This year I discovered the delight of an advent calendar! My work friend A bought us one each from T2 and it added a sprinkle of fun to the last month of work.
I helped with the North Coast fires emergency response admin. The LLS office ladies have a mountain of invoices to match up with tasks that may or may not be logged and also the invoices may or may not be paid already. It was a very clunky system and while I'm glad I could help, and the emergency response side of things is interesting to learn about, it was a frustrating mess to work with.
I visited the Singleton Fam one Saturday as I want to see Lucy regularly, hopefully every month, so that I can see her grow up. I enjoyed watching the baby and the kitten and winning a game of Speculation with Julia and Luke which I sort of understand now.
They also came to dinner in a restaurant the next Friday and invited me along (and Denise was visiting so she joined), as Julia was keen to practice getting out of the house with Lucy. Lucy did pretty well, it was the first time I saw her trying to be aware of her surrounds but like a very very drunk person.
So I had a super fun weekend with Denise! And I also fell off the quit sugar paleo life. It was the Olive Tree Markets that did it to me. There was freshly made hungarian kurtosh. So once you've eaten sugar covered bread, you might as well eat everything. It caught up with me on Thursday.
I've been very splurgy on myself this month. I bought some new pyjamas from the Papinelle sale, which I put away to open on Christmas Day, and I bought this AMAZING dress... It's a Christmas print from Jocelyn Proust, and it looks like a kids dress, and it isn't my normal aesthetic of neutral naturals, and was expensive, but it was worth it. I have worn it to maybe 10 things, mostly Christmas related, and it has had non stop compliments.
This is us resting at the markets.
That is me heading off to buy naughty food.
We then went to the Tea Collective which is a tea cafe nearby. I bought their Novacastrian Breakfast tea.
And then we went to the baths! The smoke and ash haven't been too bad here, the hunter valley is deforested so there isn't much to burn, but you can still see the haze as a normal part of life.
THEN! we had dinner at Greenhills before going to the hunter valley gardens christmas lights in a big group of 6? of us.
Tacky fun.
I helped a little with the set up for the church street party carols.
Since I was still eating sugar I tied a jelly snake in a knot with my tongue at home group.
Carols in the Garage fan Aaron S helped clean and set up the garage the saturday before carols. It was a 2 hour job for two of us. Moving things out, sweeping, setting up chairs and hanging lights.
The following saturday was unfortunately awfully hot at 43 degrees. But it cooled down as the evening went on and was still worth doing. I particularly loved that there were a few mums there this year who got to meet their daughters friends mums.
I realised that Ros and I have been doing Jillian on Mondays for over 5 years! What a phenomenal effort. I haven't been doing much other exercise, although I yesterday I did a Centr workout (was yesterday Thursday or... no it was Saturday). It was very hard but I am hoping to get back to 3 a week.
I made shortbread because I was craving it, and yes, I still have to cut out this sort of sugar.
This was our Christmas lunch! Dan and JK made kingfish pies and a cheesecake, and we played Contagion/napped after lunch.
Other than Christmas, this first week of holiday has been very quiet. I've been decluttering a little. I've been eating out of chipped and cracked crockery and throwing it in the bin. I've been reading old letters and looking at old uni work and throwing it away. I've been choosing a few clothes to farewell. I sewed a shirt with the black cockatoo fabric I bought last boxing day.
My summer flower garden attempt has resulted in 3 zinneas! And the everlasting daisies continue to bloom. I have lost 3 gardenia bushes however. And the star jasmine is drooping. As long as the jasmine and the roses stay alive until it rains I will be happy.
Anyway I'm watching a lot of Supergirl DVDs and doing a bit of sewing and a bit of cleaning, but also getting out of the house! I've been for a swim with K and K, and to the beach with the girls as well, and shopped the sales (lots of T2 and a pair of jeans).
Last night after a surprise birthday party I had a letter burning in one of my big empty pots. The letters reminded me of friends and family I've lost or lost touch with. It's all too nostalgic to go in the recycling. I found $15 in a Christmas card from Granny and Grandfather from 20 years ago, which I am carrying around looking for something to spend it on.
Then E and G came up for our traditional new year of swimming at the baths a lot. Although the fires aren't bad anywhere near us here the smoke has been tinting the sky.
I needed groceries and also had a plan to buy a large set of plates from the sales, and E needed work dresses, so we spent a couple of hours at Greenhills and had a very successful spree! E got a haul of dresses and bought me 9 plates for my birthday and G also bought me some wine glasses for my birthday (which isn't until March but it's convenient and cheap to buy now!) We used my lovely new plates and ate at the table, upping my hostess points.
We canned our plans for fireworks at newcastle due to lack of energy, and the maitland ones were cancelled, so we went to the movies and saw Knives Out and then went to J and Ks pool, had a pleasant warm swim, ate, had a game of Dixit Lite (no scoring) and watched the midnight fireworks on TV.
Next day it was back to the baths for a very very cold swim. And then more resting, and K and G left.
On the 2nd, E and me had a day choofing around Maitland shops. We went to op shops, Spotlight and Bunnings, and E bought what she needed to cover a lamp shade like mine. She got the galah version to my black cockatoo version. We also insta-storied the capture and loss of a huntsman spider. I had music practice.
On the 3rd, us and my parents did a morning jaunt to Shoal Bay so that E and me could climb Mt Tomaree. It's 25-30 min uphill with heaps of lovely views. My parents had a swim. Then we had iced chocolates and went home!
Much like the last few years, I have no new years resolutions. I'm too tired to be bothered with anything that would be a challenge! I would like a change or to in some way live my life differently, but I don't know what to change, everything is quite good, its just same same and a little dull. Here are some plans for 2020.
- Visit Lucy once a month.
- Buy musical instruments - cello, keyboard, concertina.
- (no more home improvements).
- A trip to Melbourne for the garden show.
- A trip to Sydney to declutter with G.
- Go to New Zealand in October on my own.
- See if the 2 day a week dairy comms job lends itself to working from home, for a change.
- Keep doing Monday Jillian and Friday park walk.
- Keep monthly blogging.
