Who got my sunny Christmas Day with our family dinner planned for 5pm outside? Christmas Day I woke up and it was raining. I got wet going into church and then again coming back out. I had gone to the earlier church service so didn't get to spend time with my church friends. Oh well, small price to pay for having fun with my three grandchildren eh? As I drove over to their place, three suburbs away, it was raining and occassionally it poured down. The day was becoming warm and humid and I didn't like the look of the sky. With thunderstorms now predicted it seemed a dangerous day for all of those who had to travel on the roads.

I loved my time over with Pam, my daughter-in-law and the three children, oh the noise, the paper, the toys, the excitement generated especially by the two little boys. I trod on a dinosaur buried under some of the wrapping paper and broke off his leg so one fatality already. We had Christmassy food (lots of sugar!) and I didnt leave to go home till 1pm. I had to go then as I had some cooking still to do, just the chickens and some sweet potato and baked potatoes as that was what Shirley had asked for.

I had planned to have an indoor/outdoor Christmas with small tables set up in the carport and along the back verandah so we could see the kids as they ran around the lawn. We could spend more time talking that way. But with the blustery winds and intermittent showers what could we do but arrange ourselves inside in a too small lounge area now the kids are all growing and enjoy it as best we could. At least we were warm and dry when the storms hit late afternoon. And we were together.

We had a bit of a delay before dinner as Craig and Shirley offered to drop home a relative of Craig's Mum's who was having lunch with them at his brother's place this year. The drive was along busy city roads and when they arrived at the house the old lady couldn't find her keys so Craig attempted to vault a high fence to reach the back door. Shirley, in the meantime, tipped the old lady's hand bag upside down and there was the key, so half an hour later, having seen her safely inside they were back on the road again.

So everything was delayed by an hour. And with seven adults and seven children inside a small area it was a muddled Christmas. We had the nibbblies and then decided to open the presents. Soon the lounge area was strewn with present wrappings, with big piles of goodies in front of each child as we had all decided to concentrate on them this year. Then the table was piled with food, chairs gathered from all the rooms of the house and there we were, everyone speaking over the top of each other having a marvellous time.

A noisy Christmas was probably the best thing that could have happened to take our minds off our losses and sadness. A noisy Christmas, Ray would have hated it and I loved it so it was fine for this year. Next year we might start a new tradition, but this year it felt like we were just marking time, doing it for the sake of the seven grandchildren. We were all thinking of last year and all that has happened since then and sometimes there were gaps in the conversation as we all failed to mention Mum's or Ray's name and quickly changed the subject. But it was an opportunity to just enjoy the kids' joy in Christmas.

Shirley, Craig and family stayed an extra day so they just left for home before lunch today. It is about four hours travelling to get them home from here. Unfortunately they will be presiding over a funeral tomorrow as one of their congregation members lost her mother on Christmas Eve and they have been asked to do the funeral. That was the reason they had to return home. With her father's death so recent I am sure Shirley will do a marvellous service for them. She is wonderful at that sort of thing, kind and sensitive and a great encourager of others.

They hope to then go to what they refer to as their holiday cottage, a small house in the Snowy Mountains area. It is in the high country and will be mild and sunny there with a little luck and they will be able to relax and plan together what they hope will be happening in their Salvation Army Corps for 2013. We all see the effort they make and it does come from some sensible and sensitive planning and a willingness to vary the plan when other things come up. They do really good work where they are and help a lot of people.

I don't plan to do anything much. January is reading month for me, there are no meetings, not a lot of activitiy as here in school holidays many grandparents are child minding, except for those who are lucky enough to be away caravanning or camped by a beach somewhere. That would have been Ray and I and the kids 20-30 years ago. Since Ray's death it is so different for me. With my three little families doing their own summer things it is up to me to decide day to day what it is I want to do. And for now it is relax and get over all that busy pre-Christmas rushing about.

Do I have plans for 2013? Yes and no. I hope to do some travelling as many people have asked me to visit them now I am free to travel more. I am planning a couple of bigger trips but both can be postponed if things don't work out. I can make some plans and God willing they will come to fruition. And I have a nice new red suitcase on wheels that Shirley and Craig gave me especially this Christmas to take on my overseas trips. But I know, as we are all so aware, that we all live in an uncertain world so for now it is just wait and see.