Saturday, 30 June 2012

Small things amuse small minds when on cold and flu drugs.

So the wonders of hot yoga still remain a mystery. I was forced to cancel due to a shocking case of flu that has left me all but comatose excepting waking up every 10 minutes to blow my nose AGAIN, culminating in an emergency drive around Toowoomba at 10.30pm last night on a desperate hunt for an open chemist for some cold and flu remedies so I could SLEEP. Only to find the pharmacy that proudly proclaims 'first to open, last to close' considers 10pm to be an acceptable time to shut itself off to the sick and desperate.

Huh.

Sucks to be me.

It was perhaps a gross error of judgement to choose last night to remedy my fire virgin status. Due to my extreme ineptitude which caused much mirth as I monitored my progress via Facebook (glad to be of service), I had to keep opening the door to add MORE kindling, firelighters and anything else flammable in an effort to keep the damn thing burning (tepee shape my ass). As a result the residual smoke went straight up my nose and simply exacerbated the sneezing/coughing/nose blowing scenarios outlined above.

Feeling special.

This morning the house smells like smoke so I'm sitting in the sun and have opened the house in an effort to air it all out. The simple act of walking into my lounge simply brings on yet another sneezing fit.

There's a visual for you.

So fire fail. But they say the first time is the worst haha.

This morning after canceling yoga (boo) and having been too tired and sick this week to remember to call the washing machine repairer, it became fairly obvious that unless I wanted to show up to work wearing some especially unflattering back-of-wardrobe fare this week, another Laundromat excursion was the first priority. So looking especially fetching in said back-of-wardrobe attire, complete with running nose and this season's sleep-deprived-due-to-coughing-and-sneezing-all-night dark circles look, off I went.

Luckily for me a chemist that was actually OPEN (a novel concept) was right beside the Laundromat so I doses myself up with the recommended cold and flu drugs (ah drugs) and zoned out while the washing machines did their thing. Now I'm a big fan of the cold and flu remedies when all else has failed but it shows how far gone I am when the magic tablets have only succeeded in simply taking the edge off for an hour or so. Bah.

Anyhoo after the washing was finished I realised that my measly 20 pegs weren't gonna cut it for the 3 loads of washing I was hefting so thought I'd simply 'pop' into Bunnings to pick up some more.

Big mistake.

It's been awhile since I've required anything hardware related (due to unit living) so I'd forgotten the chaos of Bunnings on a Sunday.

Well in Toowoomba especially it was like taking my life in my hands simply to drive in, park and make it to the front door. Heaven forbid having to wait 2 seconds to give way to a car or pedestrian DARE hold back these diehard DIY-ers.

Frightening.

And who 'pops into' Bunnings? Dumbass. The place is so big I could have disappeared in there never to be found again.

Anyhoo by the time I got my pegs and risked my life just to exit I was pretty shattered and ready to get home.

In an effort to amuse myself when hanging the washing on the line (by which stage I felt dead on my feet), I deliberately mismatched all the pegs, having a giggle that any OCD friend would be having conniptions right about now.

It's the drugs.

Now I'm planning to sit outside until I can enter the building without sneezing. And I think it's time for more drugs.

xx



Sick of being sick.

Dear flu

Screw and the horse you rode in on.

That is all.

Thursday, 28 June 2012

Cathy's 50s Housewife Friday. Teen Zombies...alive, undead, and answering phones near you.

The Zombie Apocalypse is upon us! Read on adventurer IF U DARE....

50s Housewife Friday already??? Where has the week gone??

First track listing of the day: The Cure, Never Enough.

Love it, reminds me of my crazy, messed up, amazing schoolies week in 1990 for some reason :)

Followed closely by Kiss Kiss Kiss by the Plastic Ono Band, so weird and amazing, and am currently typing to my favourite L7 song 'Slide' which I sometimes play loudly around my husband if he's been bad.

I have personally spent much of the week buried under boxes, unpacking, cleaning, trying not to have a nervous breakdown etc as we settle into our new pad. With such cold, rainy weather as Brissy has been experiencing this week, its been a good excuse to get stuck into it. Yet still so much to be done!!

Having the kids on holidays has been good too, so the urgent need for school clothes and a certain standard of organisation has been unnecessary but it's definitely a double edged sword. I think that they are here to help, but they think they're on holidays so it's been a challenge to keep their attention on task...

For example, I was having a very serious and much needed conversation with them about their room: to keep the bunks, or to have separate beds or separate rooms? I assumed my teen was staring into the distance, contemplating these important options when I realised an inordinate amount of time had gone by without a response.

So I go: 'So what do u think?'

He says: 'I don't like that KISS poster, they've made Peter's whiskers too thin. I prefer them thicker...'

This brings me to today's topic 'Teen Zombies Are Alive and Undead and are answering phones at your local Takeaway Joint!!'

Where's the proof, you say? How's this:

Cause we've been moving we have been hitting the local take-outs like there's no tomorrow. Rang the number for Eagle Boys Toowong:

'Eagle Boys Albany Creek. Can I help you?'
'Oh, yeah, hey, they've put me through to you but I live at Paddington'
'Well ur closest one is'...(very long pause)...'Toowong'
'Yeah cool, can u put me through to them then?'
'Um....we don't do that'
'Oh, OK, well...can u give me their number?'
 'Ah...nah...haven't got it. If you call information, they'll have it'
(hangs up)

'Eagle Boys Toowong, can I help you?'
'Oh, yeah, hey, I wanna get one of your 3 pizza meal deals but I've only got internet vouchers and my internet is down, so is that cool?'
'Ummm...we only have those deals on the internet'
'Yeah cool, is there a similar deal, just generally?' 
'Ummm...I'm not sure. I've only been here a week...'
'Hmmm...well could u check?'
'Well...I'm here by myself at the moment but if u get on your internet you could check'
'I just said my internet is down, dude'
'Hmmm...well...'
I hang up, a little agitated by now.

Husband: 'just call Kookaburra Kafe. They cost more but at least you get good service'.
Me (begrudgingly): 'OK'

'Ring ring'
They answer and hang up.
'Ring ring'
Answer and hang up.

Me: 'those $#%&^# pieces of %@@%&^ keep hanging up!'
Hubby: 'U must be dialling wrong'

'Ring ring'
Hubby: 'here, it's ringing' (shoves phone at me)

'Hello KK, may I help you'
'Hi yes, I'd like to place an order'
'What would you like?' 
'One half meatlovers, half bacon banana and chilli'
 'Anything else?'
'Yeah, one camembert and king prawn'
'Ummm...I don't think we've got that'
'Well I've ordered it 20 times so I think u do'
'Ahhh...I'm not sure about that...'
 'It's on ur menu, dude'
'I'll check...' (covers mouthpiece, has a convo with another zombie)
'OK...yeah...we have it'
'Oh, cool, can I have one?'
'Ummmmm....OK. Is that it?'
'Yes thanks' 
So the pizza was ordered and on its way and my bewilderment and aggravation was temporarily sated at the thought of my very own small king prawn and camembert pizza due in 35 mins.

An hour passes as I try to restrain myself from killing the children every time they came and whined that they were starving and asking  where the pizza was, and then finally, the zombie arrived with the food. The kids and Dan hurried out to greet him and luckily, as the zombie sensed no fresh brains, they all survived. He did have incorrect change, smell weird and did do a burnout out on the front as he was leaving.

All was well in the world, and as I ate my half prawn and camembert, half tandoori chicken with extra olives pizza, I decided to just be thankful for small mercies and we had in fact survived another day.

Hope you all have a fabulous Friday :)

Cathy xx


Presentee-ism is the new sickness.

It's Thursday and I'm fading fast. I've been battling flu-like symptoms for a few days now and it seems the germs are winning. I've got virtually no voice, swollen glands, sore throat and the most blocked ears imaginable. So not fun.

I really hate getting sick and once again have the issue of being new girl and feeling compelled to go to work. I went this morning but the lurgie got the better of me, particularly after a chat with a colleague who started to tell me about a news story that was on last night about 'presentee-ism' where sick people come to work and then make everyone else sick. He made me feel so guilty for being there, I packed up my bat and ball and came home to work from here.

When you're getting in trouble for GOING to work, you know you must look lousy.

But on the plus side, I think I got asked out by one of my workmates, so clearly I didn't look THAT bad.

Fortunately we've got such a great setup where we can access everything at home, although I do miss my dual screens when I'm home. I thought about getting another screen for home use but then I wouldn't be able to sit in bed with my laptop, which kinda defeats the purpose.

I'm on the hunt for a bluetooth keyboard for my Ipad now as I've had this fantastic app recommended to me where I can record and take minutes at the same time. I take minutes of a LOT of meetings so anything that will aid me in expediting the process is a godsend. The app is good to go but I realised that I can't possibly work on the Ipad keyboard for any length of time with any chance of being efficient. So this weekend I'll be shopping for a microwave (refer previous electrical issues) AND a bluetooth keyboard. Fun times.

So I've been doing my research on this hot yoga thing and I'm equal parts terrified and excited. There are so many conflicting reports on whether it is safe, good for you or even worthwhile. At least I am going in prepared (ie. no big meals, at least 2 litres of water two hours prior, and lots of mineral replenishment afterwards). I realise though that I do not own a single pair of shorts, which I read are pretty necessary when working out in an overheated room for an hour. So they'll be on the shopping list too. Ugh. I hate shorts!

I still think the hot yoga is worth a try, at the least I might sweat out some of these yucky germs that are making me feel like crap. I just hope I don't embarrass myself by passing out!

Well I'm sitting here in front of the heater as my body temperature is all over the charts. It is cool today but not THAT cold yet I'm shivering like it's -2. Not good. Hopefully I'll have a miraculous recovery tonight so I can start to focus on doing my job properly instead of just keeping my eyes open! Plus it's free chocolate Friday tomorrow and I cannot possibly miss that.

xx

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

I'm bringing out the big guns.

So I'm sitting here struggling with a sore throat, the sniffles and ears so blocked I'm walking like a drunk person, on what's probably the coldest, wettest day I've had in Toowoomba so far, when my darling stepsister from Cairns thoughtfully sends a photo of her kids entitled 'Winter Jammies' showing my gorgeous nephew and niece sitting at the table wearing shorts and tshirts.

Meanwhile it's bin night and E and I just ran like crazy people through the rain to get the recyclable bin and normal bin down a driveway that doesn't seem that long on a good day but was like the one of those neverending roads in a nightmare when getting pelted with rain and freezing wind.

Threats of drums, cymbals and french horns for Christmas don't seem to be doing the trick.

Therefore I'm bringing out the big guns...this year for Christmas her children will be receiving a Nickelback CD.

That is all.

xx


Tuesday, 26 June 2012

Cold. And hot yoga.

Cold, wet and miserable...brrr!

Sat in a meeting room all afternoon glancing out the window every now and again thinking it's getting sooooo late but in actuality it was only 5pm. But when I finally did leave, it was pitch black and I felt like it was about 9pm.

So last night E and I felt a bit bereft and realised we were going through The Voice withdrawals, which also made me realise that I had also completely forgotten to celebrate the win of the amazing Karise Eden!

Every Monday as you know E and I have religiously been tucked up watching The Voice and debated endlessly on the winner. But it was pretty much a foregone conclusion in the end - despite the overseas support of Sarah De Bono, thanks to Joel Madden and his # 1 supporters (Nicole and Lionel Ritchie), nothing could overcome this superstar.

All the rest of the contestants were pretty good but Karise is in a class of her own. Watching her face when she won was pure joy...she must have known the whole country was behind her, um, being like # 1, 2, 4 and 5 on the Itunes charts and all, but it seemed like she really wasn't expecting it at all.

Well done to her. The Voice found their voice. Watching Seal beaming like a proud daddy was really lovely too. I don't think he expected to get as emotionally attached to his team as he did. I think we'll be seeing a lot of this girl, let's hope she can retain her humility and not get caught up in the trappings of instant fame.

So anyway we kinda didn't know what to do with ourselves last night, as nothing has been put on to replace The Voice and I think the hole will take a while to close up. In the end we turned off the TV and did some reading instead. E has now gotten halfway through Catching Fire and is completely engrossed.

Now that he's officially on school holidays I expect him to ramp up the reading big-time so wouldn't be surprised if the trilogy was done and dusted by the end of next week. Although as he's spending a week at his grandparents' motel next week with his cousins, I guess he'll have other distractions! He's so excited to be heading to Tenterfield with four of his cousins, he's the oldest one and parades around like the Pied Piper with all the smaller kids following his every move. I guess that's pretty damn good for anyone's ego, yeah?

So I'm really looking forward to Sunday when I get to experience my first hot yoga session! For some reason yesterday I googled Toowoomba news and it just so happened in the Comical Chronicle they had an article on a brand-new yoga studio, and the first Toowoomba hot yoga studio, opening this weekend. They're offering free introductory sessions so I've signed up for Sunday. Not sure if I'm excited or terrified...frankly the thought of sweating for 60 minutes through 35+ degree heat is quite frightening, particularly when I have absolutely no bloody idea how to do the yoga bit in the first place. But apparently the heat is excellent for preventing you hurting yourself, although I can't see how I won't get hurt when I pass out from heat exhaustion and topple over from one of the crazy looking poses I've seen on their website. I just pray I don't take anyone down with me.

Wish me luck.

If you're interested in joining me, click here to book yourself into a class, if for nothing else than to laugh yourself silly at me attempting to not make a complete idiot of myself.

xx




Oh hell no!





Monday, 25 June 2012

What's in a name?

From time to time over the years I have often pondered the question: are we given our names because our parents instinctively believe they capture our essence, or do we grow to become our names?

Why is it that I have so many friends called Cathy, have never met a Jane I didn't like, only like Kirstens who are known as Kirsten (not Kirsty) and whilst I've only met a small handful of Julie's in my life, every one of them have had a huge impact on me? Why have I never met a meek Kellie (or Kelly)? Why do I instinctively trust people called Nick?

And why do I immediately dislike almost everyone with certain names (which I won't mention here in case of hate mail)?

Apparently too there are a large number of Laurens who become lawyers and Dennis is a very popular name for a dentist. Coincidence? Would Obama have become President if his name didn't equate to ambition and success?

As for Rebeccas, there seem to be two separate camps. Those who refer to themselves as Bec are almost always fascinating to me (including myself, haha) yet those who go by Rebecca seem to be quieter and more mild (for the record, if anyone calls me Rebecca I generally think I'm in trouble).

It's a strange thing to wonder, I'll admit, but it does cross my mind every time I'm talking about my friend Cathy to a friend and have to clarify which of the many I'm talking about.

My sister's name was supposed to be Amanda Jane yet by the time my father arrived at the hospital after her birth, my mum had already renamed her something entirely different as 'she didn't look like an Amanda Jane'.

When I was born a year later, I was supposed to be Amanda Jane instead, and yet once again, my mum reneged and called me Rebecca Louise, because I wasn't an Amanda either!

During my own pregnancy I settled on three 'right' names. One I grew heartily sick of by halfway through and the other was soundly laughed at by pretty much everyone I told (for interest's sake, it was Jesse). By the time I gave birth I had settled on Elijah but wanted to make sure that the name fit. I had this feeling that I would just look at him and he would virtually name himself, much like mum said that we had.

But he didn't. I looked at him and looked at him and quite frankly, with his enormous cone-head, barely able to open his eyes (due to skin being stretched so far over cone head) and skinny little body with arms and legs waving all over the place and wailing his head off, he looked more like an alien than any human baby I've ever seen!

I went with Elijah but for the first month or so I used to sit there and watch him wondering if I'd made the right decision. Was his name really Elijah? Had I make a mistake? It's not that he didn't look like an Elijah, he just didn't look like anyone I'd ever known. Weird.

Obviously as the years have gone by I have realised the name suits him to a T.

I found this great website where you can type in your first name and it tells you all about you. For instance:

Elijah: has an expressive nature, with a tendency to assume too heavy a burden of responsibility, has a generous quality but must guard against giving more than you receive, emotionally intense, idealistic and inspirational.

Anyone who knows my son knows this is spot on!

I personally didn't care for the 'Rebecca' description so tried 'Bec' and got the following:

Bec: positive, self-assertive and independent, creative, ingenious in practical matters, buoyant optimism provided I am given the opportunity to pursue my own goals free from interference (ie. back the hell off), impulsive and forceful when opposed, cannot tolerate domination by others or feeling restricted (again, ie. back the hell off). Prone to making impulsive or abrupt decisions. I choose to ignore the 'can alienate others' part and apparently I have to watch out for tension or accidents to the head!!???

So much of this completely resonates with me, down to the tension headaches I've experienced since I was young and the fact that I packed E and I up and moved us to Toowoomba on little more than a whim (albeit an educated one).

So the question is, are we shaped by our names or do our names shape us? I think it's a bit of both. From what I've seen, what we are named influences certain characteristics in some way yet we can choose which characteristics to display to the world so it is not a defining thing.

For instance, I mentioned previously that I am friends with many Cathys. The characteristics for a Cathy are: friendly, approachable, generous, good-natured (though at times blunt and sarcastic - really???), sympathetic and generous to those in difficult circumstances, firm, positive, independent but often need help in taking action, artistic, creative, original but scattered and emotional.

Ring any bells, my Cathys?

I would say that this describes all of them. Perfectly. Having said that though, each and every Cathy I hold dear is fundamentally different from the next. In fact you probably couldn't find more different people, they are utterly unique. And yet they all have these characteristics.

What do you think? Do you feel like you fit your name, does your description resonate with you? Do you think the name we're given at birth influences how we are, or do you think somehow we get the name we were always supposed to have? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

xx




Living in Grandma-town.

One of the things I love most about Toowoomba is the unique mix of urban, suburban and completely rural sights that you see all in the space of a few short blocks.

I live in what I like to call 'Grandma-town', an established suburb of brick and weatherboard cottages with more than it's fair share of dogs, utes and sweet, old-school corner stores (you should see the sweets selection at the one down the road, completely takes me back to childhood!). Mind you, the demographic seems to be young families, but I like 'Grandma-town' as it has that charming old-world feel to it. Plus it's fun to say.

It is reminiscent to me of driving through the neighbourhood where my grandparents lived 30 years ago in Rockhampton. Lovely well-cared for homes where you see people walking the streets in safety, kids riding their bikes and plenty of parkland - we literally have a huge park less than a block away. I used to love visiting my grandparents and driving down the street to their little immaculate weatherboard home with its' large backyard and families everywhere watering their garden or playing cricket. Our family cricket games were legendary and as a little kid, those times will remain forever magical to me. Our neighbourhood has the same feel.

And on my drive to work I pass three schools all side-by-side and then cross a major urban intersection into...nothing. It seems like I'm driving down an old country road in the middle of nowhere, with only the odd stable, dilapidated shack or farm animal to break the greenery.

Then I turn a corner and...back to suburbia! Much more modern suburbia here, I'd doubt any house is over 10 years old. And then another corner and suddenly countryside again...

Our work has a small carpark but basically you gotta be in by about 6am (too early for this little black duck) to park in there. So the overflow go to the football club parking lot across the road which is a big gravel carpark backing onto the club, and right beside it is a windmill and water tower. On the horizon...countryside.

Mind you, it takes me 5 minutes to drive to work. Yes, 5 minutes! So in this small amount of time I've felt like I've driven the gamut of city, country and ultimate suburbia.

It's one of the strange contrasts about this town that I'm thoroughly enjoying. As the largest inland city in Australia, Toowoomba certainly isn't small and has all the facilities a big city has to offer (minus Gold Class cinemas, but let's not go there). But it the unique mix of small town and city that makes it special to me. Having come from Brisbane and worked smack in the middle of the concrete jungle for so many years, I'd have had to have driven about an hour to see any kind of windmill and probably a good half-hour to see a horse or any other type of non-domestic animal.

And Toowoomba city is less than 5 minutes from my house as well. The lovely part about driving through the centre of Toowoomba is instead of pulling down these majestic old buildings, they have been lovingly restored and repurposed into office buildings and restaurants. It's nice to see that whilst it's a thriving town due to the mining boom it hasn't lost any of its charm of yesteryear. I'm also just a few minutes from the top of the range which is one of the most magical sights you can see...a cliff face just dropping off and you can see for miles and miles.

As I rented my house sight-unseen, I didn't even know where the best place to live was, and in fact was looking in a completely different area of town to be closer to fellow blogger Willow. I'd found the perfect house and rang about it only to find it had been rented. I rang 'plan B' and it had also been rented. In desperation I went back onto realestate.com.au and found where I'm living today within about 2 minutes. 5 minutes later I was applying online. It wasn't in the area that I wanted, and I thought it must have been dodgy because it was so much cheaper than other houses with LESS modern comforts, but my gut told me to go for it and so I did! As you know, I spent a few nerve-wracking weeks fearing that I'd done something really stupid and that E and I would have to live with the consequences.

Looking back on it, I think my impetuousness was a sign! I LOVE my neighbourhood and it's proximity to pretty much everything. Shopping centres, movie theatres, even  the university, all just a few minutes away. Yet we're tucked into this lovely charming little street that takes me back 30 years every time I come home and drive down the driveway to my cute little red-brick cottage.

And to see E riding his bike in the sunshine in safety will never lose it's charm.

It's a total kick.

xx



Saturday, 23 June 2012

Domestic dramas. Toowoomba-ism. And Laundromats.

Toowoomba has been incredible for us in so many respects, and I'm truly loving my new and improved job/home/life!

However it appears that this town has not been kind to my heretoforth urban-dwelling appliances. In fact 'Toowoomba-ism' has now struck the trifecta, with E and I having experienced water, power and appliance issues within a 6 week period. The most recent on the Toowoomba-ism hitlist: washing machine (nooooo!!!) and microwave. It's taking them down one by one. Stealthy little bugger.

I was excited to think that perhaps the washing machine issues I experienced last weekend were simply a side effect of the water pipe situation, so positively threw my washing in the other day anticipating that all would be magically fixed.

It wasn't to be. It does fill with water, it does give a halfhearted spin every 10 seconds or so, and it does semi-drain the water out. But after every 10 seconds it beeps incessantly and the spin cycle is pretty much shot to hell. Squeegee-ing your clothes to get the water out gets old...real fast.

As for the microwave, all the lights are on but no-one's home, it gives every illusion of operating perfectly except it just...doesn't. Dumb blonde.

I'm not even going to start counting the number of light bulbs I've had to replace in just a few short weeks. Let's not go there.

You never really notice how much you need your microwave until you don't have one. I didn't think we really used it that much as I don't much like cooking in a microwave, but for all those little odd things, it's a godsend. I guess I've gotten a pretty decent life out of it as it's probably at least 8 years old by now, but still! Next week's shopping list will definitely have a new appliance at the top, but until then it's back to old-school defrosting on the sink (not so easy during this cold weather where it takes a day or two to completely defrost!).

And until I can get my washing machine fixed, it's onto Plan B.

What else but the dreaded Laundromat?

Now I think we've all experienced a horror story or two about the delights of the Laundromat so I was reasonably and pleasantly surprised to lug in my huge load of sheets, towels and clothing to find someone leaving but the place otherwise empty and certainly cleaner than any other Laundromat I've had the misfortune pleasure to set foot in. Not that it's hard. Having said that, there was a pang of disappointment as generally you can always count on the Laudromat to give you an amusing anecdote or two to blog about.

I can't say it was the worst afternoon we've had, E and I snuggled up on some reasonably comfy seats and had a quiet time reading books and just chilling out and talking about the Hunger Games, which E finished yesterday! He said it was the best book he's ever read, and it's pretty cool that a book can reach an audience that crosses genders and age groups. He's now onto Catching Fire and I'll be interested to get his thoughts on it. He knew what he was in for with The Hunger Games, having seen the movie already, but I personally enjoyed Catching Fire more and will be keen to see whether E does too.

Anyway the washing cycle finished and onto the dryer...where I read the instructions on the front of the dryer.


  1. Check inside machine for children, pets and foreign objects before loading and starting.
What?

Because you just might not notice a kid in the dryer?

Well because I'm a rules girl (hahaha) I studiously inspected said dryer to be sure it was sans kid, dog or I don't know, $50,000, and did not begin spinning until I was confident it was empty.

Has the dryer company been sued because someone accidentally spun dry their cat?

So I guess I didn't walk away without my bizarre Laudromat anecdote. 

All is right with the world.

Enjoy your Sunday!

xx





Friday, 22 June 2012

Censorship in friendship.

In the past few days I've surprised myself with the depth of topics I've dived into with abandon. Generally I skate along the humorous surface of life, thinking that sometimes our very existence can be trying so why wallow in the negative? Occasionally I am accused of being shallow or caring too much about the superficial, and these are labels I will own, because I totally admit that I am. Deliberately. If I can make someone smile through something silly I've written or done today, then I'll chalk that up as a success.

That's not to say that I'm not introspective. Anyone who wants to dismiss me as a superficial blonde, then that's OK by me, but you might just miss out on the odd times when I do have something deeper to say. I just mostly prefer to take a page out of Monty Python's book of always looking on the bright side of life (do do, do do, do do, do do).

Sorry, getting sidetracked.

I am often inspired to write a blog post from reading something online or seeing a picture or having something happen to me when I'm out and about. Those are my favourite times as the words just flow. Sometimes too I have an idea to begin with and then it spins somewhere else entirely (as with my recent comment on dissing my kid, which started purely as me wanting to write about Emily the Bachelorette and her funny quote about going West Virginia hoodrat on someone's ass).

Sometimes I proofread my posts and hesitate a LOT before hitting 'publish'. Particularly when writing about topics that I know inflame passion in people, or personal opinions when I know close friends of mine will disagree violently.

But I do try not to censor myself and write truthfully...well my own truth, and that's all I can do.

I don't particularly care what people I don't know think of me, to be honest, however I do very much care about the opinions of those I love, and certainly wouldn't want to inadvertently upset any of them by a throwaway comment or a personal opinion that differs to theirs. Fortunately for me I have amassed an amazing group of friends who I guess I have gravitated to naturally throughout my life both for their similarities AND their differences, and our communal ability to invoke vigorous debate rather than arguments. I guess ultimately it comes down to mutual respect.

This week I also had a conversation with a friend who related to me an issue she's having due to a completely innocuous and innocent 'chat' on Facebook with another friend about some funny events that took place over 20 years ago. I remember reading it and smiling as I was in that same circle at the time and it brought back some great memories.

Anyhow, my friend then received a rather severe dressing down for this harmless conversation from another friend who was on the outs with the first one. A verbal tongue lashing of the first order was delivered to my friend for engaging this other person in conversation as 'where was the loyalty?'.

It got me to thinking about friendships and loyalty and basically...censorship in friendship. At what point does a friend have a say in who you can and can't be friends with, or who you should cut out of your life? Where is the line where a friend expects you to stand on their feet FOR them and where do you decide to censor yourself and your words and actions, based on whether it might upset your friends?

I guess it's something I think about from time to time as when I was a teenager I was particularly badly bullied by a couple of girls who were friends with my friends. At the time I was completely spineless and expected MY friends to stick up for me and not be friends with these other girls due to their appalling treatment of me.

They didn't. And I just didn't get it. Oh, they did make the odd attempt to tell the girls to stop it, they didn't ignore it completely, but I do remember feeling very hurt and that I shouldn't even need to spell it out (I never did).

Over time I have come to realise that you cannot expect people to fight your battles for you. Friends are there to lean on for support and advice (and vice versa) but to expect them to stand up for you when you won't is ludicrous. It's called being an adult.

Same too with censoring your words and actions based on 'what might your friends think?' I speak from personal experience here! For the first 25 years of my life I was CRIPPLED by my paranoia that if I said what I wanted to say, I might upset someone, or offend someone, or they would laugh at me. So I didn't say it. In fact I didn't say much at all until you got to know me. And I was so BORING I really don't know how people could stand to be around me. I look back now with my new and improved (in my opinion) 'don't give a rats ass' attitude and marvel at how many years I wasted being afraid to say what I thought due to my overwhelming insecurities. And funnily enough I have not only retained the same friends who have known and loved me despite my social paralysis and even developed far more new ones than I ever did in my 20s.

It's the same too to expect that you can dictate who your friends can and can't be friends with. Oh it's only natural to want your friends to have your back, and I'd be horrified if a friend continued to be friendly with someone who'd done me badly, badly wrong. But other than that, then it's not just short-sighted but also incredibly selfish to expect that you have the right to tell your friends who they can and cannot associate with. There is inevitably going to be a friend of your friend who you don't much care for, but if you try to make your friend make a choice, just be warned that you might not like the outcome! Personally I'd go with the person who ISN'T making me choose, as giving an ultimatum usually backfires on this little black duck (due to compulsion of having to do the opposite of what I'm told) and I'd be offended to be forced to make the choice.

Yes there's a line and you can't go around saying everything on your mind whenever you feel like it, or else we'd all be arrested. But with tact and diplomacy, if there's something you need to say then you should never let fear hold you back from saying it. Particularly not from your friends! I said tact and diplomacy though, I would never tolerate a friend speaking to me badly and therefore never speak to them badly! (thanks dad for the 'treat others the way you'd like to be treated' life lessons).

To make demands or manipulate a friendship for your own selfish ends really says a lot more about your own insecurities than it does about the so-called 'disloyalty' of a friend. Loyalty is important but your friends being friends with someone you don't much like really isn't a show of disloyalty in my book, provided you know that person has your back when it really counts.

What do you think about censorship in friendship? Do you think friendship comes with strings and that it's OK to dictate to your friends who they can or cannot associate with? Or do you think it's enough to know that your mates will be there when it's needed?

xx

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Love is love. And equality is equality. Simple equation.

It must be something in the water but over the past few days I seem to have been inadvertently tackling the big issues. First religion, and now politics and the # 1 issue guaranteed to inflame - gay marriage.

Once again I'll preface this by saying this is MY opinion. I respect your right to believe what you believe and feel what you feel. This post below is simply my expression of the way I view the 'issue'. My intention is not to offend.

So here we go...

There is no issue more likely to throw the cat among the pigeons than gay marriage. Try throwing it into a conversation even with your closest gal-pals and watch the fireworks. Read the comments on any news website and I'm surprised they have enough buckets to clean up the bloody aftermath.

What is it about a man or woman wanting to legitimise their same-sex relationship that causes so much angst among heterosexual people? It's the most contentious issue of our modern world, with strong opinions both for and against, in the media on an almost daily basis. The President of the US says he is in favour, but is powerless to enact real change as it's a 'state' issue. Our Prime Minister believes marriage is between a man and a woman (however is a self proclaimed atheist who clearly has no issue with pre-marital sex, so she's really splitting hairs there). One vocal anti same-sex marriage politician in the US has had the issue hit very close to home with his daughter marrying her girlfriend yesterday in one of the 8 states (out of 50!) in America that have legalised gay marriage.

Opinions range from 'blasphemous against God' to 'equality for all' through to the most mystifying in my opinion: 'this is a minority issue that doesn't affect me so I wish they'd shut up about it already'.

Good thing the suffragettes fighting for the right to vote 100 years ago didn't just 'give up and go away', right?

What staggers me most is the hypocrisy.

Take Ellen Degeneres.

Ellen is openly gay and has enjoyed a loving union with wife Portia for far longer than the average marriage. More than 2 million people watch Ellen's show every day. Every. Single. Day. And the number keeps growing. Yet Ellen's demographic (29 to 54 year olds) are the least likely to be in favour of same-sex marriage, according to polls.

Pardon me for my cynicism, but how does that make sense? You're happy to watch a gay woman on television but it's not OK for her to marry the love of her life?

I also found it really interesting that when googling stats on gay marriage I found out that Massachusetts was the first state to legalise same-sex marriage in 2004, and since then it is the only state where divorce rates have actually DECLINED. It holds the lowest divorce rate in the country.

Coincidence?

So as of May 2012 a whopping 10 out of 194 countries have now legalised same-sex marriage. I guess it's progress, but clearly the 'issue' is nowhere near resolved.

I think the main problem here is that they've taken something that's very human and turned it into a political stance. Love is not political, love is love. And marriage, I'm sorry to tell you, is a man-made arrangement, and therefore is something that can be altered if the existing definition does not fit our modern world. Heaven knows what our lives would be like if archaic laws hadn't been adapted and modified since the middle ages, I'm sure Henry the VIII would have beheaded me on the spot.

So to me the answer is pretty damned simple.

Equality for all means just that - equality. Same rights for everyone regardless of religion, background, colour, race or sexuality. Those of us who are heterosexual can't just sit back and wish the issue would just go away, because it won't. That it doesn't affect us, because it does. We need to recognise that it is also our responsibility to rally OUR support for equality.

God knows love is hard enough to find. I've been looking for 39 years and haven't found it yet. So more power to those who are lucky enough to have found their mate. Everyone should have the right to stand up in public and commit themselves to that person should they wish to do so. And I'll be standing alongside applauding and wishing them every happiness in the world.

And secretly hoping to catch the bouquet and that there's a cute best man.

xx




Labels. How do you define you?

For a while now, I've been reading a blog called Sometimes Sweet, written by a warm and articulate woman called Danielle Hampton. You might note that I've talked about her before and she has even inspired me to write my own 'Currently' posts.

Danielle lives in the US and one thing I have noted whilst blog-reading is that so many American blogsters (is that even a word?) are extremely religious and their lives seem to revolve around church activities and their faith. Danielle recently wrote about her struggle to define herself as a non-believer in a country where religion seems to dominate everything in an amazing post called 'Are you there God? It's me, Danielle'. She was hesitant about posting her beliefs and went to the extent of writing a disclaimer to ensure she didn't offend anyone. What's more, in the 154 comments underneath there was an enormous majority that also felt they had to label themselves in one category or another.

I read Danielle's post last night, and haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Now Danielle is a beautiful and eloquent writer who has put across her reasoning for her non-faith more articularly than I could ever express here and I thoroughly suggest you read it in its entirety.

It got me thinking how fortunate it is that we live in a country where religion doesn't dominate people's attitudes and outlooks they way they do in the US. That is not to say that there are not a large number of people in this country who identify as believers, and some would argue that we are predominantly a Christian country. However it does not appear to be with the same religious fervour of our counterparts across the puddle and certainly doesn't seem to have the same influence over our political systems as it does in America (gay marriage issue aside).

So now it's time for a disclaimer of my own. Everything I write below is my own personal opinion. Like Danielle, I have no desire to incite hate or criticise or shed judgement on any of your own beliefs. Please respect that this is my view of the world, and mine alone, just as I respect your decision to believe, live and love the way you choose.

The number one thing that stood out to me was that Danielle and many of her readers felt compelled to classify themselves into neat little categories, that of believer or agnostic or non-believer, etc. Danielle spoke of her struggle to fit herself into one of these moulds, however I felt overwhelming sad when reading a lot of the comments that many also felt they had to have a nice, neat little label that summed up their beliefs (or lack thereof), and had extreme difficulty and some shame (in the case of non-believers) to communicate this with the outside world.

It led me to think about labels and the part they play in our lives. From the moment we're born we're labelled in one way or another and now that we're older we're still feeling compelled to stick a label on it.

I went to sleep last night with a mental image of each of us walking around with a whacking great sticky label and wondering what each would say? What would yours?

The truth of the matter is, we're all so unique so how can we classify ourselves into neat little boxes when clearly our truths, beliefs and opinions differ from person to person?

So a quick background on my own religious upbringing: as per many Anglo-Saxons, I was brought up in the Uniting Church and attended Sunday School pretty much religiously (no pun intended) with my mother. Our family was unique in that I had had a deeply religious (Catholic) father who was excommunicated for the heinous crime of marrying my mother outside the Catholic Church. Obviously dad was incredibly disillusioned by this and it had a lot of bearing on his future outlook of religion in general. He politely declined to join us on our church outings and has never really been one for organised religion to this day.

Apart from the Sunday church outings we were not a terribly religious family. We'd occasionally get embarrassed by the odd guest who'd come around and say grace, and from time to time we'd consider whether we should introduce it at the dinner table, however generally by the time the food came out we'd forgotten all about it. My parents worked hard to instil basic values in us, and my father always claimed that if we lived by the Ten Commandments we couldn't go wrong. Don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal and do unto others and all that.

I still try to live like this to the present day.

My mum used to thoroughly enjoy getting dressed up (the 'Sunday best') and going to church, I think she saw it as a time of reflection and meditation and also a social event. That all ended the day our church was taken over by a new priest whose first sermon was basically to chastise people for dressing nicely at church just to impress others and that God loved those with bare feet just as much, if not more, than those dressed all fancy. I really don't think my mum ever dressed to impress anyone else, it was more of a respect thing on her part and she was naturally a very elegant and well dressed woman at the best of times so this hurt her deeply.

We never went to church again, except for weddings or christenings and the like.

(she also discovered Sunday champagne brunches instead so all was not lost).

I guess this upbringing has given me a general mistrust for all organised religions, but a very avid interest in religions as a whole. I even studied religion at school where we investigated what made each of the major religions 'tick'. Three things became really apparent to me the more I delved. Firstly, the basic tenets of each religion were pretty much the same - be a good person. Secondly, that most of the 'rules' that religions are governed by are man-made and have nothing to do with the original purpose. And lastly, that most of the conflict, hypocrisy and wars that have occurred throughout history stem from religion. People have twisted their religion to suit themselves and to give them leeway to do both some incredibly good and incredibly heinous things in the name of God.

On a personal level, I like to think there is something out there, something bigger than us all. We are such complex, evolved creatures who think and act and have free will, and I do like to think that there has to be a purpose for it all. Somehow humans came to 'be' and were given the ability to feel, love, laugh, cry and sadly hate and inflict pain. An entire universe was created and yet in all this time we appear to be the only living creatures in our solar system. Why would this be if there wasn't some grand purpose? I think I would feel a bit bereft if I found out it was all for nothing.

I have also had a defining moment in my life that does make me believe there is more going on than what we see - when my mother died. Our family were with her at our home and we had been sitting with her for hours. Due to the length of time most of us either had our eyes closed or were deep in thought however at the same exact moment every head in the room snapped up and we just KNEW.

I walked outside, feeling completely numb and just sat there. Later my father and my sister came out and I remember them saying that I should come back inside to say goodbye. I don't recollect why I then said what I said, or why I even said it, however I asked them 'why? She's not there anymore'. I just FELT that she was gone. That whatever essence that had made my mum MY mum had gone away.

However, having said all that, I still can't say with any confidence that I'm religious. I deeply admire people who have real faith, you know the sort of faith where they just KNOW. They're not faking, they really and truly and deeply believe in their God and that he will take care of them and has a grand plan for life unfolding the way it does. They put their unflagging trust in their Lord wholeheartedly.

I just can't do that.

I guess I can accept that there is more to life than meets the eye. What I do struggle with, however, is the concept of faith. It would be absolutely lovely to just give my control over to another and just believe that things would be OK. But I've been brought up to take action and to effect change and not just sit back and believe that things will be fine. This is the thing I admire the most about believers but something I find impossible to comprehend.

I have a friend who is deeply religious and it is fascinating to talk to her. She is one of the happiest and most accepting people I know and completely without judgement. The last time we spoke I told her I admired how she could have such faith and that I felt I was incapable of it. She said something that stuck with me, and I cannot remember the exact words but it was along the lines of that it takes a community to build a church, and as a single mother I was in the position of having to be my own God.

Without wanting to sound completely blasphemous, I very much like the idea of me being my own deity.

So in summary with regard to my beliefs: do I believe in God? I don't know. Do I believe in religion? No. Do I believe in something: I think so. Do I believe that the more positive energy I put out the more I attract? Yes. Do I believe in science? Yes. Do I believe that living like a good person is it's own reward? Emphatically, yes.

So on reading all of that, I really do not see how I could possibly fit into any pre-defined category. I always go back to Cathy's mum describing our school as the 'sausage factory' and that Cathy and myself didn't necessarily fit there because we were not sausages. In this instance, I'm really not a sausage and quite honestly, I don't have any desire to be.

I guess ultimately my question is this: who decided that we all have to fit into nice, neat little labelled boxes? What is this compulsion that we as humans have for categorising everyone and everything in order for it to make sense?

To me, life doesn't make sense. And therein lies it's beauty. I don't want to be labelled. I don't want to fit into a category. Call me a rebel, but that's a label unto itself, is it not?

And from now on, at the risk of offending any believers, feel free to refer to me as my own one God.

xx




4000 views!

4000 views!

When we started this blog we thought at the least a few friends would read it and maybe pass it along to a friend or two of their own. Mostly we thought it would just be a forum for our own inane babble, as Facebook doesn't give you enough characters to REALLY carry on like a pack of fools express ourselves sometimes.

However, in just over two months we've now cleared about 3000 more views than we ever anticipated! It's a milestone none of us thought we'd reach.

It seems that people from all around the world seem to like what we're putting out, in particular the contributions of the illustrious Cathy and the letters to our teenage selves. I like to think that we have a great combination of humour and warmth, peppered with a heaping dose of self-deprecation and oftentimes sheer insanity. We three are all very different personalities however I love these women like sisters and what they add to my own life personally is worth their weight in gold. I hope you think so too.

It's wonderful, scary and very humbling to know that people read what we put out there and most importantly seem to come back for more.

We'd love to hear your feedback. What have you particularly enjoyed? On what subjects would you like to slap us and tell us to shut up? Feel free to post your comments below or link to your own blog.

If you really like us, share us with your friends on Facebook! It's as easy as clicking the little Facebook icon thingie below!

Thanks for reading!

xx

Diss my kid and see what happens. I dare you.

Home again today with a very sick little man :(

E woke up this morning worse than yesterday with a slight temperature and a cough that breaks your heart and makes you wince just to hear it. I'm glad it's school holidays after today as it will give him a chance to recuperate a bit and not miss any more school. He's heartbroken to have missed term end, not to mention the opportunity to grab the phone numbers of his new mates so we could organise for them to get together during the holidays.

He was so adorable this morning when I brought him his breakfast on a tray to the couch, complete with vegemite toast and a juice box (hey, it's gourmet all the way in this house) and a little cup with all his morning medicine and vitamins inside. He looked up at me pathetically and said:

You're so good to me when I'm sick.

He's so adorable! He's been so listless today and is currently sacked out on the couch so hopefully the rest will restore him to good health, fingers crossed. I feel especially super-protective of him when he's sick and just want to kiss him and cuddle him and look after him and make sure he's eating and drinking properly and taking his vitamins - it's the only time these days when he lets me treat him like a baby without the accompanying eye-roll and 'mum you're embarrassing me'.

Speaking of mother hens (or more aptly, lions defending their cubs), I caught up on my Bachelorette mandatory viewing and I have to say, I am LOVING single mother Emily. Most bachelorettes seeom so pageant-queen fake with pre-prepared soundbites and talking ad nauseum about their 'journey' (if there was a drinking game where you had to have a shot every time they said it, you'd be comatose by the first ad break). However in one of the recent episodes Emily completely won me over by showing her perfect Southern Belle facade is really just a cover for a scrappy, foul-mouthed ballsy chick who'll defend her family with her last breath.


She was informed that one of the guys referred to her daughter as 'baggage' which incited the following prize-winning comment:

I wanna go West Virginia, hood rat backwoods on his ass.

Love it. Not quite sure what it means but I think it's code for Emily, you're one awesome chick.

If this wasn't enough, despite being so sick she could barely speak, she then confronted this unsuspecting loser in front of all the others and proceeded to rip him a new one three ways from Sunday, asking if he had anything to say for himself. When he paused (likely to think of a convincing way to cover his ass) she jumped in and said:

No? Well get the f*%k out.

 Emily, you're my kinda girl. Most 'real' moment in Bachelor(ette) history.

Personally I can't believe that anyone could be stupid enough to disparage someone's kid. I'm an amiable and generally pretty docile person who is hard to anger, but heaven help you if you diss my kid. I'll tear you apart with my bare hands. And then light the remains on fire and roast marshmallows and dance around having a party. I've never met a mother who wouldn't, and quite frankly anyone that wouldn't is probably someone I don't care to know.

As a single mum, it does amaze me what comes out of people's mouths sometimes. I am constantly confounded by so-called well-meaning comments that ultimately are a major diss on my child where I want to rip their arms off and beat them with them. My 'favourite' was being told by a man that it wasn't right for my son to be brought up without a father and it was a failing on my part to have not provided him with one. Um, like I had a choice? Well I guess the choice was mine to have a child, and whilst I'm violently pro-choice and think that every woman has the right to decide what's best for her, for me it was a no-brainer.

I've said before that I don't want a medal or a pedestal but how about some simple respect?

Whew. When I started writing this I simply wanted to report Emily's awesome quote and suddenly here I am hip-deep in a single mother rant...not where I was planning to go but this brain and these fingers have a mind of their own sometimes. But there you are.

Lesson of the day: diss a woman's child at your own peril.

Now over to another mother who'd kill you stone dead if you so much as look sideways at her kids...but not before giving you a tongue-lashing of the calibre you've never experienced before (or indeed, will again):

Welcome back to Cathy and her (in)famous 50s Housewife Friday post for today. So excited for the big changes in her life too.

xx

Thursday, 21 June 2012

Cathy's 50s Housewife Friday

Happy 50's Housewife Friday!!


I missed doing my FHF update last week and i apologise, but my husband was on holidays from work and it was also his birthday so he demanded every last bit of attention I had! You know what they're like.


Being the good 50's inspired housewife I try to be on Fridays, i gave it to him, as the rest of the week, true to form, i had been telling him to shut up and keep the hell away from me. (Just kiddin...... it was maybe only half the week.)


Anyways : Remember the rant i had about how we were looking for a new place, but then I updated about how we were staying here and i was baking celebratory cookies etc etc....well tomorrow we are moving!! We have found an awesome house back in our old haunt of fabulous Paddo and are packing the menagerie and heading back. 


It s the perfect place for us. Right around the corner from Xavi's school, Bus Stop out the front for Sev, massive yard for my Daycare and my pets, renovated bathrooms and kitchen, decks etc etc.


Yes, we somehow beat out all the other contestants in the running for this great property, even though the owner originally wasn't allowing pets, and we have 43 of them ( including the fish and the children) I nearly cried when I found that out- the house was just too perfect for us and I felt it should be ours.


The fact that we have been applying and losing out to one of the other 50 couples in this competitive race made me put a bit more thought into this one, so I rang back the Real Estate and I sold us. Turns out the owner really wanted a family living there and when he heard that my husband was an electrical contractor who would be more than happy to do any electrical work the house might need while we are tenants, free of charge, we were in!!


50's Housewives love to pimp out their husbands apparently 


So there you go, kids, if ur obnoxious and precocious enough, u too can get ur way.


In the midst of the current chaos surrounding me, i am off to bake a huge batch of choc chip cookies for the band of Fabulous helpers coming over tomorrow..... 


Today 1st track listing on the soundtrack of my day?


KISS - U were made for loving me 
(which then inspired my teen to make me watch Youtube video footage of Ace drunk....classic Ace  A king amongst men and one of the worlds greats ).


Thanks for a fun Friday KISS


So, Here's to a fresh start and a Happy 50's houswife Friday to y'all 


Cathy xx


Ps Interview guy to Ace Frehley " So, i take it ur a Spaceman"
Ace to interview guy " Nah, actually I'm a plumber " laughs hysterically 
Classic 




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Mother's guilt. Sick kids and door-knocking preachers.

Every working mum, or indeed any busy mum (which is kind of redundant, yeah?) knows the pain and guilt of having a sick child and feeling like you need to be in two places at once.

The past few days E has been coughing and generally feeling a bit ordinary. I have sent him to school as I'm conscious that I'm still really new in my job and feel like I should be there as I want to prove myself as a someone with a good work ethic. But this morning my poor little guy woke up sounding like he was going to cough up a lung, you know that sort of bark that sounds like a dirty great german shepherd has taken up residence in your chest. He was feeling really weak and listless and it hurt just to listen to him.

You know the poor boy is sick when you give him the choice of going to school and enjoying jumping castles, tuckshop, building a robot and chocolate versus staying home, and he says to you:

It's a hard decision but I have to make the right choice, not the choice I WANT to make.

Awww.

So we trooped off to the nearest doctor this morning, which unfortunately didn't take appointments and we had to wait our turn...for 90 minutes. Apparently we got lucky as the usual wait is 2 hours plus, but still! Luckily we came prepared with books and also they had comfy couches so E dozed on my lap for part of the time. The doc has diagnosed him with a general viral infection, and from the sounds of all the coughing coming from the waiting room it seems like it's spreading through Toowoomba like wildfire! I wanted a surgical mask just to sit there! Unfortunately this means prescribed rest, liquids and cough medicine for E and not a lot else that can be done.

Meanwhile I'm feeling crazy guilty because I'm not at work, which shows pretty bad form in your first month, but what do you do? It's a horrible choice although at the same time really not a choice at all. Luckily I've been given a work phone so was able to receive and send emails both from the phone and from my computer when we eventually made it home from the docs. At least feeling in touch somewhat and letting people know I was instantly available helped ease the guilt a little, but I still felt like I was doing something wrong.

So the day has been pretty much non-eventful, with E resting on the couch and OD'ing on ABC 3 whilst I pottered around getting a few chores done.

I know this is an awful thing to say but how cute are kids when they're sick? E lay on the couch looking equal parts angelic and pathetic and I couldn't help but serve him meals on a tray while he reclined there like some kind of old school king with his handmaidens around. I drew the line at feeding him grapes.

So I have finished the books I was looking forward to reading and have now embarked on my next freebie...it's called That's My Teenage Son: How Moms Can Influence Their Boys to Become Good Men. I know it sounds like I'm going on a self-help quest and maybe I am, but I'm always interested in books that just MIGHT give me some guidance and insight into teenage boys as they're pretty much a mystery. I've talked before of my deficiency in speaking Boy, as I was raised in a mainly female dominated environment, and I only need to speak to friends who went to sleep with an adorable 12 year old only to wake up to a 13 year old alien invading their home. E is in the adorable phase, but I won't be putting my money on this lasting for long.

I'm intrigued that the book is written by a man, which is a little condescending in my book. And it's had more than it's fair share of church references thus far but I'll persevere. I find with these types of books that even if you only get one tip out of the whole thing, then it's worthwhile. So I'll let you know my opinion when I'm done.

So another novelty of living in suburbia: having people knock on your door. I'd forgotten what this was like having been inaccessible in a secured building for so many years but so far today we've had someone wanting to preach the word of Lord, Our God, and someone trying to sell chocolates. Fortunately for us we have blinds and frosted glass on every window so it's also pretty easy to pretend we're not home, which will be a wonderful thing I'm sure if we're on the well-tread Mormon-conversion circuit.

In Cairns one of our neighbours showed up at the door naked and invited the Mormons in, which meant that from thereon in, all of them gave our entire street a wide berth forever more.

There is a God.

Anyhoo I'm not quite that brave but I might get to know the neighbours and see if one of the blokes is keen to carry on the legacy. Anything for a bit of peace and quiet.

So what's your day been like? Do you feel as guilty as me when you have to stay home from work to look after your sick kids? How do you deal with it?

xx

Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Tuesday Q&A. Return of the hot plumber.

Today's Q&A. Sadly this is not a joke. FML.

Q: What's more un-fun than a shower that produces the merest trickle?

 A: a shower that doesn't produce squat. Not a trickle. Not a drop. Not hot, not cold, just nada. Together with every other tap and water generating device except the toilet (small mercies) and the (freezing cold) rainwater tap.

I'm trying to erase from my memory all recollections of getting ready for work this morning. Suffice it to say it included a kettle, a sink and some soap and let's leave it at that. The mental scars are too fresh. Utterly traumatised.

Q: What's even more un-fun than freezing my bits off on a 4 degree morning with no water to speak of?

My lovely 'surprise' on my windshield
A: Realising I forgot to put my car in the garage last night (due to being distracted by hot plumber parked in my driveway) and finding a sheet of ice covering my windshield this morning. Yes ice.

Damn you hot plumber.

I remember when I was little my dad would get out the hose on frosty mornings to rid the car of ice and was about to emulate him when I realised...no water.

Happy days.

Q: What's even more un-fun than this joyous start to the day followed by an all-day meeting where I had to not only stay awake but also pay attention for the entire thing, due to taking minutes of said meeting?

A: Getting a text from #1 son after school to advise...you guessed it...still no water. Having to sit through another hour of the meeting before I could get out and phone the real estate was the longest 60 minutes of my entire life. I nearly cried on the phone to them at the merest thought of another night without a steaming shower.

On the upside, it did mean a return visit from hot plumber who located the problem and now not only is the problem fixed, the water pressure if anything seems better than before. Anticipating the longest, greatest singular showering experience of my life. Enough said.

I love you hot plumber.

I realised when recounting to a friend on the phone last night my money-tree-theft whilst on a champagne high at the bead shop that it was the day after said theft that the water pipe decided to blow itself to kingdom-come. Coincidence?

Is it like breaking a mirror? Have I just wished years of bad luck on myself by thefting the single thing that is supposed to BRING me luck?????

Oh dear.

But hey at least I can sit here and laugh about it now so I guess my recent happiness challenge has had some effect in still making me look for the upside in things.

Plus I got THE most delicious piece of cheesecake with caramel topping for afternoon tea, as a bribe for sitting in the meeting all day long. And cheesecake makes up for everything.

Looking forward to a very uneventful day tomorrow....please...please...

xx

Monday, 18 June 2012

Suburban dramas. Hot tradies. Beautiful homesteads.

So last night we turned on the shower only to find the merest trickle coming through. After a few weeks of a decent pressure it was hell on wheels to try to wash hair with the help of a bucket and what was akin to a tiny little drip.

Most un-fun shower ever.

I posted on Facebook last night to see if anyone could shed light on the issue and also who to call about things like this? I checked out the internet but there were no problems reported, but friends advised that it was likely a water main somewhere and to sit tight and it would be fine by morning.

Except it wasn't.

The paltry trickle of last night morphed into basically a dripping tap this morning.

Second most un-fun shower ever. In fact it may have been a tie seeing as it was about 5 degrees when I woke up.

So I called the real estate first thing who asked me to go home and check that someone wasn't playing silly buggers and had turned off my water tap! WTF? And to call the council and report it if not. So I dutifully reported it to the council and made the mercy dash home, only to feel completely stupid when after a thorough search of my property I was completely unable to find the tap!?

I did notice quite a puddle to the left side of the house, which is an area we never go down, ever. The driveway is on the right and the left area is a bare garden bed and a pebbled path so I've had no reason to even walk around there before. Huh, I guess you learn something new every day. But clearly not where the tap is.

But apart from being loudly barked at by the dogs next door, it was a non-event.

About an hour later the council rang and told me a water pipe had burst inside my property, but as it was inside they couldn't do anything about it...

Back to the real estate...

Anyhoo, long and boring story short, basically the plumber can't understand how we've had any water AT ALL for weeks as the pipes have literally disintegrated and all need to be replaced. He's doing a temporary fix as I type and will be back to complete the job tomorrow. Meanwhile, he's had to pretty much dig up my front yard entirely so our street-view is incredibly attractive right now.

On a completely unrelated note, how cute is my plumber! Woohoo!!!!

Upside (apart from hot tradie) is that we have water!

Now I realise my washing machine may actually work after all and it was likely just the lack of water that gave it the equivalent of a dummy spit. Fingers crossed!

So apart from plumbing hijinks, I had an awesome time today exploring a potential party venue with my colleague. It's called Gabbinbar Homestead and is the most beautiful, idyllic place. Dated back to 1893, it's this amazing property full of lush gardens, a historic homestead, tennis court, croquet lawn and the odd little wooden cottage or two dotted around the place. Sadly for us, the woman who was supposed to show us around clearly doesn't know how to use Outlook and stood us up. After a quick phone call with her, we wandered around to our heart's content checking it all out and I'm in LOVE! I must, must, must plan a party there.

It's enough to make me want to find a husband just so I can get married there, although this seems a little drastic.

The logistics are enough to make our security guy weep but it is so unbelievably gorgeous that I need to make it work...somehow.

Hope everyone's having a much less eventful day than mine! In what can only be construed as Murphy's Law, the hot plumber just knocked on the door and I had to answer it in my trackies. Damn you Murphy.

xx



Saturday, 16 June 2012

Sundays. Scarlett. Self-management. Me?

What an amazing day!

I went outside after one of the nicest sleep-ins I had for awhile (9am thank you very much) and there was not a cloud in the sky. Glorious. The weather app says it got up to 20 degrees today, however I'd beg to differ as sitting in the sun I was toasty warm (having said that I was wearing trackies and thick socks at the time!). It's just after 4pm now and the temperature suddenly dipped about 15 minutes ago, chasing me inside the house to ensure these warmed-up bones stay that way!

So last night I stayed up late watching my all-time favourite movie...yes you guessed it, Gone With The Wind. It's unbelievable how they could make such an epic film in 1939 and how it has really stood the test of time. They really knew what they were doing, the burning of Atlanta was convincing despite special effects and CGI being decades from inception, and making such a strong female character in an era where women were meant to stand there and look pretty to catch a husband was pretty ground-breaking. Scarlett of course is my idol, as despite being capricious, selfish and manipulative, ultimately would do anything she had to to ensure the survival of herself and her loved ones. A survivor, not by choice but by circumstance. I think she defines the saying 'you never know how strong a woman is until you put her in hot water'.

I can relate.

So apart from a solo trip to the shopping centre to peacefully window shop without a shopping-allergic boy whining every two minutes (my feet hurt, are we going yet, this is boring), I've spent a lovely day at home that was relaxing apart from the washing machine issue, of course. After the brown-out we experienced the other night, my washing machine has now decided to play silly buggers and not work properly. It won't fill with water and none of the cycles operate for more than 10 seconds before the entire thing just starts beeping incessantly and won't play ball. Grr.

So in order to get two loads of washing done, I've had to manually fill the damned thing with water and detergent, mix them around a bit, drain the water (every 10 seconds), then refill to rinse...and repeat.

I felt like an olden day washerwoman and really could have used one of those old-school wringing thingies today. As it was I had to squeeze as much water out as I could, hang on the line all day and now I'm drip feeding them through the dryer to finally get the bloody things dry. Fun and games.

On the upside, I got a really cheap steam mop and used it for the first time today and it's BRILLIANT. Now I have no excuse not to have clean floors as with this wonderful new addition to my arsenal. I literally did the whole house in less than 15 minutes. Effortless and quick is the way I like my housekeeping. Domestic goddess I am NOT.

One of the best things about living here is watching E play outside in the sunshine and fresh air, something we sorely missed in Brisbane. We had no gardens or outdoor space at our building except for a patio, and the nearest park was a good 30 minute walk away. So I'm ashamed to say that little things like teaching E to ride a bike was put on the backburner.

He got an awesome bike for his birthday 2 years ago which was too large for him at the time. I tried to teach him a few times to ride on the pavement but it was the most frustrating experience that left E in tears and vowing that he HATED bike riding and simply wouldn't do it. I guess we just put the bike in the underground carpark and forgot about it, to avoid the post-traumatic flashbacks.

Now he's got a lovely long driveway and a really large concreted area near the garage to practice on, I decided that nearing 12 years old, it really was something we had to accomplish. I was envisaging more trauma, only to behold number one son hopping on, putting feet on pedals...and just going.

I guess all the ripstik practice has come in handy as he has amazing balance and literally was riding up and down the driveway immediately! In two weeks he's taught himself to turn and is well on his way to 'look mum, no hands!'.

Wow. So proud of him right now.

He's now looking forward to riding to school (maybe with another week's practice!) and showing off his 'mad skills' to all his mates.

Another son brag: his school uses this 'self management' system which to be honest, at first sounded like the same kind of hogwash that every other school spouts and then is never put into practice. I'm completely LOVING his new school as they actually are practising what they preach.

Each kid is taught to manage their own behaviour and to be accountable for what they do. At the end of each term, they have to perform a self-assessment, followed by a student/teacher discussion on the outcome and whether the teacher agrees with their assessment. A bit like a performance review. Should the child be found to be 'self-managing' they're eligible to attend a special end-of-term event (ie. this time it's bouncy castles and a BBQ).

I completely love this idea, and it allies closely with what I always tell E, which is to take responsibility for his own actions.

So E brought home his assessment on Friday to be signed and I have quite the hard little taskmaster! He was really tough on himself and after answering the questions on the assessment, determined himself to be 'Developing Towards Self Managing' with the comment:

I am developing towards self managing but I think I'm doing pretty well for the new kid.

Awww.

Luckily his teacher disagreed and thinks that he IS indeed self managing so he is very excited to be included among the special elite who get to bounce to their heart's content.

Good thing this wasn't around in my day as I have an inkling that I was entirely delusional and oblivious. Having said that, nothing was ever my fault so why should I say it was????

So excited for tomorrow's The Voice grand finale. It's going to be an amazing show and I'm just sorry it all seems to be finishing so quickly. I am still backing Karise to win, I don't think anyone could possibly knock her off her perch. The others are quite formidable but she truly is destined to be the next (and hopefully less tragic) Amy Winehouse.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend! Back to the grindstone tomorrow, but actually looking forward to it being as I'm still 'new girl' and every day is exciting!

So weekend wrap-up:


  • Discovered something new this weekend (bead shop) - check
  • Did something silly (drunk at bead shop) - check
  • Finished Deadlocked and now halfway through Tote Bags and Toe Tags - check
  • Watched all-time favourite movie - check

Love it!


xx

It's a beautiful day
Glorious!
The bike master at work
Yes, you're awesome