Tuesday 13th December 2011

It is easy to tell that we are getting close to Christmas - life is getting hectic as the silly season starts to roll in.

Tuesday 6th December 2011 was a great day.  The weather was warm & the Ladies Presentation & Christmas Party went like clockwork.  Everyone was in good spirits and we all enjoyed a very entertaining day.  After the presentation of trophies some of the girls put on a concert which was hilarious.  My job was to take photos of the presentation & to video the concert.  We started at 11.30am and finished at 4.30 pm.  Big day but very enjoyable. While I was away Peter completed making up the swing that is Joel's Christmas present (or one of them)

Wednesday 7th December 2011 I had a "me" day starting with my beauticians for a facial in the morning and my hairdressers in the afternoon.  I was up early to pick some roses from my garden for the girls.  It was a very relaxing stress free day. The weather was not good but it did not interfere with my day.

Thursday 8th December 2011In the morning I caught up with some household tasks.  In the afternoon Lorraine Bignall called around so that we could upgrade our Christmas Tree dresses with flashing LED lights for extra effect.   We planned on wearing them for the Christmas BBQ on Friday night.  After that I went over to the club to clean up for the Friday Events.

Friday 9th December 2011 we went out to Palmdale for the funeral of Robbie Brann.  It was a large funeral attended by many of the Gosford Golfers.  The wake was held at the Golf Club at 1.00 pm.  Peter was playing his usual Friday night cards so I played in the 9 hole Ambrose Competition with Col Matterson at 4.00 pm shotgun start.  After golf we had the usual Friday Night badge draw and raffles.  This time it was held downstairs as the clubhouse had been completely booked out for functions.  Fortunately the weather changed for the better & we had a pleasant evening outside.  I had a good night as I won a Christmas Ham and a large box of Christmas confectionery in the raffles.  Our Christmas dresses looked good in the night light with the flashing lights making an impact.

Saturday 10th December 2011 Peter & Rod had a concreting job to do for some friends so I went over to the club to clean up the mess from the previous night.   Saturday Evening we went over to Mark & Anne's for a pizza dinner with Col & Lauren and Alice & Col.  It was a lovely evening & the view from their unit was spectacular at night - overlooking Brisbane Water.  We needed to sort out a golf trip that we had planned for next year at Moss Vale.  Trying to get eight people to coincide schedules can be difficult so it seemed that next February would be the best dates. There are some lovely golf courses around Moss Vale so a week there should not be hard to take.

Sunday 11th December 2011we were up early to go over to see the grandchildren before we had to hit off at golf just after 11 o'clock.  We had some quality time with the kids before rushing off to play the final round of the Mixed Team Series.  Our partners were Mark Stimpson & Michelle McGrath who both play off a handicap of 5.  We had a great day with Mark & Michelle getting seven birdies between them.  Our score was not good enough to win but we came in a respectable place.  We stayed for dinner at the club with a group of the golfers and finished off a good day.

Monday 12th December 2011 was a washout.  We had a deluge of rain overnight which continued for most of the day.  F-Troop was washed out so we decided to get some household shopping done.  We picked up the Christmas Ham from the club and then went shopping to buy some paint for the Clubhouse walls which are going to be painted over the Christmas break. The weather cleared in the late afternoon so I went out into the garden to dead head some of the roses & trim the front hedge.

Tuesday 13th December 2011(today) we had a full on shopping morning at Erina Fair clearing the Christmas Shopping list & bought some cards.  It was exhausting but worth the effort to get it all finished.  In the afternoon we wrote out all the Christmas Cards so I can get them off in the mail tomorrow.  Shane called around after work - on his way to play bowls. I showed him the security camera system I had bought for the house for added safety.  I just love all the technology of today.  I can review the cameras through my iPhone at any time which is fantastic if we are out of the house.  I have had a lot of fun downloading iPhone apps for my phone this week.  I am amazed at how many good apps there are.  I think I am getting addicted.

I am feeling much more relaxed now that all the gift buying is done.  I am looking forward to a quite Christmas watching Joel enjoy his first 'real' Christmas now that he knows what "presents" means.

Tomorrow I am planning to catch up with some of the F-Troop work that we missed out on Monday due to the bad weather so that the gardens will be looking their best over the Christmas holidays.