alone 2, so I text a few mates Merry Christmas while watching two burglars receive more pain than seems allowable in a 'family film'..!
In the evening, we ventured across the block to Toni's parents, had a few more beers, Chas 'n' Dave on the TV in the background as we played 'Cards Against Humanity', if you haven't played it yet, I advise you do, if you have a dark sense of humour. Or you want your partner to say a variety of words she would rather not say in front of Mum and Dad (e.g. clitoris!)
Since then, we've largely got absorbed in the Darts and 'Aquarius'. Plus I went out on the beer with Nikki 2, Danneh and Nikki 1 in Manchester on the 27th and I gave blood yesterday too! For the first time ever, it was used in eyedrops, I had no idea that they could do that!
I can't believe it's only 51 weeks till Christmas... (kidding!)
I think I got up around 5AM but I can't be too sure. Toni won't be up till around 8.15, I finally caught up with LJ properly, I can sleep in the late morning or afternoon (or maybe when I'm dead!) so I can still go out tonight for New Year's Eve to the Star and Garter. As you may not have heard, it's a fine (albeit rundown) drinking establishment in Manchester that may be getting torn down:
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/star-and-garter-manchester-pictures-10595403
There has been a pub (in some form) on the same site for around 200 years. Interestingly, two mates who visited in 2015 after leaving Manchester (Jessica who now lives in Seattle, USA and Nikki who lives in Newcastle, Australia) both noticed that there are fewer and fewer pubs, there is an ongoing campaign to keep this one open, one that is definitely worth fighting for.
Christmas has been wonderful. Christmas Eve carried on in the fashion it has for over half my lifetime, having beers round my Mum and Dad's. This tradition has been going on for around half my life now, it only started when we were 16 and just bored of waiting to get served in the rammed White Horse on Christmas Eve, so we resorted to buying beer from the shop instead and drinking at my folks'.
Over the intervening sixteen years, a vast number of friends have attended (thankfully not at the same time, as there may not have been the space!) This was the first time it was in a room being redecorated, with Christmas music played from a laptop as the power sockets were not in action. Me, Toni, both sets of parents, my sister, Stevo, Ben and Vausey (after a couple of late drop outs), all in attendance. It's great as I get the chance to say Merry Christmas to my folks and some mates I otherwise wouldn't see on the day itself.
Christmas Day we thought would be spent largely just me and Toni, but our mate Nikki is visiting from Australia for a few weeks and as she is now big on 'Park Runs' she ran 5KM on Christmas morn'! Insanity! Happy to share our shower facilities with her and her fella Andrew though and get a chance to hang out for a bit.
This delayed present opening till late morning... Very happy with what I got though, some skull patterned trainers, beer, kooky shirts, the odd CD and Dairy Milk Strawberries and Cream, nom! Plus I won the twee off with Toni, woop!
Toni opted into eating the duck, after being pescatarian for most of the year but the sheer amount of vegetables meant that I reheated the pigs in blankets for breakfast on Boxing Day! She then passed out during Home Alone 2, so I text a few mates Merry Christmas while watching two burglars receive more pain than seems allowable in a 'family film'..!
In the evening, we ventured across the block to Toni's parents, had a few more beers, Chas 'n' Dave on the TV in the background as we played 'Cards Against Humanity', if you haven't played it yet, I advise you do, if you have a dark sense of humour. Or you want your partner to say a variety of words she would rather not say in front of Mum and Dad (e.g. clitoris!)
Since then, we've largely got absorbed in the Darts and 'Aquarius'. Plus I went out on the beer with Nikki 2, Danneh and Nikki 1 in Manchester on the 27th and I gave blood yesterday too! For the first time ever, it was used in eyedrops, I had no idea that they could do that!
I can't believe it's only 51 weeks till Christmas... (kidding!)