Airports make me cry.

This morning I put Ms 11 (& 11/12s) on a plane without me! A simple one hour flight to Sydney, where she will be met by her grandparents, who will take her to the Opera House where she is playing recorder tonight in a public schools concert. (Pretty exciting stuff!) They'll take her there for for the rehearsal at 12.00 (after making sure she is fed and watered), meet her again at 3.00, entertain her for a few hours, buy her food, then take her back again for the concert at 6.15. (Which of course they'll watch.) A night train trip back to their place to stay the night. A sleep in, and then the trip to the airport to come home. She'll be spoilt like nothing else - one on one attention from Grandma doesn't happen much when you live 600km away, and normally share the grandparents' attention with two sisters (and two cousins who live nearby.)

I'm feeling just a twinge of regret that I won't be sharing in the whole experience - concert plus plane trip. At the time I had to organise for her to get there, I had no idea whether Marc would be home, so there was the mere matter of two other children to be looking after at home. Also at some point I had to weigh up the expense of 2 plane fares, particularly with the amount of money we are spending on both her and the eldest with their big rep netball comp coming up.

I had booked her as an unaccompanied minor, signing my life away, with passwords and forms in quadruplicate to fill in at either end. But when we asked for a seat allocation with a schoolmate and her mother who it turned out were going on the same flight, they waived the whole 'unaccompanied minor' palava, and she strolled nonchalantly across the tarmac and on to the plane with them as if she did this sort of thing every other week! (Much like the way her Dad tends to behave with his overseas trips - leaving me to be the emotional wreck.)

And so I got all teared up as I watched her plane take off.

[I'm ok now, it didn't last long.. I was in contact with Mum a mere hour and a bit later; the plane got there of course: "special package received in good order and now in safe hands".]

For as long as I can remember airports have given me goosebumps.. Leaving yourself, or farewelling someone - I guess it's all tied up with the emotions of being apart from loved ones... and also some minor itsy bitsy teeny wheeny fear of flying thing. Probably flying out myself at age 17 for a year as an exchange student in Indonesia has embedded itself emotionally in my subconcious, as have the many times I've farewelled my husband on overseas work trips over the past 10 years. (The one where he went for 3 months has undoubtably scarred me for life! - my how I blubbered at the airport ... No Stoic Mum for the sake of the children that day...)

There was also another flight I took just about 10 years ago when I left my then 4 and 2 year olds with their grandparents, while Marc continued to work on our house, and I flew from Sydney to here (for a week) to start looking for rental properties, as we were about to move here. I have never felt so fragile and vulnerable as we took off. I'd just lost a baby halfway during a pregnancy, and that experience had made me realise that 'shit' can happen to anybody - even me! I was sure the plane was going to crash on take off or landing; the indentation of my fingers is probably still in the armrest, and I felt so alone without my babies or my husband.

So! Back to the airport tomorrow afternoon to pick her up! I think, given the short duration, that I will be less teary when I'm on the receiving end of my precious cargo. Though you never know. Airports just have this tendency to make me cry.

Labels: awwww, daily, introspection

An Honorable Mention is a synonym for 'runner up', or 'consolation prize'.. and 'you didn't actually win, but..." But right here and now, you'd think I'd won an Oscar or an Emmy. (Funny, the first word that sprang to mind there was 'Logie', but at least 50% of people likely to read this wouldn't have had a clue what I was on about.)

I entered Scribbit's Write Away contest for February, with this post... and blow me down if I didn't get an Honorable Mention. I'm so gobsmacked, I'm still picking my jaw up off the ground; I'm incapable of being nonchalantly blasé about it. I'm so chuffed, I'm even spelling "Honorable" the North American way as homage.

I need to thank (and link!) Chilihead for paying my post any attention whatsoever.. particularly when I finally submitted it in the wee hours of the cut off day (North American time.) I will have to be careful of this International Dateline loophole.

I can only assume it was the love-cynic bit that struck a chord, because I still think I need a whole lot of work in terms of succinctness with my writing (and, sheesh, I even had to check I'd made the right noun out of succinct there!) . (Husband's comment: not "hey, go you" or 'awwww shucks, darling...' but "geez didn't leave much out did you?")

Call me needy, but getting a pat on the back for something I've done alright at is .. very.. nice....very ... appreciated....

And, you know, go read everyone else's post, because they're all good. And congrats to Rarely Home Mom who was the winner!! And Janet at Dance Through who also got an honorable mention.

Linkety link link link!

And back to the biking blog tomorrow...

Labels: awwww, classic

If you haven't already seen this one... it's worth it.

Labels: awwww, classic

Naff post title.. but I think I'm a comedian. Apologies to Midnight Oil.

We still have electrical problems. But I have my dearly beloved back home, and being "with" him has been a greater drawcard than blogging over the weekend. Would you believe. Even if the 'with' involves, at some stage, sitting in close proximity on the lounge and watching the cricket with him. All together now.. "Awwww".

Well, there is more to it than wanting to hold his hand a bit, or rest my head on his shoulder and sigh, or finally get to bed - together - on Saturday night.

It's stuff like the novelty of a family meal - BBQ meals even. (He is OIC bbqs around here.. I don't try to cook them myself). It's the sitting down together, all five of us (and a bottle of wine).

It's being able to have a conversation that doesn't involve typing.

It's being able to watch Zoe skip around the stage in a ballet concert - and suffer through all the other items - together. (And we were not impressed with what the Grade 3 ballet class was 'showcasing' but that's another story... we'd rather watch them play netball! At least you get to see them for more than 2 minutes!)

I am so glad he is home.

The electrician, after 2 visits, replaced the circuit breaker in the meter box. And it 'went' for half a day, then tripped again. Marc spoke to him this morning, and got the distinct impression he wasn't really interested in solving the problem. Too much like hard work... sheesh. Looks like it is up to my Mr Fixit, who fortunately has the knowledge to 'play around' with power points (when the power is off.) We now have a mission to isolate each power point in turn, to discover where the 'breakdown' is. Fortunately there are only 7 points on this circuit.. and he did the laundry one before heading off to work. So far so good, 2 loads of washing.. and no circuit breaking. Next one in line is an outside one that requires some moving of junk from me.

And yes, you heard correctly.. he has gone to work. Three weeks away- for work - 11 hour days, and then usually dealing with emails etc back at the apartment ("I had one day off" he says) ... and he can't take today off. Pffft.. don't start me.

BUT. I am so glad he is home.

Labels: aarrrgghhh, awwww, parenting

All catching up with him. The trip down to Sydney... back Monday... up early Tuesday for work to drive up to Tenterfield (a few hours drive).. overnighter, 7.30 am start, work in field.. dropped back home about 3.00 yesterday, but he got out his laptop and kept working till dinner (and after dinner for a bit too.) Sitting on lounge watching TV last night. Crashed and burned.

Labels: awwww