I resolve to........

eat healthy food in appropriate portions (except on special occasions or when I feel like a treat), exercise as regularly as I can, resume daily meditation, find and use alternatives to swear words except in extreme circumstances when trooper-style swearing is called for, reign in what might be perceived as an overuse of smiley faces and exclamations in all tweets, emails, blog comments etc, say yes when previously I might have said no, treasure my friends and family, blog more regularly than I did in 2011 (seriously poor effort!...oops), ask myself "What would Liz Lemon do?" if in a pickle of any kind (also substitute Kim Deal, Miranda Hart, Dawn French, Karen O, Princess Mary or other famous person as appropriate to aforementioned pickle), find out what quinoa is and perhaps eat/cook it, continue to listen to more new music...especially music with banjos, accordions, ukuleles, string basses etc, tidy my desk regularly (ha...notice I didn't say HOW regularly), recycle more diligently, procrastinate less, stop eating dinner in front of the television at least once a week, ignore or change any of these resolutions at will. Goodbye 2011.

worrywarting

It took less than a week for me to completely bork up my sleep schedule. Usually I am an in bed by 10/10:30, awake at 5am kind of gal. Since starting holidays last Friday I am now a go to bed by 11, read for nearly an hour, fall asleep, wake up at 8am at the earliest kind of gal. This is followed later in the day by a mid-to-late afternoon nap which can last for 1-2 hours. Of course this means that I am not tired enough to go to bed at a reasonable-ish hour and the whole process starts again. Now, you may ask, what's the problem here? This sounds like a perfectly good holiday sleeping schedule. Well, the problem will begin on January 30 when I have to return to work and wrench myself out of this lovely laziness. Why am I concerned about this now - a month before it will even happen? That's just the kind of worrywart I am.

Once.....

I missed a fair few good movies during the first decade of this century. It was a combination of being consumed by a PhD and living in a regional centre that isn't great at getting the more independent releases. This is why I was very happy to see Once was on Monday night on one of those extra channels. I recorded it (because I can't seem to watch anything with ads in it anymore) and sat down to watch it last night. I had heard about it of course but nothing prepared for the simple beauty of the story, the understated, natural performances of the two leads, and the amazingly heartbreaking songs. I could see the ending coming (and I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen it) but it was quietly devastating. This was a true romance of a film. So when I finished it and found that Four Weddings and a Funeral was on the normal telly, the contrast was absolutely ridiculous. Here's one of the songs from Once.

Would you like some potato salad with that?

Gosh it seems like just a couple of days since Christmas. The years really do go quickly as you get older.....Wait a minute! Yes, that's right....It's second Christmas today for me. This time with my aunty, uncle and cousin (and grandmother again). We did the hot food thing on Christmas day so today is salad, salad and more salad. Not that we haven't already been eating a lot of salad at other meals apart from Christmas lunch. I made a potato salad on Christmas Eve. We managed to "finish" it last night. And by finish I mean we looked at what was left and decided to throw it away because nobody could stand another mouthful. I did suggest a potato salad eating competition a la The Vicar of Dibley brussel sprout situation in the old Christmas special but no-one was up for it. Lucky for us that my mother has made a whole new one for today's lunch isn't it? Mmmmmm.

tatty decorations, watermelon salad and marinated lamb

Christmas this year was a quiet affair with just me, my parents, my sister and my 90 year old Grandmother. We skyped my brother and sister-in-law in Brisbane, and will see my uncle, aunt and cousin tomorrow. So the actual day was the smallest celebration for many years. It was also the first time in years we didn't have to blast the air-conditioning all day. The weather was relatively pleasant and breezy for summer. My Dad wore his special red Santa shirt. And once again my Mum had put out this work of art - a nativity scene that I made when I was in Grade 2. It's survived quite well don't you think?

Of course the angel is supposed to sit on top of the manger and Mum has confused Joseph with some of the three wise men. One day I will buy her a nice nativity scene....perhaps one that isn't coloured in with felt pen and has a sheep that doesn't have cotton wool glued to it's back. Or maybe I'll force her to keep using this one. We actually do a kind of swap with tatty Christmas decorations. She sighs and keeps dragging out the nativity scene and I let her keep this freakish blue-eyed animated Santa. I hate it with a passion.

Anyway, I got a new dinner set (white), some lovely earrings and a bracelet, a new beach towel and this piece of nostalgia from my childhood.

The food highlight was the butterfly marinated lamb that my Dad cooked on the Weber and the watermelon, feta and olive salad that I made based on the wonderful 2paw's recipe. So good it was, that I'm making it again tomorrow for 2nd Christmas.

Christmas Countdown day 25

One of my absolute favourite Rockwiz moments from a previous Christmas special. Last night's Christmas special was excellent also. If you didn't watch it I highly recommend you catch up with SBS on demand. Thus endeth Wendy's Christmas Countdown for 2011.

Christmas Countdown day 24

(it stops abruptly but you get the idea)

Christmas Countdown day 23

Christmas Countdown day 22

Christmas Countdown day 21

OR

Christmas Countdown day 20

Classy. Enjoy.

Christmas Countdown day 19

Christmas Countdown day 18

Short and sweet. Just right for Sunday morning.

Christmas Countdown day

Make sure you listen right to the end to hear the "horse"

Christmas Countdown day 16

Christmas Countdown day 15

Such a joy to sing along with this isn't it? Glor....orr.......................................i-a..Hosanna in excelsis!

Christmas Countdown day 14

Christmas Countdown day 13

Just in case you're not following me on twitter I am sharing this awesomely wonderful Jingle Bells. If you are following me on twitter then I expect you to watch it again.

Christmas Countdown day 12

Legends all.

Christmas Countdown day 11

Well this is tremendous fun! I believe old GF Handel would have approved. Maybe.

Christmas Countdown day 10

Well here's something sort of wonderful! Thanks to @ShallowThought for sharing on Twitter. The question is, I suppose, what would Freddie Mercury say?

Christmas Countdown day 9

Well there are so many questions about this film. My first one is when did we get so skimpy with the size of our Christmas paper hats? These ones are monsters!

Christmas Countdown day 8

"Many Christmases ago I went to buy a doll for my son..."

Christmas Countdown day 7

Christmas Countdown goes all contemporary classical and traditional today with this beautiful song by John Rutter. The music geek in me likes this version because I can follow the parts.

TWO WHOLE DAYS

I interrupt this regularly scheduled Christmas Countdown to bring you some exciting news. I am on two days leave. That's right. TWO WHOLE DAYS in the middle of the week no less. It's scandalous really. After working the whole weekend, I was still recovering from my tired and cranky of last week so in a fit of something (pique perhaps?) I decided to use up some carer's leave. It's not that I won't be doing work things but I will no feel obligation to spend the whole day at the computer. I might get some Christmas shopping done. I might go out to lunch. And coffee. I might actually get to fold and put away three weeks of washing. I might get out my Christmas decorations. I might do lots of things. Or I might have a nap, lie on the lounge and do some reading. Who knows? So far I have had a sleep-in and eaten breakfast. If my life was a Facebook game I'm sure that would get me past the first level.

Christmas Countdown day 6

Perhaps you're one of the 4 million and something people who've already watched this on youtube. If not, it's a pleasant way to spend 2 and half minutes.

Christmas Countdown day 5

I don't know about you but I was a huge fan of Men Behaving Badly. Here they are "singing" one of my favourite Christmas carols.

Christmas Countdown day 4

Here's a Christmas song I hope we can all get behind. Paul Kelly is a living treasure and this is a classic and wonderful Australian song with a Christmas theme. Enjoy!

Christmas Countdown day 3

Remember 1984 everyone? No not the famous novel...the year. I was in Grade 6 and Wham were just making it big with that good looking George Michael. What's interesting about this Christmas song is that it is so completely boring and repetitive. Extra points to you if manage to watch it all the way through.

Christmas Countdown 2011 part 2

Here's one of my favourite ever Christmas television moments. The UK Office Christmas special. If you've never watched it then you are very naughty and you won't be on Santa's list. Best. Mockumentary. Ever.

Christmas Countdown 2011

Welcome to this year's Christmas Countdown. I have made an executive decision (given that this is my blog I feel that's appropriate) to include not only songs in the countdown this year but also other snippets from popular culture referring to Christmas. Enjoy December 1st's foray into the world of Christmas with this beautiful clip from Community where Pierce and Abed look for the meaning of Christmas.