Good morning, faithful blog readers. Tis the day after Boxing Day, the sun is continuing to kick the heck out of sunny old Perth, Australia is on the mat in Melbourne, and we move on from Christmas (which went fairly well here at Merton Way) to New Year’s and my 47th birthday.
How did Christmas go, you ask? Well, it was ok. Christmas Eve was mostly spent quietly at home. My dear friend and once-Eidolon compatriot Jeremy G. was in town visiting family, so he dropped by for a lovely chat over a few drinks. It happens far too rarely, so I’m looking forward to him coming back in April for Swancon.
The young ‘uns were abed by the time he left, so Marianne and I watched dumb lifestyle TV while wrapping presents. Things drifted far too late, as there were iPods to be configured and other details to be managed. Having been up too late, we were then dug out of bed by a very excited Jessica, who found incontrovertible proof of the existence of Santa in the almost finished glass of milk and plate of cookie crumbs on the kitchen table. Sophie wasn’t quite as convinced, but so it goes.
Presents were opened and were mostly very well received. I got season 2 of Fringe, season 3 of Big Bang Theory, a James Taylor cd, vols 2 & 3 of the Bloom County collected set, a new wallet, and a wii golf game which was good. Esp. happy about Fringe, which Marianne and I just started watching.
After presents I got breakfast made, we Skyped my sister and her partner in Melbourne for a bit, then kids dressed and we headed off to the Hilton for a family Christmas lunch with my mother and sister. It was nicely set up and despite the girls being in a somewhat subdued mood, we seemed to have a good time. The magician put on by the hotel was fairly well received, but the Santa was a hit. Presents were again exchanged and this time I made my big score, the Springsteen Darkness box, which is probably what I wanted the most. We then headed home for a detoxing after too much food and drink, with a brief stop at mum’s.
I confess, dear readers, I napped for a bit, but woke to chaos so a light dinner was made before packing the girls off to bed. Marianne and I then started into season 2 of Fringe, which already (we’re four eps in) is better than season 1. We had originally planned to take the kids to the movies on Boxing Day, but my mother is a traditionalist and despite our having had a Christmas feast the day before, planned her own for Sunday, so we were headed there for the day. First though I grabbed breakfast, recorded the Super Mega Boxing Day Podcast (which was lots of fun to do), and helped get the girls martialled for the day. It was lovely, as it always is. My brother was there, as was my Aunt, who we see too rarely. The girls swam in the small paddling pool outside while we ate, drank and made merry. It was a little hot, but it was all in all, a lot of good fun, and probably better than Xmas Day.
Once we were home, the girls were off to bed after dinner so Marianne and I could watch the Dr Who Christmas Special. Frankly, while I don’t know if they would have enjoyed it, there’s no reason they couldn’t have watched it. It was delightful in parts (I loved the flying fish), but overall was oddly disappointing. Matt Smith’s Doctor has become a pointless fop, while Amy Pond, who now gives the series so much of its energy, was reduced to playing a pair of legs in a fetish outfit in the special, which was hugely disappointing. The play on a Christmas Carol was fun, but there was a lot of misogyny too, which also was disappointing. I think I’ve fallen out of love with Matt Smith, remain a Pond fan, and hope Season 6 will offset a sort of disappointing Special.
After that, we watched Fringe, which was much better. And for today – well, it’s 7am and the sun is literally burning my shoulders at the moment, so I’m heading inside in a minute. I think we may take the girls to the movies, though I’m not sure. There are also some post-Christmas sales, but I have an ocean of editing work to do and not much time to do it before I head back to work next week. I think it’s back to work time now.
