Christmassy Goodness

And so this is Christmas,
And what have you done?
Another year over,
A new one just begun . . .

I’ve had such a lovely Christmas. I got some very nice presents, but even more important than the presents has been the feel of the whole thing. I’ve had fun times with my family, warm and loving and merry, and S has been by my side through most of it. I’ve given gifts that made people happy and excited, and generally had a pleasant and fulfilling festive season.

The compulsory gift wrap-up:

What I got:

From Mum and Stepdad: A silver St Christopher medallion (I wasn’t supposed to get anything from them as they’d spent my Christmas present money towards the camera I got for my birthday, but Mum couldn’t resist!)

From 24yo brother and his girlfriend: “Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl” DVD.

From 11yo sister: Lithium batteries for future use in my camera.

From 9yo brother: Champagne flutes (Mum helped him choose them, but he still had the final say, and they’re very elegant!)

In my stocking from Mum: A dynamo torch (it never needs batteries, you just wind the handle for a minute and it lasts for hours), a battery-operated camping lantern, various chocolates, and a pack of fudge, nougat and marzipan goodies.

From Dad and Stepmum: A $150 Coles Myer Group gift card (Coles Myer Group own a whole range of stores including supermarkets, department stores, liquor stores, Officeworks etc. One of the things I’ll get is a new desk chair, mine is broken).

From 15yo stepbrother and 14yo stepsister, but purchased by Stepmum: A silver necklace with a purple stone in it apparently called charoite (I looked it up and apparently it’s a hard mineral rather than a stone, and reasonably rare, so that’s pretty cool).

Also from 15yo stepbrother and 14yo stepsister, but purchased by Stepmum: a calligraphy set with three pens and 14 inks and an instruction booklet. This is kind of a WTF present – it’s cool and all and I’ll probably have fun using it at some point or use it in my classroom, but it bears no relationship whatsoever to anything on my Christmas list, my known or extrapolated hobbies, or in fact anything I’ve ever said or done lol. Nonetheless I was very politely ecstatic about it when I opened it!

From an aunt and uncle: $50 in a card.

From workmates, variously: A box of chocolates, a mini bottle of a Cabernet Sauvignon, a pair of thongs (flip-flops) that fit me perfectly, and some nourishing hand and nail cream. The thongs are a real hit – I didn’t have any but felt defeated every time I braved the huge stands of thongs in the shops trying to find a good pair. These are perfect and I didn’t have to go to any effort whatsoever to get them!

From S, the most important present of all: a bottle of the perfume “Byzance”. It’s GORGEOUS and I’m over the moon about it. So happy!

I also got a $25 voucher to most stores at any Westfield shopping centre (Westfield is a shopping centre (mall) chain that owns several of the biggest centres in Perth). That wasn’t a gift but a reward from work’s Head Office for selling 5 of a particular range of frames for a $5 reward each! Having lost my watch last week I know exactly what I’ll be spending that $25 on.

What I gave people:

Mum: A $15 Spotlight (fabric, craft, homewares store) voucher; and went halvies in S’s present for her which was a bottle of crème de cacao.

Stepdad: I bought him a cheap version of the iTrip, a gadget which broadcasts the sound from your iPod or other mp3 player through a frequency on your car radio. 24yo brother conspired and got the double adapter for the car power socket which he needed to run this. He was totally blown away – really impressed as he’d never heard of one so the gift was a total surprise. Yay!

24yo brother: “The Court Jester” DVD

24yo brother’s girlfriend: A frosted glass tealight holder with a stars and moons motif, and a pack of 8 blueberry-scented tealights.

11yo sister: One of a particular set of small plastic horse figurines she’s currently collecting, plus a packet of paddlepop sticks (popsicle sticks) from which she can make fences for the toy horses.

9yo brother: A “Mars Mission” lego pack.

Dad and Stepmum: They didn’t want presents as such but S and I got them a bottle of their favourite wine.

15yo stepbrother: $10 Coles Myer or Kmart gift card (can’t remember which lol)

14yo stepsister: Silver dangly earrings (stars on chains)

Workmates: Boxes of chocolates

It’s been such a lovely Christmas, despite having been frustrating and upsetting at times – I think I’m finally starting to learn acceptance and serenity (Siri, you have helped so much with this, thankyou again). I’ve let nothing spoil the mood, no matter how negative other people were being – something I’ve never mastered before. ‘Tis good!

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I started looking for a car to buy today. I can spend $1000 but no more, so I’m looking at the very basic end of the second-hand range. Unfortunately the best car yard for cheap cars (about 30 at that price range!) is closed for holidays this week, and the other places only had one or two at that price. It was a hot day and S and I both got exhausted and sunburned (him a little on the face, me bright red on one arm and the back of my neck – I missed spots with the sunscreen apparently). Not the best start but we test-drove a couple so we have an idea of what I’d bee looking at. Next Thursday is our next opportunity but they’re forecasting 39 degrees so it looks like a definite no-go! 33 degrees today was quite bad enough.

I’m feeling happy, peaceful, humble, very much in love and very positive about the new year. Thanks be to God.