[Closed] Xmas eve - what have you all done so far?

Played Christmas carols with a friend (me on Bb cornet, him on Euphonium) outside the butchers while people collected their turkeys.

Unjammed the hateful waste disposal unit.

Went to a dolphin show.

Met a pink dolphin. Looked at some beach houses to buy.

Turned up to work
Proved to my staff why I'm in charge by solving a long standing technical issue they couldn't sort themselves
Went to local pub for a full English and a pint
Now waiting for the 'go home' email from above

Flown a quadcopter (not for long, was too windy), surfed net, wrapped a pressie, eaten lunch. Off to pub shortly.

Work....

Pressies wrapped yesterday. Today I've had a bacon & egg sarnie & been to Booths for some nice ales. Pendleton Witches Brew, Ilkley Brewery "Mary Christmas", Oakham Ales Inferno and Avalanche from one of the Scottish breweries

Regretted the amount of Tallisker I drank after finishing off a bottle of Rioja last night.
Wrapped wife's presents.
Had a new windscreen fitted to the van after it got cracked last week.
Made a big thick wedge of a cheese & chorizo sandwich for lunch.
Not far off putting the iPad down for some serious sofa snoozing before getting wife out of bed later (she's on nights).

Tiding up my three children's bedrooms, and the playroom.

Eating lots of mince pies and chocolates.

I'm in work, ate pringles, chocolates, various other crisps
Done secret santa
Done a small amount of work - enough to keep me from being bored
Raffle at 2pm where everyone get a prize
Leave at 3ish for 20 mile ride home

Finished painting the kitchen ceiling, then rewired a new ceiling light, put up a mirror over the new fireplace and a few pictures in the spare room.

Love little finishing jobs around the house.

Been for a very nice ride round Swinley with mates.
Now in the bath eating chocolate.

Ate a massive bacon, sausage and egg bap and two Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Some work, finishing at 1. Then off to the BMX track for a cheeky christmas eve jump sesh 😀 😀

Been at work since 7, just about to leave

Thinking about starting the xmas present shopping I hope the petrol station is open late.....

Had my first ride since a knee op in November this morning 🙂 only 20 miles on the road, but still very happy with that! Having a brew, then off out to drop some cards off with mates and godchildren, and hopefully a pint or two in the eagle. Merry Xmas.

Bit of a lie in 😉 , porridge, ride in the woods, ready for some lunch now. Better do some wrapping after that.

found the missing tickets and details for the train ride back from sicily
lost my ticket for the new years day derby (imminent house destruction as everything gets trashed looking for it))
ate a load of chocolate sweeties and got another box of chocolate covered bribery from a supplier

Cycled to work, had 1hr meeting, then wrote report of site visit I had in Ramsgate on Monday, done some Autostitching of panoramas taken on Monday's site visit, finished off options appraisal of SFA options for a project, about to review details of a couple of small jobs being drawn up currently, just need to finalise a quotation for some additional work, look at some PII stuff, maybe some perfunctory desk tidying (ie pushing stuff to one side to make it look emptier), probably leave about 3:30-4... then to drive to the other side of Penrith tomorrow morning from Richmond upon Thames...

Lay in with coffee served in bed.
Bit of Christmas cookery TV
Nice sausages, onions and bacon sandwiches for everyone.
Watched Wall E
Having a poo now
Going for a walk in a minute.

Lie in after Monday nights epic car debacle, now at soft play with my boys and wild niece.

went to bed late after a 14 hour shift, woken up several times by child no4, woke this morning at 7:30am, coffee, sausage butty, acted as a referee between child no1 and child no3 while they tear strips off each other, gas ran out for the cooker, rang gas place, rushed down, collected another bottle, get back, child 1 has flu like symptoms, rang Selfridges moaning about an order not arriving, assumed the mrs was off out delivering family presents early today, she's still here,

basically a wasted day so far, id just love to go to sleep.

edit: child no4 just shit his pants

Lazed on sofa for a bit, cleaned the house top to bottom with Mrs B, had plenty of hugs n kisses with Mrs B, going to make some lunch then might see if Mrs B fancies a walk around the local park this afternoon. Going to prep tomorrows food and do a nice steak later....first time in the 12 christmas' that me and Mrs B have had together that she's not been working till 6 on Xmas Eve so we're enjoying it and each others company, which is lovely.

Bacon and cheese butties to soak up last nights Jim beam, then a blast around the woods, pint in the local on the way home. Enjoying a stress free, relaxed Christmas

Turkey in the oven, gravy preparation started.

Will be preparing the veg and potatoes later with a couple of Leffe and a glass or two or Shiraz.

Happy Christmas all!

Made it to work late so boss can go early. Just had lunch and walked my new assistant ( brought my dog to office for day 🙂 )
Plan stick iplayer on for afternoon as mark time/ clear inbox.

Rode to work on the road in the dark.
Finished work at 11am.
Rode home the fun way, over the moors and through the woods.
Now time to wash me and the bike. Then hopefully do very little for the rest of the day.
Happy Christmas!

Work this morning, kicked out at noon, home, finished lunch now off for a bonus ride 🙂

Went to the gym and gave it some extra oomph ready for tomorrows onslaught and booked climbing wall for Saturday morning. Just wrapped some tat, now waiting for pasta to go soft enough to eat.

My day started late last night with a call from my sister to say my 89yr old Mum is not going to be discharged from hospital today because there was a cock-up in the care-package assessment by various parties. So we've collected my disabled brother so he can have some semblance of a Christmas, and I've spent all day on the phone trying to arrange a transfer to a community geriatric ward or even a respite care bed, whilst cataloguing the endless examples to PALS of how to make a frail old lady's fortnight in hospital as humiliating and degrading as possible while failing to give her even the basic prescribed things like eye-drops or PPI for her reflux, having to console the ward sister who ended up in tears of frustration at the lack of staff on her unit, juggling that with a busy day here at work, and eventually learning that all our efforts are in vain as Mum has managed to dislocate her hip in the wonderful care of the grubby, shabby shithole she's now stuck in for Christmas.

However, in one hour and thirty five minutes' time I will be handing over to afternoon cover and making my way to Halifax to watch the Panto, in the company of my elderly MIL, entertained by the fact that she's so off her tits on Tramadol we rarely notice the clear signs of dementia. My disabled brother has managed to lift the mood of everyone by being so cheerfully upbeat because he's with my kids, who he adores, and who love him to bits, and if really pressed, I'd have to admit that shouting "he's behind you" will be a welcome break from dealing with hospitals and dying mothers. Then I have the dubious honour of picking my lad up from the pub where he works and sampling a Copper Dragon in the process, before finally getting round to wrapping Mrs Scape's pressies before going to bed ( a personal, obstinate tradition!) . My favourite day of the year, and to be honest, nothing is really spoiling it yet!

Working, waiting for the go away bah humbug moment.

Descaling toilet bowl to sparkling clean now.

Set off in the dark to ride over the Sidlaw hills to Dundee for work, hitting the top on frosty trails that are in way better condition than I'd expected. There were a few snowflakes on the wind and the sun rose in classic Christmas card, golden style as I came through the woods into the edge of town. Reckon it's going to be a cold, hard ride home at dusk but it'll still be fun.

Took the dog for a 2hr run over some of Surrey's finest hills. Played cars and Lego with the chimp. Currently watching dinosaur film with him. Curry and beer lined up for later.

Applied hg mould spray to the bathroom. Nice and clean now, but the house smells like a swimming pool.

Christmas cake for breakfast.
Have cooked the pie filling for tomorrow, done the red cabbage, rumbledethumps all done and ready to fry, ham boiled.

Still to do today - head out for a cheeky little 2 hour ride in a bit, Zoe's presents to wrap, pigs in blankets to wrap, and then chill with a few Erdingers.

First Christmas we're not going to either set of parents, just us and the dogs tomorrow. WAY more relaxed this way!

73ks on the CX'er in super sunny South Hampshire, up and over the Downs and back to thie sea. Jet washed the bike and me, fully cleaned, lubed and now sparkling.

We're off into the Downs again to get some Christmas spirit from one of our fave villages.

Enjoy all.

Ham boiling in orange juice in slow cooker. Am wrapping presents. Honest. I just got distracted for a second.

Spent the day mountain biking in India

Local ride this morning,just before the rain blew through,there was still some frost lurking that caught me out a few times,but good to be out.
Even the dog walkers I met were full of Christmas eve cheer,smiles all round .
Washed bike and got it ready for the Sunday [s]race[/s] fun event.
Threw some last minute cards through letter boxes.
Off to see a film (St. Vincent)with the family,then a meal and some booze. Merry Christmas 🙂

Quick dive with sub to 1400m to do a survey and also shrunk one of these! 😀
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Almost forgot...stayed up late/early into Xmas eve, prepping the summer bike which included a rebuild of a sticky front mech. Must've been a bit tipsy by the time i had finished because I forgot all about until an hour ago when I looked in the garage. Woopee front gears working!

Breakfast, quick bit of shopping, lunch with wine, editing some videos

Up at 0630 for 60 minute spin class at 7. Vaguely at desk by 0830, breakfast, coffee, chatting. Cleared out a draw of junk, watched a colleague do the same who found two signed photos of Pierluigi Collina. Took one for my GF who used to love watching him.

Home, turkey/stuffing sandwich, sausage roll, little sausages. Finished wrapping presents, doing labels. Washed week's worth of bike and gym kit. Tidied up.

Now about to go out and deliver present to three sets of friends, should be fun.

Got kids up, washed and fed. Done one load of washing. Took kids to Shipley Park to get some exercise and fresh air in them. Discovered that the cafe in the park was shut. Cleared last two days ironing.Sorted out emails. Got lunch for everyone. Washed up. Hoovered downstairs. Sent Jnr out with a mate for a couple of hours. Now catching up on some recorded telly while LittleMissMC does some colouring.

Later we are making choc chip shortbread, then it will be time to get tea ready for when MrsMC gets home from work.

Frankly would be easier to be at work today!

13 hour shift. Bah humbug.

Ran up to Lords Seat - very pleasant!
Now off to deliver stuff - hopefully everywhere will be nice and quiet...

28 mostly wind-assisted miles in the Dales. By God it's sloppy out there.

Greeted at the door with cup of tea and a pork pie though. Merry Christmas.

started day with dog walk
Dropped presents off at brother in laws, not in. dropped cards off at friends, not in. Do you think their trying to tell me something!
Fuelled car up
Back home bite to eat then some more present wrapping whilst wife cleans house like the Queens coming for dinner, oh apparently she is-my mother 😀
Walk dog again and then Chritingle

Up very late and suffering manflu. Massive salad for lunch, interrupted by friend who wanted to use my Dirtworker to wash off some fox poo or similar her dog had rolled in.

About to start doing my year end accounts, but doing avoidance tactics by surfing the net.

Office for the morning. I'm listening to carols on the Pc while I await collection by Sandwich Jr. I am a third of a bottle of Glenlivet to the good and life is sweet.

Got a gondola up an Austrian mountain, ate some gröstl, walked back down.

Today I have:
- Cleaned spare room for MIL who arrives later today.
- Posted out last customer parcel
- Finished laying the floorboards in the bathroom
- Put up a new curtain pole
- Made sure the sheep have enough hay
- Put the Christmas tree up (well it is Christmas tomorrow)
- Given the ducks and chickens a pre Christmas treat
- Sunk half a glass of port (while typing this)
- Sunk half a glass of port instead of wrapping up presents.

I'm now (thanks to those two half glasses of port) in a Christmassy mood 😀

Cleaned house top to bottom. Had a shave. Sis in law and future hubby been round. Now a bite to eat and tuck into the Baileys I think. For once we are all organised 🙂

Have had a good wander around Reykjavik today, time to grab some food and head out for a few bevvies. Saw the northern lights last night. 🙂

Walked the dog, chopped some logs. Was ordered out of the kitchen, so hid in the corner & ate all the sausage rolls, fresh out of the oven. Read "Biggles Defends the Desert". Fell asleep, and have just been woken up to do the washing up. Carols are playing somewhere. Our normally sulky teenager is in a good mood for once! We have no sherry for the trifle, so Squidlady is sampling glasses of madeira, port & drambuie, trying to decide which would be the best substitute. She looks quite happy, so will leave her to it, she needs a break.

Went and bought some last minute presents and some uneccesery extra food.
Had lunch and just been out for a ride in the woods and up on the cliffs. Its windy and muddy.
Cleaned the bike a bit and now having a cup of tea.
Wrapping presents next then watching whatever rubbish is on tv with a couple of beers and a large tub of cheeselets.

Playing with the helicopter in the house with the kids. Chopped some wood, watched some rubbish film with the kids. Lovely.

Walked in to Stourbridge to do my Christmas shopping (first time in my life I've done Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve)

First off treated myself to breakfast (eggs benedict and a brew) in Whetherspoons (I know, but they do it really well!) got all but one present within 10 mins. Went to the local for a couple of Whiskies and a couple of pints.
Popped in to Tesco for some red wine for cooking, wasn't as bad as I feared, I killed no one and got served straight away.
Picked the last present I needed, got some mince pies and fizz from 'Trose and headed home.
Now lay on bed eating mince pies and suffering Craddocks stomach (stomach cramps and impending Brad Pitts thanks to my locals own beers)

Bit of a snooze then family stuff then pub tonight

Rode around some closed pistes on a spike-tyred MTB, skied up and down some open pistes, played guitar, gave junior a driving lesson, lit wood burner, now some last minute shopping (when Madame stops faffing)..

Cycled down to Boots on my new Raleigh Pioneer town bike, tres comfortable.

Hit the 3 for 2 as always. Bang! xmas shopping down in 15 minutes.

Put my debit card in the card reader, the checkout girl hadn't noticed and said "I didn't realise you'd stuck it in". Bit tongue.

Cycled to a small village, saw four wild deer in the middle of a field, took a picture.

Planned some new poems for 2015, combining Henri Bergson's anti-Platonism with Du Bartas compressed metaphysical style.

Staying away from the silliness tonight and listening to FiveLive instead.

We've hired a cottage in porlock, Somerset for the week. Today we did a nice couple of hours walk over the hills, with a picnic in the rain. Then to Minehead for a pint and walked the dogs on the empty beach. The tide was out as far as I've ever seen. Back to porlock now. Out to the ship later for a couple of beers and back for that festive favourite, chicken and chorizo risotto!

mostly bimbled about getting pissed.. saw the kids for a bit this morning, did a wee bit of shopping, scored some hash off a pensioner in the boozer..

gonna do some housework in a bit and then head to the pub 🙂

Wandered round the local shops with the Mrs and went for a nice spot of lunch whilst the in-laws minded the kids. Got back to my sister in laws and have been gorging on mince pies and mulled wine for the last 3 hrs. The brother in law has just got in from work and we're just about to sneak out to my favorite pub in the whole of the south of england for a few pints of Spindrift.

Fitted some Saint cranks this morning then went for a Trans-Cannock epic, no trail left unridden, some of them twice. Just enjoying a pint of tea and a biscuit now.

Hope you all have a good one

Called Mate to arrange tonight.
Dog walk
Coffee
STW
Coffee
STW
Twitter
Took outside light apart to find out why it's not working
To town on hack bike to get new bulb for light and few groceries
Fitted said bulb
Sausage butties
Got bored so went for a drive to butty van got given 2 pints of orange and 2 pints of milk as she was shutting for Xmas and was going to throw them away
Back home now going Mates in a bit for a curry.

Spent a couple of hours playing at chicksands.
Then came home and had first shower in our house for 6 days since the boiler went pop last week.
Now put the tree up and relaxing

Quick dive with sub to 1400m to do a survey and also shrunk one of these!

This may be the best use of Christmas eve I've ever read about.

Couple of hours at work, then took the dog out for an hour of trailhound training on tunnel hill. Bath, then tescos to pick up the veg and some not shampoo for the daughters. Called in at the saffer biltong shop for some biltong and droewors, then home. Put some washing on and now doing the girls nit stuff before Xmas eve tea.

Oh the glamour of parenthood.

Just finished shooting arrows around the woods.

602 on 34 targets 🙂 ... first time in 600 club.

TV now.

Ride tomorrow 🙂

Took the dog for a long walk this morning then into the Peak for a meal.
Just arrived back and now relaxing, can feel a sleep coming on.

Made sausage rolls, ate bacon, sausages and toast, had a quick sunny blast on the Hooker, made mince pies . . . now eating mince pies and drinking wine (wine? wtf? S'OK beer is chilling 😛 ) while gammon joint is cooking in the oven. Still have the dog's presents to wrap 😆

Oh, and have a freakin' blast y'all!!!

Edit: Just burnt second batch of mince pies - I blame the wine. Stick to beer Mama! 🙄

update from the earlier mould cleaning.
Since then:
2 loads of washing,
Some kids crafts,
Short ride
Clean bikes
Christmas card delivery
Film on tv now

House still smells of a swimming pool.

Local boozy ride,thats all.

Been to work, cleaned the car, planned tomorrow ride seen as the weather is looking good, Fiancé insists we go out. Pressies and dinner can wait til its dark.

Had 3 holes dug in my back by the Doctor.One of them(mole)she didn't like the look of!ummmmm.Also remarked my back now resembles a "patchwork quilt".Nice.

Just eaten fish n chips and watched Avengers on da big telly with da boom box sound and am consuming loads of alcohol..........

Wife up early & dragged youngest off to supermarket.
Tidied house whilst eldest watched Stampylongnose minecraft videos.
Into town for few bits, then cook tea...sausage & mash. 🙂
About to wrap the wifes present with a JD Tennessee Honey.
Might have a bit of stollen.

Had weetabix, picked up Turkey from M and S, drove dad to hospital after he walked into a glass door, went to 'Story of Santa Claus' at local playhouse, went to neighbor's for Christmas drinks, went to church for crib service, went to village carol service by war memorial, had dress rehearsal for family nativity play, ate Christmas dinner, bathed kids, came to internet.

Took partner to trains station to travel into town to get her hair cut.
Did some food shopping on the way home.
Finished polishing nieces and sister in law's presents
Started second of partners presents( last minute decision to make matching earrings for pendant made last week)
Picked her up from station
Had hour long conversation with friend from school I hadn't spoken to for ages.
Spoke for a while with my sister in Italy.
Finished presents by about 6.30 pm-cutting it even finer than usual- unexpected phone calls set my schedule back
Wrapped said presents plus a few others
Cooked the evening meal
Now sort of watching Skyfall