I had an up and down week not long ago, but that was plain sailing in comparison to this last week. From day to day we haven't known whether our Christmas plans could go ahead or not.
It started with a minor thing. My elder daughter had been working from home for the last lockdown period, but early in the week her boss decided it was time everyone started going back to the office, and we weren't really happy about meeting up after she'd been mixing with other folks. Fortunately she persuaded them that it wasn't really necessary. Sigh of relief.
Then rumours started up that the government would change its mind about the relaxation of rules over Christmas, but after a couple more days of anxiety, it didn't. We're just to take extra care. Another sigh of relief.
There's always been a bit of a wild card in our plans - my grandson. Of all our three households, he's the one out and about most, at nursery everyday. And on Thursday, his class was sent home to self-isolate, as one of the children had tested positive for coronavirus. That child hadn't been in nursery for a couple of days, so the isolation period will end on Christmas Eve. It was cutting things fine, but all being well, and assuming grandson shows no symptoms, Christmas could go ahead. Another sigh of relief.
So I started on the indoor decorations - put up the tree, tried to make my tent lights look like a real feature, added more ornaments to the outside tree, then began to think about my Christmas grocery shopping. We had a click and collect slot this week, so we're pretty much stocked on basics, but I'd just assumed I could get another slot for early next week - no such luck. No crisps. No extra chocolate. Luckily my husband decided to keep checking, and found some slots released for Monday. Another sigh of relief.
Then ... a rapid turn-round from Boris nearly scuppered our Christmas plans completely. Being only allowed to meet on one day means a lot of travelling for my younger daughter, but she decided that, with a nap before she travels home, it's just about doable. We'd all put so many hopes on being able to meet that we'll settle for a few hours together, though as we'd be the same set of households meeting whether for one day or five, I can't understand why we couldn't have those extra days. Another sigh of relief though - but I can't imagine how gutted the folks in Tier 4 must feel.
For years my parents' ill health made Christmas a very hit and miss, messed up affair, but it was never this full of turmoil. When Boris announced another 'address to the nation' for Monday evening I feared more restrictions, but (sigh of relief) he was concerned about lorries backing up outside the closed ports. I'm now crossing my fingers and hoping nothing more can disrupt our plans.
Away from this mess, we've finished Schitt's Creek, rattled through Fleabag (I'm very late coming to this but loved it), and started Christmas movie watching. I'm always on the lookout for new slightly unusual films to add to my seasonal watch list, so I've been checking out ones I've seen recommended on social media - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (not particularly festive but flashbacks to a Christmas party figure highly), The Bishop's Wife (very sentimental film from 1947 which I found really irritating), Ronin (despite choirs singing in the middle of a car chase, it's not really Christmassy, but it's a good film) - and an old favourite, In Bruges.
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