Christmas has been something of a "road show" for Team aBeckett this year. After our extended Loretan family get together on 15th December, Ben and I hit the F1 north to connect with Dad, Brother and the rest of the Coffs Harbour crew. I really wanted to get to Coffs before Christmas, but weekends were at a premium, so Ben and I decided to go mid week. Leaving Matt at home meant that there was room for our friends Maz and Jacob, who seemed keen to join the road show. It was great to have Maz and Jacob along for the ride, but I reckon they accepted our invitation thinking they would get three days of tropical holiday (Understandable, given, that I had pretty much promised them as much). Unfortunately it was not to be. Maz, Jacob, Ben and I didn't set foot on a beach or even cast an eye over a breaking wave during our trip north. 
Instead we were subjected to the cold, hard sting of the Coffs Harbour Curse!
Instead we were subjected to the cold, hard sting of the Coffs Harbour Curse! Things started off really well. We managed to cram all the baby paraphernalia into the Vectra and the boys seemed happy in amongst it all. It wasn't long before they were asleep and they both held up to the rigours of the long car trip very well.
Maz and I were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves when we arrived in Coffs and, despite the fact that the boys were a little hard to settle that night, we kicked back and relaxed with a glass of Viottollo. I guess I should have known that the faint twinges in my neck were a warning that The Curse was soon to rear it's ugly head. It seems that every time we go to Coffs Harbour someones health suffers. During our last visit the entire family fell victim to the gastroenteritis inducing Adenovirus. The time before that Ben got his first cold and the time before that Matt cut his leg on a wayward boat trailer stopper. The Curse is a Cunning Beast. This time it found an old weakness in my neck. I woke up on Wed morning, picked Ben up and my neck went crunch. Rendering me completely useless from that point on. The rest of our time in Coffs was spent trying to get my neck moving again.
I ended up visiting the chiropractor three times before I could get any significant movement back. Meanwhile, the whole experience for Maz was far from a holiday. She ended up having to look after Ben while I was being crunched on the chiropractor's table. Luckily SongXin was able to help as well, but this didn't save Maz from one of Ben's more disgusting nappies and it meant that all our holiday plans were dashed.
I ended up visiting the chiropractor three times before I could get any significant movement back. Meanwhile, the whole experience for Maz was far from a holiday. She ended up having to look after Ben while I was being crunched on the chiropractor's table. Luckily SongXin was able to help as well, but this didn't save Maz from one of Ben's more disgusting nappies and it meant that all our holiday plans were dashed.Anyway... all was not lost. Maz and I put our heads together on the way home and thought about some of the positive things about our trip. Here are my top ten (in no particular order):
1) Catching up with the family and exchanging gifts.
2) Getting to know Maz and Jacob a little better.
3) SongXin's sensational Sushi.
4) Watching Ben and Jacob together. Here's Jacob giving Ben a few tips on crawling, stairs climbing and pulling yourself up on stuff (Ben used these tips to great effect while in Coffs). 
5) Taking Maz to her first "Big" thing.
6) Giving Ben his first bounce on a Swiss ball - he loved it!!!7) Checking out the progress in Brother's shop (it's looking great).
8) The relaxing glass of red.
9) The fact that my neck popped out before the 25th Dec (and was able to be fixed).
10) Seeing that at least one other Mum has as much difficulty as I do with:
a) feeding her son vegetables, and
b) changing a nappy on a very squirmy boy.
......and have a Santa photo taken. 
It's been a really busy week!! So of course there's lots to blog about. I'll get started with Ben's adventures last Friday.
Not only was it Ben's first time in the Canoe Pool, it was also mine. Can't believe that it's taken me 32 years to dip my toes in the water there. It was lovely. Perfect for little boys, and deep enough at the edges for a cooling swim.
.. and Ben just got nude. 
Almost 2 years ago, Mum showed me a picture in the newspaper of a very happy looking new Mum. She showed me the picture because the new Mum was an old school friend of mine, Kristin Gilbert (now Kristin Ison). Despite the fact that Kristin and I had been friends at High School (very good friends, until a man with a glow-in-the-dark tulip came between us), I hadn't kept in touch and I hadn't seen or spoken to Kristin in about 10 years. So it was really nice to see her in the paper looking so happy and well. I looked up her address and sent a card to congratulate her on the safe arrival of her first baby (Benjamin!). Kristin wrote me a lovely letter back, but we didn't talk again until about 6 months ago when my Mum said that a school friend of mine had come into her work - but Mum was unsure who it was. 
This lead to a series of events which resulted in me being invited to something of a school reunion last weekend. Kristin and most of the group of girls I "hung out" with at school have stayed in close contact (a pretty big achievement - most of them have been friends since primary school!!). They get together at Christmas for a nice lunch and Kristin invited me along. A complicating element (which I didn't learn about until the day before) was that I was the "surprise guest". I gotta say, I was pretty nervous, and the surprise factor kinda added to my anxiety. I was so nervous that I spent far too much time thinking about what I would wear (and of course I didn't want to look like I'd been trying hard to look my best). I don't think I've ever put so much thought into looking like I haven't put too much thought into it. Anyway, my anxieties were ill founded, and I had a lovely time. The girls all looked great and seemed really happy. Everyone has kids! Thirteen of them (between us), and Karen has another on the way. When I came home I had a look through my box of old photos but I had trouble finding many pictures of us at school. I guess we didn't take as many back in the age of film. 
I had four glasses of wine over the course of the evening, but lack of match fitness meant that I felt a bit tipsy. So after Kel dropped me off at my car, I sat in it for ages playing "marble cannon" and deleting all my old text messages. I felt totally sober when I eventually drove home, but resolved to be more responsible next time. Obviously I was meant to learn a lesson last night because Ben was really unsettled from about 3:30am ... and so I got minimal sleep. I felt quite hung over today. Will be a better person next time. 
