My pre-Christmas ‘to do list’

On last week’s blog, I had set myself quite a big ‘to do list’ for my five days away from QVC and I achieved almost everything…

On Saturday, we had a socially distanced meet-up with our daughter, Sophie and her family at the garden centre for us to choose our respective Christmas trees. We also bought a hanging basket (part of our present from my mum), some crackers and a cute kitten calendar for my mum as a gift from Wilfie – picture of Wilfie coming later in this blog.

Chris and I did the lights on the tree after it had been ‘erected’ in position, and I then spent the afternoon writing all my Christmas cards, before helping to decorate the tree in the early evening. One advantage of having a very tall son is that he can reach to put the baubles on the high branches as well as the star atop the tree. I like the way that my husband, Chris, has adjusted the angle of one of our spotlights to shine on the star – clever boy! He also put all the batteries in the lights for outside and hung them – all in all, a very festive focussed Saturday.

On Sunday, I split my day between wrapping Christmas presents and doing the final proofread of My Mother’s Secret, trying to catch any little mistakes that have managed to get through the various stages of editing – funnily enough, there was an extra ‘at’ on the very first line of the book (spotted by Chris), which all the rest of us had missed despite having looked at it at least fifty times between us! Amazing what fresh eyes notice.

Monday, the entire day was spent finishing the proofread as the ‘snag’ list had to be back with my publisher by close of play – I hope I caught them all. By the way, some early reviews from book-bloggers have started to trickle in and I’m relieved to say that so far it is a very positive response, and one fellow Bookouture author described it as ‘a fantastic tear-jerker’. I’m always so grateful when authors take the time to read my books, but also a bit guilty that I rarely get the time to reciprocate, apart from when I’m lying on a beach on holiday – my Kindle is loaded with books I’m itching to read!

Then, on Tuesday, I had a bit of a wobble! I’m normally a very positive person, and I try to be upbeat for the people around me, but I wasn’t coping well on Tuesday and kept dissolving into tears. Sophie rang in the morning to chat about something else and I told her I was feeling a bit low – at lunchtime, a beautiful bunch of flowers arrived (pictured below in the background of the photo of the Shark vacuum cleaner). I feel very blessed to have such thoughtful and kind children.
I had intended to write on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I didn’t feel like it so I didn’t do it and finished off the rest of my present wrapping instead, so that my parcels could be sent to Spalding, Nottingham, the Scottish mainland and Fair Isle. Wilfie was so helpful while I was trying to get things packed up – he does love a cardboard box.

So, the only failure on my list was a lack of words written – I’ve still got two months until the first draft of my next book is due to be submitted – plenty of time!!!

Talking of getting things sent in time for Christmas, there are still a couple more days to take advantage of our great offers for dispatch in time for Christmas, one of which will be the Elemis Today’s Special Value launching on-air tonight at 9pm. I’ll be on-air for an hour with Keeley tomorrow morning at 11am. You might also want to check out an Elemis Big Deal we currently have running.

It comes in two options, the Frangipani Monoi and the Skin Nourishing. Both have a 150ml size of Gentle Foaming Face Wash and a 30ml size of the Pro-Collagen Marine Cream Ultra-Rich, but the body products are slightly different. In the Frangipani Monoi, there is 300ml Bath & Shower Milk, 50ml Oil-Rich Body Cream and 100ml of the Body Oil, whereas in the Skin Nourishing option, it is 300ml of the Shower Cream, 50ml of the Body Cream and 100ml of the De-Stress Massage Oil.

I was lucky enough to receive a sample of the Skin Nourishing option, and I have to say that the De-Stress Massage Oil couldn’t have come at a better time for me after my ‘low’ day on Tuesday. It’s a lovely collection, which someone you know might really appreciate as a Christmas gift and there is still time to order.

Before I finish, I wanted to give you a quick heads-up on the Shark vacuum Today’s Special Value on Sunday (already available on pre-sell). I’m going to be honest and say I wasn’t expecting to like it, as it is a corded machine and a lot of vacuums these days are cordless… however, I was VERY impressed with the suction power and the lightness to use and the cord is VERY, VERY long so really wasn’t an issue. I’ve tried Shark previously and found the balance on the handle a bit heavy for me, but this is an updated design from the one I tried before and definitely gets a big tick from me… and ‘him indoors’!

Just to say though, that even if you order on pre-sell, it is not expected to arrive in time for Christmas along with a few other cleaning products we will be showing on-air on Sunday, although most ‘gift idea’ presents can be ordered to be dispatched in time for Christmas delivery up until 8pm on Sunday.

I hope you are all organised for Christmas and will be able to enjoy it, despite the latest restrictions that now apply to some of us.

Much love,
Julia xx