Gearing myself up...

In the spirit of gearing up for the long, frantic, frequently crazy festival that is Christmas, I must tick off my to-do list the following 3 chores:

• Write very happy thoughts to lots of people I don't talk to or hear from 11 months a year within the cardboard sleeve of an overly-expensive glittery thing called a Greeting Card. They're all really nice people, actually - it's just a sad fact of life that we're all too busy through the year to keep in touch.

Order the medication I will need on prescription over the Christmas period before the pharmacy is shut: #1 item = tranquilisers...must.keep.calm! #2 item = inhaler...remember to just BREATHE! #3 item = Antacid pills...for the copious amounts of food I'm likely to consume. #4 item = painkillers...for the hangover following that 2-week alcohol bath that's going to soak into every pore.

And last and quite possibly least, republish this little ol' chestnut of a short story that I trot out every year and give away for five days -- A Christmas Karol. (A fun bit of nonsense that works if your sense of humour is even slightly as warped as mine own!)

Available on Amazon from December... but for the love of Santa, folks - wait 'til nearer Christmas day when I make it free. No point paying for it when you can get it for nothing. (You've got better things to spend your money on, dear people.)

In the meanwhile, to my US friends - Happy Thanksgiving... for the upcoming festivity.

...And I'll wish you all Happy Christmas when we get there.