we just moved here to australia this year and I'm experiencing my first boxing day. in the states, its just typically another holiday day where everyone lazes around and does nothing. here, people scurry around to get to the sales (stores open at 7am you know!) and others rush to go see the cricket. my dh is at the crick today with his sister and friend who is taking shots of the grounds/event. i, like a silly ninny, decided that it would be a "good idea" to go and check out the sales....under the guise that I'd find a bday pressie for the sis at a better price than usual. i took the tram in to this teaming nucleus of people....all running around like chickens trying to find the best deal!!! what a freaking mad house.....and what concerned me the most was the fact that I was just trying to get through the people while protecting my preggie belly. not easy to do when everyone is just plain crazy! well, that's the last time I try to do that! not a fun time.

yesterday we had a really nice relaxing picnic in the park with immediate family. one of the sisters made loads of food, the other sister brought roast duck and pork from a very good local chinese eatery. the other's brought drinks, we brought a nice tomato and green bean summer salad.

then after spending a few hours in the botanicals we went off to see the other relatives. beautiful house full of holiday nibbles (christmas pudding, brandy custard sauce, baked ham, potatoes, lovely cheeses....) all in all it was a day of overindulgence....as you do on such a special day!

you know...its all about temperature. for example the most obvious being the weather outside. ever since I moved to the southern hemisphere the months have been a blur to me. it is now december and in the past, I was always rugged up under layers and layers of woolen/cashmere/alpaca sweaters and down jackets. but now, down here, I would NEVER go near anything fuzzy, wooly or warm. in fact, I've been very busy peeling OFF the layers, trying to stay cool.

the other temperature that I'm thinking about refers to the temperature of something that you're cooking/baking/working with. in my case, this week, it has to do with chocolate. i've commited myself to making handmade chockies for the family this year. figured that the love and time that I'd put into the project would shine through and they would be overjoyed with the outcome. well, my first batch was a complete disaster. i melted the chocolate, put it into the molds and couldn't wait for it to set so I whacked it into the fridge to speed up the setting process.....not a good idea. once they had set and had reverted back to room temperature, they started to turn white. it was almost like there was a disgusting layer of herpes on it or something. ugh, being the perfectionist that I can be at times.....I knew that there was NO way that I could give those to the fam. so off I went, reinventing the wheel but carefully this time. lesson learned, never, ever chill chocolate and expect it to be the same when you take it out of the refridgerator, unless you live in the north pole. but if I lived there, I wouldn't be talking about the hot, hot temps in december now, would I?!