It’s time for our last monthly chat of 2020 – and my first one in my 60s!!
With everything that went on in December I wondered if I should even bother to write an update but I am a creature of habit and decided it was worth documenting, even if only for my own records. I’ve gone back to the original way of daily sentences.
Strap yourselves in, here we go.
Tuesday 1 December – Away from home in Nowra, visited MIL Ruby in hospital and sat talking with her for a while
Wednesday 2 December – I left Nowra to deliver the extra car to my daughter in Canberra (2.5 hour drive). Lunch with my daughter in city and had Six Stunners Zoom chat sitting in the centre of Canberra. My youngest daughter wasn’t well (not COVID related) and rang to tell me she was sitting in emergency with her baby boy – very concerned about her. Put up Christmas tree with daughter #2, SIL and granddaughter – talk about a roller coaster of a day!
Thursday 3 December – Daughter and granddaughter unwell with head cold, made them rest after a morning out and about. I left Canberra and drove to Tumut to visit my mum (who wasn’t feeling too well either) for the night, as my sister was staying there for a few days. It was so good to catch up before Christmas (not knowing what was coming). My sister and BIL had given me an awesome new camera for my upcoming 60th birthday and helped me get used to it!
Friday 4 December – Helped out mum in the garden as my sister was ‘working from home’ inside. I left for the hour drive to my house after lunch. Went into Tumbarumba for the evening as there was a small event on called Gather with special guest Magda Szubanski. I felt a bit low and talked to a few friends.
Saturday 5 December – Social Saturday bike ride with a group of friends on the Tumbarumba to Rosewood Rail Trail 45km round trip great to get out and be active – got bad news from my husband about worsening condition of my MIL, so made the decision to drive back to Nowra (415km) leaving at 2.45pm. Arrived at MIL Aged Care facility at 8.30pm and Ruby sadly passed away at 9.15pm. I like to think she was waiting for me to arrive 😦
Sunday 6 December – Feeling sad, but helped clean out Ruby’s room at the lodge with husband and SIL. Made calls to family and friends.
Monday 7 December – My pregnant daughter (32 weeks) and granddaughter in Canberra unwell and needed my help for planned medical appointments so I drove back to Canberra (2.5hours) to help out.
Tuesday 8 December – I had my therapy appointment over Skype and the timing couldn’t have been better given everything that has happened lately.
Wednesday 9 December – I went shopping as my daughter was working from home and granddaughter was at daycare. Felt a bit lost. On my return I was surprised by the arrival of my youngest daughter and grandson, the family had been planning the surprise visit for my birthday for months and I was VERY surprised! I popped in to my Six Stunners zoom chat for a bit, then had to go to a hair appointment I’d made before I knew my daughter was coming!! So happy to see them.
Thursday 10 December – The Mathematician left Nowra and drove to Canberra very happy to know their surprise had worked! so many emotions. We had had a few days planned away in Canberra to celebrate my birthday with an AirBNB booked and other events organised but I was unsure if we could do them given the recent passing of Ruby. the family decided we needed to celebrate my 60th birthday as originally planned. As they said, you only turn 60 once!
Friday 11 December – Met pregnant daughter for morning tea in city, took youngest daughter and grandson out for lunch and spent time enjoying having 2 of my 3 grandchildren together in one place. Later that night I started vomiting.
Saturday 12 December – Turning 60 made me sick – literally! Today is my birthday and I vomited my way into the dawn of a new decade – poor me!! I rallied for my planned Santa photo with grandchildren, then we went out for lunch as planned but I was not well at all and ended up sleeping my way through the rest of my birthday, in between vomiting episodes. Got some lovely gifts!
Sunday 13 December – Woke up feeling a bit better, joined the family for breakfast at a cafe but ate little. Took youngest daughter and grandson to airport for their flight home then the Mathematician and I drove back to Nowra to continue with funeral planning. Pregnant daughter started vomiting!
Monday 14 December – Funeral planning and cleaning up.
Tuesday 15 December – Ruby’s funeral went very well. Many friends from home came as well as my mum. Daughters in UK and Brisbane were able to join the service online as it was streamed live. Many people came back to Ruby’s afterwards and my friends had cooked slices and cakes for us. So fortunate to have such lovely friends supporting us.
Wednesday 16 December – Drove home from Nowra with mum on board and got home about 3pm. Combined party with a friend that evening which had been planned for a while. Decided to go ahead as we needed a happy celebration after all the recent sadness. A lovely night with family and friends. Ros turned 70 and I turned 60 so we had a 130 party!
Thursday 17 December – Didn’t do much except unpack and wash. Nice to be home again.
Friday 18 December – Christmas/birthday get together with my previous work mates at a local cafe, so good to catch up with everyone, it had been a while between drinks for us!
Saturday 19 December – Coffee with friends followed by my Book Club Christmas party at a friends home. A lovely afternoon in the warm sunshine.
Sunday 20 December – Social bike ride on the rail trail with friends and another Christmas lunch party! Lovely summer’s day.
Monday 21 December – Woke to news that our Christmas destination might be included in a COVID Hotspot and our plans for Christmas at the beach might be in jeopardy but it was all a mistake – phew! We quickly packed our bags and left for Nowra, another 5 hour drive!
Tuesday 22 December – Relaxed, reading enjoying sunshine. Prepared our lists for Christmas food shopping after dinner. No drama at all, and made sure we wore our masks into the shops.
Wednesday 23 December – Enjoyed Six Stunners zoom chat before heading out to our rented beach house at Huskisson. It was a fabulous place, near enough to the beach but still in a quiet location. All arrived safely so the afternoon was spent enjoying the whitest sand in the world and playing in the water with 2 year old granddaughter. Magical!
Thursday 24 December – A lovely beach day, rode our bikes, played in the park, relaxed on the deck reading and caught up with my cousin and her family who were also in the area. Traditional dish and chips for dinner.
Friday 25 December – Overcast and cooler day but perfect for wearing Christmas jumpers which we got last year when in England. Opened presents, went to the park, rode our bikes and played with granddaughter, who loved making us all cups of tea with her new tea set. Late Christmas lunch cooked by SIL and played board games after dinner. A toast to absent friends and family brought a tear to our eyes. FaceTime with daughters in UK and Brisbane.
Saturday 26 December – Still a bit cool, went for bike rides and spent the day relaxing as befits Boxing Day. More board games after dinner.
Sunday 27 December – SIL had another birthday, sad as it’s her first without her mum. A lovely warm sunny day, just perfect for a swim at the beach and fun at the playground. Watched cricket on TV and played tea parties with granddaughter.
Monday 28 December – Cool again, packed and cleaned up house ready to depart. Really enjoyed the house and will stay there again. It was just what we all needed. Stormy in the afternoon. Sad to say goodbye to family.
Tuesday 29 December – Overcast and drizzly as we headed home again. Called in on my mum before arriving home and unpacking the car (again).
Wednesday 30 December – Warm sunny day, went for a bike ride on rail trail with the Mathematician before Six Stunners zoom chat. Friends called in to say hello. Decided to set up a new website for the rail trail – as if I have nothing better to do!
Thursday 31 December – Overcast and stormy all day. we had planned a Twilight bike ride and picnic with friends for NYE but storms thwarted that plan so went with Plan B and met in a friend’s home instead. FaceTime with daughter and granddaughter in UK and stayed up to watch 2020 depart the building.
And that’s a wrap on the moth of December – a lot of different emotions as you can see! We are now home until the arrival of our next grandchild, due late January so will enjoy just being in one place for a while!
In honour of my mother-in-law Ruby, who loved writing acrostic poems for my daughters and their children, I’ve written one about December:
D Driving, lots and lots of driving
E Emotional – so many tears, happy and sad
C Christmas, celebrations and care
E Eventful – you’re not wrong!
M Memories of people we are missing and Christmasses we’ve had
B Birthday Girl – me turning 60!
E Extraordinary times we’re living in
R Ready to move on to 2021 (more than ready)
Jump – my WOTY for 2020
My Word of the Year (WOTY) for 2020 was Jump, so my monthly updates tended to use this as a theme – my final JUMP post is here – Ready to jump ship – a year of jumping comes to an end.
I’ve just shared my WOTY for 2021 – you can see it here!
So, that was my month, how was yours?
Take care and stay well.
Deb xx
Linking up with other bloggers from around the world for A Sentence A Day
Previous monthly updates:
Jump into a new year – January
Jump in for a chat – February update
Jump in for a chat – March update
A hop, skip and a jump into July
How do you jump with a dodgy knee? September’s update
Jump starting my way through October
You can also find Deb’s World in lots of other places – stay in touch by clicking any of the buttons below.
Everyone has a story to tell!
Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. You can read more of Deb’s story here
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Deb's World 
What a nice birthday surprise & fun Santa picture. Sorry for the loss of a family member. I like the poem. Very creative!
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Thanks Karen, the whole day was great – apart from me being sick! My family is very creative with their surprises and gifts, I’m lucky.
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I’m sorry about the death of your mother in law and that you were sick on your birthday 😦 It sounds like it was quite the on the go month. I’m glad your family was able to surprise you and that you had a good Christmas week.
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Thanks for your kind words. It was a huge month and well worth documenting!
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Wow that does sound like a lot of driving! So sorry to hear about your Mother In Law but glad that you still got to celebrate your birthday… even if you were sick for the actual thing. At least you rallied with a great family time away for Christmas.
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Thanks for reading and commenting Joanne, it was an up and down time for so many reasons but I made it through!
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Wow, you are one busy lady! Love that you document your days, having the ability to look back is priceless, patterns emerge, attitudes, accomplishments! Happy birthday, happy new year, happy to leave 2020 behind! C
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Hi Cheryl, December was a particularly busy and emotionally draining month although most of 2020 was emotional when I stop to think about it! Yes to all that, especially leaving 2020 behind! All the best to you.
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Well you definitely won’t forget your 60th birthday in a hurry! What an eventful month. Sorry that you weren’t well around the birthday date but relieved that you were still able to celebrate.
A new baby due in the family, what a great way to start a new year!
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No that’s very true Deb, but I definitely could have done without all the drama!! I am looking forward to being on hand to help out with Miss 2 yr old when the new baby arrives. So exciting!
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Hi, Debbie – You’ve definitely had a full and mixed December. I continue to admire your positive attitude as well as your deep care for others & self. Wishing you a wonderful new year ahead!
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Thank you Donna, I truly appreciate your friendship. I’ve managed to get through the last few months with the help of friends like you. Wishing you a happy year ahead too x
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One word – WOW!
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Yes I agree!! It’s all been a bit hectic.
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👍😁
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So much. So many emotions from one end of the spectrum to the other and back again. Your dear MIL would have loved your acrostic poem. I had forgotten how much fun they are to write. Used to do them with my babies in the library when I was still working. Glad the surprise birthday went off with your truly being surprised. But sorry you were sick on your special day. Thank goodness for holiday getaways to somewhere warm and sandy by the water.
Glad to have you doing sentence a day again. I was surprised that SaD posts are among my most popular.
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Hi Leslie, thanks for stopping by! I enjoyed writing up my month this way again and luckily I keep a diary so I could remember what I did and where I was!! The beach was just a perfect way to end the year.
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WOW! What a month Deb. It certainly felt so busy and a roller coaster ride as I was reading it. I love that no matter what happens you can still smile and there are so many wonderful memories to finish the year with despite the sadness of losing Ruby. I can’t wait to read more of your blog in 2021, my friend and I know from experience that the 60s are the best! xx #asentenceaday
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What a month indeed Sue, on top of a year like no other! I try to stay positive regardless of what’s been happening but it’s not always easy. Thanks again for your friendship and support xx
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You have had quite the December, Deb, positives and negatives. Your birthday in general was a huge treat for all of us, especially the surprise visit. I could feel the love on the other side of the planet. Priceless!
Board games and all sorts of games are always fun for the entire family. I look forward to hearing when your new grandchild arrives. A great deal of good planned for 2021. xx
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Yes Erica, it certainly was month and a half but I’m glad I’ve documented it now! I’m glad you could feel the love across the miles and it was great having you there in that special way.
We have always been a boardgames family as they can be so much fun, not to mention competitive! 2021 looks like being a good year in lots of ways.
All the best to you for the year ahead too my lovely friend xx
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I’m so sorry you were sick on your birthday 😢 2020 at it’s worst! You’re looking great for 601 😂😂😂
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Thanks very much Carol! It was a busy time and I took it as 2020 doing it’s thing!! 601 is a good age to be 😂
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😂😂😂
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Did you see where you wrote 601??? 😂
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No I went looking but couldn’t find it! I guessed that’s what I’d done 🙂 I’ll have another look!
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It’s in your acrostic….B for birthday girl! 😂😂😂😂😂😂
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Yes I’ve just found it!! Not sure if I’ll bother to fix it up as you have been the only one to pick it up, or the only one to tell me at least 🙂 I look bloody fabulous for 601!
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Yes you do! 😂😂😂🙌🥂
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