Luckily for me at Christmas there is just me and the missus to consider. No hordes of relations to go and see. No hordes of relations descending on us. We buy presents for each other and for our respective mothers. That's it. But I agree. It's so difficult buying a surprise present for the missus.
We've embargoed buying loads of sweet stuff this year. Christmas Day, LOML will go down to cook her mother lunch. I will go and have a liquid lunch down the pub. Job done. Boxing Day is when we 'celebrate' Christmas.
Having said all that this year has been slightly different already in that I finally got off my backside and went to the BBC TelOB reunion down at Old Deer Park, Kew. I'd booked myself into a small B&B within staggering (literally and metaphorically) from the venue. Just as well as I imbibed seriously. Can't remember how many pints and I'm not talking two or three. It was a great opportunity to meet up with guys I used to work with over 40 years ago and reminisce (we seemed to get up to quite a lot of mischief then, if truth be told). Best job I ever had. Some of the guys, you recognised the name but the face had changed a lot and others you could see the facial characteristics still coming through after all those years. But the one characteristic then never seems to change is the voice. Quite funny...meet someone there..you vaguely recognise the name but if you never worked with them on a unit then there are no sort of 'anchors' to lodge memories on. But as they carry on talking, that's when the old grey cells start to kick in and gradually you remember more and more. And you think to yourself 'My God...now I remember you. You were a boring old fart then and you're still a boring old fart now'.
And the cherry on the cake was walking past Kew Gardens seeing an exhibition of Japanese flora paintings and thinking to myself..."There's a birthday present there somewhere for the missus (in May..nothing like forward planning" and so there was. Result !!
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.