Letter to my husband....

Dear Shane,

When I leave you at home by yourself to cook dinner and you experiment with Asian Cuisine..... please, please, please- leave the cabbage alone! (I came home to a husband who had eaten like over a quarter of a cabbage- raw, because he had discovered it tasted good with salt and pepper.) Next time- please give the cabbage a miss!

Also, it is always a good idea to read up about sauces before you just splash them all over a meal- hoisin sauce in Asian cooking is not the equivalent of BBQ sauce on your bacon!

Robyn

P.S- I love you, but seriously, you're sleeping on the couch tonight.

Bits and pieces

Today I have bits and pieces of stuff to say, so here it is.

1. I love my baby so much, but I like her a lot when she sleeps. (Bad Mummy okay? okay.)

2. My town has flooded yo!! Check it:

 *All these pictures were taken from news.com

And it is just terrible. We are okay because we live up on a hill on the opposite side of town. But so many others have had their houses flooded. And this has already happened a year ago- so people have just refurbished and wrangled with insurance companies (some have not even finished wrangling with insurance companies from last year) and boom! There's 10 inches of water back in your house!  Please pray for those affected because it sucks. It just sucks.

3. I feel really bad because even though all this flooding is so very devastating, I am feeling pretty okay at the moment. All the rain has meant that Shane actually gets to have a decent break, and we needed it. Plus he was supposed to be working for Easter but now is not, so that's pretty great.

4. My nieces rock! Last night my sister Cathy (not their Mum, just the bestest Aunty in the whole wide world) did this big thing with them where she did a My Kitchen Rules thing with them.

*Image taken from  http://au.tv.yahoo.com/my-kitchen-rules/

They each cooked a course and we judged them (which was really really hard by the way). But my niece Rachel won with her pumpkin pie for dessert. I am so proud of her. I think she really needed to win and her pastry was freaking awesome! They are such clever girls and they had so much fun. Great idea for school holidays and even better if you have a fantastic Aunty that will do it with them.

5. I am usually an Easter Grinch. I am not a huge fan of Easter chocolate, it is cheap and nasty. (Give me a small block of exceptional-quality yummy chocolate over lots of Easter bunnies any day of the week) And I hate the way Easter is all about commercialism. It's all about lollies and candy and hardly anyone remembers the Jesus in it. At least at Christmas there is the general 'love and giving' theme. Easter is all about indulgence- it just irks me.

But this year I am actually pretty psyched for Easter. I think it's because Shane has the time off and we are actually planning on doing things this Easter like catch up with friends, go to markets, have family get-togethers and go away. Plus, I'm leading worship for the Easter service at church and I am really trying to get back to the core of Easter this year. Also, we have decided that we are not doing any Easter chocolate. We don't need it, and Georgie won't know what she's missing yet. Plus she's a bit small to be ingesting all that sugar and fat. So yeah- Easter fun! Who knew?

And  that's about it.

A little whinge, and then I'll be grateful...

Georgie is still sick. She had an ear infection, but seems to be getting over it now. However, now she seems to have developed a bit of a rash from the medication- but we've been to the Doctor and she should be okay. As for me- still getting by. But seriously, is it just me, or is life really, really, really, hard right now? The baby's sick, the dog's sick, I have a pile of folding to do the size of Mount Everest, it's raining and there has been a mouse living in my dryer so I can't use it because clothes come out smelling of mouse wee, (it's on Shane's to-do list) we're having fun new problems with our power (we're hoping that's an Ergon problem though, and therefore up to them to fix it).... but lately, we seem to be lurching from one disaster to another!

Really though, I shouldn't complain... I know things are hard, but I also know many others are dealing with much bigger problems than me right now. Even though everything seems too difficult and things feel like they are going wrong left right and center- they're really not that bad. So here are a few pictures of a couple of things that are going very right...

It's starting to get cold and we're going camping in a few weeks so I put
little Miss in her coat to see if it would fit.

It's a bit big- but she is so very very cute!

I have a pretty good husband. He's seen me struggling a fair bit
recently and went and helped me out! (without even being asked!)

Another childcare one...

I don't really know how to start this post, but at the same time feel like I need to.

You may have seen my childcare rant here. (If you haven't, you might want to check it out before you read this!)

I wouldn't say that my opinion on has changed exactly. But now, after being a Mummy (for all of 9 months!) and dealing with a grumpy child and being lonely and stuff. I'm a little... gentler on the subject.

I do understand now how hard it can be for some mothers. I understand wanting to go back to work just so you can be good at something. To feel like you're achieving something in your day. To feel like you're... part of the world. I wouldn't say that I agree with putting children (especially little babies) into childcare. But I am a lot more understanding of a parent's point of view now.

I realise that it is very difficult on parents, especially in this day and age, to make that big choice to have a parent stay at home with a child. Hell, I am finding it much harder than I imagined. And it's easy for me! I know that I have got it so good in comparison to so many others. I can call up my Mum or my sister on a particularly bad day and say 'Help!!" We can get by, (at a pinch!) but we can afford for me to stay at home with Georgie. I have my husband's full and unwavering support. I have great friends and have found a good network with good activities available to help get us out of the house.

Take that all away from me? And my choice may not be so straightforward.

I still believe that the childcare system is broken. I think it is wrong to have so many little ones crammed into such a small space, I still think the government standards are wrong, and I still think the childcare workers are overworked, under qualified and underpaid. I still do not agree with many things that occur in childcare centers.

But, now I do understand parents feeling like they just need to put their children into care for them. I don't necessarily agree with it all the time, but I am a lot more compassionate and softer on the issue than I ever was before.

Confession: I am a scrubsaholic

I love, love, LOVE the television show scrubs. I have all of the seasons and have watched it ever since season 1. This right here? My favorite scene from any episode ever!






Also, I have a baby who is sick and will not sleep and I'm about ready to.... do something. Maybe inhale a kilogram of chocolate (spot the emotional eater here!) I have put her to sleep 4 times in the past 2 hours. She just keeps waking up. And.... there she goes again.

This really sucks.

9 months.... (or 9 and a half months if you want to be really accurate)

I have been promising myself that I would do a Georgie update post, and (finally) here it is!


Dear Miss Georgina,

This month you are 9 months old.
You are getting to be cheekier every day.
You make me smile a lot.
You also make me freaking tired.
You are into everything.
You are full of 'mumumumum's'
No 'dadadada's' yet though
(Hurry it up won't you? Daddy is feeling neglected)
You are a flirt.
You are climbing up on everything and standing up a lot,
Occasionally you might even let go of things and balance all by yourself.
You are growing and changing so much.
You are getting much more social and love people.
You are so much fun.
You sometimes get yourself stuck in some pretty silly places.
And you have developed a fascination with the bathroom and the toilet roll.
(It's a pain).
You love the puppy.
You feed the puppy a lot of the time too.
You have developed a liking for Promite.
You already want to feed yourself.
You laugh and giggle and squeal.You make each day a little bit brighter.
I love you.

The new grumpy face- makes me have hysterics!

No, I am not mean and horrible, Daddy took this picture. Pretty funny though huh?

I tried to get a picture of my family- but you know, animals and children.

!

A post in which I am completely stripped of my dignity, bravery and sanity... (and will probably be sued by PETA)

I am girl.

I don't do mice or rats or grasshoppers or spiders.

That's why I have a husband.

And I'm fine with that.

But my husband works away. And some days it is beyond crap. Like today. Last night he came home for one night. (One night out of like, the past million that he has been away) But Georgie is sick and did not want to go to sleep and then I burned dessert, because I was too busy trying to put Georgie to sleep. It was just all bad my friends, I'm telling you.

It's funny, I was actually pretty angry with God about the whole thing- going "Why!? Why!? When we only have one night and he works away and it's not fair and some women don't even appreciate their husbands! When you could have had Georgie sleep and we could have had time together!" I swear, if I could have, I would have punched God in the face. I was one angry angry ant.

But then, after we had (finally) gotten Georgie to sleep and were completely exhausted and had two minutes together before Shane had to go to bed. I was reminded. He is not a genie. He does not automatically give us what we want. Just what we need.

It still sucked though.

But anyway, back to the story.

So this morning, I woke up with Shane at four in the morning (yes, I know!) and made his lunch and had a cup of coffee with him and said goodbye and then he left at five to be back out at work by six. I was about to head back to bed because Georgie was (amazingly) still asleep.

And then a mousetrap went off.

Now look I'm not a complete sook, I will deal with mice in traps. I hate doing it, but I can. But this mouse didn't get caught in the trap. Not all of him anyway. Not the bits that mattered.

The poor thing was screeching and squealing with his legs half crushed in the trap. So I decided to try to hit it. I would have been fine with just letting it go if it was alright, but this thing had a broken leg, I couldn't just leave it. So I picked up a poker from the fireplace and tried to whack it. I managed to whack the trap instead and the mouse got free. Panicking, it ran away from me, but it couldn't run properly so it was doing a mad half-run, half slide. Then it hid behind a table. I tried to whack it again and hit the mark this time but when the poker connected with the little mouse body I felt horridly sick and decided I just couldn't do it.

I walked past Chloe, who was cowering in a corner and hissed ' You are not a dog!' and then rang Shane who was about half an hour away by this point, in tears, begging him to come home. He was unfortunately, unable to oblige. (I am so sick of him being away) I discussed the idea of drowning it with him and he said that sounded like a good idea. Muttering "this is not my job!" I hung up the phone and filled up a bucket of water in the laundry and picked up the tongs from the fireplace to try to pick up the wounded mouse.

 The wounded mouse suddenly decided that it felt much better and started running away, so I chased it and managed to corner the damn thing behind a wooden box. Then I went 'what the hell do I do now?'. So I tried maniacally waving the poker at it from one side of the box so that it would run out the other side. This was not very effective. Then I tried to move the box out from the wall and the mouse hid behind a piece of paper behind the box. So I (being the intelligent being that I am) got the bright idea of throwing something heavy on it and squishing it.

I picked up one of Shane's big biblical commentaries and threw it on said mouse. It did not hit said mouse very accurately but did manage to trap it's lower body. Then I picked up a heavy bible and threw it as well. This was more effective and squished the mouse. So then, in tears and feeling like the most horrible person in the world, I watched the mouse make it's last pathetic little bids for freedom while it lay dying.

Once the mouse was very dead. I tried to scoop it up with the a dustpan, and had carried it partway to the door when the mouse gave one final death twitch. I got a fright and flung the mouse in the air, then it landed on the floor, and smudged a teeny bit of blood from it's crushed internal organs on the tile. I decided I could not face the thought of getting close enough to it to scoop it up again and swept it the rest of the way out the door and into the garden.

Then I collapsed in a big heap on the floor and cried.
 
And now, since I feel so sick and shattered, I cannot go to sleep, so I will sit on my chair and wait for Georgie (who, amazingly enough, slept through the ruckus) to wake up, and surf the internet to read other women's mouse stories and make myself feel much better.

All this before 6am.

It's going to be a great day.



Note: This one's going in FlogYoBlog Friday's over at  Glowless's joint!

Mummy: learn

Today I am participating in FlogYoBlog Friday over at Glowless's and I am reminding myself...




1. It is so worth it to take 5 minutes out, and pat my child to sleep, even though I might be grumpy because I want to go eat dinner before it gets cold for once. Because 5 minutes of patting with an hour of sleeping is so much better, than no patting and 10 minutes of screaming, followed by an hour of patting.

2. It is ALWAYS a good idea to check on my child when I am sitting on the computer (something that takes 15 seconds out of my day) and she is crawling around in the living area, because, when I think about checking her and don't, she will have tipped the dog's water all over the floor and herself, which will then result in a good 15  minutes of cleaning.

3. Sometimes, when the baby is tired, sick and upset, it is okay to blow off playgroup/coffee dates/catching up/walking, because most of the time people will understand, and neither you or your child are going to have a good time if you go out anyway.

4. It is okay to put a screaming baby down, walk away and then burst into tears sometimes. It is definitely much better than screaming in said baby's face.

5. When your child is sick and your husband is away and you are just not coping, it's okay to be kind to yourself and bring your child to bed, you probably both need it.

6. Even when she bites the crap out of you and makes you bleed, breastfeeding is still the best possible nutrition for your child.

7. Even though you sometimes feel like she is sent to torment and torture you... she is still your baby girl and she really loves you. You are the most important person in the world to her.

8. Blogging is very good medicine.

9. Some days it's okay to go back to bed instead of tackling your housework. Even when your house looks like something sad and terrible has died and you have a pile of laundry as big as Everest.


And finally,


10. God is not a mean kid with a magnifying glass, with you as a tiny ant screaming 'We're all gonna die!!' even when it feels like it. He's really not.

It is SO bedtime....

I was planning on doing a fancy-pants-photo-filled Georgina update post, but I've decided that it is probably a terrible idea, and here's why....


Just two seconds ago as I was flicking through twitter I came across this blog, (someone I follow had a link to it) and there was a post that had the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity' a song from Wicked. Here is the first verse of the song.



Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!


Here is what I saw:


Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my legs: and leap!




I did a double take because What the? but yeah..... my brain is just fried tonight. So, no pretty posts from me, but since this is already a random post with something pretty random in it I'll leave you with another random picture of how I feel right about now.

Because I can.

Random much?








Oh and how many times did I just say random?.... just further proof of just how much I need to be in bed.










Isn't that a funny word?... random, random, random, random........... what does it even mean?

ran·dom

–adjective  

1. proceeding, made, or occurring without definite purpose, reason, or objective

Yep, that sounds about right to me!

Okay, no more now, I promise.














Random!

Morning Elegance

I found this a couple of years ago...... but came across it again today and I just LOVE LOVE LOVE it... and because it is just so beautiful and so cool- decided to share it.

Also, since today I realised that she is now 9 months (!?) and I have not taken hardly any pictures of her for ages....there is a Georgie update coming soon!!

New hair!

So, today I got my hair cut. I've been contemplating getting it short for a while now, and this morning I woke up exceptionally grouchy and sad, and decided, I wanted a change and I wanted it now dammit! Plus, Wednesday's are my Mum's days off and the best days for appointments and things.

I was feeling really great when the hairdresser started chopping at my hair, but then when it was done and they had put a few foils through and dried it I started to feel exceptionally nervous! I was suffering from a huge case of Oh-my-Goodness-what-have-I-done-I-haven't-had-short-hair-for-over-5-years-and-I-won't-be-able-to-tie-it-up.... and it was all bad! It probably didn't help that the apprentice dried my hair and she was teeny bit rough and was making it poofy and I did not want poofy!

But then my hairdresser came back and showed her how to do it properly, and she straightened it a bit and then took a lot more hair off, because my hair is thick yo! And by the end of it I was feeling okay.

So here it is:

I am reasonably happy with the hair. Although it will probably be a totally different story tomorrow morning after I wash it and try to style it myself- especially considering the hair straightener is not my best friend!

Also, Georgie decided to get in on the photo action.... and I realised I haven't taken photos of her for a really long time! Isn't she cute? Note the teeth!

 

And yeah, that's my Wednesday in a nutshell. So...... what's the verdict people? Bearing in mind that I am very fragile.... (so basically comment if you like it and shush if you don't!)

Free... and dam!

Still here, still struggling- but I'm getting there. In other news:

Ive just seen that these guys (Switchfoot) are playing at Easterfest and am severely peeved because I see no way for us to get there and see them, but would desperately love to. I have loved their music for a very, very long time. I've never met one of their songs that I didn't like. I remember dancing to 'Dare you to move' as a teenager, I remember listening to their music at Uni. One of the reasons I loved 'A Walk to Remember' was because of their music in the soundtrack (and because of Shane West.... um hello! He was pretty swoon-worthy in that movie). But this was one of those bands for me. One of the bands that I grew up with and loved. It's just such a disappointment. I have always really wanted to see them live.

Sometimes being a grown up with a baby, and saying no to yourself for the good of your family is really sucky.

I guess I've traded Switchfoot for The Wiggles huh? Seems a bit of crappy trade-off to me at this point.