If I Were Tweeting

If I could remember my new twitter password after resetting it to kill the evil spam bots I may have actually tweeted this weekend.  However having NFI what my password is and lacking in the motivation to reset it again I will merely pretend that I was updating my

tweeting.

If I were tweeting this weekend, the tweets would be something like this…

FRIDAY

Another night out with nothing to wear.  Do I just go home and lament not having anything or do I go to DFO?  DFO here I come.

Doctors orders – I need to spend more time in the sun.  I have a vitamin D deficiency.  A perfect excuse to spend time sitting in the park.

Why oh why did I tell the babysitter that we would be home around 11?  Surprisingly, this night out is fun!  Don’t want to go home yet.

SATURDAY

It is Saturday a day for sleeping in yet I have to drag myself out of bed to go to work.

Work is done for the day, hooray.  Time to head home and relax for a second or three.

Grrr, vandals have destroyed the art installation I was planning on visiting this afternoon.  I wonder if the festival will continue?

Plans for the evening are diminishing – artwork destroyed, rain pouring down and no inspiration to decide what to pack for a picnic dinner.

Cold, wet and hungry.  We stayed for part of the festival but  as the rain poured down and the tummies rumbled we headed home.

SUNDAY

I don’t have to get up early this morning, why am I awake?  Go back to sleep damnit.

Re-distribution of Christmas gifts.  Have purchased too many gifts for the monsters and now it is time to give them to others to give back!

Time to go to my work Christmas party with the family.  It should be fun if the rain holds off.  Where is Bundoora Park?

The kids have very different tastes in carnival rides.  Boy likes sedate space rides, girl likes spinning vomit inducing rides.

Being 125cm tall means the girl and her friend have to be accompanied by a grownup on the Hurricane – here goes.

Big mistake, I have outgrown the ability to be flung around and around in circles at insane speeds.  Way too old for this.

Still feeling ordinary, like I am hung over without having had a drink.  Why did I go on that stupid ride?

Mmm, food fixes everything.  Feeling much better now but I am not going to go on any more crazy rides.

Boy-child is super snugly today.  The hugs are great until they turn in to headlocks.

I love an independent child; girl-child has spent most of the day running around with a new friend.  Last count 3 rides on the cha-cha.

Boy-child has found a new animal to love – a snake. Heaps of rides to go on and he wants to play with the snakes.

Stupid mistake, I went on a ride with boy-child, a simple space simulation.  It was like a 3d pc game, made me feel nauseous.

Finally the boy gets excited by a ride – the giant slide, riding it over and over again before it closes.

The party is over, gifts to the kids delivered, the rides are finished and it is time to go home.  I am exhausted.

Take away for dinner and an early night for the kids is on the cards.  Hopefully a nanna nap and an evening of TV for me.

 

Since I am not on Twitter these days I will just say it was a great weekend, totally exhausting.  I need a weekend to recover from the weekend.

Karma

Today was a day of meetings, the first beginning at 8.30am, 15 minutes before I drop the kids at school, a full 1/2 hour before I was due to start work.  I cheated and compromised by dropping the kids at school a few minutes early and then made it to the meeting only 15 minutes late.  Not too bad if I do say so myself, I arrived just as they were getting started as the morning coffee clearly takes precedent over getting a meeting started on time!  The meeting was an evaluation of a new program we are running and it has been really well received so the day was off to a great start.

I went from that meeting back to the office to see that I was now scheduled to go to another evaluation meeting for a major project.  I didn’t have a huge role in this project but I was happy to hear that my contributions throughout the year was well received.  All going well we will be re-funded in the new year and we can keep on working together and living happily ever after.

Just for something different, it was from this meeting to another.  This meeting was a little more relaxed than the first two, it was a planning meeting for upcoming events instead of more evaluations.  To reflect the relaxed feel of the meeting we met in a local park by a cafe rather than in an office.  It was a perfect opportunity to enjoy the sunshine!

Despite some minor angst, it was another successful meeting.  I was feeling great – three for three!  In fact I was feeling so good about the work that was achieved that I decided to stay at the cafe with colleagues to grab some lunch.

As we were waiting for our food to arrive we were sitting and chatting, enjoying the sunshine and cool breeze.  I noticed that there was a guy walking by staring intently at us and at me in particular.  Now the nicest way to describe this guy is as a bum.  He was wearing crusty, not washed in a billion years clothes and had a big bushy beard.  The colouring was all wrong, but his hair was reminiscent of Tom Hanks in Castaway.

Actually now that I have seen an image, the colouring was good but the hair was longer, straighter and more scraggly.  He didn’t exactly look dirty but very unkempt.   His stare was piercing.  I felt that I should know who he was.  He walked by slowly, circled the table at a distance of about 2 metres and then sat on a garden edging behind where I was sitting I could feel him staring.

My colleague pointed out that he was looking at us but she didn’t recognise who he was.    As discretely as I could I turned around to see him again.  All of a sudden, my mind was drawn back to college days, I knew exactly who he was and I didn’t know if I should feel angry or satisfied.

After so many years, I didn’t realise that someone could still have such an impact on me.  He was a person who caused me much pain and stress many years ago.  I  was very young and very naive when I first met him.  He was rude and arrogant, conceited and obnoxious but for some reason everyone seemed to like him.  He was charismatic, he was everywhere.  He was in the same group of friends as man-child.  We, him and I, weren’t friends but since our separate group of friends often stayed in the same house, the house of one of my class mates, we did spend a lot of time together.

Actually thinking back, he was kind of a bum then, always managing to scam food and drink from everyone else.  He was never around when food was ordered and paid for but managed to be there when it arrived and he would scoff it all.  He would always be sleeping on the couch or floor at one of my friends houses but never contributed to the living expenses despite regularly emptying their fridge.  Somehow he could talk or joke his way out of any situation.  Back then we had him pegged as being a politician or a cult leader based purely on his ability to charm without being charming.

When I began dating man-child I would see him a little more often but still we weren’t friends.  Then one night at a friends house his behaviour became completely inappropriate and I was feeling vulnerable and afraid.  I ended up walking home, a suburb away, in the wee hours of the morning because I didn’t want to be in the same house as him.  I began distancing myself.  I made sure we would never be alone together.  I no longer trusted him at all but I didn’t want to make a big deal about it.  Other than him and his crusty girlfriend, the group of friends that we spent our time with were pretty awesome.

Time passed and I instinctively avoided him.  There were always enough people around that it didn’t make too much of a difference.  Our paths didn’t cross all of the time and when they did there were always enough people around to dilute his influence on the space.  I even had parties at our house and invited him because it was just easier.

At one such party, everyone drank way too much.  It was really late and we were all wanting to go to sleep.  He lived in the same street but wouldn’t go home.  He was demanding more drink.  What happened next was a bit of a blur but I think it went something like this.  I asked him and his girlfriend to leave.  She turned around and slapped me.  I think I was so shocked that I didn’t really respond but perhaps I did.  Then he grabbed man-child and began scratching at his face with his disgusting long fingernails.  I have never in my life wanted to hit anyone more than I have wanted to hit him.  I am pretty sure that I didn’t hit him, I have a distinct memory of being disappointed.  I do know that he was dragged out of my lounge room and out of the house.

I ran to my room in tears.  He was out the front of the house yelling and cursing, wanting to come back in.  I have never felt so afraid in my entire life.  All the years of bottled up emotion came pouring out.  I spent the remainder of the night crying.  I was exhausted but I was also relieved, I would never have to see him again.

Many years has passed, more than 15 since I have last seen him.  Clearly much has happened since that time.  The group of friends all but ignored him, he lost his power and charisma.  We have all moved on and are all successful in our careers, all with families of our own.  The rest of us still see each other regularly but he pretty much fell off the planet and was barely heard of.

Clearly Karma is a vengeful bitch.  I feel like I am living ‘happily ever after’ and he doesn’t look to have much at all.  Is it bad that that makes me feel even better about where I am?

Aussie Aussie Aussie

I copied this ‘test’ from Lea over at Little Drummer Boys, who found it over at My Aussie Antics.  It was originally written to celebrate the Aussie-ness of people for Australia Day but I can’t possibly wait until January to post it, instead I will do it now and maybe if you are really lucky and I am still lazy I will re-post it then.

So, as Dee from DownUnder says, ‘I have devised this little list of 60 things of Aussieness, (all by myself too – how clever am I?) While by no means exhaustive, I think it lists quite a few things that show how much of an Aussie you are, or can be. For those who are not Aussies, it might give you a bit of an idea of some of our Aussie experiences. It shows a bit of the quirkier side of life as an Aussie. Take the test, take it to your blog if you like, just link back. I experienced about 45, give or take a few. My answers are in itallics. Its just a bit of fun, I know I have probably left many other Aussie experiences out, no offence intended!’

If you have done it all… well.. Onya mate! You’re a Legend.’

Well for me, the answers are in italics and I think I am a true blue Aussie!

1. Been dive bombed by a magpie? Not recently but did watch with both fear and hysterics as the kids were bombed a year or 2 ago!
2. Have seen a crocodile?  Yep, but only in the zoo however we did have a stuffed baby crocodile that lived on the parcel shelf in the car we had when I was a kid!  I never did find out why.
3. Have seen a snake in the wild?  Many.  I remember picking up a baby snake when I was on school camp and taking it back to the camp wanting to keep it as a pet forever and ever.  Luckily mother snake didn’t come to visit!
4. Been bitten by a snake or other aussie wildlife?  When I was about 5 I was helping to look for my little brother’s bottle that he had hidden and a black spider jumped out of a drawer, landed on my foot and bit me.  All I remember doing is screaming and then running through the house before a mad dash to the hospital.
5. Patted a koala?  Yep, friends/acquaintances/other local people had them on their property and helped nurse an injured one back to health.
6. Seen a kangaroo in the wild?  Yep, they were everywhere in the area I grew up – the local pests.
7. Climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge?  Would love to, is it your shout?
8. Climbed the Story Bridge in Brisbane?  Again, would love to just don’t have the $$$ for a holiday.
9. Visited the Sydney Opera House?  Yep, I am sure if I looked hard enough I would have photographic proof…
10. Swum at the beach?  Of course.  Beaches are more fun to relax at than swim.
11. Had fish and chips on the beach?   Yum, I love fish and chips on the beach, if I didn’t already have plans for tonight that would have been fun.  Perhaps a picnic at the beach on Sunday?
12. Been stung by a jellyfish?  No, but I probably deserve to be stung when I throw them at people.  I don’t know which ones sting.
13. Had sunburn that peeled.  My summer routine – burn, peel, freckle and repeat all summer long.
14. Camped under the stars?  In the backyard as kids, then on actual camping trips with friends now as family ‘holidays’
15. Visited Uluru?  No, it IS on the to do list.
16. Driven the Great Ocean Road in Victoria?  Yep, the first time was as a part of a defensive driving course I was doing – not much room for error.  Much more pleasant when driven in a more relaxed manner.
17. Seen the penguins on Phillip Island Victoria? The penguin parade is fun, must go back there soon.
18. Had an outdoor BBQ with Friends? Most weekends!
19. Played backyard/beach Cricket?  Still do only the backyard now is the park over the road.  The rules were ‘6 and out’, auto wicket keeper and 1 hand 1 bounce!
20. Watched a real cricket match live?  Yep and that is a day that I will never get back.  Cricket is fun to play and good to read through!
21. Betted on the Melbourne Cup?  Yep, I won this year, hooray for me!
22. Attended the Melbourne Cup Live from Flemington?  Yes but I don’t know if it counts – I was working!
23. Attended a live Aussie Rules or rugby football game?  I go along to a couple of AFL matches a year.
24. Ridden a Melbourne Tram?  For the best part of 6 years that was how I got to and from work daily.
25. Snow Skied in the “high country” of NSW/Vic?  I don’t think what I did could actually be called skiing, but I tried.
26. Visited the Great Barrier Reef?  My school trip to QLD in 1988 didn’t include the reef, will have to get there eventually.
27. Been to Kakadu?  I had transferred schools before the Kakadu trip was on offer.  Another one for the to-do list.
28. Crossed the Nullabour by road?   I would love to, or cross by train.  Again, maybe one day…
29. Gone down the Murray River on a paddle steamer?  A few times.  Again I know I have photographic proof somewhere.  I even have a certificate for helping to steer the paddle steamer.
30. Survived a cyclone?  No cyclones for me.
31. Survived a bushfire?  Again that is a no, luckily.  I grew up in an area that was often surrounded by bushfire but luckily the town was safe.  I did work at the bush fires earlier this year and hope I never see such devastation again.
32. Experienced a big flood?   Yep.  Some areas of our tiny town would flood almost every year, that area included the local sports grounds. Every time a goal was kicked someone would have to row out to get the ball back.  One year a friend and I tried to ride through the floods further along the creek, the road disappeared, we were stuck in the floods and half the town was out looking for us, including the police.
33. Know who the Wiggles are?  OF course, the kids weren’t huge fans but how can you not know the Wiggles?
34. Know who Humphrey the Bear is?   It kind of bugged me that he couldn’t talk but I still watched.
35. Watched Play School as a kid or mum of a kid?  Both, I loved the creations that they made as a kid.  I still love it, now I love seeing what actors are on Play School.
36. Watched Skippy the Bush Kangaroo?  I wanted to have my very own Skippy and save the world too.
37. Own an Australia Flag?  Yep, it usually ends up draped over the balcony on Australia Day, the rest of the year it substitutes as a super hero cape.
38. Know the words to Advance Australia Fair.  Of course, the second verse too!
39. Eat Vegemite?  Naturally.  When in the US with the kids we had a jar in the nappy bag to ensure that the kids would eat something.
40. Drink Milo?  Milo is a food all of its own, in fact it could be a food substitute.  I love Milo but I don’t buy it as I eat it by the tin full.  Hopefully Santa will bring me a giant tin again this year.
41. Know what lamingtons are?  I even know how to make them.  If you make extra dipping chocolate sauce stuff and freeze it, it tastes delicious, better than the lamingtons themselves.
42. Know what Pavlova is?  Dessert Christmas night at mum and dads, YUM.
43. Know what Tim Tams are?  They are delicious apparatus for drinking hot chocolate or port!  mmmm, want tim tams.
44.Eaten a meat pie?  What is a day at the footy without a meat pie?
45. Gave or received a “dead arm”?  I had forgotten all about dead arms.  I hope my kids don’t find out about them.
46. Have owned an Akubra hat?  I had a hand-me-down akubra as a kid.
47. Own/owned an Australia Cattle dog? Sorry, no working dogs for me.
48. Been to a B& S ball – or know what one is?  B&S balls were great.  Where else can you wear a little black dress and a pair of work boots to stomp through mud to get to the bar.  Recovery day on the banks of the lake relaxing in the sun was delightful.

49. Drive a ute?  I have driven one, I did my first ever burn out in a ute learning how to drive.
50. Say G’day?  Pretty sure I do, just not all the time.
51. Can cook damper?  My brother and I used to get up early of a morning, make damper and cook it in the coals in the coonara – delicious!  Mum and dad only just found out, 25 years later.
52. Can make billy tea? Can make it, not sure I like it, haven’t had any since I developed a tolerance of tea of any sort.
53. Supported a sausage sizzle?  At least once every couple of months.
54. Own John Williamson CD/Music.  I used to have a copy many moons ago, not any longer.
55. Owned backyard chooks or know what chooks are?   Have never owned any chooks but I love going to collect the eggs.
56. Call the toilet “the dunny”?  That is what it is.
57 . Wear thongs (on your feet…)?  About to kick of the sneakers and put mine back on.
58. Support Aussie music?  Yep.  I love live music.  Off to see Hoodoo Gurus at a winery soon, yay!
59. Enjoy a beer?  The only time I have enjoyed beer is after a game of netball, and that was twice, at least a dozen years ago.
60.Swallowed a fly.  Unfortunately yes.  I almost swallowed another one on my way home from work today.

 

60 questions and I answered yes to more than 50 of them, I guess I AM an Aussie.  I would be interested in knowing how non-Aussies answer the questions!

How Aussie are you?

Embarrassing

There is a reason that I am the one that normally has the camera and is taking the photos.  Very occasionally I let others take photos of me.  I have just flicked through the photos that girl-child took yesterday and realised that my eyebrows are all wrong, clearly I am long overdue to make a visit to the fur shop (the place of hair removal to normal people).  Apparently having legs that are so hairy you could pass for an ape isn’t enough to make me realise that a trip to the fur shop is well overdue but that is another story.

Mouse Me!

The photo also reminds me of a few other things – one is that I hate photos but am occasionally happy to make a fool of myself for everyone to see even if I did refuse to leave the house looking like a mouse.  Two, perhaps a 6 year old isn’t the best person to do my face painting.  On the up side – having her clean the face paint off my face was a little like a massage!

Birthday Parties – Breaking My Own Rules

This week I have broken most of my self imposed rules, one of which relates specifically to birthday celebrations.  I ‘don’t do birthday parties‘ for the kids every year, instead the celebrator can take a friend and go to the movies and have a sleep over (hasn’t happened yet) or we have cake in the park with a few friends (generally 3 or 4) on the day and we always have a family and friends barbeque the following weekend.  Now that seems like it should be simple right?  Well when I found out that there were only 7 girls in girl-child’s class and she was inviting 4 of them to her ‘cake in the park shindig’ and then realised that another girl and her sister would just turn up and eat cake as she lives opposite the park there would only be 2 girls in her class that wouldn’t be invited.  That was when I relented and allowed her to invite the 7 girls.  Add on neighbours, walk-bys and siblings and all of a sudden the small gathering became a rather large gathering.  It wasn’t too much of a hassle, in fact it was fun, however I did break my rules.

Then we get to the friends and family barbeque that kind of grew larger than expected.  It started just as us, my parents, Lil Sis and Billy.  Being a school girl now, girl-child doesn’t often get to see one of her oldest and best friend who goes to another school many suburbs away so we have to wait until weekend to catch up so of course we invited her and her family over.  Surprising all of us was the other Grandma and Aunt who came to visit, something that happens very infrequently.  Then of course what is a barbeque without neighbours so add a few more families to the ‘guest list’ and before we knew it the house was overflowing and a real celebration was in swing.

All the kids ate and then jumped in to the hot tub to splash away the afternoon until it was cake time.

More Birthday Cake

So for someone who doesn’t do birthday parties I feel as if I have allowed girl-child to celebrate a little too much.  Now ordinarily going over the top wouldn’t be such a bad thing normally but boy-child has missed out entirely.  His birthday is in the week before the school year begins.  He wanted to invite a friend over for a wii day and maybe a sleep over but this ‘friend’ would only come over if another boy would be there too – another boy that I really don’t like.  Besides, what does it say if a kid will only come over if they can bring their own friend.

I had visions of boy-child being excluded and having a horrible day so we were able to convince him to postpone his celebration until school started back and he could invite new friends from his new class.  Of course as wonderful as that sounded, he didn’t really settle in well.  Before he had a chance to make any new friends he dislocated his elbow and broke his arm and became even more isolated.  By the time he recovered it was the middle of Winter, 6 months after his birthday and man-child’s birthday.  The following holidays the weather was better but he was back in hospital for more surgery so there wasn’t much point in having a party then either.

The poor boy did have a small family shindig but hasn’t celebrated his birthday with friends, he didn’t even complain when girl-child had a ‘real birthday party’.  I feel so guilty about him missing out that I know that I will continue to break my party rules and he too will have a real birthday party next year.

All the motherguilt aside, the birthday celebrations were fun, the weekend was great and exhausting.  Perhaps I need to review my set of rules, take a chill pill and just have fun.

Catch Up Time

Many times over the past few days I have thought of awesomely interesting blog posts, well at least one interesting blog post but I have been too busy, lazy or distracted to actually blog.  Then as I have the memory capacity of a door knob I promptly forgot what I was planning on blogging.  That brings me to now with too much I want to say or comment upon, yet without the intellect to actually do so coherently so instead I go for the cop-out bullet post.  Here we go again…

• I made cookies yesterday but couldn’t be bothered hanging around the house for them to all cook.  I cooked one batch and put the rest of the dough in the fridge so I could have fresh cookies next weekend for Lil Sis’s baby shower.  The logic was sound but have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE cookie dough?  I have been snacking on it all evening.  I even made them gluten free so I don’t have any unexpected cramps from eating too much!
• Just when you start to feel really good about an achievement, you read an unexpected status update that hits you for a six.  I am feeling good about being able to run for 5km in a decent enough time without feeling like I am going to die, then read that a friend who is not in the least way athletic (not actually saying that I am) updates her status saying that she only had time to run 9+km today before she had to pick up her kids.  I mean I am awesomely happy for her but damn why can’t I run that far, or why can’t I find/make the time to even try to run further?  How do I find extra hours in the day to try?
• In other running related news, my ankle still hurts, in fact it is more of a cankle than an ankle.  Although it is swollen it isn’t bruised at all so there is no point in taking photos of it to try an elicit sympathy.  In fact it is quite bizarre in that it doesn’t hurt when I run or walk but it aches when I sit or stand.  Go figure?
• It took all day yesterday to clean up the bomb site that the monsters kids have been calling their bedroom.  That said, all the things I couldn’t find a house for in their room is now in tubs and boxes in the study just waiting for me to sort through.  Somehow doing a bullet post cop out blog is more exciting than sorting through the rest of the mess.
• The above said mess is so great that I am forced to sit on the floor beside the couch as there is no room on the couch.  I really should be sorting it out…
• We have ordered yet another bookcase for downstairs, just another storage facility to hide crap so hopefully I don’t have to spend as much time sorting, culling and reorganising.
• The more I sit in this room the more I realise there is a faint underlying urine odour.  The stupid geriatric cat has peed behind the tv cabinet again.  I tried to kill the smell yesterday and succeeded in melting away the top layers of my fingernails with hydrogen peroxide.  Not so clever but it did remove much of the smell.
• And speaking of geriatric cats – I was all set for a long luxurious sleep in yesterday, both kids were away and man-child had gone downstairs to waste time and money playing poker online.  There was no reason at all to get up until she puked on the bedroom floor.  It was by far the worst smelling cat puke ever and woke me from my slumber in the most disturbing fashion.
• We had to cancel a picnic meeting with friends yesterday afternoon as girl-child had a low grade fever and was complaining of a major headache, nothing major probably as a result of staying up late.  I desperately wanted to go to the picnic but it wouldn’t have been fair to share whatever was ailing her with other friends, especially as they have just returned from the Philippines where they adopted the most adorable boy ever.
• As for fever, the beautiful Bianca spent her last day of chemo in hospital instead of celebrating.  The good news is she is home now and looking as gorgeous as ever, drop by her blog to see just how amazing she and her family truly are!
• In other news, elements of work were shown in a doco on TV last night so I spent the better part of today explaining my role to the well-intentioned people wanting to know how they could be a part.  It wasn’t exactly how I had planned to spend the day and not entirely productive.
• The work day improved and ended with a fantastic discussion with a group of teens about their cyber footprint and how they live in an online world.

So there it is, how I have spent the last few days.   I have been busy in other areas that are not so ‘exciting’, in fact they were downright draining but they are other people’s stories so I will leave it there.  My dilemma now, clean up the mess, watch tv or read blogs?  Perhaps I should try multi task and do an ordinary job of all three!

The Day is Getting Better

So it is mid afternoon and I have to say that the day has improved.  Work was work-like but not too tragic, except for the notification that I need to start work at 6.30am on Friday morning.  I had to leave early to take boy-child in to the hospital for a review of his bionic elbow.  I preempted a long long sit at the hospital waiting.  I was organised, we had a lunch box, a snack bag, kid books, a book for me and a fully charged phone.  Surely that would cover us for the potentially huge wait.  He was in and out for the xray and then it was time to go see the orthopedic surgical consultant.  The appointments are scheduled for an hour apart but it seems that the times are arbitrary so we went straight upstairs.  It is never a good sign when you arrive at the clinic to be confronted with a sign saying the clinic is closed for lunch and will re-open at 1.30pm and it was only 1pm.  Out come the supplies and we settled in to wait.  The waiting area filled quickly.  Soon there were no seats left and still more people were arriving and I was happy to have my book.

Eventually the reception area re-opened.  Boy-child showed very assertive skills, surely not inherited from me, and was able to gain his rightful place in line to go through to the clinic.  Still, I wasn’t sure if appointment times would be adhered to, so I kept my book out and boy child was happy to keep playing on my phone.  Let’s say that I was pleasantly surprised when we were called through to see our doctor right on the scheduled appointment time.  The doctor is lovely and is very pleased with the way that boy-child’s arm has healed.  He has regained about 90% of his extension and full flexion.  He almost has full rotation and no pain, even when you press on the screw that is now visible since the swelling has finally reduced.  In fact he is so pleased with the progress that he has started the progress of booking him in for surgery – at this stage in late September, during the school holidays.

We were in and out in plenty of time.  I didn’t even have to worry about getting a parking ticket.  (Of course I am too tight to pay for parking at the hospital, instead we park around the corner where it is free for 2 hours and then a ginormous ticket after that!)  We even had time to do a grocery shop before heading back to collect girl-child from school.  Despite spending an hour trying to arrange a contingency plan for girl-child to be collected from school should the need arise, I was glad to be back in time to collect her myself.  (Thanks for being there to help out again E.)

By the time we all made it home, I was starving.  Just because I was clever enough to have packed a snack bag doesn’t mean I was smart enough to eat any of it.  I couldn’t decide what I wanted to eat so I convinced girl-child to bake a cake so that I could eat the batter.  We both ate way too much batter, bringing on a sugar rush head spin but it was worth it, it was totally delicious.

The cake is cooked but looks like half a cake, I think we ate far too much.  I will include girl-child in the blame game for this although she ate very little batter and instead ate cheese.  Perhaps we should have used a smaller tin but I figure that the larger the surface area of the cake the more frosting it requires and now that the cake is cooked it is all about the frosting!

I am sure that by the time I finish (I need to start first) putting the shopping away the cake will be cool enough to frost and I will be ready for another sugar rush.  That sugar rush will pass and then it will be time for take-out, cake and bubbles to celebrate a friends birthday.  First things first, shopping away, feed the kids and settle them in bed and let the relaxation begin.

Land at the End of the Rainbow

I have to say that I feel much better about July having written the epic Goodbye July sagas.  If I can separate the emotional insanity of the month and the fact that we were in another country, with no income, no jobs and totally broke, I can honestly say that we had a fantastic adventure.  It is easier to think of that time in a glass half full way, as a holiday of a lifetime as opposed as a relocation gone haywire.  

I still plan to do a ‘best of’ of our time in the US but for me to actually relive the adventure it needs to be accompanied by photos.  To do that I need to find the external drive that has the bulk of the photos on it because for some reason I didn’t ever get around to updating all the photos to flickr.  That said, there are still plenty of photos there if you want to check them out here.

 In the mean time, I am very happy to be living in Melbourne.  I live in a great community, with an amazing family and wonderful friends.  I really do feel like I live at the land at the end of the rainbow!

 

Afternoon activities halted for a rain dance under the rainbow!

 

Of course I wouldn’t say no to another international relocation at some stage in the future – change IS good!

Goodbye July (pt 3) or Why I Hate July (pt 4)

Independence Day 2007.

After arriving ‘home’ during the early hours of the morning, we all slept until some time before mid-morning.  I awoke to a monster head cold sinus thing, no doubt from the lovely recirculated air on the plane, physical exhaustion and the fact that the last time I had slept it as in freezing cold Melbourne and now I was in 40 degree New Jersey.  The kids were up and about so there was no time to rest, it was time to explore.

We had been invited to a 4th celebration with a colleague on the Jersey Shore but weren’t sure if we should go, if in fact it was a genuine invitation or more a pity invite.  We weren’t sure of where to go and were all still pretty stuffed so we decided to have a look around the local area instead.  We spent the 4th doing things that I had only seen on TV, things that are similar to what is normal here but dare I say it, oh-so American.

There wasn’t much in the house to eat so first stop was somewhere easy to get food.  I think we ended up at an Applebees.  The kids were rapt – being given paper and crayons upon entering won them over entirely, well that and the giant cups of fizzy drink that unexpectedly came with their meals.  I was overwhelmed at the choice of salad dressings, that and the sheer size of the serves.  I am sure that one meal could have fed the entire family.  Unlike in Melbourne, the food we didn’t eat was automatically packed up for us to take home with us.  That meant that we had an afternoon snack all sorted.

Next stop was a giant shopping mall.  I knew that clothing prices were much better in the US than in Australia, but to be able to buy a complete outfit for both kids, including footwear for little more than $10 amazed me.  It made me wish that we left all of our clothes in Australia and were forced to buy all new clothes.  I could have spent all afternoon wandering the mall but the kids wanted to go out and explore and we still needed to stock up on some real food for the cupboards.  

The remainder of the day was spent exploring neighbourhood parks, playing with all of the toys that were left there yet wondering where all of the kids were.  We managed to find a supermarket and get some essential food to get us through that night and the next few days.

Eventually we headed back to our house to actually explore the place we would be calling home for the next few weeks, until our apartment was ready.

 

The majestic entry

If I hadn’t already seen our house, seeing the gates to the property would make a person think that they were about to arrive at a mansion.

The 'humble' abode!

Seeing how beautiful the main house was made me wonder who lived here.  Apparently no one actually lived here, it was used as a weekender only!

Our little cottage was less than majestic but very quaint.

Home Sweet Home

I have no idea why the image is appearing so small here – maybe it is to emphasise just how small the house really was.  That is our car parked out the front and it is actually longer than the house!  OK, admittedly it is a huge car but a huge car doesn’t actually equal a huge house.

The house was tiny.  Downstairs was literally an open area that fit a 4 person dining setting, a small couch and a tiny tv cabinet.  There was a tiny kitchen and two steep narrow staircases, each leading up to a bedroom and bathroom.  The bedrooms were connected by a small ’secret’ door so that we didn’t have to go downstairs and back up again to check on the kids.

A tiny kitchen in a tiny house

I took this photo pressed up against the wall in the kitchen, using no zoom.  There is no way that any one remotely overweight could fit into this kitchen!  I couldn’t imagine much cooking happening in this small space.  As well as there being no space, the facilities were also limited – there was a fridge, sink cooktop and a toaster oven and that was it!

 

Slippery stairs

These are the steepest and slipperiest stair I have ever had the pleasure of falling down.  Both staircases were narrow and well worn as you would expect in a building that is over 150 years old.  What made them more difficult to climb was the humidity.  It was so humid that condensation settled on the walls of the stairwell and on the stairs themselves.   Now having moved from a 3 level house both kids were adept at climbing up and down stairs however after falling down myself the kids weren’t allowed to use the stairs themselves unless we were with them, or I wanted to take another photo!

 

At the top of the stairs

The lounge and dining areas were both downstairs.  For some reason the photos make both spaces look larger than they were, there was absolutely no storage areas anywhere.

 

Fine dining

 

The dining room had antique furniture in it, not exactly the furniture I would use for a messy family.  To the right of the dining table was the front door and the other side of the door was the lounge.

 

The lounge

Now I don’t know if you have noticed the yellow floral wallpaper?  It really isn’t my style, but in this environment it worked.  What didn’t work was the extra chair that was in the lounge.

 

WTF?

Please, a red chair with dog print is wrong in any home!

Both bedrooms were upstairs.  The master bedroom looked like it belonged in a country retreat somewhere, perhaps a bed and breakfast somewhere in the Yarra Valley.  It was really quaint and quite beautiful.

The master suite

The little secret door led through to the second bedroom.  When we arrived the room was furnished with a double futon – not the most practical bedroom solution for two restless toddlers.  For the first few days I ended up sleeping between the kids on the futon, trying to get them to stay asleep without kicking each other awake.  Instead they kicked me awake repeatedly.  By the end of night three we had a boys room and a girls room.  My sleep was marginally better with only one child kicking me.  Knowing that the single sex bedroom concept was less than ideal, we went out an purchased junior beds for the kids and we all had a better nights sleep.

New kid-sized beds

Of course with junior beds comes junior bedding – so cute, the bedding and the kids sound asleep in their own beds.

And there you have it, our entire house.  Did you notice the abundance of lamps in the photos?  That would be because there were only 3 actual lights in the entire house – the kitchen and the bathrooms.  Every other room was lit by lamps, that meant that there were lamp cords everywhere, the perfect tripping opportunity for all!  The lamps and the antique furniture helped to make the cottage a kid-friendly environment – NOT!  Despite that, and the fact that it was tiny, for a few weeks it was a place that we could call home. 

The grounds to the main house were beautifully groomed.  There was an undercover walkway from our cottage to the main house where the kids could play out of the sun.  This space became home to a firetruck bed (sans bed) that we found in a carpark and decided it would make a great toy for the kids as we waited patiently for their toys to arrive.

 

the Fire Truck

Outside there were plenty of interesting places to explore;

 

The brook (that flooded) at the bottom of the garden

 

the long grass by the forest, full of creepy crawlies

 

the field where the deer used to feed

the manicured gardens of the main house

 

 

there were so many places to explore, even corn fields in the distance, on the other side of the brook

 

Scary Crow

 

We even had our own scare crow (it is no wonder they are called scare crows!)

So there you have it, you have seen the place that we called home for a month.  It was beautiful but it was in the middle of nowhere and not the best place to meet new people and make friends.  Going through all of these photos had made me realise that despite the madness of our time in the US, it was an enjoyable time overall.  

Stay tuned for the next installment – the ‘bits that went wrong!’

Goodbye July (pt 2) or Why I Hate July (pt 3)

So at the end of Goodbye July (pt 1) or Why I Hate July (pt 2) we were all packed and ready for our big move to the US of A.  Our flight was departing bright and early on July the 3rd, 2007.  We were all at the airport in plenty of time to check in all of our 3 bajillion suitcases and say goodbye.  

Now everyone that knows me knows that I refer to the point of no return for international flights as the crying doors, the place where even if I don’t know anyone departing I still feel all of the emotion of those around me bidding farewell to their loved ones and more often than not I end up crying.  Well this day was no different to any other day at the crying doors, but it wasn’t as sobbingly distressing as I had imagined it would be.  I guess I was so excited to be embarking on such a huge adventure that I was filled with nervous energy and excitement rather than overwhelming sadness.  Sure there were tears, but most of them were shed by people other than me for a change.  

Finally after saying goodbye to everyone it was time to head through the crying doors, go through immigration and begin the wait until it was time to begin.

Girl-child and skanky bear waiting to board

Finally it was time to board.  It was pleasing to know that we weren’t the only family on board.  What was disappointing to see was that because they had the smaller child, they were given the front row with the extra legroom.  Fortunately being in the second row we all had in-seat entertainment.  Boy-child was happy to flick through the channels until he was overcome with sleep.  Girl-child however was filled with energy and wanted to play, not with daddy (he could sleep) but with me.  

 

Talking to skanky bear as boy-child sleeps

We spent hours wandering up and down the aisle talking to whoever was awake.  She was in a great mood and was flirting with everyone.  It was quite dismaying to have many other passengers comment that they were glad that she was no longer crying and as the ever-so-proud and defensive mother I am, I had to remind them that the crying child was in fact still crying (from exhaustion) and the only noises girl-child had made were shrieks of enjoyment and singing.  We were lucky enough to know staff on board the plane so they kept the food coming and took us for wanders along the aircraft to try and break up the monotony of the flight.

Of course as soon as we landed 12 or was it 14 hours later? and loaded girl-child into the stroller she promptly fell asleep.  It made for a difficult transfer through LAX.  Going through security was more than a little challenging.  We had to unload girl-child from the stroller, fold it up and put through the xray machine, as well as removing batteries from the laptop, taking off shoes and emptying pockets.  I went through holding girl-child, fumbling with one hand trying to get the stroller set up to put her back in, man-child is still loading up the conveyor belt with the stuff from his pockets as boy-child is sent through the beeping doorway.  Of course it beeped and he freaked out, probably not from the beeping itself but most likely from the 2 security dudes that were at least 6 foot tall, yelling at him to step back through the gate.  Now as a 3 year old he had no idea what they were talking about, hell he probably couldn’t understand their accents to even know what they were saying.  I wanted to go back to help him and I was getting yelled at and man-child wasn’t allowed through to get him and bring him back through the gate.  It ended up with all of us yelling and finally man-child was allowed to go through the security gate to get boy-child, take him back through to remove his belt that had a tiny metal clip on it.  Eventually we all made it through security and had a few hours wait for our next flight.  

Sleeping at LAX

Fortunately girl-child slept through the entire debacle.  In fact she slept through LA entirely!  Naturally she woke in time to board the flight and find our seats.  

Our seating arrangements on this flight left much to be desired.  Now 2 adults traveling with 2 children you would assume would all be sitting together, particularly as our flights were booked early and we checked in early but unfortunately that would imply that someone was applying logic.  We were sitting with 2 seats together and the other seats were singles.  Now I have no idea how they thought that was going to work, which child was going to sit on their own, the 2 year old or the 18 month old?  Perhaps they were to sit together and we would sit on our own.  Needless to say we kicked up a stink.  The best they could do was get us 2 lots of 2 seats together, one pair in front of the other.

Not surprisingly, girl-child had had all the sleep she needed on the floor at LAX and she was ready for more play time with mama.  By the time the flight landed I was beyond exhausted.  I hadn’t closed my eyes for more than 5 minutes in more than 24 hours and we still had to collect our luggage, clear customs and find our car.  

Eventually with all of our belongings found – 5 suitcases, 2 carry on cases, a suit bag, laptop bag, baby backpack, stroller, kids carry on bags and nappy bags, we headed out to find our new car.

Will all of this fit into the car?

Luckily the car was huge, even then we only just fit all of our stuff into it.  

 

The ginormous Dodge, one of the cars that would be ours.

The drive from Newark to Princeton was a blur.  I remember we picked up some drive-thru to have as a midnight snack and that was about it.  When we finally made it to Princeton, man-child struggled to remember which way to go to get to our house.  I do remember missing a turnoff and shortly thereafter missing a deer that was standing on the middle of the road.  Luckily we missed the deer and found the turnoff and eventually found our new house in the dark, arriving at our new home in the early hours of the 4th of July.  I was too tired to do anything but tuck the kids into bed and fall into bed myself.  Exploring my new home would have to wait until I was awake enough to string together a coherent thought and perhaps hold my eyelids open.

 

Coming soon, our new home and more…