Hidden Talent

Lulu's blanket has begun to fray at the ends. I think its done good time - 3yrs and it still looks pretty good plus is doesnt even smell weird. I guess washing it regularly helps.

Anyway....about a week ago Lulu walks straight past me and asks her dad to stitch it.
"Make it nice again dad".

I have trained my kids well. If anything requiring needle and thread is involved ask either your grannies, your dad or ANYONE ELSE. Dont even think about me. I dont do needle and thread. I buy new ones. Sentiment is not a word in my vocabulary.

Last night the man and I were chilling on the couch and he whips out a whole pack of new needles. He had stopped on his way home to BUY them to fix her blanket. (how awesome is he?)

I watch as he carefully begins to figure out how to sew the edging. I am overwhelmed with love (and guilt) and casually tell him to pass it over to me. He looks up hesitantly, clearly thinking I am being saracastic.

I take it from him; whip out a cracking row of blanket stitch in under a minute and VOILA - the blanket is good as new!

I think you could have heard a pin drop. Pure and unadulterated awe and wonder. This wife of his CAN sew!!! He immediately said he was going to nip upstairs to fetch a some socks that need darning.

Luckily he moves pretty fast or else he would be sporting needles in interesting places this morning!

******************

(PS I allowed him to take ALL credit for the sewing as he deserves it for being always willing to fix anything for his girls!)

Oh, the irony

.....of my blog header tagline....how utterly presumptious of me to EVER have expected November to show us her clear skies...

LightSeeker

Have you ever thought in these terms?

Blessed are the strong, for they will have the victory
Blessed are the assertive, for they will get their own way
Blessed are the tenacious, for their single-mindedness will bring them success

There, that’s pretty much the way it is. If you do not like the “new and improved” beatitudes, you will be voted off. Sent home at the next tribal council.

Face reality for a moment – you’re not Snow flippin White, living under a big tree in a strawberry patch with your forest friends. The world is hard, and God helps those who help themselves.

Nothing could be further from the truth…

This message is implicit in our “normal” world. Maybe we do not drink this concoction undiluted as Christians, but we sure take it on-board and add our own spin. Soften it a bit.

The PhotoShop geeks in our midst layer it over at 50% opacity. After all, there is nothing wrong with being strong, assertive or tenacious. In fact, I’m sure we could find a number of scripture references which will settle the matter and make a good case for all of these attributes. And so we have, as rational people, “normalised” our once childlike and wondrous faith in Jesus Christ, adding just a caveat here and there to make it all fit.

This is an excerpt from a newly discovered weblog....go here to read the rest of this post.

We live in a world that is every oke for himself....its easy to fall into this attitude, but its not who we are callled to be. A challenging and throught provoking blog - take a look-see and leave your thoughts over there.

The Good Life

Yesterday was a good good day. No real reason, just life. And maybe the sunshine added to my feel-good factor.

It started in a rather manic fashion with me rushing through school drops to try make salsa class but alas it was not to be. I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to try a Kata-Box class instead. I used to do this MANY years ago and I loved it.

Unfortunately is was not kata-box (as listed on the schedule) but a full-on twae-kwondo lesson. With about 5 of us and the Grand Master (a real live scary Korean guy) teaching us how to try survive 3 guys with knives and another with chains. It wasnt very fun. It was just plain intimidating and he didnt even soften it with some be-bop music. Not for me thanks. Although I am stiff as hell this morning so it definitely did some good.

I really deserved something mild after this stressful session so I shot home, picked up my dog and headed to the beach for a gentle jog. Epic I tell you. From there, said hound and I pottered up to a second hand bookstore to browse.

It was just all so civilised and calm. I am not used to civilised and calm (and quiet) moments in my life. I must try cultivate more of them.

Of course...I save the best for last...I went on a mall-trawl with Mom-Allie and found a sibling for my boots

One of many things my blog is uncovering is that I may harbour unnatural feelings for sexy shoes.....

Forget salsa - I will just be practising trying to walk in these babies before my next big *outing*. ;)

Wise Choices

I bet you thought this was going to be some deep and meaningful post .... or maybe not because we all know those are few and far between around here eh?


My wise choice for the day is to FINISH my laundry. That alone is an all day job; if you dont believe me I will bullet point each step for you.

Its a beaut beaut day; no wind and here I am doing housework. Being an adult definitely has its downsides....Blech. Blech. Woe is me... ;-)

Random Stuff

Sorry to those who saw my last post entitled Playlist Downfall. I re-read it this afternoon and was just so irritated by my rambling nonsense that I deleted it.

Not that I have anything much more to say. Rambling nonsense is all I am good for at 20h15 on any given evening.

Bullets okay?

• The house is quiet except for my clicking keyboard.
• I am waiting for Bru's and Sissies to start.
• I am highly annoyed because there is no tea. Somone emptied the packet into the caniser and failed to TELL ME so I innocently went to the pantry and NO TEA. This is not good.
• I saw epic pink gladiator stilettos last week. I didnt buy them. I wish I had.
• I missed running today, the legs need a break, but I have almost reached *that* mad state of needing to run.
  
• I am loving my morning walks on the beach with my dog.
  
• Having a non-crazy dog that doesnt eat small children or pee on strange people's legs is very liberating.
  
• I am free of my purple elephant. It feels dang fine.
• We are going to Mcgregor this weekend. 3-2 degrees people.
  
• My abs are stiff. Especially the side ones. This make me very very happy.
  
• I am scrapping again. (yes, I am a closet scrapper) I promise not to post my stuff here, but its amazing what it does for my soul.

Later people. Thanks for reading.

xx

Salsa Scare

I was 'heartily encouraged' by a mate of mine to join her at a salsa dance exercise class this morning. At Virgin Active. Yes, Kirsty, I am still going. And no, I have not yet had a cup of coffee there!

I absolutely loved the class. Although I *stank* at the moves. Really. It was u g l y. I am a girl of many talents but shaking the bootay - Shakira style - is not one of them. Limber is not my middle name.

Fortunately, my advanced age has given me the grace to sommer just go with the flow and enjoy the vibe. Unfortunately the cardio studio (bikes, steppers, treadmills and the like) face into the dance studio....and those sweaty cardio buggers get *really* bored so they do like to watch the girlies in the aerobic studio.

Enough said.

I will definitely go again next week. It's a fabulous respite from the monotony of the regular gym experience.

I may take to the bottle at 8am so I feel *footloose and fancy-free-er* in class but so help me ONE DAY I will have the moves to make my man weep.

;-)

Music Mania

I walked into Musica this weekend, intending to pick up some music. As I wondered around I picked up the following; swopping, preferring and trading between:

Muse
Robbie Williams (bestillmybeatingheart)
Killers
Nickelback
David Guetta
Arno Carstens (shuddup)
Parolotones
Good Charlotte
Pink
Katy Perry
Black Eyed Peas.
James Morrison

Eventually I just walked out. With nothing. I cant buy them all (clearly) and I couldnt choose. (sensory overload)

Anyone wondering about my BIRTHDAY.... yeah....easy this year peoples - Music Vouchers!

Reflections

It was our wedding anniversary on Saturday.

We been married a long time and I marvel at the road we have taken. Let me just tell you okes this : It hasnt always been a picnic!

We have grafted to stay married. I know this could sound like marriage is a trial; perhaps it isnt the most romantic post to celebrate 17 years but then again I have never been known for my romantic side... ;-)

The Man and I met as youngsters, married as youngsters but thankfully we waited for our kids.

We experienced our twenties, *grew up* together before throwing it all in to parenthood. And thank God for that because He certainly knew I wouldnt have handled it any earlier.

We have shared many epic adventures all over the world from London to Australia to Miami! We have camped in rotten campsites, stayed in 5-star celeb studded hotels and we have laughed til we cried. We have walked infertility together. We have shared complicated spiritual journeys - we have shared such life and love.

I look back over time and I am thankful for the choices we made. In good times and in the tough times. On many occasions it's been more than we felt we could bear but in the end we choose each other - over and over again.

And that, I believe, is what defines love. To choose each other daily.

So babe - I choose you again because I LOVE you and it aint a tough choice at all!

Highs and Lows

I had already drafted my post for today by late this afternoon. It was pretty dark. It hasnt been the easiest of days; I am still battling to wrestle my Purple Elephant to the ground.

I am so relieved I didnt post it because it was shockingly introspective and disgustingly self-indulgent. Two adjectives I would choose not to be asscociated with me.

Instead I am choosing to post some fun pics of an evening spent on the beach today. Helloooo summer - everything looks do-able in the light of the sun or Son.... depending on your perspective.

Gym gear and girl speak

Okay Stef - a while ago you asked me to post pics of some of my *cute* gym gear....but that was the middle of winter and there isnt much cute-ness to black bootleggings and white long tees...BUT now the sun is shining occasionally so I hauled out some of my funner gear.

That pink/blue top is also a costume top - so its a great dual piece. The blue skirt is a skort...ie, shorts underneath - also great all-round piece. (i have a pink one too!)


The backpack was bought as a *baby bag* when Hooli was little but now it works nicely as my kitbag.

By the way - I dont think my treadmill blues were shin-splints. I think it was more a case of

*pain in the shin area cos you never use these muscles honey* .

So I decided to just run through it (better than the pain of the orbi-schlep) and it is getting better. I have also decided to scatter a few rowing sessions here and there to keep things interesting.

A friend has almost persuaded me to join the Latin Dance class at 0830 on Friday....am keen but feeling quite shy about it. How utterly bizarre. Its still up in the air though; depends if I can drop all three kids and get over the mountain by 0830 but I think I will *just do it*.

By the way ---- that all adage about muscle being heavier than fat? Hmm, lets just say I hope thats bloody true! ;-)

GP's, Technology and Relief

For those of you have not read my earlier post regarding about my gp - I suggest you go here first.

About 2wks ago (the day the man left for the UK!) Hooli got croup. Not badly but enough to elevate my heartrate and use the nebuliser.

He woke up fine but we obviously dealt with a degree of chestiness for a few days afterwards.

A week later, I went into his room to check on him before going to bed. As usual (refer to earlier post) I could hear a slight wheeze. Bearing in mind this was now on the back of the croup so I had *reason* to check on him - or 'stalk him' as my gp likes to call it!

This wheezy noise never occurs during the day so no-one but me ever hears it. I decided to remedy this by taking a sound clip on my cellphone...converted the .wav file and attached it to an email ... and YES...I emailed it to my gp. I was just tired of the second guessing and nagging fears in the back of my mind.

So here, my friends, I lay out the email from me to him:

******************

This may be unorthodox, so forgive me if I am overstepping the line, BUT I need you to hear something.

I have attached a .WAV file of Levi's night breathing. I know. Bizarre but he doesnt sound like this during the day so it wont help me to bring him in cos you wont hear this.

..... Does he need Preflam? I can hear the wheeze at the end of each breath. He still is not coughing or ill at all. His nose is much better. Its just this bloody wheeze - I have nothing to measure it against so I dont know what is okay and what is not. Its maddening.

Am I overreacting? Shall i bring him in?

And my docs response:

Hi.

Man, sometimes you have got to love technology! How cool is that?

That's actually incredibly useful.

That is not a wheeze...what you are hearing are secretions in his upper airway (from allergy, from just being a kid etc) which are causing air turbulence. They are on expiration, like a wheeze...but are not coming from his bronchioles. Make sense?

Mel...you are a medical technology trailblazer!

***************************

People! Do you know what this means?

I have *never* heard my son wheeze! Sure, the doc has with a stethoscope...which means he is like 90% of other little kids that get chesty with a cold which means I can stop freaking out.

So, Stef, to answer your question! Hooli is hundreds! And back at school 3 mornings a week.

And I am living in a far happier space. ;-)

The Non-Blouses

Thanks to you all who made suggestions to help me climb back in the blog saddle. I will cover all your suggestions over the next few days.

Lucy - I would LOVE to talk about s*ex but due to the fact that my mom, my dad, my brothers and possibly even my gp read this blog ... well, its unlikely to happen!!

Today will be the show and tell of my new non-blouses. One of them is in the wash but it looks very much like the red one I showed you last week....except its pink.

Okay - this one was my choice - Lulu wasnt sure but I love it! Its light, airy and has a 'barely there' feel on my skin.

This one is the mans personal favourite - classic black halter neck. It doesnt photograph as well as I had hoped.

This is a warmer one - the one I had *planned* to wear on that fateful night but alas, I suddenly just hated it. Am kinda okay with it again though. We chicks are weird like that arent we? Some days stuff just doesnt *look right* and other days it just works. Or is that just me?

This, people, is a hand-me-down. I rescued it from my mothers throw out pile! I love it- the colours make me happy - I wore it today and everyone commented. Positively.

Stay tuned for another *my awesome gp* story regarding Hooli..... This one has changed my life!

Blogging Burnout?

I have been quiet. It's not that I dont have anything to say - its more a lack of focus and time that has led me to simply avoid blogging.

Maybe you could help me out? In the focus department? What shall I blog about eh? Ask me something or better still leave a wickedly inflammatory comment that begs defence!

If I dont hear from you I shall assume you are as bored and uninspired as I am.....that or you simply have given up reading my blog.

*sob*