Cooking, Teas and Back Trouble. It's all the Cat's Fault!

During the last few days my Christmas preparations have begun to come together nicely.

Every year for about 10 years we had a gingerbread house party for the children and about a dozen of their friends. I LOVED it but it was pretty manic, so I was quite relieved when the kids grew out of it. Mind you, I had to TELL them they'd grown out of it! {vbg} Now they each have a few friends over for tea, a movie and maybe a craft. Jack's was on Tuesday and Grace's was yesterday. Things went well. The kids had a good time and I felt a sense of satisfaction and gratitude to have been able to be a good 'hostess'.

On Wednesday I did a massive amount of cooking, ably assisted by chef-in-training, Jack. Grace hates cooking as she finds it inordinately stressful, so she opted to be the designated washer-upper. I now have prepared:

4 special nutroasts for Jamie (C Day, NY Day, His Birthday and Passover, yes, it freezes well!)
4 dozen Mint Spies
A lot of Emily's peanut butter fudge, very easy, thanks for the recipe!
All the herby stuffing balls for C Day Lunch
4 dozen pieces of chocolate refrigerator cake thing, not sure of the name. We call it the Chocolate Pretzel Stuff.{g}
Cranberry Orange Relish
Mrs Beeton's Potted Cheese

The turkey was bought this morning, so we are making progress!

I was very tired on Wednesday after standing in the kitchen all day, but we had been invited to a friend's house for dinner, so that was GREAT! We had a really good time with one of the musicians from church, her husband and children and a long talk about some of the problems we've been encountering with church and music and the leadership which was quite helpful.

This morning, W came over with the children with an apple pie and a gift, a fabulous book about the story behind 600 hymns and songs! That is going to be a very useful resource, as well as fun to read. I also had the pleasure of watching her 2 year old open a gift and jump up and down with so much excitement at her little gift you'd think she'd just been presented with the Crown Jewels. W is going to have a LOT of fun on with *her* on Christmas morning! {vbg}

The bad news is that this morning I bent down to pick the cat up for a cuddle and something went PING in my back. I am taking paracetamol and Ibuprofren to the max but they aren't really touching it. I have to go up the stairs extremely slowly and can't do much except lie on my front or sit very awkwardly.

Of course, I have mental images of the same thing happening as happened to Jamie in the summer, but please God it will be a brief incapacity!

Jamie just got home early from work, having braved the supermarket for me. Poor bloke! He's home now for 9 days! Yay!

Let Christmas Begin!