Christmas Day

Started with communion and and candles for Andy @ St Lukes. It was an emotional start to the day. I was struck anew with sadness shock and self pity that here is another Christmas without Andy, and forever more. I cannot believe it and I want him back. After communion, I sat in the side chapel and cried - it has been a hideous, stressful and heartbreaking few weeks with a couple of our little family who are battling major change and stress. After last year's sad and emotional Christmas, I so want this one to be happy - I love this family of mine with my whole heart and I want to be happy and even more I want them to be happy. I cry for all the things that are different from how I want them to be.

So, Church and tears are cathartic, and I leave feeling more peaceful and happiness and optimism returning! It will be a good Christmas and a fun day!





We had breakfast with Andy. We took our Santa stockings... We managed to feel calm and peaceful and even silly and happy at funny old Santa who had been on an economy drive and stuffed free stuff ( like Post Office calendars and fast food vouchers )into the stockings along with the socks and jocks.

An enormous and elaborate lunch followed.
>The crackers held an orchestra of whistles which provided hilarity and entertainment..



For my part, I ate , I drank, I laughed and mostly I enjoyed and was grateful for the family I have.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

And then there were three.. @ Hugo's ... gorgeous .. a magic Sydney evening, water lapping, perfect weather,.an outside table that magically appeared despite the non booking, .. a beer, good pizza, and two of my favourite pppl!! For me, the best!!

There was more than One lobster Present at the Birth of Jesus????

We went staight from the Ballet to the fish markets in search of Lobster for our Christmas victuals.

The fish markets were crazy..it was like the showbag pavilion at the Easter Show..packed and manic, with the addition of prawn heads underfoot and smelly fishy water sloshing all over and ruining our ballet - going designer Italian leather shoes...Meg's were saved by the virtue of 10 inch heels raising them out of the flotsam..mine- pretty little sequinned ballet flats were ruined..unless I want to get about smelling of fish:(






However, our mission was a success and we staggered home with our precious cargo about 2.00am .. it is now Christmas Eve.!

Ballet - Sleeping Beauty

23rd December ---

Finally I am getting into the Christmas Spirit..

A trip to the ballet (Sleeping Beauty) with Megs,
dinner pre -show and some snaps in front of the bridge..

No Prizes for Guessing Who We Picked Up

No prizes for guessing who we picked up at the airport this morning...

He hasn't been home for nearly 2 years...


Apparently he had confided to his travelling companion that his family would be there to meet him and would probably be doing something silly and making a spectacle of themselves....We didn't disappoint!

He said he walked out the doors and down the ramp scanning the crowd..he couldn't miss the signs bobbing furiously and happily above everyone's heads or the screaming and laughing:) Welcome home Chris!!

Christmas get-together

We're sober really..I promise!!
Ok, so the photo makes us ( well me, look like drunken fools..it's just that I haven't mastered the art of the selfie..must take lessons..I have a lot of experts in my family..


Christmas dinner at Kings Cross...this one was all about the food!! _ Fratelli Fresh.. great food, fun and fabulous staff, good Italian wine and three of us who have been friends for over 20 years now.- it all adds up to a top night.

On the way back to the car, we saw astro boy and the Kings Cross Christmas tree.(amongst other things - most of which don't bear photographing.

Ladies Lunch

Had Chrissie lunch on Monday with the Kambora lunching ladies..well .one set of them. We had lunch at L R golf club..a place I always forget about and am always struck by how beautiful and idyllic a spot it is, each time I go there.
'Twas panting dog hot here - 15 minutes down the road next to the ocean, the temperature had dropped 10 degrees to a balmy 25, there was a fresh lovely breeze, fabulous views and friends. Delightful!



Betty, the absolute dear she is, had brought Santa hats and little gifts for us..chocolates and lollies (yum yum). We had a pleasant lunch (these places are never about the food) and lots of laughing.:) Happy Christmas girls:)

These pelicans provided entertainment..I liked the way they walked down the beach in a soldierly row.

Tim's 24th Birthday

We seem to be having a love affair with Asian/Japanese cuisine. This year we celebrated Tim's birthday at Juju's...a quaint little Japanese restaurant in Kings Cross, with a "no shoe" policy, a seating system of little booths with tables set into a sunken floor. The food is very good and very cheap. It apparently has karaoke on Friday and Saturday nights..oo what a shame we were there on Sunday!!


Tim's nearest and dearest attended!:)




TIm enjoyed his okonomiyaki, but was a bit indifferent to the fish!...he didn't let it get the better of him though...he dissected it expertly with his chopsticks and washed it down with lots of mayo!:)




The highlight of the night was Millie's rich warm and extra chocolatey heart shaped birthday cake! - Clever cook Millie:)

Toilet Doll Saga

...as told by Uncle Tony..

Tony is one of five children and his parents have sadly passed now. Apparently one of the family treasures( quite tongue -in -cheek) that the siblings decided to keep after their Mum died was Mum's toilet doll ( you know the crotcheted thing sitting atop many 70's toilets which hid the spare toilet roll).


Now this toilet doll has developed a tradition of visiting each of the siblings as they visit each other. Apparently the current "keeper of the doll" takes the doll when they visit one of the others and on leaving, hides the doll somewhere in the house. When that sibling stumbles upon it, they let the bringer of the doll know ( but not the rest of the family), and then in turn, they will take it next time they visit any one of the family. In this way, the toilet doll has been lugged in suitcases to Hong Kong, New Zealand, Sydney, Brisbane and Noosa. Tony recently took it to his brother's in NZ and a few days after returning home, received the following text " I found the Bitch" ...hehehe :)

Megan has decided my Christmas rooster ( which no-one except me understands) should get the "toilet doll" treatment once I have gone!

Advent

We had an "Advent Party"... not so much a party as a collaborative tree erecting and decorating. We had a special guest and helper...


Megan was particularly taken with our guest.
Tim worked hard at tree erecting, before retiring to the couch. We all sat around eating - hors d'oeuvres and the specialty of the house - pizza pinwheels and "buche de noel" for dessert - Megan buzzed around juzzing the tree and decorating.







When it was up and beautiful and we had finished tweaking the decorations and considering the merits of decoration placement very seriously, we posed with our tree
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Happy Christmas Season 2009!

Brisbane

Took a short - very ( 8 hour-) trip to Brisbane on Sunday to see my family. Had to get up @ 4.30 to catch 6.00am flight to Bris. ( The plus to this was, it made me realize that 6.00am flights are not fun, and since I was intending to book an el cheapo 6.00am trip to London the next day, this was enough of a forewarning for me to realise that getting up at 2.00 am to catch that flight would not be fun, and it would be well worth my while to pay an extra $100 and get a civilized 6.00pm flight instead).


Tony picked me up at the airport @ 7.00am, and took me on a scenic trip through Bris to their home in Mt Garavatt. The poinciana trees were blooming all over Brisbane - Ros and Tony have a beautiful one in their front yard - I'd forgotten how glorious they are.) Ros and Rhys were there (Chloe on holiday trip to Noosa with boyfriend). .. Mum and Sue arrived an hour later. They, being them, arrived with enough food to feed a small country for a week. We ate and talked non stop all day. Sandy came over to join the fun at midday. - It was so nice to have all the QLD family from both sides there together.