'tis the season to be jolly

Because today was the last day of the school term and my alarm clock won't need to be set again until 11th January! Fa la la la la, la la la la! Nothing's going to get me up early for the next three weeks, apart from the milkman ringing the doorbell when he leaves the milk (why does he do this in winter when it's cold in the mornings when he didn't do it in summer, when it wasn't?), the rubbish collector checking we want the rubbish taken away (hello, why did you think we put that big black garbage bag there?), and Malina the cleaner, who is supposed to start at 10am. I say supposed to start, because the Malina Unpredictability Factor has kicked in and she's taken to turning up early more often than not. Sometimes even an hour early. My kids won't get me up early, they know better...