I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

HAPPY BOXING DAY!!! TO THE LADIES OF THE UK.    Im going to wish you ALL Happy NewYear.  Now I can go back and read your holiday adventures,  My head is PLUGGED UP and I  start  coughing and then blowing the nose,  no enjoyment here========kad2kar

Christmas day with my sis and her husband.  The little dog on Tim's lap is Diego.  He was my cousin Carol's dog and we brought him back from Oregon with us.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

hugs,

Bren

Me and Mr. Tim.

I love to see everyone's pictures.

We had a nice, calm, Christmas with no discussions of oral sex.(Hee, hee.) I sang a solo on Christmas Eve at church-O, Come, O, Come Immanuel-I was a little nervous but not so much you could tell if you were listening to me. 

My favorite part is Christmas morning when my husband makes waffles and the kids come home to open presents. Everyone got "exactly what I wanted" and there was Peace on Earth. My husband got me a shiatsu massage cushion that I can put in the recliner when I'm watching TV-heaven.

Lots of food, lots of laughs, lots of love.

Mary

Love the pics Bren!!

Well girls - I'll be back in a week. Not taking the little netbook with us as I don't think there's any free internet up there.

All of the washing is done and I've packed our clothes. Just the food left to pack. We don't have to leave here until later this morning, so hopefully I'll get it all done. Then we face a 2 hour drive. Mum said the traffic was bumper to bumper going home yesterday. We're heading north but could get stuck in traffic as everyone heads to the beach at this time of year.

I've still got to roll out the pool cover this morning. Hopefully the rubbish will be collected before we go so I can bring the bins in.

SIL actually behaved yesterday. Steve got him to cook the hamburger patties last night. I managed to have a nap yesterday afternoon - that helped a lot but I'm still tired.

I'm going to miss my Poppy - she won't be happy to go to the vet this morning

Love you all - will catch up when I get back.

Sue

Susie

Have a great trip

Thanks Rosemary.

Mary - nice looking kids - hope they are better behaved than our SIL

I let Poppy out as I still had an hour or so before I take her to the vet. I went outside and couldn't find her. Ended up spotting her across the road sniffing around someone's front fence. I chased her home and she is now in the house and a bit p'd off she is not allowed out. I can't take her until 9 - only 50 minutes to go.

I rolled out the pool cover and ended up bathed in sweat. It's very humid at the moment. My list has most things crossed off - just the cold food to pack. Steve said when we get up there that our daughter and SIL can do their own thing - good idea. Here's hoping I get to eat out a lot

I'm looking forward to going to Eumundi Markets on Saturday - this whole town is made over to markets every Saturday - they're famous. I have made the treck from here a couple of times but it is a long way.

(((((((((HUGS))))))))))

Sue

Our daughter has caused us a lot of grief over the years - first by marrying at 19 to a Canadian she met there while on exchange after she finished high school - she totally broke my heart that day. It lasted a bit over a year and she seemed to have settled down after but has very poor taste in men I'm afraid. Our son has been much better behaved but has ended up with the evil DIL. Still we have Alexander to show for it. Recently DIL was saying she can't wait to go back to work as the baby had been a bit fussy that week - interesting comment.

Steve was saying yesterday, what happened to our kids. We gave them a really good start in life. He's upset because our daughter is so overweight, he can't understand how she could do that to herself. Personally I've cut both cords. They're grown up - it's their problem now, not mine. At least they have both been to University and have good careers and aren't drug addicts or criminals   Life's too short for us to angonise over what our kids do, we are the important ones now. We are both cancer survivors - we deserve it.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm sitting waiting until it's time to take Poppy to the vet.

Sue

Susie .. have a wonderful trip to the beach!

Mary .. Your kids are beautiful.  They look so happy.  I think we do the best we can as they grow, then at a certain point, they're on their own.  My son made some bad choices when he was younger, but thankfully he's outgrown all that now.  He doesn't have time with work and two kids to be a goof-up anymore.

I quit bailing him out when he got ticketed doing 95 in a 55 zone.  I told him that was it.  He had to take himself to court and pay the fine all on his own.  That was pre-marriage and kids!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

hugs,

Bren

Hi guys, Belated happy Christmas and Happy boxing day and an early Happy New Year.

Love all the pictures! so sorry for the angst that some of you have had to deal with.  As someone told me, my life this past year (well last few months at least) had been such a mess, it deserved to be called the "Dress Rehearsel for 2012."  And as we all know, a crappy dress rehearsel guarantees a lovely performance! 

For us things went pretty smoothly, once we got my mother off to hospital. Oh we still haven't gotten the cookies made but we did do our Christmas eve spread (Scandinavian themed so pickled & smoked fish, ham, cheeses, Jansen's temptation, etc !) and we ate dinner on Christmas Day at 7pm.

Went to see mom in hospital on Christmas Day--sigh. We took the monsters with us so they could give her the presents they had gotten her. She liked the gifts, asked them about their own gifts and before they could answer launched into a discussion of how she has neuropathy in her feet now thanks to the chemo and a liteny of other medical issues. I don't need to describe the deer in headlights expression of the 14 year old and the 10 year old boys as she launched into a discussion of her constipation. Luckily, DH grabbed them all and hauled them to the hospital cafeteria leaving me behind to be yelled at (why hadn't I spoken to the social worker yet? its Christmas, they aren't working. But I should call the nurse. Christmas mom, still not working etc).....

Sigh. Finally got home and shoved goose in oven by 3:15. such a cooperative beastie! It was all done roasting by 6:30 which enabled us to eat early which was a complete change from Christmas Eve. Dinner was quite yummy besides the long list of things we forgot to make from garlic kale to carmelized brussel sprouts to bourbon yams to red cabbage. Oh and we were all way way way too full to eat the steamed Christmas pudding. I am thinking it will be sitting until New Years.

On my earlier movie list, forgot to mention "Love Actually" which we have watched twice this year. And not that I think it needs clarification because there is No Other Grinch but I did mean the Boris Karloff version. . . . .

Christmas and New Year's are times for reckoning for better and for worse. My middle sister and I have finally gotten my mother to realize that my older sister isn't the saint she casts herself as and may be lacking the empathy gene - and how that has made us suffer. So this Christmas for me was a time of exposing truths, realizing things and changing unhealthy balances of power. Susie, I know your realizatrions came home for you and it was painful for you -so sorry!

Barbara - I am going back to my loved job but hated supervisor tomorrow. I will think of you, you think of me and through that we will give each other strength - ok?  It's depressing, I know. It will drive me to drink, I swear. 

THank God for my "thread mates."  to you all!

If I didn't live in a tiny apartment I would sugest a thread reunion chez moi.

Hahaha! Know what you mean, Blue. Haven't had a flu myself in ages!

So what are people's plans for New Years?

Barring any interesting develoipment, mine are to ignore this overcelebrated event - and be glad I made it through 2011 intact.