A Loooooooonngg Holiday Week

     Well, I hate to sound like Scrooge, but after what seems like an endless holiday week, I am so ready to go back to work.  It's not any one thing that brings me to distemper.  I could blame my aching left knee that is affecting my mobility and smile or the fact that our car is barely functional for any but the shortest trips or the fact that we don't have air-conditioning plus a closed pool. 

     It's all these plus the confusion of holidays appearing on Sundays. Australians aren't about to give up a day off work because a holiday falls on Sunday, so "officially" Christmas was Monday, Boxing Day (a legal work holiday) was Tuesday with a discretionary workers holiday squeezed in on Wednesday.  But wait, there's more.  Another discretionary worker holiday for some branches of the government (like the post office) on Friday because some offices may open for parcel disbursement on Saturday morning.  Except postal workers didn't bother to show up then, either.  And New Year's Day is, of course celebrated in Governmentdom and Commercialworld on Monday the second.   Never knew what would be where or when.

Picnic & family snaps

     Now, if you have a working car (and I've mentioned that we currently don't) or have an advantageous postal code, you'll head to the ocean for a barbecue and a swim  or head to the cool relief of the hills. 

Perhaps a longer drive to the Southern Ocean-a very popular heat escaping holiday option.  Of course, we indulged in some of our usual traditions:  the picnic with my brother-in-laws family in gorgeous Hyde Park, trying out the new toys (Natie's first bike!) and my German smoking man and nativity given to me by my cousin Antje longer ago than I'll ever confess.

Trying out the new red bike!

Smoking man + Nativity

    Well, each of us sneaked in a day of work somewhere in all this and what would Boxing Day be without out the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on TV (the whole race lasts 3-14 days) followed by the Aussie-India Cricket game (which lasts almost as long at the above yacht race.)  Squeeze in some post-holiday bargain hunting, board games (which I tend to win) and increasingly less interesting  DVDs and you have the sum of  a 10-day holiday week.

     I'm remembering not to complain. My New Year's Resolution (the first one in several years) is to be less grumpy, more grateful and blindingly optimistic.  Soooooo,  I am  glad to be  going back to work tomorrow.

     Yeah, call me Ebenezer.