Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating today. Hope you’re having a wonderful day wherever you are in the world. It was hot in Sydney today and we just spent a quiet day at home. We opened our presents in the afternoon – I got the new Stephen King which I’m looking forward to reading – and had a salad for dinner which was lovely. I must admit I’m feeling a little bit sick now though. I think I ate too much, although how you can feel bloated on a salad I have no idea. I haven’t even been able to fit in any cake yet!
Christmas is a bit of a funny time for me. I’m not religious anymore but I still enjoy the feeling of the season, the spirit of goodwill and cheer in the air. For some reason I haven’t really felt it that much this year though. We put up our tree a week late this year and that’s usually when I get into the Christmas spirit, so that might be part of it, but there’s also been a distinct lack of atmosphere this year. There have been fewer lights and decorations around and the shopping centres have been all but deserted, even on Christmas eve. I guess it shows how much people are struggling this year… 2010’s been hard on a lot of people and I think everyone’s feeling the squeeze. Hopefully 2011 will be a better year.
I guess to me Christmas is mostly about spending time with family these days and I felt lucky to be able to spend it with my parents today. It was a simple, quiet day and I think I’m starting to value those kind of days more and more as I get older. I know that a lot of people feel lonely and isolated at Christmas, having lost someone or not being able to be with their children, and I found myself thinking about them a lot today, and our troops overseas. I’d still really like to volunteer somewhere over Christmas at some stage. I didn’t feel well enough to do it this year but maybe next year I’ll be able to.
In any case I hope you’re having a wonderful Christmas wherever you are in the world. To celebrate I thought I’d post another of my Aussie Christmas songs. I did an Aussie take on Jingle Bells last year and The Aussie 12 Days of Christmas in 2008, so I guess it’s become something of a Christmas tradition on my blog now!
This year I thought I’d do We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Originally I wanted to do Frosty the Snowman but I couldn’t work out a way to make it sound very Australian – I mean, it’s not like we get much snow! We Wish You a Merry Christmas was a little easier and it’s also one of my favourite songs at this time of year. I’ll try to do Frosty next year if I can.
I hope you enjoy it. And Merry Christmas. 😉
We Wish You an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas and a ripper New Year!
Good luck and good fate to you and your mates
We wish you an Aussie Christmas and a ripper New Year!
Send the gifts through the post
Get the food for the roast
Sleep in on Christmas morning
And get ready to play host!
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas and a ripper New Year!
May your kids make you smile
May your Christmas have style
May they get lots of pressies
To keep them busy for a while!
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas and a ripper New Year!
Grab a sausage or two
Don’t forget the fondue
And we’ll gather in the backyard
To start the barbeque!
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas and a ripper New Year!
Have fun with the rellies
Laugh and sing with full bellies
Take a few family photos
Then watch the cricket on the telly!
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas and a ripper New Year!
Have a beer by the pool
While you try to stay cool
And we’ll sing songs and carols
To celebrate the yule!
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas and a ripper New Year!
Try a slice of the cake
Just like mum used to make
A little dry and spongy
But at least it’s not fake!
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas and a ripper New Year!
May your Christmas be bright
Filled with festive delight
And don’t forget to say g’day to Santa
If you see him tonight!
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas
We wish you an Aussie Christmas and a ripper New Year!
Good luck and good fate to you and your mates
We wish you an Aussie Christmas and a ripper New Year!
We wish you an Aussie Christmas and a ripper New Year!
Just thinking about you and your family. Hoping you are doing okay.
Hi BD. Thanks for thinking of us. We’re doing okay… I’ve had a bad few months and we’ve had some internet problems as well but it’s good to be back now. I’m back writing again now which is a good feeling as well.
How are things with you? I hope 2011 has been good to you so far. Are you back blogging again full-time? I’ll pop over and say hi when I have a bit more time. Take care and many blessings. 😉
Thank goodness you are all okay. After seeing the news, I got a little worried.
Things have been busy here lately but slowing down soon. (I hope) Glad to hear you are writing again. Sometimes I feel like I will never have the creativity bug again. I will, but it tends to disappear on me from time to time.
I was blogging again for a bit, but won’t be back full time for a while. So much going on in real life.
Thanks for letting me know you are well. Many blessing to you too!
See you around. 🙂
ceej, I always enjoy your Aussie Christmas songs, and this is no exception! “Grab a sausage or two” lol, “Have a beer by the pool”, such great imagery for us from other parts. I agree, this past Christmas was lacking in inspiration, but then I don’t get into the religiosity of it either. Glad you and your family are going along. I know it is a challenge for you sometimes 🙁
I haven’t been around as much as I should, but know you are ever in my thoughts and heart.
Hi Muse! I’m so sorry for not responding to your comment before now – I actually thought I already had, then just checked yesterday and saw that I hadn’t. Whoops. I guess my memory’s going in my old age! 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed the song! I wasn’t sure how it would work at first as “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” is mostly chorus but it came out really well in the end. I still want to do Frosty at some stage too. Our celebrations do tend to be a bit different but perhaps that’s why the imagery works so well, as there’s something familiar in there also… I know that’s how I feel when I watch Xmas overseas, like I’m looking at a mirror image.
Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts. I feel like I’m doing better now; I’m trying to focus more on my good days and enjoy them, so I’ve got quite a bit done recently and my novel’s starting to come along now too! Should be finishing the first draft soon. Yay!
I was so happy to read your new post as well. I’ve really missed your thoughtful posts, Muse, and I’m sorry to see you’ve had to sort through some things in your life too. I’ll leave a comment when I have more time but I just wanted to send you my best. I’m thinking of you, always.
Take care, and many blessings.