Wednesday 26th December 2012 - Boxing Day

Christmas Day 2012 is all done and dusted.  We were fortunate to have a big covered verandah as the weather was very unkind for outdoor activities.  At times we had torrential rain so we were lucky to have heaps of new toys inside to keep the little people amused.

We had a lovely day starting with a visit from Graham, Anne, Lachlan & Karlie who have been out at Copacabana for the holidays.  Lachlan & Karlie are off to Peru on Boxing Day for some volunteer work experience/holiday so it was good to see them before they left.

Shane, Sam, Rod, Anne, Joel & Emily arrived about 2.30 and we enjoyed the usual Christmas Day chaos of opening the Christmas presents with toys and paper and cardboard boxes littering the house & the kids happily in the middle of it.

I had earlier decided on having a baked dinner regardless of what the weather was going to be.  It turned out to be a good choice as the weather turned quiet cool so a hot dinner followed by home made pavlova was ideal.  Joel & Emily had a great day enjoying all of the new toys and gifts.

I got some lovely gifts - satin nightie, underwear, moisture creams, golf balls, iPad wall tab, iPad & iPhone photo printer, golf balls, wine etc... how good can it get!

It was a long day but very enjoyable.

Boxing Day (today) we were up early to take on the traditional painting of the function room walls at the Golf Club which needs to be done while the clubhouse is closed so that pain fumes do not offend.  Peter had everything organised to go so we started about 8 o'clock and finished about 1.30 which was a good mornings work.  We were to visit Anne's Mum and Dad in the afternoon but they had to go out so we postponed that visit for a few days and had a nanny nap instead.

It had been a tiring couple of days so an early night is in order as we have more painting to do tomorrow.

Monday 24th December 2012

This week was busy with all the usual build up for Christmas Day.  At this stage what has not been done is not getting done.

Tuesday 18th December 2012 I spent the day doing some hard yards with the hedging machine at home and at the golf club.  I had a drink with the golf girls when they finished their round of golf and then worked on until about 2 o'clock.

Wednesday 19th December 2012 I had a 10 o'clock appointment with my beauty therapist to get my nails done and a nice relaxing facial which I really enjoyed.  I was finished in time for my afternoon appointment with my Doctor for a pap smear and to find out why I was getting so much discomfort in my foot and knee.  Turns out that I have got arthritis setting in so my Doctor has put me on some anti inflammatory tablets for the short term and then I have to get an injection to help the problem/  I was up early in the morning to cut some flowers for the girls for Christmas.

Thursday 20th December 2012 we went to Erina Shopping Centre for some last minute Christmas Shopping and I spent the afternoon in the garden at home.

Friday 21st December 2012 I did all the washing, ironing and cleaning of the house to get everything ready for Christmas.  Friday evening we went to the Golf Club for the Children's Christmas Party and for the raffles.  Anne bought Joel & Emily over to the club and they enjoyed the night.  We won a breakfast tray in the raffles.

Saturday 22nd December 2012 we did the household shopping and cleaned up around the yard and front verandah so that everything was ready for Christmas Day.  That evening we went to Col & Laurens place to have dinner with them and Mark & Anne.

Sunday 23rd December 2012 there was no golf competition so we went over to Rod & Anne's with the breakfast tray and had breakfast there before Peter & Rod went out to Tumbi Umbi to collect some chairs and a mat for Anne.  Peter went to the RSL Club for lunch and the RSL Christmas Party which gave me time to have a nanny nap to catch up after a busy week.  It was a hot day so I spent a lot of time watering in the gardens.

Monday 24th December 2012 (today & Christmas Eve) we were at the Golf Club for F-Troop to do some tidying up and watering of the gardens there as it was a very hot day.  After F-Troop we did some last minute grocery shopping for Christmas Day.  In the afternoon Tracey, Joel & Tori Ridgeway called in to say hello.  They are living at Tamworth now so it was good to be able to catch up with them.

The presents are under the tree and the dinner table is set up for tomorrow so all is well.  We are expecting the family in the afternoon so I have plenty of preparation time in the morning. All going well tomorrow will be a lot cooler than today and the baked dinner will all go. We have had a bit of rain tonight which should cool things down and give us some relief.