Here I am.

Wow, I'm here....what day is it? I thought I had skipped the jet lag this time but it would appear that I was just too busy to notice it on whatever day it was after I got home ( thursday? ) I don't think it's as bad as last time but being awake and of any use to anyone is perhaps too much to expect. Add to all that the fact that at some stage I pulled a muscle that starts at the bottom of my neck and goes right down to my left bum cheek and all in all I am a sight to behold and hear ( ooh, ah, ow, grunt)
I did really well yesterday and then went to pick the boys up from school, I sat outside with a flask of hot chocolate and a magazine and suddenly at 3.15 I was overwhelmed with the need to sleep....bizarre need, head bobbing and snapping backwards, waking up, nodding off, waking up....I think I must have looked drunk when it was time to walk to Eli's classroom, it took all my efforts to walk in a straight line! I fell asleep when I got home and slept for an hour which was nowhere near long enough for my grumpy self. Sophie decided she had to go out and has lost her key so at 2am I was still awake waiting for her to get home, she is not my favourite person right now, her stay in Boston was wonderful but seems to have given her the opinion that she is some kind of precious diva who can do as she she pleases and her inferiors will be happy to sit by and cater to her every whim......today is so back to earth day for that girl!
I was never so glad to see H come downstairs with his poorly neck as I was at 2.30 so he could make sure no ne'er do wells came in through the unlocked front door before the precious ' Oh just leave the key outside somewhere.'
We are looking so festive here, I found a beautiful thick Christmas tree at the christmas tree farm and it looks so grand and smells so beautiful. This year I think the boys are old enough to enjoy looking without touching, first year since 2001 we have had ornaments at the bottom of the tree, the past 7 years we have had all the pretties at the top and bare branches below, Eli does every now and then feel he must move the odd ornament and we will find 3 on one branch but otherwise it is a beautiful sparkly thing to behold.


I loved hanging the ornaments, special memories and new ones bought and given this year too.





Joy


Peace


And a little lacking in Faith..poor Angel needs a nap.






A pretty mantle


Some lights and greenery up the stairs


And Santa in the hallway ready with a song and good cheer!






And a baby under the tree for good luck!

I am excited about Christmas this year, we are almost all ready, some food shopping to buy and that's it, ready for some fun and memory making.

H survived his night at the airport, I did indeed send Barry to terminal 5 and H was at terminal 3 all along! I am such a caring and loving wife that I remember thinking how long the night was going to be being unable to sleep from worry.....and woke up at 7am after a good 7 hours sleep!
I am so happy to be home, I had a glorious time in Boston, every minute filled and happy, such wonderful friends. I never cease to wonder at how much I love these women, when I see them it really feels as though we are together every day, not a bit of self consciousness, just an immediate and sincere welcome. I never feel the need for reassurance, I never feel as if I am being left out or forgotten, very often in a group of people it is easy to feel overlooked or left out but with my Boston friends there is none of that, everyone is loved and equal. I am so happy to know these women and although I don't think I will be travelling any time soon I know that when we do meet again, it will be just the same.

Oh how I would love for everyone to come here next time, to be the one waiting and organising trips out! Although I know what Cathy means when she says that being the one left behind when everyone has left is a miserable feeling, she says we all have the excitement of going home and seeing our families again and she is just left feeling lonely...Thankyou Cathy for welcoming us so beautifully, for giving me your sofa and a cosy blanket while you and Sophie go upstairs to your department store..I mean attic and root through the rails and totes of clothes and goodies!
Cathy brought down her jewellery box and started to hand Sophie 'old' necklaces, bracelets, anklets .....Sophie is a clicking clacking jewellery store on legs, we went out to dinner and I saw that one chain and bracelet looked familiar.....a matching Tiffany chain and bracelet, remarkably like ones that Cathy had sent me links to....one day weeks and week ago she and I were online chatting and I mentioned that I would love to find a trinket for Sophie to remind her of the trip she and I took together, I meant a little chain and charm in silver that she would treasure for ever. Cathy immediately began sending links to the Tiffany website with ' How about THIS?' ha ha ha ha ....oh yes, that's possible! I laughed and said how beautiful all of these things were but really, No. NO! That is not what I meant, I meant something for $20 or so that she would treasure simply because I had bought it for her on our trip....and then I forgot all about it because it seemed enough that we were taking the trip and because we needed to concentrate on paying for the flights and hotel and saving for the shopping trips.
Cathy emailed me one day and said that she had been shopping and she had bought Sophie a lovely watch, to remind her of her 'time' in Boston, she is so generous and kind and I knew that Sophie would love her present.
So when we were eating and I recognised that necklace and bracelet.....I looked at Cathy and said " Excuse me....those trinkets were not 'just old ones' were they?"
She read out some things from the menu and asked if we wanted to share dips and chips as a starter...
" Cathy, did you buy those pieces from Tiffany's for Sophie after I said she did not need them?"
She told us what she was gong to have for dinner...
"CATHY O! What did you DO?"
"Well, you said no and I couldn't help it and .....what are you having for dinner?"
That's Cathy all over, generous to a fault, in fact it got to the point where I said to Sophie, " keep your eyes straight forward, don't look like you love something, don't pick anything up or say " that's nice" or she'll buy it!
The thing is, it wouldn't make the slightest difference if she never gave us a thing, I hope she knows that she doesn't need to ever give us anything but her time, she doesn't have to send us anything but her love. Just being her friend is enough, just laughing with her, sitting with her, talking to her and knowing that we are her friends is more than we could have wished for, she is the funniest, kindest, most gentle of souls and that is why I like being her friend. That and the fact that she gets lost as easily as me ( and she lives there!) and has the sweetest little boy and a 20 year old that we are determined will marry Sophie! Friendship made in heaven I tell you!

I was very touched by how much H missed me this time, he hugged me so tight when I got home ( and he got back from his night if waiting at the airport!) and said " I couldn't get anything done right when you weren't here" which is as good as saying he knows what I do when I am here....I do so much when everyone is asleep or out that it must seem as if I don't do a much at all, going away highlights just how much I do do...and that's always a good thing.

I have to say thankyou to Sarah, who reads my blog and mailed a book to me, it's called ' Losing your pounds of pain' and is about breaking the link between stress and overeating, I am so excited to start reading it, Sarah I have lost your email address and just had to say thankyou, that Grandpa brought it with him and I am about to start reading.
I was so proud of myself while I was away, I did eat a couple of 'bad' foods but for the most part I ate delicious meals that stayed withing the lines of healthy and beneficial....for some bizarre reason it has been near to impossible to stick with it now I am at home, being so tired and busy it is too tempting to stuff whatever I can find in my fat old mouth! I have no idea if I have gained weight, lost it or stayed the same, I will be weighed on tuesday and I am not sure if I am looking forward to that at all. I was so disheartened to see all the picture taken in Boston, I look every bit as fat and double chinny as last time darn it! My clothes tell a different tale though and I am about ready to throw out 2 more pairs of trousers that are too big and baggy...slowly and surely I will get there, if I can get through this unexpected tough week!
Well, it's nearly 11am and I am still in my jamas, better get going and start to plough through the work that needs doing around here.
I am back and ready to get going, just as soon as I wake up and lose the foggy brain feeling.
Real life, here I am, be kind to me.