Day to Day chit chat 2010

[Mandy]

Oh dear, Cathy, thank you so much for the thought and the card though, I am sure it was beautiful............they do say it's the thought that counts and you did think to send me a card. If that was the Munno Para post office, then they do know us in there, if it was any other post office, it must be our fame spreading lol.

That was good for Rachel, I bet you are so proud. Those school concerts can be so cute can't they?? I have to admit, I've missed so many of my neice and nephews. I'm with you too on the shopping, it's all come up on us so quickly, I need so many presents. Hopefully, I'll have tomorrow off to go and get a bit of it done.

[eyak48]

News flash for Brissy. ITS RAINING, what a surprise!!
Dreary start to the day after big rainstorms yestreday and a fair bit overnight. I realise a drought always ends with a flood but I really am a bit over it.

So what is everyone up to today, mine will be mostly spent baking etc ready for a bit of a get together tomorrow.
First batch of tarts on the oven so a good start
Enjoy your day everyone

[Mandy]

Raining on and off here too, kaye, yesterday, I put the washing out and it rained on it. Luckily it ws only the covers for the craft stand so they stayed out until they were dry. Hope we get a dry day this week though as my laundry basket is full to overflowing. Hope you have a lovely time at your gett together, I promised Ian a few more of the melting moments....he bought cherries to go on the top, so maybe I'll do them later.

I managed to finish my gift card thingsy from the create and chat night yesterday evening and today I'm on Christmas cards.........as soon as I finish a bit of gardening and tidying up/sweeping out the carport. Might even see if I can get the back windows cleaned too, nothing like setting myself a challenge hey??

[WendyC]

We're doing a day trip up to the river cabin... I'll be taking the Christmas cards with me and will write on them while we're there!

I'm a bit over the rain too Kaye... there will be no swimming in the river for us this year, the water level is about 6 metres higher than this time last year and the sand bars are non-existant. Lots of fish dying because there is not enough oxygen in the water, they have found quite a few one metre long cod floating in the river. I hung out the washing last night and it started raining within an hour so it was rinse cycle grrrrr.

Just one more week of school for our girls. They are going to Mum and Dad's on Thursday after school, and we will go and collect them Sunday afternoon. We have a party to go to Friday night and another Saturday night so sending them to Mum and Dad was easier than trying to find a sitter for both nights, besides which it's been 12 months since the kids spent a night at Mum and Dad's anyway and they will all enjoy it.

[CrafteeCC]

Hi Mandy, it was the Golden Grove Post Office, but not one of the usual ladies - maybe she was an 'extra' from another branch??
Will have to see what Santa can do about your missing pressie

[Mandy]

Could ahve been one of the ones from the Munno Para office on secondment. I know they sometimes move around. Don't worry about any presents, I'm still so behind on the swaps, although I just ahve to find the extra holding bits to put on the luggage tabs and they will be sent before I go. I did find them before but managed to lsoe them all with the craft fair and work etc. I've also finished my Secret Santa's so they can go this week too. Merry said not to bother rushing her Christmas ornament as she's not going to be there and didn't put up any decorations either. Same here, Ian doesn't want the tree, so apart from a few Christmas cards, that will be it I think

Hope you ahd a nice time up at the lake, Wendy, that is a shame about the fish though. Have a nice time without the girls, I bet they will enjoy being at Nannas house.

Better get on, got ehaps to do this week before my finish on Wednesday

[Mandy]

I'm sitting here in my jim jams at 6am writing Christmas cards and trying to find envelopes.........why do I leave everything until the last minute?? If you don't get a beautiful handmade card from me this year, I promise to send a qunique and funny one from the UK

There is just so much still to do, I completely forgot about teh end of the month stuff, so that needs to be done and entered before tonight, I was planning on doing a stock check in December, that hasn't happened either. Not going to worry about it now, there's always next year.............it still sounds funny saying that. To top it off, my "take back" present list currently consists of 7 presents..................I think I should have started earlier. Think I'll go into work before 7am this morning and get started really early, that way, it will be an early finish and a shopping trip.............oh and I'm supposed to be going swimming plus my hair needs a cut, something tells me that its going to be a really, really busy day

[eyak48]

You sound as if you need a few of Santas little helpers Mandy, big breaths and one job at a time.
We spent a few hours a the local Westfield yesterday and it was a nightmare, we were there before 8.30 and still hard to find a park. I am going back tomorrow but not looking forward to it.

[Mandy]

well, got here okay, had a very long flight and didn't sleep very much. My sister and nephew were at the airport, can't beleive how big he's got. Not feeling at all tired right now, tis very cold and its SNOWING !!!! All the trees are white and the ground is covered, I'll take some pictures later, we might go toboganning to collect holly tomorrow it keeps up

[kamma]

How wonderful Mandy...i bet it was a beautiful sight..im picturing a postcard pic here....ive never seen snow...have a wonderful time and i cant wait to see your pics....Merry Christmas to you.Ian and your family...xxx

[eyak48]

So pleased to hear you arived safely Mandy, and yes it does sound picture prefect.
Have a great time say hi to your Mum and Dad for us and look forward to seeing some photos when you have time.

Meanwhile in storm city, I mean Brissy we are drying out after another round of huge storms yesterday and more promised for the next few days. 28,000 lightning strikes on Thursday. We missed the hail so far thank goodness but lots of poor people not so lucky.
How is everyone going with their Chrissy prep, pretty well organised here I think until the last minute panic when I realise all that I have forgotten to do After a few hours in the madness of Westfield on Thursday I am hoping I don't have to go back to the shops EVER.
Big week so a bit tired today, hoping I am going to do not much more than make a few birthday cards.
What is everyone else up to?

[WendyC]

Glad to see Mandy arrived safely. Kaye, sounds like it's been pretty full-on up there with the storms. I am sick and tired of rainy weather but it's probably not going to stop for a while yet.
We're child-free here, the girls have gone to Mum and Dad's for a couple of nights as we had a party to go to last night and another one tonight. Last night was a BIG one... I definitely 'got my drunk on' and am paying for it this morning! It was a brilliant night, although being an 18th birthday party in a nightclub I was feeling very OLD and like a fish out of water. We haven't been inside a night club since 1999 and I can't see it happening again too soon either!
Yesterday a friend came over and helped me pot up lots of new plants. I'm not terribly garden-minded so it was great to have a helper (who is a qualified horticulturalist and once owned a nursery!) to guide me through the plant selection and preparation process. Still another 6 pots to fill with plants, but it's cold and wet outside today so I'll do inside stuff. I need to finish a few Christmas projects and once Brenton is awake and not too under-the-weather, we're going to sit and go through all the kids' Christmas presents together to figure out what needs to be wrapped up. In the meantime I am nursing my hangover and will tidy the family room while the kids aren't here to sook about what I throw out!

[HuggiesCrafts]

Good to hear to arrive safe and sound. it is a very long and tiring flight, I never do manage to get much sleep when I fly over there so always arrive brain dead. The excitement of arriving and adrenalin do help to keep you going for a while at least. Sounds like perfect weather for Christmas. PLEASE don't forget the piccies in your excitement of playing catch up with your loved one.

[Mandy]

Well, I lasted until nearly 10pm last night after a few little cat naps in the early evening, so that was really good. Snowed even more today, my BIL's car looked like a snow mobile. Luckily, Mum lent me a pair of boots as my nephew wants to go tobogganing later..........not too sure I can stand the pace though. My brother and other nephew came over this morning and it was brilliant to catch up with them. I'm now regretting not doing a bit more Christmas shopping and hoping that it stops snowing before next weekend otherwise no one will get anything. Today, I've been making clay models with my newphew using DAS air drying clay.........that stuff is soooo much fun. He's a bit impatient though and want's to paint them before they dry. I'm sorry to people who ahven't got cards yet, I bought a few over with me and should have written in them and posted them from Singapore..........would you believe I managed to leave them in my checked in baggage?? How stupid. Hopefully, they will get there sometime before the New Year

That Brissy weather sounds really rough still, hope that clears up before the weekend. I'm with you on the shops Kaye, although there is a huge shopping centre near here called Blue Water which we're hoping to go to next week. Parking is the fun bit. The company my BIL works for in London manages a few of the Westfield shopping centres, hope that means we get priority parking

That's kind of sneaky Wendy, tossing out the kids toys when they are not there, wonder if they will notice Hope the hangover has gone now, never nice to be feelin yuk when stuff needs to be done. I potted up a few plants too before I left, wasn't sure if Ian could manage to water them all, so to be safe I put them in the shade near the kitchen window so he can't miss them

Beth, sleeping on the plane is soooo hard and brain dead is the perfect description, you arrive brain dead with bed hair and teeth that need a good brush. I reckon some people must have spent the last half hour of the flight in the toilet though, they looked like they had a really good scub up and managed to get make up on and everything. I love that A380 plane, managed to get a seat upstairs which was brilliant. The service and crew on Singapore Airlines are really good and make you feel so comfortable. Also, the inflight system is the best, with heaps of movies on demand. I finally got to watch Avatar and for desert we got icecream

[Mandy]

It's stopped snowing here, yesterday we went tobogganing which fun, here are a few pictures to make you feel really cool. I'm really enjoying myself although eating at odd times and the jet lag is a bit of a pain.