Hello 2013

Christmas came and went this year through a fog of cold & flu.  Despite being run down I was able to carry off a meal for 12 on Christmas Day and get through the Boxing Day celebration at my in-law's.  It wasn't restful by any means and I carried on right up to last Friday, when the last of our company left and I went to back to work for a day. I've spent the last few days chilling out for the most part.

Despite being unwell I think we did a good job of hosting Christmas and on the weekend prior to Christmas, when I was still feeling relatively OK, I had my bangs cut: 

(If I wasn't going to feel good, I was going to try and look good ;)

Although on Christmas and Boxing Day I made sure I stayed out of range from most cameras (although my father in law managed to snap a few which I still haven't seen). 

Here are a few of my favourites that I managed to capture: 

Tasha and our Jayden on Boxing Day

Our rosy cheeked Daisy 

Baby's first Christmas

The tree on Christmas Day

By New Year's Eve I was feeling a bit brighter and went to the gym for a much needed work-out.  Later that evening we were joined by our friends Dawn and Rob who came round with Carter.  Because our boys were busy doing other things this year, we decided not to do our usual Mexican feast and went with wine and cheese.  I still wasn't feeling up to drinking wine (can you believe it's really me typing this?) although a glass or two of champagne went down easily enough. 

 

 We threw in some grapes for the healthy component :) 

Jayden wasn't feeling well and poor old Carter had a hard time taking his eyes off the baby, which was cute to see.

We didn't sleep much on New Year's Eve night due to Jayden being poorly so we had a relatively easy New Year's Day which consisted of a long walk with the dogs and later, a bottle of wine shared between Andy and I in the hot tub as we watched the fireworks display that our neighbours were setting off .  

Alex rang last night for advice regarding the baby and after being directed to go to the Out of Hours Service, he was diagnosed with Tonsillitis, on top of his teething and bronchitis.  Also, Andy's sister Claire was admitted to hospital last evening with Pneumonia which is a worry as she is vulnerable enough as it is.  

Because of everything that has been going on I didn't get to do my Yearly Wrap Up which I'm sorry for as it's usually one of my favourite posts.   

2012 wasn't a bad year at all for the McAllenby's and most of our extended family, however I know that for some of you it's been a tough one.  My heart goes out to anyone who has suffered a loss or any other hardship this past year. 

So here's to hoping 2013 has more ups than downs.     

I just want to start feeling 100% again and especially for everyone else to begin feeling better as we have our vacation in a few weeks (it's worrying when Claire and Jayden are so poorly). 

It's a bit surreal that in a few weeks we will be on a plane heading towards Sri Lanka and the Maldives.  We've been pretty patient the last 13 months since we initially booked it.  Although we did have a lot to look forward to in 2012 and I was in no hurry to race through my last year as a thirty-something.  

And now? Well I think I finally have my head around the fact that in 24 days I will be 40.   I might as well get over it and face it right? Besides, I'm not too bad for an old girl.