THE clock is ticking down the hours and days to Christmas, the shops are heaving and there's not a Nintendog to be had for love nor money.
The festive frenzy has well and truly arrived ... or has it? For while most of us are running ourselves ragged, trying to decide whether a Roboraptor is better than a Robosapien, some cunning people seem to have got Christmas all wrapped up.
Too
lazy - or too smart - to hit the shops, to decorate their tree or even open their own Christmas cards, they're handing all those niggling festive jobs over to the professionals.
"More and more people are realising that time is precious," says Deborah Forrest, whose lifestyle company myOrganiser employs a team of Christmas Angels, who can swoop into your home and sort out everything from Christmas dinner to the presents. They'll even take your Boxing Day rubbish to the tip if you want...
"Everything that needs done for Christmas we can do it," she adds. "We'll even put the addresses on your Christmas cards for you."
If that sounds the ultimate in laziness, there's no end to the amount of fiddly festive tasks that others are willing to do for those who take the Homer Simpson approach to Christmas.
So why not put your feet up, relax and let someone else take the strain ...
Tree
It's a festive tradition: you trek across a muddy field, wrestle with spiky branches, then spend the rest of the year picking pine needles off the back seat of the car.
Who needs it, when Gary Smith of Hillend Tree Centre will hand-deliver your Christmas tree?
As long as you can find the strength to phone up with your choice of tree - noble fir, spruce or Scots pine - and the height before you know it Gary's pick-up truck will draw up outside your home.
Hillend Tree Centre: 0131 445 4454.
Jewellery
Looking for a perfectly-wrapped, exquisitely-designed gift that must have taken hours to track down? Just can't be bothered to look for it?
Asimi, who sell exclusive Greek jewellery, take the leg work out of it by bringing your gift to you.
Check out the website or call the shop with your order and by clocking-off time your item will be at reception, wrapped and ready, just for the price of the gift.
"We'll even bring over a selection of items so the buyer can make sure they are buying the perfect present, and wrap it on the spot," says Asimi owner Sheila Dafereras.
ASIMI is at 40 George Street, Edinburgh www.asimi.co.uk, 0131 220 5070.
Santa
TOO busy to take the kids to see Santa?
In between helping clients with their Christmas shopping and organising everything from a pre-Christmas de-clutter, tickets for the panto and even the lights for the tree, Cherry Lifestyle Management have been known to fix it for the great man to appear.
"Last year one of our clients wanted us to organise it so that Santa would be running late, and be caught by their children just as he was leaving their house. Can you imagine the children's reaction to that!" smiles lifestyle manager Christina McDowall.
And that's not all. "We can organise your home Christmas party, sort out the Christmas tree and decorate the house - and we can take the decorations down again. And we can do all the shopping," she says.
Cherry Lifestyle Management: 0131 620 2667, www.ukcherry.com. Rates around £25 a hour.
Presents
Lazy AND strapped for cash? John Lewis's personal shopping service will do your Christmas shopping for you - at no extra charge.
Helen Lanvin, head of the Edinburgh store's personal shopping department, will scour the store for appropriate gifts, arrange for them to be beautifully-wrapped and delivered to your chosen address. "I try to get as much information as possible about the person the gift is for. I tend to make it a personal gift, something luxurious that the person might not usually buy for themselves - not a household item."
John Lewis: 0131 556 9121, www.johnlewis.com
Christmas cards
Ever cursed the effort that goes into having to rip open all those envelopes just to get to the card?
Well, Christmas Concierge Fiona Galloway will organise your cards, open them, note down the sender's details and even arrange them on the mantelpiece.
Then she'll happily nip to Marks & Spencer for some party nibbles, pick up fresh flowers for the table and organise a pianist for your Christmas soiree.
Going away for the holidays? Fiona will walk your dog and feed the goldfish.
"I'm a bit like a Christmas personal assistant," she explains.
Christmas Concierge Service: 07791 736982. Prices vary for different services
Christmas dinner
Does the thought of 25 hungry relatives crammed around your dining table while you frantically attempt to defrost the turkey fill you with horror? Well, Dario Pacifi's Devil's Kitchen can organise ingredients for the perfect Christmas dinner, delivered to your door. All you need to do is switch on the oven.
If that's too much effort, Dario and his staff can be hired to pop along to your abode and rustle up a sumptuous meal, or nibbles for a champagne reception.
Devil's Kitchen: 0131 225 6431, www.devilskitchen.co.uk. Prices vary
Decorations
The fairy on top of the Christmas tree has collected her bus pass, the frost on the windows is just dirt and the sprinkles of "snow" on the mantelpiece are dust.
Time to sort out the house before the mother-in-law arrives.
Alan Salkeld's HecticLife can do everything from shopping for decorations to cleaning the house.
"Everyone wants their house to look perfect on Christmas Day," he explains.
Hecticlife: House cleaning from £35, handyman services from £17, other services negotiable. 0845 644 7501
Hair
Oh, the ordeal of having to lift yourself off the sofa and head to the hairdresser to sort out those split ends before the office party.
So why not let one of Edinburgh's leading stylists tweak your tresses in the comfort of your own front room?
Steven Gargaro spent almost 30 years as part of the management team of top chain Cheynes' South Bridge salon.
These days he travels to clients' homes, cutting hair into the latest styles or pinning it up for parties.
Steven Gargaro Hairdressing: 0131 668 1602, £31
Wine
PART and parcel of having a great Christmas meal is what you drink to wash it down.
But if you are bamboozled by the hundreds of bottles at the supermarket, then get in touch with Richard Meadows.
The managing director of wine warehouse Great Grog on Ratcliffe Terrace can ensure that not only will your festive liquid intake match your food, but that you don't have to set foot out of the house to get it. "We offer free delivery right across Britain," he says. "We offer mixed cases of 12 bottles which should be sufficient for a Christmas dinner being eaten by five or six people."
Great Grog: 0131 662 4777. Mixed cases start at £50 to £60
Cake
Christmas is the one time of the year when you might contemplate becoming a domestic goddess and baking a cake from scratch, rather than popping into M&S.
And if you don't use the family recipe that's been used since the dawn of time then you will be forever shamed. But what's the point in having a cupboard full of cut-peel that will develop weevils over the following 11 months?
"Exactly," says Gail Laing, owner of The Millstone, a health food shop in Linlithgow. "That's why we offer a service where people can bring us their recipe - be it an ancient family one, or one they've pulled from a glossy magazine - and we will give them the precise ingredients. That means everything will be measured out and all they have to do is mix it together at home and put it in the oven - leaving no leftovers."
The Millstone, High Street, Linlithgow: 01506 847270. The service is free - cost depends on ingredients and amounts
Tidy up
The festivities are over and you're left with a pile of trash. MyOrganiser's Christmas Angels can swoop into your home and declutter all that mess - and take it to the dump.
Before the big day they are happy to do anything from decorate the house and dress the tree to provide a private chef.
myOrganiser: 0131 624 9807, www.myOrganiser.com. From £15 an hour.
