Last Minute Madness

Well folks, the last weekend before Christmas has suddenly flown by. It's now only FOUR sleeps til Christmas day! I hope your weekend wasn't as hectic as mine!

Friday was a wonderful day. My husband X and I got out of the house and went to the movies. X's mother minded N for us, which was nice and we got some time to spend together before the rush of this week.

What did we see, you ask? Well, believe it or not we saw New Moon, which is the second movie in the Twilight series.

It was really good. I'm a big fan of the first one and I've read all the books, so it was so exciting to finally get to see this one and at the movies too. The books aren't, in my humble opinion, quality literature, but they're easy to read and fairly lighthearted. The movies are the same, plus I LOVE the scenery. Living back in Canberra I live in a perennial brownness of dirt and dry grass so all that lush greenery is like heaven to me. In fact, here's a pic I took of some rosellas outside eating near N's new playgym. Check out the poor grass!!

The weather on the weekend was quite nice but this week we're heading back up into the 30s again, so looks like the grass will have to suffer longer still.

I must admit though that I really don't mind it. I love looking out at my new, big backyard and seeing the rich, earthy browns and greens of the country and the gum trees. It's different to Sydney but it still feels homey to me. As well as the rosellas we've been getting lots of visits from some cockatoos and galahs, which N absolutely loves to chase!

Saturday we had a nice, albeit late, visit from X's brother and wife and they're three kids. They live just outside of Canberra but are moving in the next week, so we'll miss them lots! N loved having his big cousins over to play with (they're 12, 10 and almost 8) and they adored playing with him too. When it was time for bed he was so hyped that it took him a while to settle down.

Yesterday we hit the shops for some last minute shopping. I realised I still had quite a few pressies to buy so my plan was to stick it out until everyone was done (normally I get tired, frustrated, annoyed etc) after half an hour and call it quits (hence the last minute need for shopping). Thankfully we weren't at the mall too long before we finished up and were able to go to one of my favourite, last minute shopping stops: a pottery gallery in Pialligo called Bison. Check out their gorgeous craft here

So all in all a pretty busy and fun weekend! N is still settling into the whole new house routine and isn't sleeping too well. Any tips on how to get a 22 month old to sleep through the night would be greatly appreciated!

Last night was particularly fruitful in terms of working on the new book. It's set around this area, around Christmas time too, so I just have to look out my window, or close my eyes and smell the air and I'm hit with inspiration. I've been doing lots of research for it, particularly on the Italian occupation of Ethiopia. I've been reading a really insightful and enjoyable (in terms of good writing, not necessarily content) book called Amedeo: The True Story of an Italian's War in Abyssinia by Sebastian O'Kelly.

It was given to me as a part graduation/part farewell present when I left work at the University of Wollongong after I graduated and it's sat on my bookshelf for SIX YEARS!!! can you believe! Then when I had the idea for this book I pulled it out and it's really good. The imagery is incredibly vivid and O'Kelly introduces the story in an almost fictional manner. You can get it here if you're interested.


If you're wondering who would win a showdown between me and an obstinate sewing maching, you'd be forgiven for betting on the sewing machine. But I too can be stubborn and obstinate!! It took A LOT of frustration and mock swearing, but this morning I finally got my act together and finished making N's Christmas sack. It was an idea I had about a month ago, got really excited and bought all the material and then did nothing with it!! Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!

And there's a drawstring at the top, so you can pull it tight like a sack!! (I thought the whole stocking concept was a bit too complicated for my amateur sewing skills!!)

Then last but not least we had the 20 week ultrasound today. The baby seems to be doing fine although the sonographer was a bit concerned about the due date. I told her not to worry, it was probably just another big baby!! And if you want to know what it is we're having, you'll just have to wait til May!!!!

Merry Christmas, Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad, KV-ettes!! This is probably my last entry before C-day, because we've got friends coming to visit tomorrow, then another dr appointment on Wednesday and then it's Christmas Eve!

Have a safe and happy one!!

Bacci xoxoxo