My Monday: counting down to Christmas

Festive preparations are well underway!

I've never been one to sweep all my Christmas shopping out of the way before December is barely visible on the horizon. I wouldn't say I was last-minute but I'm not the most organised shopper and you'll invariably find me barricaded into a room on Christmas eve, frantically whisking gifts into tissue paper and wondering why bottles of ale never get easier to wrap. This year, however, circumstance has forced me to plan a little further ahead: I've arranged a "fakemas" day and it dances, tantalisingly close, at the end of this week. I return to the bonny Northeast on Thursday and am going to share gifts, cracker jokes and merriment with my family earlier than is traditional.

With this in mind, my Monday has been a frantic rush to finish off the last little bits of present buying. Bristol's generous array of independent shops has made this even more of a delight than usual. There's something much more reassuring about walking into a shop where the vendor knows their trade and product as though it were their own flesh and blood. Asking for recommendations and finding good-quality items to give to loved ones feels so much more meaningful than grabbing a 3 for 2 smellies set from Boots.

With Christmas (and fakemas) fast approaching, I've had to cut back on the few indulgences I like to allow myself and this means missing Patrick Wolf at St. George's tonight, so this evening I am LISTENING to Sundark and Riverlight and moping while I begin my packing. Oh, how I wish I was there! Maybe next time. Still, to cheer me up I have the prospect of a week in Durham and Newcastle- so close I can almost taste the stotties and proper tea - and a thick stack of back issues of Mollie Makes to READ, thanks to Marie at Paris in a Bottle.

This WEEKEND has been a good one: it was Making Things Club last night (more on that later!) and I dressed my tree and got my first batch of Christmas cards posted to friends and family - but I'm itching to get back to the Northeast now! The next couple of days at work won't feel quite real.

I have a feeling next Monday will be a lot more exciting!

My Monday: recuperation

As I work Tuesday to Saturday, my weekend is skewed a little. Occasionally I whinge about having to work Saturdays, but really I love having that little slice of the week, a Monday, to potter around getting ready for the week ahead and, often, have the flat to myself. I use Mondays to explore Bristol, read the papers if I've bothered to buy one, drink coffee and Get Things Done (it's the only day I can get to a bank or Post Office, and it's easier for getting bits and pieces from independent shops as it's business as usual for them).

This week has been a little different. I spent much of last week ill and am finally feeling just about well enough to resume real life tomorrow, so today has been spent under my duvet, READING zines (mainly What's the Time, Mrs Woolf? and OFF LIFE comic). Outside that, I'm currently racing towards the end of The Virgin Suicides, which arrived in the post at just the right time to lift me from my bedridden blues, and flicking through Mollie Makes for craft inspiration.

Keeping entertained in my nest: fresh fruit, lots of reading material, my TENS machine for pain relief and my phone to connect me to the outside world (bedrest is lonely business).

I've been LISTENING to the new Tall Ships release, Everything Touching on a continuous loop for days and days and days. I wasn't sure I wanted to ever stop but then a mix CD from Adam landed on my doormat and now I'm feasting my ears on that instead. Tall Ships are currently touring the UK so do go and check them out if they're playing near you! I'm still grappling with my iPod and my grumbling old laptop (they don't like eachother, or, rather, my laptop doesn't like anyone or anything) so while I'm on the move I'll probably be back to blasting ONSIND's Dissatisfactions into my ears; it sounds like home.

This WEEKEND has been a very quiet one, but sometimes that's nice. My best friend Heather arrived on Saturday night from North Wales to cuddle me, make me tea and help me feel more human. She left this morning and her presence has done its trick: I feel like myself again. Yesterday evening we popped down the road to Café Kino for the Making Things Club hallowe'en special, then watched Heathers (appropriate title) and went to sleep.

I'll be glad to get back to normality, and work, tomorrow. But for the rest of the evening, it's my day, Monday.