whybother?

I didn’t do Smiley Saturday this week because I was flat out (literally…I was lying on the beach, soaking up the sun after an invigorating swim in the surf *sigh*). So here is Smiley Monday (doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but you get the idea).

* Christmas: I got a huge kick out of it this year. It was everything Christmas is meant to be: fun, family, friends, food. No stress, no fighting, no tears. It was awesome.

* A picnic by the lake.

* A weekend at the beach.

* Catching up with old friends.

* Watching Mollie strike up a new friendship and learning to use instant messaging (only with someone I know and approve of, and with me carefully watching over her shoulder!!).

* Lazing around in the pool with an ice cold beer.

* Picking up some bargains in the post-Christmas sales!

What a week! Best wishes to everyone for an absolutely fabulous 2008! Bring it on!

Thanks to Kim at Frog Ponds Rock, I have taken this quiz: "What Holiday Food Are You?" and the winner is:

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

‘A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.’

The Christmas Curse has been lifted. I had a very, very merry Christmas, so *blth* to you, Christmas Curse Man!

If there is such a thing as a perfect Christmas, I’ve had it. It was extremely pleasant, completely uneventful, and totally tantrum free on all fronts. No misery in sight. Who could ask for more? And, I didn’t even get drunk!

I’m going to climb into my new pyjamas (thanks Mum), read my library book, drink a nice hot cup of tea (it’s unseasonally cool here tonight) and go to sleep. Tomorrow, Christmas will be all over. Amen to that.

I mean Christmas…

Christmas Eve dinner was a delight. The fish was beautiful, the company was fine (and well-behaved) and dessert…well, dessert was sublime! As promised, ‘berry-misu’ photo.

Off to church shortly for the midnight service, at which Mollie is an altar-server, then bed, to dream of sugarplums and whatever else you dream of on Christmas Eve. What is a sugarplum, anyway? Well, goodnight to all, and to all, a goodnight!

I’m not that adept in the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, I cook meals quite well, and nobody around here starves. I can boil water without burning it, and do a few dishes really well, but I am not creative. I don’t do finger food, I don’t do dinner parties (unless it’s Thai takeaway with good mates). In years gone by, I have made the odd Christmas cake, special dessert, whatever, but day to day, the kitchen is not where it’s at for me.

This year, in another attempt to beat Christmas Curse Man, I decided to get busy. I made rum balls. I made truffles. I made a summery version of tiramisu. Yay me! Tomorrow night, we’re going to mum’s for dinner. The menu consists of barbecued whole snapper, accompanied by prawn, pear, asparagus and baby beetroot salad. Yummy ‘berry-misu’ for dessert, followed by coffee, rum balls and truffles. Hah! Nigella, you domestic goddess, read it and weep. For anyone who wonders what ‘berry-misu’ is, I lifted the recipe from the Coles Christmas magazine. It contains such delights as chocolate-soaked sponge fingers, mascarpone, whipped cream, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries…..are you drooling yet?

Christmas day sees us at table with fresh croissants and strawberry preserves, followed by fresh summer fruits. We then roll over to Linda’s for an array of delights including garlic prawns (Darren’s specialty), turkey, ham, ‘perfect potatoes’, sweet potato (kumara) bake (she puts marshmallows on it!) and assorted delights of a sweet nature. It’s going to take us at least 6 hours to eat even a sample of what she is preparing. Bring it on! Meanwhile, here are some snaps of my work thus far. Stay tuned for the ‘berry-misu’ photo.

Another thing that made me smile this morning…

I went through the Drive-Through at Macca’s for an early morning breakfast for the child and coffee for myself. Mollie had my book on her lap, and the young girl at the window asked what she was reading. ‘Wuthering Heights’, I replied. The girl looked puzzled. ‘What is it?’ she asked. I repeated the title. ‘Never heard of it!’ She declared.

What do these children learn at school? By the time I was that girl’s age, I had read Bronte, Austen, Shakespeare et al, and am now revisiting them for sheer pleasure. I admit, the classics are not to everyone’s tastes, but if these kids are never exposed to them, how will they ever learn to like or dislike them? What, in fact, do these kids read at school? King? Koontz? Andrews? *shudder*

Thanks again to Lightening for this great concept. Things that made me smile this week…

• my daughter attended the year 6 farewell (although she’s only in year 5!). She looked like a doll, and when I picked her up she breathlessly exclaimed that she had no idea she’d have so much fun!
• Daz and I attended Mollie’s violin recital
• Darren’s cousin, now in her 20’s and living in Sydney, called in unexpectedly with Christmas gifts for us…so thoughtful and kind!
• my bad mannered, 45kg puppy walked calmly and gently into the bedroom, where I was quietly reading a book, and gave me a kiss. In the past, she would have flown in at 100 miles an hour and thrown herself onto the bed. This, my friends, is progress!

This is good therapy for the soul. If you feel inclined, grab hold of ‘Mr Smiley’ and join in. Simply provide a link back to ‘Ms Lightening’ and she’ll be forever grateful. Seriously, how often do any of us sit down and think about what makes us happy? It’s all too easy to complain, especially at this busy time of year. Get a smile on your dial! (If you are not Australian, and this comment confuses you, ‘dial’ is slang for ‘face’). Have a smiley week!

So, she’s had a couple of detentions lately. So, she didn’t win any prizes at Presentation Day. MY baby just performed at her violin recital. Show of hands, please. How many of YOU or YOUR children can play the violin to performance standard, hmmmm? That’s right, not many!! And I can gloat, because her talent does not come from me!!! Mollie, you go girl! Love from your bursting-with-pride mother xo.

What does Christmas mean to you?

I’ve never been a big fan of December 25. The commercialism, the hype, the decorations appearing in stores in September…..

In years gone by, we have ‘hidden’ from the ho ho ho. Pre Child, we often chose to work on Christmas Day, just to avoid the family. For the first few years of Post Child, we did the whole ‘mine in the morning, yours in the afternoon’ thing. Then we went away on holidays for a few years, in an attempt to avoid everybody.

Last year, we could protest no longer. The Full Monty of Christmases finally became unavoidable, inevitable. The families combined, for a two day love in. Ugh. I won’t go into details, but it wasn’t pretty. I blame Christmas Curse Man…

THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS CURSE MAN

I’m standing in the local discount outlet. It’s about a week before Christmas, and I’ve got those few last minute ‘oh, I forgot so and so’s kid’ presents. Festive cheer was absent. It was hot. I was bothered. It was a big case of ‘bah, humbug’.

Suddenly, obese, smelly, old, half-naked prick gentleman, decides it’s his God given right to push in. Normally, I would just mutter under my breath, go home, and kick the cat, but on this occasion, I’d had enough. So, I barged past him and forced the 14 year old cashier to serve me first. Very mature, very Christian. Very Christmassy. Obese, smelly, old guy took exception to this, and began to abuse me very creatively and colourfully, at the top of his lungs, in front of the whole store. He used some very nasty words, and even called me ugly. That hurt, coming from him. The final insult, however, was his parting shot: "I don’t wish you a merry Christmas. I wish you a miserable Christmas, and I hope every Christmas for the rest of your life is miserable." Thank you so much.

Despite being gobsmacked (I’ve never been cursed before), I could see the funny side of the incident and proceeded to tell all and sundry of the encounter. From that time on, and in light of the fact that it was, in fact, a miserable Christmas, he became known as "Christmas Curse Man".

Fast forward to 2007. Determined to put the past behind me, I embarked on a very merry Christmas regime. We put the tree up. We bought colourful wrapping paper. I bought a Nativity set. I decorated the dining table, very artistically, with baubles and tinsel (very tasteful, let me assure you).

I’m walking through a different discount outlet with a girlfriend, when who should barge in? There he was, larger than life. Fat, smelly, and with the same hawaiian shirt unbuttoned to reveal a hairy torso and man-boobs. I would recognise those man-boobs anywhere. And the tatts.

I grabbed my friend and steered her in the opposite direction, hissing "It’s him, it’s him!" She looked at me as though I had lost my tiny mind. "What?!" she screamed. "It’s Christmas Curse Man!!!!"

Will history repeat itself? Or does eye contact need to happen? Is it possible for one person to curse another forevermore? He didn’t see me. He didn’t see me. He didn’t see me. I wonder what’s in store for this year?

Look what I found over here!

Isn’t it just too cute? And, most unlike me, however, I will give it a go.

Things that made me smile this week:

- I was sitting at work feeling all sad and unloved because I had no desk of my own and my belongings were packed into a box because I’m transient and because they took my name off the movement board (see previous post), when suddenly a new acquaintance sent me an email. It said that she’d enjoyed seeing me (at a meeting) and was thinking of me and hoped I was doing ok (regarding my work situation). That put a BIG smile on my face! She is a lovely person with a kind heart, and it felt good to know I was in her thoughts.

- I had hugs from some very special little children (hi Ivy, Noah, C & B) and got to nurse a tiny baby.

- My daughter held her very first Christmas Party. She did all the work herself, she made it lovely for her guests, and it was a success!

- A friend who knew my husband had gone away for a couple of days invited us over for a meal. It was very thoughtful and much appreciated.

That’ll do me! Please have a look at Lightening’s blog and join in. If you can’t think of at least one thing to smile about, you’re in a pretty bad way!