This year would have to have been one of the most enjoyable Christmas/Boxing Day's in recent memory for me. The one big downer was that my big bro Tim wasn't there to celebrate with us (oh, and the whole tsunami thing as well).
Christmas was here in Sydney with Kristin's family. We opened pressies in the morning, had ham and seafood as far as the eye could see for lunch and just sat around, watched The Castle and played the 20th anniversary edition of Trivial Pursuit.
Charlotte and her first present from Santa
Amy & Andrew and the rest of my family were at the Garton's new place down the road from my parents in Broke. Here's a wonderful pic of A&A
Boxing Day saw us travel up to Broke. We had a good run as far as traffic was concerned and were there in enough time to get a family photo taken of the whole clan, sans Tim :(
Lunch was the usual feast of ribs, hams, salads and all that jazz
A few good games of UNO were had before lunch. I bought UNO a few months ago knowing it would come in handy at some stage
After lunch we got down to business with a good game of cricket down in the 'Glade'. Dad even mowed the pitch
The ladies assumed their position under the shade up on the hill to watch the game
Not all of the ladies watched. Here Liz smashes one for 6 into the vineyard
Charlotte upstages Zoolander with her very own Magnum... or is it Blue Steel?
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I seem to think they do :)
Last weekend Kristin, Charlotte and I went to a fantastic Spanish restaurant in the city called Encasa. It was a Christmas dinner with some of Kristin's friends and a good time was had by all, even Charlotte as you can gauge by this picture. She did get a little drunk though and we had to go home early.
The Heaps (Amy, Andrew, Joss, Toby & Bethany) came to stay for a few nights earlier this week. We had heaps of fun... when I wasn't at work that is. Amy & the gang managed to catch up with a few old friends etc and we all got a chance to have a nice Christmas celebration together.
Here is a nice shot of most of the Tin Lids:
Bethany & Charlotte. "I can't believe you wore the same thing as me!!"
Joss & Toby having their first spa bath!!
Because we have so excellently planned it (*sarcasm alert*), the Heaps of Wagga Wagga and the Goldfinches of Sydney, won't be spending Christmas together this year, so we took the opportunity to exchange gift and have a nice dinner (with gerard & Briar as well for the dinner)
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This is just a test to see why this blog is being silly and not showing any text!
P.S. Pics and update to follow... soon ;)
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It sounds easy enough doesn't it? It seems though that many people seem to make the wrong choice.
You have the choice.
It's in your hands.
So the next time your doing something you don't like, just remember that even though the work may not be fun, you can choose your attitude.
I choose 
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Friday:
* Phil goes to a work suppliers drinks at Parramatta One World Sport followed by a dinner down the road at a Malaysian restaurant.
Saturday:
* Phil & Kristin have Kristin's Mothers Group over at our place (10 babies and their parents) for Christmas morning tea/lunch.
* Kristin goes to a baby shower
* Phil goes to farewell drinks for two mates in the City
Sunday:
* Phil, Kristin & Charlotte go to a Christmas/Birthday lunch at Mosman Bowling Club
* Four of Kristin's relatives are in town and two will be staying with us. We have a nice Christmas dinner for Wayne who is on his way to Europe today till February. Safe trip Wayne.
The silly season is well and truly upon us
Some photos to come...
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With our daughter born this year, each and every year from now will be even more momentous for us.
Wishing everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now...
John Lennon
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I have in my hands (ok, on the computer) some images of characters from next years Star Wars movie (the company I work for will be printing some labels for a cereal company), the problem is that these are pics that fans would love to see... I'm just tied down the copyright laws and all that jazz.
I had thought of creating an anonymous Hotmail account and sending them to certain websites that would post them but I'm sure they would still be able to track my down somehow...
Oh well, I'll just have to choose the Lightside of the Force ;)
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I read today that Mötly Crüe have reformed for a world tour and just the other day I also read that The Goodies will be reforming and coming out to Australia early next year.
Which begs the question: Who would you love to see get back together again and tour/perform etc?
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I tested out City Fail yesterday from our new abode. Things went okay, but I still had to set my alarm for 4:40am... not a nice feeling. My work hours are 7am - 3pm meaning that if I leave at 3 and the trains run on time (yeah right) I could be home by 4:30. I do though, enjoy the trip over the Bridge and have missed it since moving from St Leonards.
The pool is shaping up nicely and if it wasn't for the overcast and cool afternoon yesterday, I would have jumped in. The rest of the house is slowly getting unpacked but it still feels quite empty. I think it has to do with there only being three of us in this big house... that or all the wood floors make a phat echo. I'll be posting some pics later this week when our ADSL is up and running (we are on our old dial up at $5/hr so we do have access, albeit for short periods of time), we have put up the Christmas tree so that will be a good start for the photos.
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Kristin & I have moved 5 times in the past 4 years. This kind of nomadic life is not foreign to Kristin though, her father was in the air-force for the majority of her childhood. For me on the other hand (if you exclude being born in Wellington), I had only moved once and that was when I was 17.
Starting at 7am and with some helping hands from Dan, Brett, Gerard & Dad we managed to load the truck and get over to Lindfield in one piece. Brendan joined us to unload and we were all done and dusted by 1pm. I had not finished though, and after lunch Gerard and his friend Andrew loaded the few possessions Gerard & Briar have accumulated so far and moved them to Hornsby (into the apartment we have just left) for their impending move post wedding (this Feb).
Thanks go to all those mentioned above and also to Nicola for helping Kristin look after Charlotte and to arrange the kitchen ;) I also can't forget Nick who made a special guest appearance to help get the pool set up.
Last and by no means least, to Kristin for all that she did in getting the truck and countless other elements in place to make this move one of the easiest to date. We still do not have internet connection at home and thus have not been able to send a change of address to peoples and to check our email. We should be online in the next day or two.
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I have two old photos to show you on my new blog.
They were taken in October, 2000 when we took a family trip (mum & dad, Tim and Kristin & I) to Melbourne for a few days. It was my first trip to Melbourne and I had a great time.
This one was taken in the Melbourne Central Shopping Complex which is located above Melbourne's Central Station. The brick structure is the Shot Tower, a tower built in 1889 to test guns in (I think by shooting down from the top?!). The other objects you can see are a hot-air balloon and a Wright Brothers style plane suspended from the 55 story steel and glass dome.
Click to go to my Flickr! photo
We were having a coffee in one of the many nice cafés located down the cute alleys when this sign caught my attention, I just thought it looked funky (and the plant as well).
Click to go to my Flickr! photo
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Well yesterday saw temperatures reach 42˚C. I spent most of the day inside an air conditioned office, so I was safe... for well most of the day. For the rest of it, I was commuting by way of public trains.
How hot I hear you ask? Real hot.
Home was not that much better. There is no aircon here at the Hornsby unit (there is ducted air at Lindfield), but we did put on the unit that is in Charlottes room. We are conscious not to over expose her to aircon, but on days like these, it's better to have her comfortable.
Early evening last night a southerly breeze came roaring up, up rooting trees and dropping the temperature by up to 10˚, it was a great relief.
Today has seen the temperature to max at 21˚C, 4 degrees below average. It's nice to have the cold back if only for a short while.
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Welcome to the new location of I'd Buy That For A Dollar!!
It has now become the offical Goldfinch Family Blog.
The main contributer to this blog will be me, Philip Goldfinch.
Please feel free to leave me a comment to let me know what you would like to see/read on this blog. I'm always open to suggestions.
Cheers.
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