Happy Father's Day

Happy father's day to all dads and grandads!

Ours began with being woken by kids who prepared Dear Husband breakfast in bed (cereal, toast, cup of tea!) and then onto pressie opening (mug, chocolates, Bunnings gift voucher)

From then on it was all systems go...into cleaning and cooking and preparing for family arrivals at lunch involving a side of marinated lamb done on the bbq, salads (tossed, pumpkin and pine nut, coleslaw, corn), cauliflower/broccoli au gratin and sour dough bread. Yum!

Dessert was a lemon myrtle cheesecake made from a recipe supplied on the back of a packet from this company. I first made it last Father's Day and it was a huge hit! The lemon taste is distinct enough but not overbearing although be warned...once you have one piece, you'll want to go back for more! I also love the fact that it is utilising an Australian native ingredient...something that I believe is a relatively untapped and unappreciated aspect of our heritage.

A Night of Powder-Chair!

Yes, last night was the big night when I ventured to see the much talked about Powderfinger and Silverchair concert.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know how much I love Powderfinger's music (and the fact that my son was in their recent video!) but Silverchair was a bit of an unknown quantity. I had bought their latest cd and I'm afraid to say that my listens to it were few and far between.

The night started having a few drinkies with friends (you know who you are! Waving at ya!) so we missed the support act.

We ventured to our really fantastic side-view seats about ten minutes before Silverchair were supposed to come on stage and waited...and waited! Apparently, they delayed the start as there was an accident on the nearby Gateway Arterial Road. This was supposed to give ticket holders a chance to see the start of the concert although I did see quite a few people sneaking in after Silverchair had started.

Now, while I don't want to offend Silverchair fans, I must admit that after watching them, they are just not my cup of tea. I did hear and see some people comment about how delighted they were in their performance, but they are just not to my tastes. Firstly, I had trouble hearing Daniel John's voice over the music. Secondly, there were songs that they performed that I just sat there and watched. They didn't move me to want to get up and dance and I don't think I was alone as most people in the seating area were like me....just sitting and watching. In fact, at one stage, I went to the toilet...something I'd never contemplate doing if I was truly into the performance. That said, I loved Reflections of a Sound and Straight Lines and Greatest View. Those performances really had the crowd going and me singing along!

Powderfinger didn't come on stage until 10 due to the traffic delay. From the moment they got on stage, the whole room erupted. They played songs from their Dream Days album as well and some fantastic past hits. Already Gone was just brilliant live as was My Happiness and I Don't Remember. Bernard Fanning sang a beautiful performance of the controversial Black Tears which was amazing to see. Ian, DZ and Bernard did an acoustic of Sunsets which was absolutely beautiful. And the highlight for me was the final number of These Days....my all time favourite song of theirs.

Bernard interacted with the audience well, at one stage telling of his memories of being an audience member at the Entertainment Centre (and pointing to the approximate spot where he sat) back in 1986 to see John Cougar Mellancamp in concert. He then told the audience that most of them wouldn't have even remembered that time as they were too young. Well Bernard, I remember it....in fact, I was at the same concert! Sad to think I'm getting old!

There were many highlights of the Powderfinger performance. The telling factor for me though was that almost every person in my sitting area was up dancing and having a great time. In the end everyone rose and gave them a standing ovation! Well done to the Brissie boys.

Unfortunately no cameras were allowed in the auditorium (although I did spot some people snapping...grrrrr!) so I had to use my little phone cam. Carp pics but you get the idea.

Worms!!

There are some times in life when you just have to feel a sense of relief. These usually happen at times when you think that you have the worst deal or the worst end of the stick and suddenly something occurs to make you see that your life isn't so bad after all.

I had one of those moments on the weekend. It occurred when I picked the 11 year old up from a party. The party boy, full of sugar and hyperactive games no doubt, had a major meltdown at his mother in front of me and all the other guests. The details aren't important but, apart from being totally stunned at the sudden onslaught of aggression that this poor mother was facing and feeling embarrassed for her at the same time, I must admit that inside me there was a sense of total satisfaction that it was not my child throwing the major (and I mean major!) wobbly!

That said, Miss 7 who had accompanied me on the pick up journey witnessed the whole thing. Not one to mince words and certainly a matter-of-fact child, she took in the whole scene and calmly walked up to the boys mother and declared, "You know what?! I think you need to worm him!" Nothing like the innocence of a child to lighten the moment!

Image courtesy of Free Gifs & Animations" http://www.fg-a.com.

I Feel Old!

Life has been bubbling along as usual here. Apart from a few meltdowns (from the children and me!) and a week full of rain (and don't we need that!) and work, nothing much has been happening. The reward coupon system for getting out of the house of a work/school morning has been incredibly successful and I recommend it to anyone who is feeling the stress of rushing as I was.

The 11 year old has, along with his friends, discovered the joy of sleepovers. Usually, I am anti-sleepovers as I have heard of so many children getting themselves into trouble on them, but for the last two weekends I have relented given that I know the parents of these children very well and am sure of his safety and supervision. So what do you do when a quarter of your family is missing?.....why celebrate of course with lunch out and calm, quiet nights at home! Lol!

I am going through a 'feeling old' cycle at the moment! I read recently that Liam Finn (son of Crowded House front man Neil) has released his own song. O...M...G!!! Now, here is the part where I get honest and admit that at the age of 15 I was a Frenz of the Enz member and absolutely loved Split Enz and subsequently Crowded House. In fact, I even remember when Liam was born. Seriously! So to see him there on my computer screen singing away as a man...and with a beard and looking uncannily like his Uncle Tim.....well, I can't help but wonder what happened to all of the years of my life in between. Seriously sad! And if you haven't heard it, here it is. I really like it:

Ulcer Mornings!

I'm sure that every working mum and perhaps even non-working mums can relate to what I call the 'morning nightmare'. This is, the time between waking and getting everyone in the car to get to school and work. I know that for me, I wake every morning with a sense of dread as to what this particular time will be like.

You see, the morning slog is left solely to me as my husband has already left for work and it is almost never successful. The clock is our enemy as we (hmmmm.....I!) race, prepare, work, scream, order, cry to meet our deadline.

I usually give my children between an hour and fifteen minutes and an hour and a half to get ready. This usually depends on how well they get out of bed (a threat of cold water over a certain sleepy boy has been uttered once or twice, I admit! Lol!). Their chores in the morning are limited.....have shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, do hair and teeth, pack your bags, get in car. I don't care how well their bed is made or their room is tidy. I can deal with that another day. There is no tv on in our house at this time and there is no playing. I do the mother-lode of the work.....iron, lay uniforms out, prepare lunches, feed dog, etc and often I prepare a lot of things the night before so save the stress levels.

It sounds simple, doesn't it??? Why then do most mornings always end in a meltdown? This morning my son is sitting for the statewide year 3/5/7 test so being at school on time was imperative. Naturally, if one child has to be there early, the other decides that it is time to go slow. The moment my back was turned, she was playing with the dog, looking for 'missing shoes', poking faces at her brother, dawdling, you name it! Arrrrghhhh! It culminated in me threatening to drive off without her, her screaming, me getting in the car and her taking her dear sweet merry time to do so.

Yes, we were ten minutes late for school! My poor son must be in a terrible state after the goings-on here this morning. I pulled into the kerb outside the school and said to Miss 7, "So, do you have anything to say about the way you behaved this morning?" Her response....."No! I know that you want me to say that I'm sorry but I'm not because you made me mad!" (yes, surprisingly cheeky for her!) Double arrrrrghhhhhh!!!

So I am sitting here trying to establish a more positive spin on our nightmare mornings. I'm thinking that reward vouchers to be used on the weekend can be issued at the end of each morning session before we get in the car. I'm wondering if that would be successful enough to stop this feeling of horror at the thought of surviving the morning madness! But if anyone reading this has any better plans, then let me know....please!

Sheesh, no wonder I feel like I'm getting an ulcer!

(photo courtesty of freefoto.com)

Shannon's Stepped Up!

I confess, when the first Australian Idol was broadcast, I became one of those people who got caught up in the hysteria. I preordered my Shannon Noll cd and thought, from the moment that he sang his version of Robbie William's 'Better Man' on the show that he had that special something that makes you stop and listen.

I admit though that over the last few years, despite him having several successful singles and proving to his critics that he was a new Australian music talent to be reckoned with, my interest in his music faded as all his songs seemed (to my lay-person's ears) to sound the same. I did love his version of 'Don't Give Up' with Natalie Bassingthwaite, but then again....who didn't!

But on the weekend, on one of those generic music video shows, I happened to catch the end of his latest video clip! Omg! What a shock! Shannon has stepped up and proven that he can belt out a rockin' song as well as the best of them! If this is an indication of what to expect on his next cd, then I'm certainly in for a listen. Love the song, love the clip and love the performance. Shannon looks confident and content (sans flavour savour, I might add!). Perhaps his latest bout of fatherhood has agreed with him!

Grumpy Happy Days

It's a rainy day in Brisbane today. I should be happy, I know. We desperately want and need water, but today the gray skies are probably matching my mood. I just feel grumpy.......at children who create mess everywhere they walk, at husbands who get drunk at parties on our child-free night (both kids had sleep-overs...yaaayyy!) and then come home (being taxied by their completely sober wife) and pass out, at fighting kids, at the feeling that I'm getting nothing accomplished, at the fact that I couldn't find anything to wear to last night's party because I've put on weight, hmmmmm....at life in general maybe!

And today on Video Hits, I watched an interview with Powderfinger members who, once again, credited all child-actors in their latest video to being Samford State School children. Can someone please tell them that NOT ALL children in that video clip were from that school! Arrrrghhh! The local paper also published this but it is simply not true. Many children who heard about the auditions through their agents and through the band's own website went to the south side of Brisbane for auditions (ie...my son) and were cast that way.

At present I am also watching the rain fall over my new water tank....which is STILL NOT hooked up to the down-pipes even though Dear Husband has had about a month to do this. Arrrghhhhh....don't ask why - I've given up asking this!

And to top off my afternoon, my hands-free telephone is broken. It keeps going flat and I cannot hear the telephone ring. Time for a new phone, of course, but in the meantime I keep missing calls here!

All things considered, I know that these little irritations are not life-threatening and, on their own, not really that important. I think I'm just in one of those life valleys, staring at the hills around me that I have to climb!

So I did what many a good self-respecting woman would do.....I cooked! And what better thing to cook on a cold, wet Brissie day than warm, fluffy scones. I just used the recipe from my book but I will share a few little tips here that my father passed down to me........always use really cold milk and a really hot oven; once you put the milk in, mix the ingredients for as short a period as possible with a knife (not spoon) - it should still be wet and sticky when you put in onto a floured board; when on the board, cover in flour and don't roll...just pat into a whole shape; Instead of cutting with a scone cutter, simply slice the dough like you would a biscuit slice. I always follow these instructions and you know what....I think I'm doing ok in the scone cooking department! After all, they were all eaten quickly and you know what...there is nothing like a hit of sugar to help you out of a glum mood!

Enjoy your week!