Finally we had finished our first Christmas shopping in 21 years, and we had our ham just like everybody else (in Adelaide anyway) and everybody else had been to their "work's Christmas doo" and it was Christmas Eve.
But December 24, 2012 was a strange day; Mischa, Simone and Jasper all had gastro-enteritis!, it was sunny and warm (of course!) and we weren't exhausted counting the minutes until 5.00 p.m. when we could close the doors so we could go "home" and sit in our big black chairs and miss our kiddies.
So - we walked Jasper down the street so M&S could sleep and we sat outside and had a flat white (like a ton of other people) and we watched people finishing-up their last-minute shopping in their shorts and t-shirts … and I think that's when I became "verklempt" and confused and couldn't understand why I was sad to be doing what I had wanted to do for the past 30 years!
Jasper with his "baby chino" and if you look behind the man in the striped t-shirt you can see a busker with a santa hat singing
... but not a Christmas Carol - singing Nilsson Schmilsson!!
Later that night M&S rallied and we had a lovely raclette (fondu just doesn't work in the heat!) and we Skyped with Cassia & Pablo and by Christmas Day i was happy that I was "home" with my crazy family.
Raclette outside with a recovering Mischa and Simone
Christmas Day, the weather was perfect (27c) and we sat outside at David (my brother) and Anita's under the shade-cloth (no sunburn!) and enjoyed our turkey and ham and lamb and our Grant Burge sparkling burgandy and some Christmas pudding and my sister was very happy with her tickets for OVO and Jess and James looked after Jasper so well that except for Cass & Pablo and dear old Dad and Tony not being there it was prit'near perfect!
Typical Australian Christmas Tree with host Anita and Joseph's nose (he's allays sticking it in!)
My mum in the shade with Mischa and Jasper's empty highchair!
Typical Christmas table!
Prit'near perfect, except that later that night I came down with gastro, then my sister, then James & Jess. Then we drove down to Victor Harbor to spend time with Mischa and Simone at her parent's beach house and then her Dad came down with gastro, then Joseph, then Jane (her mum) and then her Dad's brother and then … well we are still waiting because I've never known anything so rampant and I'm sure it isn't finished being passed along.
I can't believe I waited 30 years for this!
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