McAwesome

My girls make me laugh so very, very much. Especially the little one.

Things you need to know:

1.a. Aimee is a vegetarian and has been for almost four years now. She doesn't think it is fair on the animals to eat them. This is reasonable.

1.b. Not relevent to the story, but by choice, I would be a carnivore. I am the person in the world least likely to have a vegetarian child.

2. Wednesday night is takeaway night in our house. Don't judge me. Aimee has dance from 4:30 to 5:30. Reanna has dance from 5:30 to 6:30 and then Guides from 7 to 9. Sometimes you just need to do these things.

3. McDonald's is often our poison of choice. Here in WA, they do dinner boxes and we can usually mix and match what is in them until everyone is happy and it is cheap. eg. Aimee gives me her meat (or chicken) patty, and she usually gets my chips.

4. McDonald's also has a burger they have advertised as the "Angry Angus".

On the particular night in question, I gave Aimee one of the buns from my burger and she decided to make a multi-level burger with chips between each layer. I think she also took some of Erin's lettuce but I was driving and not really paying attention until I heard this:

"Mummy, I have made a new burger! I think it should be called the 'Awesome Aimee'". Pause. "You know, like Aimee Jones".

I had thought she was going to say like "the Angry Angus". I laughed .... a lot. Aimee did not understand why.

I blame the parents ;)

Just in case you were wondering ....

... I had a fantabulous weekend! Thought I would update you all since you all got to hear how excited I was last Friday. I was waiting until I had photos sorted but that hasn't happened yet and if I don't do it now I will forget!

Hanging out with my sisters was great. No fights! And yes I know I am way too old, especially since I am 20 years older then the youngest, but we are sisters. We do squabble! Highlights included Aimee being highly indignant that Reanna and my youngest sister called me (she went as my messenger, she was excited about this) to turn the lights off. I quote: "They were just being lazy!!" and no she didn't turn it off. Sister #4 (aged 14) being very surprised that I thought she might talk to her nieces after I was asleep (I had said no more dvds in case I fell asleep first and they asked her. I did). It also made me laugh because she does like hanging out with them and she is dying to baby-sit. Aimee again in the morning saying very sadly she had been talking to sister #4 but she didn't answer until she asked Aimee to get her the laptop and cable. In her defence she was asleep and someone sleeping doesn't usually distract Aimee from talking. Trust me, I know!

Saturday morning was fun playing grown-ups at the kitchen tea (I am sure at some point it will stop feeling like I am playing. Maybe when I am 40).

Hen's night was soooooo fabulous!! Seven of us had a hotel room booked so we had champagne and got ready together. Costumes are so much fun!!! Dinner and more champagne and cocktails. Pub, cider and dancing until we were "sober"! Followed by pyjamas and giggling. This is all you get to hear ;) What happens on hen's night ... stays on hen's night!**

Sunday I felt great and even made it to church with the girls and training in the afternoon. The rest of the day was a dvd day on the couch in my pyjamas with my baby girls though. Twenty-four hours is definitely long enough to be away from them.

Long weekends rock!!! Monday, we ALL slept in. Then we spent the day doing some "spring" cleaning (I am catching up on stuff I haven't been able to fit in during semester) and Aimee and I are cleaning out her room ready to paint!

I think that is it! You know, just in case you were wondering!!!

** So ... is it hen's night? Hens' night? or Hens night???? I get the grammatical difference ... but I can never work this one out! If anyone has any opinion I would love to hear! Sad, but true. It is driving me nuts!

Blogetiquette ...... and Rainbows.

Part A: So, in case you have just joined me and missed my earlier post about "coming out of the cupboard" and also missed my post about paranoia. This post is a brief update. You may have noticed I have not only started publically following blogs, but I have also started commenting. Is there rules about this? Do I introduce myself? Is it just assumed I have been following (so much nicer then stalking I think) for a while before making myself known? And most importantly will anyone be offended if I say/do the wrong thing? (this is where the paranoia fits in!) If you have found me because of a random comment ... Hi!!



Part B: I love rain and I love winter and I love rainbows. I think it is safe to say that in my opinion rainbows rock. In addition to the fact they are just awesome and the sign of a never-to-be-broken promise, I have heard there is a pot of gold at the end of them. Aimee is looking for corroboration that this is in fact true. So if you happen to come across some conclusive proof … please let me know!

A glimpse into the week that was.

Today I am Thankful for rain, for not having any storm damage and for the rain considerately pausing at appropriate times so I got to work dry. * Work mode complete. Now for Mummy mode for a few hours until it is time for student mode again. * I love getting packages in the mail!!! * That awkward moment when you tell someone you are studying law ...... * The household is excited that the Big W ladies on 'The Amazing Race' are from Riverton :) * Argh!!!!!! It's E-day!!!!!! * Study tip of the day: Don't get locked out of the house the morning of an exam. It just doesn't add to overall confidence! * A few of the right words at the right time from the right person can really make your day! Give it a go .... you never know when this person is you! * Two packages in two days! I need to shop online more often :) * Today I am Thankful for two months of uni holidays, open book exams, getting good luck messages from wonderful friends, not getting hit by a truck and modern technology. * I have a feeling Aimee is going to grow up to be a spelling and grammar nazi. Who ever would have thought! * The clouds looked funny this morning. More like volcanic cloud or smoke or something then rain clouds. (Not that I know what volcanic cloud looks like, but it looked like how I would imagine volcanic cloud looking). * I have a new phone which is making me very happy. I will be even happier when I can work out how to use it! If you get a strange or v abrupt text message from me you now know why :) * Apparently changing my name to "Cat McKitten" is a bad idea :oP * I ♥ uni holidays, rainbows, humpday, lazy afternoons in bed, my stripey purple witch socks, quotes, blogs, cuddles, cupcakes, dress-ups and books. I don't ♥ exams, crickets or dodgy mobile reception. * The "snooze" button and the "off" button are not the same thing. Getting them confused has consequences. * I wonder if it is a bad thing that Aimee identifies twisties as study food? * Forgetting a password is never a good idea. So many lessons today :oP * My observation at dancing: Reanna is getting really tall. Aimee's observation (with no irony): Erin is really loud. * Major trauma this week with the footy tipping. Opinion was divided over whether to listen to Pop for the Hawthorn v Fremantle game. * So much randomness. * Today I am Thankful for technology. Which isn't new! But today it is especially because it meant I could go shopping with the fabulous Vanessa while she is on the other side of the country :) * And it is the looooooooooong weekend! * Off to spend the evening with three fifths of my sisters and a full compliment of daughters. * Aimee waking up in the morning and realising she can't talk she can only squeak is VERY funny. * I just need to say ... Hen's night!!!!!!! And if I get to check a cloak into a cloak room I am going to be so beyond excited!!! * Most fabulous 24 hours!!! Thanks for a wonderful day/night ladies!!!!!! And thank you to my wonderful peoples who babysat for me :) I am pretty sure I can hear the couch calling my name now though.


My "I got through the semester" present to myself! It felt appropriate ;)

And that is the week that was! These posts might not be the most exciting to read, but they make me smile. I guess I remember why I posted each of them. I am now laughing at the difference in my pre-and-post-exam status updates. How was your week?

Can I just say I am excited?

*Warning* this is a long post!! (But if you can bother sticking with it it is a nice snapshot to our life and the way my brain works. And possibly the reason why I should blog quickly and on the run instead of via edit and with masses amount of thought).

Once you get to know me a bit better you will find out I get excited easily and some would say excited over not very much. Personally I am ok with this. I would rather be the person who is happy and excited rather then the person who does nothing but complain and never, ever seems to be happy (I didn't realise how many people lived like this pre-facebook. It is really sad).

Anyway. Today I am excited about lots of things:

1. It is Friday And I love Fridays. I love the anticipation that it is almost the weekend. I also love that it is casual dress day at work and it means I can wear jeans. I love my jeans. I did mention I work better in pyjamas (I love pyjamas even more then I love jeans) but apparently even for casual dress this is not acceptable.

2. The weekend and this weekend it is not just any weekend here in Western Australia. It is a long weekend for Foundation day. This means that unlike other long weekends where there are things we specifically do to celebrate/commemerate events this weekend is just extra long!

3. Pyjama party The girls and I are sleeping over at my parents' place tonight with two (or three) of my (lots younger then me) sisters. Mum & Dad are away. I am not baby-sitting. Just hanging out. It should be fun! We live 45 minutes away from my family (not counting my sister and nephew who live in the Northern Territory) which is close enough to see them at least every two weeks or so, but I miss being a part of their everyday lives. Now just to see if we make it through the evening fight-free!

4. Hens' Night!!!! It is a close friend's hens' night tomorrow day/night. We get to dress up for the evening in fancy dress which I love. I am going as a girl from Gryffindor (my girls are in discussion over which one I am) and if I get to put my cloak into a cloak-room I am going to be doubly as excited as I am now!!!! Plus it has been a looooong time since I have been out on a girls' night out. Plus we have a hotel room booked so we are staying the night AND, just to top it all off I have 24 hours of childfree time thanks to a wonderful friend. I love my children! But I don't remember the last time I had 24 hours of me time**.

5.New information I have just worked out that blogger has a spell check. This is going to quite useful in my attempt to write good blog posts and sound semi-educated.

6. Dreaming v Goal Setting My first direct debit came out today which is another step to a BIG goal I am working towards (check out my other blog at Two Mummy Ducks).

7.Soup Croissant Express (a coffee shop chain) is selling soup again. I didn't bring lunch to work today in the hope that the soup of the day would be one I like (see previous post about me being a fussy eater). They are :)

8. Coffee I am not actually that excited by the coffee, but I think it might be the coffee that is making even more excited about stuff then usual. I had a jumbo capp this morning and my boss has just bought us a coffee. Hmmm. Despite my comments about caffeine addiction in my profile I have been working very hard at cutting back. This now means it seems to be having a fairly significant effect on me! (It has just occurred to me it means I have been to the coffee shop three times today when I would normally only go once or twice a fortnight! Never mind).

9. New stuff I have a bit of a splurge this week. I have been saving for a new dress, shoes, (play) jewellery etc for the upcoming wedding. And a fabulous friend is sending me a new bag to match the new dress! I also love surprises.

If you have managed to read to the end of this post ... thank you! Hope you enjoyed the insight into me :)

**Their dad works away and his roster isn't terribly consistent. When he is back he spends lots of time with them and has them sleepover and stuff, but we work more on flexible co-parenting at the moment rather then set 'visit' times. Even before he worked away they tended to go and stay once or twice a week rather then every second weekend. We felt it meant they get a better and on-going relationship with both of us. Plus I hate being away from them for more then a day so the every second weekend thing didn't really work for any of us. This changes as life changes but at the moment it works for us and the girls are happy. However, the times they have slept there recently have been uni nights for me which great is not quite the same as getting to go out. Not that I do badly in the going out stakes! I do actually have a fairly active social life. The girls are massive social butterflies. *Sigh* Now I have forgotten the point of all this. I think originally it was to make it clear the girls see their dad!! And that I am not complaining. Just excited. *end of waffle* (Although I am leaving this in as in a rambly way I think it is a nice little insight to our lifestyle ... and to my lack of abililty to stay on track!

Eight Random Facts

Oops. If you happen to be reading this from 'Blogs Tea & Me' I have managed to stuff up setting the link. Well it does find me, but I messed up the titling. Never mind! I will know better for next time .... or not. I will get there eventually!

Anyway ... my random facts

Strange book habits Not only do I love to read. I especially love to re-read. The fact in the last two weeks I have read fourish new books rather then re-reading books I already have is quite strange. I still buy new books. Well usually new-to-me second hand books but it can take me a while to read them. I need to be in the "zone".

Book collections I collect early 20th Century girls' school stories. Probably not so odd if I was 50ish, but apparently very unusual for someone at 30. I have been collecting them since I was about 7, but have only gone public about it recently. In all fairness, no-one has really thought it was that odd, but everyone knows I love books. Anyone who has been surprised has been less surprised when I remind them I have a history degree.


(A pre-WWII Boy Scout book I was super excited to find)

I hate vegetables A lot. To the point where I sometimes pretend to eat them to set a good example to the girls. I do eat salad, but I just hate them cooked. I do eat cooked vegies sometimes, but not as often as I should. Example: Two of my daughters get super excited if I cook broccoli. Unintentional reverse psychology! I am also pretty fussy about other things. My 12 year old eats most things. My 10.5 year old is fairly fussy (but I make her eat things. So does her father). My 8 year old is a vegetarian. She eats pretty much all vegies and most other stuff but doesn't eat meat for ethical reasons. Her own decision when she was about 4.

Other food related habits I hate my food touching on my plate. Example: with a roast, my meat can't touch my potatoes and vegies and vice versa. I don't think this is that strange. My ex-husband disagrees. If they touch I don't eat them. I am mostly ok with foods that are supposed to be mixed.

Paranoia Apparently I come across as being super confident. This is apparently a good lie. I check with a million people over what to wear before I go places. I check on appropriate presents. I really struggle to make the first move to speak to people. I am constantly worried I have said or done something to upset someone. I just work on the assumption people don't like me. This does make it a pleasant surprise when they do!! I don't think I am this paranoid naturally. I think it is a learned behaviour in reaction to stuff that has happened. Or it could just be that I am egocentric. An overactive imagination also means I can only watch certain tv shows and movies on my own. It also means I am careful about what I read. The risk of nightmares for weeks is often not worth it! I also am constantly making up stuff in my head. I have always done this. One of these days I will write some of it down.


Shoes I would rather not wear shoes. In my ideal world I would be barefoot all the time. I always have painted toenails and I always wear a toe-ring. Since I do have to wear shoes most of the time I love high heels. Not that I wear them all the time, but I do love them. This is something which I appear to have discovered later then most people.



Hobbies It sort of worries me I don't really have any. I feel like I am the certain person who should have hobbies but I don't! I read and collect books, but I am not convinced this counts! I also knit teddies and sometimes do cross-stitch. This makes me feel boring, but I don't actually think I am.

Motherhood Most days I still don't really feel like I am a mum. Please don't tell the children this. I have a 12 year old so you think I would be used it by now. I adore my children and I always wanted kids and I always wanted them young, but I never thought I would find them as amusing as I do.

Phobia I have a phobia of dead things. A real phobia. To the point that if I have to set a mouse trap my wonderful daughter deals with it for me. Or my ex-husband will come around for a night and sorts it out. It isn't just like I dislike them, if I see something dead it totally freaks me out. I can't breathe and sometimes I can't move. I blame a cat I had when I was little that loved me just a little too much.

Wow! That was harder then I thought it would be. It is now really quite late here and I am sure I will think of hundreds of more interesting things I could have written about tomorrow! But never mind. It was fun! You should give it a go :)

Edit

At my last annual performance review my boss made the observation that I need to proof read more. So did my lecturer when she marked my last essay. If I am going to be perfectly fair, I have had this comment on a fairly (read as very) large percentage of my essays over my academic career. Mostly it is because I am rushing. Usually because (for uni at least) I have left it to the last minute. Partly it is just being slack. A good percentage is because I genuinely read fast and I find it hard to force myself to read slowly and properly edit.

I have noticed I am doing the same with my blogging and it is annoying me. If I am going to write for an open audience I want to do it properly. No rushing. I don't want to have to keep editing posts because something doesn't make sense or I have made a stupid typo .... now just to see how I go!

On an unrelated note, and just to show I am not just sitting around thinking about blogging all day, I bought what I think may be an awesome dress for a wedding today! And I would also like to publicly note my grumpiness about how quickly children grow up.

PS I am now very paranoid about this post ... lol ... probably not that surprising!