Here's to 2006!!

I have no idea where to start this one - way too many bits to fill in! Maybe I will try bullet points?

1. Christmas was gorgeous. Me and the girls all day - played games, sat on the beach with Auntie Soph and a good dollop of Mark at breakfast and at dinner! Played games, ate too much and relaxed so much that I forgot to put the ham in the oven!! Late Christmas dinner - now there's a Percy family tradition!!
2. Confession - bit stuck on Mark now!
3. Off work for the last week - have another week to go till I have to get back to the daily grind. Spent last week having really good time with the girls - lots of sitting round the school pool, quite a lot of cooking (Boo now a complete whizz at rubbing in and making pastry!), lot of sleep, lots of hugs and not too much shopping.
4. Lou and Becs off to Wanaka (near Queenstown) in the morning. They come back Saturday week - so I'm looking forward to a little me time and some quiet - but suspect I will start missing them fairly acutely by Saturday mid afternoon!!
5. Me and Mark going camping for a few days over new year - will probably be the least larey and debauched I have ever been on NYE! Strong possibility that we will be christening his new Travel Scrabble! Think we are going down to the Bay of Plenty - not entirely sure where, am leaving that to Mark.
6. Am getting very good at delegating decision making to Mark - whoever said I was overpowering????!
7. 3 guesses! (clue first name begins with J!)(horrible and completely unfounded accusation, obviously!!)
8. Very stuck on Mark
9. Speaking of J word - all gone horribly wrong since last mail. What started as an argument about money (won't bore you with the details) has resulted, not in a sensible discussion, but in J threatening that he is going to file for 'Shared Care' of the girls - one week on, one week off. Suspect that this is more about being miffed that Mark gets on with the girls really well, than about him being wanting to see the girls more. There's a part of me that thinks that it would be a hell of a lot easier for me if we did do shared care. I mean, in terms of being able to arrange a long working week one week, and a short one when I have the girls - I'd have to ask fewer favours from my very long suffering friends and I'd have more quiet and unhurried time with Lou and Becs - but, bearing in mind the girls have adjusted really well to where they are now (both had storming reports, and are happy little things most of the time), and not forgetting that John is thinking about moving to the South Island some time in the next year - I'm not sure it is fair on Lou and Becs to start messing them about again. Plus, not sure how on earth John thinks he is going to manage the hours he does and drop the girls off to school and pick them up every day etc etc! Anyway, hopefully we will discuss all the options in mediation and we will come to a compromise which works for the girls and makes him a bit less poopy! And maybe at some point next year he'll start talking to me again?!?!
10. Girls got storming reports!
11. Mark lovely!
12. Haven't got digital camera yet, but am buying one with Christmas money and then will take lots of photos of everyone, including Grace, Mark, all my Auckland Posse and of course my two lovely little things.
13. That can't be it, there must be more!?!
14. Oh, yes - weekend after the girls get back from Wanaka, we are going on a mass camping expedition to Parkare (spelt massively incorrectly - but no idea why?!) which is about 90 minutes North of Auckland. There are about 6 families going and a barbecue!
15. Missing Lou's 10th birthday as she'll still be in Wanaka - not 'appy, but will cope. Think we are going to treat her like royalty and give her a second birthday on the day after they get back!
16. Lou giving up Flute. Bit sad, but figure, horses, water etc - and now I'll get the occasional Saturday lie in!!! They are both still netballing, Lou is wanting to check out the local swimming club, and Becs is still doing her gymnastics.
17. Those of you who haven't got a Christmas card from me yet - sorry, haven't finished writing them yet - figure I should get them done and posted some time before I go back to work on the 4th - please note, it is a compliment if I haven't posted one to you yet, it means I want to write something specifically to you, and I ran out of hours in the day - only reason the English cards got proper messages was because I stayed up till 3 to finish writing them!
18. Summation of 2005? Started off very cloudy with heavy winds and icy blasts gradually subsiding into sunny spells, then prolonged blue skies and sunshine, with occasional storms and some thunder.
19. 2006? Looking forward to lots more blue sky - and am armed with an umbrella (plastic, of course!), cause I'm picking the thunder storms aren't over yet!
20. New Years Resolution? Simplify!! Going to try very hard not to make life quite so crowded - am really enjoying being quiet with the girls and want to do it some more - quite enjoying being quiet with Mark too, but hey -
21. Did I mention that I'm a bit smitten with Mark?!

Sorry it's short, promise never to do bullet points again, didn't work did it?!! but I did get quite a lot in quite quickly!! - Postings will be more regular now we are passed Christmas - think I will start next years Christmas shopping next week??!!?

Other New Years Resolution - to try not just to remember peoples birthdays, but to actually send the card / present!!

Got to go - bedtime!

Happy New Year - loads of love - xxxxx