Lots of holly, lots of jolly

So far, so zen. I've finished my shopping in record time with no hassle whatsoever and wished every shop assistant a merry Christmas. I even got chatting to the guy who served me in Waterstone's and it turns out he'd lived in Amsterdam for a year. I've listened to charity Christmas carols, watched the final of Strictly Come Dancing with pink champagne, drunk gluhwein at the German Christmas market in Dublin, danced non-stop for almost two hours at Snow Patrol's homecoming concert, and dispensed of most of the luggage under my eyes. Tomorrow: lunch with my oldest friends, two masses in one day, lots of present wrapping and some unwrapping, and the cutting of the Christmas cake.

Merry everything and I'll be back as soon as I can prise more than one hand away from boxes of chocolates, cups of tea and glasses of red wine.