Loving... NOT Loving... Christmas

I am remarkably chilled out this year. Remarkably. I seem to be just rolling along from week to week. I am loving that about this Christmas.

I am also soooooo looking forward to doing Christmas with my mum and dad at our house this year for the first time ever. I am loving that they are coming to have Christmas with us. I am also loving the idea of totally spoiling them and giving them a Christmas where they can just totally relax and enjoy. I'm looking forward to finding some Stockings for them and stuffing them with unexpected goodies.

I am loving that my kids are not pestering me with lists of "I Wants" from the Christmas mailers (Ha! Cause they are all in the recycle bin!)
I love that when I asked them this morning what they want for Christmas...

She asked for a new toy cash register (with some play money in it please mummy) cause our old one is broken.

And he asked for a Dinosaur poster.
That's it.

I am loving this awesome parking garage I found on TradeMe for Scrag. A grandad made it for his grandkids who have all grown up now, so he sold it (dead cheap). And it's so solid... and huge!About a metre square! Scrag is going to love it for his cars; and boy it will last.
I am loving how it turned out now that I painted it...

I used test pots for the paint (with vouchers to get some free ones). The grey turned out to be wayyyy lighter than I thought, so I used it as an undercoat and masked off around all the edges, including some parking spaces and arrows.

Then I painted black over the top - some old fence paint we had stashed away. A very cool pressie for my little man for $30!

I am loving this lot stashed away already wrapped in the hall cupboard. I am patting myself on the back bigtime. And looking forward to a relaxed Christmas Eve with my folks - no present wrapping at all!!!

I am loving home-made decorations. I embroidered this when I was 11. So I thought this year instead of buying a new decoration each for the kids' collections, why don't we make some? We haven't progressed very far yet, just cutting the shapes out of some leftover felt. I am going to put my glue gun to good use and let them go to town sticking on jewels and stars, after I embroider their names on. Then we'll sew the two sides together and stuff them. I'll let you know how we get on...

I am loving Christmas music. I am loving putting it on and dancing with my little guy while pretending to fold clothes. I am loving seeing him come running to jiggle and hop and boogie to the festive beats. I am loving my Christmas Mix CD.

I am loving having my sunroom back. Mr G has finally got his outside office set up with internet and phone connections. I am loving that as of today my bedroom is no longer his office foyer and my sunroom is no longer his workspace. I am lovng that now I can set up a space for painting; maybe an easel? (Maybe for Christmas?? Hint Hint, Mr G!) This also means... more blogging time! I am loving that!!


The only thing I am NOT loving are my wonky bathroom scales. I don't think I have lost 6kg after all :(
I think my bogus scales and wobbly uneven floor have combined to give me a false read-out. I know I have lost weight... I can feel it, even if you might not be able to tell yet. I just don't know exactly how much I've lost... guessing around 3-4kg? Still pretty great though. I am loving that I am eating sooo much healthier. And that I have had a packet of iced sticky buns (my nemesis) sitting in my cupboard since Mr G brought them home on Sunday... and I haven't even been tempted to take a bite. Yes, I am loving my new-found self-control. And the fact that housework is counted as exercise. My floors and bathroom have never been so shiny clean!

What are you loving/NOT loving lately??

The Point

Buy buy buy the Christmas mailers tell me. Sale Now On! 20% 30% 40% Off! Limited Time Only! The Malls have had their Christmas Bling up for weeks now. Christmas music plays as we scurry like little meece from store to store.

Familiar songs like Silent Night make me wistful, remembering Christmas way back when...

...when Santa would magically land on the roof and drop all the goodies down the chimney (or at least you pretended you knew your daddy wasn't the guy in the red suit). No rush to buy buy buy back then. Just the wonder of gazing at the lights and anticipating the thrill of Christmas morning.

Memories of lying awake on Christmas Eve, willing yourself to sleep sleep sleep. Waking up to see lumpy shapes at the end of our beds; a pillowcase stuffed with mysterious packages, nuts, balloons and an orange (?) We'd drag our bags of loot into mum and dad's bedroom, crowding onto their bed, where we opened the presents slowly one by one, watching what each other got, squealing with delight at the dolly dressed in her hand-made clothes, new jandals, a sunhat.

Childhood Christmases were magical. It was never about expensive gifts: mum used her creative genius and budget stretching super-powers to give us a special day. It was a little bit about the food. Oh yes. Pavlova and trifle and sherry-glazed ham on a good year. Choccies and mum's nutty homemade Christmas cake (which I've never tasted the equal of to this day).

What was it that made Christmas so magical?? The power of that one strand of (non-blinking) lights hung on our (4ft fake tinsel) Christmas Tree could hold my attention for hours. Oh the fun of mum letting me help her decorate the humble tree with our mix of treasured and homemade decorations... and then (oh boy) passing the tree-decorating responsibility onto me when she decided I was ready.

Christmas after childhood was a let-down. Sure, the presents were more expensive, the food was still fancy, the songs were still playing... but it was flat. Empty. Just plain disappointing.

The magic came back when we had children of our own. Oh yes. Christmas through the eyes of a child is a wonderful thing. Their shiny eyes and glowing cheeks as the lounge door opens and reveals a Cave of Wonders; tree lights blinking, presents piled up. Oh boy oh boy.

But how easy it is to forgot about the point of the whole business.

In all the busyness of end-of-year functions, shopping sprees and balancing budgets the stress can just rob us of our joy. At times I've found myself wishing for the whole dang business to be over already. That's when I know I've lost sight of The Point of it All.

It's meant to be a celebration. Joy, fun, laughter, loved ones.
And what are we celebrating?

Love - A Baby born in a stable; Love come down
Joy - He came, we matter, we have Hope
Hope - for peace, for goodness, for innocence

So if it makes me stressed, cranky or anxious I should cross it off my Christmas list. And just chill out over that To-Do-List, enjoy the moment with my kids, watch Christmas movies, dance in the kitchen to Christmas music, celebrate... and send all those mailers to the Recycle Bin.

Snippets from My Week

I must confess that I had originally planned to start December with "Twelve Days of Christmas Blogging"... hah! I have hardly made it onto the computer all week, apart from a few snatched moments to read all your blogs and comment here and there!

It's not that I'm lacking in things to say, but more like the time and head-space to say them in a coherent way. So tonight (after staggering in at 11pm after watching "2012" at the movies) I thought: dang it, forget brilliance or coherant thoughts; go with snippets and photos. So sorry people, nothing earth shattering tonight, just a few random moments from my crazy pre-Christmas week...

Dash Does "5+ A Day"

Big Brother is the worst one at fruit and vege eating. After tearing our hair out for months (and worrying about lack of nutrition) Mr G and I decided to get tough on Dash. His goal? He must eat the required 5+ A Day of Fruit'n'Veges. I think having a numerical attainable goal like that works well for this chappie. This week found him eating kumara chips, munching on a carrot and downing a corn-cob: previously unheard-of events, bordering on the Miraculous.

I also perfected these yummy Potato Patties (the leftovers went into his lunchbox the next day...)

400g frozen mashed potato (microwaved)
1 can of creamed sweetcorn
1 carrot (finely grated)
a splodge of tomato sauce
an egg
a handful of flour to bind it all together

Drop spoonfuls into a hot frypan with a little light oil; brown on each side; serve and see your fussy child gobble up his veges.

Candy From the North

My Great Candy Exchange partner came through! Jenny's shipment of candy arrived all the way from Nashville, Tennessee.

The kids especially like the Moon Pies and gobbled them up. I got a little nibble and thought, Mmmmm, interesting! Kind of marshmallow-y?? The gourmet jelly beans have also disappeared. I am looking forward to trying the Lemonheads (recommended by Jenny) and the fancy tea she sent. I'm going to save the other goodies for the Christmas buildup.

I am resisting gutsing them all at once and being very self-controlled because my health kick is starting to pay dividends. That's right - 6kg lost in just under 2 weeks. What the heck was I eating before??? All I know is I feel lighter and so much better. I defy anyone to mistake me for a pregnant woman now!

A Pippins Christmas Carol

The Princess has joined her friend Yazzy at Pippins (mini-Girl Guides); they wear cute pink t-shirts and sashes with their badges sewn on. "Pippins Care, Pippins Share" they chant.

They made Christmas decorations and learned Christmas carols to sing at an Old Folks rest home. It was very sweet (I was parent help on Wednesday when they took their lovely selves to sing and brighten the Senior Citizens' day).

It was a very serious matter though, apparently. My little Starlet is usually very flamboyant; she creates a stage in her bedroom from boxes, turns up her music and boogies. But facing the elderly audience, she didn't crack a single smile. Later, I asked her why not? (and showed her this very somber series of photos). She said, "Well they didn't stand up. It was very hard to get into singing..." Fair enough.

On Stage

Immediately following the Pippins concert was the end of year Performance show at school. We dashed to the McD's drive through (eek, not good for the health kick), gobbled our burgers and dashed through the rain (yes, it's summer and raining) to the classrooms, a.k.a. dressing rooms. The kids were going mental, crazy, swinging off the rafters almost, so excited were they. The teacher wisely got them all lying down doing breathing exercises, and order was restored.

I had two stars that night: Princess singing and dancing with her class to Abba "Money Money Money" and Dash doing a Rock'n'Roll partner dance (complete with rose, slicked back hair and looking very suave).
I was bursting with pride as my girl remembered to smile this time and gave it her all.

Dash stunned me. He looked about 10 years old when he came on; I couldn't believe this handsome young gentleman was my freckly lad. I filmed some great footage on the video camera - only to realise to my horror as the performance ended - that I had forgeotten to press record and the camera was on pause throughout. I got nothing. Gutted is how I felt, I tellya.

Odds 'n' Ends

• I got my ears re-pierced on a whim after receiving a pair of gorgeous earrings for my birthday. Ouch. (they had closed up years ago; these earrings are worth a bit of pain though)


• I got some really cool birdie pegs from Sammy, and thought they are just too good for hanging washing - so I put up an art rail in Princess' room. Two hooks and some bendy wire and up goes the artwork; pretty cute dontcha think??
• Scrag got a haircut - well, at least 3/4 of one. He "lost it bigtime" as my friend (the brave volunteer hair-cutter) was nearing completion and we had to leave it not quite finished. Just as well he has a cute face.
• I wrapped more Christmas pressies and stashed them in the cupboard. Only a few left to find. Man I am pleased with myself.
• The Tree is up, the Wreath adorns the front door.
• I decided what I really want to be is a writer. And I got an idea for my first book. One day??

...so, a pretty eventful week, yes?

What have your highlights been this week??

Christmas DownUnder

Today is officially the beginning of Summer here in New Zealand. The school pool opened today, it's already warm and sticky and we've started eating most of our evening meals outside under the grapevine. I'm guessing it's a bit different in a few other spots around the world?! Anyone have any snow yet?

It must be strange for some of you Northern Hemisphere-ites to comprehend a summer Christmas. For us here in New Zealand, we have always lived with Christmas being a bit of a paradox: images of Santa on his sleigh and snowy pine trees, when we're outside camping or enjoying a barbie on the beach.

Funny thing is when you grow up here, it doesn't seem strange at all. We still decorate our pine Christmas trees and imagine Santa coming on his sleigh... our radios ring to tune of "Jingle Bells" and "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"... most of our Christmas images come from the Wintery North. Strange huh?

We do have our very own native Christmas Tree: the Pohutukawa, which traditionally flowers at Christmas time. Pavlova is a favourite Christmas dessert (our national pudding - don't believe any Aussies that tell you any different).

A favourite childhood Christmas memory is camping in an old army tent on my nana's back lawn with all our cousins, lying awake taking turns telling stories. We slept on creaky old canvas camp-stretchers. The tent had one big pole in the middle and no ground sheet. The scent of mown grass and the sound of flapping canvas takes me right back to those times. We couldn't have done that in the snow.

The year we got married, Mr G & I flew to England for Christmas, and it snowed on Boxing Day. It was pretty magical waking up to all that white stuff and making our snowman in the back yard. There is something wonderful about a wintery Christmas.

One of my dreams is to take the kids back to the UK one year for Christmas; have a white Christmas together with all Mr G's family. See, so I really am Dreaming of a White Christmas! One day.

But in the meantime, I am also dreaming of long lazy days, lying in a hammock, swimming in the school pool (we hire the key each year for the summer), BBQ's and long light nights. Yep, what we lack in the wintry snowy yuletide vibe, we make up for with sun, sea, sand, BBQ's and camping.

I do love Christmas Downunder :)

What's the Christmas Weather like where YOU are??