It began to look a lot like Christmas.

My house really takes a hammering at Christmas. I just can't help it. There is nothing I love more than decorating the house up for Christmas. I try to be tasteful, I don't do tinsel but every year I seem to accumulate more and more decorations and insist that they all go up. Having a broken foot, this year, was not going to change any of that.....

You can't get more Christmassy than this!

Without fail, every year, Nick tries to put me off putting up decorations and this year was no different. He actually does it to wind me up because he knows how I feel about Christmas. My birthday is just before Christmas so, ever since being little, selfishly I always feel that all the decorations and parties are just for me! Our house law (whoops, sorry MY house law) is that the tree must at least be in the house by the 1st of December and we must abide by this law whatever otherwise someone will suffer! On the evening of the 1st we set off in the car, wheelchair in tow, to the garden centre. It was freezing and despite having a sock on my foot that only a yeti would find comfortable, my toes were going numb.

After making my way across the car park in the wheelchair, I found that Nick had to push me because my huge furry jacket was making it difficult for me to move and was making my upper body break out in a sweat. (However, foot of doom was still frozen)

Choosing a tree this year was slightly different. Last year, I was so disappointed with the shape of the trees that I left the garden centre in a huff and went somewhere else. This year, we looked at 2 trees and, much to Nick's relief chose very quickly. Freezing butt cheeks and nearly blue toes seemed to really help the decision process!

Now came the problem. It was a 5-6 foot tree that would fit in the car with the seat down. However, it would not fit in the car with me and a wheelchair. This resulted in Nick having to leave me at the garden centre to take the tree home then come back for me!

Feeling a little bit vulnerable, I wheeled round to the pet area to occupy my time. I was by myself but hell, I would not have anything stop me. I was not totally incapable of everything so I was going to look like I was in control. Unsurprisingly, I did get a few raised eyebrows from people. God knows what they were thinking, especially when I was attempting to do a 3 point turn in the posh candle area. Looking at the rabbits and guinea pigs seemed to make me feel a bit better; however I then moved on to look at some baby gerbils. My lovely gerbil died 5 days after I broke my foot and seeing these gerbils brought a tear to my eye. Slowly, I stroked the glass of the tank and wondered if they knew how looked after a little gerbil just like them.

All of a sudden, something came over me. It was like I could see myself from the heavens. This is what I saw. A lady in a wheelchair, all wrapped up in a big furry coat complete with woolly hat, all on her own, looking at the animals, stroking a tank and crying. Oh dear....... Unfortunately, I really looked like I was on day release and had got separated from the group. I began to think that at some point I would hear my name over the speaker because my carer was looking for me.

As quick as my wheels could go, I wheeled to the entrance to wait for Nick. I did not care how long I would be sat there but I would not have anyone thinking that I needed any sort of help.

On arriving home, we put the tree in the base and decorated it the next night. Yes, it was far bigger than we thought and it is now a little bit more difficult getting in and out of our house than usual because there seems to be a massive tree in the way. But who cares? It looks good. The decorations took very little time as I sat on a chair putting some on whilst Nick did the others. The time factor was helped by the fact that I could not follow Nick around the tree moving every decoration that he put up because it seemed to be in the wrong place, like I usually do.

This time, I have managed to overcome the Foot of Doom! My house is decorated and looks all Christmassy although I resisted temptation to put decorations on the commode. Some things are just not meant to be.

Let's hope that Santa doesn't break his foot because if he does, you can kiss goodbye to any presents. I can't imagine trying to get down a chimney with a foot like mine!