Xmas of Good Food, Friends and Fans!

Hi!

Well. Here we are. Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday.......! The only reason for that is that tomorrow it's supposed to be 95-98 degrees with the usual 60-70% humidity, so I thought I'd get in early because you know how agonizingly intolerant the little laptop is of Queensland's summers.......... So we're here now, it's been hot today but not like it will be tomorrow, thankfully there's kind of been a breeze, and it's been overcast most of the day, which sort of helps....... The birds have all been a bit quiet today (tho one was pretty busy pooping all over mah clean sheets!) - they must be trying to hide from the gross hot and muggy day (I wonder if they know what's coming tomorrow??), but we have, as always, some hip n' cool jazz tunes, and a very cool glass of champagne, in keeping with the spirit of the holidays and all - ahhhhhhh yes, life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. I was the only one there last week - everyone else left on vacation (and most won't be back until the second or third week of January). And I'll be the only one there on January 2nd and 3rd! That's OK tho, I don't really mind - I actually get tons done and can think in a straight line for longer than 5 minutes - it's great! Besides, am trying to save my vacation time for later in the year, so that's why I'm not taking the month + off like all the locals do. And really, I've never understood why take your whole chunk of vacation time off at the same time of year the entire country does? And they love to go camping over the Xmas break, which again I don't understand because you only end up jam-packed into a camp ground with everyone you were trying to get away from (maybe they like being with each other for four weeks?????)?! No, if I go away, the last place I'd like to be is in a crowded camp ground. Frankly, I can't imagine a worse way to spend four weeks....... Guess I'll never make it as a 'true blue' Aussie (as the locals would say)! Otherwise, work is fine. Yay for continuing gainful employment!

And then there was, well, Xmas week! I spent a little bit of Xmas eve with my neighbors downstairs from me - it was their first Xmas as new parents and their son Zaphod (I know, I know, parents today. His name is from that book Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) had just turned one on the 18th. So I watched them open presents and then Zaphod and I played with a couple of his new toys - he was pretty pleased. For the most part he's a pretty happy and contented little kid. Unlike the one in the apartment building right next door - he's six months older than Zaphod and to hear the mother go on and on, squealing and cooing in that annoying, grating, high-pitched voice, man oh man, but that little rat does more crying, wailing and whining than anything I've ever heard. I hate that kid. And from the sounds of it, the kid just hates being. Surely they're going to have to move out soon because they'll need more room............. Surely.

And then Xmas morning was up early and out the door and on the road for the two hour drive to Toowoomba and the Adcock Foster Family Xmas! Oooooh it was a lovely day. Very low key, easy going. We sat and drank and ate and ate and talked and talked for most of the day. And it was really just their family - Paul and Margret, their son Russ and his wife Kim, her sister Terri, and Margret's niece and her husband (oooops, totally forgotten their names. But man they were funny, nice and excellent story-tellers!), and me, the token orphan. It was nice. And in the evening, as is customary, we watched one of Margret's action movies that she gets every year for Xmas - this year's pick was Elysium, which actually wasn't too bad. A bit violent and the action bits seemed to go on a while longer than needed to get the point across..... Still, it had neat special effects and it moved fairly quickly..... Overall, it wasn't too bad. If you're in need of an action movie with a decent story and pretty good actors, and you don't really want to hurt yourself thinking, this is the movie for you! And then I stayed the night because Xmas with them doesn't really end until 11 or so. Then we were up sort of early the next day to get ready to go our separate ways - Russ and Kim and Terri were off to their Grandma's down on the Gold Coast and I came home! So I think a nice Xmas was had by all. It's always a nice day with them and every year I'm pleased they have me around. And that was Xmas!

And then the weekend so far has been good, productive. Busted out all the chores and laundry very first thing today because I knew it was going to get hot and gross, and it is. Am in super clear out mode where all kinds of stuff in cupboards and everywhere is marked for the donation bin...... And am only maybe half-way through that little task and I already have a good pile going.........! I love clean out time, it's so liberating and frees up so much space, even if I can't see it (hiding in cupboards or the little closet, or one of the thousand boxes under mah bed), I can feel it, that the little apartment is that much more clutter-free. It's great! But all that will have to go on hold tomorrow because it's going to be such a righteous stinker of a summer's day. And looking at the forecast, the end of next week looks just as bad...... Bummer. But it is summer, this is what it does, and we've been pretty lucky so far......... I just hope this will be the worst of the heat wave tho the locals always say "Wait until February!", which is always the worst month to get through. Ahhhh well. Maybe instead of coming up there during northern hemisphere's summer, I'll come up during my summer! 'Course, my luck, I'll miss the freak cool weather here and arrive back just in time for a blistering heat wave!

And really, that's about it! So, seeing as tomorrow's going to be so hot and disgusting, I think it'll be a perfect time to catch up on movie watching in front of the fan with the water spray bottle (on "mist" of course - white trash air-conditioning)! Hope you all had a nice Xmas! And now that the holidays are over with, (one to go, but that's the easy one), now you can get planning that big trip down thisaway! Errrrr, one day, hopefully!!!!! And like I always say, if you need a few planning tips, lemme know!

BYE!
J!