Post Christmas catch-up

It's been a busy few days here, and I never got around to wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas. I hope that you all had a lovely time. The bank holidays are now over (well, for a few days), and Mr W is back to work (albeit working from the dining room, although the 10 second commute seemed quite long this morning when we woke up with just a few minutes to spare). I have had a long morning in bed reading and catching up with blogs before a lunchtime swim - I feel in need of a bit of a boot camp after the excesses of the last few days. Here's what I've been up to...

On the first day of Christmas
Mr W and I woke up surprisingly early - must have been the excitement about opening stockings and presents. I fitted in a Christmas Day 5 mile run before brunch and heading over to visit Mr W's family in Wokingham. To Mr W's delight we arrived in time for the Christmas pudding. The Christmas cake I made was very much appreciated by everyone and we took a large chunk home with us for a Christmas night supper.

[Reading - Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple - my Persephone secret santa gift - which starts on Christmas day]

On the second day of Christmas
I was back in the kitchen, ahead of a visit from Mr W's immediate family (yes 11 people) plus my immediate family (2 people) (which with Mr W and I makes 15 people - i.e. a rather large amount of cooking). I fitted in another run of about 5 miles, ruining my ankles in the process which means no more running for a few days :( Mr W recieved a flight simulator for Christmas from his mother and spent most of the afternoon playing that, whilst I was reading. We then ate far too much Christmas cake and felt quite sick.

[Reading - Christmas Pudding by Nancy Mitford - a present from my mother in law (at my request); Cherry Ames - Senior Nurse - another in the wonderful Cherry Ames series that I came across last year - I bought several of these in a job lot on ebay which I have been saving for reading over the festive period].

On the third day of Christmas
The swimming pool was open again so I went and did 200 lengths (5 km) and chatted with another early morning regular (even though we were there about 11am) who had also overindulged. I then spent a bit more time cooking before everyone arrived. I wish I had taken pictures of the food as it seemed to be a big hit, despite the fact that we didn't have quite enough cutlery... There was mountains of washing up, and I was quite glad that the 4 year old has an early bedtime as it meant that we had the house to ourselves again by the early evening.

[Reading Forgive and forget by Patricia Scanlan - slightly mindless chick lit]