Kris Kringle

I received an email regarding Kris Kringle for the "other" side of the family the other day - my new family. They have chosen to do Kris Kringle as well, which I think is a wonderful idea, especially in families where all of the children are grown up and money being passed around is a likelihood. My family has done this for the last 3 years, and it has been lovely. Once we had a theme, it had to be a $10 handmade gift - and people made the effort. My brother was given a $10 note cut into a puzzle, I made chocolates for my parents, my other brother was given fridge magnets with the image of my cousin who had made them. This year, I haven't gone with a theme - just a $10-15 present is sufficient. It's a good price where the gift can be meaningful or a gag gift.

The "other" side of the family, however, has decided to have a price limit of $40-50, and the giving isn't anonymous. A list has been sent around, and ideas are supposed to be added and sent back. From out of a hat, I have to give a gift to the organiser of this event, whose gift suggestions are vouchers for 3 different stores. I believe vouchers should not be given for Kris Kringle, it's the same as giving money.

In my opinion, having a Kris Kringle with such a high price range, and having a public list seems like it has all become materialistic and gift-focussed. My solution to this: TEAR's Useful Gift Catalogue. I will buy a gift for someone disadvantaged overseas (I'm thinking a goat, if that's still on offer) and he will (hopefully) see that Christmas isn't all about presents. Charities always need donations and assistance, and I think the gift catalogues they promote are a wonderful idea, as you get a card with an image of what you are buying and how it will assist the individual and their community.

Sorry this sounds like a rant, but I'm getting frustrated about Christmas being about presents, and who had the best haul. I'm leaving it here before I say something I regret.

Christmas is coming

Well, December is upon us and the countdown to Christmas and the New Year has begun. Less than 3 weeks left at work, and only 19 days until Christmas Day. For some reason I volunteered to have Christmas lunch at our place this year, with my family & Jesse's. There will be approximately 26 people. I went and ordered the meat today, and bought plates and napkins and cutlery. This is my only free day before the 23rd of December, so I wanted to get it over with. Names for Kris Kringle were all sent out last night. So now all I have to organise is who is bringing what salads and other assorted foods.

Weekends have just seemed to have filled with little effort. Between birthdays, Christmas parties and weddings there just doesn't seem to be much time for anything else! Hopefully I can catch up with the people I need and want to in the meantime!

We had our final Hills Connect service on Sunday night which I was able to play in. We did some funky arrangements of a few Christmas carols, and it was such fun. The service was awesome. It was about our Christmas Wish List - the prayers and wishes we have for ourselves and others. It will be great to see the services continue in the new year.

OCD

It is both amusing and frustrating to watch someone with obsessive compulsive tendencies. I can see how it effects work productivity, but I don't want to say anything for fear of offending them, especially because the quality of work produced is great. I know they could work faster, though, if they didn't obsess over everything being perfectly straight, lined up to the millimeter. I'm not sure if they notice me watching as they tap on in-trays and tape dispensers, but I see and hear it. The only real issue I have with it is when we're clearly busy, yet lining things up seems to take a priority.

My dilemma is: do I say something? To them, to the manager?

I also wish to mention that Jesse is currently a pirate. He has somehow grazed his eye (how do you do that??) and is now wearing an eye patch. It amuses me more than it worries me.

Letters

Yesterday I rediscovered the joy in letter writing. It felt good to sit down and compose a letter in my own handwriting to a couple of close friends. I know they will feel excited when they receive them, as I do when I receive mail that doesn't require a payment.

It made me think about how much we have lost the art of handwriting. My hand was quite sore after writing the letters, and I took a few breaks. I do a bit of hand writing at work, but definitely not a lot. Writing was an important learning step in our schooling, but now, with computers being taught from such a young age, are the next generation learning this skill?

Dean Koontz

I have been reading a few Dean Koontz novels lately, and have been enjoying myself quite thoroughly. The last four I've read I've barely been able to put down. They are thrillers, and a bit different from the normal type of novel I read. They are all based around the mind; manipulation, enhancement, supernatural and psychic abilities.

One I read was False Memory, about brainwashing, and how a highly reputed psychiatrist was able to gain complete control of people's minds and make them do his bidding. Given his egotistical and sociopath tendencies these tasks turned into murders and suicides. It is only once our main characters start noticing segments missing in their own lives and sudden onset autophobia (fear of yourself) and the apparent suicide of a best friend (who had sudden onset agoraphobia), that suspicions are raised.

It made me think about mental illness. Mental illness is spoken about a lot more often than it used to. Yet, in my experience it still isn't discussed a lot. Perhaps it's just me, and the circles in which I socialise, are sheltered, but I feel like it isn't. As I'm reading through the book, I vividly imagine what the characters are going through and feel the fear and confusion they are going through (the sign of a good writer and my active imagination). I imagined feeling her autophobia, I imagined my life if I had agoraphobia; it would be horrible, and unbearable.

In False Memory the signs of the mental illness were obvious; panic attacks and extreme behaviour. But it was the little things that led to the discovery of the underlying reason.

I am recommending Dean Koontz's books at the moment. So far, in the last 2 weeks I have read 5 of his novels. False Memory, By the Light of the Moon, Fear Nothing, Sole Survivor and Odd Hours (I will finish this one today).

Quick Update...

Wow, it has come to my attention that I haven't posted a blog in a long time. To be honest I haven't really felt motivated to write anything. This last week I have been sick with a virus, starting last weekend, when I was supposed to be with Rosie at her Tupperware party. Monday I was off work, Tuesday and Wednesday I managed to get through the days, and Thursday - Sunday I was confined almost exclusively to the house. I got through 3 hours of work today before being sent home. Hoping to make a whole day tomorrow. It has made me realise how awesome Jesse is, always with a hug, a kiss, and a word of encouragement.

Anyway, on Sunday Jesse and Collie flew to Melbourne and drove back with our new car - a 2003 Corolla Sportivo! So now we can stop putting so many km's on the Mini to avoid dropping the price even more - do you know anyone who wants a 2002 Mini Cooper, ad's up on carsales.com.au.

What I have to look forward to at the moment is Jesse birthday weekend in Renmark - it's going to be awesome fun! We've had a great lot of responses and I'm super excited. Anyway, this is all I can manage to write for now.

Phone calls

I had an interesting thought the other day about phone calls. For some people they can be scary, daunting, not knowing what to say and dreading freezing and not being able to answer a question or think of something to respond. For others it is second nature, an essential part of their working life.

I remember back to when I was in high school, scary to think that it was 5 years ago. I recall hour long and more phone calls with friends after school and/or after dinner even when I've spent all day with them. Since finishing high school this seems to have changed, and I wonder if it is just me. Instead I am able to see what my friends are up to every moment of the day via social networking. It started with MSN, instant messaging, then progressed to MySpace, then Facebook, and in the future it might be Twitter and Google+ or something else that is developed.

So now, in the age of social networking, have we lost the skill of a social phone call for the sake of a phone call?

Weddings

It seems as though weddings will frequent our friendship circle on a regular basis in the coming months and over the next couple years. On Saturday I had the privilege of being a bridesmaid in Rosalie's wedding (she was a bridesmaid in mine). For the middle of winter, she couldn't have had more perfect weather. It was a beautiful sunny day (albeit with a top of 14*C so it was freezing still), but in the sun wasn't as bad.

The day went (from my perspective) perfectly. Hair and makeup were done in plenty of time, the flower girls were all well behaved. No one tripped walking down the aisle, the bride had her voice back, the boys were wonderful gentlemen, and there were plenty of Mann jokes! Despite the pain of frozen and defrosting feet, shivering through the bridal party photos, it was good fun.

The reception hall looked so good too! It was so much nicer than it had been for my 21st, and (no offence to my mother) but the food was so much better!! For a cocktail style reception there was so much food - all of it delicious. Rosie put together an amazing day, and I hope she was pleased with how it all came together.

Books from shops?

It may not seem like anything out of the ordinary, especially for someone like me, who will read almost anything I get my hands on. But yesterday I went into an actual bookstore and bought books. Normally I buy them online because it's cheaper (or Big W and Kmart). I source them from both within Australia and from the UK. It was good to go into a store and browse through the books on the shelves and buy books and authors I've never heard of to see what they're like. I even bought a book of selected poetry from a poet I studied in Year 12 at school, my English teacher would be so proud.

It was the highlight to my day, which included a doctors appointment to get a new prescription, a trip to Transport SA to change my name and address on my licence, and then as I got home and started the dishwasher and washing machine the power went out. Oh joy. But it came back on in time for me to cook dinner.

Our housewarming last weekend was good fun. It was great to catch up with everyone that was able to make it. Luckily it was fairly easy to clean up the next day. Glasses in the dishwasher, rubbish into bags, empty bottles in for refund & recycling. I'm getting the hang of this dishwasher business.

This is really quite a trivial post.

Happy New Financial Year!

It has been far too long since I've posted a blog.

Over the June long weekend Jesse & I moved into our own house (that's right, we have a house!) Packing is a tiring, exhausting, frustrating and annoying task. Unpacking is much the same, but with excitement thrown into the mix. With the wonderful and invaluable help of our parents and friends we managed to move all vital items + many car loads of boxes and items on the Saturday. We were having carpets laid that day so we were only able to put items in the house as the carpet guy finished with each room, but he was long gone by the time we arrived with the truck.

Since we have moved in Jesse has put the desk in his office, he has mounted two TV's to the wall, installed 4 roof speakers and spent a lot of time in the roof running cables. Just this week we acquired 3 big book cases for me =) I filled 6 shelves immediately, though I know I have more books lying around. And there is plenty more room for the expansion of my library!

It is feeling very much like home, I have had no real issues adjusting to the idea. The only major difference is the temperature. Our first morning heading to work after moving in it was just -0.5*C, a lovely welcome.

The last two weeks have been very hard on my family emotionally, with the passing of my grandma. We went to her funeral on Tuesday and it was very special. There were so many people who came to say farewell and celebrate her wonderful life, and the love and friendship she generously gave. She will be missed, but fond memories will be held by all.

Despite the circumstances, it was good to catch up with extended family, and be able to share with them the professional photos from our wedding (I picked up the album on Sunday night!!) They turned out fabulously and I was so excited to show everyone, especially family who weren't able to make it and those I don't see very often.

Currently we are trying to tidy and set up the house as best as we can before our housewarming, so it is at least a little more presentable for our friends. There are still plenty of things to do to make the house exactly how we want it to be, and they will take time. But we have plenty of that, we will be here for a while!

30 April 2011

Jesse and I have been married for 3 weeks now, and I can't stop looking at my rings. Our wedding day went so very smoothly. Friday afternoon Mum, Gretel & I all went for manicures and massages. We went out for dinner for Ali's birthday, and were home by around 9.30pm. We watched some of the royal wedding coverage and both went to bed around 11pm. I read for a bit to distract myself before attempting to sleep.

I woke up at around 6.30am but stayed in bed until my alarm went off at 7. I climbed into bed with Mum and Dad and after about 5-10 minutes Mum made me get up to have a shower. Gretel and I had a quick breakfast and then it was off to the hairdressers at 8. Kelly and Jess did a fabulous job of our hair, and I was feel far less nervous after inhaling approximately half a can of hair spray in the process. Upon arriving home there was only about a 15 minute wait before Tammy arrived to do our make up. As we had our make up done (and afterwards) Mum served lunch - a salad and cold meat platter. It was delicious, and finger food was a good idea, as it was easy to pick at as we walked past.

Around midday the girls got into their bridesmaid dresses, and Sian our flower girl arrived with her parents. Then it was time to get into my dress! When I put my dress on I didn't have that defining moment, thinking "omg I'm getting married", I just felt so incredibly beautiful and excited! David & Helen arrived with the car shortly before Sonja, our wonderful photographer, who arrived around 12.30pm. It was drizzling outside so our photos had to be taken inside. We rearranged furniture, had lots of photos done, and by 1pm it had stopped raining so had a few photos outside in the garden and in front of the car (a 1959 Cadilac) before preparing to leave.

We easily fit the entire bridal party into the Cadillac (myself, Dad, 3 bridesmaids, flower girl + driver) and headed to the church. I did my best to be on time. In fact, we were probably overtaken by more than one of the guests on our way to the church. Everyone else got out of the car except me and Dad. We had a few more photos taken, and then it was time to get out and walk down the red carpet to the church. It was then that I felt nervous, and, of course, minor symptoms of reflux. I think I was too quick to start the processional music as we were to walk down the aisle, but the girls were organised and were wonderful. As I walked down the aisle all I was trying to think about was not tripping over my dress. I stepped on it a couple times but it didn't show (according to a few people I asked).

The ceremony went so quickly. It seemed as though the songs, the reading and message and our vows just flew by and we were married! The exchanging of the rings was funny. During the rehearsal Jesse had questioned which finger he was supposed to put the ring on. I assured him I would keep my engagement ring on for him so he couldn't forget. But of course we both started giggling when he hesitated about putting the ring on my finger.

Walking back down the aisle I tried very hard not to trip on my dress, and Jesse had learned from Matt & Ash's wedding 2 weeks prior how to navigate around the train. It had stopped raining sometime during the service, although it was still cloudy. My grandpa so lovingly had dried 3 boxes of rose petals, and I believe about a box of those ended up down the front of my dress (thank you everyone)! Once outside Gretel tried to hold up my train so it didn't get dirty on the ground, but I didn't care. I was only planning on wearing the dress once, so why worry about getting it dirty! Sonja pinned up my train so I could walk around and have photos taken with family & a big group photo. And then after many many more photos from everyone else, it was time to get back in the Cadillac and drive to Serafino's McLaren Vale.

After a hike across the wet grass to the vines we had more photos taken with the bridal party. For the height of my shoes, I managed the walk surprisingly easily, and the shoes managed to stay comfortable until around 10pm (that's 10 whole hours after I put them on) when the dancing started. But I've gone off on a tangent. After final photos, trying to capture the very last of the daylight, our guests were ushered to their seats while our bridal party assembled waiting to be announced.

From the moment we were announced, to when we sat down, to entree, mains, speeches, dancing and dessert, the night just flew by. The venue looked absolutely amazing. I want to say a VERY big thank you to Matt from Caso Light N Sound, and my darling husband for their efforts on Friday with the set up. See Matt's website and contact him for his outstanding work. The service and food at Serafino's was flawless. For my main I had a beef fillet steak with potato and caramelised onions, and it was so very delicious.

Despite numerous threats that "if there's a first dance we're not getting married" - Jesse compromised. We didn't dance alone, we were joined by our parents, and then shortly afterwards by our bridal party. And after our initial dance, I had chosen Rick Springfield's "Jesse's Girl" to encourage everyone else onto the dance floor - and it worked! From that point in the night, there was only one more scheduled 'event' - the tossing of the bouquet! As the girls were assembling Sonja (my photographer & good friend) asked me "do I have to photograph this or can I join in?". My response: "Join in!" And it's a good thing she did - she caught the bouquet!! Her long term boyfriend received quite a few messages. Before we knew it, the DJ was requesting we wind up the night, it was 11pm.

It was a long day. From 6.30am until we arrived at our room around 11.30pm, I had been living on nerves, excitement, a little relief, and joy and it was finally time to feel tired. It was such a wonderful day, it couldn't have been any more perfect, and I want to thank every single person who was there, whether you just attended our ceremony, invited guest, specially chosen to help out with any part of the night, behind the scenes and/or in the lead up to our special day. It was amazing, and I'm lacking in words to describe the feeling.

I apologise for how long it's taken me to get this post up, but it's taken me 3 days just to get it written - it is rather long!