Twas the night before Christmas..
or was it!
is it?
I'm very confused
Apparently Christmas day is already underway down under where it's Christmas morn brunch time, it's also after midnight back home so technically IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
I haven't even got out of my work clothes from today!
If it's Christmas day in some parts of the world right now does that mean I can open some presents?
If I was in Ireland it would be cheers time in Mulligans! but how is it that I'm still doing my Christmas shopping and trying to recover from Dec 23rd's hangover!
Time differences are dirt!!
A few years back Lorcan and I came up with a fool proof shopping technique...for each present bought you go for a drink to celebrate. Makes for some interesting purchases later in the day!
Now considering my apt is as well stocked as an off-licence there was no need for the pub but Breff and I certainly did our best.
Each bag-laden return trip to the abode was rewarded with a vodka, tonic and OJ. Great idea, took the sting out of the bitey wind chill, we had an ole chat, handful of salt and vinegar peanuts and then headed back out...off licence, Christmas shopping, dollarama, etc etc we made 3 mule-pack trips to and fro. By our final venture we were getting a bit relaxed so we roused and steeled ourselves for the last bastion of Christmas eve last minute shopping hell. Gathered up the bags and departed for the supermarket.
Sure the shops stay open late here in Canada-Land. "Fail!"
We arrived at the Metro with a massive list of essentials and goodies we hoped would last the hols @ approximately 6.11 pm to discover all shops including supermarkets as a rule close at 6pm on Christmas Eve. Woops...there goes the Christmas food shop!
We tore around downtown Toronto until we found a small convenience/supermarket...just about to close. We did an amazing supermarket sweep throwing anything we could see in our mini trolleys. Unfortunately nothing had a price tag on it so we stood aghast at the till with a rapidly building queue of harassed and pissed off fellow last min shoppers. Our squeals of pain as I saw the prices ringing up on the till....$7 for a little bunch of asparagus...$45 for a few bits of miserable looking cheese. $5 for 4 raspberries..aaahh!
But at least Christmas was saved. I mean not only no bloody snow but no food either, well I would have not made it any longer in this world having dropped dead from the despair of a failed Christmas!
So we trudged back up Yonge St with our wares and then sat recovering from the stress of it all before making a mission of mercy across town to visit Anna who was doing the Graveyard shift for the care agency...a whopping 48 hours started at 9am Christmas eve morn and finishing Stephen's day morn....so what can you do. It's minus 5, pitch dark, the snow has frozen to ice on the ground,there are 3 modes of public transport involved in getting there and you are bloody wrecked.
Well simple...it's Christmas so you paste a smile on your face and do a kind deed for a lonesome friend on the far side of town. Now I can't say we were the best Christmas Eve guests...monosyllabic and falling asleep but we made it there and we drank tea and we opened a pressie or two!
A few glasses of red in Mulligans after a candle-lit mass this Christmas eve certainly was not but isn't that what the spirit of Christmas is for...doing kind things and experiencing various levels of stress for a sustained period!
Ah no, I exaggerate of course....
We had a fun time but the exploits of our 2 Christmas days will have to wait... I'm typed out!
1 comment:
Tut x 2, leaving your food shop until the last minute on Christmas Eve. Thanks to your mum, we had loads of time to do our food shop on Christmas Eve Eve. She looked after Orlaith that day. I remember when I was living in Newcastle and most shops would close around 5 or 6. I couldn't get my head around that.
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