Christmas Past.

So, I was so right. Well partly. I didn't forget about my blog I just avoided posting.

We spent Christmas at my 'In-Laws' home. I desperately wanted to be at home, at the beach, on top of Mount Everest for all I cared. Anywhere but there would have been wonderful, I would have even strapped Lilly on my back and carried her all the way up there just to escape. Unfortunately I'm not quite fit enough & decided against it. Honestly I wanted to be in Melbourne, with people that I love. My mum, my brother & cousins. The people that I have memories of Christmas with. I can remember when all the boys would want those 'super soaker' water guns for Christmas. One year my brother chased and squirted my cousin so much he was in tears for hours. My brother broke his arm one year, it was so hot. I can still remember watching the heat rise from the asphalt of the road on the drive to the hospital with him in the backseat recounting his fall from the neighbours hammock over and over, reminding us of how hilarious it was.

And the food, oh god, my Mum can cook & on Christmas, cook she did. Not the traditional food you'd expect, but delicious fresh crayfish from my Dad's home town. We used to drive down, just the two of us. Daddy and me, the week before Christmas and collect our dozen Crayfish fresh from the boats as the came into port. Then we'd spend the next day at our neighbours the kids all playing & our dads cooking crays and drinking beer in the garage. Then we'd have cold chicken & an array of salads, chocolates, plum pudding & mince pies. I miss my family terribly.

Mum would always let Aaron & myself decorate the tree but the next day all the ornaments would be rearranged by the time we got up. She was anal about our beautiful tree. It was color co-ordinated with green, red & gold. Mum handmade dozens of perfect gold bows and beaded strings, the presents were always perfectly wrapped & tagged and arranged symmetrically under the perfect tree. It was beautiful & I love her for creating this wonderful picture that is stuck in my mind.

We were very lucky, Aaron & I. Mum & Dad owned their own business & so we always had too many presents. We had our own heshen bags, no stockings at our house. With felt pictures stuck to the fronts. On Christmas morning, not only did we have presents from Mum & Dad & Santa but our stockings were full of pencils & c.d's and other bits and pieces.

These days I feel a million miles away from what my life used to be, from what I had planned for myself. I never thought that on my twentieth Christmas I would be celebrating my child's First and I never planned on being across the country from the ones I love. But I'm grown up now with a little family of my own, perfectly planned or not and it is now my time to create beautiful memories for Lilly, so that in twenty years she can look back and wish to be back in her childhood, just like I do.

If I can create just half of the wonderful Christmas memories for my own family that I have myself, then I will have done well.