The path to a chaotic 2019 is paved with leftovers

Getting through the week following Christmas Day can be something a struggle, can't it?
Blaise is looking into a crystal ball darklyBlaise is looking into a crystal ball darkly
Blaise is looking into a crystal ball darkly

Firstly, there is a huge anti-climax once the big day is done and dusted and, let’s be honest, all anybody wants to do after 6pm on December 25 is send everybody else home or head up the wooden hill. We absolutely don’t want to take on elderly relatives at Trivial Pursuit and I would rather kiss a ferret on the mouth than participate in a game of festive charades. If it all finished after Her Maj signed off for another year then it really would be the perfect day.

Then there is the fact that the dog days of December can either be a joyful celebration of family and loved ones or, if you haven’t got the energy to butter a cream cracker, then the lead up to New Year’s Eve can really drag for many of us.

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I put it down to the food, a combination of slowly ageing leftovers and cupboards full of high calorie treats which only serve to fuel one’s desire to fall asleep in front of yet another Christmas special of a panel show, which was probably filmed in October, along with Jools Holland’s Hootenanny. Probably.

Being a gastro-bore of the highest order, filling one’s face is high on my list of priorities at this time of year, but all the good intentions of rustling up Brussels sprouts and bacon soup or a turkey and brie quesadilla soon disappear and, like everybody else, I end up eating Christmas dinner between slices of 50:50 bread until the 28th, when all you really want is a stir fry or beans on toast.

Due to the fact that we tend to spend the equivalent of a month’s grocery bill on one meal, there is a reluctance for most of us to venture to the supermarket much before New Year’s Eve, meaning that we are stuck in leftovers limbo until then. This kind of sums up the week - it is one long post Christmas hangover, where nothing much happens.

It is precisely due to this fact that I, along with millions of others, start planning for the 12 months ahead and, while I have finally dispensed with the notion of New Year’s resolutions, these days of sitting on the sofa in your scruffs really are the perfect time to devise a strategy to finally get ahead in life or at the very least plan for a holiday.

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Of course, that would be the case if we had any idea what might lay ahead of us in 2019 but even Mystic Meg and Russell Grant combined would struggle to even second guess what might happen next year.

Saying that we live in uncertain times is as much of a understatement as saying that Jeremy Corbyn is a bit of a ditherer. Nobody has a clue what is going on with the short term future of the country, not even those we have entrusted with the responsibility of making the decisions that really matter.

I have stopped making predictions ever since I tipped Harry Redknapp to be England manager and Ant and Dec to present the Oscars but one thing is for certain - there will be a lot more uncertainty in 2019.

Last week we heard that the Government would have troops on standby if there were to be a No Deal on Brexit, fuelling fears there could be real chaos.

With a bit of luck I might have some Christmas grub still leftover come March.