Merry Christmas

Ok I know I'm posting this a few days after Christmas but hey, I was very busy that day (and subsequent days) and also if I don't do this now it will look dumb as it will appear on blogger dated as Jan 2008...

Christmas Day was very good. I have to say I haven't had as good a Christmas as this one in a very long time. It didn't start off that way though - don't get me wrong, it was lovely to open presents with Mum and Dad and have it be "just us" on Christmas morning, but when I got to the meeting, and we were only just on time, so I didn't see many of my friends before the service, and then got to the pew, and Marcella blanked me, and then squealed at me when I tried to say hello (all during the first song) - well that was somewhat depressing! Also, looking around the hall and seeing the new babies, and all the changes, well, that made me feel very old and also, if I be really honest, somewhat left out. I tried to focus on the positives, Nanny and Grandpa were there, Grandma and Grandpa too - and Beck and Dem, Mum and Dad - but still I couldn't shake my depressed mood.

So I tried to sing the first song, but hey, it wasn't even a carol, and I didn't really know it, and the music was really loud, and Marcella was bawling, and tears were welling up... but then, a miracle! Suddenly I heard (very loudly, I might add) a voice yelling "Auntie Kylie!", and I looked down the pew, and there was Harry, running towards me, arms outstretched! He enveloped me in one of his neck-crunching bear hugs (no mean feat for a 7 year old, I tell you), and instantly I felt so much better, felt loved, felt like I belonged again, felt like I WAS HOME. Mel and Kev had arrived with their clan - all a surprise, I didn't know they were coming to North Brisbane for the service! I was able then to get into the spirit of Christmas and I would have to say, that one moment set me up for the rest of the day.

Mum tried something a bit different this year, instead of the usual hot Christmas dinner, with turkey, chicken, ham, all the trimmings, plus Grandpa's mushy peas, this time we had a cold dinner. This consisted of still turkey, chicken and ham, but with avocado and something salad by Beck, Mel's fried rice and potato bake, pasta salad, potato salad, a couple of kilos of the juicest, plumpest, largest tiger prawns you could ever hope for, plus a swag of crabs (sandies and muddies) that Lach and Dad had caught over the previous week or two, kept alive in the live bait box - somewhat like the fatted calf - oh boy were they yum. With Mum's famous Christmas pudding for dessert - yum-o!

Then there were the presents - we took our time opening them, only one person at a time (took forever but at least you got to see what everyone got and see their reactions too - no pressure mind!) - Lach was being santa until he got a Ben 10 watch from me, then he kind of got distracted and forgot that he was supposed to hand out the presents! So I had to take over the honours...

The boys then spent the afternoon in between playing their playstation and swimming in the pool (despite it being a bit windy and unusually on the chilly side - there's a cyclone warning up north or something that's causing the big wind and cooler temperatures - its supposed to be 27 degrees but with the wind feels more like 21) and we sat around chatting for a bit before Beck, Dem and Marcella had to head off to Dem's fam's Christmas celebrations.

Grandma and Grandpa, and Uncle David, Aunty Christine and Simeon turned up for "Christmas 2" - the evening meal - which basically consisted of leftovers but this time with Tiramisu cheesecake and a Fruit cheesecake - oh boy, my hips didn't know what hit them! Going to seriously need to do some sort of exercise over the next few days (yeah, like that's going to happen with dodgy ribs!).

Anyway, what a truly lovely day. I hope you had just as good a Christmas too.
Merry Christmas! Roll on the New Year...

Mel, Bethany, Beck, Me after church