Week 7: Christmas Season

12/1-12/8

Week 7

Building a Christmas Tree

Building a Christmas tree was an entirely new experience for me. For those of you who don’t know (which most of you ought to), I’m from Oregon. Trees out number people 1 million to 1* (*Not an actual statistic). In my family, getting a Christmas tree can turn into a full-fledged event. We bundle up in jackets, scarf, gloves and boots, go out to the farm and hike through the muck and the cold to pick out the perfect tree. (It will inevitably have a bald spot, which will in turn, face the wall). In the old days, Dad would have to lay down in the mud to saw it down. Him and the boy would be responsible for tethering the thing to our car. All the while, us girls would go back to the farmhouse for some hot cider and doughnuts. Even the years we didn’t go to the farm, we would go to the Boy Scout lot where the trees were pre-cut and it and was now a acne ridden 15 year-olds responsibility to attach it to our vehicle. But even sans-farm, this is when it starts to really feel like Christmas. When you’re nose turns red and runny in the cold and you see your breath in the night air, which is actually at 5:15pm but because of how north we are, so the sun is already long gone. And when you get the thing home it stinks of pine, and like it or not, that stench screams Christmas.

But here, I built the tree, one branch at a time… wearing a tank top. I can see the appeal. It came together quite easily. No bald patches. No needles were lost. Minimal work and upkeep. But I did find myself missing the smell and wacky, miss-matched ornaments that I knew would be on the tree at home. 

Carols in the park:

Hunters Hill puts on a “Carols in the Park” at Boronia Park the 1^st Sunday of December every year. I Joined with William’s family as they went up to a fellow school mom’s house just up the block. She was hosting a gathering for several of the school families. We ate some dinner and had some drinks before heading over to the park. At the park there was a large stage set up and a bunch of different acts. The whole show was a bit cheesy, but it was fun. And, in true Aussie fashion, the whole thing ended with a beautiful firework display.

Townsends:

I took the left over pumpkin and apple pie to the Townsends. I was happy to share the left over’s with them and they all seemed to enjoy the pumpkin pie. (Yes! More believers!). I got to give some to Neil and Michelle in the Granny flat. They leave for their Europe Trip this week and are getting very excited.

Christmas Concert

This week Lachie had his Christmas concert at his school. We had gotten there a bit early to claim a spot in the front. We brought some finger foods and champagne and chatted with other school parents while we waited for the show to start. The Kindergarten class sang about Jonah and the whale. A song that I will surely have stuck in my head for weeks. The whole event was quite cute. Each grade had a song and the whole thing was over in less than an hour.