Awesomely Awesomeness

It has been a while since I have loitered in these parts and normally the reason for my hibernation is that I feel like the whole world is going to implode, either that or my head is going to explode and I feel like crap and am sick of complaining all the time.  Well today things are different.  I have been away because I have been busy, insanely busy, but I am happy.

It is the middle of the afternoon on Father’s Day.  The house is momentarily quiet, boy-child has wandered over to a friend’s house to watch a movie and man-child has taken girl-child to visit a friend during half time of the football.  Of course all that peace and quiet will shatter in minutes when man-child returns to watch the rest of the football.  The awesomely awesomeness of the week may will change depending on the score of the football.  Currently his team, Collingwood is 10 points down but by the sounds of the sporadic cheering and shouting it sounds like it is a great match.  Of course that is half time down according to the TV and delayed telecast when in actual fact his team is currently 4 goals behind (24 point) at three quarter time.  I am making the most of my good mood by posting now rather than this evening when I am listening to his melancholy mopy moodiness.

So I hear you say, what has made me be in such a good mood?  Surely it can’t be work?  Well as strange as it sounds, I have been working insane hours and haven’t even had time to follow blogs.  Instead of working my typical 6 hour days and then going home to the kids I have had a few 12 hour days.  Sure they aren’t typical days, they have included dinner functions.

One of the dinner functions I was fortunate enough to be invited to a Ramadan celebration.  Now I am not a religious person at all, in fact I am quite oblivious to religion and what it involves but I do appreciate the sense of community and belonging that it can foster.  I admit that I was apprehensive before going to the dinner, so apprehensive in fact that I drove 30 minutes in the opposite direction to be able to travel to the dinner with colleagues!  I needn’t have worried, the other dinner guests (there were a few hundred more of them) were all wonderful and welcoming.  There were many different presentations throughout the night, as well as time for the practicing Muslims in the group to pray at the appropriate times.  I have to say that not only was the food amazing, but the evening was educational too.  I managed to learn more about the Muslim religion and culture in one evening than I have learnt in many years.  I was also pleasantly surprised that instead of being annoyed at my ignorance, the people I was sharing a table with were happy to explain elements of their belief to me and even to point out similarities between the religions of Islam and Christianity.  I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening and it has left me wanting to learn more about religions and the communities that they foster as a result.

The second after hours work function was at an award ceremony, celebrating volunteers within the community.  My boss had encouraged me to nominate a volunteer that I have worked with this past year.  Another cross-sectorial colleague nominated the wife of the person I nominated.  Together we were very apprehensive, the nominees are selfless volunteers within the community and feel that they have already been recognised for all of their tireless work through the smiles and thanks of the people whom they constantly assist, that they really didn’t want or need to be recognised publicly.  That said, together they did win an award celebrating their excellent work within the community.  In their thank you speech, they were very humble and grateful for the award and recognition but again emphasised that they has already been recognised for their work by their friends in need.  It amazed me at just how selfless a family can be, I wish there were more families like theirs in fact I wish I wish I could be more like them.  Hopefully some of their beauty can rub off on me and I will also become a better person.

Speaking about families, have I mentioned that my family is ace?  Yesterday was a nothing day.  I say a nothing day because we had nothing planned but much to do.  Nothing exciting, grocery shopping and shoe shopping that involved a detour to a local park, watching the kids (all three of them) running wild and burning off excess energy and for me a chance to lie in the sunshine again.  It was relaxing and enjoyable, surprisingly it was even productive.

That brings me to today, Father’s Day.  It has become a tradition of sorts to catch up with friends for brunch.  We used to spend many a day together relaxing at the beach, playing in parks or exploring museums but with moves to different suburbs, additional children and now kids at school every day, the time to catch up is few and far between.  We made the effort today, well actually they made the effort to come over and eat at one of our local cafes.  Again the food was delicious, the company was great and the following walk along the river was enjoyable.  The kids spent the afternoon splashing about in the hot tub until the football began.

Man-child is the only one of us interested in the teams playing today. Actually he is the only one interested in the footy so everyone else drifted away, younger kids to have a sleep and older kids to play with other friends.  Me, I get an hour or two to catch up, get dinner ready and just enjoy the afternoon.

The football is about to end (in real life) and the scores aren’t in man-child’s favour.  We have friends coming over for an impromptu dinner so the mopiness will be improved by the great company.  It should be the perfect way to finish a great week.

In other news of awesomely awesomeness, friends have just travelled to the Philippines to complete their family.  After many many years of waiting their family of three is now a family of four as they brought home a beautiful little 2 year old boy to share their hearts, their home and their lives.  I am so happy for them that each time I think of them or see photos of them I am so overcome by happiness and love that my eyes well up and my chest feels like it is going to explode, I am over the moon happy for them.

Three’s a Crowd

Five is far too young to learn the harsh realities of friendships.  I was hoping to have at least one more year before having to discuss how sometimes it is better to play with one friend at a time otherwise the outcome is going to include bitchiness, whether intended or not.  

Just this year we have made friends with two other families in our neighbourhood and through this, girl-child has made some new friends, as both families have 10 year old daughters.  Now essentially our family is the link between the 2 other families, they are both our friends but not really friends with each other.  Well it isn’t that they aren’t friends it is more that their worlds don’t collide unless it is through us.   

It didn’t matter which family we were spending time, girl-child had a new best friend in the 10 year old daughter.  Until now that is.  Of course a friendship that includes girls who’s ages span so many years is destined for trouble, it is just difficult to explain this to a 5 year old who is so happy having big girls to play with, to idolise and follow around like a puppy.  To he honest, the older girls have been more than happy to have a shadow.  

During the holiday break, the 10 year old daughters have found that they can actually be friends without involving girl-child.  Today girl-child spent most of the day with one of the girls having a great time together.  As it was getting late in the day, they decided to visit the other girl.  Next thing you know the two older girls were planning a sleep over.  Once both parents had approved to the sleep over all they wanted to do was start, but first they had to walk a younger brother home.  

Eager to begin the fun, they wanted to walk her younger brother home straight away.  They bullied the boys into finishing their game before they had a chance to save it, despite it being half an hour before official home time.  In their wake they left boys upset that they didn’t get to finish their game and one lonely little girl wondering why she wasn’t invited to a sleep over – again.  

Girl-child doesn’t understand that big girls play different games to 5 year old girls.  What she really doesn’t understand is why when she has a sleep over here, both girls are invited and they all have a great time together yet when they have a sleep over she isn’t invited.  What hurts her more is that she is there when the grand plans are made.  Now I know, and I am sure that she knows too, that the big girls don’t mean to exclude her, but every time they run off to play without her, she curls up on the couch and cries.

I keep trying to encourage her to play with girls her own age but  during the holidays it is even more difficult than during the term as so many of her class mates are away for the holidays.  Hopefully going to a school holiday program for the next three days will keep her busy and maybe even encourage new friendship groups with kids closer to her own age.  

It ALL Hurts

For the third year running, I signed up to do the Run for the Kids, a charity fun run that raises money for the Royal Children’s Hospital, the same hospital that boy child has so recently spent time at.  As usual, I sign up with the best intentions to get fit and actually run the run but reality sets in, I remember that I am essentially lazy and my training runs become gentle jogs and even they slow to peaceful meanders that contribute less than nothing to my actual fitness.  

In years gone by, I have run as a part of a work team.  Basically it is just a group of people that I work with or have worked with, or that have some affiliation to my work place.  We meet before the race and then again after it for celebratory drinks and brunch.  What that really translates to is all starting together, me deluding myself into thinking that I can run, keep up for a few kilometers and then get left for dust.  As a result, I jog or walk the remaining 10 or more kilometers on my own, singing along to the random music on my phone, stopping to take a few dozen bad pictures along the way and send random text messages to everyone in my address book telling them that I am on top of the Bolte  Bridge.  The messages are more a distraction from the run, and more importantly a distraction from actually running.

This year it was a little different, we didn’t have a work team to run with, but still knew quite a few people running.  I even suckered convinced a friend to join me on the run.  We even had a piss poor training routine – we would go for a run twice a week together.  A run that generally involved more walking and chatting than actual running.  All of a sudden it was time for the run and we had done next to no training.  Actually, let me clarify, I did nothing more than that training routine and the odd routine, yet my ’sucker’ friend is a gym junkie who seems to actually enjoy exercise so perhaps I was the bigger sucker.

To cap off the perfect training routine and preparation, we had a few neighbours over for a quiet barbeque last night.  One drink led to another, and then another.  Before we knew it, it was really late.  It was around 2 am that I actually went to bed, but I am not sure if it was 2 am Daylight Savings Time or now time, it is all a bit of a blur.  Despite what time it was, it was way way past bed time.  When I woke at 6.20 am (thanks to a cat that decided she needed to sleep under the covers) I felt as if I had hardly been asleep and it was almost time to get up.  

I really didn’t have the motivation to get up and go in a hurry.  Thankfully Lil Sis stayed over last night and the kids had jumped into bed with her so I didn’t have to worry about getting them fed before we left.  That being said, we were still running late and had to run to the train.  Just that run, that was for no more than 5 minutes, I was worn out, I knew it was going to be a really long day.

We made it to the station in time to catch the train.  Never has an early train on a sunday morning been so packed with bodies.  It appeared that almost all of the bodies were all heading to the Run for the Kids.  There were plenty of people like myself that wanted to be fit and healthy, there were those that were clearly fit and healthy but there were also families who were there to take part with their kids in strollers.  

We were at the marshaling point in plenty of time for the race start and then it was time to wait.  The crowd was immense with almost 30,000 participants of all shapes and sizes, some running the short course 5kms and others running the 14.1km course.

 

Ready for the Run

So here we are ready for the run – me, my training partner (torturer, long time friend and cause of much pain) and man-child.  We ran together for the first 3 kms, to the end of the domain tunnel, but then man-child decided he could run faster.  It was around the same time I decided that I was about done.  I was glad that my training partner was a first timer on the run and was happy to stop and snap a few pictures along the way.  We ran the first 3 kms, then walked for a bit, ran another 2 kms, walked a bit more and then ran to the top of the Bolte Bridge for a few photos.

 

Half Way There

The bridge is the half way point.  I was totally exhausted at this point, but I actually felt better there than at the 3km mark, I think that my legs had totally died and I couldn’t feel them any more.  I was also thinking that the next part of the run was downhill.  We ran most of the way, probably about 10kms, walking sections to try and recover a little and to take more photos.  If I didn’t have a running partner, I would have walked a few more kms and I was actually proud of the part of the run that I ran.  Of course the last few kilometers really hurt.  My legs felt like lead, my upper body was aching and I was pretty sure that there was no skin left on my feet, but I made it to the finish line – eventually.

After the race we found man-child and he was in much worse shape than we were, we could actually walk a little faster than a snail!  We were looking forward to a big brunch and then a long soak in the hot tub.  

Even after a really long soak in the tub (a few hours) and then a nap, I still hurt everywhere.  I know that tomorrow will probably be worse.  Despite all of that, we have decided to sign up for another ‘fun run’ in May, the Mother’s Day Classic.  Should we be a little realistic and register for the 4km event or continue in the delusional trend and sign up for 8kms?

Thanks for the photos Feed the Dogs!  Despite the pain, and your incessant boundless energy, today was fun!

Dance Shoes

What did you do with your day?  Me, I went dance shoe shopping with a friend.  Quite a normal thing to do really, except that we decided tho ride there instead of driving.  

It was quite a pleasant ride, with only a few near misses in the traffic.  We rode to a specialist dance shoe shop on the other side of the city, stopping for lunch on the way.  It wasn’t until we arrived at our destination that we realised that it was a little further away than we thought – we had ridden 24 kms and still had to ride home.

I made it home with about a minute to spare before having to walk up to school to get the kids.  Let me say ‘OUCH’ – my butt sure doesn’t like the aftermath of 45 kms riding.  It has made me realise just how unfit I am!

A Good Paddock

Well today was my last day of leave.  I haven’t really ‘done anything’, but have managed to eat out very frequently.  

This morning after we dropped boy-child at school, girl-child and I wandered to a coffee shop for a chocolate fix.  This was followed by a very long lunch with some of my oldest friends – my sister and girls I went to kinder with!  

The afternoon, or what was left of it, was quite busy with a few mad dashes this afternoon finalising my application, making copies and finally getting it submitted required a reward – some more chocolate.

The day was rounded of with dinner with the girls at my all time favourite restaurant, Abyssinian the most delicious African fare in Melbourne.  Not only is the food fantastic, the owner and chef are beautiful people who make dining there a fantastic experience. 

Overindulgence is definitely a great way to finish leave.  I will have to return to work to eat better (read: healthier and consume less chocolate).