My Paper Lungs

I’m being completely unconventional here and writing about my Christmas Day after already posting about my New Year’s activities, I know. Rules were made to be broken people! 

And I need to be reminded of the time when I could eat food without any guilt, when a mince pie could be enjoyed one after another as they were destined to be. We are nine days into the New Year and even though I have yet to put any restrictions on my diet (5 boxes of left-over mince pies will do that to you) I no longer feel ‘allowed’ to eat so much, and with each mouthful comes the nagging feeling that I really shouldn’t be eating all this crap. PARTY POOPER.

That aside, I feel like it’s time to reminisce over our first proper Christmas Day together. Japan did not count, believe me. That’s a post for another day, my friends. This year, it wasn’t only our first Christmas together, but also our first Christmas in our university house. I know it’s not exactly what you could call our first home together, but when everyone else had buggered off, it wasn’t half bad. Fairy lights and wine definitely helped.

It being Christmas and all and no parents to rely upon, it also meant we had free range on the Christmas decoration front. We had to be responsible adults and get our own tree AND start our own Christmas decoration box. You know you’re a proper couple when you plan a Christmas decoration box. We ended up getting an artificial tree from Homebase, and it being my first ever artificial, it wasn’t half-bad. It still dropped majorly, finding green shards of plastic around the house, and it didn’t have that oh-so piney-winey smell, but it still looked pretty good for £35. Student budget wins again.

Though, that didn’t stop us splashing out on some posh Christmas tree decorations. Having only a few rather characterful ones to put on the tree, we definitely needed some baubles and lights. We had recently received a John Lewis voucher as an engagement present, and thought it best to spend the money on something that would last, and something useful. Welcome the John Lewis Christmas Tree extravaganza! We bought an entire mix of baubles, some plain gold and red ones to fill the gaps, and then some more special ones. My personal favourite has to be this snowy droplet one. In the background you can see a close second favourite, a clear-glass one with strip of typed-text in it saying ‘Eat, drink and be Merry!’ The perfect literary-lovers bauble.

Another honourable mention needs to go to this perfect Hannibal-esque bauble. Dripping with blood it reminds us of the end of the second series, with all that blood, and the camera panning to the rain droplets. It’s like a perfect mix of both Hannibal and Will. It’s basically the perfect bauble.

We agreed however, that some old faithful decorations could still be put on the tree. They weren’t decorations per-say, but they meant something to us, so we thought they deserved some place in the festivities. This little monkey here was actually a dog toy belonging to my late Penny. Brad thought it would be a good idea to put it at the bottom of the tree to see if Tuppence took any notice of it. She didn’t.

Because of this whole mish-mash of decorations we didn’t really have a theme to our tree. We decorated with all that we could, and ended up with a candy-cane theme it seemed. When my mum came down that inevitably turned into a rocking-horse theme, but that’s not surprising considering my mum gets teary-eyed at the Lloyd’s Bank advert. When people have themes to their decorations it always seems so regimented and, I hate to say it, boring. Narrowing down your options, it’s almost like you can’t have fun unless it’s in the correct shade of pink to match the tree. A festive mess is the theme we went for.

Not content with just doing the tree, we did the living room as well. It doesn’t look so cosy in this picture, probably because of the daylight and all, but those fairy lights were amazing. Really cheap from Asda. I love Asda.

This being a student house and all, there wasn’t exactly a roaring fire to hang the stocking next to. Thought the bike was the next best thing. Obvs.

When mum arrived it was all hands on deck to make the food. We WERE going to treat her to a relaxing day, honest… but she just took control and had to do it. You won’t hear me complaining! As a child you never really realise how much time and effort goes into making the Christmas dinner. I guess you just assume it just magically appears. When you have to do it yourself, there’s a whole new appreciation added to the deceptively simple roast potato.

Just look as this table! This photo, although a little dark, brings me straight back to the time I could eat EVERYTHING that was in sight. Good times, man, good times. Though, I don’t think this table would live up to the judgement of Hannibal (not enough humans) it sure beats our regular meals of over-cooked pasta. Yum Yum.

We weren’t the only ones to stuff our faces that day either. Tuppence had a whale of a time with all her presents.

She crashed out with the rest of us later on, of course. The mandatory digestive nap was in order.

 

The night continued, as most nights do in our household, with an array of films and T.V. We missed Downton Abbey (CHRISTMAS RUINED) but we managed to catch it the next day – hell yeah for ITV Player. The Holiday and The Muppet’s Christmas Carol, that my mum LOVED, were good substitutes.

This was such a good year on the present front. There wasn’t exactly anything that I particularly wanted, there never really is. I hate the annual, “so what do you want for Christmas?” questions because I always feel my face going red under the pressure of asking for something. It just feels so unnatural. And I rather like surprises. I LOVE surprises. It’s always so much more satisfying when you can’t guess what presents are under the tree. Like this year. I thought my mum had bought me a calendar. Nope. It was a colouring book. I would NEVER have asked for it, but it’s amazing!!! I love giving presents too. I think I enjoy that more than receiving. Though this year Brad’s present choice was so SO good. I think I’m going to do a separate post on what I got, just because it was so cleverly thought out. What I got him was kind of shit in comparison, but then again it is stuff he wanted, I think. The bar has definitely been set high for Valentine’s Day. Challenge accepted.

Christmas by far is definitely my favourite holiday. A good excuse to dress up, or down, both being acceptable, and of course a good excuse to stuff your face silly. It’s nice hanging out with people you don’t get to see often, or in my case, meeting new ones with Christmas temp. It’s safe to say, I think, that this first Christmas was a success!! HELL YEAH. I can’t wait for next year! 350 days to go!!!

Merry Christmas everybody!!

N.E