So I was playing catch-up again with my entries (which seems to be a running theme for my 2022 photo journal!) and I noticed that I was off by quite a few days. After digging back through this year’s posts and my instagram posts, it looks like back in the summer I forgot to post one day on IG, and then a few weeks or a month later I forgot to post another day on IG. Annoyingly, now I have the task of going back and renumbering posts with the correct day. At least I didn’t fully skip a day because then I think we’d have an even bigger problem. I went through about 50 journal entries and IG posts but I still have about a hundred left to get through before the end of the year. Wish me luck with that one!

After dinner tonight, Alex and I went upstairs and wrapped presents for his family together. I noticed I was being really short with him and kept getting a little frustrated with his quality of wrapping and lack of communication. When I finally worked out what was bugging me I apologised for how I’d been and we talked for a while about how we can both communicate better in these types of situations. Sometimes it feels silly to talk about the ins and outs of why you responded in a certain way to something, but I’ve actually learned that it’s really useful. It’s a chance to get everyone on the same page and, in a way, hit the reset button. I didn’t have this level of communication in the past but I’m glad I do now because it makes it easier for me to not bottle up my emotions but also see things from other perspectives.

Now that the presents are all wrapped up, we’re pretty much ready for Christmas with Alex’s family! There are a few extra bits of flair I want to include with the presents – just a little decoration, really – but I’m looking forward to giving these gifts. I still feel like I don’t really know what the plan is for Christmas and Boxing Day, although I’m sure it’ll be fine in the end.