Countdown to Christmas: 7, 6, 5, 4...

Wow! I can't believe Christmas is less than a week away. I still haven't done a lick of shopping, decorating or planning. I think it's partly to do with the sunny, warm weather and partly because I'm having a hard time with the fact that we're going to spend Christmas so far from our friends and most of our family. Thank god my parents are here! They've already been a great help, by looking after Gus after school, often making us supper and scoping out the deals (as retirees, they have become masters at scoping out deals). And, it's so nice to be able to share the holidays with them.

This weekend, I dragged them out to Manly, which I've been wanting to check out for a while. Although it was disappointingly tourist-y, the ferry ride there was nice, and I'd like to go back soon with a picnic and spend the day at the ocean beach. While we were there this weekend, there was a band playing Christmas carols, but Gus was much more interested in the fountains.


Afterwards, we headed down to the beach on the Bay side of Manly, where Gus met some new friends and together they worked on 'waterfall city'.



OK, so Australia is defnitely making me fat. It could be a number of things...my daily intake of timtams with tea that has become a nightly ritual when Gus is in bed and the apartment is quiet, or the full-fat cappuccinos (no skinny caps for me) that I pick up from the cute boys working at the coffee cart at school, or maybe the mountains of pancakes we've been consuming since my parents got here with maple syrup. I think some New Year's resolutions are in order...which I'll sort out when Christmas is over.

I've also managed to convince myself that I need the perfect agenda to get me organized in the new year. I just ordered one like this from Etsy (I can't show you the exact one, because I picked up the LAST one - it was that good). I love the idea of supporting an artist rather than a huge manufacturer. And, I'm sure this agenda will be the key to my success in 2009!