Mama has a dark side.....

and she's not afraid to show it. On my list of things that REALLY tick me off are the following.

Stray Children. The ones who congregate at my place for hours, eating me out of house and home and fighting with/ignoring my kids, while they complain about how so-and-so has a much bigger/better/faster whatever. You know who you are. And never a parent darkens the horizon to find out where their kids have been for six hours. I have two words for you....VACATION CARE!!

Stupid shoppers. The ones who can't decide between two boxes of generic crackers and hold the rest of us up for six months while they agonise.

Close to God/Born in a Barn. I know winter is a fact of life but there's a reason behind me closing the door when the heater is on. Would you like a sample of my electricity account??

I'm sure the list will be extended shortly. That is all.

Holidays and all that.

I LOVE school holidays. Today we started by not waking up till 8.30, (myself and second son....firstborn had to be dragged out of bed at 10.30) then had a leisurely late brekkie and went out for a little retail therapy. The boys got to take some holiday money out of their accounts. Firstborn bought some seriously gorgeous earrings for his girlfriend, who is due up on Saturday ("just because"... gotta love a man who thinks like that) and second son bought a gun and some stretchy rubber frogs (why not??). Tomorrow, firstborn is off on another round of job hunting, followed by finishing off his history project, while second son and I have a little quality time. It's so relaxing not to have to contend with homework, band practice, drum lessons, tennis lessons, martial arts training and all the other stuff that goes along with school. LOVE me some down time!!

Moonstruck

How cool is this....

love the night sky.

LMAO

Ok, just for chuckles, check this out.
Some people seriously have far too much time on their hands. And I for one am so glad they do.

Made it....

to the end of semester one and we're all still here (in one form or another). Firstborn returned from camp with a truckload of laundry and informed me that they broke the camp record by fitting 13 music students in the sauna, which only hardens my belief that education in 2010 really has to be experienced to be understood. They did find time to play some music, although I don't think they were in the sauna at the time. Second son and I attended the Kops In Kilts performance at the school, which allowed me to briefly indulge in my secret braveheart fetish, so that was all good (love me a man in a skirt). Firstborn's LDL is heading north for 2 weeks, so I expect to lose sight of him for several days as they make the most of their time together before education pulls a Romeo and Juliet on them and they have to go back to fortnightly visits. I intend to spend much time catching up on my crafting and finishing my monster quilt before I lose my mind and take a pair of pinking shears to it. There are also movies to be watched....Eclipse being at the top of the list (oh yeah, just me, a large coke and all the eye candy my retinas can stand!!) LOVE Gold Class. I'm also planning a couple of day trips, some bushwalking and much sleeping. Starting as soon as I post this...zzzzzzzz

Close to home.

As I write this I am at that strange space between heartbroken and incredibly proud. I try not to go there too much, it's draining. Exhausting, both emotionally and mentally. But sometimes you see something, hear something that takes you there and all you can do is roll with it till you get your balance back. Today it was a movie. I just finished watching Temple Grandin, and the hairs on the back of my neck are still prickling. Watching Clare Danes as Temple is eerie, it gives you shivers. It is a mind blowing performance. Heartbreaking and inspiring at the same instant. And so close to home. I could have been watching firstborn. The stilted language "Hello-it's-nice-to-meet-you-my-name-is-Temple-Grandin" "Hi-my-name-is-Kit-K-I-T" The affinity with animals. She could tell the difference between the sounds the cows made. Kit knows every dog in every house on his paper route and they know him. He doesn't even notice the people. The clothes issues, the noise issues, the visual-literal issues. And the refusal to let it stop them from achieving their goals. "I want my life to matter" (Temple) "I have important things to do"(Kit).
She attended university and achieved amazing results in her work with cattle. Kit has his heart set on an associate degree in applied sciences so he can work with dogs. How can I do less than encourage him with everything I have, to be everything he can be? He has important things to do. You better believe it.

Random Weird Returns....

and drops a pile of goodies in my lap!! if you hang out here at all, you'll know that I got a couple of days work at the Brisbane Papercrafts Expo over the June long weekend, which I really enjoyed...saw a bunch of mates, bought some goodies, dressed up in Prima packages and generally had a good time.


Well apparantly good vibes are contagious, 'cos I got the offer to do the same thing at the Melbourne show at the end of August, which means a couple of child free days for me, plus some much needed cash for the Handfast kitty. Doin' the happy dance, peeps!!

ZZZzzzz

Second son and I have been awake since 2am, following a combination nosebleed/tooth extraction. Tired much??

Captain Underpants and the Three Nurofen Headache.

Firstborn is leaving tomorrow. Not on a jet plane, but leaving nonetheless. He's off to band camp (insert soundbite...and this one time, at band camp....) for the remainder of the week, and after todays festivities, I will be waving him off with a song in my heart and an icepack on my head. He decided, for reasons best known to himself and not gone into in any detail by me, that a revamp in wardrobe was needed, prior to departure. To be brief (pun fully intended), I was instructed to go out and purchase some boxer-type undergarments a-la Calvin Klein and associated other style icons. They had to be a certain style, colour and brand, as well as organic, recyclable and indestructible in case of bus crash and ensuing ambulance ride. It took me TWO HOURS to find said garments, by which time my retinas were bleeding and my brains were leaking out of my ears and sliding down my cheekbones. Was it worth it???

Judge for yourself.

Sunday Stuff

Today has been a cross between quiet and chaos, with Marcus and Katie spending the afternoon with us. Marcus was happy to hang out with the big boys and play Xbox, while Katie came down to investigate my quilting. We ended up having an impromptu sewing lesson and she made herself a little cushion cover with some of my leftover patchwork squares. Did a pretty good job too, for a seven year old who's never been close to a sewing machine before. I always enjoy doing 'girly' with Katie, we scrapbook and craft, decorate candles and make cards. I have a feeling that sewing will now be on the agenda for future visits, lol. FF and I attended a 21st for our neice Melissa on Friday night. Barefoot lawn bowls....which was a riot, except for the Hartwell men and their 'win-at-any-cost-philosophy'. Sheesh. For all of their tactics and game strategy, they still failed to notice that we managed to 'acquire' several extra bowls that were lying around, giving us a slightly unfair but completely understandable advantage, heehee. Melissa's birthday cake was a work of art,(hot pink and zebra stripes...GORGEOUS) made by a friend of a friend whose number I have to get because I want her to make me a castle cake for the Handfast. After beating the Husqvarna into submission, I am powering through the flannel side of my monster quilt,
and hope to start piecing the demin side by the end of the week. Yes, the gods of sewing are finally smiling on me. Let's hope it lasts!!

Random....

Second son is feeling a bit under the weather ATM, came home early from school yesterday, so I've decided to let him have today and tomorrow off school. It's sports day both days so he won't be missing much. He's tired, I'm tired, everyone's tired. Roll on school holidays!! Firstborn has a birthday to go to tonite, it's a girl mate from school so I've been left with the present buying. Apparantly she likes silver (who doesn't??) so I'll see what I can find without breaking the bank. Our house has been very quiet this week due to Firstborns's LDL leaving her phone in Brisbane. As a result of which she's been grounded for a week with no electronics. Firstborn is suffering mild to moderate phone withdrawal, and was not impressed when I suggested he send her a card to cheer her up, 'cos he doesn't know her actual address in Sydney, lol. Melissa and I had an extremely worthwhile trip to the Sallies shop at Carina, I picked up a whole bunch more table deccies for the Handfast, for only $8. Bargain!! On a whole different note, I bought a couple of OTP pieces for an upcoming birthday and was pleased to discover that my paints haven't petrified in the (at least) six months since I last did any serious scrapping, so I had a fairly productive evening sanding and painting while we flogged the Blues @ Origin. Two weeks from today will find me sitting solo in Gold Class watching the new Twilight movie....I've seen a few clips that people have sent me, and it's looking better than the last one (not that it would be hard....) so we'll just wait and see if it's worth the hype. Here's hoping. (I will admit to a secret fantasy that Jasper finally loses it and EATS Bella, but I fear it's a forlorn hope, sigh). Next week finds me down one child as Firstborn heads off to music camp leaving me and Second son to entertain ourselves for the duration. I see much Halo in my future. Panadol anyone??

Long Weekend....

I am back, after a fairly big weekend, working at the Scrapbook Expo @ Southbank. Which I thouroughly enjoyed, although my feet may never recover. I was very good and bought next to nothing, so my spending money for mamafest remains intact. Saw heaps of mates and spent an interesting few hours watching the Scrapping Nanas Precicion Shoplifting Team in action. I swear there's a 140 year old Fagin somewhere, runnning a team of 70-something Nanas, and those chickies will nick anything that's not nailed down. One of them had a pram and I was seriously wondering if she'd flogged the baby from someone. Unbelievable. Really, people, if you're determined to embark on a life of crime, then up your sights a bit, y'know. Steal the Crown Jewels, kidnap KRudd, whatever.....but pinching discounted scrapbook supplies shows a distinct lack of panache. Yick. Big time. I got home on the Saturday evening and was greeted by second son with "thought you were in Sydney".(??)
Out of sight, out of mind apparantly. This week I am determined to wrestle the Husqvarna into submission so I can FINALLY finish the top side of my quilt. Otherwise I'm camping out at Melissa's so I can use her fancy pants Brother (machine, that is) when she gets through. Handfast plans continue to slowly take shape, you can see what I'm up to here , although there's not much to look at as yet. But there's more coming, I promise.

Chillin'

Today it is cold. Really cold. Thermals-under-my-moo-cow-pants-cold. In the interests of not freezing, I decided not to go to the junior sports day and watch the preps turn into prepsicles. Besides, I'm sure I'll hear all about it on the crossing this afternoon, when it'll hopefully be a few degrees warmer. We have a busy weekend lined up at Casa Hartwell, which always seems to happen when I'm not here to supervise. Kit's girlfriend is up from Sydney this weekend for the first time in a month, so Kit has invited a bunch of their mates round on Saturday to do whatever it is teenagers do when they get together. Eat and watch DVD's springs to mind, since we run a strictly G rated house. It probably would have been a good idea for him to announce the plans a tad earlier, as I'm not here at all over the long weekend. I scored three days work at the papercrafts festival, so FF will be left to man the ship. I pointed out that this would be an ideal time for him to prove that his vintage teenage cool is still intact, but he's not exactly brimming with enthusiasm, heehee. Second son is now on his full dose of medication and doing extremely well. He gave me a revised list of books he wants on our last trip to Borders, and after adding up costs, even with getting some second hand, it worked out cheaper to get him an ereader, so we did. We bought him a Kobo from Borders, and it's getting the workout of its life. His teacher has allowed him to use it in class for silent reading, and he's munching through his latest series at a truly scary speed. Firstborn, of course has shown absolutely no interest, and has his beady little retinas firmly fixed on the DSiDX which he has decided would make a totally cool 15th birthday present. Second Son is in agreement with this, because he gets custody of the current DSi. Even FF thinks it's a good idea, 'cos then he gets second son's DSL. What do I get?? Peace and quiet. Worth every penny!!

The week that was....

Week one with second son on meds has passed and things are looking good, so far. We were told that if there was an improvement it would probably show after 5-6 days, but in all honesty, things were picking up by day 2. I don't know if it's wishful thinking on my part, but we really seem to have hit on a winning formula. He is much less upset/frustrated, and much more able to keep on task. He's making connections that just seemed to buypass him before. Like I'd ask him to put his socks on for school, but I'd have to come back five minutes later and tell him to put his shoes on. He'd go in the bathroom and brush his teeth, but wouldn't think to comb his hair. I know a lot of this is typical kid behaviour, but now he just seems to make the jump between socks/shoes and brushing teeth/brushing hair, which is guaranteed to save me 20 minutes in the morning ;) He's also sleeping better and eating better, which is a godsend as he was starting tto get that skinny transparant look again. The only downside I've noticed is his obsession with the handball. It's never out of his hand. He's constantly throwing/bouncing/rolling it. He sleeps with it. If he can't find it, panic ensues until it shows up. To combat this, I bought half a dozen from Target, so we always have some spares. Plus some earplugs, cos the constant thud thud thud is driving me round the twist. Small price to pay for a happy settled kid, though.

In other news, FF has agreed to make an honest (middle aged) woman out of me (again).
We're gonna re-do our vows for our 20th anniversary next year in a medieval handfast ceremony. The boys are thrilled, as they get to dress up and carry weapons. FF is slightly less thrilled cos he thinks he's gonna hafta wear tights. (!!) I'm excited-slash-borderline psychotic about the whole deal, as I'm in charge of costumes. Which I have 12 months to make so I'm not thinking about it right now. Stay tuned for updates.