Great things in my Week

Oh hello blog! I sort of forgot about you for a moment.

Truth be told, I've been so busy that any thoughts beyond what to do in the
next moment have been few and far between. But a few bloggable things have
come up (none that are whole post worthy)

1. I have a bit of work at the moment via the huzbys company. It's mostly
computer bound in front of TV stuff, as long as I don't want to pay much
attention to the TV. I'm happy to be doing it, as it both gives me the
feeling of helping ABs business and the knowledge that I'm helping to bring
in some dosh.

2. Jack seems to be on a role as far as difficult discussions at the
moment. We have had talks about;
- circumcision
- death
- transvestites
- Hitler
- Mummy and daddy having sex to conceive him

3. Crazy massive girls night out ... Speaks for itself really.

4. One day, two boxes delivered, both had beautiful new shoes. Huzzah! The
first were replacement sheepskin boots so my feet are warm again. The second
were the above divine slippers, bought and sent to me from my darling BFF.
I'm in love!!

Hopefully I'm back in the land of the living for a while. But no promises :)

Watching - Game of Thrones.

Listening - Skipping Girl Vinegar (Melbourne Indie band) thinking about
buying their album.

Reading - Sandman Vol 7

State of mind - Soooo tired but satisfied.

Paper, Scissor, Rock

Every relationship has it's tools that help the relationship run more smoothly.

In our house its paper, scissor, rock. 

You may think of it as a child's game, but trust me, if we come to an impasse it is solved with relative ease because of it.

Can't decide who's turn it is to walk up to the shop for desert?
Kids can't come to an agreement as to what movie to watch, or what they want for dinner?
Can't pick a direction, or an event, or what form of entertainment to choose?

What simpler way to make simple (yet difficult) decisions in a way that everyone feels is fair.   It seems to help solve many of those little issues that could well become bigger if we started arguing about it.  And I love watching the boys use it as a way of bargaining and settling differences of opinion.

So I may say, "are you going up to buy chocolate?" and AB will answer "paper scissor rock" (or just put out his fist ready to start).  No arguing, no reminding each other of who's turn it is, or why the other should have to go, just 1, 2, 3, GO! and the decision is made by fate, or the gods or whatever you believe.

There is but one rule, you can never dispute the outcome.  If you are unwilling to uphold the paper, scissor, rock decision, then don't play!

What tools do you have?

And We Are Home.

3.5 days away feels like ages before you leave and no where near long enough when you get home.
Ups -
1. I got to read uninterrupted for hours
2. The kids spent just as long searching the shale rocks on the edge of the river looking for fossils
3. Chatting the night away drinking red wine and laughing
4. Sitting in the sun, watching birds, the dogs and kids play. Getting bugs out of the pool, running with the dogs, and generally being out in open spaces
5. Watching the dog swimming laps in the pool not caring about the freezing weather
6. Watching AB make a fire with the boys every night and the kids be fixated by it
7. The general sense if peace and well being that watching your family (and friends) all be in their own happy place brings
Downs -
1. Kid weeing in his sleeping bag
2. Dog vomiting on his bed, twice
3. Me spending one night with gastro
4. The cold and rain (although this was made easier by the fire and the indoor spaciousness)
5. The dog whining incessantly about being in the car, wanting to swim, swimming, being cold, not being allowed to sleep in bed with us and any other manor of dog related injustices
Three and a bit days just didn't feel like enough. I may need to impose on out friends again soon. I am glad to be home, but I'm sure I would have been gladder had I had a few more days to rest, relax and feel free :)

Watching - the world pass me by

Listening - kids playing, dogs whining, people laughing and the tension in my back releasing.

Reading - Game of Thrones, 4000 ebook pages long. I may be reading it for a while.

State of mine - I had a wonderful time but a few extra day would have been great. There were a few bits and pieces I didn't get to finish ... My book for one.

Hit the Frog and Toad.

We are heading out of Sydney for the Queens birthday long weekend. As always when getting ready to go away, I'm slightly apprehensive. How will the kids cope with the longish drive? or more accurately how will we cope with what the kids dish out on the drive? Will the dogs get car sick again? What will the weather be like? Will everyone 'gel' so that we actually get to relax and chill out?
We will have to wait and see. The car is packed to the rafters with a random assortment of clothes (from swimmer to thermal underwear), bedding, toys, books, art supplies, food, dogs beds and anything else I though we may need over the next few days. We 'could' have packed lighter but realistically it will be easier to relax if we have everything we need.
We are about 1/3 of the way through the drive, kids have eaten all their food, dogs have finally stopped whining in anticipation, we've stopped once for petrol and twice for someone needing the toilet.
So far it seems like my idea of the perfect family mini break. Wish us good weather, vibes and food!!
Xx

Watching - The road...

Listening - Kids quietly bickering.

Reading - Traffic signs.

State of mind - So glad to be getting out of Sydney for a few days.

Follow up on the Apocolypse

Just in case you thought that I was the only one who thought about this whole apocalypse thing.  Here is a link to an article '5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen'.

PS.  Mostly this shows that I am not the only one who's brain goes off in these fanciful directions.

The Apocalypse Plan

I've been on zombie kick recently. It was unintentional and sort of crept up on me.  Before I knew it I was watching zombies on TV, reading zombie comics and falling asleep reading a zombie book. No need to mention that afterwards I felt a little tense. Every bump, scratch or creak was enough to give me the heebie jeebies.

And so I lay awake wondering, do you have an apocalypse plan?

A while ago I wrote a post on what end of the world movies have taught me. But thing that didn't come up is how do you make it through the first few days/weeks.

With fear of sounding like some conspiracy theorist (which I promise I am not) crazy stuff can happen. A few years ago I was sitting at home with my two young babies and there came a news report that there was a suspected terrorist plot to blow up something in Sydney. And I thought ... What if?

Now I wasn't about to run out and stock up on canned goods and bottled water. Or build a self sufficient bomb shelter. But it did make me think. 


Then we had the whole swine flu / bird flu epidemic (I use that term loosely) and again I thought ... What if?

So I came up with my apocalypse plan. Just imagine, your at work, the kids are in school, hubby's on a bike trip in the mountains and KAPOW! bombs, tidal wave, meteors, zombies, deadly virus, aliens, if your even just a little into sci-fi you will be aware of how many ways the world as we know it could come to an end.  So following is my apocalypse plan:

1. If we are not together it is important to have a meeting place pre-organised.  Personally I have picked a place that is within an hours drive of home but far enough out of Sydney that we should be able to wait for a day or so for each other.  If you are separated by a lot of distance it also gives you a place to leave a message to tell each other where your heading. Obviously the most important thing is to be to try and find each other and quickly! And know your exits! Every route possible to get you from point A to point B.

2. Make sure you have a vehicle that can make it over various terrains and has a lot of space. You'd think I'd pick ABs 4wd but after some thinking my car has almost as much internal space, is a light 4wd and uses less petrol.

3. Know what to pack. Medicine, canned goods and warm clothes come first.  If it's a zombie or alien threat, then as many things that can be used as weapons as possible is high on the list as well. Sturdy shoes, blow up mattress and sleeping bags. Really you want to pack like your never coming back but also like your going to be camping for a REALLY long time. So also think of things like matches, a cooking pot, torches etc.  Lucky for us we have a great camping setup so I'd just grab all that gear.  I'm sentimental but things like photos and jewelry are completely unimportant. This is life and death :)

4. Water and extra petrol. We have a water jerrycan and a petrol jerrycan.  Fill both and use sparingly. Make sure the water is drinkable and enough to last at least a week or two.

5.  Know of all the places within a few days drive (at least) that are either self sufficient and/or enclosed. Which one you pick depends in the threat. Zombies! Gated community (heavily protected places would also do, think prisons, research facilities, army barracks)  Plague! Self sufficient communities (think solar power, tank or bore water, good farming land)

After all of that, it's luck.  Hopefully your preparation has put you in good stead. Good luck and enjoy the apocalypse!! :)

(p.s. People that know me will not be at all surprised that I have actually thought about this. People that don't ... Well now you know me better *grin* but don't worry I'm truly not a conspiracy theorist)

Watching - too many zombie movies.

Reading - too many zombie comics and books.

Listening - the national 'about today' has been played a lot over the last few days.

State of mind - to some of you, completely paranoid, to others perfectly prepared and to the rest nowhere near prepared enough.

You Only Live Once

Twelve years ago today, I woke up to the news that my mum had died.  She had a massive asthma attack in the early hours of the morning, she was 56.  I feel devastated when I think of the fact that mum is no longer in my or my families life, I miss her desperately.  But I also think that just focusing on my loss from her death is a waste of a huge life lesson.

56 ... It's not that far from 34.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not being morbid or freaking out that I am going to die at a young age.  More I'm taking note of how fleeting this life is and how important it is to remember that, as we live our own lives.

I have a tendency to put things off that are out of my comfort zone.  Maybe most people do.  Last week an awesome friend told me we were going out dancing on Saturday night.   My first reaction was 'I don't think that's a good idea, I haven't been out dancing since I was in my early 20's, what would I wear?'.

Then I realised that the others going were also out of their comfort zone.  One was worried about how she was going to get motivated to go out at 10pm.  Another was worried she couldn't remember how to dance. And everyone had slight wardrobe worries.

So I put on my glad rags and thought to myself, what have you got to loose? (after ages staring at my wardrobe and playing with makeup ideas) And we had a wonderfully hilarious night that I will remember for a long time to come.  It was full of laughter and dancing and general debauchery.  Imagine crazy trance music, men on stage in blue and white tinsel mankini's dancing wildy to the music, finding new friends in everyone you met, scoffing down McDonalds at 3.30am and finally laying your head on the pillow at just past 4am.

You only live once!!! and if you keep putting off things that lay outside your comfort zone then are you really living at all?

Lost Loves

Today I've been thinking about people I have loved.

I think I'm pretty lucky, I have and do love easily and frequently. Even more luckily I feel I have been loved equally in return.  Sometimes these are huge all encompassing lifetime loves and sometimes they are as fleeting as a hummingbirds wings in flight.

I'm not talking boyfriends or lovers just people who have touched my heart.

It's one of the interesting/challenging things about social networking sites like Facebook. Sometimes one of these past loves that I haven't spoken to in years suddenly, without warning, pop up on my screen.

This week it's happened a few times.  I have seen photos of their babies, of someone else's wedding and some were just of someones life. I feel like reconnecting but I know I won't. We didn't stop being in each others lives after some major incident.  We grew apart or moved away, we changed or didn't or maybe we just had our time.

But tonight I'm feeling lucky when I think back at all of the love I've had. And so happy that I got to see a little snippet into their lives and seen that they are happy. I hope they know when they pop up on my screen that I smile to myself when I see them. And even more I hope they do the same when they see me.

Watching - Glee S2 finale.

It's been quiet on the listening and reading front with AB away.

State of mind - Reflective and a little soppy about it (so it's business as usual)

What are you Waiting For? V2.0

This time last year I wrote a blog post about things that I wanted to do this year.  I was both pleased and a little disappointed when I reviewed it.  The list included;

* Buy Rollerskates - not done
* Go to India - done
* Fix up the house - a little done
* Join a gym - did it, didn't like it, wont be doing it again in a hurry
* Learn to cook lamb shanks - not done
* Clean the Kitchen - OMG I have done that so, so, so many times this year

So as you can see the majority of the things on the list have been done, but a few haven't.  Why? It wasn't such a big list.  The things that I haven't done are completely achievable.  And although I can come up with some excuses the truth is I obviously lacked the motivation.

So today I'm going to come up with a new list of things that I would like to do.  Some of these are a bit crazier so I'm not committing to all of them this year but I'm going to add them and maybe I'll find the motivation to complete most of them.

* Buy Rollerskates - come on surely I can do this within two years.

* Learn to Cook Lamb Shanks - It's just that I really love lamb shanks and would love to add them to our winter menu.

* Do Glass Blowing - Yeah this is one of the more crazy ones but it's something I have always wanted to do and I've started wondering if there were local classes to teach me.

* Learn to play the Cello - Realistically I should probably take some more guitar lessons so that I have at least mastered one instrument.  But there is something so damn sexy about the Cello ... it's calling to me. Saying that if I reread this in a year and have actually picked up my guitar and got my head back around it again, I'll be happy.

* Paint the lounge room - And finally figure out the colours and style I'd like the room to have.

* Build a new front of the house and/or back shed - This is one that might actually get done sooner rather than later.  Once I finally knuckle out the details to the point that others can get started, but lord there are a lot of details to sort out!

Some of these, like the front of the house are more things that have to be done, but the whole point of this idea is so that I stop thinking of these things as 'one day' and actually work towards doing some/most/all of them.

What are you going to do this year?


Watching - Predators for the second time.  Love Adrian Brody but this film left me underwhelmed ... twice.

Listening - Very little, but did have another Lykke Li marathon while I was in the shower last night.

Reading - Catching up on blogs and still reading Zombies V Unicorns, I'm only managing to stay awake to read 3-4 pages then waking up as I drop the book and it whacks me on the nose.

State of Mind - Tired, the kids are waking up early and this morning I lost my cool about it and the screaming they were doing at 5.30am.  Basically I'm spending the rest of the day nurturing myself a little so that I don't flip out and scream at them again 'sigh' this whole parenting thing has some pretty major ups and downs.

Small Things - Great Hair Days

After having the pox my hair was awful. A mixture of the anti itch stuff I had slathered on my scalp and hair loss from scratching and the actual pox, meant that my hair felt lank and completely unflattering.

Not long afterwards but just long enough that my pox had healed, I dyed my hair in an attempt to freshen it up. But unlike normal after I've dyed it my hair still felt awful. So then I asked my gorgeous friend to give it a freshen up haircut. That mixed with my new wonder product 'Argan oil' (Moroccan oil) and finally my hair is back to it's usual fairly lustrous state.

Firstly I just can't thank my gorgeous friend for the awesome cuts she does. And secondly I can't thank gorgeous friend #2 for putting me onto the Argan oil. It really is THE most amazing product in my regime. If you have dry, fly away or just basically unhealthy hair I can totally recommend giving it a try.

When I woke this morning I was feeling a bit flat and generally not myself. But after a long shower in which I washed my hair and then rubbed through some of my wonder oil, I feel far more on top of the world. Ahh it's amazing how a great hair day can change ones outlook on the day. I feel positively renewed.

Watching - I enjoyed a completely decadent 16 and pregnant marathon yesterday. Ahh theres really nothing as naughty as watching trash while drinking wine and relaxing on the lounge.

Reading - Same ole, same ole

Listening - To the kids playing in the mornings while I guiltily try and grab some extra sleep

State of mind - Compared to this morning, positively radiant

PS. I'm sure I've used this photo before on a blog post but I couldn't find it. After four years of blogging I was bound to have some repetition. :)