I love Christmas. I love everything about it – the lead-up (yep, even the crazy shopping times), the traditions, the family time, the thoughtful gifts and the eating and the drinking. But I don’t like the post-Christmas slump that inevitably follows – washing up, putting away decorations, taking down the tree, trying to fit the lights back into their box without strangling myself, watching what I’m eating and drinking. All that stuff.
If it were socially acceptable to keep my tree up as a standard home decoration all year round, I would do it. I have a bizarro collection of ornaments that I have picked up on my travels (whether those travels be to Prague or Florence or just a dodgy shop in North Sydney) – it’s a tree with personality, I tell you. From the disco balls to the glittering butterflies to the razzle dazzle stars, and everything in between. Some Waterford crystal, some precious metals, some felt and some Chinese plastic. Come to think of it, the tree is probably a pretty good reflection of me in many ways. A mish-mash of different styles and moods and ideas and a lot of quirky stuff that is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but it makes me smile every time I unpack the Christmas collection.
So, this post is a festive farewell to some of my faves – ’til next year, my Christmas crackers.
Decoratin’ my door no more.Fly away, marzipan faced fairy (who appears to need a comfort break).No more lies, man.Auf Wiedersehen, golden sheen pickle.Quackers.Hit the slopes, crazy monkey trapped in an Australian summertime Christmas.Sayonara, Christmas glitter sushi from my sister Jo. Every tree should have one.
I’m not really a big fan of serious new year’s resolutions. I have a few things that I tried last year that met with mixed success (see more movies, read more books, run more, lose weight, say yes to more things – in a good way – and so on). Then again, I look back on 2012 as a great year for me, as things came up along the way that I turned into on-the-spot resolutions and saw those through. If I was wedded to my 2012 resolutions, I would have felt like a failure because my September injury meant a fast and dramatic end to my running program; I would have forced myself to see movies that I didn’t like to fill the monthly quota I had set; I would have said no to doing things so that I could finish the books on my bedside table. Granted, that growing pile of books is now threatening to topple on my head in the dead of night, so reading more books is something I’m keen to do in 2013 – if only for survival.
My resolutions have tended to form more of a to-do list for the year ahead, which I don’t think is best practice resolution setting, but it seems to work for me (mostly). I try to make some small, everyday kinda commitments or goals and some bigger (or longer term) resolutions too. And like any good to-do list, the more I put on, the better the chance of crossing something off. Surely.
Anyways, a resolution that I’ve decided to try this year is a very shallow and simple, yet specific, one: wear more nail polish. Because I’m worth it. Really though, I never paint my finger nails as I’ve never seen the point of it when they chip so quickly when you’re busy doing stuff, but this year I’m starting in style. With the yellow, pineapple scented (yes, really) Sportsgirl nail polish that I gave my nieces for Christmas. Sure, I keep thinking I’ve got stickers caught on my fingers or someone has attacked me with highlighters, but these colourful nails are everyday sparks if ever I’ve seen them…
Happy New Year to you, my blog buddy. I hope that you and yours have a fantastic year ahead, full of lots of everyday sparks! Now, back to me. I would like to state for the record that I have gone for a run every day this year. And done my physio-prescribed stretches every day this year. And blogged every day this year. And drunk lots of water every day this year. It’s a great feeling – now, to keep it up for the rest of 2013…
It was a swell party, Sydney.
I am very lucky to live near a public park with a pretty good view of the fireworks, so it was very crowded yesterday on what was a beautifully sunny New Year’s Eve day in Sydney and a night that was perfect for fireworks. It’s always a great people-watching opportunity as the human traffic gathers on the grass – old people, young people; skinny people, fat people; people dressed in very little, people dressed strangely for arctic conditions; party poppers, party poopers; sober people, drunk people; super-organised-tent-and-catered-food people, super-chillaxed-chips-and-beach-towel people.
Portaloos and bins, the foundation of any good public party.
A guy was selling glow sticks, it was meant to be an alcohol-free zone and there were lots of families around – an excited buzz grew in the leadup to the 9pm family fireworks and then most of the people seemed to stick around for the midnight show. With the exception of a pretty scary incident with a group of swearing, drunk teenagers outside at 3.30am, which had me and the poor guy next door calling the police as a lunatic jumped the fence and started smashing things, it was a really nice night and a great way to see in the new year. Except for the lunatic bit, I guess. But I did get to watch that from the safety of my kitchen in my pyjamas, so it wasn’t too bad.
Yes, a whole bus for police. The kids round ‘ere had glow sticks and were prepared to use them.
When I went for my run this morning, it felt like the city had a hangover. There were hardly any people out and about at 7am, but those that were on the running track were full of smiles – probably feeling smug that they too have run every day this year and have kept all of their 2013 resolutions. The park area was a different story – it looked like a cyclone had torn through a rubbish dump. Along with the usual types of rubbish, there were full champagne glasses, shoes, clothes, metal chairs, tents and of course party hats, poppers and horns that had seen a better day back in 2012.
People sleeping amongst the rubbish. Ah, this is the life.And a good time was had by all.
So, here are some pics from my morning to mark the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 – thanks to those who will come this morning and make this area beautiful again, thanks to those who visited and enjoyed NYE in Sydney, thanks to the brilliant Foti Fireworks people who keep coming up with innovations that can make gunpowder magic. Happy new year – may 2013 bring lots of fun, laughter and good times with your families and friends.
A very Merry Christmas to you and yours – I hope that you have a wonderful festive season, full of everyday sparks, and the time to enjoy being with your family and friends. And also some time to enjoy being by yourself, maybe to look back on the good things that happened in 2012 and look forward to the exciting adventures that await in 2013. I’ll be keeping an eye out for Christmas sparks today – we’re lucky to share our family lunch with seven little people plus grownups, so I’m sure there will be plenty of sparks around!
I came across this flash mob video this week and thought you might like it too. It is from earlier this year, but it feels very festive. It also makes me want to organise a flash mob in 2013, so if you’ve got any ideas – please let me know…
Greetings and Merry Christmas Eve to you and yours, virtual friends. Apologies that Everyday Sparks has become more like OnceAWeek Sparks in recent weeks – I’ve been without an internet connection and it’s the festive season and, like my running program, my regular blogging has fallen by the wayside. But I’m back now and, like a pesky old uncle at a Christmas lunch, I plan on hanging around. (And maybe stealing some of your turkey, drinking some sherry and regaling you with stories about the good old days.)
But in the meantime, I need your help. Not in the Ugandan-prince-send-money kinda way, or even the Sponsor-me-to-jump-on-a-pogo-stick-around-Australia kinda way, but in the easy Help-a-virtual-mate-via-Facebook kinda way. You see, Expedia (the travel website folk) are running a comp to find new bloggers from Australia and New Zealand to write for their site. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that I love to travel and write about the people, places and things that I discover along the way. So, a gig writing for Expedia Australia would be pretty much an ideal job for me!
My photo application
To be in the running, I need to collect as many votes as I can by 31 December – which is where you and your Facebook friends come into the picture, I hope. It only takes a minute to vote for me via Facebook – the link is here (or search ‘Expedia Blogger Search’ on Facebook) and I’m in the ‘Lifestyle’ blog category: you can’t miss my bright green EverydaySparks avatar on the second row. And every vote counts, so please spread the word to your Facebook friends too!
Hope you don’t mind this cry for help on Christmas Eve – I’d really appreciate your support!
everydaysparks 