Merry Christmas

Sunday:

Merry Christmas everyone!

We spent the days leading up to Christmas cleaning the house, shopping and cooking, ready for Christmas for 20. We all got involved in icing the gingerbread, here is a selection.

We were very happy that both the window and the shade sail for the pool were finished in time for Christmas. Depending on the time of day, the sail can shade anything from a thin sliver to most of  the seating area and up to a quarter of the pool. It has definitely helped ward against sunburn already, we are swimming every day with temps in the 30s. Yesterday the air was 36 and the water was 34! Almost like a bath. We were thinking of getting an image printed on the sail - a phoenix flying overhead - but it was delaying things too much so we decided to just get the plain canvas.

On Christmas morning it was up early for presents. We usually host Christmas lunch but this year we switched to dinner (evening) so we had a relaxed morning examining our presents and having an indulgent breakfast.

The afternoon was chaotic as family came and went at different times - to swim, to share presents, going home again to finish their dinner contribution then come back. It wasn't so much fun, Tim and I would have liked to be in the pool (in between tending to the turkey) but had to take turns waiting in the house to let people in. Actually when I did have a swim it wasn't much fun either due to the little girls, but more on that later. Then there was a lot of waiting around for 20 people to be ready at the same time to open presents together. Like herding cats.

Finally we all sat down to dinner together and that was lovely. As usual everyone contributed... more or less. The two unreliable branches of the family didn't bring what they said they would (of course) which was kind of funny after the mini texting war over what they wanted to bring, especially over the trifle! Only two of us provided dessert instead of four, and they didn't seem to bring much else instead. But there was plenty of food anyway, just my turkey and roast vegetables would be enough for a normal dinner and there were lots of other contributions. The turkey was tender and delicious, the secret is lots of butter! Here you see it half carved.

We played some board games in the evening. The little kids were all very tired and cranky and over-sugared by that point so were eventually taken home to bed.

On Boxing Day we cleaned up the mess from the day before (Tim's aunt had done some washing up, but basically we do it all and are also left to somehow fit all the rubbish and recycling in our bins, it takes weeks to catch up with stinky food waste stored in the freezer - oo another little gripe while I'm here one person took leftover prawns home at my suggestion BUT shelled them here and left the shells and heads in our bin! All the bulky stinky bit for us, gee thanks) then everyone came back for lunch to celebrating Tim's father's birthday. We cooked some BBQ and had leftovers from Christmas, and I made another dessert and bought a cake. Then more board games and swimming in the afternoon. The little kids were all still really overtired, one threw up (too much junk food?) and were generally out of sorts.

Oh my goodness, a word on the little girls. Emma is 5 and Eliza is 4. Emma doesn't have firm control over her emotions and there are frequent tears and tantrums. Eliza thinks she can get away with anything as long as she has a big cheeky grin on her face. Together.... well. Apart from making a huge mess and the dizzying changes from best friends to hated enemies, this holiday period they found the box of Christmas Crackers and sat down and opened every one, and then much worse when somehow unobserved they pulled all the almost-ripe peaches off our dwarf tree (and put them in one mother's bag, clearly intending to take them home) which has wasted half of them as I don't think they will ripen - the whole year's carefully watered crop! So annoying! In the pool they need constant attention of course, they both have swimming lessons but they are only little. They constantly swim out too deep then have to grab on to someone, and if that someone is not strong (Jasmine or Aiden) or a good swimmer (me) then we all nearly drown. Jasmine is a good swimmer but can't do much while trying to hold up a child in each arm. And the parents do nothing, usually tending to the younger child in their arms (we have 3 two-year-olds). I usually avoid disciplining other people's children, but if they are in my house or pool I guess I'll have to start. I was really pissed off about the peaches and did tell them not to do that again.

I was exhausted by the end of Boxing Day and I was really wishing people would leave. Some hung around to well after I wanted to be eating dinner (leftovers) and collapsing. They might have been hoping for an invitation to stay but I needed down time! Finally got them out. I spent most of the following day napping, completely worn out from days of cooking and cleaning and general chaos. I feel like I didn't enjoy it all as much as in previous years. Maybe I'm getting too old to host two days in a row. And the family gets bigger and bigger.

The few days since then it has been really hot, we stay inside as much as possible. I had to do some grocery shopping Friday morning and went at 9am, it was already scorching. Quiet days reading and computer games all morning, board games together in the afternoon (we got five new ones this Christmas!)then a swim. Even with the shade sail we don't risk swimming in the middle of the day, although lying in the hammock in the shade is nice. Family are coming over this afternoon for a swim and then the usual Sunday afternoon Dungeons and Dragons and dinner, it won't be all 20 though! Probably 8-10, I never know for sure.  

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday:

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.

We had guests over for lunch and a swim on Christmas Eve afternoon, then had a quiet evening watching carols on TV.

On Christmas morning we had a lovely time opening presents. At the crack of dawn of course. Tim and I were a bit sleepy but the kids weren't!

Tim's side of the family, plus my brother, came over for lunch. I wish I took more photos, but I was too busy! Here is one Tim took of me with cousin Daniel and his wife Martha, my brother Darren in the background.

And the dessert buffet! Mango cheesecake, sticky date pudding, lemon tart and a fruit platter.

As usual we were stuck with everyone's recycling garbage; all the wrapping paper plus bottles, boxes etc. We drop hints and one year asked outright if anyone could take some but no apparently they had no room in their bins. THEY have no room? This is what was left after we filled our recycling bin, we will have it sitting there another week before the bin is emptied and we can fill it up again. May take another fortnight!

Oh well, at least we managed to get all the other garbage (food scraps etc) into that bin which has been collected so we aren't left with stinky bags like some other years. Recycling stuff doesn't smell.

We had 18 for lunch and 12 for dinner on Christmas Day. I was glad to collapse into bed, to the soothing slosh of the dishwasher running for the umpteenth time.

A couple of people returned for lunch on Boxing Day to eat leftovers, then many of the Christmas group gathered again to go and see the Star Wars movie, a bit of Boxing Day tradition for us (a couple of people on child-minding duties went to a later session) and dinner at a restaurant which I suggested because it almost sounded like people were expecting to come back to our place and I wasn't prepared for that!

Today I basically insisted we see no-one, I needed a day to recover, but then our sister-in-law Ping has invited us over for dinner at their place which is lovely of her so we'll go there. I'd kind of rather crash at home watching the cricket but at least I don't have to cook!

A few of the more interesting events of the past few days:

I smashed two glass items on different days. On Christmas I pushed some items down the counter top, not seeing there was a glass hiding behind a box of crackers. It got shoved off the edge onto our unforgiving tile floor and smashed into a billion pieces. In a house with little children including three crawlers! Broom, dustpan and brush, vacuum, and hope we got it all. One of the adults did find a few shards - with their bare foot - but no real damage to humankind.

Then on Boxing Day I moved a casserole dish to the counter, somehow the thick glass lid slid off as I put it down and it went over the other side, again onto the tile floor. Huge smash! Broom, dustpan and brush, vacuum, Roomba. It was Aunty Vanessa's dish, luckily I had the same dish in a different pattern but the same size lid to give her. Not that she would have asked for it, she wasn't even there, but it was my fault so I was glad I had the lid to return.

There was a funny saga about dessert. When we were still deciding who would bring what, in chat online, A said she would make a trifle, but B said no she was going to, so A gave in though slightly miffed. Then B was talking about how she made 'healthy' jelly (jello) for the trifle because there is no need for desserts to be unhealthy so C asked for the recipe. Turns out it was just supermarket jelly with 'natural colours and sweeteners'. And then B didn't even bring a trifle! She just brought 'healthy' jelly and custard for the kids (I suppose those are two elements of a trifle!) -- but then she asked if she could take home leftovers of some of the other 'unhealthy' desserts! I thought it was pretty funny.

I found it a bit less amusing that B brought only a small amount of another food that fit her special dietary needs, basically only enough for her own slice of the family, even though she also ate other things on offer and everyone else of course shared everything and would have liked to try her dish. I didn't even realise she'd brought anything, I didn't see it, but others commented to me later. Ah, family dramas. They keep life from getting boring, don't they!

I was given headphones for Christmas by my brother-in-law Nick. He knew I wanted some good ones, not little earbuds that always make my ears sore, but small enough to wear on the train or out walking, and his speciality is tech stuff especially music. I didn't get a chance to try them out until Boxing Day morning and then I literally had tears in my eyes at the sound quality. Amazing. Surrounded by music.

Most of the 'real food' leftovers are gone but there are plenty of packets of chips and lollies, and boxes of chocolates, hopefully all with be eaten during the next couple of family gatherings before midnight New Years Eve. Back on strict diet from 1st January 2018!

Birthday

Sunday:

I'm waiting for Tim and Jasmine to finish icing my birthday cake for afternoon tea...

Last night we went out to dinner at my favourite local tapas restaurant. I love being able to have little bits of lots of different things rather than a plate of all the same thing. It also allows you to try something new without being afraid you will hate it and waste a whole meal.

Then this morning I was given some exciting presents. The two most memorable are probably the purple contact lenses with a weird design on them (I will try them tonight when people come over) that they got at Comicon, and the warm rug shaped like a mermaid's tail to snuggle under when watching TV. Oh, and a DVD series about secret superhero librarians!

Most of the day has been relaxing and playing computer games, but tonight we have family over for birthday dinner. Lovely day so far. And cake soon!


.... ok here is my lovely cake.

I did NOT eat this huge slab! I only had a few bites. Very rich and sweet.

We shared most of it with the family later, and I gave Tim candles to put on it. So he came out with the cake saying "Natalie wants candles and a happy birthday song." !! How embarrassing. Adults are supposed to cringe with awkwardness while people are singing Happy Birthday, not ASK for the experience.

Here is me preparing dinner. I've started wearing an apron when cooking, to protect my clothes. Handy devices. Doesn't the food look healthy! Luckily you can't see the chicken in cream sauce or the potatoes with crispy bacon.

And here is me with my mermaid tail rug. I love it! The 'necklace' is supposed to be a tiara but didn't really fit on my head. It's glow-in-the-dark. And goes well with the tail.

I tried to put in the weird contact lenses but they were too uncomfortable. I'll try again another time after I've washed them, but I don't know if they fitted me properly. I used to wear real prescription contacts and I had no trouble with those.

We played choose-your-own Trivial Pursuit after dinner. We have several different sets and for each question people got to choose normal questions, children's (only if you were a child), Harry Potter theme or World of Warcraft theme. I had a very nice birthday.

Secret Santa

Monday:

I'm feeling a bit disheartened by Christmas today. Every year we buy presents for close family, but also have a "Secret Santa" where we draw names and buy one present for a not-as-close family member. When I say "draw names", I am organising it this year like most years and I make sure it works out so people aren't Secret Santa for someone they would buy for anyway. We used to all buy presents for everyone, but as everyone got married and started having children the group got too big so we switched to this. People give two or three suggestions of things they would like. This year every person who has offered suggestions has asked for a gift card from somewhere.

Maybe that seems fine to you, and if that is what people want why shouldn't they get it?, but to me it seems we've gone from careful loving thoughtful gift buying each year to essentially just giving each other money. Might as well pass some cash around the table then back into the original wallet because that is what it ends up working out to. And no present to unwrap, just a little card in an envelope. Thank goodness the children still get real presents from everyone.

So how should it be done if I ruled the world? Well for example my suggestion for myself was a mortal and pestle or earrings. Two things I genuinely want, but gives the buyer a lot of scope to choose something themselves. I can look at a gift of earrings and appreciate that they took the time to choose them especially for me. How different to me walking into a big department store and taking two seconds to grab a gift card from next to the cash register, which is what I'll be doing. Having been given a suggestion, you kind of feel you have to get what they ask for. But it makes me a little sad.

It has been suggested that next year we only buy for the children and not adults in the extended family. Might as well.

I've been hosing down the pool every day while the concrete cures. Tim and I did a bit of gardening and clearing up yesterday but really we can't do much until the pool is finished. There are lumps of dried concrete sitting on our front lawn waiting until we get a skip bin at the end of the build, and the backyard is a mess.

My sister-in-law Ping is due to have her baby in a about a week. So that is exciting. Her father is funny, he has two daughters and they both have girl children so my son Aiden is the only boy in the family (his grand-nephew-in-law? not a very close relationship!) and he makes such a fuss of him! Aiden is a bit uncomfortable I think although always very polite. We know Ping is having another girl.

My weight was up 0.4 kg this week to 79.9 kg. Very wobbly two weeks.

Fruitless shopping

Friday:

I seem to have spent most of the week shopping for these upcoming birthdays. I've found things for my sister-in-law and niece but struggled to find things for Tim. We don't usually buy ourselves much on a day to day basis (except books!), we usually wait until birthday or Christmas for the new phone or handbag or CD, so generally there are plenty of exciting things to buy each other. But this year he hasn't been able to suggest much and I couldn't think of anything! I hate the idea of just buying "stuff" that he doesn't really need or want.

Also I had a couple of good ideas but for one I was told "we sometimes have them but they sell out really fast" (if they are a good seller then order in more you stupid cow!) and the other I was told "they don't make them any more". Sigh. So I'm afraid the presents will be a bit mundane this year. Luckily birthdays aren't all about the presents!