Cate's Diary

Hi Cate, I hope all goes well with all the festivities! I'm totally brain dead, but will check in soon when I can formulate meaningful sentences again. Hope you all have a lovely time together!!!
 
Hi Cate
That sounds like you are all sorted . A lot of people end up panic buying because they feel they are nor Christmassy enough . The key is definitely to start early. Have a really happy Christmas to you and your family
 
I really hope your OS and granddaughter get their brains in gear and remember that smothering the hostess is bad manners so you can all have a carefree, joyful Christmas.
 
Have spoken to most of the people we really love (the ones that we can) & that is what matters most. Christmas Day always ends up being an emotional day for me & that always ends up surprising me. G has spoken to each of his brothers & sisters, which was nice. His older brother we now think is not long for this world & after speaking to his wife we realise we need to go visit them asap. He has refused to talk to anyone on the phone, but this morning I told her that his brother would like to hear his voice & he came to the phone. I think G needed to hear his voice to know just how sick he is. I rang my older brother too & he missed my call. I sent his daughter a message as I know she, & her lovely little family are with him, & asked her to give him my love, but he still rang me back, which was nice. It's C day that I miss my other brother & sister the most.
I rang R (our younger son) & he is working today so that his boss can be with her Dad, who has Cancer. R sounded good. I think he will be home next Christmas & will come up for a visit in a couple of weeks.
I hope everyone has a lovely day. Tell everyone you love that you love them xoxo
 
I'm glad your Christmas was really nice and full of family and love! Just wanted to say how much I appreciate you and all you do for this little community! Happy New Year filled with all sorts of wonder and love...
 
Words to live by all year long.
Indeed they are. I make a point of letting people know how I feel about them.
Hi Cate - Merry Christmas!
Thanks, Jack :)
I'm glad your Christmas was really nice and full of family and love! Just wanted to say how much I appreciate you and all you do for this little community! Happy New Year filled with all sorts of wonder and love...
That's very sweet of you, Marsia xoxo

Our evening with D & T & the 3 young kids went quite well. I had lots of healthy food & had decided against a rich dessert, but T brought meringue & put together a huge pavlova, which got demolished. I had some & still regret it this morning. I think I may be lactose intolerant as I still feel queasy this morning. I had planned on doing a large platter of fresh fruit & stuff I got from the health food shop but ended up only putting out a bowl of cherries. I feel that T is over her thought that G & I didn't approve of her. I hope so anyway.
We gave them an engagement present of a bottle of French champagne that G & I have on our wedding anniversary & we told them the story behind it.
The kids showed very little interest in their presents. Our GD is becoming a teenager, with the eye rolling & not even feigning interest. *sigh*
I am glad Christmas day is over. T's daughter wasn't a problem yesterday. She is quite hyper usually & pokes around in your things, but not yesterday, which was good. We gave her a children's cookbook & she seemed more scared than anything. She thought she might blow the kitchen up. E said she would help her. I was hoping that would happen & was good to hear her offer.
Both T, D & E reeked of perfume. They all had "forgotten". D rang about an hour before they arrived to tell me & I asked if they could try to wash it off. We kept the glass doors open to keep air flowing. I got teary a couple of times trying to tell them how important it is to me that they be fragrance-free. I asked if they had forgotten they were coming to our place & the answer was that they had. *sigh*
G & I will be having a quiet day at home. I am going to drink lots of water & can't wait to make a new plan for 2019............
 
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I had some & still regret it this morning. I think I may be lactose intolerant as I still feel queasy this morning.
Not saying you can't be, but:
T, D & E reeked of perfume. They all had "forgotten".
That might be a better explanation. Or not, but I think it's important to not restrict your life and food choices more than already necessary. Curious to hear your plan for 2019!
 
When I come up with a plan, LaMa I will let you know.
I lied when I said Christmas day went well. I didn't enjoy it much at all, but it went better than I expected. I was very disappointed, but unfortunately not surprised by the amount of fragrance on our son, his GF & our GD. It saddens me that they don't consider my health, enough.
G & I just had a light lunch & I mentioned to him that next year we'll go somewhere on C day as we both struggled with being home on our own for almost all of the day. No-one arrived until after 5 pm. I even ironed!
We let the chooks out today & they went bush & haven't been seen since. I hope they come "home" to roost tonight :)
 
Hi cate I’m sorry your Christmas Day was a let down. I experienced the same about 4 years ago and I made the decision to go away that year so the last 3 years we have but now I think I am ready to stay at home next year but maybe pop out to visit for an hour or so . My niece wasn’t too interested in my gifts either but got a photo of her last night wearing them so that was nice. Problem is they all get too much .
Me too I’m glad to be planning my 2019
 
Hi, Petal. I'm glad to have put Christmas Day behind me. I'm going to look forward to improving my life in the future. I would like to go elsewhere I think next time. We'll see.
Hi, LaMa. We got the chooks in easily. Yay! I think they like their new home & certainly being well fed :)
 
Hi Cate! I have mixed feelings about Christmas, too. I think next Christmas we will all get a nice hotel in Southern CA, visit relatives and go to all the lovely museums and attractions in LA. Teens are sooo hard to buy presents for. I usually ask the parents what to get or ask my daughter to discretely find out what to get her cousins or friends. If all else fails, I do gift cards and a cute, inexpensive stuffed animal.

I am getting more and more chemically sensitive, and so is my daughter. We had to air out the rooms my brother in law and his girlfriend stayed in for a few days, and we bought an air purifier that filters out scent. Next time I will tell them about our sensitivities. If I had guests that were that insensitive as your older son, I would tell them that I just can't have that in my house and I would tell them we should meet at a restaurant or in an outside place where your home isn't going to hold in the odors that make you ill. That is really crappy they keep ignoring your health. Maybe time to make some firm boundaries with them?

Nice to hear your chickens came home to roost so easily and you didn't have to go hunt for any of them!

So glad we can all make new plans for the new year together. I am excited for this year!!!
 
Hi, Marsia. The parents weren't much help with ideas for presents. Going away next year may be a good option.
I shut a few rooms before they got here. I have tried & tried to set firm boundaries with our son about fragrance, but he seems so attached to his fragrance that it's more important than my sensitivities apparently. It really upsets me & he knows it.
G & I love having the chooks. He's as much an old mother hen as I am I think (in a good way)
I'm excited about making plans for the new year. I wish I could see a doctor before I start as I want to try IF again, but don't want to mess with my BP.
I weighed myself this morning & haven't gained anything during December. That was a pleasant relief. It's only 4 months until our trip to Greece & I would like to lose at least 4kg before then. It's not essential, but would be nice.
 
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