So that's it then, another one under the belt.

What did I get? A bottle of whiskey, a bottle of special edition Jim Beam, a drinking game (what are they trying to say?), a pocket Zen Garden, the requisite smellies, a nice gothy-type t-shirt, one of those credit card survival kits and a few other lovely things.

The kids got tons of stuff which all revolved around being creative or Pokemon or My Little Pony or dressing up as princesses. They also got a disco projector and one of those revolving balls that shines coloured lights all over the place, both of which are great fun. Oh, and they got a Dalek battle set, which included a posable Christopher Ecclestone, which is really weird as I still see him as Nicky from Our Friends in the North, or the Police Chief that was killed by Robert Carlyle in Cracker and not as the Doctor at all.

I got Charlie an MP3 player to stop her nicking mine and a set of clay sculpting tools because she used to be all arty but stopped when the kids were born. She also got this big scary back massager thing that plugs into the mains and has two horn-type things that rotate and dig into your backeither side of your spine. I tried it for 30 seconds and found it very uncomfortable, but she loves it, so that's OK then.

It was terribly poignant watching the Two Ronnies this evening, knowing Ronnie Barker had it recorded early in the year because he knew his days were up.

David Tennant as the new Doc? Well, I like his style from Casanova, and he's suitably menacing as Barty Crouch Jnr in the new Harry Potter. He does "sinister" really well, and I particularly liked the last ten minutes where he finished off the skullface leader with that wonderfully fierce "no second chances" line, and when he faces off against the Prime Minister after she blows the baddies up. Good bits all round - although I could have done without the schmaltzy ending, but it is a Christmas special after all. I think I could enjoy him as the Doc for a few years.

Dinner, by the way, was a complete work of art. Turkey done to perfection, mash wonderful and creamy, roast spuds, parsnips and carrots done to a tee, chestnut and cranberry stuffing a bit on the strong side but nice enough, pigs in blankets (cocktail sausages wrapped in streaky bacon, for the uninitiated) could have been crispier, but they only had 20 minutes in the oven. All in all, I was very chuffed with myself. And the cheapo table wine I picked up yesterday managed not to be completely horrible. Result!

Tomorrow will be the real trick. We're off to my parents' for lunch, which means the kids have to be on their best behaviour to avoid giving Pater another coronary and I have to try and remember who bought what and what I'm supposed to praise effusively and what I'm allowed to slag off. I think we might have a spate of "thank you" letter writing in the morning.

Right now it's time for a snifter of my lovely lovely new bourbon and off to beddibyes.

Same time next year then? Why not.

Hands up who's off to the sales next week to start buying up next years' prezzies?