Ahhh the joys of the month of December. Christmas was the time of year that Mum loved the most. Preparation was definitely the key, the shopping, the military precision with wrapping presents and the unending task of peeling spuds and doing sprouts! Putting up my decorations yesterday I was thinking about Mum the whole time. Was everything right? Was it too much? Of course you can never have too much when it comes to Christmas. Friends always said our house was like Santa's Grotto - and I have to say I was always proud of that. It's Christmas and whats the point of doing it small?? I have never understood people who have a small tree and complain the whole time its there - Just don't bother then if it such a massive inconvenience to you. Christmas should be all in, go hard or go home as Luke would say :) The wrapping of the presents was always my favorite thing. The time when Mum was in her element. When I was little it was Mum and Nanny and I was just the sellotape girl, cutting it in strips and sticking it to the edge of the worktop - a very important job apparently. And then I graduated to wrapping, constantly being given the Mum masterclass until I had it the way she liked. That also meant she left me the mammoth task while she was doing other things, although I still think shutting me in the bedroom until it was all done was a bit harsh! Then the task of Christmas dinner. The bird in the oven on Christmas eve, the swapping over of Mum and Nanny going for a drink, and the cutting of all veg in front of the TV. That saucepan on the floor and the thud thud of the sprouts going in, all the time Mum or Nanny muttering about how much there was to do. Christmas has always been a special time for our family and this is in no small part down to Mum. Although we may find it hard this year I know we are all going to try our best to keep it the way she would want us to, Merry Christmas Mum x