An attempt to be festive

I thought that after yesterday's entirely justified rage, it might be nicer to sign off before Christmas on a more cheery note. My attitude towards the season wavers between "Yay! Christmas!" to "Good grief, let's just get through this, shall we?" and I am pleased to note that I am currently firmly within Column A at this time.

It's not hard to see why. The presents are sorted, the cards were sorted ages ago, the turkey has been removed from the oven already (it's gorgeous, by the way) and the presents are out of reach of the psychotic creature otherwise known as my parents' dog. Once we get her to bed (and I pride myself on being the only family member who can do this with a look and a gesture as opposed to a bribe), we can put them under the tree where they belong. And I managed to offload some vouchers for Threshers (who have disappeared from the places I usually visit) when one of my workmates went to spend his and offered to give me a lift. Having succeeded in jemmying the bottle of sherry from a rather tightly packed shelf, Christmas Eve can only be judged as a success.

It's been an odd little year. Things have stayed level and relatively dull. A few ambitious plans have been thwarted, but things are generally stable and my general approach to life is that I am in a position to consider moves that in normal circumstances would be risky. The recession hasn't bitten me yet, though the VAT change has made some aspects of my job a little more exasperating. But if that's the worst, I can count myself lucky. There's been the odd moment of unrequited love too - don't get me wrong, the real thing would be nice, but there's a rather charming romance about the whole situation, it's arguably more practical than an actual relationship right now, and it's nice to have the odd "What if?" daydream. So not an amazing vintage by some people's standards, but better than most recent years and I think this year will stand me in relatively good stead.

And the season too, could be good. I look forward to Wigan denting Newcastle United's revival on Boxing Day (a Man U-supporting colleague of mine and I have woven this dream scenario where Newcastle go down, enter administration, suffer a crushing, Luton-esque points penalty, and lose fans to a splinter club along the lines of AFC Wimbledon or FC United of Manchester, which they end up playing against in the Conference in the 2012-13 season). I look forward to the Old Firm game slashing Celtic's lead at the top of the SPL to one point, and hope that Wigan can beat Bolton the following day, as two other co-workers are Bolton fans and I want bragging rights. Then the football will end, and I'll be seeing my sister, nephew and two-week-old niece.

So I have causes for optimism this week, and hopefully for next year as well. Here's hoping the same for all of you.

PS Rangers to win the SPL on the final day, Dundee United to finish third, Falkirk to go down and Livingston to come up. In England, tough call for the Premiership winners but I'm certain that it won't be Liverpool. Pick any three from West Brom, West Ham, Stoke and Middlesborough to go down. Wolves and Burnley to come up, QPR to win the play-offs. Barcelona for the Champions' League, AC Milan for the UEFA Cup.