Blogger's block

I feel like I need to apologise, but I've no doubt you'll all forgive me anyway.  I have a bunch of excuses (starting work, trying to keep my house somewhat clean and orderly, computer dying and it's trickier on the laptop or tablet, Christmas, New Year....) but really, they're just excuses.

Reality is that I have "blogger's block".

I don't feel like I have anything to say that anyone would want to read, and when I do, I don't have the time or energy to put it together (hopefully coherently).

So, let's see if we can break the block by writing this little apology.  Actually, it's not really an apology, given that it's my blog and I can write whenever I want.  But I guess it is an apology in the sense that I know that when I read a blog regularly, I miss it when they take a break, so I apologise if you've missed me.

Okay, let's see if we can break the block by giving a quick recap of what's been happening around here then.

I finally started work at one of the big Australian banks and finally, after two full weeks, managed to balance at the end of the day without having to re-count and re-check all of my work.  I literally did a dance!

Working full-time for two weeks was great and really hard.  It was awesome to be working again - spending so much time around adults, learning, and using my head all the time.  And it was hard not being around my Little Big Fella, trying to keep my house up to scratch, trying to fulfill the commitments I'd made as a non-worker, sitting almost all day, trying to get plenty of sleep and keep up with my workout program.

There were Christmas parties and birthday parties, often on the same day!

And, of course, there was Christmas!

My grandparents were going to join us this year but unfortunately that didn't work out.  But we had a great day!  The Little Big Fella got way too many presents, again!  And we had a fun time playing with all of them :-D

The Big Fella had a sleep in the afternoon (he'd done a string of night shifts with very little sleep in between) and I got a little down, I think because I'm used to Christmas day being full of people.

In the evening we visited some friends.  They'd gotten together with others in their street to hire a blow up waterslide and the Little Big Fella had a good go on it.  There were a few drinks and lots of laughs.  It was a great, relaxing way to end the day.

Boxing Day saw us follow a tradition that began early in our marriage, with Lord of the Rings, actually.  The Big Fella, the Little Big Fella and I went and saw the Hobbit at the cinema, 2 hours away.  It was expensive, and mildly frustrating a couple of times, but I think it's definitely a tradition we'll continue whenever possible.

The days between then and now have been very quiet and homely.  We've caught up with a couple of friends who've remained in town, been to the local pool, avoided the few shops that are near (and all of the ones further away!), practiced on my scooter and the Little Big Fella on his little motorbike, put up our pool and hidden away in the airconditioning from the high 30s to 45 degree days, and slept our way into the New Year.

Do you remember last New Year where I mentioned that I don't like it?  Here's the link if you want to look it up.  I actually happened to wake up 15 minutes before midnight this year and during that time I remembered some of the really bad New Year's Eve "parties" I've been to.

One included being at church (not the bad part - I loved going to church and spending time with the people around me who I considered my family), where the guest speaker actually continued speaking through the countdown to the New Year!

Then there were others (probably most of them really) where, possibly because there was no alcohol involved, we were trying to stay awake until midnight so we could count down, yell "Happy New Year" and go home to bed.

But this year I've added another reason to not like New Year.  And I suspect there will be plenty of people who disagree with me, which is absolutely your prerogative.

Many people seem to think that just because we've changed the number that we write to designate the year, their life will change... without them doing anything differently.  Then they whinge their way through the year, get to the other end and complain about what a horrible year it was and how they can't wait for the new year to begin.

Ummmm, sorry folks, that's not the way it works!

If you want your life to change in any way, big or small, you have to make a change!  Whether it's a new year or not!  And change is hard!  Which is why you haven't done it yet.  And, not only change for a minute or a day, but consistently!  And that sometimes feels impossible!!!

Anyway, I guess I'm off on a tangent, but I guess that means I'm cured of "blogger's block"!

I had a quick look back through my 2013 posts, just to see what I've recorded about our year for you.

• We've had chickens,
• been flooded in,
• the Little Big Fella started kindy and turned 4,
• our house has been painted and we have new furniture,
• we've played with friends,
• the Little Big Fella has spent a lot of time in superhero costumes,
• I joined the CWA and was Treasurer for our playgroup,
• the Easter Bunny and Santa visited, as did my brother, and the Big Fella's parents,
• we visited our old town a few times,
• I rolled our car and we got a brand new one,
• the Little Big Fella and I flew to Melbourne,
• I went to my first "real" concert and P!nk was AWESOME!
• I got a 2nd and 3rd in the state CWA photo competition,
• we went to the local race day,
• I've (possibly excessively) considered various aspects of parenting,
• I cut my hair short (again),
• the Big Fella and I exchanged rings in a private (and moving) ceremony... in our car,
• I've gotten back into papercrafts with some of my friends,
• the Little Big Fella played his first sport (soccer),
• we went to the May Day Fair, and the school fair,
• we've been fishing and swimming and backyard camping,
• we've attempted a sleepover with the Little Big Fella's best friend,
• the Little Big Fella finally worked out how to ride his motorbike by himself,
• I've raised the concept of letting men be manly,
• the Little Big Fella gave some of his face-skin to the concrete, and shared his hand with a knife (thankfully not needing stitches),
• I had some bad days and some bad weeks,
• the Little Big Fella had his first visit to the dentist,
• we had backyard fires and front yard fires, and fires at friends' houses,
• the Little Big Fella played with (manufactured) snow for the first time ever,
• we got airconditioning in our living area!
• the Big Fella turned 40,
• we got a shipping container/workshop,
• the Little Big Fella learned how to teatowel fight,
• we did Halloween again, and ate too many sweets,
• I had a girl's night in,
• I re-learned how to tie balloons and got to do it at two different events,
• the Big Fella and I lost weight, and the Big Fella's kidney health has moved back to the "normal" range,
• we've been to local footy games,
• I ran my first ever fundraiser, and it was a success!
• I've found a million reasons throughout the year to be thankful for my friends and family,
• I totally got into the Christmas spirit in the lead up to Christmas,
• we've had LOTS of fun times with friends at the park, at playgroup, at their houses, at our house,
• we've laughed, a lot,
• the Little Big Fella had his Prep Transition days, and loved them,
• we've spent plenty of time splashing around in water,
• the Little Big Fella and I have done a fair bit of cooking,
• and I've returned to being ScooterShell.

No wonder I've felt so tired these last few weeks!!!!  That was a really big year, with lots of fun times.

Now take a deep breath because 2014 is going to have lots of big moments in it too!  The Little Big Fella is starting real school, we're going to Melbourne in March (as a family), in May (possibly just me) and September (just the Big Fella), I'll be getting my full motorbike license, there'll be birthdays and parties and playtimes and homework and events and competitions and Halloween and Christmas and work and love.  Put that together with whatever "deep" thoughts I dump on y'all, as well as all the random things that you never expect or plan for...

Can I go to sleep now?

Blown away

Today I was in charge of running a fundraiser for the the CWA.  And I have to say, I am absolutely blown away by the generosity of people, and the willingness of those around me to help me fulfill my goal.

The goal was to raise funds to send through the Red Cross to those recovering from Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.  We ran a BBQ, with a cake stall and a "guess how many lollies are in the jar" competition.  I was expecting to make somewhere between $300 and $400.  But in just under 4 hours, we raised $747!!!!

Our very first transaction of the day was a man donating $10 while we were setting up.

Throughout the day we had many people tell us to "keep the change".

And at one point a man came over to find out what we were raising money for.  After we told him, he walked over to the ATM, came back and dropped $200 on the table!  We managed to convince him to have a sausage.

Then there were all my wonderful friends who baked delicious cakes, slices and cookies that we could sell on the cake stall!  They looked wonderful and I'm pretty sure the people who bought them definitely enjoyed them!

And, of course, the wonderful people who made themselves available to stand out, next to a hot barbeque, on a really hot day, for no personal gain, who gladly paid for their own food and drinks, to cook and serve and set up and clean up.  I am incredibly grateful for each of you, and the time and effort you gave to help make today such a success.

My husband, without whom I think the day would have been very difficult, even though he was desperate for sleep after a night shift.

My son's best friend's mum, who came and helped to set up, serve, and then took the Little Big Fella back to her place so that we didn't have to stress as he became bored and hot and cranky.

My friend who came and helped out for more than the hour she'd agreed to, and her friend who looked after her oldest two children so that she could.

Our CWA Treasurer, who really struggled in the heat, but hung around and helped all day,  including packing up in the high heat of the day and counting all the money.

Our CWA President, her daughter and grandkids, who kept things running smoothly when I started to lose the plot this afternoon through exhaustion.  And the re-supply of home-made baking that kept the cake stall running hot!

Our CWA Secretary and her husband who kept the stall running with enthusiasm when I was ready to end it early.  And they stayed around to help deal with the pack up in the heat of the day, which is really the worst part of any event!

After working for three days at the end of this week (more about that in another post soon), I know that I wouldn't have been able to do this without all of you.  And I would never have dreamed of being able to make such a wonderful donation without every one of the people who visited our little stall today.

Thank you!  Thank you all so much!

In too deep?

One of the things that's kind of awesome about being an at-home mum is that you have a lot of time.

Sure!  It gets filled with the needs of a child, the messes of a child, the friends and activities of a child, but as the parent of only 1 child I recognise that I have a lot of control over what happens and when in our house.

You may have noticed in reading my blog over the nearly two years I've been writing, that I tend to have periods of intense activity, followed by periods of totally boring domesticity.

With the development of Pinterest and the on-coming Christmas season, now is not a period of totally boring domesticity!

I have a few things on my plate right now and I'm starting to wonder if I'm in a little deep.

I've been Treasurer of our playgroup this year, which is a really easy job.  But we're planning the end-of-year party and there's a few bits and pieces that need doing for that.

The Little Big Fella is starting Prep next year, so he's having Transition afternoons at school over these three weeks.  And after meeting his teacher last week, we've been convinced that the more he knows in terms of letters and numbers, and the more independent he is, the easier starting school will be for him.

So he and the Big Fella have decided that the Little Big Fella can learn to spell his name (and then all the other words Daddy wants to teach him - he already knows the names of the letters but can only write 3 of them), and tie his shoelaces.

Which, of course, means that I'll be involved in support and supplementary teaching ;-)

Christmas is coming and I've been busily making cards, tree decorations, indoor decorations, outdoor decorations, trashing my house in a creative frenzy...

I joined the CWA this year as well and recently found out that our local supermarket offers the facilities to run fundraising BBQs.  After seeing the effects of Typhoon Haiyan on TV, and my family having various connections with the Philippines, I suggested that we run a BBQ to raise funds to send for their recovery.  You guessed it!  I get to organise it.

Just to make it clear, I'm excited about it, and I'm hoping to get a decent turnout so we can make a reasonable donation, but it's another thing on my list.  And, of course, I decided to make it slightly more intense by adding a cake stall, so I have to do a little cooking for it (as well as all the awesome people who've offered to contribute as well.

Then there are the various parties, events and Christmas gatherings over the next five weeks.  And the housework and feeding and entertaining of my Fellas.

Then we need to add a final, and potentially apple-cart upsetting element.  Last week I received an e-mail containing a letter of offer!

Back in March I applied for a 4-day-a-week position as a teller at one of the banks.  I didn't receive it, but was contacted in May, I think, for an alternative position.  Over the past months I've been waiting and going through various processes and have been offered a position as a casual relief teller, both in our closest town, and our closest large town.

Funnily enough, I spoke to the branch manager the next day and she hadn't heard from the Human Resources Department yet.  But once all of those processes have been completed, I will be required for two weeks of full-time training.

Most likely before Christmas.

No doubt at some point in the very near future I will feel completely overwhelmed by all of this, but at this point, I'm actually feeling exhilarated!  I have lots to do and I'm interested in what I'm doing.

All these crafty activities are encouraging to me because I'm good at them and I'm very satisfied with the results.

The organising tasks are exhilarating because I'm pretty good at that too!  Hopefully I keep remembering to delegate - not only to keep from overwhelm, but also to allow others to participate and enjoy these activities, which are often the kinds of things that strengthen friendships.

Oh!  And I finally caught up with the ironing tonight and have relocated the ironing board to the cupboard for the first time all week!

Am I in too deep?  Probably!  But all this activity, right now, makes for a pretty happy stay-at-home mum.

Now to reclaim my dining table from my frenzied craft activities, finish the stockings for the fence, put up the Christmas lights, finish the Christmas cards, make that wreath out of roadside weeds... and make sure I clean my oven before my grandparents get here for Christmas :-D

Play time!

Oh my goodness!!!  It's been so long since I've written a post, you probably thought I'd disappeared off the face of the earth!!!

So!  We need to do a little catch up on all the play time we've been having this past couple of weeks!

A couple of weekends ago, the Big Fella was away fishing so I had the girls over for an evening.  I wrote a little about that here.

The Big Fella came home and we had three big days in a row.  Thursday we went to our nearest "city" - 2 hours away on the coast.  The Big Fella had a specialist appointment and a medical test to do.  And we did some shopping and had a restaurant meal.

The Little Big Fella and I spent some time at the major shopping centre getting a few bits and pieces done while the Big Fella was doing his testing.  They have the trolleys that look like a car and the Little Big Fella just fit in.  It was the easiest shopping I've done in ages!

I also let him have a go on one of those shopping centre rides.  Can't make it completely painful for him, right?

We found out that the Big Fella's kidney issues are in remission, which is amazing!  He's been working really hard to lose weight and eat better, and he's mostly cut out alcohol except on special occasions.  Turns out that looking after yourself can make a major difference in his particular case.  We also got a bit more information about what's good and bad for him and other things that can help.

I got to spend over an hour in Spotlight (a craft supplies and homewares store), and even though I had the Little Big Fella with me, I had a ball!!!  Sigh.  I miss living near a Spotlight.

The next night was the school fair.  I helped with some of the preparation in the morning then got all dressed up in the evening and tied balloon animals and swords all night.  I had lots of flashbacks to previous balloon-tying events (like Easterfest for you Mountsiders who might remember it, and Master's Commission).

I made myself a tulle skirt.  It's the first sewing I've done in ages and didn't quite come out how I'd hoped, but it worked well.  I ended up wearing it for our Halloween walk too.

I also did some fun, fairy-style makeup.

This was taken at the end of the night and I'd lost some of my diamantes.  It's not quite as dramatic as I wanted, but I think that's because the makeup I have is for every day, not for stage or events.  Oh!  And I was wearing a bright pink wig.  I'd forgotten how hot and annoying wigs are!!!!

The Little Big Fella mostly loved the fair.  They had a merry-go-round, jumping castle, huge slide and 4WD buggies.  You could buy tickets for each ride or a wrist band for unlimited use.  Because I was tying balloons all night, and the Big Fella was at work, the Little Big Fella got to just go from ride to ride all night.  I stood near the rides and he just came over whenever he needed me to drive him in the buggies (you had to be 8 years or older to drive them).

By about 9:30 the Little Big Fella was done so I tied my last balloons and carried him to the car.

That night the Little Big Fella was sick.  He woke at about 11:30 and then we were up and down until about 3am.  As horrible as it is being sick yourself, watching your child go through it, and not being able to relieve it, knowing you just have to go through it... it's pretty hard core.

Thankfully he was feeling much better and even had some food on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday night was a "Girl's Night In" breast cancer fundraiser at the football club.  Like having the girls over the week before, it was fun and full of laughter.  There were games and prizes and costumes and dancing.  There was even a mob of kangaroos on the grounds... until the girls chased them in an attempt to catch one.  And there was fire twirling too.  It was a really fun night.

I was pretty tired after the last few days and the night of little sleep.  And the Big Fella had to start work just after midnight, so I headed off around 11:30.

And that was another weekend down!

We had the Halloween walk last night, which was brilliant, and we're off to a craft night at the CWA hall tonight.  I did a bunch of crafty things for Halloween, but I'll do a post on that (I already promised it last week, didn't I?) separately because there's a few photos and I want to give you the time and space to admire :D

So, for now, adios amigos!  Thanks for sticking with me when I go through the less write-y times :)

A Rambling Catch-Up

Obviously I haven't written a post in a while.

But, because it's not "work" for me, I don't have to!  And I find that I get on a roll and want to write about everything sometimes, and other times nothing seems good enough to share, or is just too hard to write down.

However, I do like to provide the opportunity to allow people (especially family in other states) to keep up to date with what's happening with us.

So, what has been happening with us?

Well, we've been for a visit to our old town and hung out with my grandparents, sister and nephews (and briefly saw my brother-in-law - sucks to have to work for a living!).

I've collected the enrollment forms for the Little Big Fella for school.  I just need a few signatures and a copy of his birth certificate and I can drop those off.  Some time next term he'll have a day or two at the school in preparation for next year!  It's all very exciting and a little bit trippy.

The Little Big Fella's best friend had his birthday party.  It was a great day for all the kids and I met some wonderful women too.

Speaking of birthdays, the Big Fella turned 40 last week.  But, being the Big Fella, not a big fuss was made.  He hates cakes and cards and balloons and fuss.

Having said that, we had dinner with his mate the night before, dinner with a great couple on his birthday night, and some friends over for the afternoon/evening a couple of days later.

And the Big Fella and I gave each other rings.  He gave me an eternity ring and I gave him a new wedding ring (his old one has been beaten and chipped and now sits, surprisingly sentimentally, in his drawer).

And although the Big Fella doesn't like fuss, I think ceremony is important.  So, on the day he gave me my eternity ring, I gave him his ring (I'd had it for several weeks) and read out a page I'd written about our lives together so far and how much I love him.  I guess it was our own, private re-commitment ceremony in our car, in the parking lot of a shopping centre.

Which is kind of funny, given that we got engaged in a car, too!  (Just to set the record straight, we'd been out to dinner at a fancy restaurant and had driven up to a lookout but it was raining.)

What else?

Oh!  We got a shipping container delivered.  No, we're not moving.  The Big Fella calls it our drug lab, but it's got all his workshop tools in it.  We now have so much more room under the house!!!

We had a stressful couple of days after the kindy teacher mentioned that the Little Big Fella might be lacking in some social skills, and possibly have sensory issues.  After talking with her, and reflecting ourselves, we decided that he probably needs a bit more direction (most often in the form of play) from us.  We're going to see how he's going in a couple of months and go from there if need be.

The CWA had a special morning tea before Father's Day.  They play a game called "bug" where you roll dice and draw a bug based on what you roll.  It's played in teams of 4 and is very fast-paced, and thus exciting.  It sounds strange and kind of boring, but it really isn't.

The school had a big garage sale and I shared a "stall" with another lady to sell some of the playgroup's extraneous equipment.  And baked some yo-yos (a traditional Christmas treat in my family) for the school's P&C to sell.

And, just this past weekend Australia had an election, so there was all the annoying advertising that goes with it to wade through in an attempt to make an informed decision.  Ha!

Then there's the normal work, play, shop, fix, garden, de-clutter of our lives.  And there you have about a month in a few short paragraphs!

Hopefully that will help me get back on the blogging horse for a while ;-)

I am Woman

I'm interrupting my Melbourne trip posts because of something that's been on my mind a fair bit lately.

There's been a lot of media coverage here in Australia lately about internet "trolls".  You know, the people who write absolutely horrible things on Twitter and Facebook and blogs that are the complete opposite of "building people up".  They get super personal, super rude, super critical, and downright bitchy!

I've mentioned before that I've joined the local CWA.  Last week I went to the combined AGM for the three closest towns, and the guest speaker talked about re-thinking how we can support the women in our area.  It got me thinking about what the CWA does, what the women around here do, what women and children here need, and how we might be able to meet those needs.

The other day I was speaking to one of the mums in town who is having a really hard time.  She's an awesome mum and an active member of our community, but she's feeling down and can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.  From what I understand, a part of her suffering is negative comments from other women.

Women are an incredibly strong force!  Individually, we stand up under immense pressures and carry on because it is necessary.

But as a group, we can be even more powerful!

Sometimes we use that power to pull each other down.  This is particularly apparent in High School, where groups of girls can give each other such a hard time.  As indicated above, we're really good at trolling too.

But I'm starting to wonder what might happen if we used this power to help each other up more often.

What if we gave each other big bear hugs more often?  Not just a little greeting, but the kind that makes trouble seem so much smaller.

What if we told others what great mums they are?  How their kids are turning out great and it's obvious that they're loved?

What if we complimented regularly?  Genuine compliments - as simple as, "that's a great colour on you", to deeper ones like, "I really appreciate how you go out of your way to make everyone else's life smoother".

What if women supported one another in every way they could think of, rather than bitching behind their backs and turning the world against them?

What if gossip sessions turned into planning sessions for how to make someone else's day?

I know there are so many groups trying to add happiness to the world.  I guess I'm just wondering how I can be a part of that in my little corner of the world.  And because I'm surrounded by awesome women, how I can include and encourage them too.

And I guess I wonder if women, being such a powerful force, can actually change the world!

A dream childhood

I sometimes wonder if my son, despite (or perhaps even because of) being an only child, is having a dream childhood.

If I were to ask you what a dream childhood for a boy might look like, what would you say?

Maybe riding bikes?  Maybe even motorbikes?  Check, and check!

Maybe fishing with dad?  Check!

Maybe doing all kinds of handyman things with dad?  Check!

Maybe lighting fires (not bushfires, obviously) and learning to play with them (safely)?  Check!

Hmmmm, what else goes into a dream childhood???

Dogs!  For a boy, you'd just about have to say dogs, right?  Check!

Playing in mud and dirt and sand?  Check!

Kicking the football around with dad, maybe even with mum too?  Check!

Lots of food?  Check!  A bit of junk food?  Check!

Dressing up as superheroes probably needs to go in there too, right?  Check!  Oh!  And movies!  Check!

And then there's the stories that I used to be told by my parents about the golden era of their growing up years.  I'm sure you've heard similar ones.  You know!  The story that goes something along the lines of heading out to play with your friends, only coming home to eat or when it gets dark?  Running or riding around, playing, getting into harmless mischief, knowing that any of the mums will tell all of you off if you get into not-so-harmless mischief... you've heard that story, right?

Well, the Little Big Fella will now be able to tell his kids those stories because today, at about 10am he raced into the house desperately trying to find me.  A couple of the people who live in the cul-de-sac behind us only get to have their kids during the school holidays, and the kids were calling out to the Little Big Fella to join them.

Who could say no?

So off he went!  And you know what I felt?  Guilt.  Guilt!  Do you believe it???  I felt guilty because my son wasn't under any single person's direct care.

Are you kidding me???

Thankfully I quickly realised that he was living the dream so I put away my guilt and happily fed him when he came home for lunch, before running out again to play for most of the afternoon.

And when one of his new friends climbed over the fence to play at our place for a while, I fed them jelly (it is school holidays after all), and they played until it was nearly dark and they were called inside for dinner.

At one point, late in the afternoon, myself, my next door neighbour and her backyard neighbour met for a quick chat in the corner of our yards.  And we smiled about the fact that our kids are getting to live this dream childhood.

Oh!  And if you're wondering what I did with my essentially child-free day, I cleaned the office and planned for our trip next week.  Yep!  Livin' the dream :-D

Fun times!

Time for another photo catch up!!!  Yay!!!

Kids just love these things in the shopping centres, don't they?  The Little Big Fella is often happy to just imagine and play, but this time we put the money in for the whole experience :-D

Last week the Little Big Fella had his first soccer lesson.  He loved it (once he got the idea that he had to do what the coach said)!  His best friend was there as well, so he was much more comfortable that he might otherwise have been.

This is one of SuperCarer's activities that we stole for playgroup last week.  We call it "drop painting".  You get paper towels or coffee filter paper or something similar.  Then you use an eye dropper or syringe (obviously without the needle!) to drop food-dye-coloured water onto the paper.

The kids get really creative and enjoy it so much, and because it's just water and food dye it's easy to clean up any messes.  I highly recommend having a plastic sheet under the paper because the kids tend to put a lot of dyed water on their paper :-D

We live in a mining area, a fair way from major centres.  As such we miss out on some of the things that are a regular part of the social year for most towns.  So our mines put on a May Day Fair each year for the community.  They provide a bunch of rides for free, there are stalls, and some of the local community groups provide low-cost food.

We missed out on this last year because we'd only just moved here (as in, a few days earlier) and hadn't heard about it.  But one of our friends offered to take me and the Little Big Fella along this year (given that we're still car-less), and I'm so glad we got to go!

The Little Big Fella had a jump on the massive jumping castle, we went down the super slide (yes, I had to go with him and no, I don't like huge slides like that!), we had a drive on the dodgem cars (bumper cars), and the Little Big Fella discovered the kid's bumper boats.  He would have spent the whole day on those if he could have!!!  He also had a go on the merry-go-round, which is always one of his favourites, but the boats definitely won out this time :-D

So there you go, you're now up-to-date with what we've been up to, photographically speaking.  Hope you enjoyed it!

Wonderful people

I want to tell you about some brilliant people I know!

But guess what!!! I won first place for a couple of my photos in the local CWA photo competition this morning!!!  Totally blown away and excited!!!  Here's the photos that won:

This one was for the "Abstract" category.  Can you guess what it is?  I'll give you a couple of days before I let you know ;-)

Okay, it's a couple of days later and my Mum guessed it.  It's paint peeling on an old tyre in a playground.

And this was in the "Child Study" category.  It's the Little Big Fella taking a bath at my grandparent's house the last time we were there.

I'm pretty proud and excited, especially because I didn't expect to win anything!  I mean, I put my photos in thinking they were okay, but basically in support of our CWA.  And then I won a couple!!!!  These photos now go through to our regional competition, then I guess on to State level if it goes that far (pfft!!).

You know I've told you all about all the big and little miracles associated with our "little" car crash and getting home.  But now I have to tell you that the people in our little town are definitely up there in the wonderful and generous people category.

I cannot tell you how many people have offered their cars, a ride for the Little Big Fella to kindy, to collect things from our next town, to do the shopping for me, and just about any other little thing you can think someone might need when they're car-less for a little while in a remote location.

Last week the Big Fella's tutor ran into me at the post office (not literally) and asked how we were going.  In the course of the conversation I mentioned that we needed to return the hire car and he immediately said that they were planning to go to that town that day, but they'd hold off until Saturday so that we could use one of their cars.

Later that morning a friend dropped around with some paperwork for me and said, "so when are you taking the car?" - meaning her car.

That's just a few examples, there have been several before and since.

I love to give to others - my time, money, resources... whatever!  And generally I'd say I'm pretty good at receiving gracefully.  But it is really hard to constantly receive and allow others to help you.  It's humbling.

And it's lovely.

It's so nice to think that we've only been here for a year (this week actually!) and we've met so many great people who are willing to help us out, and in some cases are almost forceful about it.  It definitely gets those warm, fuzzy feelings going and reminds me that the world is actually full of wonderful people, not just the jerks who drive you nuts on the road, or are inconsiderate, or whatever.  There are those who will go out of their way to make your life easier whenever they can, and that's part of what makes this life enjoyable.  (And I think it's something special about living in small, country towns too.)

Proud Parenting

As a mum, I believe I am not alone in sometimes feeling like a complete failure.  With all of the information about what we should be doing, sometimes it can all get a bit overwhelming.

But then you get moments where you realise you can't be doing too bad a job because your little one/s show compassion, or behave brilliantly, or show you how super smart they are, or they use their manners without prompting, or remember to "catch your sneeze"!

Yesterday there was a big multi-cultural football event at the local footy oval. I was asked to help out in the canteen for a couple of hours but the Big Fella was working, so I needed to take the Little Big Fella with me.

There were rides and lots of things to do and look at, as well as the mini footy matches that were being played.  But my Little Big Fella decided that he wanted to be near me.  Given that a busy canteen/kitchen is no place for small child (you know, hot oil, sharp knives...) I grabbed one of the bar stools and popped him on it, at the side of the canteen counter.  He was really happy there and watched all the craziness of the kitchen (there were at least 5 of us in there at any one time and we were all crazy-busy!).

For two and a half hours my Little Big Fella sat there!!!  He had a bottle of water and a few snacks that I'd brought with us, and I bought him a snack from the canteen a little later as well.  And he just sat there!  Happily!

Several of the ladies commented on how well he was behaving and I was thrilled at being able to help out for so long.

When I was finally done in the kitchen we went outside and he had a jump on the bouncy castle then was happy to come home.  Of course, once Daddy got home from work I had to brag all about how well our son had behaved :-)

I love my little family.

Times are a-changing

This week was the Little Big Fella's first "full" week (3 days) of kindy.

On Monday he cried when I left.  As in, bawled his poor little eyes out.  Gosh that's hard for a mother to take!  Even though you know he's going to be fine, and will probably stop crying as soon as you're out of sight, it tears at you.

Of course, by the time we picked him up that afternoon, the Little Big Fella was telling us how much he liked kindy and that he'd had a good day.

As we were getting ready on Tuesday morning, the Little Big Fella turns to me, with a quivering lip and says, "Mummy, I'm going to be shy at kindy today".

I turned to him and asked, "why?  You said you had a great time at kindy yesterday."

After a little discussion about the things he likes at kindy, and the kids he plays with, I suggested that he try not being shy at kindy and see how that goes.  He reluctantly agreed.

At kindy I signed him in and we put his things away.  One of his friends came over and obviously wanted to play with him, so I encouraged the Little Big Fella to play, said goodbye and walked out.  I didn't hear him cry, but thought there might have been a quivering lip.

On Wednesday morning at kindy I signed him in and we put his things away.  He dragged me over to the reading room, where another boy was doing a puzzle.  The Little Big Fella watched and then tried to help (I'm not real sure the other boy wanted help, but what's that got to do with anything???).  When the puzzle was done, my Little Big Fella turned around, gave me a kiss and a cuddle and said, "Mummy, it's time for you to go now".

Have you ever had conflicting emotions?  Right then, mine were an internal fist-pump, and my heart breaking (okay, I'm being a little melodramatic - but I did feel slightly rejected).

I think I might have found the right words to explain what's going on.  For almost four years, I have been everything to my Little Big Fella, and he has been almost everything to me (Big Fella not excluded, of course!).  Now, all of a sudden our lives are beginning to diverge.  Of course it's a necessary, healthy thing, but it's still a bit of a shock to the system!

On Tuesday, on a whim the Big Fella and I decided to go to our closest major town.  We got to spend almost six hours exclusively together!

There were no interruptions, there was no whining, there were no additional requests for the bathroom when we only went 5 minutes ago!

We even got to go to an Irish pub and have lunch together!  It was SO pleasant!  We even got to order food that the Little Big Fella probably wouldn't eat without complaining (and certainly not without making a huge mess!).  Bliss, I tell ya!

I attended a CWA (Country Women's Association) meeting this week as well.  The CWA is all about supporting people, especially women and children, in rural environments.  They do all kinds of things, depending on the area and the needs they become aware of.

After my stay in our old town in December, I realised that I need to be doing something that helps people in one way or another.  Because the playgroup will be using the CWA hall, a few of us decided we'd join the CWA and try to contribute through that avenue.

Speaking of the playgroup, I've been enlisted as Treasurer for this year.  And I'm looking forward to being a more formal part of that group.

I've also applied for work, and even if I don't get this particular job, I'll be looking more seriously for part-time employment.

Last year I feel like I was kind of treading water - waiting for the move, slowly getting to know people here, working out how things work around here, waiting for kindy to start.

This year I feel like changes are happening that mean I'm moving forward again.  And I think I'm ready for that :-)

Horror in the backyard

Yesterday morning I received a text from a neighbour who has chickens.  Apparently their chicken gate wasn't closed properly the night before and a dog had gotten in and killed all 6 of them.

I was so glad I'd shut our chooks away that night, because sometimes we leave them to sleep wherever they like.  Probably a bit stupid being in the country with the possibility of foxes and feral cats or whatever.

Well, later that day I was in the garden pulling weeds (seriously, that is not my favourite job!) and I noticed a visiting dog in our back neighbours' yard.  I assumed that they knew about it and were trying to get this beautiful Husky to mate with their Labrador (or maybe she's a golden retriever - I'm not sure of the difference).

Our little male, Frankie, was not happy to have this Husky hanging around.  I mean, he thinks that yard is his as well, so to have a strange male dog hanging about (and I'm pretty sure he thinks Chloe is his girlfriend) was making him cranky.  The two of them were having a pee contest all over the fence too!  Ew!

After quite a while (at least half an hour, maybe even an hour) the Husky suddenly jumped the fence and attacked our silky chook.  Thankfully the Big Fella was around and chased the Husky away before it got our other chooks as well, but I watched my poor Silky stumble for about 30 seconds before collapsing and dying.

I know it's just a chicken, but honestly, watching that was horrific.  Silky, although she'd been quite shy of us, had become part of our family and it was awful to see her go like that.

The Little Big Fella had heard the commotion and come outside to see what was going on.  He saw Silky and knew that something wasn't quite right.  I explained to him that the dog had attacked her and that she was dead - her life was all gone.

You know, he amazes me, that child.  He accepted it.  Just like that.  It wasn't that he didn't care or understand either, he just accepted it.

The dog was collected by its owner a little later.  Apparently it gets out often and has attacked chooks before.  There's a bit I could say about responsible pet ownership but we'll leave that one alone for today.  Suffice for now to say that he offered to replace the chickens (ours and our neighbours').

The whole incident makes me very wary about letting our chooks roam free in our yard though.  But I don't want them to be locked up in their area all the time either (as nice as it is).  I guess we just have to gamble and hope that they'll be safe!

The power's out

Have I mentioned that it gets hot here?  Oh yes, I have mentioned it once or twice.

But yesterday was definitely up there on the hot scale!  40 degrees (104 Fahrenheit) inside the house (yes, inside)!

After being at our old, seaside town with its milder weather, humidity and sea breezes, I've been finding it a little hard to get used to this, more extreme but dry heat again.

And then it happened!

Right in the middle of the hottest part of the afternoon!

And there was NO breeze!

And the air was as hot and dry as an oven!

The power went out!!!!  (Imagine dramatic dah-dah-DAAAAAH! music here!)

Uh oh!  That means no airconditioning!

Oh NO!  Not even fans!!!!

Oh boy!  We only have electric cooking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah ha!!!  We have wine :-D

The Big Fella had been having a sleep after a night shift so when the power first went out I went downstairs and put the sprinkler on and cooled down a little.  While I was down there, I saw that some neighbours in the road behind us were out in their yard, so the Little Big Fella and I went over and had a little visit.

It was really nice to have an excuse to go visiting too!  And before we went away, we delivered our Christmas cards and various treats, and I'd really enjoyed visiting then too!  Turns out I like to visit ;-)

Anyway, after a bit of a chat and a taste of a range of their recent baking, we came back home to find the Big Fella had woken up (surprise, surprise) so we sat out on the little verandah and drank wine and talked and watched people walking past (occasionally even deigning to speak to them!).

Eventually it got dark and we lit a few candles and fed the Little Big Fella some tortillas (luckily he likes them with nothing on them!).  He ended up falling asleep in the chair (what a cutie!) so we continued to enjoy the evening until the power eventually came back on.  Then the Big Fella cooked me some lovely dinner and we went to bed.

It turned out to be a lovely afternoon/evening and I noticed that having no power caused a lot of people to get out and about and talk to their friends and neighbours.  Which, obviously, is a good thing.

This afternoon the power went out again.

Let me tell you, despite the enjoyment of yesterday, having the power go out again today (twice!) was not exactly met with joy!

And when the power came back on we quickly ironed a work shirt and made dinner.

Which was lucky because the power went out again as we were eating said dinner!  Grrrrrrr!

On the plus side, we finally had a temperature drop and a little bit of rain with this evening's power outage, which were very much welcomed!

Unfortunately there was no wine tonight though because the Big Fella had to go to work.  Sigh.

You never know, there may always be tomorrow!!!  ;-)

Halloween

I know a lot of you aren't fans of Halloween.  And I totally get that!

But it turns out that they "do" Halloween here in our little town.  They decorate their homes and/or yards, and the kids do a Trick or Treat walk, and they even had a Halloween disco.  Altogether, it's kind of odd in Australia (Halloween hasn't been a big thing here for all of my life so far), and even more odd in such a small town I guess.

When I was younger (okay, a lot younger!) I saw Halloween on American TV shows and wished we had it here!  I wanted to dress up and go and get free lollies (candy) from people!!!  It all looked like so much fun!!!

Then I got to live in the States for a year.  Holiday season was by far my favourite time of year there!  Especially Christmas and the snow and the lights and all of that.  But Halloween and Thanksgiving definitely made the build up to Christmas even better.

The people I lived with didn't do Halloween as such, but we were involved in a massive Harvest Party.

It. Was. AMAZING!!!

I have never seen so many lollies in my life!!!!  And the decorations and the fun and games and the dress ups.  It was one of the most fun times I had there... and I had some amazingly fun times!

I especially liked that they incorporated all the "fun" stuff of Halloween, without the scary stuff.  I've never been a huge fan of scary.  I don't like watching scary movies - even some edge-of-your-seat action movies are too much for me.  And I really don't like witches and goblins and ghouls and all of that.  It's just not my thing at all.  Feel free to pick on me if you wish.

So I'm glad that the Little Big Fella got to enjoy some of the good stuff as well.  We went to the Halloween disco and he got dressed up (as did I - one of the few adults who did, which was kind of embarrassing but the Little Big Fella probably wouldn't have dressed up if I didn't... and I looked great :-D).  I think the music, costumes and number of people overwhelmed him a little so we ended up leaving after about half an hour, but he wanted to go back as soon as we got home so it couldn't have been that bad :-).

And Saturday night we went on the Halloween walk.  It was really well organised, with people in town putting their names on a list at the shop if they wanted the kids to come to their house.  Then everyone met at the CWA hall and parents and kids walked around together, collecting lollies at each house.

We met at 6pm and the kids ran around while the late starters turned up ;-)  Even lots of the parents had some version of dress-up going on this time :-D

Originally there were about 8 houses that we were going to visit... turns out there were about 16.  Now, our town is pretty small.  If you're driving through you can pretty much blink and you'll miss it.  But going to 16 houses from one end of town to the other, with little kids walking (or being carried as the night goes on) takes AGES!

We didn't get home until 8:15 and by then the Little Big Fella was sooking/crying all the way home from the end of our street, then more at home while he was having a drink of water, while he was having a wash and brushing his teeth, all the way to bed, where he completely crashed in about 5 seconds.

The walk itself was great!  People were incredibly generous.  We came home with a rather large stash of lollies, chips and a few little toys.  I reckon there's enough there to last him for at least a couple of months, and that's eating one every day (which is definitely not normal in our house!).

Amazingly, the Little Big Fella didn't get scared when his friends' dad jumped out from behind a divider.  Instead, he grabbed his sword and tried to cut him down!!!  Looks like we've got ourselves a brave one ;-)

He was dressed as Buzz Lightyear for the walk and ran around for most of the night with his friend (dressed as Spiderman) and they called each other Buzz and Spiderman, rather than their real names - it was pretty cute :-)

Here's the cutie in his Buzz suit.  He really loves wearing it and wore it, off and on, for 3 days straight this week!  Actually, I think he was alternating between his Buzz suit and his swim suit, with his clothes occasionally getting a turn too :-D

So overall we enjoyed the Halloween festivities this year.  If we do it again next year, I'd like to do some more decorations (I love decorating!), possibly make a jack-o-lantern, make sure we have glow sticks or similar for our walk (easier to find each other), and maybe do something other than lollies for our treats to give out (everyone who hadn't eaten dinner especially appreciated the chips as an alternative to all that sugar).

Please! No more!

We live in a small town.  There are about 360 residents.  We have one general store, a railway station and a pub.  Most of the residents here are families.

Our town is located on the busiest country highway in the nation.  A lot of the traffic on this highway is miners driving to and from work.  And a lot of those are in a hurry to get there.

In the past month we've had 3 car accidents in our little town.

Three!

All of them involved alcohol, speed or both.

And the people who live in the houses on the highway are scared!

Is it safe to walk my kids the few hundred metres to school?

Will I be safe in my lounge room at night or will a car come crashing in through the window because the driver is drunk or asleep and forgot to slow down and go around the corner as they came into town?

Can I safely work in my paddock or will some lunatic speed up the end of the car in front of him and come crashing over the train line and into my field?

When I go to work at the station, will I make it all the way without being hit? Or having to go and try to help a young man who's been drinking and speeding and didn't put on his seatbelt and is now bleeding all over the road out the front of the primary school?

When is enough, enough?

How on earth can we get through to people that the choices they make when they get into their cars not only affect them, but potentially their family, their friends, their community and complete strangers???

Please!  Don't drink and drive!  Don't let anyone you're with drink and drive!

Please!  Keep to the speed limit!

Please!  Rest if you're tired!

Please!  No more!