Daylight savings

SUCKS!

I hate waking up at 5 20...I hate waking up at 6 20 too,but that would be considered a luxurious sleep in compared to 5 20.

A pox on the person who invented daylight savings, and the effervescent toddlers who punctuate its mornings.

That is all.

Our weekend

We went to watch A LOT of things/events as part of the World Police and Fire Games, and the Fringe Festival.

On Saturday, Stephane went with Will to meet up with Jamie and Roger (the Scottish friends!), to watch the Dragon Boats and some buskers

On Sunday, we watched wrestling, more dragon boats, and some ice hockey, which was very, very cool! In honour of Will's fabulous god mother, we were "rooting" for Vancouver, and the guys were nice enough to pose for some photos for us;

We had a very fine weekend indeed.

Today, Will and I watched some Rugby (where we met a real New York Fire Fighter (Wiggles reference there, will mean something to those with kids!) and some more ice hockey. Later on the week,we will be going to "Ultimate Fire Fighter"...and it's all free! WHOO HOO!

I want this to not be hanging over my head anymore! I hate being in a position where I have to just wait and see if the world as I know it will come crashing down around my ears. There are a few people who will read that and know in an instant what I'm talking about, a few that wont, and one in particular who I wish did know, but it isn't my place to tell them.

I remember feeling like this when mum went out of remission- I kept thinking "god, if she is going to die, would you just let it happen already! Then I can deal with it, then I can know for sure what the "right" thing to feel is". And of course that sounds selfish and indulgent and whatever else.

I hate how powerless I feel. I know I have a choice- I can't change the fact that that is, indeed, the very nature of the journey. That, as someone wise once said, "life is what happens when you're making other plans". My choice is in how I deal with it. Do I say "oh my gosh, this is driving me nuts and so on and so forth" or do I say "que sera sera, can't do much, may as well go with the flow."


Gosh, today I wish so much that I could go back to a time where things were so much more simple, when the biggest call I had to make was something so minor. The thing is, those things seemed major to me at the time.My prayer is that one day I will look back on this time and think "Wow, I can remember feeling like *this time* was going to suck, and you know what? It did suck for a while, but it lead to *this non sucky direction I cant see right now*, and I never would have had that chance without *this sucky time*"

And the thing is, I might not even have anything to worry about yet, but a situation which wasn't even on my radar has become a complete possibility, and, well, I don't like it.

Anywho, keep us in our thoughts and prayers, that someone up there knows what they're doing.

Here's a tip...

Want to know the scariest thing about being a parent? All of a sudden, you are the grown up. You are the one that is supposed to protect the house and home, you are the one who is supposed to just "know" what to do...And it makes it even more scary when "your" grown ups admit that they STILL don't know what they are doing, and they never really did.

Shhh, trade secret apparently, just thought I'd give you guys the heads up!

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Makes you think

Some friends of ours, who are really great people, received some shitty, life changing news today. The kind of news that makes you look at your partner and think "at least we have our health." These are good people, people who would give to others at their own expense.

And it lead me to think of how many people have so much, and instead focus on what they don't have, or what they wish they could have.

So here is my open letter to the world;

Those of you who have a "home" to go to, a place with family or close friends, a "room at the inn", give thanks. Know that, if worst came to worst, you'd have somewhere to go, and people who would love you, not judge you.

Those of you for whom that "home" is the one you grew up in, and the people there are your parents, you are blessed beyond measure! Knowing you can call someone on the other side of the country or world and get support, it still isn't quite the same as curling up on your old bed, in your old room, and having your mum or dad there beside you.

Those of you who have stable employment, who know where the next dollar is coming from, who are just "rolling along"...Please, cherish that fact. Not everyone is so lucky.

Those of you who have partners, for all their flaws, they are there for you, beside you, in good and bad times. Maybe focus more on the good, and try and enjoy those times. That is what gets you through the bad times.

Those of you who have someone to call, at 3am, who you wouldn't be embarrassed to wake up over something that may be perceived as nothing, rejoice! Friends are a true comfort.

Those of you who have little ones, hug them a little tighter, because before you know it, they will be grown, and have problems enough of their own.

Your whole world can change in the blink of an eye. It sounds so cliched, and until you have lived it, you will never know. But please, take it from someone who does...Laugh often, live well, love much, because when you wake up tomorrow morning, it could all be taken away, and you will need those memories to keep you going.

Ironic thought

I don't know why this came to me, but it did;

I want to know why, when you are "most giving" to your kids (baby and toddler years), it is that they won't remember. Conversely, why is it that the teenage years, where some of the most challenging things come up, happen when your memories seem to be strongest.

rhetorical question/s

The power and perils of praise

While I don't expect anyone to be interested enough to read all 5 pages, I thought this article was a good read.

In essence it talks about how praise can have negative connotations for kids.

Changing Lives

Heard about this...want other people to hear about this. Super cool thing in my opinion...

go here

Catching up

Ok, so I believe my last post was February 4th, and didn't really tell you much about what has been happening with the crew here, so what follows is my attempt to sum up;

*Dad has moved (again) to Darwin, where he will be for the next 3-5 years. He has a liaison type job, which involves flying all over the Territory, delivering news, views and ideas on education to remote communities. He likes the job, and is a bit sick of all the travel.

* Tom came to visit, and taught W the Yogi bear song, and a joke about muscles. He delivered enough testosterone to last W until next trip, as proven when W fell shortly after he left. As I was cleaning up W's scrape, he came out with "it's ok Mum, I'm tough. Tough, like Uncle Tom!"

* We had some new friends come for lunch. They have a son who is 4, and they are Scottish. We had them over for an Australia Day lunch, which was a BBQ, followed by cricket in the park.
They are very nice people, and they are coming to afternoon tea this Sunday.

* W started at a new pre-school, called Jescott. He chose his own outfit for his first day. I hope our Canadian readers recognise the shirt :)

* Stephane's work has changed locations...As W says "Daddy has a real work now, not a house!"

*W's love of early 80's movies abounds, with the latest obsession being Ghost busters. He puts on his Elmo backpack, puts a remote control in for a gun, and busts ghosts... Very cute. Stephane found the Ghost Busters theme on one of his CD's, and W has been listening to it as a lullaby every night. We had to re-think this once he discovered the other songs on the CD. Mostly innocuous (love shack, macarena etc...it's a "party compilation"), but when your 3 1/2 year old is singing "boom boom boom, lets go back to my room" it's a little disconcerting, even if he has no idea what it's all about!

And now, the supporting evidence (photos!)

W's outfit for his first day at Jescott

Our little ghost buster

The battle of good and evil continues !

Resemblance? I have no idea what you mean Jo??? :)

Reconcilling

Sometimes I find it hard to recognise all the parts of myself.

Can the person who watches "living with refugees" and thinks "my God, sometimes I am so bloody caught up in superficial crap" really be the same person who buys the liquid soap which smells like milk and honey, even though it costs more, just because it smells nice?

The person who watched those little children cry and die from being hungry, thinks that anyone who would fritter precious cents away on "luxury" soap is just totally missing the point, and must therefore be some sort of horrible person.

The person who writes in her blog about American conglomerates taking over the worlds oldest and wisest cultures is also the same person who would quite possibly consider signing her child up for such a course, should one become available.

Am I the only one who thinks like this?

PS; I am that pathetic! I just ran spell check and "woohoo'd" when no mis-spellings were found! Shouldn't I not care about that stuff if I'm "grown up" and "worldly" enough to post these sorts of rhetorical questions?

Organ Donation

Just going on the record, not to say what others should do, but to inform everyone what our choices as a family are, in case we are unable to communicate them for ourselves.

Both Stephane and I have agreed on our licences that we want to donate our "everything"...I am also registered to donate bone marrow, as well as being listed on the Australian Donor Registry.

If you want to know more, click here

We have also made the choice that, should anything happen to W, we will donate his organs too.

At the very least, discuss this with your family and friends, so that everyone knows, and hopefully honours, your wishes.

SPIDER!

Hands up who knows what this creepy thing is? I knew as soon as I saw it CRAWL OFF MY TOWEL AND PAST MY TOE that it was a red back! Eeeeep!

All my childhood I remember hearing "watch out for redbacks and funnel webs." I used to laugh at newbies to Australia, especially the English, when they would freak out about living in a country with such dangerous animals. I always thought you had to live somewhere really "bush" to come across one...Now I have proof that you don't.

We caught HER, so she could be milked, but Poisons Info said they don't do that anymore...RIP little missy! She got sprayed as soon as I hung up the phone. I was seriously surprised at how red the "red" stripe is...It doesn't really show in the photo, but it is quite bright.

And no Mother S, this is not a good enough reason to move from Adelaide ;o)

Yay! Joey Jo Jo

Just had a splendorous visit with my great friend Joey! It was so nice to see her, catch up on new stuff, reminisce on old stuff, and most of all, W had someone else to hang with! He now loves "auntie Jo"...the first thing he said when he woke up this morning was "auntie Jo is gone...i miss her :( "

Some pics of our time together...come to Adelaide, and all this hilarity could be yours!

My Top 5's

My top 5 favourite "junk" foods;
1. Peanut Butter M & M's
2. Hawaiian Pizza
3. Lindt Balls
4. HOT chips!
5. Reese's PB cups

My top 5 ways to spend my day;
1. Without a pre schooler ( *grin*)
2. Having a massage/pedicure/spa treatment
3. With girlfriends...I miss having girl friends to chat with!
4. Shopping, provided I have cash to splash!
5. Scrapbooking /playing Sims ( I go through stages)

My top 5 favourite children's books;
1. Anything by Lynley Dodd
2. The ... for a day series by DK books
3. Charlotte's Web
4. Olivia
5. The Velveteen Rabbit

My top 5 places I'd like to visit;
1. Gallipoli
2. Canada
3. US
4. Maldives
5. Bora Bora

The hills are alive...

with the sounds of whinging ! Impromptu hikes and 3 1/2 year olds don't mix!

We went to waterfall gully to look at the waterfall (duh!) , and then decided that, since the weather was not too hot, and because we had no plans, that we might hike to Mt Lofty, which was only 4 k away...

Hahahaha! We made it to "Eagle on the Hill", W rode most of the way on our hips and backs, though he did walk some.

Here's the pretty pictures;

Before and After

Before kids, we stayed in places like the one shown below.

We ate hot meals, we shared our bed, but only with each other. We did spontaneous things, like deciding to go and see a movie,and actually going sometime in the next month. We hardly ever got sick. We slept in on weekends. We had no idea which Wiggle wore which colour skivvy, and we defiantly didn't know all the words to "bob the builder". We couldn't have cared less about a piece of muslin and it's location. We had disposable incomes, and we disposed of them in such fun ways!

But we also never knew how sweet "I love you" could be, the pain of watching your child cry and not being able to do a thing, and how gut wrenching it is when some other kid won't be kind to yours...so many lessons we've learnt, and in such a short time!

Look at the little children! Isn't it sweet that they aren't with their parents, actually learning about life through living, but rather in some elite social greenhouse, learning the great Gordan Gecko lessons, such as "Greed is Good" and "Capitalism and Exploitation are the way of the future!"

Bonus points go to the kid who does a presentation with diagram! Lord forbid she should learn confidence by asking another child to play on the playground, or through talking to the shop keeper while out doing errands with Mum...no, far better that she is in a homogenised, diversification free environment, where there is no room for individual thought...

I am also just tickled pink that an American company is teaching Chinese kids all about greed...because the "natives" haven't known how to do anything, for thousands of years...It's not like they are an ancient civilisation, who's ideas on child rearing, economics and health are now not only being recognised, but actively embraced by those of us here in the western world.

*sigh* Where are we going, and why are we all in this hand-basket?

Merry Christmas

Christmas by Michael Leunig

I see a twinkle in your eye.

So this shall be my Christmas star, and I will travel to your heart:

The manger where the real things are.

And I will find a mother there

who holds you gently to her breast;

a father who protects your peace;

and by those things you shall be blessed.

And you will always be re-born;

and I will always see the star

and make the journey to your heart:

the manger where the real things are.

May you and yours have a magical Chirstmas, and may 2007 be a year of immense peace and abundance for you. With love and hope, from our family to yours.

Freya, Stephane and Will.

Fat people labels!

Ok, I am fat, so technically within my rights to post this!

Read and discuss...my thoughts to be added later.

link