So How do YOU Spend a Friday Night?

Yep, that's my boy. He's a face painter. 'Nuff said.

Trouble Blogging

One week since my last post and I am forcing myself to write something. It's a bit bizarre, this blogging thing. Some days I feel like I have so much to say and others...well, not so much. Maybe because partly not much has changed. How many times can one person write, "Do you know what my kids did today?" Also it's not always so funny what the cherubs do and writing about it can re-live the memory. That and this week has been the most bizarre week for me in that I am bone tired every second I'm awake. It's like there's no sleep in my sleep. Needless to say it's doing wonders for my mood.

So I must start thinking of cheerier thoughts. Like how I want to plan a quick, quiet (somewhat) weekend away soon. After cricket season of course. I have friend who's parents own a nice weekend place by the beach. If they'll let us, I'd love to go away for a few days. I'd love to see how Sasha would do on the beach. If nothing else it would be hilarious to see Tessi walking behind her and shouting orders at her. Tessi finally has someone who's supposed to listen to her and she's taking full advantage of it.

There, I've done it. I've written a proper post. Not terribly exciting but better than reading, "A Seperate Peace" God, I hated reading that book.

Absolutely the Sign of the Apocolypse

My daughter, yes, MY daughter, was singing ABBA tonight.

"Mamma mia, here I go again My my, how can I resist you?" Or more accurately, "Mamma mia, here I go gain...my, my how can I sis-sista?" But you get my point.

ABBA? Dear God, what have I come to? I do not understand why ABBA was and is still so popular, but it is. Why a Swedish band would captivate the soul of a nation in the Southern Hemisphere is one of Life's great mysteries. Until the riddle is solved though it looks like I have to dig out some B.B. King for my dear Connor.

Canteen Duty is Australian for Work Camp

Ok, maybe it's not. Maybe it's not as bad as I was thinking it would be. Especially since I had several people point out how Wed. was the easy day and that Friday is when it's really busy. For my Norte Americano amigos, the canteen is the cafeteria and here in Oz it's run by a paid manager and a few mom/parent/oh whatever, it's mainly mom volunteers. The food it prepped, cooked, bagged and sold to the kids. The room isn't air conditioned and the windows manage to provide ZERO ventilation. Today was a chilly day and I roasted alive; I can't even imagine the 9th circle of Hell last Friday was when it was 42 degrees outside.

It wasn't hard work but it was real work. Constant and on your feet the whole day. I did have some fun messing the older kids. One kid popped up and asked how many jelly juices (utterly vile hyper sweet popsicle) he could buy with $2. I asked him what year he was in. Stunned, he told me the truth and said, "Um, Year 6" "Well", I responded, "I would expect a Year 6 to be able to tell me the answer to that question" It took him a few minutes but he did get it. And then when he came up for seconds he went to the other line. That entertained me for a half hour.

The one really bright spot was seeing Teddy walk Connor up to me to score some extra treats. They both looked so cute as they were sheepish and walking up; pretending that they knew that I was going to give them ice blocks and paddle pops for sure. Cute also because it was the first time in weeks I've seen them be remotely civil to each other.

My hats are off to the volunteers, yeah whatever, the moms who do this on a regular basis. I've agreed to go in once a month on a Wed. but if Sally calls and asks me to go in on a Friday I'm going to come up with any and every lie I can think of to get out of it. Those kids are like swarming vultures on a carcass when it comes to food.

I finally got it to work!

I got the stinkin' camera to load video to the website! This is a miracle. Of course since I started it MANY days ago the post doesn't just show up. For the 3 or 4 of you interested; please look at the post titled Video only grandparents would watch.

Now, I really must try and get some sleep.

This Child will in fact be the DEATH of me

I should blame myself but honestly I think I'll just blame Tessi.

After dropping off Connor and Teddy at school Tessi and I made a mad dash to the shops. Why you ask? Well apparently my son was in desperate need of a red pen. Yes, a red pen. No matter that no such thing was on his list of school supplies, no, no. Apparently Mr. Barling said yesterday that they should all get their red pens and everyone on the entire planet stood up in unison and shouted, "Yes, Mr. Barling, we all have our red pens and we're better students for it!"....everyone except Teddy. Poor Teddy who is now a social outcast, nay, a hopeless social outcast who has no hope of ever having a meaningful life because he did not have a red pen.

So now I've bought the damn pen. I'm sure it's the wrong one but it's red. He'll have to learn to live with injustice of it all. But in rushing to get to the shops I hurriedly packed Tessi's bag for swim lessons - to immediately follow shops. Driving down the street Tessi starts to cry, "Oh no! I need my goggles!" I said they were in the bag and she screamed, "NOOOOOOO - all gone!!!" I must not have repacked it after our family pool venture on Sunday. So I tell Tessi she can swim without them and then of course I might as well have poured gasoline on her. We get the the shops, buy the pen, get morning tea and head to lessons. At the pool I go up the clothing section and spy goggles. Oh happy day. Only $15. Sigh....ok...they are special for short people and they are good ones and I really, really don't want to listen to any more shrieking. I buy the stinkin' things and off we go to the bench to get her dressed to go into the pool.

That's when I pulled out her swimsuit and not one...but TWO DAMN PAIRS OF GOGGLES. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I should have checked. I know. But for some reason I really thought they were gone.

Still, she is sooooooooo lucky she is cute and today she jumped in the water and went completely under water. Otherwise WHACK! Out to the curb...

Video Only Grandparents Would Watch

Here's the new video camera with 11 minutes of exceptionally boring video. Unless you are family, then it's riviting footage of the 3 kids playing with the dog. You choose. Either way, I have a new toy to play with and I think it's pretty cool. Whether or not I can ever figure out how to use all the neat spiffy features remains to be seen. At this point, if I can just get the stupid video to load I'll be happy.

Just a quick post today

Whew. I am beat. Not the, "I'm a bit sleepy", oh no, I'm talking about the "bone-crushed, aura -numbed" tired. The one where you're sure if someone asked you to spell your name you'd stuff it up. This is evidenced by the number of times I've had to correct my spelling in the last 2 sentances. For grammarians out there who are pointing out the ones I missed, bugger off. I really, really don't care today.

Not sure why...maybe several days of 100 plus weather, 7 days of 24/7 on kid duty, a still not housebroken dog, 11 massive hissy fits from Princess Tessi in the last 5 days; including 1 today that lasted over an hour, Connor being a 4 year old alpha female and Teddy; god love him, Teddy is Teddy.

Yeah, it's shock why I'm tired. Tessi and I are napping this afternoon. I'll lock the front door in case Tessi wakes up first and tries to make a break for it...maybe. At least the neighbors will be happy for a few minutes of silence. Anyway, Tessi will sleep because after all that screaming she HAS to be tired. That I think I hear a sniffle; phenergan anyone? Again for the busy bodies who can't take a joke; I'm kidding. I swear to God.

Bush Fires in Victoria

For my friends and family who aren't aware of Australian geography, this is no where near us so we are fine. As of this morning 108 are dead. From what we've heard most of the fires were started by arsonists, miserable bastards.

Right now I'm trying to find out where I can take supplies to drop off. Hopefully some place close. Please think some kind words for these poor people, so many have lost everything.

Ted Comes Home Today!

It's been a long meet and hubby comes home today. Thank God! It'll be good to have reinforcements for the Battle at Wounded Parent. That's supposed to be a play off of Wounded Knee, but honestly I'm so hot and tired and I can't even tell if it's making sense. Like I said, a LLOOONNGG week.

Another scorcher today and then this evening POOF it's all supposed to go away. Tomorrow a high of only 25 and some rain. The weather here constantly amazes me. I've never in my life seen so many rapid temperature changes. Just bizarre.

Must go, now the girls have taken to ratting out the dog. Almost as much fun as narcing on Teddy but Sasha doesn't yell in frustration so not quite the thrill.

42 Degrees is about 108

Ugh. It's hot, very hot. Texas hot. I am VERY unhappy. At 4:15 tonight it was 40 degrees and tomorrow we're looking at 42 and then on Sunday about the same. Then on Monday POOF we go down to 25. That's 108 to 80 in less than 24 hours.

Sad thing is that I can't even take the kids to the pool. I can't watch 3 kids - 2 of whom are non-swimmers and 1 who is a thrill-seeker all by myself. Grrrrr. I figure by noon we'll be at each other's throats. I plan on hiding in my room and lob ice blocks over their heads and slam the door in their faces. That will stop Teddy but I think Tessi will pick the lock. Wish me luck!

I'm Now One of THOSE Moms

In Yea Oldy Days I swore I would never be one of THOSE mothers who had silly pictures of their kids. I mean really, fake magazine cover shots of your kid? Come on, get a life. Yet here it is. Teddy's team cricket pictures came today and I was proud to buy the one of cover picture and the one with his picture on a fake ticket. In fact, I bought the whole package. I can't wait to mail them to people. If nothing else I am still in a bit of shock that a child of mine plays cricket! I mean, how bizarre is that?!

I watched the chick flick, "Becoming Jane" the other day and in one scene there was a cricket game. Jane got up and hit the ball and I thought, "Oh, she hit a 6!" I mean, I KNEW WHAT SHE DID! Holy Hell! 2 Years ago I probably would have said, "Are they playing cricket or is that Lacrosse?" Alright, maybe not, but it would have been close.

My kid plays cricket and maybe someday that magazine cover will be real. Maybe not. Either way, he looks great.

The Sydney Scorcher Begins

It's been wretchedly hot and humid for days here. Really yucky. Reminds me of Texas, but not in a good way because I hate the heat. It's going to get worse here. We're looking at a high of low 40's here on Sat. which translates roughly to about 105 and humidity of about 75%. Which means it's hot and there's no air in the air. I've already told Teddy's cricket manager that if the game can't be moved to 8 am rather than 10:30 we will not be there. It's just too rough on the kids. The coach wants to cancel it outright but right now the association is playing the wait and see game. I guess I can't blame them. You don't want to cancel just to have a cold front move through. However I've made my decision so forget that. No WAY am I sitting in that weather. Just getting through today was enough to have me serve McDonald's and ice blocks (popsicles) for dinner. Oh yes I did. My mother is spinning in her grave, but I did.

Connor is doing well in school. Her teacher told me yesterday that if she didn't know that Connor was Autistic, she wouldn't know. That's pretty amazing to me. Just 3 years ago we didn't know if Connor would be able to graduate high school, now she's a young kindergardener and doing well. I'm really proud of her.

Well I'm off to bed. Tomorrow is a long day and Ted doesn't come home until Sunday. Cheers!

My Cat Died Today

This is Jagr. She was born in 1995. Jagr is the first cat Ted and I adopted together not long after I moved to Nashville to be with Ted. 2 years ago when we moved to Australia we decided that the quarantine period would be too hard on her and our other cat Woodson so we asked Ted's sister to take them in, which she graciously did. She has looked after them for 2 years and loved them desperately. Both cats have been living in Shangri-La with Mickie and have been really enjoying life. If I'm honest I'll admit that Jagr and Woodson really had become Mickie's cats, not mine anymore.

Sadly today I got a phone call from Ted's mom telling me that Mickie had to take Jagr to the vet because she was very sick. She had developed diabetes and had many kidney stones. She was in pain and even if somehow she survived surgery she would continue to be in pain. So Mickie made the only decision possible and this beautiful animal is no longer in pain. I sit here crying as I type this not only because I'm sad that Jagr died, but because I know that my SIL is suffering because of watching her die. I'm so sorry Mickie. I'm ashamed that I didn't fully think about this before we asked you to take them. I hope your suffering ends soon.

As for my beautiful Jagr, named for Jaromir Jagr, formerly of the Pittsburgh Penguins, thank you for sharing our lives and for being a great cat. I'm going to miss you. Any of you that think fondly of animals please have a kind thought for Woodson. This is the first time he's been away from Jagr in over 12 years.

New Parenting Phase

It is the next evolutionary step in childhood development. The "I hate my sibling" phase. Teddy and Connor have sailed blissfully through the toddler and young child realm and into how can I destroy you and step over your sill pulsing corpse. It's really entertaining sometimes. Other times I have to keep myself from killing them outright. These two haven't had a civil word to say to each other in days. Not one. Teddy crossed the line this morning and delibertly pointed out some dead cockroaches that Connor had missed seeing. As she is absolutely terrified of them and then became unglued I finally have stepped in.

In another one of my hallmark parenting moments I informed both of them that if they want to hate each other to just go ahead. Have a blast. Call each other any name they want, hate each other, wish each other ill. Have lots of fun with it. However, be careful. Because as soon as it becomes MY PROBLEM then THEY will have problems. Learn how to fake kindness to each other in front of me. If I need to step in then I will need to make their lives difficult. Not sure if Connor grasped what I was saying but Teddy did. He got it. I could see it in his eyes. I used the magic phrase, "The DS will become mine" and that is certainly in his lingo.

I had hoped for a little more time before this fun stage manifested but no matter. It's here now and let the games begin!

It's Official...I have Done it

My children have all made it through the afternoon and to bed alive. We had a good hour stretch where no one; including the children, thought that was going to happen but in the end I pulled it off. This is all after Tessi's 45 minute explosive meltdown in the parents room at Westfield shops. That was a winner in many regards. The dog also is still breathing and considering her penchant for Cinderella shoes, stuffed animals, socks and LEGOS this is also a bonafide miracle.

My work is done. The wine is chilled and I'm off to surf the net. Tomorrow all three of the kinder will be in school for many hours and I will attempt to become a person again rather than the raging evil troll mom my children have all come to know and loathe. As I pointed out to a seriously shocked Teddy this afternoon, "I am not here to make it easier for you to play DS and the computer" I swear to God, he was genuinely surprised by this revelation. AT LEAST he was wise enough not to ask me why I am here. Then I may have been forced to kill him. As it was he lost the DS and computer for the rest of the night.

2 Down, 1 to Go

Several days late but 2 of my children are in primary school now. Teddy started on Wed. and Connor on the 29th. The start Kindy with kid gloves here. Individual appointment start times spread out over 2 days so each child gets hand greated byt their teacher. It's nice. Really, really nice.

Connor was a trooper. She marched right like she owned the place and waved good bye and walked off. She just loves her teacher and I must say that I think she's pretty wonderful too. I'm still scared to death about her but that's ok. I'll just try to enjoy how well she is doing now.

Teddy is in Year 3 and is in absolute heaven. He got Mr. Barling, who normally teaches Year 6 and has about 5 of his nearest and dearest friends...plus some girls he's willing to tolerate. I asked him if he wanted me to walk him up to the top quad (years 3 and up go to a different area to play) and he snorted and said no. Then I asked if he wanted me to wait until the bell rang and also got a no. Then...the ultimate refusal. I asked for a kiss and hug and while spinning on his heel he exclaimed, "Yeah, whatever" Little twerp. I went through 36 hours of labor for THAT? Yeah, I suppose I did.

Back In Business

The new computer arrived the other day and it is spiffy keen. Seriously, it's cool. So cool I have no idea what most of it does. Oooooh, that's cool. I'll work on getting the pictures up that I want but as usual the quilt one will have to wait. It's still on the old computer and Ted is off to the New World today for a week. Connor's first day of Kindy pix are mercifully still on my camera. See..there are advantages to being lazy sometimes.