Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Don't Try this at home!
"They say" that Chocolate is better than kissing! "Chocolate beats kissing hands down when it comes to providing a long-lasting body and brain buzz." These were conclusions of lab experiments done in the UK with volunteers in their twenties.I don't know about you, but I don't think that the environment of a lab would get me in the right mood for a passionate snog, not that I'm that much into romantic settings and all the rest. I suppose I'm getting old, being in my forties and all that, but I think it would be hard to get into any sort of passionate kissing if I was all wired up with electrodes, knowing that people were watching me! (Maybe back in my starry eyed youth I could have ignored all that.)
It's certainly an interesting result though, and given that I'm partial to my chocolate, I think there is definitely some worth in some anecdotal testing of this result 'in the field'. For the sake of science of course.
Labels: misc, Trivial and lovin' it
Monday, May 07, 2007
making it up as you go along...
Some days are like that. No major dramas, but just the little changes along the way that make life interesting.
I woke up with a headache, and again cursed my uncurbed inclinations to imbibe of a wine and/or a beer most nights. (ie. every night unless I have a headache that I blame on the imbibing of alcohol!) I really didn't need that second glass of red wine on top of having had a lite beer - depite the fact that the cost factor of the 'red' involved should have meant that it kept me above the headache threshold. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's a lot more than I used to be able to drink! Such an achievement! I wish I could just give it all up. I'd probably drop 10 kilos just like *that* as well as lessening my chances of headaches.
I got a phone call to say that one of the netball girls we car pool with this afternoon hurt her knee at the end of the carnival yesterday, and so won't be going. Her dad normally brings Cait home from town at 6.30, which leaves me free (after taking everyone in for 4.30) to get dinner ready and then pick up Alison from her training. Cue change of logistics for this afternoon - something that isn't the easiest thing to do with a headache, but I resigned myself to 'hanging' in town for 2 hours doing the shopping with Zoe. Lucky she is good company, even in the shops, and not a complainer. She doesn't mind her one on one Mum and Zoe time - and the chance to push the trolley without any competition for the 'right' to do so.
Marc came with me before work to the local bike shop for me to suss out one type of women's road bike. Not the one we think we want for me, but another brand. I rode it up the street and back. It will serve as a comparison when I check out the one in Port. Our local shop didn't offer to get in this other brand... so will miss out on a sale, most likely. I did discover, at least, that I think I will be fine riding a road bike. (I was concerned!) The 'drops' on the women's frame aren't as low as a standard frame, so it makes you feel like you could 'drop' on to them easily.
He dropped me off near the bridge over the highway. I've taken this short cut before. Walk up from highway road level to the level of the overpass, and gain access through a gap in the fencing. From there where it should have been a quick (barely) 1km walk home. However some official in their wisdom has put a padlock on the gate - so there was no getting through anymore. There was barbed wire along the top of the fence; one section there wasn't, it was maybe 15 ft height, and it was probably climbable, except I didn't feel up to making a potential spectacle of myself. Funny how despite all my "activity", sometimes I feel my age (and gender!).
From what I could see, the same applied to the other side of the highway, and the other side of the bridge. My only choice was to walk back up the highway about a kilometre, and then take the big loop around and back over the said overpass. Just 5km unplanned walking exercise - in itself not a big deal (probably 'ideal' given that I probably wouldn't have got round to doing any exercise today) except that I had no hat and no water, but the vestiges of the headache still hanging in there. Needless to say I didn't feel like throwing myself around the house in any sort of domestic cleaning frenzy once I got home. Oh, and as I walked over said bridge? Turned out the gate diagonally opposite the route I attempted had been vandalised, and so I could have crossed the road, walked down a few hundred metres, then back up a track through some bush and shrubs, and straight up onto the bridge. Gotta hate that.
I got some washing done, though even that didn't go smoothly. Not the dreaded tissue in the wash, but soggy bits of cardboard (from Zoe's speech cards) give the same result! Doh! Why do I forget to check pockets? (And 'no more speech cards' - hope she doesn't need them anymore.)
And when Zoe and I were doing the supermarket shopping this evening the shopping centre had a power failure! No biggie as the supermarket kicked in the back up generator, with minimum lighting and the cash registers working, but with no lights in the meat and deli displays, I gave up on the browsing for meal ideas, headed out in case it was a locality blackout, meaning the netball training would have no lights, but no such luck - it was obviously a plaza specialty.
The 'no more overseas work' has lasted until this week. I knew it couldn't be that simple when it involved an ongoing multi-million dollar project and the whims of Malaysian departments and officials, and people who basically aren't sensible. Some government department is demanding explanations of how this and that will work, and it comes down to Marc being the only one frm the company who understands it all and is able to explain it. Much angst. Much much angst, actually, and not just from me. He is going tomorrow, back Friday - it is a compromise. As long as he has the angst, and we are talking, it is ok.
I woke up with a headache, and again cursed my uncurbed inclinations to imbibe of a wine and/or a beer most nights. (ie. every night unless I have a headache that I blame on the imbibing of alcohol!) I really didn't need that second glass of red wine on top of having had a lite beer - depite the fact that the cost factor of the 'red' involved should have meant that it kept me above the headache threshold. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's a lot more than I used to be able to drink! Such an achievement! I wish I could just give it all up. I'd probably drop 10 kilos just like *that* as well as lessening my chances of headaches.
I got a phone call to say that one of the netball girls we car pool with this afternoon hurt her knee at the end of the carnival yesterday, and so won't be going. Her dad normally brings Cait home from town at 6.30, which leaves me free (after taking everyone in for 4.30) to get dinner ready and then pick up Alison from her training. Cue change of logistics for this afternoon - something that isn't the easiest thing to do with a headache, but I resigned myself to 'hanging' in town for 2 hours doing the shopping with Zoe. Lucky she is good company, even in the shops, and not a complainer. She doesn't mind her one on one Mum and Zoe time - and the chance to push the trolley without any competition for the 'right' to do so.
Marc came with me before work to the local bike shop for me to suss out one type of women's road bike. Not the one we think we want for me, but another brand. I rode it up the street and back. It will serve as a comparison when I check out the one in Port. Our local shop didn't offer to get in this other brand... so will miss out on a sale, most likely. I did discover, at least, that I think I will be fine riding a road bike. (I was concerned!) The 'drops' on the women's frame aren't as low as a standard frame, so it makes you feel like you could 'drop' on to them easily.
He dropped me off near the bridge over the highway. I've taken this short cut before. Walk up from highway road level to the level of the overpass, and gain access through a gap in the fencing. From there where it should have been a quick (barely) 1km walk home. However some official in their wisdom has put a padlock on the gate - so there was no getting through anymore. There was barbed wire along the top of the fence; one section there wasn't, it was maybe 15 ft height, and it was probably climbable, except I didn't feel up to making a potential spectacle of myself. Funny how despite all my "activity", sometimes I feel my age (and gender!).
From what I could see, the same applied to the other side of the highway, and the other side of the bridge. My only choice was to walk back up the highway about a kilometre, and then take the big loop around and back over the said overpass. Just 5km unplanned walking exercise - in itself not a big deal (probably 'ideal' given that I probably wouldn't have got round to doing any exercise today) except that I had no hat and no water, but the vestiges of the headache still hanging in there. Needless to say I didn't feel like throwing myself around the house in any sort of domestic cleaning frenzy once I got home. Oh, and as I walked over said bridge? Turned out the gate diagonally opposite the route I attempted had been vandalised, and so I could have crossed the road, walked down a few hundred metres, then back up a track through some bush and shrubs, and straight up onto the bridge. Gotta hate that.
I got some washing done, though even that didn't go smoothly. Not the dreaded tissue in the wash, but soggy bits of cardboard (from Zoe's speech cards) give the same result! Doh! Why do I forget to check pockets? (And 'no more speech cards' - hope she doesn't need them anymore.)
And when Zoe and I were doing the supermarket shopping this evening the shopping centre had a power failure! No biggie as the supermarket kicked in the back up generator, with minimum lighting and the cash registers working, but with no lights in the meat and deli displays, I gave up on the browsing for meal ideas, headed out in case it was a locality blackout, meaning the netball training would have no lights, but no such luck - it was obviously a plaza specialty.
The 'no more overseas work' has lasted until this week. I knew it couldn't be that simple when it involved an ongoing multi-million dollar project and the whims of Malaysian departments and officials, and people who basically aren't sensible. Some government department is demanding explanations of how this and that will work, and it comes down to Marc being the only one frm the company who understands it all and is able to explain it. Much angst. Much much angst, actually, and not just from me. He is going tomorrow, back Friday - it is a compromise. As long as he has the angst, and we are talking, it is ok.
Labels: daily, Trivial and lovin' it
Saturday, May 05, 2007
So bed is looking like a good idea...
Can't imagine why. Yet another insanely early bike ride, this time into the Community ride in town. Up at 5.00, left on the bike at 5.35 when only tinges of light were beginning to tickle the dark sky. Fifty minutes from home to the city square. (Beautiful sunrise over the ocean! - "Morning people" have been trying to tell me for years about the worth of seeing glorious sunrises, but I've never been a believer. Maybe I'm becoming a bit of a convert. Maybe. Sort of. Kinda.) It felt warmer still today, so stripped off the thermals before setting off with the group. Rode up a level in "A" group, which was faster and a bit further, so we totalled 87 km by the time we got home again. No bloody wonder I'm a bit weary. Before leaving for home we chatted with other riders over coffee, and quite enjoyed it; the only reason we left - almost 9am - was because we had to get home to get the girls to netball by 10.00.
The reason I am really weary, actually, is then spending 5 hours 'womanning" the canteen and clubhouse. I am so over it. Truly I am. I know I've whinged before, but I'm doing it again, and probably will every Saturday between now and the end of the season. You've been warned! I'm tired of feeling obliged to be there for so long. Get yourself on a committee because of your conscience, and it's like the Hotel California.. Worse.. it's all but impossible to check out.
Tomorrow is more netball. The girls have a rep carnival so an early start (though there are worse ones for carnivals that are further away.) We are going to watch this time - or rather I will watch. Zoe will have to 'hang' at the carnival, and Marc is continuing north to meet the guy he is buying his road bike from (eBay) at Byron Bay. By coincidence, this week in the issue of Australian Cyclist magazine that arrived there was a Wanted ad for a tag-a-long bike - by people who live north west of here, and not far from Byron Bay. So Marc is taking our trail-a-bike up and meeting the potential buyers at Byron as well. If they decide to buy it we'll be $200 better off, and have a bit more space in the shed. (It'll pay for a quarter of his new bike!)
Watching netball all day is not top of my wishlist of fav things to do on a weekend (*gasp! shock!horror!*) but it's just what you do if that's what your kids do. Have watched a fair bit of rep netball over the past couple of years - this is Cait's third year - and Ali's first. Will either have twice as much to watch if they are on alternate timeslots, or will be torn between who to watch if they are on at the same time.
So bed is beckoning. Though I feel compelled to watch the last quarter of the footy - the AFL would you believe, despite being NSW born and bred. (and I include this only for the benefit of my newer Aussie blog acquaintances who don't know these things about me yet. Australians will know that NSW and Queensland are traditionally Rugby League territory, while the rest of the country is 'Aussie Rules'. Yet despite being New South Welshmen through and through, we are converts to the game they play south of the border (and over west and yonder).. but of course we couldn't be anything but Sydney Swans supporters, (could we Jebus!?)
[And so they started out crap and were losing most of the game. Of course they are doing the usual Sydney thing and making it look like they could actually storm back and snatch victory. (As I am typing they have reeled it in to just 4 points, but blown back out to 16 again, and won't make it. This time.) I have yet to learn how to be a truly dedicated footy supporter (not having been brought up following any code of footy - this is the first team of any variety I have actually "supported") I still need to learn how to be patient enough to stick with them through till the final siren, cos you just never never know, do you?! By god, you have to be patient with Sydney though...because so often they make it so hard for themselves.)
So enough of the footy lessons - because most of the rest of the world really couldn't give a damn. And bed. And into some more barracking and supporting tomorrow. Huzzah.
The reason I am really weary, actually, is then spending 5 hours 'womanning" the canteen and clubhouse. I am so over it. Truly I am. I know I've whinged before, but I'm doing it again, and probably will every Saturday between now and the end of the season. You've been warned! I'm tired of feeling obliged to be there for so long. Get yourself on a committee because of your conscience, and it's like the Hotel California.. Worse.. it's all but impossible to check out.
Tomorrow is more netball. The girls have a rep carnival so an early start (though there are worse ones for carnivals that are further away.) We are going to watch this time - or rather I will watch. Zoe will have to 'hang' at the carnival, and Marc is continuing north to meet the guy he is buying his road bike from (eBay) at Byron Bay. By coincidence, this week in the issue of Australian Cyclist magazine that arrived there was a Wanted ad for a tag-a-long bike - by people who live north west of here, and not far from Byron Bay. So Marc is taking our trail-a-bike up and meeting the potential buyers at Byron as well. If they decide to buy it we'll be $200 better off, and have a bit more space in the shed. (It'll pay for a quarter of his new bike!)
Watching netball all day is not top of my wishlist of fav things to do on a weekend (*gasp! shock!horror!*) but it's just what you do if that's what your kids do. Have watched a fair bit of rep netball over the past couple of years - this is Cait's third year - and Ali's first. Will either have twice as much to watch if they are on alternate timeslots, or will be torn between who to watch if they are on at the same time.
So bed is beckoning. Though I feel compelled to watch the last quarter of the footy - the AFL would you believe, despite being NSW born and bred. (and I include this only for the benefit of my newer Aussie blog acquaintances who don't know these things about me yet. Australians will know that NSW and Queensland are traditionally Rugby League territory, while the rest of the country is 'Aussie Rules'. Yet despite being New South Welshmen through and through, we are converts to the game they play south of the border (and over west and yonder).. but of course we couldn't be anything but Sydney Swans supporters, (could we Jebus!?)
[And so they started out crap and were losing most of the game. Of course they are doing the usual Sydney thing and making it look like they could actually storm back and snatch victory. (As I am typing they have reeled it in to just 4 points, but blown back out to 16 again, and won't make it. This time.) I have yet to learn how to be a truly dedicated footy supporter (not having been brought up following any code of footy - this is the first team of any variety I have actually "supported") I still need to learn how to be patient enough to stick with them through till the final siren, cos you just never never know, do you?! By god, you have to be patient with Sydney though...because so often they make it so hard for themselves.)
So enough of the footy lessons - because most of the rest of the world really couldn't give a damn. And bed. And into some more barracking and supporting tomorrow. Huzzah.
Labels: bike riding, daily, Trivial and lovin' it
Friday, May 04, 2007
Brought to you by the letter W...?
It's warm! What the? What weird whacky weather! It's 29 degrees out there! But it's May, for heaven's sakes. In Australia. Southern hemisphere. Autumn. One month off winter. And it's nearly 90 degrees Farenheit? Bizarre. So far I've only emerged outside to hang washing out, and the sudden jump to that sort of warmth made me feel a bit woozy. So I've been sitting in here on the computer, avoiding doing all the stuff I know I should be doing.
Bit of a worry. And so what's this with me and the w's? Don't know. Maybe I've lost the plot completely. (Maybe it's the period pain medication. And yesterday I was taking the naprogesic, and a panadeine/codeine tablet as well.) Maybe it's gone to my head. And today I'm still feeling a bit 'that time of the month' fragile. Poor wee flower. (Weed more like.)
I'm trying to psych up to go up to Woopi (name everyone calls the local town), to buy stuff for dinner. Marc thought I should go to the bike shop there to suss out a bike they did have, but I've talked him into coming with me on Monday morning instead. He would only ask me all technical questions about it that I couldn't answer anyway, so it is better that my bike mechanic/cycling coach/financial sponsor accompanies me.
We are coming to the conclusion that we should just accept the fact that we're kind of anti-social. In the 'normally accepted' way, anyway. (Lately I've lamented with Marc the fact that we are not very social or gregarious - and I probably used to blame the fact that he was always away as the cause of that.) But someone invited us to go to dinner tonight - at a fishing club in town, nothing flash. With the kids. And, really, we have no interest in going. It was through people Marc plays Touch with.. and I don't know most of them. And the ones I know.. meh.. (and his wife was one who peeved me at a recent netball committee meeting with her attitude about another coach, so I don't really feel like doing the social chit chat thing with her anyway..)
So we found ourselves coming up with a whole host of excuses. Don't feel like rushing from my swimming class into town (25km) for it. I bought the kids pies and chips last night, don't feel like more rubbish tonight. Would rather come home, have dinner, go to bed, and get up early for a bike ride. Etc etc. So, we've blamed my swimming class for the reason we can't attend.
Is that weird? Probably.
Part of the reason we want to bike ride is the social aspect, so it's not like we're complete hermits. Maybe we're just very choosy. And these days we'd rather talk bikes than general crap. I suppose.
So, I should be on my bike .. well, get in the car anyway.. and wander up to Woopi - and wonder about what to have for dinner that can be prepared before 4pm and be ready for around 7pm when I get home from the afternoon's activities. I think I will go and change into a summery sleeveless top so I don't expire in all that warmth.
Bit of a worry. And so what's this with me and the w's? Don't know. Maybe I've lost the plot completely. (Maybe it's the period pain medication. And yesterday I was taking the naprogesic, and a panadeine/codeine tablet as well.) Maybe it's gone to my head. And today I'm still feeling a bit 'that time of the month' fragile. Poor wee flower. (Weed more like.)
I'm trying to psych up to go up to Woopi (name everyone calls the local town), to buy stuff for dinner. Marc thought I should go to the bike shop there to suss out a bike they did have, but I've talked him into coming with me on Monday morning instead. He would only ask me all technical questions about it that I couldn't answer anyway, so it is better that my bike mechanic/cycling coach/financial sponsor accompanies me.
We are coming to the conclusion that we should just accept the fact that we're kind of anti-social. In the 'normally accepted' way, anyway. (Lately I've lamented with Marc the fact that we are not very social or gregarious - and I probably used to blame the fact that he was always away as the cause of that.) But someone invited us to go to dinner tonight - at a fishing club in town, nothing flash. With the kids. And, really, we have no interest in going. It was through people Marc plays Touch with.. and I don't know most of them. And the ones I know.. meh.. (and his wife was one who peeved me at a recent netball committee meeting with her attitude about another coach, so I don't really feel like doing the social chit chat thing with her anyway..)
So we found ourselves coming up with a whole host of excuses. Don't feel like rushing from my swimming class into town (25km) for it. I bought the kids pies and chips last night, don't feel like more rubbish tonight. Would rather come home, have dinner, go to bed, and get up early for a bike ride. Etc etc. So, we've blamed my swimming class for the reason we can't attend.
Is that weird? Probably.
Part of the reason we want to bike ride is the social aspect, so it's not like we're complete hermits. Maybe we're just very choosy. And these days we'd rather talk bikes than general crap. I suppose.
So, I should be on my bike .. well, get in the car anyway.. and wander up to Woopi - and wonder about what to have for dinner that can be prepared before 4pm and be ready for around 7pm when I get home from the afternoon's activities. I think I will go and change into a summery sleeveless top so I don't expire in all that warmth.
Labels: daily, introspection, Trivial and lovin' it
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Progress.
In between stuffing around today, I actually managed to clean a couple of things! I washed one of the cars! And cleaned the bathroom vanity and loo. And washed the bath down (how dare it get dirty even when it never gets used!) And even poked the vacuum cleaner around the playroom, in between all the kids' crap. Given my ultra-slackness in recent weeks months, this is big news for around here.
I also haven't felt shattered from the early wake-up like I did on Monday. Oh my god, I might be getting used to this insane early morning bike-riding lark.
I didn't get all down and moody either - which is a surprise given what the next few days are about to bring. Maybe this theory of throwing yourself into cleaning has some merit. (Or maybe it's the endorphins gaining the upper hand.)
I also got on the phone and got myself an appointment to see the gyno again, and the Nicest Medical Receptionist in the World (truly!) put me in for Thursday next week because she didn't want me to have to wait around for weeks and weeks. (How unusual is that for a specialist?) It doesn't matter that it is tennis day (and I have to drive to Port for it).. and stuff around to work out after school logistics for the kids. I am happy to get an appointment. And I could hug that receptionist. How many medical receptionists make you feel that way? Not many.
I also rang a couple of bike shops about a road bike for me. The local shop that deals in the brand we are interested in (after Marc's net research) didn't offer to get one in on spec - but the guy at Port did. So, as I told him, yes, I am serious about it, and if he's prepared to get it in, I'm prepared to travel down there for it. With luck he'll have it by Thursday so it will be worth the trip. And with further luck Marc will take the day off work and come with me, although that will make the after school logistics a bit more complicated.
Why am I so chuffed that I made a few phone calls? I am slowly coming to the conclusion that I have some sort of mild phone phobia. Don't get me wrong, I can yak away with the best of them once I am on the phone. But I do have this weird resistance to picking up the phone and making a call. I put off making appointments. I put off ringing places to ask for information. I don't know why I do, because I am really quite capable when I start talking. And it's just all about that first step of getting the number, picking up the phone, dialling, and starting the conversation.
I don't tend to ring friends or family much either. I'm not quite sure why. Because I know I will end up talking for an hour, and then that's an hour "lost" when I think I could be doing something more "constructive" ? (Like now for instance.. *snorts*) The kids either annoy me by trying to ask me things (and I am not one of these people who can follow two conversations at once). Or they are vewwy, vewwy quiet, so that I don't notice them and the fact that normal bedtime has slipped by without me going. I have embraced the email/instant chat culture because I can review what I am going to say before I 'say' it. And I can walk away and do something else, or talk to someone else, all at the same time. Now that is what I call multi-tasking.
Tomorrow I have my first tennis comp day. Let's hope I can connect with the ball. Let's hope the cramps don't attack like they could well do. And let's hope my "alpha" teammates don't babble on about how much bloody cleaning they did that morning BEFORE they left for tennis.
I also haven't felt shattered from the early wake-up like I did on Monday. Oh my god, I might be getting used to this insane early morning bike-riding lark.
I didn't get all down and moody either - which is a surprise given what the next few days are about to bring. Maybe this theory of throwing yourself into cleaning has some merit. (Or maybe it's the endorphins gaining the upper hand.)
I also got on the phone and got myself an appointment to see the gyno again, and the Nicest Medical Receptionist in the World (truly!) put me in for Thursday next week because she didn't want me to have to wait around for weeks and weeks. (How unusual is that for a specialist?) It doesn't matter that it is tennis day (and I have to drive to Port for it).. and stuff around to work out after school logistics for the kids. I am happy to get an appointment. And I could hug that receptionist. How many medical receptionists make you feel that way? Not many.
I also rang a couple of bike shops about a road bike for me. The local shop that deals in the brand we are interested in (after Marc's net research) didn't offer to get one in on spec - but the guy at Port did. So, as I told him, yes, I am serious about it, and if he's prepared to get it in, I'm prepared to travel down there for it. With luck he'll have it by Thursday so it will be worth the trip. And with further luck Marc will take the day off work and come with me, although that will make the after school logistics a bit more complicated.
Why am I so chuffed that I made a few phone calls? I am slowly coming to the conclusion that I have some sort of mild phone phobia. Don't get me wrong, I can yak away with the best of them once I am on the phone. But I do have this weird resistance to picking up the phone and making a call. I put off making appointments. I put off ringing places to ask for information. I don't know why I do, because I am really quite capable when I start talking. And it's just all about that first step of getting the number, picking up the phone, dialling, and starting the conversation.
I don't tend to ring friends or family much either. I'm not quite sure why. Because I know I will end up talking for an hour, and then that's an hour "lost" when I think I could be doing something more "constructive" ? (Like now for instance.. *snorts*) The kids either annoy me by trying to ask me things (and I am not one of these people who can follow two conversations at once). Or they are vewwy, vewwy quiet, so that I don't notice them and the fact that normal bedtime has slipped by without me going. I have embraced the email/instant chat culture because I can review what I am going to say before I 'say' it. And I can walk away and do something else, or talk to someone else, all at the same time. Now that is what I call multi-tasking.
Tomorrow I have my first tennis comp day. Let's hope I can connect with the ball. Let's hope the cramps don't attack like they could well do. And let's hope my "alpha" teammates don't babble on about how much bloody cleaning they did that morning BEFORE they left for tennis.
Labels: daily, introspection, Trivial and lovin' it
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Be careful what you wish for!
So it rained as predicted; at 5 am it was raining heavily enough that we had the sense to stay in bed and not take Option B of driving in to town and riding the community ride with our raingear on. We had decided that rain + pre-dawn light + highway was one too many risk factors. (Option B of a mere 30 km ride would have been ok if it was just drizzling.. but the rain intensity crossed the line somewhere in there.)
Amidst mad dreams that involved assuming netball was off, and then being told it was on, the phone rang at 8am. It was one of the others from the netball committee - they'd already made the call to have no netball today. Yee ha! I got up, put the wet weather cancellation notice on the website and then went back to bed!
Of course since then the weather has lightened a little with about an hour or so of no rain and only some light drizzle. You wonder then of course whether we could have tried to run it, could have got the games in. Meh! Not my problem. Wet courts with puddles.. who wants to volunteer to sweep them off?.. and then worry about kids slipping etc. And trying to decide during the middle of games if the safety factor has been breached. No, not me.
So, I have a free Saturday! But then's there's the catch. What do I do?
** Clean (you know how much I love that. Not.)
** Iron (love that even more. Not.)
** wash clothes - but I can't hang them out on the line, which is the only redeeming feature of doing the laundry! - I could almost say I enjoy hanging the washing out on a sunny day. (If I wash today I'll have to process them through our cabinet dryer, which is ok, but time consuming..and electricity consuming too - so do I wait and hope tomorrow is fine?)
** Do bloggy or websitey stuff - plenty I could do - between the netball site, the Bike BUG site and blog - our family tandem blog - write up our Big Ride journal - and I could do a whole heap of stuff on our family website to create a resource on all our tandems and that...
But my wrist is a bit 'iffy' - my 'too much time on the computer barometer', Marc has called it. Hmmm. Yes.. yesterday I spent most of the day here.. I did do netball minutes, but I did a lot of surfing and sighing and blogreading and sighing.
** research what new digital camera to buy (again, too much mouse-wrist time..)
** hassle Marc about him and me buying ourselves single road bikes, because I've just been invited to ride with a group of women riding road bikes on Wednesday mornings, and I would just so love that!! (Not a chance of keeping up on my single mountain bike though.)
We are also having to hassle the eldest for going into super-sloth mode, and say "ENOUGH TV! NO MORE TV! Get off the lounge!! Have some breakfast!!" (at which point she will try to head, pyjama-clad, to the computer, and sit there for hours playing with graphics and the like. She will possibly have her game on in town this afternoon, but it's terribly frustrating to see her go so overboard with the slothfulness.
I wished so fervently for no netball today because, early in the season as it is, I am a bit over having to hang at the netball courts for hours, manning the canteen and clubhouse. Talk about getting sucked in. A few years ago I turned up to a committee meeting because I felt I should contribute something given my daughter had just been selected in a rep team. And I timidly put my hand up and suggested I could possibly contribute something towards publicity and information dissemination within the club. (It was a bit lacking.) Who knew that I'd be stuck in the clubhouse for hours because I was the only one on the committee who didn't coach or umpire? (Today I'd been asked to stay till 4.15!)
So I had better seize this day of No Netball, and do something super-constructive to make myself feel OK.
Amidst mad dreams that involved assuming netball was off, and then being told it was on, the phone rang at 8am. It was one of the others from the netball committee - they'd already made the call to have no netball today. Yee ha! I got up, put the wet weather cancellation notice on the website and then went back to bed!
Of course since then the weather has lightened a little with about an hour or so of no rain and only some light drizzle. You wonder then of course whether we could have tried to run it, could have got the games in. Meh! Not my problem. Wet courts with puddles.. who wants to volunteer to sweep them off?.. and then worry about kids slipping etc. And trying to decide during the middle of games if the safety factor has been breached. No, not me.
So, I have a free Saturday! But then's there's the catch. What do I do?
** Clean (you know how much I love that. Not.)
** Iron (love that even more. Not.)
** wash clothes - but I can't hang them out on the line, which is the only redeeming feature of doing the laundry! - I could almost say I enjoy hanging the washing out on a sunny day. (If I wash today I'll have to process them through our cabinet dryer, which is ok, but time consuming..and electricity consuming too - so do I wait and hope tomorrow is fine?)
** Do bloggy or websitey stuff - plenty I could do - between the netball site, the Bike BUG site and blog - our family tandem blog - write up our Big Ride journal - and I could do a whole heap of stuff on our family website to create a resource on all our tandems and that...
But my wrist is a bit 'iffy' - my 'too much time on the computer barometer', Marc has called it. Hmmm. Yes.. yesterday I spent most of the day here.. I did do netball minutes, but I did a lot of surfing and sighing and blogreading and sighing.
** research what new digital camera to buy (again, too much mouse-wrist time..)
** hassle Marc about him and me buying ourselves single road bikes, because I've just been invited to ride with a group of women riding road bikes on Wednesday mornings, and I would just so love that!! (Not a chance of keeping up on my single mountain bike though.)
We are also having to hassle the eldest for going into super-sloth mode, and say "ENOUGH TV! NO MORE TV! Get off the lounge!! Have some breakfast!!" (at which point she will try to head, pyjama-clad, to the computer, and sit there for hours playing with graphics and the like. She will possibly have her game on in town this afternoon, but it's terribly frustrating to see her go so overboard with the slothfulness.
I wished so fervently for no netball today because, early in the season as it is, I am a bit over having to hang at the netball courts for hours, manning the canteen and clubhouse. Talk about getting sucked in. A few years ago I turned up to a committee meeting because I felt I should contribute something given my daughter had just been selected in a rep team. And I timidly put my hand up and suggested I could possibly contribute something towards publicity and information dissemination within the club. (It was a bit lacking.) Who knew that I'd be stuck in the clubhouse for hours because I was the only one on the committee who didn't coach or umpire? (Today I'd been asked to stay till 4.15!)
So I had better seize this day of No Netball, and do something super-constructive to make myself feel OK.
Labels: daily, Trivial and lovin' it
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Bearing in mind the dangers..
and the warnings by Shish and Magic... yesterday I decided to give my mouse wrist a rest, and do some cleaning! Yo! Go me! I cleaned! I CLEANED! Some windows! We can see out our bedroom window now! I feel like staying up in our room just admiring the view I can now see through the window. (Getting the picture of how bad things get round here?) Salt spray compounds the problems of a reticent window cleaner, I can tell you. There were patterns etched into it by 'creative' fingers.. which were a daily poke in the ribs about how bad it was.
I am still battling the 'proverbialing' into the wind factor with it all. The house has got SO BAD that I find it hard to fight the overwhelming sense of desperation I feel with it all. Cleaning one bit just highlights another bit well overdue for a clean, and I end up in this Catch 22-like spiral of what to do first. Which I have moaned about ad nauseum I know, sorry. Add the dilapidated state of the house, which means that things overall look a bit shabby anyway, and it's all a bit depressing really.
I also get more depressed because some of the women I end up hanging with (at netball, and I'll be playing tennis with them this term) carry on about their cleaning, to the point that I just feel totally hopeless. They are so driven!! In the mornings, while I'm browsing blogs over a coffee, they are whipping in, cleaning the shower and the loo, sweeping the kitchen floor, doing all the ironing... and that's all before morning tea!
I tell myself that they aren't stimulating their minds as I am, but it's hard to keep that idea in focus! When someone suggested we have a netball committee meeting at my place next Monday evening so that I wouldn't worry about babysitting issues, I nearly died. Despite the fact that visitor induced cleaning is often the only way things get done around here, I couldn't face the thought of it. I'd rather rationalise that the younger two will be ok for 10 minutes before the almost 14 yr old gets dropped home from training. (They will be ok - I don't need the pressure of visitors right now.)
So, anyway.. today being a public holiday, I am trying to use it to get on top of things. And to accept that to haul it all back in will be a long process. It simply won't be solved in a week or two. Like my weight loss goals, it'll probably take a year.
For my similarly domestically challenged mates out 'there', I'm sharing my little achievements here. God, it must make for boring blog reading, but triviality is what you get here at CrazyTrace.
So apart from windows, yesterday I put a spare tube on the vacuum cleaner to make it longer, and de-cobwebbed some of the walls and rafters up in our room. Long overdue.
This morning I've given Marc a haircut (clipper job).. which then inspired vacuuming the kitchen floor. A nothing job except that it required hauling the vacuum cleaner down HERE, despite there being more vacuuming to do in our room. I'll chip away at it today, remove some of the worst cobwebs and dust bunnies. And last night's cooking stuff that didn't fit in the dishwasher are washed! And the dishwasher is unpacked! (This is progress, folks!)
My wrist is ok. Moderation is probably the key!
*sighs* - It's just another Manic Mum day...
Labels: clean ups, daily, Trivial and lovin' it
Monday, April 16, 2007
This is Meez
I just wasted half an hour, and nearly blew up the computer RAM and Blogger, creating a Meez that I could relate to, and trying to upload the pic here. (Blogger somehow thought it should put it up 19 times!)
How hard was it to wade through all the popular culture and fashion to find a 'look' that even approximated me?! The hairstyle isn't quite right.. but then again, I SHOULD be wearing a helmet. And get started riding the damn bike will ya!! It reminds me of Zoe's tentativeness trying to get started riding her own bike. (The full version has 'me' whizzing off, and coming back doing a wheelie, which is so not me anyway...)
I went back to meez.com to get me a smaller version, and it has since decided that my browser is no longer up to it.
You'd think I would have something better to do with my day, wouldn't you!
How hard was it to wade through all the popular culture and fashion to find a 'look' that even approximated me?! The hairstyle isn't quite right.. but then again, I SHOULD be wearing a helmet. And get started riding the damn bike will ya!! It reminds me of Zoe's tentativeness trying to get started riding her own bike. (The full version has 'me' whizzing off, and coming back doing a wheelie, which is so not me anyway...)
I went back to meez.com to get me a smaller version, and it has since decided that my browser is no longer up to it.
You'd think I would have something better to do with my day, wouldn't you!
Labels: Trivial and lovin' it
Friday, April 13, 2007
This slack mother.. woman...
... chose to go back to bed and read this morning, rather than go and have a hit of tennis.
... finished her book, had breakfast at about 11.00, and has sat here ever since, apart from rising once or twice for coffee and to hang a load of washing out.
... wonders why she makes things so hard for herself - fitness and exercise-wise and socially!
... has two out of her three daughters being similarly slothful. (The other one has been up, out, fed and walked a friend's dog, and is about to go to a friend's place for a sleepover. I have issues with sleepovers (which I'll save for another self-flagellating "I'm a terrible parent" post).. but I suppose at least she is doing something.
Excuses, Excuses:
Well, I did get up and iron his shirt! Oh slack housewife I am that his shirts are not all neatly pressed and hung. In a wardrobe. (Hah.. what wardrobe?)
And, well, it is a while since I buried myself in a book. When I do, the family will tell you that I am usually lost to them for the duration. It's all or nothing with me with reading. I've just finished the last book in the Troy Game - by Sara Douglass. I've been a bit ambivalent about this series. Along with others who had been involved as moderators on Sara's bulletin board, I received the first two as gifts from her. I wanted so much to adore them, but I got a bit restless with the whole premise, and the details. (But then, I am a bit like that with all fantasy - despite which I get sucked in.) So, with Druid's Sword, I started reading it because I found it in the library, and just for the sake of reading. Despite myself I got hooked, and I've had my nose in it a bit over the past few slacko days. And this morning I read till I finished it.
I guess it's called escapism. (I do think that the better way to read fantasy epics is to start when all the books are already published, because otherwise there is such a time gap between books, you forget all the details!)
So.
Family! Self! We apologise for this break in transmission. Normal programming should resume shortly.
Well, maybe.
Why did I opt out of playing tennis? Tennis is 'my' sport, and after being invited to play Ladies Midweek last year with some other mums I'd got to know (through my kids' netball - see there is a reason for organised sport - it's a way for the parents to meet other people!), I've signed up again, and the first game in the comp starts Thursday week. But I haven't had a racquet in my hand since the last game of the last comp!
But the anti-social idiot sloth in me didn't feel like going to play with 'all the oldies' at the Friday morning social tennis up at the local tennis courts. I don't really know why, I just didn't want to go. Just didn't want to mingle and make small talk, and I don't know why.
My legs are crying out for me to get them moving. Other than a barely 10 min each way walk between the Toyota Dealership and the Plaza yesterday, I did nothing energy-wise. (Although standing outside fitting rooms while children try on clothes saps your energy in a more debilitating way!)
I am about to take another car to another mechanic's for a rego check, and now that I've wasted so much time here, ideas of taking my bike and riding it while I wait have fizzled. Instead of sitting while I wait I will go and walk. Somewhere! For 20 minutes!
I just rang and got an appointment for a leg wax at 3.15. Somehow when I get that done it seems to strip away some of the sloth within - don't ask me why that is either. It is one of the few typical 'woman' type things I choose to do.
And then I shall return and ride around the block with Zoe, who needs to spend time riding her own bike, because she's just so cautious and timid about it.
And try to get back into the mindset of the woman who was thriving on the fitness, and the mood-altering high that exercise can induce. And on the centimetres she had lost but are insidiously trying to creep back on again!! Why is it that weight seems to stack itself on about 10 times quicker than it takes to lose the same amount?
Perhaps this slightly extreme trough I am in is a reaction to the intensity of the
Big Ride. (I still haven't gotten over all those 5 am starts!) And all that other emotional stuff which keeps jumping up and grabbing me when I am not expecting it.
Perhaps.
... finished her book, had breakfast at about 11.00, and has sat here ever since, apart from rising once or twice for coffee and to hang a load of washing out.
... wonders why she makes things so hard for herself - fitness and exercise-wise and socially!
... has two out of her three daughters being similarly slothful. (The other one has been up, out, fed and walked a friend's dog, and is about to go to a friend's place for a sleepover. I have issues with sleepovers (which I'll save for another self-flagellating "I'm a terrible parent" post).. but I suppose at least she is doing something.
Excuses, Excuses:
Well, I did get up and iron his shirt! Oh slack housewife I am that his shirts are not all neatly pressed and hung. In a wardrobe. (Hah.. what wardrobe?)
And, well, it is a while since I buried myself in a book. When I do, the family will tell you that I am usually lost to them for the duration. It's all or nothing with me with reading. I've just finished the last book in the Troy Game - by Sara Douglass. I've been a bit ambivalent about this series. Along with others who had been involved as moderators on Sara's bulletin board, I received the first two as gifts from her. I wanted so much to adore them, but I got a bit restless with the whole premise, and the details. (But then, I am a bit like that with all fantasy - despite which I get sucked in.) So, with Druid's Sword, I started reading it because I found it in the library, and just for the sake of reading. Despite myself I got hooked, and I've had my nose in it a bit over the past few slacko days. And this morning I read till I finished it.
I guess it's called escapism. (I do think that the better way to read fantasy epics is to start when all the books are already published, because otherwise there is such a time gap between books, you forget all the details!)
So.
Family! Self! We apologise for this break in transmission. Normal programming should resume shortly.
Well, maybe.
Why did I opt out of playing tennis? Tennis is 'my' sport, and after being invited to play Ladies Midweek last year with some other mums I'd got to know (through my kids' netball - see there is a reason for organised sport - it's a way for the parents to meet other people!), I've signed up again, and the first game in the comp starts Thursday week. But I haven't had a racquet in my hand since the last game of the last comp!
But the anti-social idiot sloth in me didn't feel like going to play with 'all the oldies' at the Friday morning social tennis up at the local tennis courts. I don't really know why, I just didn't want to go. Just didn't want to mingle and make small talk, and I don't know why.
My legs are crying out for me to get them moving. Other than a barely 10 min each way walk between the Toyota Dealership and the Plaza yesterday, I did nothing energy-wise. (Although standing outside fitting rooms while children try on clothes saps your energy in a more debilitating way!)
I am about to take another car to another mechanic's for a rego check, and now that I've wasted so much time here, ideas of taking my bike and riding it while I wait have fizzled. Instead of sitting while I wait I will go and walk. Somewhere! For 20 minutes!
I just rang and got an appointment for a leg wax at 3.15. Somehow when I get that done it seems to strip away some of the sloth within - don't ask me why that is either. It is one of the few typical 'woman' type things I choose to do.
And then I shall return and ride around the block with Zoe, who needs to spend time riding her own bike, because she's just so cautious and timid about it.
And try to get back into the mindset of the woman who was thriving on the fitness, and the mood-altering high that exercise can induce. And on the centimetres she had lost but are insidiously trying to creep back on again!! Why is it that weight seems to stack itself on about 10 times quicker than it takes to lose the same amount?
Perhaps this slightly extreme trough I am in is a reaction to the intensity of the
Big Ride. (I still haven't gotten over all those 5 am starts!) And all that other emotional stuff which keeps jumping up and grabbing me when I am not expecting it.
Perhaps.
Labels: daily, grrrrr, Trivial and lovin' it
Thursday, April 12, 2007
The minutiae of my school holiday life.
No whinges, no tapping off.. just 'minutiae'.
It might not be very interesting though. Sometimes I think me having a rant is much more exciting.
I've done a lot of sleeping in, which I feel a bit guilty about, especially when Marc is having to go to work, and the work is stressful to the point that I am quite concerned about him.
He likened it last night to having about 20 cakes to make at once, and everyone's cake order is urgent, so he is having to try to make them all at once, instead of what would be the sensible thing to do and make them one after the other. Problem with doing that is he has 'contractors' he must supervise - and he can't leave them doing nothing while he concentrates on making sure his cakes are done properly, because they will be being paid a few hundred dollars an hour to do nothing.
Meantime the cake orders keep coming in (and he gets more emails in a day than he has time to deal with). And people from that project in Malaysia coming out today and tomorrow, so that one guy who has 'all the knowledge in his head' can impart what he knows.
Maybe I should have made him resign.
At least he got sleep-ins over Easter. And at least given I'm at home, he doesn't have to worry about what's for dinner, and all that sort of crap. Except when I do stuff like make bolognaise for dinner, then realise I didn't buy spaghetti while I was in town! And so he has to stop at the shops and buy spaghetti on the way home.
We went in to the shops on Tuesday because #1 had organised to go iceskating with friends. I was feeling blecchy that day (hence forgetting the spaghetti) but it didn't stop me spending money... (or maybe that's what made me spend money!)
I bought this apple slicing/coring/peeling machine:
I had seen it at christmas time when we visited a friend, and I thought back then "I want one!". She'd got it through a school fundraiser thingy though. I'd forgotten about it till someone mentioned bringing theirs to netball so we might try to flog some slightly healthier alternatives to all the lollies we sell. She told me where I could buy one around here.
I think we are going to be getting through a lot more apples around here, simply because of the novelty value. It's even making me eat one right now.
I also bought some new sandals for me. Don't get too excited. These are Orthaheel casual slip-on sandals to wear around the house, and not too far afield. Given that I have to wear orthotics in my normal shoes, you can imagine how hard it is to wear casual slip-ons. The girls have not called them 'Grandma shoes' yet - they probably realise they will get a flea in their ear if they do.
And I had to buy the younger two more joggers. Ali's were coming apart at the sole, and Zoe was growing out of hers. Kids! Why do they have to keep growing (and wearing things out?!)
They wear them everyday for school, plus need them to be ok for cross country which is coming up this term. I went in to Amart Sports because I felt I should attempt to buy cheaper shoes if at all possible. I wasn't in the headspace for it - feeling a bit nauseous and dizzy. Then I survey tables upon tables of shoes on sale, as well as all the shoes at 'normal' prices on the wall display. It made me more dizzy. How the hell would I know what was an appropriate fit.?(Given my orthotic issues, I have always erred on the side of expense and having them fitted for shoes which give them appropriate support, as they all tend to pronate like I do - or so the machine at Athlete's Foot tells me.) I was asked if I needed some assistance, and when I said yes, we need joggers, and they need to be measured, the guy said 'Um, we can't find our shoe measurerer at the moment.'
FFS!! Oh well, it was the excuse I needed to walk out, drive round to the Plaza, and let Athletes Foot do all the decision making for me. The only problem I had there was that there was only the one style in kids shoes (which thank heavens Ali still fits in, even though she could also fit in an adult's size at around $50 more!)- BUT! They only had that style with PINK bits, and my 11, nearly 12, year old daughter DOES NOT LIKE PINK. Nor is she particularly enamoured of having exactly the same shoes as her 8 year old sister!!
Her only other option was the boys' style, and it had far too much black on it for her liking. I buried my head in my hands for a minute.. and Thankfully! she opted for the lesser of two evils - pink trim. And, after the assistant suggested it, she came home and coloured over some of the trim with a blue texta.
Had a lazy day yesterday. Guilty as anything because I spent far too much of it inside, and it was the best day we'd had since the start of the holidays/Easter. Wind had dropped to a bearable level. Finally I dragged Zoe with me to walk up onto the headland near us (and then walk up the beach with me), so that I got a big dose of 'DO YOU REALISE JUST HOW BLOODY LUCKY YOU ARE LIVING WHERE YOU DO?'
Our house is only one street back from the street along the beachfront.
And this is 'our' headland.
Meanwhile Caitlin stayed in her pjs ALL DAY, and I just didn't have the energy to hassle her. Her logic is that in term time it's full on (and she is right), so I suppose, why shouldn't she be a sloth. Even if it's excruciatingly hard to deal with as a parent because you feel she should be out in the fresh air getting just a little bit of exercise...
Today we have to hit the shops again, this time for her, because, goddammit, the girl has grown out of pretty much all her clothes. Hello puberty, belated as it is compared to her peers. Problem is this is just the start of it, really. She has finally got the height, but is just starting with the shape. So it is a bit scary wondering how long anything we buy today will fit her. The girl does need to wear clothes though, so there is nothing for it but to buy stuff.
What is even more scary is if she doesn't fit into the chainstore clothes anymore, and we have to venture in to the OTHER shops.. the ones with the REALLY REALLY LOUD music, and clothes that are designed to only go half way up their bum crack.
Wish me luck.
It might not be very interesting though. Sometimes I think me having a rant is much more exciting.
I've done a lot of sleeping in, which I feel a bit guilty about, especially when Marc is having to go to work, and the work is stressful to the point that I am quite concerned about him.
He likened it last night to having about 20 cakes to make at once, and everyone's cake order is urgent, so he is having to try to make them all at once, instead of what would be the sensible thing to do and make them one after the other. Problem with doing that is he has 'contractors' he must supervise - and he can't leave them doing nothing while he concentrates on making sure his cakes are done properly, because they will be being paid a few hundred dollars an hour to do nothing.
Meantime the cake orders keep coming in (and he gets more emails in a day than he has time to deal with). And people from that project in Malaysia coming out today and tomorrow, so that one guy who has 'all the knowledge in his head' can impart what he knows.
Maybe I should have made him resign.
At least he got sleep-ins over Easter. And at least given I'm at home, he doesn't have to worry about what's for dinner, and all that sort of crap. Except when I do stuff like make bolognaise for dinner, then realise I didn't buy spaghetti while I was in town! And so he has to stop at the shops and buy spaghetti on the way home.
We went in to the shops on Tuesday because #1 had organised to go iceskating with friends. I was feeling blecchy that day (hence forgetting the spaghetti) but it didn't stop me spending money... (or maybe that's what made me spend money!)
I bought this apple slicing/coring/peeling machine:
I had seen it at christmas time when we visited a friend, and I thought back then "I want one!". She'd got it through a school fundraiser thingy though. I'd forgotten about it till someone mentioned bringing theirs to netball so we might try to flog some slightly healthier alternatives to all the lollies we sell. She told me where I could buy one around here.
I think we are going to be getting through a lot more apples around here, simply because of the novelty value. It's even making me eat one right now.
I also bought some new sandals for me. Don't get too excited. These are Orthaheel casual slip-on sandals to wear around the house, and not too far afield. Given that I have to wear orthotics in my normal shoes, you can imagine how hard it is to wear casual slip-ons. The girls have not called them 'Grandma shoes' yet - they probably realise they will get a flea in their ear if they do.
And I had to buy the younger two more joggers. Ali's were coming apart at the sole, and Zoe was growing out of hers. Kids! Why do they have to keep growing (and wearing things out?!)
They wear them everyday for school, plus need them to be ok for cross country which is coming up this term. I went in to Amart Sports because I felt I should attempt to buy cheaper shoes if at all possible. I wasn't in the headspace for it - feeling a bit nauseous and dizzy. Then I survey tables upon tables of shoes on sale, as well as all the shoes at 'normal' prices on the wall display. It made me more dizzy. How the hell would I know what was an appropriate fit.?(Given my orthotic issues, I have always erred on the side of expense and having them fitted for shoes which give them appropriate support, as they all tend to pronate like I do - or so the machine at Athlete's Foot tells me.) I was asked if I needed some assistance, and when I said yes, we need joggers, and they need to be measured, the guy said 'Um, we can't find our shoe measurerer at the moment.'
FFS!! Oh well, it was the excuse I needed to walk out, drive round to the Plaza, and let Athletes Foot do all the decision making for me. The only problem I had there was that there was only the one style in kids shoes (which thank heavens Ali still fits in, even though she could also fit in an adult's size at around $50 more!)- BUT! They only had that style with PINK bits, and my 11, nearly 12, year old daughter DOES NOT LIKE PINK. Nor is she particularly enamoured of having exactly the same shoes as her 8 year old sister!!
Her only other option was the boys' style, and it had far too much black on it for her liking. I buried my head in my hands for a minute.. and Thankfully! she opted for the lesser of two evils - pink trim. And, after the assistant suggested it, she came home and coloured over some of the trim with a blue texta.
Had a lazy day yesterday. Guilty as anything because I spent far too much of it inside, and it was the best day we'd had since the start of the holidays/Easter. Wind had dropped to a bearable level. Finally I dragged Zoe with me to walk up onto the headland near us (and then walk up the beach with me), so that I got a big dose of 'DO YOU REALISE JUST HOW BLOODY LUCKY YOU ARE LIVING WHERE YOU DO?'
Our house is only one street back from the street along the beachfront.
And this is 'our' headland.
Meanwhile Caitlin stayed in her pjs ALL DAY, and I just didn't have the energy to hassle her. Her logic is that in term time it's full on (and she is right), so I suppose, why shouldn't she be a sloth. Even if it's excruciatingly hard to deal with as a parent because you feel she should be out in the fresh air getting just a little bit of exercise...
Today we have to hit the shops again, this time for her, because, goddammit, the girl has grown out of pretty much all her clothes. Hello puberty, belated as it is compared to her peers. Problem is this is just the start of it, really. She has finally got the height, but is just starting with the shape. So it is a bit scary wondering how long anything we buy today will fit her. The girl does need to wear clothes though, so there is nothing for it but to buy stuff.
What is even more scary is if she doesn't fit into the chainstore clothes anymore, and we have to venture in to the OTHER shops.. the ones with the REALLY REALLY LOUD music, and clothes that are designed to only go half way up their bum crack.
Wish me luck.
Labels: photos, shopping, Trivial and lovin' it
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
If you can't say something nice I will put you in the trash can.
The one good thing about your own blog - as opposed to say a bulletin board - or 'real life' even - is that you have the power to hit a delete button. So when you get wallies who don't read the request in your sidebar - the one that says 'If you can't say something nice, don't say ANYTHING' - you can just ERASE them.
You know the type... the people who don't like what you've written because they think it is trivial, but find the time to post an even more trivial comment telling you that you that they can't believe you have the time to waste on trivial topics! AND! They are always too gutless to say who they are. "Anonymous to protect identity"? Give me a break. 'Anonymous because I am Gutless' would be more appropriate.
So, it is such a liberating feeling again today to be able to hit that little trash can, and tick the box that says 'Delete comment forever'.
Don't you wish you had one of them in the 'real' world sometimes - for the type of people that are unnecessarily and insufferably rude for no reason at all. The type that think they must be better than you ! That come into your personal space, and then say something to put you down.
By all means, gutless people, write your own blogs, and have a whinge about the blogs you think are full of trivial stuff. But while you're doing that, just realise that you are doing exactly the same. Writing about something TRIVIAL!
Which is what I'm doing right now, but hey, I'm not the one writing negative things on other people's blogs, criticising them for being trivial !!!!!
You know the type... the people who don't like what you've written because they think it is trivial, but find the time to post an even more trivial comment telling you that you that they can't believe you have the time to waste on trivial topics! AND! They are always too gutless to say who they are. "Anonymous to protect identity"? Give me a break. 'Anonymous because I am Gutless' would be more appropriate.
So, it is such a liberating feeling again today to be able to hit that little trash can, and tick the box that says 'Delete comment forever'.
Don't you wish you had one of them in the 'real' world sometimes - for the type of people that are unnecessarily and insufferably rude for no reason at all. The type that think they must be better than you ! That come into your personal space, and then say something to put you down.
By all means, gutless people, write your own blogs, and have a whinge about the blogs you think are full of trivial stuff. But while you're doing that, just realise that you are doing exactly the same. Writing about something TRIVIAL!
Which is what I'm doing right now, but hey, I'm not the one writing negative things on other people's blogs, criticising them for being trivial !!!!!
Labels: opinion, Trivial and lovin' it
