'Ello poppet

I am back from the depths of childbirth! (Yay)

What a bloody hard last couple of months.

Had a baby, had my whole fam descend on our place for the Christmas week, then immediately after had the folks-in-law staying (still to depart).

I have forgotten what a good sleep feels like. Or what having a relatively okay body feels like.

So I've signed myself onto myfitnesspal and started religiously tracking my eating in the (futile) attempt to regain some sort of acceptable body shape and functionality. Which means I'm hungry a lot. Lol.

Actually, the truth is, as easy as it would be for me to starve for weight loss, breastfeeding demands proper nutrition. The baby dictates everything. How I eat, when I sleep, when to pull my boobs out, when I can interact with other humans. I can't even deal.

So in summary, I'm now a hungry fat milk zombie with no income (i.e. no sense of control ... lol), living life one 3 1/2 hour feeding interval at a time. Goooood luck.

The necklace

Emma Thompson ... not getting a necklace

"Would you wait around to find out if it's just a necklace, or if it's sex and a necklace, or if, worst of all, it's a necklace and love? Would you stay, knowing life would always be a little bit worse? Or would you cut and run?"

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.

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



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.

Yes

It has been about a month since my last post. There was no particular reason for the fast...except laziness. That's a valid reason.

Anyway yesterday afternoon, I promised a dedicated blog fan (ha!) to post an entry within 24 hours. I am fast approaching that deadline, and am now where I work best...adrenaline-pumped at the 11th hour, and working (ok, blogging) at twice the speed I usually do. I did seriously contemplate not blogging. But last night at our life group study, one of the Bible verses we studied was about letting your "Yes" mean "Yes". Note to self: Don't say yes.

So taking it slow on my blog return, I'll do one up-one down. One good thing and one bad about the past 4 weeks.

One Up
Our little family - the man, the kid and I - have decided to spend our first Christmas at home by ourselves, instead of travelling to Auckland (to my family) or to Samoa (to the man's family). This was a bit of a down, because we will miss the gigantic extended family gatherings that we're accustomed to, along with a lot of noise, not enough space, and way too much food. Instead, we'll be decorating our home (first time!), planning our own Christmas meals and activities, and possibly starting our own family traditions. It's exciting times. I think what really nails this as an "up" is the massive financial saving. Lol! Time to get our own copy of the Boney M and Mariah Carey Christmas albums. Ooooh yea...

One Down
Two words - toilet training. How on earth do you toilet train a child? What is more confusing is how I don't know the answer to this, being the eldest of 7 children. Anyhow, the kid is now "of age" to be toilet trained, but she's not co-operating. I've asked friends how they did it and they shrug and say "Dunno, daycare trained them." Maybe I should get their daycare to call my kid's daycare, because they have a strange notion that I somehow have to be involved in the whole process. What? Isn't that what I pay you for? It seems not. Now I will have to read articles / books and parenting forums, for tips on toilet training...no, sorry, that PC term is toilet "learning" because it's about the child taking the lead and blah blah snore snore snore. Help.

Festive Season

As each year goes by I feel less and less festive come December. As I sit here paying my bills and listen to the wild rain outside, my tired mind can't help but wonder why this is.

What did I enjoy about Christmas back then?
- Jim Reeves and Boney M faithfully rattling out the Christmas tunes on the old cassette player
- Counting the year's savings. Growing up, we (siblings and I) saved our lunch money through the whole year so we could buy Christmas presents for each other (we thought we were rich! Lol!)
- Planning the itinerary for our annual shopping day
- Walking around town "shopping", from CCK to Wai Tui, back to the Savalalo flea market, and once in a while to Janet's (for their awesome selection and the powerful aircon in the shop)
- Listening to a really fobby Christmas album by some "artist" that I don't know. This albums plays at nearly every shop in Samoa, and I recently heard it again while visiting family in Mangere. Lol! You know the one - "It's the memory, of the old Grismas garrrrd..."
- Dry curry lunch at Amani's (this became a tradition of sorts during the Christmas shopping trip)
- Aoga mea every evening
- Unfashionable tux uniforms and candles without candle holders for Christmas items
- Midnight Christmas service, with beautiful singing from the Sunday School (I so miss that), a gazillion kids crowding around one camera (non-digital), and sometimes followed by a cuppa tea and masi at the church hall
- Christmas day back at the hall where we all received a (usually budget) gift...water guns FTW!
- BBQ lunch with the family at Vailele

That was pretty much it. The memories are flooding back. Christmas then was so ... Christmassy ..?

Is it that I am just too busy now to appreciate the small things that are around me now? Am I still in Christmas culture shock? Am I not "moving with the times"? Too old fashioned? Living in the past?

I don't know. And too tired to think.

But this I do know - some things remain true. Christmas is about Christ. Christ is about love. As long as I try to keep remembering that, I'm sure I will find my festivity niche in the hustle and bustle.

Merry Christmas, my 6 followers and visitors!

Much love,

Fob

(This post was definitely more fob than rock)