Not-so-quirky facts

I was going to write a random post with "quirky facts" about me, except that I don't think I'm particularly quirky, so it would have been misleading.  Instead, I'll give you a few "not-so-quirky facts".

1. I'm the oldest of four kids - two sisters and one brother.
   
2. My parents are still married and are about to celebrate their 37th wedding anniversary.
   
3. I have a fairly routine bedtime of 10pm, and wake up at 6am.  Okay, routine is probably an exaggeration.  It's my goal and I probably achieve it about 80% of the time.
   
4. I'm a mystery shopper - I go into stores and evaluate their products, cleanliness and service then report and make suggestions for improvement.  It's slightly ironic, because as a young worker I was mystery shopped many times!
   
5. If I don't eat breakfast, I turn into a cranky-pants monster by about 10:30am
   
6. I've only ever won a single ribbon in a sport.  I came 2nd in the 50m breaststroke in Year 8 at the school swimming carnival.
   
7. I used to have a pretty good memory, especially for people's names.  Then I had a child and my brain capacity went out the window!
   
8. Sometimes I want to cry for no good reason at all.
   
9. I didn't drink alcohol until I got married at 22 years old.
   
10. Ants drive me totally batty!!!  I'll literally chase them around my house and squish any that I see.
    
11. Half the time I'd prefer to watch a good kid's movie (Toy Story, Frozen, Turbo etc.) rather than one intended for adults.
    
12. I like almost all music, but my favourite is jazz.
    
13. I lived in the USA for a year, and when I came home to Australia it took me several months to sound like an Aussie again.
    
14. I get an absolute thrill out of watching my son learn :-)
    
15. I hardly ever talk to my family on the phone, even though I love them to pieces and miss them like crazy.  I always think I'll be interrupting their busy lives, which is stupid, because even if I only get to say "hi", it's better than nothing, right?
    
16. I've never named my vehicles.
    
17. I don't really have a favourite colour.  Sometimes it's yellow, sometimes red, sometimes blue, occasionally purple.  I don't really like orange or brown.
    
18. When we were growing up my brother would often say to me, "you're not the Mum".  Guess I was a little bossy :-)
    
19. One of my strongest love languages is touch, but I'm really hesitant to instigate it with others.
    
20. Before I go to sleep I usually lay on my back, then my side, then my tummy, then my other side, before finally choosing a side to sleep on.
    

So there you go!  All the stuff you never knew you wanted to know about me!  Enjoy!

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?

Melbourne trip - Last days

Our last two days in Melbourne ended up being pretty busy!  I guess I wanted to squeeze in as many visits with people and activities at the same time as I could.

But, we "squeezed in" a sleep in first :-D

Most of the morning was unplanned so we had a sleep in and did a few domestic duties, then jumped in the car and went to find a motorbike gear shop.

See, since the Little Big Fella has started riding his motorbike by himself, my heart has often been in my throat watching him.  And while that will probably always be the case, safety gear can go a long way to making me feel a bit better about it!

We found the shop and found these funky motorbike pants (with appropriate padding) and a pair of little gloves.

We've since found some elbow pads that fit him, and decided that the gloves are actually too big for him, so found some that fit even better.  For now, we've decided that we're not getting boots.  Partly because they're ridiculously expensive and his feet are growing an an equally ridiculous pace, but mostly because he's riding pretty slowly still and there's no logs or anything where he rides, so covered shoes are okay (for now).

After the motorbike shop, we went to a camping place and found me a new winter jacket.  I'd bought the jacket I had when I first arrived for my year in America - in 1998!  Definitely time for an update.  Sorry, no pics for this one, but it was a bargain $50!!!

We got a call from the Big Fella's sister and partner and agreed to meet at a nearby shopping centre for lunch.  We ended up at a place called Outback Jack's.  There was a big crocodile hanging from the ceiling!

We had a great (BIG) lunch and a good chat then headed into the shopping centre.  While the girls were sorting some stuff out with their phones, the Little Big Fella was entertained on a car ride and by going up and down the escalators a million times.

We picked up some gorgeous pork chops to cook up for dinner then it was time to say goodbye until our next visit to Melbourne.  Obviously the adults wanted this to last just that little bit longer, but the Little Big Fella strongly believes that when we say goodbye, we're actually going.  So he headed up the stairs toward our car!

So we said our goodbyes and had one last hug.  I hate goodbyes :-(

We had a bit of time before needing to be "home", so we dropped in on Cadbury J and her kids for a last play.

You know the saying, "two's company, three's a crowd"?  There was a little bit of that going on for the first while, but thankfully (after a fair bit of frustration) it settled and they played well together again while us mums caught up some more.

Then it was time to say goodbye.  Have I mentioned that I don't like goodbyes?

Sigh.

Back at mum and dad's place, I made dinner, then my sister called to say she'd be coming over.  We ended up watching Origin 3 (kind of like a grand final for rugby league), which is kind of funny given that my family isn't very sporty at all and Victorians don't tend to watch rugby.  Dad totally got into it!

Just for the record, Queensland won, making it 8 years in a row :-)

Afterwards, my sister wasn't really keen on leaving and we ended up talking till pretty late.  Dad also pulled out a bunch of old letters between his parents.

I found out that they lived in a suburb of Melbourne when they first married, and we found the place on the map.  That area is now very hoity toity!

Eventually it was that time again.  Time to say goodbye.  I really hate saying goodbye.  Hanging with my sister (especially at P!nk) was really awesome.

But that's just the reality of life when you live in a different state, isn't it?  Goodbyes just become part of your life.  I guess they're a part of life anyway because even if you stay in the one place, others come and go.

Okay, time to move on again.

The following day, our last in Melbourne, was another friend day.  In the morning the Little Big Fella and I met up with my best friend to see Despicable Me 2 at the cinema.  Definitely a movie that will end up at our house!  It was very funny and entertaining.  Unfortunately, my friend hadn't seen the first movie, so some of it wasn't as fun for her.

After the movie, the Little Big Fella got excited about the games in the foyer and pretended to drive the cars, ride the motorbikes and shoot the guns.  We had a game of air hockey, which was pretty funny because he could only reach the smallest part of the table.  Obviously I tried to make it fun for him and not get the disc in the hole too many times ;-)

Again with the stinking goodbyes!!!

Then it was into the city to meet up with another friend.  K was my best friend for about a year in high school before I moved towns.  We met up last time I was in Melbourne, when the Little Big Fella was 1.

It turned out that the place we decided to meet had some snow for kids to play with/on.  The Little Big Fella would have literally spent the whole afternoon there!!!

Thankfully he got hungry so we went and had some lunch and had a really good catch up.

One thing I found difficult by the end of our time in Melbourne was being constantly in parenting mode.  At home, the Big Fella is there to take some of the weight of parenting, and the Little Big Fella has kindy so I get a break then too.

But in Melbourne I was constantly in parenting mode - thinking about distances and how far the Little Big Fella would be happy to walk, thinking about what kinds of food he'd actually eat when we were out, finding toilets in a hurry, dealing with the fact that he gets bored with stuff I like doing.  It's all part of being a parent, but it got a bit wearing by the end of our trip.

After lunch it was straight back to the snow to play, while K and I chatted some more.  I'd noticed a little earlier that the sky was starting to get quite dark, but hadn't paid that much attention.  All of a sudden it let rip!  The rain came down hard and fast and we ran to find some cover.  Thankfully it settled down a little so we made our way to K's car, because it was closer.  Then she drove us around to our car (although, I was a bit disoriented and we went the wrong way initially).

Then there was another goodbye.  Sigh.

You know, my biggest problem with goodbyes is that I'm a terrible long-distance friend.  I try to keep in touch, but I'm really just not good at it.  Life gets busy and it slips further down the to-do list.  And I'd understand if my friends felt that they weren't important to me.

But I honestly treasure each of you!  At various times in my life you've been the very reason that I love living!  Friends (and family - but they're my friends too) are my favourite thing about life.

So, I'm sorry that I'm such a terrible long-distance friend.  I will try harder to make time to call or write or text or send you a Facebook message.  Because I think you're awesome and I'm incredibly grateful to have had you in my life.

Back to the story ;-)

We managed to head home in peak hour traffic.  Woo hoo!

Okay, another side note.  I don't know how you guys stand driving that far, in those conditions, all the time!  I mean, I only drive a couple of days a week, for about 15 minutes each way, on the highway and it's plenty of car time.  But you guys drive up to an hour each way, often in the dark, with crazy people all around you!  Hats off to you!

The saving grace on this particular drive was the massive double rainbow!

Mum and dad have recently moved and now have a couple living across the road from them that they get along with really well.  So this night we had dinner at their house.

G & K are pretty cool and it was great to finally meet them in person (we would have met them when we were heading back to our old town, the day we had our little roll).  I can see why mum and dad get along with them so well - they're the same kind of crazy, as one poster I read recently put it.

We had a lovely dinner, and the Little Big Fella had a play with their dogs, then we retired to the front room and sat around the fire.  K had bought some American marshmallows and made some awesome little marshmallow toasting sticks.  So the Little Big Fella cooked them up for everyone (he only likes them uncooked) until we all felt kind of sick.

Then it was time to say goodbye and go "home" to finish packing, ready to head home the next day.

Oh brother!

Oh my goodness!!!  I have some serious catching up to do here!!!  I have pictures and stories and all sorts to tell.  So I think what I'll do is give you a few today, and hopefully a few more tomorrow and over the next few days.

Why am I bothering to catch up?  Well, because I think you guys are awesome for reading my blog so I want to continue to entertain you.  And because my friends and family who live a long way away say that they like to see and hear what we get up to, so I want to keep letting them into our lives.

So, here we go!

I am the oldest of four.  I love my siblings and, although we had our fair share of fights as we were growing up, we've always been friends as well.

At the start of the month we had the pleasure of having my brother stay with us.  He lives two states away - about 24 hours drive.  So it was awesome to see him.

He'd flown up and was staying with my sister in our old town, then caught the train to here.  The train was supposed to arrive at 2am but due to the heavy rains and a couple of trains breaking down he didn't get here until 6:30am (or something like that).

Sunrise while waiting for the my brother's train to arrive.

Unfortunately, we were all sick while he was here :(  We had head and chest colds so we ended up spending most of our time reading and watching movies and attempting to sleep.

But we also played some board games, did the shopping and just spent time talking.  And we were really quite happy with that!

The last day of his visit with us was my brother's birthday, so I attempted my first ever sponge cake!  Mum used to make sponges for our birthdays every year so it was fun to recreate the tradition.

The cake turned out great!  It was light and fluffy and delicious!  But I'd forgotten that Mum used to cut the cake in half horizontally, then put the jam and cream in the middle and ice the top.  The recipe makes two cakes though, so I put the jam and cream on the bottom cake (by the way, we'd bought low fat cream.  Turns out you can't whip low fat cream!  So I just poured it over the bottom layer and let it soak in a bit, then put the jam over that), then put the other cake on top of it and iced it.

The Little Big Fella decided he wanted us to put red icing on top.  Well, that icing just wouldn't turn red!!!  So after about half a bottle of red food colouring, I ended up adding some yellow to make it orange-ish.

Okay, fine!  It's pink!

So after a pretty quiet couple of days, it was time for my little bro to go.  The exciting thing is that I'll be seeing him in July when we go to the P!nk concert with my youngest sister!!!!  Woo hoo!!!!

About to say goodbye as the sun sets on the day and our visit.

Our next new adventure for the year actually happened in February!  We went to our first Race Day!

Last year the Big Fella was living here in the quarters and went with one of his classmates.  He called me up telling me how much fun he was having and that we should definitely go next year.

Well, this year he was working so I had to take the Little Big Fella instead :-D  They cater to kids and had a few rides and bits and pieces.  Initially the Little Big Fella was NOT interested!  The slide looked too big and he just wanted to be near me.

That didn't last too long!

And once he'd been on the slide, he had to go on the horses, then the rocket, then the jumping castle.  He had a ball!

Being new to races, I didn't realise there would only be 5 races for the whole afternoon.  But once the races started, the Little Big Fella and I got up to the fence and cheered everyone on, not caring a bit who won!  It was good fun!

There were heaps of people there too, including some of the Little Big Fella's friends, so we had a lovely afternoon.

The funny thing was when the police turned up and drove through the carpark.  Everyone who could see them kind of stopped what they were doing and watched them.  Then once the police left, it was as if someone had turned the music back on or something!

Hmmm, what else have we been up to?

Okay, one more for today.

This is one of our Rhode Island red chicken's eggs.  She lays her eggs in the dog house.  If I don't collect the egg very quickly after she vacates the dog house, the dog retaliates for being kicked out of her house by cracking (and sometimes eating) the egg.

At least the other chicken lays her eggs in the chicken house!

New Year? Bah, humbug!

You might have noticed that I like the Christmas period... just a little bit.  But when it comes to New Years, I am so bah, humbug!

I've been trying for three days to write a 2012 review and/or 2013 plans post but it's just not working for me.  I'm not a new year resolution kind of gal, and generally I'd rather go to bed early then wake up with the sunrise for the New Year.  So, seeing that my heart just isn't in it, I'm moving on!

Yesterday the Little Big Fella "discovered" a bunch of little presents in a box from my parents.  He'd already opened it on Christmas Day but didn't really pay attention at the time.  But on discovering paints in the box, it was on!

We got out the messy mat and an old t-shirt of mine to protect his clothes then I let him go for it with the paints while I took photos :-D  He ended up painting his fingernails (guess what Mummy's been doing lately that's slightly unusual!) and getting it all over his hands!

For some reason I've also had a bit of a clean out bug over the past week so I've been going through the cupboards and drawers and tossing lots of stuff into bags for the Salvos.  So far I have three and a half garbage bags of clothes and linen, about 3 shopping bags of toys and a bag of Christmas decorations all loaded up in the car for the next time I go in that direction.

I also started copying all of my photos from CDs to an external hard drive today.  Seriously big job!  Mostly because I get distracted :-D  I got to remember lots of fun times so I thought I'd share a few of them here:

You've seen this one before, but here's my little boy learning to ride his motorbike.

My 21st birthday!  Isn't this cake cool?  Unfortunately the staff at the restaurant threw out all of the toffee pieces :-(  Fun night though!

This is Alvin.  He was one of our first attempts at owning chooks and ducks.  Yeah, that didn't turn out so well!  The first three chicks all died, then Alvin was all alone so he moved to a new place with lots of ducks.

The Big Fella and I remember this photo being taken.  It was one of the most awkward moments EVER!  We were keen on each other but not together and our friend who took the photo kept trying to get us to stand closer together.  Awkward.

The Little Big Fella was mucking around trying to get into one of our large suitcases around the time that the Big Fella was driving back and forth from here to our old place.  This photo makes me smile, but feel sad at the same time because it reminds me of how much we missed the Big Fella when we were living mostly apart.

Obviously our wedding.  We had so much fun that day and I thought he looked SO handsome in his suit!

This is my Big Fella trying to catch my sister's bouquet!

When we still lived in Victoria I danced with these girls.  For this concert we were dressed as dolls and danced to Gwen Stefani's "Tick Tock".

Here's my Little Big Fella in his first week of life!

The Big Fella and I lived with a couple in Darwin for a few weeks before we moved to our last town.  The couple were in their 60s and 80s and were hippies.  The bathroom that we used had about 12 or 14 of these little frogs in it all the time - they're only about 3cm long.  One day I was showering and screamed!  One of them must have been on my facecloth and had jumped onto my tummy!!!!  Once I realised what it was I laughed.

Here's my biggest fish catch ever!  A barramundi :-)

I finally graduated - it took me about 6 years and I didn't quite complete my degree so graduated with a diploma.

These are my grandparents - my Dad's parents.  I was stoked when I came across these photos on my CDs!

And in the front here are my other grandparents - my Mum's parents.  And all of my Aunts, Uncles and cousins celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  We all stayed together for a weekend to celebrate, and dressed up for a bit of a fancy dinner on the Saturday night.

Here's a rare photo of us together - I think it's at Mossman Gorge.  This was definitely the worst holiday we've ever had, but it was good to see the photos and see that we actually had some good times amongst it all.

Lining up in the plastic bags are some of the staff where I worked.  The students got to throw plates of cream at them :-)

This is one of the Big Fella's favourite places!  A Polish deli with all kinds of meats and salamis and smallgoods.  We sometimes went here (it was about an hour from home), bought a whole bunch of things from this deli, and some breads and dips and whatever else caught our eye.  Then we'd find a park or just take it all home and eat it together.

Here's my best friend!  This was at my goodbye dinner before I left Victoria.

This was a constant source of amusement when the Little Big Fella was younger.  He'd often grab the vacuum cleaner from me to suck up his hair, skin, clothes or whatever.  It brought a lot of giggles :-)

This is one of the first times the Little Big Fella and I cooked together.  It's also the time that he fell backwards off the chair and bumped his head.  I ended up calling 13 HEALTH to check what I should be looking out for (in case he had a concussion) and they put me through to the ambulance.  The ambos were absolutely wonderful, and the Little Big Fella was back to his normal self by the time they got there (of course!).

This is the Little Big Fella on the "Little Red Tractor" with Poppy.  This is one of his absolute favourite things to do when we visit Poppy and he normally starts asking as soon as we get there (often before we've even walked in the door).  Luckily Poppy likes it too :-)

The Big Fella and I went to IMax 3D last time we were in Victoria (before the Little Big Fella was born).  There happened to be a group of school kids in the theatre with us and I screamed more than any of them when the shark appeared (it was a sea movie).

The Big Fella decided to smoke some meat using his BBQ.  Unfortunately he "smoked" the patio too - putting a hole in the roof and also on the side, behind the BBQ :-D

Ever wondered why I call myself "ScooterShell"?  This is me on my scooter, long before the Little Big Fella came along.  I ended up selling it while I was pregnant, and bought and awesome camera instead.  I loved my scooter, and one day I'll have a big one!!!!

I was a volunteer at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, before we moved to Queensland.  It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed meeting lots of different people.

This is my Dad on the trampoline when we were kids.  Nothing like a parent jumping :-D

This is Poppy with his motorbike and sidecar.  When we first moved to Queensland we stayed with my grandparents for a couple of months and the Big Fella helped Poppy re-paint his bike and sidecar yellow :-)

Oh!  And I saw an idea on Facebook just before Christmas where you write down things that make you smile throughout the year and put them in a box.  Then at the end of the year you get to look at what a great year you've had!  So I started that tonight.

Wanna know what I wrote about?

Of course you do!

I wrote about the Little Big Fella and I having a jump on his new trampoline for about half an hour this evening, when he probably should have been having a shower.  We laughed and giggled and tickled and crashed into each other and had a great time.

Yeah, that's a good memory :-)

Christmas traditions

I was planning out my meals for the coming week and suddenly realised there will only be one month until Christmas at the end of it!!!  As someone who has to post pretty much everything, that's mildy scary!

But I've been thinking about Christmas traditions; traditions that seem to be part of everyone's Christmas, old traditions, Australian traditions, religious traditions, my family's traditions, the Big Fella's family's traditions... you get the idea.

And now that the Little Big Fella is starting to understand that Christmas is different to other days, I'm wondering what kinds of traditions I'd like him to have and remember.

Obviously food is going to be a big thing.  With the Big Fella around, how could it not?

And presents.  I mean, kids will always be kids.

But after the presents are opened and the food is consumed, what else is Christmas?

Growing up in a Christian household, Christmas was the celebration of the birth of a baby who would grow up to become the saviour of the world.  We'd have a beautiful breakfast and open our presents (probably in reverse order actually!) then we'd all get ready and go to church.

I loved going to church on Christmas (and Easter too!) because I'd get to see my friends and we'd show and tell about our presents and play together.  And the service was normally short and fun too.

Many years my family would then jump in the car and travel hours to spend the rest of the day with extended family.  Although, in later years we tended to have our extended family Christmas on Boxing Day or the next most convenient day for most of us.

There are many people who like to focus on others during the Christmas season.  They may give gifts through charities, or help out at a Christmas lunch for the homeless.

Of course, the Aussie tradition is to have a game of backyard cricket after lunch (or maybe after a big sleep, induced by over-eating).

Some people go camping for the week of Christmas to New Year.  Some go to the same place each year and meet up with family and the friends made over time.

Then there are the Christmas traditions that don't occur on Christmas Day itself!

I have a strong, fond memory of baking Christmas cookies with my host mum in America when I lived there!  So strong, in fact, that I'm pretty sure I'll be doing it with the Little Big Fella this year, especially given how much he loves being in the kitchen at the moment.

And Christmas lights!  I love Christmas lights!!!  Big ones, small ones, ones that tell a story.  I've probably mentioned it already, but Christmas lights are a pretty big deal in our new little town.  Our next door neighbour has already started putting hers up, and says it will take her the next two weeks to get them all out!

Last year we took the Little Big Fella for a drive around the major lights in our last town and he loved it.  We'll be putting some up here (I purchased my first outdoor light sets this past week), but it'll be pretty small this year.

However!

Next year, I've got a plan!  And it will probably take me all year to implement it, but if it comes off it will be amazingly awesome!  And possibly expensive :-o  I've even made myself a photo of our house, overlaid with images of what I want to do to it on the computer.

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law have a tradition of exchanging Christmas tree ornaments each year, and when I married the Big Fella I was included in this fun tradition.  I really like this one because when I look at my tree I remember people that I love, and who love me.

And then there's Christmas Eve!  My family tradition is to all disappear, at various times throughout the day/evening, and wrap the presents we're giving and bring them back to put under the tree.

Normally this is happening while we're watching the Melbourne Christmas Carols on TV.  One year I'd love to actually go to those carols!  The Big Fella despises Christmas carols (he's a little bit bah humbug) so I've missed a fair few carols shows in the (almost) 11 years we've been married.  But I get my own back by playing Christmas CDs non-stop for a few days (insert evil laugh here).

Every Christmas, since I've been an adult I guess, I've felt so incredibly grateful for my family.  My parents are not only still together, but very much in love.  My two sisters, my brother and I get along really well.  And our spouses and children all add into the mix really well too.  I was going to say we're lucky, but I know that my parents put a lot of effort into making our family the way it is.

But I know that for others Christmas is highly stressful.  Getting together with family isn't necessarily a fun experience, and if you add a bit of alcohol and expectations, it can turn rather ugly.

I guess what I want for my son is to look back as an adult at his childhood Christmases, and smile.  I want him to re-live fun experiences, remember people he loves, imagine the smells and sounds and tastes that were so enjoyable, and have a sense of depth of meaning to the holiday.  Not a tall order hey?

What are your favourite Christmas memories or traditions?  And have you changed anything or added new traditions as an adult or since having your own kids?

Daddy, I love you

Back in May I dedicated a post to my Mum.  Well, I've been planning to do this for a while, and seeing that tomorrow is Father's Day here in Australia, it's time to do a post for my Dad.

I was really lucky because my Dad worked from home for most of my growing up years.  That meant he always had time for me.  Even with three siblings, I always felt like he had time for me.

Dad spent a lot of time in the car over the years!  He drove me and my three siblings to school when it was wet, various friends' places and events and all the things that kids and then pre-drivers get up to :-)  And he was always happy to do it!  I don't recall him ever complaining about it, or even being slightly grumpy.  I'm a bit in awe of that actually!

I think my strongest memories of my Dad are the times that he drove me to dance classes.  It would be just him and me in the car most of the time and I could pick his brains about anything.  We had a great, communicative relationship anyway, but driving time was the best!

I was certain my Dad knew everything, because, like most little girls I guess, my Dad was my hero!  And he did have an answer for all my questions!

See, Mum was my practical wisdom go-to person, but Dad was my philosophical wisdom go-to person.  And I loved exploring the goods and evils of the world with him, the whys and wherefores of schoolground politics, how I should react to the mean boys or nasty girls, or the boring teachers ;-).  Dad was a pastor so I also talked about all aspects of Christianity with him too.  He explained stuff that was way over my head in ways that really made sense to me.

Dad also ran (with Mum and some other people) a primary (elementary) school aged youth group.  It was so fun!  It was kind of based around Scouts so we did lots of games and stories, but also learned life skills like map reading, lighting fires, rescuing people and basic first aid.  I was always so proud of how much Dad knew and how well he taught it, and that my friends got to see how lucky I was.

And I always knew how lucky I was to get the Dad I got.  I knew, without a doubt that my Dad loved (and still does love) me!  He gave me time, knowledge, patience, wisdom, computer skills, and a framework for viewing and evaluating my life.  There is no way I would be the person I am today without my Dad!

We had lots of fun with Dad too!  He instilled in us a love for playing cards and board games.  I'm pretty sure almost every school holidays included us all playing Rummiking or Threes together.  And those times were full of laughter. 

And, of course, the days out in the bush running around, following Dad rock jumping along rivers and creeks, lighting the fire and cooking snags (sausages) for lunch, then finishing off with some toasted marshmallows or damper with lots of butter and jam.

Dad always had music on in the house too. The radio or a cassette (showing my age), and always a whole range of music - international music, Christian, pop, rock, and others.  I don't think we had much classical or opera in the house, but I love the range of music that he introduced me to.

When I was a pre-schooler, Dad flew small planes and I remember flying with him when I was only 3 or 4 and feeling so safe, even when the plane got a bit bouncy from turbulence.  Thanks to him I've never been afraid to fly!

As I got older, my Dad was still the person I went to if I was feeling blown about by the world.  He is a rock of reason and comfort.  The times I've felt like I had it all figured out and then the rug gets pulled out from under me, Dad has been a solace, helping me to find my feet again.

Now that I'm all grown up and married and have a child of my own, I'm still inspired by my Dad.  As he and Mum go out and re-create their life in many ways, Dad inspires me to discover and re-discover the things I love; To expand my horizons and stretch my boundaries; To reconsider the things that I thought I'd written off and see if they actually still fit me; To value friendships, old and new; to dare to live the life that I've been given.

My Dad is a romantic and writes great letters and cards.  Birthdays, Christmas and other card-giving occasions always included specific mentions of the things he loved about us or was proud of or thankful for.  I don't know about my siblings, but it always makes me feel so special and loved.

Dad isn't a handy man - he doesn't fix things or rebuild cars or much along that line.  But he taught us what he did know and always made me feel loved.    And I think that's THE most important thing for a father to do - make sure your kids feel special and loved, and know that you're proud of them.

Dad, you score 100% on that one!  I love you so much and am SO grateful to have been blessed with you for a father!  Being this far away has its particularly sucky parts, like not being able to share a great meal and bottle of wine with you tomorrow.  But I want you to know that I value the impact you've had on me, and the love you give.  You're still my hero Daddy and I miss you so much.  I hope you have a great day tomorrow and I'm looking forward to calling you and having a good ol' chat :-D  I love you heaps!