The World According To Me

It's an obligatory activity for me to make New Years Resolutions which invariably include giving up smoking, getting skank-ho skinny, not drinking coffee and saving money. Each year I tell myself that I will give up the things that constitute my life's little pleasures - eating, drinking, smoking and spending coin. So this year, I have decided to try a different tack and resolve to do things which will make me happy, instead of those which are really just too hard and will potentially turn me surly for an extended period of time. Also, there is an increased possibility of me actually achieving my goals, which would be a first, and I would be immeasurably proud.

Thus;

1. I will become an expert at making nori rolls (all helpful hints welcome).
2. I will start to learn a new language.
3. I will drink more tea of a herbal variety.

Also - will become skank-ho skinny. Somehow.

For now, that's about it.



My Christmas break was rather awesome. I am pretty much anti-Christmas but this year was good and I actually enjoyed it without having to fake it too much. I had to do the early morning wake-up and drive to my mum's place in Castlemaine at stupid o'clock. I was about 15 minutes from arriving and, to be honest, had a bit of a heavy heart about the day ahead. I lived in the Castlemaine area for a while as a youngster and I suddenly remembered how, each Christmas morning, there was a Santa who would be driven around in the back of a ute, handing out bags of lollies and icy-poles to all the local kids. I think it was something to do with the Lions Club, but I can't be sure. You could hear him ringing his bell from half a kilometre away, and you'd run out into the road in your jarmies, still high from opening your presents, with a can of beer stolen from the fridge to exchange for the half melted icy-pole and bag of lollies. It was so bloody Aussie, and an absolute highlight for me. I hadn't thought about it for years and wondered if it still happened. Lo and behold, I rounded the corner and there was Santa, in the back of his ute, clinging on with one hand and ringing his bell with the other! As we passed eachother I waved madly and grinned like an idiot. It sounds stupid, but seeing that it still happened really lifted my spirits. I collected my mum and sister, then my Grandparents, and we drove down to Melbourne to spend the day with my Aunty, Uncle and 3 genetically freaky model-like cousins. It was really nice. I stayed with mum on Christmas night and we reconnected a little. We've had a bit of a tough year, mum and I.

After Christmas there was unfortunately only one day spent watching the Test, which was far, far less than I had planned. Went camping for a few days and got the weirdest sunburn but enjoyed spending a lot of time in my special inflatable tube (complete with head-rest and can holder plus can-reserve for extra cans. It is wondrous) floating on the river. I am very much into camping right now. Lucy was a little swimming machine and the day after we got home she was limping around as though she'd just done four RPM classes in a row. I think sometimes she forgets that she's almost 56 in human years. The mind is willing but the body, etc.

Was in Melbourne for NYE, at the Belgian Beer Café swimming in my own sweat and desperately trying to replace lost fluids with the bubbly kind. We went into the city afterwards and drank more at dodgy pubs and got kebabs and a taxi home, which is apparently a miraculous event.

I am back at work now and feel as though I need a break after my break. I'm tired. The heat here is bordering on oppressive and it is confirmed that I am definitely not built for summer. Nevermind, the air-conditioning in our house is a cracker and I am so thankful for it. And otherwise I am in an office which is releasing many, many black balloons into the air….

I do hope everyone also had a lovely Christmas break. Here's to a phenomenal 2008.

Chin chin!