Bothering to bother

I used to get so annoyed at people's dramas and issues, that at some point in my life I thought, "Bugger that, I can't be bothered anymore."

In recent times though, I have come to realise how wrong my attitude was.

Don't get me wrong, it still annoys the hell out of me when I think I can clearly read a situation, and someone who is in it can't. What has changed though is that I know that my view is only one view. At times, I still think that my conclusion is best based on all that I know, but I've also come to accept that (shocking as the revelation was) I don't know everything, do I?

These days I am glad that when people that are close to me have issues, it bothers me. Because it still means that I care. And although in a lot of cases I can't change the situation and I can't change how those people will respond to it, what I can definitely change is my response. Making sure that what is bothering me is the situation and not something within myself, and then making sure that if I do need reach out to help, that I do it with love.

I'm Feeling It!

Holy guacamole, Christmas is only 2 SLEEPS AWAY!

Finally being on leave from work really does change the mood of the season.

Tonight, the man and I just laxed out and watched a DVD together. It's been a very long time since that last happened. What good fun. Mind you, two fobs watching 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes', you can just imagine it can't you? Of course, we were going for the apes. Lol! Go Caesar! Make ai a Draco.

But enough about the ape japes.

The answer to "Doesn't it feel like Christmas?" is "Heeeell yea!"

Bring it.

Buzz Off

You know what is kinda killing my Christmas buzz? People that owed me money and promised it paid in full months ago. The last "promise" was last week, when the debtors received a bulk holiday payment that they insisted had the debt budgeted in.

What happened? A part payment showed up in my account. No communication, no consideration, just less money.

It's not really the money itself that is causing me grief, it is having to deal with constant disappointment and getting lied to and fobbed off.

When the people concerned asked for the favour they provided fervent and solemn promises in return. We'll definitely have the amount X by date Blah. Ok, something has come up, it will be in Y weeks time. Oh, I just bought some tissues lined with silver. My cat needed a colony of rats for entertainment. I unexpectedly bought some fancy things for myself. The excuse list is endless.

But it's not the excuses that piss me off. It's the general lack of any sort of consideration. Why do I have to chase my money? Like I'm some kind of finance company sucking them dry with interest and charges. Because I'm not. These people are in the inner circle of people you are supposed to trust and respect. But how can you respect someone who treats you like crap?

Are fancy gifts and shiny things really more important than respect, love and integrity? It seems to be. How sad.

Snaps

I decided to let the photos (and captions) speak for themselves.

Gingerbread  - first attempt



Stir it up





Rollin', rollin', rollin'






Taste test. From the look on her face, it's a pass.


 Trees



Telecom Christmas "tree" (our view from a quick drive-by)




Laughs and bean bag fun under the Telecom tree




Cosier hanging-under-the-tree time at home.
And yes, it is plastic. (D'oh)



The orange tree with butterflies at Southern Cross Restaurant,
where we had our life group Christmas dinner



Daycare party

All made up for their performance of the 12 Days of Christmas  - Kiwi edition

Her part was "6 pois a-twirling"
(that's why she had Maori style face paint ... lol)

Evil evil rum balls and caramel slice

Ding Dong Merrily On High

In the true spirit of Christmas, I give to you all a gift. I am a cheapskate, so don't get your hopes up - I did not buy anything.

This gift is just a hint. If you find yourself ChristmasTree-less at Christmas, and have some decorations or lights, grab your man and ...


...voila! DIY tree! (Kiwi mate)


[Try to blink, ma solo le faua]


Jingle all the way



Kids, don't try this at home

I fell off the exercise wagon a week ago, mostly due to a "medical problem" (if you know what it is, ssshhh).

So yesterday, to make up for it yesterday I thought I would try something new and challenging. I sought advice from the man on some of the stuff he's been doing with his training team. Twenty reps of this and that. I thought, this should be ok, 20 is not a big number. And squats? Pfft. I squat on a semi-regular basis to...well, you know, everyone squats.

So I psyched up, and got into it, all the while thinking that I looked something like this:

Me, at the start of my exercise session

Then reality hit. Doing twenty lunges is not as easy as eating twenty pies (not that I've tried...ahem). By the end of it, my legs were jelly, and that was just the beginning. Today I woke up feeling sore in muscles that I doubt I have ever used all my life. To get from our lounge to the garage, there are 2 flights of stairs to take. Oh the pain. Sitting down at church - pain. Standing up to sing - pain. Climbing up the stairs, going down the stairs, even sitting on the loo - pain, pain, pain.

If I looked like how I feel, it would be like this:


Hobbling to get coffee after the Lunge-Session-of-Doom.
The sunnies are to hide from the paparazzi.

 I take it back now. I do not want to challenge myself to be super-athletic. I prefer to eat grass (note, eat not smoke) and leaves, while lounging back on the couch exercising my fingers on the buttons of the TV remote control.

Procrastinator's Christmas

This post was initially titled 'A Procrastinator's Guide to Christmas.' But in keeping true with the theme of procrastination, I put off writing it so long, that it has just become a rushed jumble of my experience as an example of what not to do.

In a previous post, I mentioned this Christmas is going to be the first that our little family get to spend by ourselves...just the 3 of us. I was so excited, I started making big plans. Lyla and I would bake gingerbread and tarts, we would decorate the house beautifully, and we would get a real pine Christmas tree.

Fast forward a couple of months, and the tree is yet to arrive. Ha! I said "arrive" like we'd already ordered it. When in actual fact, we have been putting it off, become lazy or distracted, and now it's a couple of weeks before Christmas and our living room is still tree-less. Right this moment, it's slightly more than tree-less, it's a bombsite. So while the little one is still napping, I shall whip the house into tree-ready shape. Then we will set up the tree, decorate it, and stare at it in awe. The end to justify the means.


Deck the lounge with clothes and rubbish.
The "before" state of the living room.

Beautiful Dangerous

Featuring on our Christmas menu this year is a dish that is loved in the islands. Can I even call this a "dish"? All that is required to cook it is to chuck it in a big pot with water and boil the heck out of it.

Presenting ... (drumroll) ... povi masima!


Povi masima.
Killing islanders since ages ago.

 For the non-Samoans (and wannabe non-Samoans, ha!) it's basically salted beef brisket. And I don't mean salted as in "just add a pinch of salt there" or even "make sure it's well seasoned". It's more like "oh crap, did I just dump the whole bucket of salt on that beef" salty. I'm not sure if it's the salt that's the killer or the juicy globs of yummylicious fat around the edge of the meat. Drool. That's what the Samoans are doing right now as they read this.

On Christmas day, when I eat this with my umu kalo, I will pretend I hadn't read this earlier today on some NZ diabetes website:

Povi-masima, corned brisket marinated in salt, is a food that increases the risk of obesity and diabetes for many Pacific people. It is fatty and literally thick with salt and many people eat it every day as well as on special occasions.
Povi-masima is not seen in any country outside the Pacific and it is not good for our health. The government needs to stop butchers producing this food that plays a role in making our people sick, or at least limit the amount of salt and fat that is allowed in each bin.

We don't eat it every day. Well, if we could afford it we would. But we can't, so we don't. The government needs to stop butchers producing this food? Eh. The government needs to stop cigarette companies from making cancer sticks. Leave my povi masima alone! Mmmmmerry Christmas!

Baubles and bull

As the kiddo loves to constantly remind me, "It's Christmas time!"

How could I not know? The Christmas advertisements started long before the Wellington weather showed any sign of summer. Christmas candy and toy displays were jam packed into the supermarket as soon as Halloween passed. It's now such a mission to do something simple like grocery shopping without the kid seeing something with Santa / Rudolph / Christmas trees etc and wanting to buy it.

I have already told her there is no such thing as Santa, but I don't think she believes me. How can I be telling the truth, when he has a picture everywhere you go and the ads on the radio and TV start off with "Ho, ho, ho!" If that is not Santa, then who is it? How do you explain to a 3 year old that the whole world is in on it?

I may be sounding slightly (just slightly) grinch-like at this stage. It's not that I don't like Christmas. I love Christmas. I love sharing the love with family and friends, the feasts, the carols, Christmas church service.

But I hate the bullcrap. Getting mailbox circular spam, the pressure to buy gifts, send cards, and do things a certain way. And the way that people go ape-mad in shopping malls. Never mind the Christmas spirit, push and shove your way to that hair straightener that's 60% off! Retail employees can work up to midnight for most of December, to cater for the people out that are busy from the moment they wake up until 11:30pm.

But like I said, I love Christmas. It's a special time of year. It's a special person that we remember and celebrate. It's special people that we share this time with. Exciting and memorable times to be had. Looking forward to it.