Catch Up

I'm still battling this bug, it certainly takes hold.  I can feel myself slowly getting better and at least my back spasms disappeared and I never did figure out what that was about. 
We are now under threat of unemployment, rumours are flying thick and fast that Phill's company is going under.  There are no trains as they haven't paid their fuel bill, which means Phill is missing out on some overtime which would have been so handy for Christmas.  They also haven't paid the Mickey Mice, the training company Phill used to work for who never fucking paid us on time so I'm kind of happy about that.  Phill was made redundant back in 2002, and that too was right on Christmas, I remember him telling me the news when he came from work to Josh's preschool Christmas party and us standing there wondering what the hell we were going to do.  I was very much more prepared for Christmas in those days with two little ones and a pre teen, and he ended up getting a pretty good pay out and left for Sydney on Boxing Day that year where he worked for the better part of  2003 as there were no jobs down here.  That was tough but we got through it and we'll get through this.  He will have a job if he needs one with the Mickey Mice which I will hate as they are horrible people who put us through hell when he worked for them before, but a job is a job.  It's the short term I worry about, it's only just over two weeks till Christmas and if they just decide not to pay them we'll be in trouble.  But oddly I'm not panicked, I've learned to not worry too much about the future after the past few years and all their drama.  I'll worry when I have something to worry about.
I found the recipe for the turkey stuffing, so that's sorted, I wanted to make a pork and veal one this year, and this one has breadcrumbs, pistachios, bacon, celery, garlic and orange rind.  I'll make the little proscuitto and sage wrapped chipolata sausages with a balsamic glaze that Emmy loves to go with the turkey and we'll have the sweet potato casserole that Josh loves, and everything else will be cold, two salads, ham and whatever decent seafood we can find, with my cherry trifle that I am making up again this year which is a yearly work in progress trying to get it right.  I'm thinking I will get some fresh cherries, pit them, then soak them in sugar and some kind of liqueur.  Then make a tiramisu type cream with mascarpone, eggs, cream, sugar and more liqueur then layer that with the cherries and savoiardi sponge fingers.  Topped perhaps with some kind of toasted nuts and more cherries. So it's all going to be easy and hassle free.  Em will make the potato salad the way she likes it (less potato and more eggs and bacon!) and Josh is going to do the sweet potato casserole.
This is our fifth Christmas in Cootamundra one when we lived here before, and four this time around, and every year I notice a really nice mood about town, everyone seems friendlier and happier somehow, this must be a country thing because it doesn't seem to be that way in the city.  Phill and the kids don't like it here much and I can understand their reasons, but I love it the longer we live here and wouldn't care if we never left.  I think we will have to eventually if we want to be near the kids because there is nothing here for them once school is finished.  I still think we'll end up back in Western Australia.  I don't miss Kate any less after all the years she's been gone and it's not natural to be so far away from her.  There was a time I thought she would come back to the eastern states, either Sydney or Melbourne but I don't think that's ever going to happen now.
I made a chilli and lime hommus yesterday, but the recipe I used had no garlic and it seemed a bit bland.  I've have left it to sit in the fridge hoping the flavours develop a bit more and it seems a bit better today but next time I would add garlic and some salt to it. 
We had a lovely afternoon yesterday, all four of us in the pool and sitting outside talking, then we had our Saturday night bbq and sat at the table together and it was such fun.  When they're not being moody and petulant or holed up in their caves, our teens are delightful company. 
Pizza night tonight, I made a batch of pizza sauce with puree veg in it that we can use tonight then freeze the rest.  I will have my favourite I think, pumpkin and sage. 
Natalie, you asked about fresh pasta, we have it in the supermarket here, it's in the chiller section, with us it's near the ready made garlic breads, filo pastry and pasta sauces.
I have never made pasta, but I would love to do it and one day I will.
I did a killer chicken parmigiana the other night, I pounded the breast fillets so they were even thickness and crumbed them in breadcrumbs with parmesan, garlic powder and Italian herbs.  Made the usual sauce with butter, olive oil, white wine, red onion, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, garlic, anchovies, herbs and lots of black pepper.  Fried the chicken then put into a baking dish and spooned the sauce around it then topped it with a mixture of grated parmesan, mozzarella and tasty cheeses, normally I'd only use mozzarella but the mix worked much better and it was very good. 
Wow the weekend is nearly over already and it was a relaxing one (apart from the unemployment thingy).  Next week Josh is making movies at school, and doesn't have to wear his school uniform and gets morning tea and lunch provided every day for some reason, it's part of a group he is in, for special needs kids (of which he is not one but he whinges a lot).  It's a good ploy to keep the kids at school for longer at year's end.  And I don't have to pack a school lunch every day, not that I mind doing that for him, too soon he won't need me to do anything for him. 
Well enough rambling from me.  I'm off to get the pizza maker out.

P.S.  They're not really called the "Mickey Mice" but when Phill worked for them and they could never pay us without us begging and calling and being late with the rent etc, I dubbed them a Mickey Mouse company, ie they couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery type thing.  My apologies to the real MM. ;)