And so that was Christmas....

...it passed in a whirlwind, which it always seems to do. It's always over way too fast.

This Christmas was filled with happy moments, laughter and not a little drama occasionally.

Christmas eve Del's parent's came up from Bunbury to stay with us, along with his sister and two nephews who were over from the UK. The day was spent mainly in preparing for the big day, my planning and preparation of the food and home went smoothly but I can't say the same for Del. In getting the bbq ready he discovered that it no longer worked, so desperate last minute repairs were undertaken, knowing that the very next day we were hosting a BBQ Christmas lunch for 15 people. To say there was a little bit of stress would be an understatement! Luckily, positive thoughts prevailed and the bbq was hobbled into some semblance of working order.

I must say it was lovely to have family around on Christmas eve and an evening walk to look at the Christmas lights really added to the merriment. Charlie was so excited about Christmas but thankfully was so tired out by evening he went to sleep straight away.

Pity the same couldn't be said for the older boys, who were sleeping outside in tents (due to lack of room in the house!). Mark my words, teenagers still get excited and silly on Christmas eve! Finally sometime after midnight 'Santa' was able to drop off a whole sleigh's worth of presents.

Not too many hours later we were all woken by Charlie, followed by some tired teenagers (not so clever staying up half the night being silly, was it now?) and the mammoth though much relished task of unwrapping began.

By lunchtime we had a house full of people, having fun and eating well, though some of the desserts didn't cope too well in the extreme heat. It was a joyful, fun day surrounded by loving family, and I tried desperately to close my eyes to the mess my house had become. Which was hard for me as I find I can't relax when the house is a mess, and boy was it a mess that day. I restrained myself from cleaning away every scrap of wrapping paper, packaging, plates and glasses and went for a swim in the pool instead.

A much wiser decision given the 40 degree heat.

Boxing Day and today were spent relaxing in the pool some more and slowly getting my house back in order (of course!). I have till the 10th January off work, and I have nothing more pressing on my time than ensuring my little vegetable garden is watered each morning.

Bliss.

Though at the moment I'm not too sure how to fill my days, I want to just laze around and do nothing, but that is so unlike me it's hard to actually do nothing. Maybe I'll just read some of the books Del gave me for Christmas and spend lots of time in the pool.

Sounds like a good plan to me.