Christmas in Elwood

I've had a very lazy day today ... but tonight I put a bit of effort into getting my Christmas decorating almost finished - I just have to stuff a Christmas tree Mum made for me, which will sit in the middle of my dining table, plus finish of a couple of Christmas ornies I stitched during the year for myself ... the following photos are mainly for Isabelle who wanted to see my decorations once they were up :)

First of all my little flat's lounge in all it's glory ... and the Christmas tree with it's animal guardians - I couldn't get a good photo tonight with the lights on (well, it's actually just after 1am), so I'll try to get a better photo tomorrow.



As you can see there are little bits of Christmas all over my small space - and here are some of the pieces in detail (this isn't all of them, but I'm starting to get tired, and think I should hit the hay soon - I may put some more piccies up during the week).




And now "something I prepared earlier" ...

Since stitching Coffee Menu I haven't picked up a needle in this whole time - I've been having way too much fun getting the RAK Registry together. I spent 2 hours chatting to Mum today on the phone, and was telling her about it, and she rightly said it sounds "right up my alley" ... any excuse to organise something and make lists haha.

Actually, Mum also told me I should share this little story with you as well ... as you know I've been struggling a lot financially over the last 1-2 months, and haven't been buying any groceries except for milk and the occasional few onions etc, but living out of my pantry and freezer. Well, the main contents of my freezer have been chicken breasts ... about 3-4kg of chicken breasts, to be exact! Mum said to me a few weeks ago, "you must be sick to death of chicken by now!" ... "you're not kidding", is my reply. Well, here my sick sense of humour kicks in ...

My bathroom is a combined laundry/bathroom (typical apartment), and I have my cat basket and supplies sitting in the laundry tub while waiting to get a real life kitty to take up residence ... anyway, as I'm climbing out of the shower a week or so ago, I look over at the pile of kitty stuff, and think to myself, smirking, "oh well, if I ever get desperate enough for food, there's always that big bag of Hills Science kitty biscuits" (not that I would ever actually do that!!) ... and I grinned a bit ... then I read the label, and totally cracked myself up and howled with laughter ... the flavour just HAD to be "Chicken and Rice"!!!!! You probably had to be there, but Mum and I shared yet another chuckle about it today - it's true that things have to be really really bad for me to lose my sense of humour! I get that from my Mum, we can usually find something funny in most things ;) And yes, my sense of humour is definitely starting to return, and things are brightening up :)

I must say though, a week on Tuesday I get paid, and I'm going to go mental shopping!! After finally paying Mr Tax-Man, I'm going to go crazy buying fruit and vegetables!!! That's the one thing I've really REALLY missed - I've pretty much been living on protein and carbs for the last 1-2 months, with the occasional frozen vege and tinned tomatoes thrown in, and I am seriously craving salads! I could quite easily sit down right now with a whole head of lettuce and scoff the lot in one sitting!! I'll still be frugal for quite some time, if not right throughout 2007, but I will definitely be having one huge salad for dinner a week on Tuesday! :D

Anyway, I guess I'd better hit the hay and get some shut-eye ... I've tried to keep myself awake really late tonight, to try and get myself into the right frame of mind for tomorrow, as I'm back on overnight shifts again - oh yippee :/ I start work at 9pm and finish at 5am for 4 nights ... that should keep me out of mischief this week, and I might actually get caught up on those 600+ blog posts I'm still trying to read hmmm ;) In the meantime I hope life is treating everyone well :D