The first Sunday of December is always earmarked for a Christmas picnic/bbq/get togethor with my Dad's side of the family, & the Chaos Family always travel to Sydney to attend. I love this day, catching up with my extended family, seeing the 2nd & 3rd cousins renew friendships all over again. It's lovely.
I had mixed feelings leaving Sydney this time, the visit felt both too long & too short. Wierd, I know. I was surprised to find the shop assistants so friendly, & the traffic so frantic; but then remembered that nothing had changed except maybe me. I used to be perfectly comfortable in Sydney traffic, & although it wasn't exactly intimidating this time round, I found myself annoyed at its unnesasary franticness. I don't know why I thought the shop assistants seemed friendlier than usual, but Mr BC commented that 'wasn't it nice to be served by such friendly people in the shops'. It was! Shopkeepers around here must be rude, & we have become accustomed to it without even noticing. The thought of that is too wierd.
Besides the family do, we also went to Taronga Zoo (call me biased, but it is the best zoo on the planet), hung out with my sister Cheryl, & went for a swim at the best beach in the universe, Freshwater. Heavenly. This family really needs to immerse itself in saltwater alot, we can't survive without it.
We stayed at Fawlty Towers in Haymarket, so we could be right in the belly of the beast. Unfortunately Fawlty Towers lied about their secure parking, so we hightailed it out of said belly at every opportunity to save on parking fees. Teenage Daughter & I did manage to wander through Chinatown for some late night noodle soup, & Mr BC & the children strolled through Paddy's Markets & returned with some amazingly cheap & beautiful produce. I would have been lovely to catch up with old friends & revisit old haunts, but that will have to be another time.
My goodness these holidays are going s..l..o..w..l..y. Only 2 weeks in, & I'm ready for a reprieve. 2 weeks ago everything was going gangbusters, & now every day seems to be stranded in the doldrums, dodging the rain & tending the laundry. I should be using this time to prepare for christmas, but the truth is I refuse to cannot go christmas shopping with the boys, & with Mr BC at work until this Friday, there really is nothing I can do. I have some handmade christmas presents to craft, but some of them are for Nanny & her surprise extended stay has thrown a bit of a spanner into that planned time. She is sleeping in my work area so I can't very well start things & then just shut the door on it...so tommorow when she goes, it is gangbusters once again!
How are your christmas plans going? Can you share any pointers with me? Are you returning to your hometown this holidays? Is it weird for you too?
Mrs BC
xx
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