i_just_hide | Dec. 13th, 2008

It's been raining all day today. Not just a few little showers. Constant heavy rain. It's just been really depressing. I had to put my brolly up to walk to the chiropodists which is about 25 metres down the road. I'd planned to walk down to the dry cleaners to collect my cleaning but decided to give it a miss.

I went to Kingston and got a bit more Christmas shopping done. I got presents for my fellow Brownie leaders which were the most urgent as this Tuesday is the last Brownie meeting before Christmas. I looked at pepper grinders for my dad as he has asked for a 'really big one, like they have in Italian restaurants'. I found a nice one for £22 took it up to the till and realised that it was the salt grinder that was £22. The pepper grinder was a staggering £39.50! I'm going to have to look for a cheaper one. £40 is just too much to spend on a piece of decorative kitchen equipment which will rarely be used. The one I was looking at was the biggest one in Bentalls and it was still only about half the size of the restaurant ones. They must cost a fortune. I've decided that I'll also be buying dad a wind up torch. I hope it will stop him running down the batteries in his, borrowing mum's then leaving it in the car/garage/shed so she can't find it in an emergency. We live in hope!

I now only need to find stuff for my sister and brother-in-law. I was hoping to find some kind of 'plan your alternative wedding' guide for my sis but I haven't tracked down a suitable one yet. She'll probably end up with clothes again.

I saw a nice pair of shoes in M&S but the largest size they had was a 5 1/2. The shoe situation is getting desperate. All my work shoes are starting to look tatty. I really need a pair with a 'sensible' heel as I have to walk so far at work these days. Since the building work started it takes 5 minutes to walk to Reception and it involves a perilous journey down a sloped service road, over a slippery wooden floor and up some decking with slight gaps between the panels. Not good for stilleto heels!

I've written most of my cards now. I wrote all the Brownie ones this evening. I gave the first batch out to friends I saw on Thursday night. Now just one letter to finish writing (to an old pen-friend), a few addresses to find out and then a trip to the PO to get some stamps. I feel moderately organised. A false sense of security surely!

I'm beginning to think I should put my tree up this weekend. If I put it up next weekend I will only have the benefit of it for three days before I go to mum and dad's to stay on Christmas Eve. I'm lazy though. The first year I moved in I enthusiastically put my tree up on the first weekend in December. Now in my third year the excitement has worn off. I guess it would be different if I had kids or people coming to visit or whatever. Sigh.