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It's hard to believe that I have been ignoring my blog! I love my little blog....it is my own little private (ha!) space in my otherwise mad, crazy life! However, I confess that life has gotten away from me and so, too, has the time to write anything here!
Forgive me for such a huge lapse. It is one of those situations though, when someone says, 'Well what have you been up to?' I have to think very carefully and usually end up replying with 'Awwww, nothing much!'. Sad excuse, I know!
Easter, however has passed us by. The Easter Bunny/Bilby (whatever your flavour!) bypassed our place when the 9 year old left a note on the front door informing all and sundry that 'Mum and dad already got me something!'. Actually, 'something' was the latest limited edition Beanie Kid which apparently far outstrips the popularity of one egg delivering bunny/bilby anyway!
Prior to Easter we travelled back to visit our friends (and Miss 9's Godfather) in Toowoomba. It was a couple of days of doing nothing but visiting, chatting, eating, reading and resting! Sounds perfect, doesn't it?!
The previous term has been filled with much of the same. The Superteen has now been selected in his school's soccer team (yaaayyyy!) and Miss 9 has restarted netball games and training. I have been incredibly busy at work and Dear Husband is devoted to his job as usual.
My rest time has been filled with reading the J.R. Ward brotherhood series (seriously can recommend this one to all romance readers out there!) and listening to the new Bob Evans cd! Nice one, Bob! Love your stuff! As well, I've restarted my family history search which both makes me want to tear my hair out and fascinates me at the same time!
And today has been a momentous occasion as Jasper had his first official (ie I didn't have a go at hacking into him with the scissors!) haircut! And isn't he a cute, cute puppy under all that white fluff! He makes us laugh....except of course when he jumps up in excitement and scratches half of our legs away! Lol!
So, perhaps I will be back soon to post here - I hope so! If only someone could invent more hours in a day that were designated only for rest! Wouldn't that be lovely!!!
When I first saw this little guy (or girl, or whatever it is!), I thought that it was a snake. Easy to do, given the colouring, scales, head shape, etc! But on closer inspection, you can see that it definitely has legs! Phew! And double phew considering that Ruby had it bailed up out by the rock wall. There is a family of them that lives here, in my garden.....and it's a family that both dogs do not like! Too bad though...they just have to get used to these sweet, placid little blue tongue lizards!
When your nine year old comes home from school one day and asks you get her eyes checked because she is having trouble seeing the board, you kinda sit up and take notice.
When, after a few days, she comes home and declares that it is all ok because the teacher changed whiteboard marker pens and she can miraculously see again, you kinda wonder if any eye check is necessary.
But, when you decide to go ahead with the eye check 'just to be on the safe side' and sit and watch that same nine year old fail many of the obvious eye tests, you kinda realise that there is a problem.
And so, we now have glasses! Being a worldly and experienced mum (ok, read 'paranoid' and 'seriously trying to avoid more stress' type, instead!), I elected to spend the extra money and get two pairs.....one for school and one for home! Extravagant? Perhaps. But I know Miss Nine and remembering to bring home a pair of glasses each day from school and return them the following morning is just never going to happen efficiently! And who wouldn't want groovy, trendy glasses when they come with cases like this:
And this:
Most people who know our family know that we love cricket (ok, with the exception of the 9 year old, of course, but we are working on her). I guess that as the mother of a cricket-playing and sport-loving son, many would think it was inevitable that I focused interest on this sport.
In fact, my love of cricket goes back to the time that I was 13 years old. Back in those days, Australian homes usually had only one - two if you were lucky - big box black and white television sets and long hot summers where sport dominated daytime television. In our house, at that time my slightly younger brother somehow managed to dominate the daytime television viewing over the school holiday period. I remember that summer of my 13th year very clearly. Prior to that, cricket was typically on my 'boooooring' list. But at that particular time, we were living in an inner city Queenslander that was so hot during the day time that we tried to escape to the backyard shade as often as we could. Somehow, my brother and father managed to lug one old television set down the back stairs and had set it up (with the help of a very long extension cord) under the shade of the backyard mango tree....how typically Queenland-ish!
Faced with the choice of sitting in the wooden hot house for the day time or lazing under the backyard shade watching cricket, I very sensibly chose the cricket. I decided upon that age-old philosophy of 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!' And hence my cricket loving years were born.
Throughout the years, I became obsessed with following this summer sport. Sitting at the 'Gabba on the sun-filled hill (which has since been built upon) during teenage summers or sitting at home watching Australia play the likes of India, Pakistan, England, the West Indies etc became a regular pastime. As a young teenager, I obsessed over players and their statistics (ok, and their hot bods! I did say that I was a teenager! ;) ). In fact, I had a cat that I named after England captain, David Gower at one stage and names like Imran, Garner, Richards, Logie and the up-and-coming Waugh brothers stand out as players who I loved to watch.
Today, as a cricket follower and the mother of a cricket-mad son, I feel sad. Sad, because one of cricket's blackest days seems to have descended upon us. To hear that the members of the SriLankan international cricket team were injured during a terrorist ambush which deliberately attacked their team bus in Pakistan is shocking. Although many countries have refused to play in Pakistan in the past number of years due to safety concerns, the thought that any cricket-loving persons would choose to attack men who are doing nothing but playing sport and entertaining people is abhorrent. Certainly, sport and politics have been entangled for years, but this is the first time in cricket that lives have been at risk. Suddenly, the sport that speaks an international language has faced evil in the eye.
For the past five nights, in our house we have been lamenting the lack of cable television to view the Australia vs South Africa test match from Johannesburg. We have been walking around the house with radios plugged into our ears to catch current scores. Yes, we are that mad! I guess that listening so intently to the progress of our team, makes us acutely aware of the reverence that cricket is placed in in so many households around the world. Given that, it just makes the whole situation in Pakistan today so much more shocking.
Yes, it's a black day for cricket and sadly a black day for those innocent citizens of Pakistan who enjoy watching cricket played in their country! My thoughts and prayers are with players, the deceased and their families.
Ten thousand!
That is how many visitors I've had to my site since I first put the sitemeter on!!
It's a little daunting to think that ten thousand people have stopped here....and many of those have actually stayed long enough to read my words!
So if you are one of those ten thousand people, I'd like to say thank you...thank you for stopping by....thank you for reading....thank you for leaving comments....that you for returning!
And my picture of Jasper and Ruby has absolutely no significance except that I thought it was darn cute!
I admit it, I have been slack. Time to blog has slipped through my typing fingers of late and I can do nothing but blame a hectic life, sick children and work, work, work! Do you know that story?
At the end of most evenings, when I am feeling exhausted and my brain is sitting in a haze of tiredness and numbness, I've found myself finishing my evenings by watching television and listening to music. To my delight, some of my favourite television shows are back in prime time viewing and some of my favourite musical artists are starting to release new music.
So, in the spirit of sharing, I can't help myself.....I just have to put these links here for you to check out, too!
My favourite tv show at the moment:
Hooray for season 2 of Packed to the Rafters. One of Australia's finest light dramas.
To catch up with current episodes, click here.
My second favourite tv show at the moment:
I've lost track but I think that we are in about season 3 of The Farmer Wants A Wife. With two successful pairings behind them, this series is on a winning streak. And I think that that is its charm....the fact that there are genuinely lonely farmers out there who are willing to risk public scrutiny by going on a national television show to find their true love! Awwwww....sweet! And hard to resist for romantics like me!
To catch up with current episodes or to check out the next lot of eligible singles, click here.
(Oh, but one small query....where was Farmer Damian, the Tassie farmer, in last night's episode? He seems like one very nice guy...more air time please channel 9!!!). Oh and watch this space for my future impressions of this series.
My favourite new song at the moment:
I love, love, love Bob Evans! Man, I was jumping out of my car seat (well, almost!) when I heard it on commercial radio the other day.
Check out Bob's (aka Kevin Mitchell's) latest fantatic and talent filled song here!
My second favourite new song at the moment:
If you are into dark and interesting music, then check out Brendan Welch. I first became a fan of his after hearing his fantastic song, Burn. I've been waiting and waiting for his debut album to come out and so far have heard nothing. But he has put up new songs on his myspace page. Click here to hear!
Dear Husband and I were driving out to dinner with Miss Nine in the back seat. Our conversation was centred around the fact that we have both decided that we need to lose a couple of kilos!
Both of us at the time were lamenting on how, in the process of driving to an all-you-can-eat restaurant, we needed to not over-do things as we didn't want that 'Bler, I've eaten too much and I feel uncomfortable as well as guilty' feeling!
"Never mind, Mummy" Miss Nine pipes up from the back seat, "It's just all in your genes!"
I thought then about how I somehow inherited my nanna's curvy figure and how, as I've hit that middle age have felt like I'm developing the 'spread' that is so common on my mum's side of the family! :( Yes, I decided, Miss Nine is right.....it is all in the genes!
"You know Mummy, it's easy to fix" Miss Nine spoke out into the street-lit darkness.
"It is?"
"Yes! All you have to do is undo that little button at the top of the zip and you'll feel much better!"
Hmmmmmm....so much for blaming it on genetics then!
