Oh boy, I haven't posted in two weeks, and we've had Christmas and New Years and we are well into 2024! I can't quite believe it's 2024 - I'm turning 50 this year! Oh my goodness. We have decided this year is the year of health, so hopefully by the time my birthday rolls around I'll be in good shape for my next decade.
Christmas was nice. We have spent the last three Christmases on our own, which has been very peaceful and stress-free. This year we had Lolo and Dida and my brother Sting in town, and it was definitely more fun! We had a beach morning where we all went swimming (well, Lolo and I only went in up to our wastes, and Lolo was panicking the whole time about the kids' safety - insert eyeroll!). We had several swimming sessions in our pool, games and fun with Sting. It was great to have him around. He has promised to come up more often, which would be awesome. The kids love him.
The kids were very excited for Christmas morning, and they both said it was the best Christmas ever. Sadly our internet got shut off mistakenly on the 22nd, and then all of our 4G got shut off on Christmas day, and we are still fighting with Telstra to get it all back on. We are all hotspotting of Jeff and my phones, and it is very frustrating! Plus I have spent almost 10 hours on the phone to Telstra, and I can pretty much say every employee I have spoken with there are completely inept. It took them ten minutes to accidentally shut off our internet, and apparently it's two weeks to get it back on!
New Year's Eve was a bust! We had planned to have a picnic dinner out at La Balsa park and then watch the fireworks, and we were all ready to go, dinner made, when it started to rain! We couldn't imagine sitting on the wet ground, so we decided to stay home and have a family game night after dinner. First game in and Arley had a meltdown from stress and confusion (not understanding the rules), and we all separated to do our own thing. So, not the best New Year's Eve, but the kids ended up happy because we told them they could stay up as long as they wanted so they could message their friends at midnight. They both went to sleep around 2am, and felt very grown up.
We have been chilling at home a lot. It is really crowded here because of the school holidays, and the weather has been crazy. One week it was so hot that we had our hottest day in four years, and then it rained and thunder-stormed for days. Jeff and I are getting his guitar school ready for the new year, starting off with a new schedule and big plans for jam sessions and open mic nights. We have been keeping busy. I thought I'd get time to paint, but it seems like my time still has not come!
We have moved the kids' computers into their bedrooms. The kids and I were sharing the study before this, and while it's probably not the best idea to have their computers in their bedrooms, it is so nice for me to have more space, both physically and mentally! Arley said the day we moved his computer to his bedroom was the best day of his life, and Carmie was squealing and stimming, so I think they are both very happy with the arrangement!
We took this week off from activities, except for Arley's afternoon activity with Chayse that happens every Thursday. They went swimming at Cotton Tree pool. He loves it there. Next week all of our activities and appointments start again, and I am not looking forward to it! We have five additional appointments booked for next week on top of regular activities. On a good note, if all goes well, Arley's dental work will be done in six months! He has finished with his appliance that was widening his palate (by 8mm!) and next he needs a tooth removed, and then he is going to start Invisalign. I am so excited for him to be finished, and to see the results!
I'm hoping to enjoy the next three days - maxing and relaxing - before the chaos of real life starts next week!
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