It's feeling a lot like Christmas!!

I have done the mammoth trip to town and down my Christmas shopping. It was completed in two days and comprised of a 10hr driving round trip, an overnight stay and an eventful trip home. 
About an hour and a half from home it began to rain.  When I am by myself it always makes me a little anxious because I know I have 40km of dirt road to pass before I get home.  About 1/2 hr from my turn off the highway onto the dirt it was pouring.  I was back to about 70km/hr, which was probably lucky because I was busy gawking at all the water rushing through the gullies.  Being a country girl in a dry area of Australia it always excites me to see running water.  I wish most times that it is beautiful crystal clear water that would be nice to swim in, but out here it is always muddy.
Anyway, I get to my turn off and it's not raining at this stage.  The clouds are heavy and rolling over a mountain that is at the back of our property.  I need to hurry home or otherwise my non-experienced mud driving skills are going to be needed.
About half way along the dirt road it gets a bit slippery where there has been some rain before I get there.  It always catches you unaware.  One minute your driving normally and then all of a sudden when you hit the wet part you begin to go sideways.  I come down a small hill and whoooop, sideways this way and then sideways that way.  As I mentioned before mud driving makes me a bit anxious.  It's not that I am scared or fear for my life or anything.  Nothing drastic is going to happen to you it's just the thought of getting bogged.  Then it means I have to get a friendly neighbour out of their dry house and into a tractor to come and pull me out.
It starts to rain again and the road becomes wet.  I am in 2nd or 3rd gear now and the trip is slow.  It is a lot easier to drive in the mud when it is raining and there is water in the mud.  My husband has called a couple of times on the two way to check on me, he's very thoughtful.  I have a parcel to deliver into my neighbours mailbox when I go past but he has heard me on the two way and is waiting for me.  I put my brakes on to stop at him and I just kept going.  Sliding straight past him.  We chat for a while before the rain gets to much and we start to look like drowned rats and it's on my way again.  A little while later I make it home.  Proud of myself for not getting bogged.
The weather that night produced some very heavy rain and has been the cause of flooding in our area.  Roads have been blocked for days and towns are on stand by.  Lives have been lost in the area as well with people trying to cross flooded roads.  My heart goes out to those families.

I am thankful that I was able to get home to my family safely that afternoon or otherwise I may have been stuck.  Stuck in a large town with lots of shops is never a good idea for this rural, shop deprived girl.

Now I have all these Christmas presents that need wrapping.  There is only one place to go for inspiration on wrapping presents and that is Martha Stewart.  These are only a few of her ideas and you can find more here.

Happy wrapping!