I hate Sundays that turn out to be work days. We have been so busy that somehow this week I didn’t do enough laundry and realised that some of the clothes we needed for early in the week had not been laundered. So did a couple of loads of washing before going to church and a load when I came home and now have a full ironing basket to deal with.

I did Sunday school this morning, only four little folk and a fairly complicated craft so enlisted the help of the Mums and we managed okay. All Christmas crafts this time of the year so they have a heap of work to take home with them. Finished up of course with glitter and spangles all over the place so after I came back from the church part of Sunday school I swept the hall out.

Yesterday it was church fete, Trev’s birthday party and then Ray went off to the Mens dinner. The Fete worked out well, Steve “forgot” to drop Tori off so I took Lucas who is very good at spending money so we gave a large contribution (lol) and came home with a lot of interesting stuff. Edie was thrilled with the earring and necklace set he bought her, especially as he picked it out, got my approval and purchased it with his own money.

The lunch was nice but the restaurant was more expensive than we had thought so we were all a little short on cash for that. Still it worked out well in the end as the kids were all as good as gold, both our grandkids and the new “cousins” from Edie’s side of the family. Her Mum was sporting a nice new look, blonde and a short curly cut that really suited her. She seems a pleasant person, glad we are getting a nice “in law” family.

I dropped Ray at the Men’s Dinner and my co-worker from Sunday School dropped him home which was really good of him. I often complain that I don’t get enough help so really appreciate it when someone steps forward and helps. It was nice this morning when a few of the men came up and said how good it was that Ray could be there, so a good all round result.

We have reached the noisy season where the BBQ’s and parties are all outdoors, all have the stereo turned up full blast so they can hear and so can the entire neighbourhood. We suffer a lot from that here. But after a while someone rings the police about the excessive noise and a patrol car comes around and the noise fades away. A hotel about a mile away has live bands outside Sunday afternoons and I can clearly hear the words on most numbers. Not songs I’d like to hum along to I might add.

Now all the parties are in full swing we are experiencing some tiredness in my case and some extra confusion and disorientation in Ray’s case. This means we have minor squirmishes as he forgets what I have told him and we go into the “you said. I said” kind of arguments that never end well. So I have to be far more precise with instructions and try not to snap at him when he is obviously resisting what we need to do. On the whole it is all manageable but it is harder year by year now.

This coming week is a very busy one so apart from my blog report I will probably not have a lot of input on the forums. I have chat of course but that is always a permanent marker so just work around it. I enjoy it too; it is part of the support network I cherish.

No family news from outside the usual circle, I did ring one of Ray’s sisters though as I wanted to confirm some news. I need to start sending Christmas cards soon as people need to know that we are well and Mum is alive and kicking – if not fully functioning. I suppose some people still remember us, even if they don’t bother contacting us.