Restoring equilibrium

I think too many of us at this time of year become daunted by the mountain of self-imposed tasks which all have to be accomplished before Christmas Eve. I know I do, and that's what really got to me yesterday. Today, however, I made a big effort to be normal (don't snigger) and behave as if there was nothing beyond the weekend to look forward to. 

The first step was to go shopping before breakfast as usual. It was a small shopping because we're not having Christmas at home, and it felt odd to flit round the great piles of potatoes and sprouts without loading up the trolley. I had thought of going later so that I could buy some brandy, but as I won't need to make brandy butter until next week I decided it was worth procrastinating. During breakfast I texted Di to see if she'd thought about the crèche in the church - we've often put it together as the flower ladies were doing their thing on Christmas Eve, but we both felt, I think, that it'd be less stressful getting it done early. So three quarters of an hour later she was on my doorstep, just in time for a quick coffee before we headed off to the church. We located the right box of figures pretty swiftly - I'd actually organised the boxes when I put away the Easter set - so that apart from a brief confusion as to who was Joseph (not, we decided, the elderly bloke with the staff, whom we designated a senior shepherd) we were pretty expeditious. ["Have you got the bambino, hen?"  "Yes - and leave the other Mary handy for Epiphany, when she's supposed to be in a house ..." You get the picture.]

I had thought of walking home for my exercise, but when we left the church it was so sunny and tempting that we were seduced into having a wee walk round the old reservoir in the Bishop's Glen, so abandoned all our worries and the car and set off as if it were the Spring. We covered just over a mile, I think, and were cutting back across the field to the graveyard when we met our friend Sarah and stopped for a chat ... which extended, in my case, to about half an hour's conversation after Di had to leave for a meeting. We shared perceptions and concerns and laughed a lot; I felt much lighter when I marched off down the road for my lunch.

The rest of the afternoon was given over to Christmas again. Himself went off to practise the organ and I wrapped Christmas presents - that's them all done now. I did my Italian and my physio exercises and we had dinner at a sensible time. I'm hoping the fresh air and exercise may bring about the sleep I'd become accustomed to before the angst took over ...

Blipping the intersection in the Bishop's Glen road - the right hand goes along the houses above Kilbride Road; the left passes the church and leads us to the wee path up to the graveyard. Beyond is the Firth of Clyde looking pale and benign, and I love the scratched patterns of the clouds on the blue.