Dec 11 - Christmas Planning & Shopping

Coffee Lindor Ball

      Let Christmas not become a thing
      Merely of merchant's trafficking,
      Of tinsel, bell and holly wreath
      And surface pleasure, but beneath
      The childish glamour, let us find
      Nourishment for soul and mind.
      Let us follow kinder ways
      Through our teeming human maze,
      And help the age of peace to come
      From a Dreamer's martyrdom.
      - Madeline Morse



  It was a rather busy day, a rather tiring day and a rather expensive day.  And I only got home for the night at 9pm so this may well be a bit of a shortish blog since it's 10pm now and I'd really like to read a bit before I collapse in bed.  The day started in bed of course, with Pizza Cat insisting on morning pats.  She's not really a cuddly cat and she hates being picked up, but she does love a good long pat as long as it's on her terms.  I slept surprisingly well despite her nocturnal antics.  Even if I wake up when she pounces all over the bed it doesn't seem to disturb me much.

  I was allowed to wake slowly and a cup of coffee was brought to the bedside for me.  It was a Nespresso Rosabaya de Colombia pod coffee which was a little stronger than the Dulsão do Brasil which I've mostly had previously, but still enjoyable.  For many years I didn't understand how welcome a sight a coffee to the bedside could be but I now fully acknowledge it as a lovely little privilege.  Its arrival is perhaps a loving gesture or perhaps a gentle reminder that I did have to get up and going to meet an 11am appointment.  Little from column A... little from column B?  In either case, appreciated.
  I eventually got going and arrived early for my physio appointment.  Serendipitous as far as Rush was concerned as he didn't have an appointment for 10:30am so he was able to see me earlier.  My back has progressed a little in that it's now mainly giving me pain only when he puts pressure on the muscles and nerves and not in my day to day movement, other than first thing in the morning or after prolonged sitting (which I shouldn't be doing anyway).
  I've been given a more advanced version of my latest exercise which involves balancing on one leg at a time with a slightly bent knee and extending the other leg out behind me with my hips kept straight.  I have to hold the pose for a count of three before standing and do that ten times on each side.  It makes me look like I'm doing ballet or tai chi but I rather like the challenge of it.  I think my ankles will get stronger too, not just my back!
  I made a brief trip home after that to sort out a claim for my last two physio appointments through my health care fund.  Why I can't never remember my blasted member password I'll never know but a very nice lady helped me through with it and I found my member card so I don't have to do that again!  I had moved it to my travel handbag for Tassie and then forgotten about it.
  About noon I headed off to pick Bertie up from work.  We were having lunch together today to discuss plans for Christmas lunch and what each of us would be responsible for buying, bringing or making.  I got there about twenty minutes before her shift ended so I walked about the supermarket and bought lunch supplies and a few items needed for addition to Christmas presents.
  We got back to Bertie's and made lunch.  I had two wraps, a glass of Kirks Sugar-Free Lemon Squash and a chocolate orange cupcake (she forced me, I swears it).  The first one was a Mission Mediterranean Herb wrap spread with Spicy Capsicum Dip then topped with shredded light tasty cheese, baby spinach, peppered mortadella, cucumber and tomato.  The second one was topped with peppered mortadella, baby spinach, shredded light tasty cheese and seafood sauce.

  After lunch we set about doing some proper planning, lists were drawn up, menu planned, games decided upon and fun prepared for!  It's going to be a ridiculously over catered event which I expect will stretch from lunch well into dinner.  We may all need naps and a full day's recovery.  Christmas movies may or may not get watched, Pictionary and Monopoly may or may not get played!
  I headed next to the huge Passion for Pets store on Frankston-Dandenong Road.  It's the one place I'm near regularly enough that stocks the special shaved wood bedding I use for GoGo's cage.  I wasn't quite out but I am definitely going to clean her cage out this week.  She's getting a little stinky and a bit stroppy about it too.  After that it was on to Spotlight for special Christmas food containers and fabric to make a bit of a present sack to hide a largish present.
  My final destination for the day was the dreaded Chadstone Shopping Centre.  Now I say dreaded only because I tend to try and steer clear of it in December as it just gets too busy for me to cope with but in fact it wasn't too bad tonight.  I got a park easily and went straight to the ABC Shop.  I found an Octonauts plush toy and DVD for my nephew but couldn't decide on anything there for my nieces so I moved on.
  Just after leaving the ABC Shop I bumped into my dinner companions for the evening, G-Spot and Giny, and we walked on to dinner.  They kept asking me what I wanted for dinner and I explained I was open to their choice.  It wasn't until this circle had run through a couple of times that they confessed they had a bet on about what I'd choose.  So I thwarted them both and picked Nudle.  They thought I'd pick Burger Edge, and truly that would have been my choice if I hadn't had wraps for lunch.

  I ordered the Fried Koay Teow, flat rice noodles fried with seafood and beanshoots and my companions had Nandos.  It was fun catching up with the two of them.  G-Spot and I used to work together at Head Office in the accounts payable team and Giny was the duty manager at Forest Hill before Danger Mouse took over.  There were a lot of laughs shared over dinner and afterwards until it was time for us all to go home or continue shopping.
  Before heading home I had to find presents for my nieces.  I did not want to have to return to Chadstone again this side of Christmas.  I tried Kmart with no luck and went on to Target.  There I found a rather large Zhu Zhu Pet plush toy (a cute cartoon guinea pig with a cape) for my littlest niece and a couple of cool books for my elder niece (one Dora related, one craft related).  I feel comfortable posting the present details here as none of them can read yet.
  With Christmas shopping finally done (all shopping that can't be done at Coles anyway), I returned home, battle-wearied.  I had my coffee-flavoured Lindor Ball and sat down to my evening's computering and now it is most definitely time for bed!
  Jess