Instructions

And they say that real men don't read them... not in this restaurant cause yesterday when we ran out of instant coffee John chef actually read the instructions on the real coffee in order to make himself a cup!! What ever next.... will they read maps.... has the world stopped turning.....
This time next month I will be in a pub with my Neil celebrating the festive season, it's only 5 more weekends away!! Ah yes.. the tradition of me & Neil getting lost in alcohol on Christmas eve lives on. It all started many years ago when we where living in Belfast, young and impoverished.
We would go up to our house mate Sineads Mums house and of course being the wife of Paddy Cashman it wasn't like you got offered tea or coffee... no it was "wine or beer". Every year it was the same... "no Susan... we really shouldn't drink any more... we have to go home to Newry... Neil has to cook the Christmas dinner tomorrow".
Then the phone calls would start... "where are you two, when are you coming home" etc.
And so when we would wake up on Christmas day in our house in Belfast... wondering why we weren't in Newry it was always Susan Cashmans fault, although to be fair one year it was the fault of Brain & Sharon.
Now since we have opened Copper we haven't been able to get to Belfast on Christmas eve, everyone thought that we would be sober on Christmas eve.... there could be the family get together thing. But no... it happened again, Christmas eve 2004, we had been invited to go to my brothers house. They rang at 7.30, we said we would be straight up, they rang again at 8pm... it was already too late!
So last year we didn't make any plans with anyone, we just went to the pub!
This year... we will be in the pub from about 5.30pm... that is unless, we fall into a bottle of wine over lunch... and where are we going for our Christmas dinner this year?