It's after 11pm and I am the only person still awake in the house. My work-a-holic hubby has been AWOL for the last 3 weeks and only made it to the shops an hour before they closed this afternoon. Hmmmm, he only had to buy for myself and his Dad, how bad can it be??? Well, lets just say he's warned me. There is a reason this man has been known as Mobil Man since his teens - last minute Mobil Service Station shopping is his habit.
Now, I admit I left my Christmas shopping a little late (I started 3 weeks ago) for me who is usually done by September and last year when I was expecting, I was finished in July, a whole month before he was born, but I can not understand the prioritising of the two presents (out of 100's that we give) he has to buy. EVERYTHING comes before us. My poor old, long suffering Father in law will either get a regifted bottle of alcohol or some cash. I will get something frightful, unthought out and kitsch. Watch this space.
The one time he thought about my gift it was FANTASTIC. He can do it. I loved it, but he inexplicably gave it away without mny knowledge 18 months later...
So, tonight, once the boys were tucked into their beds I had the cheek to ask him to go down to the garage and bring up 3 boxes containing 3 outside toys to be assembled. He's too tired for that, lets just do it in the morning, ahem - dare I point out the fact that tomorrow is Christmas day and the boys will be up before us?? No, I just went with it and printed out big pictures of what is in each box (yes, I did FINALLY get him guilted into at least bringing them up) and stuck them on the boxes with a note from Santa about running late and how he knew their Daddy will LOVE putting them together for them.
I hope they DEMAND he do it first thing. No matter how I try I can't understand his thought processes...
Anyway, hopefully it will be a great Christmas morning here at home, before we trek over to the inner west of Sydney for the tedious and for some reason necessary visiting of every family member on both sides as well as any God Parents who happen to be in town. I really should not object when it is suggested that we go away on our own as a family for Christmas. I don't know how I forget what a special level of torture we go through from year to year.
Happy and Safe Christmas to all.
Friday, 24 December 2010
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Little Man's Pre-School Christmas Concert & the Big School Dilema
Today was my Little Man's Christmas concert and party at his pre-school. It was great they sang the National Anthem, home among the gumtrees and the Aussie version of Jingle Bells. It was great. He inherited the singing voice that missed me entirely, well I claim it came from my side but I think it is from his fathers side! He was gorgeous. He has long said he wants to be a singer on the stage.
Which leads me neatly into my dilemma over Big School.
I loved my education and always assumed my kids would have a similar one. I went to the local Catholic primary school followed by two great independent Catholic Girls high schools. Unfortunately I have heard bad feedback on the local Catholic primary schools and knowing my elder son, who is a very intelligent global learner who I know will struggle with our education system which is built for sequential learners, I worry he will be lost in one of the extremely large and academically focused local public schools. The best, but not very local Independent Catholic high school is selective and will be hard for him to get into if he gets lost in the streaming a big school. We have always had a back up high school. Catholic and GPS, the only downside has been the distance from home.
So we started looking at the local private Christian schools. These are pricey and I've constantly felt the niggle of them not being Catholic. In the end we decided to apply for both the Anglican and Uniting Church local schools. The Anglican has a great music program and girls in years 10 to 12, the Uniting Church has an amazing old boys network, is walking distance from home and one of his two pre-school buddies is going there. Unfortunately his best buddy is going to the public school followed by a private school in the city that we discounted for various reasons. I'm churned up by that for completely different reasons!
Yesterday we received the next level of entry requirements for the Anglican school and today we received the letter accepting our boys to the Uniting Church school. Now I'm even more torn!! We have 30 days to decide and pay their enrolment fees which are in the thousands and non refundable. He wont start until 2012 and a lot can change in a year!
I'm guessing that in the circumstances prayer will be the answer...
And, as my blog is called living life playing the glad game I should be feeling glad that I have options, but in this case my usual case of Pollyannaitus has abandoned me. :(
Which leads me neatly into my dilemma over Big School.
I loved my education and always assumed my kids would have a similar one. I went to the local Catholic primary school followed by two great independent Catholic Girls high schools. Unfortunately I have heard bad feedback on the local Catholic primary schools and knowing my elder son, who is a very intelligent global learner who I know will struggle with our education system which is built for sequential learners, I worry he will be lost in one of the extremely large and academically focused local public schools. The best, but not very local Independent Catholic high school is selective and will be hard for him to get into if he gets lost in the streaming a big school. We have always had a back up high school. Catholic and GPS, the only downside has been the distance from home.
So we started looking at the local private Christian schools. These are pricey and I've constantly felt the niggle of them not being Catholic. In the end we decided to apply for both the Anglican and Uniting Church local schools. The Anglican has a great music program and girls in years 10 to 12, the Uniting Church has an amazing old boys network, is walking distance from home and one of his two pre-school buddies is going there. Unfortunately his best buddy is going to the public school followed by a private school in the city that we discounted for various reasons. I'm churned up by that for completely different reasons!
Yesterday we received the next level of entry requirements for the Anglican school and today we received the letter accepting our boys to the Uniting Church school. Now I'm even more torn!! We have 30 days to decide and pay their enrolment fees which are in the thousands and non refundable. He wont start until 2012 and a lot can change in a year!
I'm guessing that in the circumstances prayer will be the answer...
And, as my blog is called living life playing the glad game I should be feeling glad that I have options, but in this case my usual case of Pollyannaitus has abandoned me. :(
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Crows
Since we moved house in August (all of 3 streets from the last place, mind you) we have been plagued by crows. It was funny to start with. Now it's getting dangerous. They have been throwing old dog bones at the house. This week they threw a book at me as I walked out the front door!
Yesterday I watched as one tried to fly away with the toy broom off the back deck and last week they launched a plastic helicopter at my son (well I admit he threw it at them first). This is crazy.
So what to do?
Google my friend, you give me information and hope! http://www.crowaway.com.au/
Suburban Torresian Crows·The Torresian Crow is a native Australian bird and is protected under state legislation.
·One of the most common birds found in Brisbane.
·They play an important role in natural pest management, preying on insects and mice around crops, woodlands and suburban gardens. Crows remove road kill and disperse native seeds through defecation.
·Emitting a loud, raucous call, they can often be an audible nuisance in urban areas.
·Torresian Crows have a bad habit of scavenging for food in rubbish bins, which can made local parks and gardens unsightly.
·In some instances crows are known to swoop passers by to protect their nests.
A CD that you play outside. Can it be THAT simple?? My mission is to test this little gem of a CD. Watch this space...
Yesterday I watched as one tried to fly away with the toy broom off the back deck and last week they launched a plastic helicopter at my son (well I admit he threw it at them first). This is crazy.
So what to do?
Google my friend, you give me information and hope! http://www.crowaway.com.au/
Suburban Torresian Crows·The Torresian Crow is a native Australian bird and is protected under state legislation.
·One of the most common birds found in Brisbane.
·They play an important role in natural pest management, preying on insects and mice around crops, woodlands and suburban gardens. Crows remove road kill and disperse native seeds through defecation.
·Emitting a loud, raucous call, they can often be an audible nuisance in urban areas.
·Torresian Crows have a bad habit of scavenging for food in rubbish bins, which can made local parks and gardens unsightly.
·In some instances crows are known to swoop passers by to protect their nests.
A CD that you play outside. Can it be THAT simple?? My mission is to test this little gem of a CD. Watch this space...
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Don't you just love when Mother Nature exerts herself?
My 2 boys and I have spent the morning visiting my good friend Kylie, her 2 boys and new baby girl, on the central coast. Kylie and I met while pregnant with our first sons because our OB appointments often coincided. They were both IVF babies and were due 5 weeks apart. This was where Mother Nature first intervened.
I was quite sad when I said goodbye to Kylie after har last appointment with Dr K. He had her booked in for an induction the following Thursday as he never lets his IVF ladies go over 40 weeks. I was sad because I didn't know many people locally and we had hit it off, but hadn't progressed to the "here's my phone number" stage for one reason or another. So how did Mother Nature exert herself?
On that same Thursday I was 34wk +6 days pregnant and had a waxing appointment. Guess whose waters broke mid wax? Off to the hospital I went a bit peeved to be probably spending a couple of weeks on a monitor in the hospital, no thought of Kylie at all. Just after midnight son #1 decided he was coming and in the wee hours of the Friday morning after a very quick labour he was born and whisked away to the Special Care Nursery. During my hospital stay I literally ran into Kylie coming out of her room across from the nursery, it turns out her son was born later the same day as mine! Buddies for life. We then also ended up in the same group at the Early Childhood Health Clinic. Through many moves, more IVF resulting in 2 more baby boys (1 each) and now many kilometres we have remained good friends. If I hadn't had my baby early we may never have crossed paths again. Thumbs up to you Mother Nature!
About 9 months ago Kylies Hubby decided he couldn't face any more children as his 2 were making life a little messy for him, so they told the IVF clinic to defrost their stored embryos. Guess what? 2 weeks later Kylie discovered she was pregnant with baby number 3 (they had always said they wanted 3) and she turned out to be the most beautiful little baby girl.
What a blessing! Mother Nature, you really do know best!
I was quite sad when I said goodbye to Kylie after har last appointment with Dr K. He had her booked in for an induction the following Thursday as he never lets his IVF ladies go over 40 weeks. I was sad because I didn't know many people locally and we had hit it off, but hadn't progressed to the "here's my phone number" stage for one reason or another. So how did Mother Nature exert herself?
On that same Thursday I was 34wk +6 days pregnant and had a waxing appointment. Guess whose waters broke mid wax? Off to the hospital I went a bit peeved to be probably spending a couple of weeks on a monitor in the hospital, no thought of Kylie at all. Just after midnight son #1 decided he was coming and in the wee hours of the Friday morning after a very quick labour he was born and whisked away to the Special Care Nursery. During my hospital stay I literally ran into Kylie coming out of her room across from the nursery, it turns out her son was born later the same day as mine! Buddies for life. We then also ended up in the same group at the Early Childhood Health Clinic. Through many moves, more IVF resulting in 2 more baby boys (1 each) and now many kilometres we have remained good friends. If I hadn't had my baby early we may never have crossed paths again. Thumbs up to you Mother Nature!
About 9 months ago Kylies Hubby decided he couldn't face any more children as his 2 were making life a little messy for him, so they told the IVF clinic to defrost their stored embryos. Guess what? 2 weeks later Kylie discovered she was pregnant with baby number 3 (they had always said they wanted 3) and she turned out to be the most beautiful little baby girl.
What a blessing! Mother Nature, you really do know best!
Monday, 6 December 2010
Why Blog? Why not?
I've long wondered about blogging but have not had the time or inclination to do it.
Today I am answering a compulsion that I can't seem to ignore and have spent the afternoon thinking about what to call my blog and what my unique perspective is.
So what to blog about? I guess the best way to start is where you live, so I will be writing about my life and the people in it (this will horrify my husband!!!). I have always been an avid player of the Glad Game as described in Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna. It comes naturally to me and drives others mental at times, but I'm sure it has often been the fine line between sanity and insanity in challenging times, and I am starting to see the light at the end of a very long tunnel of, well lets just call it "interesting times" for Hubby and I. Perhaps I'm starting this blog to draw a line in the sand so I can put it behind me. I feel blogging is so very self indulgent!
My unique perspective? Me! I feel proud (and amazed) that Hubby and I have managed to come through the last 5 years of business implosions, death threats, embezzlement (victim not perpetrator), total financial ruin, family scandals & feuds, lots of IVF, the birth of our 2 boys, loss of a parent (his) to cancer and a nephew with a grapfruit sized brain tumour at 7 (removed and doing well) amoung many other things you would never believe, with our relationship fairly well unscathed.
Being positive is my goal. Spreading a little sunshine and no doubt, lots of silliness across the Internet is my plan to achieve it.
Welcome to my world! It's usually a wild ride.
Today I am answering a compulsion that I can't seem to ignore and have spent the afternoon thinking about what to call my blog and what my unique perspective is.
So what to blog about? I guess the best way to start is where you live, so I will be writing about my life and the people in it (this will horrify my husband!!!). I have always been an avid player of the Glad Game as described in Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna. It comes naturally to me and drives others mental at times, but I'm sure it has often been the fine line between sanity and insanity in challenging times, and I am starting to see the light at the end of a very long tunnel of, well lets just call it "interesting times" for Hubby and I. Perhaps I'm starting this blog to draw a line in the sand so I can put it behind me. I feel blogging is so very self indulgent!
My unique perspective? Me! I feel proud (and amazed) that Hubby and I have managed to come through the last 5 years of business implosions, death threats, embezzlement (victim not perpetrator), total financial ruin, family scandals & feuds, lots of IVF, the birth of our 2 boys, loss of a parent (his) to cancer and a nephew with a grapfruit sized brain tumour at 7 (removed and doing well) amoung many other things you would never believe, with our relationship fairly well unscathed.
Being positive is my goal. Spreading a little sunshine and no doubt, lots of silliness across the Internet is my plan to achieve it.
Welcome to my world! It's usually a wild ride.
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