Christmas Week

A short slideshow of our dazzling Christmas week. Merry Christmas from us.

Feliz Navidad

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...as the song goes. It feels so different here with cold weather, beanies, jackets and almost snow weather - yes it's coming!!  We haven't put up a xmas tree but our lovely friend from running shared this photo of her tree. Christmas tree decorating is serious business here and it's an art. We felt very special when we saw the little Aussie touch to the tree - a keyring we gave her recently.  

My lovely niece bought us two baubles for Xmas but without a tree to hang them, we have placed them on our fireplace ledge. Batman and Wonderwoman - she knows how to look after her aunties.

We had planned to see the White House Xmas tree at night but the weekend was pretty busy so we will go through the week. Hopefully Deb hasn't forgotten that we are going to Zoo Lights !!  I love my Xmas lights and it will be pure luck if I make it through the holiday season without a car accident (I stare at the lights when I'm driving).

 

The Embassy Children's Xmas Party was on this week with 50 little (mostly) Aussie kids coming to see Santa and get a taste of home. Check out the Xmas lights outside that show santa on a surfboard being towed by kangaroos. I did the food and provided sausage rolls of course, little boys (best equivalent to be found), chicken nuggets, jelly cups with choc stick (no frogs here) and egg sandwiches. There was other food but that's a good summary. I wanted to make fire engine drink for them (or Santa Fuel as I called it). I got Sprite Zero to limit the sugar intake but they don't do cordial over here. You can buy this powdered stuff called Kool Aid which sounds like stuff you put in your car radiator. I could only buy Tropical flavour but, it had to do. So I filled up this big glass drink dispenser with about 12 litres of sprite and shook in some Kool Aid powder. Holy bubbles Batman, I created a big red volcano that erupted everywhere - and I mean everywhere. It was all over the trolley and the floor. The cleaner was with me at the time thankfully and we just looked in horror and then laughed together. What a bloody mess I made. I actually lost about 3 litres of sprite in the effervescent eruption. None the less, it still tasted like 'tropical' cough mixture albeit a little less bubbly. So this shows that I didn't pass chemistry that well at school.

I took the dogs to the vet for their annual check up and vaccinations. It's always an adventure taking both dogs at once to the vet - it's like taking kids to the local play centre I imagine. Our dogs are very social and it's ALL-ABOUT-THEM !! It's always expensive here and this visit was no surprise. We spent $1048 which included 6 months worth of heart worm and flea tablets for them both. At last we got the nail trim for free. I weighed them first as usual - Cricket was 15kg and Macey was 28kg. This was definitely not right. If it was, then I wanted to use these scales to weigh myself. I know they have both put a little bit of weight on so the vet took them out the back to another set of scales which were not so kind. Cricket was now 18.8kg and Macey was 33kg. Well, this is probably a little more than I expected (and probably still not accurate), especially for Cricket - I still think this is a bit much but they've put on weight so we went with that. I feel like a bad mum as they gave them their 'wellness examination' and highlighted that they are little bit too fat.  But despite feeling like a bad mum, I have to share their little report cards from the vet. 

Macey and Cricket are both such cuties. On today's physical examination they look great besides being overweight and Macey's dental disease ( she's getting teeth cleaned after Xmas). We collected a blood and fecal (poo) sample for their annual parasitic screening test.

Cricket - Body Condition Score 6/9 - Cricket is mildly overweight. Ribs palpable with slight excess of covering. Waist is discernible viewed from above, but is not prominent. Abdominal tuck is apparent.

Macey - - Body Condition Score 7/9 - Macey is moderately overweight. Ribs palpable with difficulty, heavy fat cover. Noticeable fat deposits over lumbar area and base of tail. Waist absent. 

So our goal for 2017 is to find Macey's waist again (and reducing our waistline would be a bonus too). And hopefully with me stopping work soon we can get back to our long daily walks in the forest. For now, less dinner and snacks. Thank god the vet doesn't do our 'wellness exams'. I dread the report card we would get.

On a lighter note, the vet was super lovely (as they all are) and she had this sweater with Fleece Navidad on it. I googled it and the picture is on the right. I asked her what this meant. She said it was their ugly xmas sweater day. There is a song called Feliz Navidad which is Spanish for Merry Christmas. The song was released by Jose Feliciano in 1970 and it's very popular here. You would likely know it if you heard it. I love it. Anyway, being a vet, the sweater was a cute play on words with the sheep fleece and Feliz. Anyway, I learnt something and know where that song comes from now. I just used to mumble the words when I sang along.

Speaking of ugly sweaters, I have ordered ours and they should arrive this week. I thought it was just a joke in Bridget Jones' Diary movie when Colin Firth wore that embarrassing sweater his mum gave him. But a-pparently, ugly sweaters are 'the' thing to wear here. So, we are getting into the spirit and going to get our ugly sweaters. So look out for our Xmas photos in days to come. 

A guy at work had a Golden Girls ugly sweater on the other day. It was a scream - but you wouldn't know it was the Golden Girls if he didn't say so.


It was a pretty cold week with the wind making it bitterly freezing on some days. We were well below zero and we woke on Saturday to a very icy morning outside. During the night we heard the sleet tink tinking on the window. We needed to walk the dogs and were worried about all of us on the ice outside. We had a giggle at Cricket sliding on the ice in the back yard as he went to the toilet but he didn't seem to mind. Our steps outside, driveway and street were all ice so it was a slow tippy toe walk to the forest. Once there, the dogs were off and didn't look back as usual. Thankfully we didn't end up on our arse or break any bones. I decided it was time to buy salt to throw on the ground to help melt snow - we got pet friendly stuff which is actually not salt.

 

On Saturday we went to watch the American Navy Band play their Christmas concert. A good friend has been twice and recommended we go. It's free and tickets go fast. Wow, it was fantastic. I love this sort of stuff. They were excellent, funny and entertaining. In between sets they played a video of sailors talking about xmas and giving messages and kids talking about their parents in the Navy. It was funny but quite teary at the same time.

I watch carols by candlelight every Xmas eve at home so I will miss that this year. I figured this was the closest I will get to carols by candlelight.

They played a fabulous version of Feliz Navidad so I've been singing it ever since. 



Over here they do 'potluck' a lot. I've never heard of it but it's basically a 'bring a plate' kinda thing. Deb's work team had a potluck lunch on Friday. I cooked a roast lamb and made a tim-tam cheesecake. It was a great lunch and it was nice to sit down and eat with friends. Her work area brings together a bunch of other areas including the cleaners and it was just a lovely spread of food and a good Xmas lunch.

The Four N Twenty pieman came again to deliver the next stash of pies to pie-craving hungry Australians. It's like kids at the tuckshop....a rush of people to the loading dock to meet the truck and line up to pay their money for a carton of pies. We got some more and we have a good little stockpile in the freezer. 

My last food venture for the year is making lamingtons for the school currently hosted by the Embassy. They are not found in the shops here of course, so I said I would happily knock a few up for the kids. They are coming to work tomorrow for morning tea and to show the cards they made from the animals we taught them about on our coins (recall my last visit in November). I have to provide them a quick story on how lamingtons were invented. Thankfully a friend here gave me a history sheet (courtesy of Fast Ed from Better Homes and Gardens) so I'll study it tonight. 

This is my second crack at lamingtons and like most things, it's better after a few go's. Still bloody messy but they taste ok. 

I've also taken to making a weekly stew in the crockpot either with mince or chuck steak and lots of veggies. This lasts the dogs for a week and they have been performing more for dinner each night now that warm stew is going in the dinner tin. Cricket is hysterical with his howling singing and Macey growls and spins. It's almost an OH&S hazard now at dinner time.

So it's the week before Xmas and we've noticed people say 'Happy Holidays' rather than 'Merry Christmas'. With so many different religions they find it more appropriate to say Happy Holidays. At least they still celebrate the lights, dazzle, family and food festival. We are doing Christmas lunch with several Aussie friends and orphans and it's shaping up to be a wonderful day. 

Leaves are falling

This week saw some colder weather hit us. Some mornings it was cold but by lunchtime, the temperature had dropped five degrees I reckon. It was bitterly cold.

The work Xmas party was on this week and it was a huge success. I helped with the catering, planning the menu, getting some catered food in, cooking some old favourites and helping on the night. I rolled over 340 sausage rolls which is a record for me. A few workmates helped me do the final cutting and preparation of the food and I was very grateful. The social club gave me a restaurant voucher as a thank you for my help with catering the happy hours for past few months. I was very surprised but flattered - it's to a restaurant I've wanted to go to and the voucher was very generous. 

I also organised the monster Xmas raffle which had over $2500 worth of prizes. There were over 40 prizes to be won and it was a huge hit. One of the prizes I bought was this green fluffy dinosaur toy. I couldn't resist him when I surfing Costco for prizes. On the way home I decided to name him Bruce. We gave him a name badge at work and he sat outside Deb's boss' office on the lounge chair for a few days before the Xmas Party. He was pretty popular. Sadly, I didn't win him in the raffle. But he was won by a lady who was dancing with him all night long. He was really having a great time so it seems he's gone to a good home. 

 

We enjoyed a brunch with one of our good American girlfriends and her husband. We exchanged some funny stories such as 'Not Happy Jan' - the old Telstra yellow pages ad. The joys of mobile phones and internet allowed us to watch the ad. It will never stop being funny.

They then told us about the lonely Maytag man ad. They used to feature the Maytag repair man being bored on his job. He was bored because Maytag appliances were so dependable and never broke so the repairman never had any work to do. The first ad featured the introduction training to new repairman, they were told the appliances never broke so they won't ever see inside the washing machines or other appliances. Their tool box was kitted with playing cards and crossword puzzles to help the boredom. Only Maytag repairmen can battle the loneliness. They explained it much better than me but it was quite funny.

Well the leaves are falling and its incredible to see such huge piles of leaves on the streets waiting for the leave collection trucks to come by.

The forest near us is totally bare again, just like when we first arrived. The dogs still find it full of new things to sniff and pee on. 

And the Xmas lights are going up everywhere. I am starting to take photos so you can see just how fabulous they all look.

I have pulled out crock pot (slow cooker) and will make a stew every weekend - for the dogs. It's better than tin food and the warm stew at night has them really getting excited for their dinner. A final pic of the dogs in the bare forest.

Snow boots

It was a busy week for both of us at work. My work team held a function for its stakeholders and I took care of the catering so I was busy shopping, preparing and cooking. I ordered some catering dishes in but I supplemented with my own specialities. The night was successful which was the main thing. I managed to find this hat when I was shopping for US decorations - couldn't resist for $2.

I bought the dogs new beds and blankets for their kennels. It's going to get pretty cold in coming weeks so I want to ensure they've got plenty of warmth during the day.

We finally headed out on the weekend to buy some snow boots and thick coats. There is a store here called LL Bean - it's amazing. It's got all kinds of outdoor clothing and very good quality stuff. We gave the Visa a good flogging but we now have good warm boots to wear outside when its wet and snowy. We also got thick coats with hoods and furry foxy stuff around the hood. I never thought I'd get a hood with that stuff on it, but I can see why people have it now. There is so much variety of clothes here and it is much cheaper than home - well generally cheaper. We've also both had to buy some thermal running tights and Under Armour brand is very popular here. 

 

I've really taken to wearing my woollen beanie (Xmas pressie from big sister). The Xmas lights are going up thick and fast all over the place. I just love it. There are santa's hanging from gutters, lights all through the trees, xmas trees in every house window...and there are real xmas trees for sale at churches and schools. It's funny watching people carrying their trees to the car, struggling and dragging them or carrying them in a trolley, and cars driving along with trees on the roof. And the Xmas tree is up at the Emb. And Santa and reindeer lights are on the roof above the entrance - Santa's on a surfboard and kangaroos are towing his sled.  I’m going to have to do something at home. I have this vision of Chevy Chase in my head with Xmas Vacation movies. The Zoo has Zoolights - there are lights everywhere in the zoo and you go stroll around at night for free. We will go near Xmas. Poor animals probably can’t sleep with the place lit up like Vegas.

We are going to New York for New Years to meet friends and we're excited that it might be snowing. We'll see the Rockefeller Xmas tree and I've booked tickets to see the famous Rockettes dancers at Radio City. 

Deb has started a half marathon training program and did her first session on Sunday. I also signed up for some personal trainer sessions at the gym for the next 3 months.

Well, not much else to report. A few pics of the dogs as always. I laughed at Macey with her face deep into the leaves and Cricket doing his nightly sprawl.