Monday 26 December 2011

The Xmas lowdown

I have been really bad at updating my blog over the past month - sorry! I just don't know where time has gone, well a lot of it has been spent working and there isn't a huge amount to write on that!

Also, James' Dad was staying with us at the start and then end of December so we were busy with him too. I put some photos up of Xmas day and told you a bit about the swell that closed the beach, it stayed closed for a further few days because of the dumping waves on shallow water so we didn't get a Christmas swim. But other than that Christmas Day was a success. Poor James was on nights on Christmas Eve and Day so he arrived home at 9am and was a real trooper staying awake until about 1pm.

To start with it looked a bit overcast so we headed down to the beachfront to checkout the crazy 8 foot waves with the tide covering all the sand. People were already at the public BBQs cooking up breakfast so we headed home to pack up our eskey (cool box) with the chicken kebabs, steak, salad etc (not quite your traditional Christmas meal!). Luckily the sun came out and the sea calmed down a bit and, best of all, we managed to get a BBQ without waiting! We also ran into out friend Ashley and a bunch of other UK Dr's who were down there cooking breakfast. The wine and beers were out and everyone was in Xmas hats and feeling very happy.


By the time we headed back at 1pm James was tired and aware that he needed some sleep before his night shift and Ian and I were a little dozy from the booze and food. So we just had a chilled afternoon and a walk while James slept. In the evening we had cheese and crackers and skyped family before James headed off to work. Later on I headed over to see Ashley and the others for some mulled wine and Christmas pudding flavoured ice cream - yum!

It was a shame James was on nights and couldn't spend the whole day with us but I think we made the most of the time we had. Even on the day with our santa hats, tree and lovely presents it still didn't feel quite like Christmas, I know next year I'll appreciate being home with my family and having a proper roast dinner or two and watching the Strictly and Downton Xmas specials!

Hope you all had a great Christmas Day! xxx

Here are some more Christmas Day photos...






Sunday 25 December 2011

This is what Christmas looks like...

After 4 days of torrential rain, a swell emerged off the coast causing 8 foot waves at Mooloolaba and closing the beach for Christmas day. But all was good as the sun came out and we got to have our Xmas day BBQ on the beach!



















Friday 16 December 2011

It's Koala time

While Ian was staying with us we visited Australia Zoo, which was opened by Steve Irwin. For me the real show stoppers were the Koalas. I just love them. Ian was pretty fond of them too and he bought me a 'Koala hold' which totally made my day! My Koala was called Craimar and he was a little smelly, the males have a patch of their front which releases a scent to mark their territory, but I loved him and he really held onto me when I hugged him. Of course where were lots of other animals; kangaroos, birds, crocs, snakes, dingos, etc... But my true loves are the Koalas!






















When it rains, it pours...



Hello!

The last few weeks have been so busy I hardly know where the time has gone!

Last week James did a set of four nights at work, so I had my first experience of being in the unit on my own at night. For those of you that know me well, you'll know I am a huge wimp about being on my own at home. (My infamous escaping my own house through the kitchen door and out through the garage when I heard a noise, which turned out to be shampoo bottles falling off a shelf, may spring to mind... it only happened in September... ) Well, turns out I have matured in the last few months because I was fine : ) hooray! 

James was worried how he'd cope being on nights and trying to sleep during the day but it coincided with a week of heavy down pour... see the shoots below of a very wet Mooloolaba... so it cooled down quite a bit. 

I did my best to creep around while he was sleeping and was pretty successful at not waking him. It did mean we were hardly awake at the same time! 

In other news from last week...

I finally got my hair cut, a whole 2 inches off. The hairdresser had to get me to stand up so he could cut it because it was so long! I left $90 lighter in the purse but with some very sleek hair!

I've started doing some extra work on top of waitressing, I'm using the Internet to do some editorial work for my old company so that means I've had to cut down on my Kardashian and Gossip Girl consumption - probably not a bad thing. 

My Uncle Tony turned 70 and had a big birthday party in Brisbane so I drove down for that. It was a fun night with a band, catering and non-stop drinks... pretty banging for a 70th, I have to say. Lots of people approached me at the party, remembering me from when I was 10, although they did comment that I wasn't that little round white-haired child anymore and that I now look just like my Mum. I also caught up with my Mum's friend Collen before the party, it's always great to see her, just like having a chat with my Mum. 

James' Dad, Ian, arrived on the Thursday of last week and I drove down to collect him from Brisbane. Both Ian and James were on funny time patterns, being jet lagged and having finished nights respectively, so I left them at home in Mooloolaba while I saw my family in Brisbane on the Saturday. But on the Friday we went to my restaurant for dinner, which I was pretty excited about. After a few months of serving the food I knew exactly what I wanted! We shared antipasto, then I had prawn and crab penne (the chefs gave me extra), and then a creme brulee - I was so full I had to have an early night!

As an early Xmas present Ian bought us body boards so that has become James' new obsession and he drags us out to the sea at every possible opportunity. It is actually great fun but has proved to be just as undignified for me as surfing was. Yesterday I was walking in to the sea with my board and some how my bottoms came undone on one side and I couldn't save my dignity and hold my board at the same time so had to yell for James to come help me as I clutched the board to my front and scrambled to cover my bum with the other hand. Luckily it was just a Mum behind me who diplomatically looked the other way. However, the day before I wasn't quite so lucky when I got caught up in a big wave, turned upside down several times and surfaced with hair all over my face and copious amounts of seaweed on me, and looked down to see my bikini top had totally shifted exposing everything. I quickly rearranged and looked up to see a 16 year old boy shouting 'woo hoo' in my direction and James pissing himself laughing. I think I need to invest in something more secure for the future. But it is such a rush when you catch a good wave and can feel the surf under your tummy carrying you along! I'll have to get a picture to post.

For now, here are some shots of the crazy rain...


Wednesday 7 December 2011

Test match cricket is very loooong

Saturday was the Australia vs New Zealand Test Match. James was very excited about the Cricket and my cousins and Uncle Tony came with us as well. I wasn't quite prepared for what a long day it was - 8 hours - but it was still fun, and Australia won! Here are some photos from The Gabba in Brisbane.