Sunday 15 December 2013

Sam Sunday #36: Almost Christmas....


One and a half weeks to go!  This week, I've managed to get myself a lot more organised and have largely finished my Christmas shopping.  All I need to do is pick up a few bottles of wine for the people I work with, and I'll be done.  Family presents are all bought and some of them are even wrapped, which is a relief.  Thankfully the hardest person of all to buy for, my sister, gave me specific instructions on what she wanted this year, which made the whole process much less stressful.  Last night, my husband and I wrapped up a few presents whilst watching Muppet Christmas Carol, which was fun.

Speaking of A Christmas Carol, this week Riv and I are going to be reading it together, to celebrate the run up to the holidays.  It's a book I've read many times before, as my parents gave me a copy as a child, which is rather battered now.  As I am now the owner of the collected works of Dickens in the vintage paperback editions, I'll be reading the version you can see above. A Christmas Carol itself is only 100-ish pages, but the book also includes some other Christmas stories, which I might try if the mood strikes me.

I'm extremely pleased that this upcoming week is the last week of the autumn term.  This term has honestly been the hardest since I started teaching five years ago, for a variety of reasons, and what with that and pregnancy related exhaustion, I have struggled to make it through.  I can not wait to wake up next Saturday morning knowing that it is the holidays.  The holidays themselves are pretty bad this year, as I only get one week and three days, rather than the standard two weeks.  But I'll just have to make the most of the time and try to relax as much as possible.  Thankfully my appetite is returning now, my morning sickness is continuing to wear off, and at 15 weeks pregnant, I'm starting to get a little tiny bump.

This week, I've been reading:
 

Bookish post:

12 comments:

  1. You're way further ahead than I am at Christmas shopping.

    When I was in grade school, I had a copy of "A Christmas Carol" that I read until it quite literally fell to pieces. It was one of my favorite books, and at the time, I had long passages from it memorized. :)

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    1. I didn't read my copy as much as you read yours, by the sounds of it! It's a great book for children / teenagers, though.

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  2. Things are very hectic here and I am just glad I finally managed to post my christmas cards on time this year, usually mine arrive just in the New Year!

    Enjoy your Christmas reading,
    kind regards,

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    1. I know that hectic feeling, it will all be worth it when it comes to Christmas day though :)

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  3. I love this copy of A Christmas Carol! I ordered the Penguin Classics version (blue cover with white and black snowflakes), but it hasn't arrived yet, so if it does not arrive tomorrow, I'll start reading on Kindle and will continue from physical copy if it decides to get here some time next week.

    It's good that you are starting to feel better, I hope you will have very nice and relaxing holidays! :)

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    1. Oh no, I hope your copy arrives soon! I love the Penguin clothbound classics, I have their editions of Dracula and Sense & Sensibility, and they are lovely.

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  4. I'm okay on Christmas shopping, but absolutely terrible about Christmas wrapping. I have a ton of things purchased, and zero things wrapped. My sister and my mother are extravagant present decorators, and i feel like I must live up to their standard, BUT I NEVER CAN. They are just better than I am at ribbons. It's all sort of paralyzing to my own present-wrapping endeavors.

    Love that copy of A Christmas Carol! I need to get one for myself.

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    1. I am the opposite - I am one of those people who loved fiddling about with ribbons and bows when wrapping. I don't do it to make other people feel bad though :P

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  5. I am actually getting a half week extra this time, which is rare, but I would love for the holidays to last longer. It is a relief to have all shopping and wrapping done way before Christmas. Makes the days so much smoother.

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    1. Ooh, enjoy your extra bit of holiday this year :)

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  6. This cover is a little bit gorgeous. I hope you enjoy the re-read. Dickens and I are about to have a falling out so I may have to look elsewhere for Christmas cheer.

    CONGRATULATIONS on the pregnancy! (Sorry, I'm a bit behind...) I am so happy for you and even happier that you have got a lovely break and are starting to feel better.

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  7. Wrapping presents to such a wonderful movie must have been bliss. I'm jealous! In Spain we do get some little presents on Christmas day, but we have the Three Wise Men tradition on the 6th of January and that's when most presents are given. So, basically the enthusiasm of English people for Christmas won't get to me until 2014!

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