be able to look back on each day with a sense of accomplishment

the “first things goal” seems to have replaced this one. I originally envisaged it as a place to record what I’d done each day. Much better to set out in the morning what I’m intending to do, and then cross the things off as I go. Plus there are some excellent and supportive team-mates over there ;)

Just done all my Christmas shopping!

For my parents, I’ve got a Tea at the Ritz voucher. Also for my mum I’ve got a small Wusthof kitchen knife (weird, I know, but I got her one a while ago and she loves it and said she’d be well up for another) and a Mackintosh flowers calendar. And for my dad I’ve got a copy of Peter Hennessy’s new book about the 1950s. We don’t normally give books in my family as he’s a bookseller, but it’s in hardback and I mentioned it to him when I was last at home and he said he wanted to read it but was going to wait for the paperback. Well, now he won’t have to!

For my brother I got a rather posh Parker fountain pen and matching rollerball (this is his combined birthday and Christmas present), and for his fiancee I got some “spa lights” that you put in the bath (clearly selling like hot cakes as a lot of places were out of stock), and a pink girly Swiss Army knife thing that also has a mirror, nail file and things like that on it.

I’m taking George to see the Producers after Christmas so that’s him sorted.

Finally, I got my friend A some baby stuff as she is due to have her sprog in about a week’s time.

All in all, a pretty good haul! Feeling most chuffed. And above all, I managed to avoid the temptation to get anyone the Easter Island statue tissue dispenser ;)

• had my faith in human nature restored. I managed to scatter my possessions to the 4 winds this morning as my rucksack came open while walking to Euston, and I didn’t realise until half the contents had fallen out. But then a very nice woman rang me a few hours ago to say she’d found my diary and a tin of shortbread! Maybe my diary was trying to make a bid for freedom, to run off to Diary Nirvana along with Zanna’s. I think I might tell the nice woman to keep the shortbread. It was supposed to be a holiday present for my parents but I haven’t got time to get it off her before I get the train this afternoon.

• made it to work, some achievement considering how awful I am feeling. It’s only a cold, but am sneezing every 5 minutes, nose dripping frequently, achey shoulders, really not wanting to be here. I would have called in sick if it hadn’t been for the fact that that would have left only 2 people in the office all day which isn’t really enough. Oh well, guess I can feel smug and virtuous about it.

• spent half the morning on 43T / Backpack without getting caught. Nothing new there then.

• finished off the Sept a/cs for one of the things I do, in record time! Also in the course of this, spotted several things that needed to be fixed, and fixed them straight away rather than putting them back in the file to do later.

• had several amicable conversations with my “difficult person”