Holiday Memories/Get real

Kit and Sebi discovering that strawberries don't grow in the supermarket!!
We stopped at the Strawberry Farm on our way back from a weekend in Noosa, because the boys didn't understand what "pick your own strawberries" meant!!
REALLY it was a great day.

Gettin' Real

OK, so here we are....time for my weekly dose of honesty.

Had Kit's IEP meeting and I hated every second of it...I'm REALLY not into in depth scrutiny of my son's shortcomings. Plus, his major area of "needs work" is NOT my strong point. AT ALL. So, fun and games coming this way soon....BLEEEAUGH.

Sebi has an appointment at the neuro-sciences clinic on Monday. Did I mention my REALLY deep aversion to hospitals??? Thought so. GROSS.

I'm working and hating it. Every second. I spend my shifts scanning the road for the direction of the next attack. REALLY SUCKISH!!

Ok, now the goodies.

Steffy brought me donuts XOXOXOXOX

Finally got to use the massage voucher I got for my last birthday, and it was FABULOUS....Mary, Rach and Steffy, you guys rock!!!

I haven't resigned from work, and I won't....I won't.....I WON'T !!!!

My kids rock. IEP's, Neuroscience Clinic, bad days, worse nights. I DON'T CARE!!!
They are worth it....every second of every minute of every day of my life.

Enabler Attack....

I'm gonna regret this later, but what can you do when your best goddaughter arrives bearing manna from heaven???
Sing halleluiah and dig in, already!!

A few of my favourite things....

The stongbow cider chair tree....I seriously LOVE this thing....Bruce had to stop me going and collecting all the wooden chairs from the curbside cleanup, 'cos I was going to build one of my own. I've already rung the city council asking if I can have one of their cast off posters when the buses have finished with them.

My new fave toy...I may never leave the house again. My kids had to physically drag me from my scraproom at bedtime last night. It's quick, quiet, obedient and good to look at...what more could you want??

Apart from these, of course. OK, Monday has reached maximun potential.
Have a good one!!

At the right moment...

Found this on Lusi Austin's Blog...she's heading the Get Real Deal, that I'm working through.

PROVERBS 31: 8-9 Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.

And there it is....OK, so people don't like the job I'm doing. So I don't even like it so much right now. Does that make it any less important?? All my kids have the right to feel protected and if I have to take some mouth in order to provide that, then so be it. Bring it...Both Barrels. I will be on the crossing, and I will take what's dished, and I will get over it and come back and do it again. And again. For as long as it takes. And that's a promise.

Fatal Friday

Went back to work this morning, Sebi refused to come with me, so DH had to drop me off and Mum brought him up later. The morning shift was OK, then had to go up to the school at lunchtime to fill in an incident report about yesterdays fiasco, and see the principal, very not helpful at all. Then the afternoon shift started and things basically went downhill from there. The lady who lives in the house across from the school parked her car in the crossing just as the bell rang, and then proceeded to yell abuse at me from across the street because I wrote her rego down.
No wonder Seb doesn't want to be seen with me, I'm a total abuse magnet. If it wasn't for the fact that I really need the money, I would chuck the whole deal. I'd love to be able to get a real job....one that involves working during school hours instead of sitting and waiting for the phone to ring with the next disaster. I'm really working through this hour by hour ATM....I want to be able to give the kids the things they need that just can't be squeezed out of one income. Like their Tae Kwon Do classes. They are having such a positive effect on Sebi's concentration, and it's better than core physio excercises for Kit. I keep saying that I'd give 50 years of my life if it'd help them, but I'm having issues with 4.5 hours a week???? Pretty piss poor, girl. I really need to look at the bigger picture. All the time.

The Day The Ladypop Went Troppo

Well, the day has finally arrived. I completely lost my marbles on the crossing. BIG TIME. I'm so angry with myself. I thought I had it all under control.
Apparantly not....just ask any of the fifty assorted kids and parents who watched me have a screaming match in the middle of the street with a guy who decided that me asking him to move his car was racially motivated. Like I care what nationality his car is. I know, not very funny. I'm trying really hard to see the lighter side of this, and so far, not happening. I love my job. I've known some of these kids since they were in nappies, and I love hearing about their teachers and their lunchboxes and all their other stuff. And this afternoon I set the worst possible example for them. I lost it. OK, the guy in question wasn't exactly reasonable, but that is no excuse. How can I expect any one, my son included, to use their minds to solve their problems, when I came within seconds of braining a man with a stop sign?? All I can do is apologise to everyone who witnessed it, and do some long, hard thinking about the future.

Cheap Seats

on the bus for Kit....he qualifies for the STAS scheme where school bus fares get subsidised by the government. This is a huge deal for us....he's been catching a bus to and from school since the beginning of the year, which has been a massive step for him, but I gotta admit, the fares were putting a dent in the weekly budget. Even though it probably would cost more in petrol to drive him to school, we have to make sure the car always has petrol, whereas finding a spare $20 to charge up his GO card was not always so easy. So, we got this brochure home with the SEU newsletter, and once we get the forms sent out, we go to the local council office and they give him a yearly bus pass. I may be slightly anti goverment departments after what they put us through in 2008, but so far this year has been a very different story, touch wood. It may not be a lotto win, but it's a definate happy dance contender.

Time for a change....

Looky what I found....a template that already comes complete with fingerprints and ink stains. Now it matches my house. Gotta love that.

Mind Games/ Gettin' Real.....

Got an appointment for Sebi at the Kids In Mind clinic at the Mater Private. Although I REALLY hate the idea of having to go and talk about everything with yet another doctor, (can they not email the files?? or do they get a kick from my pain??) I AM THANKFUL that Dr Harris was able to get us an appointment because every little thing we try could pay off big time in the long run. And that's what it's all about. Treasures in heaven, baby.

So...in the interests of honesty in advertising and keeping myself on the (mostly) straight and narrow....

REALLY....I had the grimmest expression on my face at work yesterday....ask Kerryn.

REALLY....I am struggling. Every day. I feel like I'm wearing a mask. (probably just as well, after yesterday, lol.)

REALLY....I want to go to Canberra and see Tanya and be angry and devastated without anyone telling me it'll be OK.

OK, enough.


I AM THANKFUL.....

for Pride & Joy and Special Precious...no matter what.

for chocolate (and for Kerryn, who enabled me)

for music. always.

for concrete zen

for new starts

Photophobia.

Well, the guy from the paper showed up today to take some pix, and it was every bit as bad as I thought it would be. I am so camera phobic it's beyond reason, when you consider how many photos I take. I really hate anyone pointing a camera at me....it makes me incredibly uncomfortable and it shows, lol. Cover girl, I ain't!!

RETURN OF VALENSTEIN

Just when you thought it was safe....romance rears its ugly head. Again.
I have spent all day hiding from the true love brigade and I'm getting cabin fever. I went out to do a little harmless shopping this morning and romance was thick in the air (and in the shops and in several parked cars.....seriously people, rent a room already). You can't buy a carton of milk without tripping over a bucket full of longstemmed sweethearts, and the Scary Pink Teddy Factory has definately worked a night shift. I know that true love never dies and romance is ageless and Hallmark have shareholders too. So in the spirit of the day I dedicate this post to himself, my finer 50%. We have loved, lived, fought, camped, mortgaged and given birth as a team. If that's not love, I don't know what is.....xoxo

Raining on my parade....

Once again I'm working a full shift and once again it's raining pianos.
I'm really over being a cosmic punch line.
After this morning's effort I've earned myself a temperature and the mother of all headaches....the kind that comes with 50% extra vision. NOT the best idea when your visibility is already stuffed due to low flying clouds and aquaplaning Prado drivers. We're also one down at work since Colleen has resigned, which means the chances of getting a replacement are less than stuff all.
Hate Hate Vomit !!!

Plasticine Child

Myself and bendy Wendy the plasticine child have just returned from OT clinic at the Mater. I pretty much heard what I was expecting, although you always hope that maybe you won't...that maybe things have picked up and your contingency plans won't be needed after all. Firstly, the goodies. Sebi is fine...his OT hassles aren't gonna kill him. Hell, they'll barely be an inconvenience to him. With a few adjustments he can be as obnoxiously nine year old as everybody else.
Now the suckish part. The adjustments are gonna add extra time to my already 72 hour days. I know I don't have a choice. I know I'd do it even if I did have a choice. I know that pretty soon it'll just be something we do everyday. But on a purely all-about-me level....I resent it. It's time that I can no longer give to my own things. REALLY... I CAN BE WAY SELFISH SOMETIMES. Sorry...that's just the way it is.

Thankful....

So, for the flip side of getting real it's time to list a few goodies.

I am thankful for...

Kit getting through the whole sports deal without a meltdown.

Mum picking Sebi up when I was feeling like death at 2 o'clock.

Music, all kinds.

Sebi's blood sugar evening out some.

Concrete Zen (and my mother not calling the men in the white coats even though she really doesn't get it).

gettin' real

Ok, saw this one on Kerryn's blog and it totally follows my antiperfect philosophy so I'm gonna run with it. The idea is to tell the whole story instead of sanitising your life for the benefit of your adoring public, lol. The only major problem is going to be listing my cock-ups....chronologically or alphabetically. Hmmmm.

Well, for today let's start with.....

getting manky with the kids 'cos I didn't want to work this morning.
forgetting to find out what time the parent teacher thing is tonite.
forgetting to freeze the water bottles for Tae kwon do
forgetting to wash Kit's sports uniform
do we see a pattern here?? early onset alzheimers, perhaps??
where was I???
vacuuming my loungeroom 'cos someone was coming over....very non-antiperfect, and I HATE myself for doing it....that's the nanna in me coming out.
Ok that's enough self loathing for one day.....
On a completely different and way more bizarre note, I spent an hour talking to a journalist from the Courier Mail who rang me and wanted me to be the ordinary person they talk to each week in the weekend magazine. She said they wanted a scrapbooker (ok, with you so far) and that she'd read my blog (okaay.....) and that she thought I was what they wanted. (I know....I don't get it either). But she came over (hence the vacuuming....bad girl, bad girl) and looked at my stuff and asked me about work (which I probably will have much less of after the things I said....) and my kids (no biggie...they think I'm mental anyway) and other stuff. I really don't get it, although I have read other peoples stuff and it is kinda cool learning something about someone else, but the idea of anyone being remotely interested in my daily doings kinda boggles the mind. Meh, what would I know???

Facebook freakout

For someone who regards her camera as the best behaved of her children, I have a real aversion to having my picure taken. I'm definately not centre stage material, and it shows in every photograph ever taken of me since I was old enough to understand what was happening. So the idea of having to (eww) take a photo of myself for a friend on facebook was not high on my hit parade. And boy, doesn't it show?? How defensive do I look....I swear, I took that photo myself and I still look like I'm trying to origami myself into the upholstery. I was much happier with my original picture

Ahh, the real me....

Catch Up

We are two weeks into the school year and I'm starting to get that weighed down
how-many-days-till-Easter feeling. The boys are both doing fine....Kit has settled straight back into the school/homework/job routine from last year without too many bumps and Sebi (so far) is towing the line as far as homework goes. As for me....I am on top of things for the moment, although it's a pretty fine line at times.
Seb has an OT work up this week at the Mater, plus we're waiting on some results from his last lot of blood tests. I started back at work last week and I'm regretting it already....I seem to have temporarily misplaced my thick skin and I'm starting to get REALLY ticked at some of the parents who think it's perfectly fine to stand on the far side of the road and call their kids to run across in front of the incoming traffic. WTF?? But, it's paying for Kit and Seb to get their butts kicked at Tae Kwon Do twice a week so who am I to argue?? I've also managed to get some scrapping done...not as much as I would like, but at least I'm getting my DT stuff out on time. Nay and I are also back at the gym after a VERY slack holiday period during which time I dicovered Mint Tim Tams (not good). I'm still stuck in the Twilight Zone....can't seem to move away from my books, although I've given a couple of other reads a good try. I think that I probably need the total escapism of Meyers writing at the moment....I'd much rather reread Twilight than plough through Theory of Mind and Cognitive Behaviour Structure a-la Tony Attwood, although I'm currently rereading that as well. I've made so many notes that it's hard to find the original text, and I'm on my second copy. What I really need is Aspergers for Dummies, lol. With large print and lots of pictures.