Christmas Party #3 and #4

Yesterday was a very busy day. The morning saw Ben and Mollie perform in a nativity play. Ben was a shepperd and Mollie read. Joules drove to Donnard to collect Dillon from a hostel weekend away with the scouts. We had a hour to get changed and pack bags before heading to my in-laws for our Christmas celebrations, (we are travelling to the UK for Christmas so this was the only day Joules' family would all be together).

We arrived at Marie's and were greeted with a glass of mulled wine and lots of oohs and ahhs over the Christmas tree. This was followed by more mulled wine then it was lunch time. Marie had followed a new recipe from the Aga cook book, a fruit and chicken curry that could be cooked in one pan and feed over 10 people. It was very good and most people had seconds. This was followed by a trifle.

Then with seven very excited grandchildren it was time for the presents to be given out. All the children were very lucky and given lovely presents but my favourite was the presents my in-laws gave my children. Dillon was given a donkey, Mollie a goat and Ben six chickens. Now if you read my post aftermath of a storm you know my garden is no place for these animals. Luckily these animals are given to families in developing countries, they weren't coming home in my boot. These gifts were purchased through Concern and make a great gift.

At 6pm my friend Kathy collected me and off we went with Sally and Niamh to The Stillorgan Park Hotel for our girls night Christmas party where we were later joined by Ruth and Lisa. The evening started with (more) mulled wine then dinner (average hotel food), wine and vodka and music from Johnnie Be Good. After their set Johnnie Be Good transformed into an Abba lookalike band and performed an Abba set. It was great fun and I knew the words to all the songs and danced for hours. Alas the evening ended very early for Sally and myself. Kathy went to bed (three of us had booked a room to stay the night) and the other girls got a taxi home. Sally and I retired to the residents lounge and were very disappointed to find no one there (except three serving staff). We asked them was there a local nightclub open but being a Sunday night the answer was no. We managed to entertain ourselves with a few more drinks and lots of chat before retiring to bed at 4am. Awoke today at 11.10am feeling (surprisingly) great. I think the copious amounts of water I drank and the lie in helped on that front. Mind you I'll be glad to hit the sack tonight!