Boxing Day or any excuse to glaze another ham

We hosted a lunch on Boxing Day and my Dad and his wife Jan drove down to spend a couple of days with us. We went for a blue and silver theme that looked alot better on the day than in the pic. We of course had glazed ham (the third if you are paying attention) prawns, lamb with pasta, garlic crayfish tails, garlic prawns and pasta, Chinese noodles salad and warm potato salad with pesto dressing...... Uncle Andrew supplied and cooked up a storm with the seafood and lamb and it was magnificent.

Here is Jan and Auntie Nutty enjoying a quiet glass of bubbly

We relaxed in the pool after our lunch... do we look relaxed???

My Darling Dad and my Darling Cath

Me and someones head.

Uncle Andrew playing endless games of "collect the pool toys from the bottom of the pool"

My gorgeous nieces

Lulu and a little bit of her cousin.

Christmas Day 2009

No pics as our camera was out of juice... I may have to nick some off my nieces Stalkbook pages.
I was a bit worried about how our Christmas morning would go as Santa was on a very strict budget this year due to the fact that we are going on a family holiday next year that involves going up north for Joel and Krys wedding and then flying to Singapore & Thailand for 2 weeks. The trip away was the "gift" but I was worried that the kids would struggle to see how something happening next year was a good reason for their Santa sacks lacking the bulge. A few times leading up to Chrissy day either Dave or I felt like buckling and thought about doing some panic buying of gifts (okay that was just me) . We held strong and of course when stupid leaves and sense returns we realised that the kids would be fine with opening 2 gifts (Lulu got pool toys and a music voucher Bear got a music voucher and the equivalent pool toy cash) and sticking to our budget and going on a family trip was the best gift we could give them.
Christmas morning after the gifts had been opened (Dave got a gardening hat and a leather bracelet thingy Lulu bought at the Church craft market and a Fleetwood Mac DVD from Bear and I got perfume from Dave and body wash from the kids) Dave cooked poached eggs and we sat down to a family breakie.
We went to Chrissy lunch at Cath & Andrew's and had the most amazing feast that included
Turducken (chicken stuffed in duck stuffed in turkey - this was so tasty I am now almost a convert) Garlic beef, Risotto balls, pork belly, pumpkin pie, cauliflower cheese, beans, gravy and glazed ham...... then rum pie, trifle and chocolates for desert.
The rest of the day involved a lot of sitting around digesting lunch funnily enough. We also managed to scream out a few sing star battles and open our family secret Santa gifts (yes more gifts!)
My sis and her husband are the best hosts and it was a really great day.

Post Christmas

Its raining cats and dogs here (its a Christmas miracle for our water tanks) and so today we have played these games:

It was Mrs White in the kitchen with the lead pipe...maybe she got sick of people asking for sausage rolls...

Its been a blast... we have also eaten ham on toast and ham sandwiches for breakie and lunch... and right at the mo Lulu is jumping on the mattress in the middle of the lounge room (that she slept on last night...nice)
We are in recovery mode from 3 very lovely full days of eating drinking and laughing our way through lots of family get togethers.

I have pics of some of the above good times which I will post later but here's a spoiler .... it includes a turducken!

PS or Edit or whatever... we managed to cram in another game before the day was thru...

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,
I know that this list is pointless because even though I have been a really good girl this year... we are saving for a holiday next year and I know your budget... Santa I acknowledge you are broke, but a girl can dream.
Just in case you win lotto today I have prepared a list for you...because I'm helpful like that.

First I would love a chunky gold ring - with diamonds.

Ok you may think I am a bit spoilt as I already have this perfume...but I really really want the shower gel or body wash to go with it.

This is always on my wish list (and I'm getting a bit sick of
repeating myself) I would love to have a treadmill set up downstairs so I can run/cough up a lung in the privacy of my own home.

This would also be helpful with the training for the Bridge Run

OK I need shoes... need may be stretching it but these shoes would have a good home here if they were in my Santa Sack tomoz.

Winter Boots ... every year by the time I get into the fact I really want Winter Boots ... the 4 weeks of cooler weather is gone and its back to sandals. I'm just trying to be organised for next June.

Look Mate you really cant go wrong with a gift voucher from Lorna Jane... don't look at the price tags because you might thing spending $50 on a t shirt is OTT... The voucher is the way to go - much less painful for you.

Ok given that I'm always about 18months behind on any fashion trend... It is just recently that I have wanted to stuff my junk into the trunk of these skinny jeans....and just think how good they will look paired with my new wedges or boots...

When we moved into this house I realised it was a fixeruperer... I just didn't realise it would be fixed up years later... 2010 better be the year I see either this

Or this or next year my list will be way longer and ten fold more painful

You know Santa.... I'm sure you are pretty sick of whiny girls asking for things you will never bring them so my last item is fairly simple....

Can you please just ask everyone everywhere to be nice to one another tomorrow ....

Thanks Champ

Ex

Christmas Part 1 of 3

Christmas Cousins

Each year we try to take it in turns to spend the day either with my family and Davids fam. This past weekend we headed into the city to have a Christmas get together with David's Mum and Brother's family as my MIL wont be here on the 25th. Before the season is over we will of had at least 3 different Chrissy days with my sister and BIL and their family and my Dad and Step mum and then David's Dad and his partner Joy.... good thing we like ham. Speaking of ham I was on ham duty last weekend and I baked this baby

Which turned into this when my BIL carved it.

There was lots of eating and a little bit of drinking and lots of laughing and a little bit of talking... and of course some present opening.

This is the gift David gave his Mum and her husband. I think it was a case of giving them something he really really wanted for himself :-) it is a back massager... I think we will be investing in one in the after Christmas sales!


Every one helps to get the enormous amount of food that is Christmas Lunch on the table and here is my MIL carving the Turkey and my SIL putting the finishing touches on the sweet potato bake. Here I am being one step above useless... stirring something.

The day after our Christmas celebration there was a huge lightening and thunder storm that kept the kids out of the pool... so we played a bit of rummykub and ate a bit more.

My Mother In Law would be horrified...

We all have food that sums up Christmas and for David it is his Mums Mince Pies and Brandy Butter. For me its Pumpkin Pie (mashed pumpkin and onion mixed with butter and pepper ... topped with cheesey white sauce mozzarella and baked till golden) which my Mum used to make at Christmas time. Well my MIL has gone to Sydney for Christmas and taken her mince pies with her. Because I'm a fantastic wife I thought I would make some MP and BB for Christmas Day. Also because I'm basically a lazy wife this is how I went about it...I got myself some pastry sheets and a few jars of fruit mince... Lulu helped with the cutting out of the pastry and Bobs your uncle...Mince Pies !!!! I did make the brandy butter from scratch and when its all plated up with a coat of icing sugar and the BB on the side... it looks very yummy.

I do know that you can buy MP from the bakery ... but I have tried that before and David didn't really eat them...

Things I don't understand

Of course the list is long and ongoing, but these are the things I don't understand at the mo.

• Why does Christmas = spending. I'm not totally thick I get that we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus by exchanging gifts... but I do not understand why every time I turn on the tele or read the newspaper all the ads are trying to persuade me to buy a house before Christmas or a lounge suite or get a new car...
• Our obsession with Tiger Woods dark side... OK he was suppose to be so squeaky clean that the fall from grace was spectacular... but I'm so over the media reporting on he and his wife's every move. So she bought a house on an island , so he eats cereal all day and hits golf balls at night, so she is taking the kids out of America for Christmas, so his mum is cranky with him....... WHO CARES .... the man is a dirty pig and shock horror another professional athlete plays aways from home... move on media.
• Why my computer at work got a virus... even when I paid a computer guy good money to install anti virus something (I'm rubbish at computers and I don't listen) and why that virus had to be the one that causes cough "adult" cough pictures to pop up on my screen...I work with 10 males ...the computer guy really can't come and fix my dirty pig computer fast enough... It's very awkward when the nice lady from the shop next doors comes to wish us Merry Christmas and my computer is behaving like Tiger Woods.
• The Office and my lack of watching it... Stupid Channel Ten finally puts the best show on earth aka The Office on at a decent time (last season it was on at 11pm Tuesday night so I saw ummmm NONE of the episodes and ended up buying it on ebay) and then they get all stupider and put it on 2 times a week. So what with Christmas activities and general busyness going on I have seen one episode and I will have to buy this season off ebay.
• Christmas Cards ... or the lack of them. Each year the amount of Christmas cards I receive gets less and less. I think I will be the only one sending them soon... I get people are busy and Christmas Cards aren't a priority to them.... but for me they are almost the best thing about the season and I'm a bit sad they are on the way out.
• My ever decreasing energy level or why I don't seem to care that I am hosting a boxing day lunch and my house is filthy , my fridge is empty and I haven't even really decided on what I'm serving... David became my favourite person today when he told me Christmas Day was on Friday not Thursday.

Caring on the inside

I went to the hairdressers last night and when I got home the kids were telling me all the (naughty) things David had done to them. I find it hilarious that the kids tell on David. Bear was saying that he and Dave made a deal that if Bear washed up the dishes he could watch some TV program but Dad wasn't giving up the TV for him..(I have no idea of the actual deets I was sort of ignoring him) ... when I didn't say anything David said to Bear... "see Mum doesn't care" and Bear goes "No Dad - Mum cares on the inside". This could just be my new favourite saying.

Still Very Cool

For David's birthday the kids and I got him tickets to see Fleetwood Mac. David's favourite music is either classical (snore) or The Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, Cat Stevens and Supertramp... it would be fair to say we have very different playlists on our ipods. That being said the Fleetwood Mac concert was very very cool.

We trekked into the city for the show and I took this pic after having a conversation with D about our water supply. We are low on water (all our water comes from tanks on our property). It hasn't rained here properly for months and I'm starting to get worried we will run out of water at an inconvenient time ... like boxing day when I'm hosting a lunch for 20 ish peeps. I was saying to D that we should buy some water... and he replied he thought it was going to rain... look at the sky in this pic... Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

Smiley Dave

This is me trying to capture the average age of the punters at this show (the lady behind David)... the Fleetwood Mac audience is mostly aging baby boomers, some trying to hold back the tide of advancing years more successfully than others. The 60 year old men in tight Ed Hardy shirts was a real treat.

The corner of this pic is the beer tent... where you could queue for a stupid amount of time to buy really overpriced grog. I took this pic from the balcony bar where you could queue for a shorter amount of time for overpriced grog but get to look down your nose at the punters in the beer tent...

David looks like he should be at a Pink Floyd concert in this pic...

This is what a rock star looks like... Stevie Nicks has presence, charisma and superstar dust on stage in spades. Even forgiving the fact that she is still wearing the same outfits from 1983 (black gypsie dresses) and still using the same props (the tambourine with ribbons) THIS ROCK STAR IS STILL VERY COOL.

Stevie and Lyndsey Buck have had some very public meltdowns during the years and if you want to hear the best break up/please don't leave me/or take off with a fellow band member song ever ... go no further than "Second Hand News".

For the first 3 songs of the concert Stevie and the Buck didn't acknowledge on another... and they did a split screen on the huge video screen so it showed them standing together singing (when they were on different sides of the stage). At the end of song four she hugged him and the crowd went wild. I gather the mythology of their animosity is bigger than them... but they did stay on separate sides of the stage for 99% of the show. Mick Fleetwood is still fantastic on the drums and the solo guitar pieces were amazing.
Going to see great live music is something we don't do enough ... I might make more of an effort in 2010...I would appreciate it if the rockers could start their shows earlier as I like to be in bed by 9pm but all in all it was fantastic birthday gift from a fantasic wife.