Berry Christmas!

I know you will all think I have gone mad with a festive blip, but I realised today it is 4 weeks till we fly to Australia and then we have 2 weeks when we come back before Christmas. So, today I made my Christmas card list and present list and started planning.

I have 20 cards to send before the trip to people who I only contact by letter at Christmas and who don't yet know our new address! And then if I do 4 a day when we get back from the trip I should have them all sent in time!
I have 30 people to whom I give presents and most of these have to be posted (several internationally!) so I intend to do most of my Christmas shopping in the next three weeks!

Just having a plan has made me feel a bit more relaxed.

This evening Robin and I attended a lecture by Noreena Hertz, author of "Eyes Wide Open", how to make smart decisions in a confusing world. Noreena was a very interesting speaker and took us through several of her principles, most of which resonated with us both. In particular not allowing distractions when you are focusing on something important. Apparently if you are distracted by an email it can take 22 minutes to get back to the same level of concentration. Also if you don't get enough sleep your decision making abilities become seriously impaired. Worth bearing in mind that we should have a long lie-in before we make any decisions about house buying. I know a few people who may be getting this book as a Christmas present!