Conversations with a Nine Yr Old.

The boy next door had an interesting take on our home after watching me cook dinner.

Harry: You know what! Even old houses are still good.
Me: Yep
Harry: Cause it still does everything important like cook dinner, and you can sleep and your toilet is outside which is a bit yuck but it's ok cause your lucky to even have a toilet.
Me: *grinning* Yep
Harry: So some houses are nice and new.  But old kinda ugly houses, they can still do all the same things. You just don't think they would.

I'm very interested to see how Harry thought we lived before he saw me cook dinner :)

Who Knew Wool Could Be So Enlightening?

Today I was having an Osteopath appointment.  At one point I was resting on the bed while he worked on my shoulder.  Then he said something unexpected. He asked me to look inside to see what I could see/feel.

Anyone who knows me, knows that meditation is not my strong point. I have tried many times for just as many years and I have never once managed to either a. Sit still long enough or b. See/feel anything of any consequence (usually I can focus quiet well on what needs doing, or my shopping list though).

So when Steve (the Osteo) asked me to look inside I rolled my eyes (under closed eyelids).  I couldn't decide what to do.  Either once I managed not to see anything do I tell him in an embarrassed tone that I couldn't see/feel anything of importance.  Or do I make something up, hoping all he wanted was a one line answer and then would get back to fixing my shoulder.  I needed to have a think, so while I was thinking I looked inside to see what I was feeling/seeing.

Just to prove me wrong I started to see something.  This was a big thing for me so I relaxed and tried to explain what it was I was seeing.  It turned out that Steve wanted to talk about what I was seeing/feeling for 1/2 an hour (making me very very glad that I didn't make something up).

To cut a long story short this is what I saw.  And sure its a bit weird, and it surprises even me how strange it makes my mind seem.  So instead of going through the 1/2 an hour conversation I'm just going to give you the quick points.

There was a ball of wool all tangled and frantic.  Who wanted to be some beautiful loops of yarn.

To the tangled ball of wool, the yarn looked so calm and relaxed.  It looks easy for everyone to find the yarn's ends.  The wool had been trying to be more like the yarn but the more it tried the bigger (and more perfect) the yarn got and the smaller (and more frantic) the wool got.

It wondered could it even become the yarn? The yarn was too big, too perfect, too different to the ball.  Plus the ball liked some of the bits about itself that the yarn didn't have.  It liked some of its craziness and its frenetic energy.  It just wished that there was a way that it could untangle itself just enough so that life wasn't so frantic all the time.  It knew it couldn't be the yarn.  And even if it could, it wasn't sure that it wanted to be.

But what could it be instead?

Maybe... maybe it could be a pompom

The End

Truthfully I'm sure that at least 1/2 of you are reading this and thinking that I am nuttier than you thought :)

I told Andrew about it and he said "after three years of therapy, it took an Osteopath to make you realise that?" 

So why am I sharing this? I'm sharing because I think that in our own ways we are all the ball of tangled wool.  And when we think about where we want to be, most of us want something resembling the soft loops of yarn.  And some people achieve that.  And some never will.  But even if you can't be the angel-like yarn there can be something that you can be that is more you. 

For me, I think I am a pompom.

Who in the Twitterverse?

Over the last few weeks I have been trying to get my head back into Twitter.  Its not that I don't get Twitter, I do.  In the same way as I get facebook, I can see peoples interest in it is.  The problem is that not enough of my nearest and dearests are using Twitter and so for me what is the point?

Then I remembered that a lot of people follow famous people.  So who would I follow.  The first few were easy, Neil Gaiman, Kevin Smith, Will Wheton but then who? Who do others follow?

So I decided to search for who are the most followed on Twitter?.  A few interesting facts (well I think that they are interesting.

- The Top 5 are: Brittany Spears, Ashton Kutcher, Lady Gaga, Ellen DeGeneres, Barak Obama.
- In the same order they have tweeted: 427 times, 6010, 454, 2484, 849.
- Al Gore is #40
- Perez Hilton has tweeted the most (for a single person not a company) with 49,038 in just 42 months.
- CNN have been members longest (within the top 20) at 44 months
- The longest in the Top 100 was Bizstone (whoever they are) at 53 months.

Did all of that help? not really.  I wouldn't follow any of the top 20 and only two or three of the top 100.  But it was interesting enough to share :)

My Week in Photos (or Close Encounters of the Idol Kind)

Photo by Treen, taken on iPhone (am I the only person who doesn't have an iPhone?) 

Last week has been busy.  The first half was busy with the kind of crazy boring stuff that is unbloggable.  But the second half has been filled with the kind of coolness that in so many ways defies explanation (plus I'm to tired to try :)

So these photos should cover most of the best bits.

Hamish turned 4 on Friday (isn't he just the cutest thing in the world).  We celebrated by going out to hang with Aunty Treena and Uncle Nick who have been in Camden for the week.  Hamish had a blast when Uncle Nick let Hamish play with his iPad.  This was incredibly giving of Nick seeing that his iPad is his current pride and joy.

It's super cute watching my kids play with Treen and her family.  Treens mum showed Hamish how to throw the ball in a way that it wouldn't hit their zombie dog 'Stinky Pete' and let him feed the fish.  And her brother walked him round the garden and talked about all the different plants.

Aunty Treena then read books, played Bakugan and generally listened to Hamish talk up a storm.  She even mastered skim reading the books in such a way that Hamish didn't realise that she was only reading a few words from each page ... a skill that took me years to perfect.

The next cool thing for the week is that it was finally time to go to the Opera House for the 'Graphic' events I booked over a month ago.  On Saturday a friend and I went to hear Neil Gaiman read his short story 'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains'.  It was performed in front of 2000 people all listening to him read while a four string quartet played and images from artist Eddie Campbell flicked on a screen behind him.

See that tiny dot on stage .... that's Neil Gaiman.  I have written multiple posts about him so I wont go into detail except to say that in my eyes he is an absolute legend (almost verging on godlike).

Then on Sunday night the same friend and I went to the Kevin Smith event 'An evening with Kevin Smith'. It's basically a Q&A night and as always he was inappropriately hilarious.

And that not quiet so tiny dot on stage is the effervescent Kevin Smith.

These two men are in the top 5 of my pop culture icons.  And the fact that I was able to listen to them both in their relative styles over one weekend was one of the most awesome and awe inspiring things I have done.  Seriously, at one point there was talk of Neil being able to do a signing and I wondered how I was going to be able to stop myself getting on my knees and bowing yelling 'were not worthy'!!!

Small Things #16 - Sparklers

As I wandered past the washing machine late last night, I saw a packet of sparklers left over from Hamish's party.  I thought about how much I enjoy sparklers and how it seems like a long time between parties when I get to play with them.

Also the problem with having sparklers around kids is that most of your attention is on the kids.  Teaching them how not to burn themselves, how to spin them to make cool light circles and taking a million photos (cause there is nothing quiet as special as watching your kids play with things you love from your own childhood).

Then I realised, those sparklers on the washing machine are mine!  And in spite of how I feel (sometimes), I am an adult and if I want to light a sparkler on a non party day then that is perfectly within my scope of reasonable activities.

So I lit the sparkler and watched it fizz and sparkle, I bent the end and made big sparkler circles and then it fizzed out of fizz.  So I lit another one and just sat and watched. I soaked in the sulfur smell that reminds me of my childhood and faced the age old problem of 'what do you do with the hot metal stick once you have finished spinning it round in circles'.

Tonight as I wandered outside I saw the sparklers again and lit one.  They are so beautiful.  But I reminded myself that part of what makes sparklers special is that they are a once in a while item.  I put them back in the party box and decided that next time I need a lift, I'll try and remember to lite a sparkler, but not so often that they run out of special.

Hamishs 4th Birthday Party - The Monkey Party

Its been a busy week and the last few days have been spent getting ready for our Hamishs 4th birthday party.  This year he wanted a 'Monkey Party'.  As I have mentioned before, my kids ask for a theme and then I try and make them invitations and cake in that theme.  I also print out pictures in keeping with the theme and stick them on paper bags for party bags.

This year everything felt very together and organised until people arrived.  Then we had a manic 4 hours of 18 kids and 10-12 adults running around in our house and backyard.  Thankfully the weather was fine and slightly warm and the kids were happy playing with the party bags and climbing in the tree house.

The problem with being the host of a party (and the only person in the family who takes photos) is that there are only a few photos of the day.  Thankfully I got a few photos of the cake before we actually brought it out to be cut and devoured.  But I got no photos of the party bags and very few of the birthday boy.

This year I also decided to relax my ideals about food and toys.  So we had the usual cut fruit, sausages, hummus and vege sticks and little dukkah pizzas.  But we also had fairy bread, crackles, crisps and a few extra lolly in the party bags.  Jack seemed to enjoy the food and I was pleasantly surprised at the choices both of my kids made, eating a few crisps and then a few pieces of fruit and so on.

Hamish was to busy opening present to eat much.  Seeing as I was relaxing about presents, we now have a few superheros, some gratuitously noisy toys (including a very cool electric guitar, and a voice changer that the kids love and mummy might accidentally drop in a puddle :).  We also got a few long time favourites like volcano making kit, dinosaur excavation, puzzles and books.

We had a few costumes.  This was the only one I managed to get a picture of but we also had two homemade monkeys and one phone call an hour before the party asking if a monkey costume was a requirement to come.  It made me realise that while my kids want these themed parties, I may need to add a little more detail to the invites so as to not freak parents out.

Hamish was also rocking his new haircut that my gorgeous friend gave him earlier in the week.  This is one of the only photos I got of him and its not the best to show off the hair (or the grin he had on his face for most of the day ... honest he had a really good day, this photos just doesn't show it)

I asked this pair of friends to stand together so I could take a photo.  It was hilarious, at first they went to do the usual kids cuddle and then decided to strike a pose.

Later in the evening we started a fire and had some sparklers.  Both of my kids are a little nervous of sparklers having both burnt their fingers at different times.

Notice the focus, he has only just burnt his thumb.  Bless him he decided to give it another go.

And ever the cautious one.  As soon as Jack saw the sparklers he backed away.  But then he worked up the courage to give them another go.

Finally the party boy fell asleep half hanging off the recliner.

20 minutes later the last of the revelers crashed out together on the couch.

It was a lovely day.  The weather was perfect, we had just the right amount of food, everyone arrived, and left.  Today we spent the morning digging up dinos, jamming on the guitar, fighting superheros, learning about flags of the world.  Then they spent the afternoon with the kids from our street, running from house to house skating on Hamishs new skateboard, jamming more with the new guitar and the keyboard from christmas and playing superheros.

Thank goodness its all over though, I'm exhausted.

Small Thing #15 - Surviving a Bad Day.

Yesterday Hamish was in a bad mood. Normally when his bad moods arrive on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday I thank my lucky stars because he is in preschool. Yesterday however, there was an excursion and parents were invited. We walked from preschool up to the main street,  to a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch.

It had the potential to be a lovely day.  14 kids sitting round the table while we all tried new foods and talked about different cultures. And for most of the table it was ... except for Hamish and I.

From drop off, Hamishs bad mood was something that we were obviously going to need to deal with, together.

I could go into what I tried and how it all worked but the surviving didn't come down to him it came down to me. Somehow within the hours of him trying to push my buttons, yelling and doing his damnedest to make me cranky, I managed to keep it together. Sure I yelled a little and I had almost murderous thoughts but mostly I took deep breaths and tried to shrug off his mood.

Think about it, when was the last time someone was obviously trying to bait you? How did you react? Did your reactions show the best of you? Or the worst?

It a pretty wonderful thing when someone is pushing and pulling you and you manage to keep it all together. Actually its more than wonderful, its fantastic.

Small Things #14 - Drinking In

We all know I love my coffee. It comes from making it for so many years and from years of broken sleep, needing the kick start a cuppa can give me. We have a great little coffee machine at home that makes cafe quality coffee. But once in a while I grab a takeaway. Its lovely to have someone else make my coffee. Its like having someone cook for you.

Recently I've been occasionally having a 'drink here' coffee. Its a small thing but it feels very decadent.  Like eating dinner out ... Without the actual eating.

So I'm sitting here in a cafe on this cold winter morning. With a hot cup-a-joe in my hands. Listening to the lounge music, people chatting and the clinking of cups and saucers.  And while the waitress brings me coffee and asks if I want a glass of water or something to eat I get to blog/read/people watch to my hearts content.

$3 is a small price to pay.

Photos from the New Camera

Just a few photos taken with my new (regifted from dad) camera.  I really haven't had as much time to play with it as I would have liked, but I'm liking what I'm seeing so far.

64 is the new 46

Apparently Helen Mirren just did a topless shoot to promote her latest movie.  Maybe she just did it cause she could.  Either way I just had to share.  Seriously, I hope I'm still this amazing at 50 let alone 64.  

PS.  Don't click if you have nudity issues, it's tastful but I thought a warning was in order.