Don't ever do that to me again !!!

Another weekend ... another BMX event ... this week it was Open Day at the track ...

The MOTH, S and K went for a ride to check out the activities on offer. Fifteen minutes later the MOTH and S are back ... K has vanished.

We're talking several hectares of bush, a gazillion cars driving in and out ... and one small seven year old boy that no one has seen !!

Thirty heart-stopping, panic filled minutes later he shows up, cheerfully advises us he's just completed the mountain bike track (twice !!) and he's having a great time.

He was promptly "grounded" to the back of the car for the rest of the day.

Why is it that when your kids scare the hell out of you ... once you know they're safe, you just want to kill them ?!?!?!

I've got a new toy !!

(No, not that kind of toy !!!)

My cellphone was on the way out. I bought it off TradeMe* two years ago for $90, so it owes me nothing. So after spending six weeks comparing brands and models, I was finally ready to go and make my well-informed purchase. Horrors !! They don't make it anymore. I'm two weeks too late !!!

I'd decided I didn't need a phone with bells and whistles ... just a basic "send texts and maybe make a coupla phone calls" kind of phone. Apparently they don't make phones like that any more ...

So my new toy has a camera, video recorder, mp3 player, radio and whole pile of other stuff I will probably never ever ever use.

Now if only I could get it in pink ...



* internet auction site similar to e-bay

The sounds of summer ...

So it's a gorgeous day here in Dunedin. We've all liberated our summer clothing (and the glare off winter-white legs in some cases is somewhat blinding !!!)

And what heralds the onset of warmer weather better than throwing wide the windows at work to let in the summer air ?

The minor flaw in this plan (which has become significantly less minor as the morning wears on) is that our office is situated right next to a daycare centre ... the inhabitants (or should that be inmates ?) of which are also making the most of the fine weather by spending the day outside.

Unfortunately, the kids are having a bad day ...

Is there anything more annoying than the sound of a three year old having a temper tantrum ... for two hours ?

Update :-
It's now 1.34pm and he's still crying and screaming. Or maybe it's another kid and they're taking turns to pi$$ us off ?

Aaaaarrrgghhhh ...

I'm far too traumatised to write more than the following ... and I will type slowly so as to ensure that the gravity of the situation is fully understood !!!

The ... next ... time ... I ... suggest ... taking ... one ... of ... the ... rugrats' ... friends ... away ... with ... us ...

... hold ... me ... down ... and ... stomp ... on ... me ... until ... I ... come ... to ... my ... senses !!!

Three children is just way too many for me to deal with !! I knew there was a reason I stopped at two ... I think it's because that's how many hands I have. One of the guys at work has five. FIVE !!! How on earth does he cope !?!?!?

I believe it was Erma Bombeck who once said "it goes without saying that you should never have more children than you have car windows" !!!

That woman knew her stuff :)

All together now ... breathe :)

Panic has been averted somewhat by the realisation that we do not actually have to be in Invercargill until midday (not 10.00am as first thought) ...

K has his first BMX competition of the season this weekend ... 21 races over three days in three different cities ... Invercargill today, Gore tomorrow, back here in Dunedin on Monday (hooray for long weekends) ...

Not exactly the way I would have preferred to spend my birthday weekend ... but when you have kids you do all manner of things that aren't your "first choice" of activity. I mean, who really wants to get out of bed early on a wintry Saturday morning and stand in the rain watching their child run around a muddy field ? Kids birthday parties ?!?!? Sure ... count me in !!!

We're taking one of K's friends away with us ... we think he might like it (trying to create another BMX convert !!!) and K will definitely enjoy having another boy to buddy with.

Gotta go ... the MOTH is tapping his watch and looking perturbed ...

Busy busy busy ...

Finished work late ...

Husband's home ...

Have booked new (and, according to brochure, even better) motel for tomorrow night ...

Children's racing gear is drying in front of the fire ...

Dinner cooking ...

Can't find a single pair of clean socks ...

Can't talk ... packing ...

It's just all too hard ...

It's cold.

If I ask the rugrats to do anything, anything at all, they either ignore me completely, or argue with me.

My husband is away.

I dusted the kitchen last night, but the fire exploded this morning and there's now grime all over everything again.

And I just checked my email to find that the motel I'd booked for this weekend has over-booked so "sorry, there's no room at the inn".

I'm going to bed.

A snippet of memory ...

The MOTH and I were lying in bed on the Monday morning we were up north. It was seven o'clock and we were wide awake because we have kids and several years of having to wake up even when we don't want to has rendered us completely incapable of sleeping late, even when the opportunity presents itself.

P & S had just woken up and were in the kitchen - boiling the jug for coffee, making lunch to take to work, holding a "married and content" conversation ...

P turned the radio on.

We were in Northland, and the song on the radio was Dave Dobbyn ... Welcome Home.

One of those GACK moments !!!

Took the rugrats shopping on the weekend. S needed new shoes ... really really needed new shoes.

Trying to persuade a six year old girl that no, she really doesn't need pink furry boots while we're heading into summer is not a task for the faint hearted. Eventually we reached a pink-and-purple-sneaker-compromise ... stuck the old shoes in the new shoe box and wore the new sneakers around the rest of the store.

We duly paid for our purchases at the check-out (still unsure how I managed to spend that much and still have nothing major to show for it) ... then got to the car. Whoops, no shoe box !!

Frantically checked the receipt with visions of policemen tracking us down, our faces being on New Zealand's Most Wanted, photographs placed in strategic prominent positions in local stores ... OMG !!! I hadn't paid for the pink-and-purple sneakers either !!!

One embarrassed visit to customer services later my conscience is clear.

But it got me thinking as to just how easy it was to walk out of the store with something I hadn't paid for ... and incredibly, how unappreciative the customer services clerk was. I mean, if I was in a job like that and someone came up and confessed to walking out without paying for something, and then paid for it, I'd be ecstatic !! Or at the very least, mildly grateful.

Almost made me wish I hadn't bothered. But only almost ...

Overdue update ...

Well, the MOTH has gone to Greymouth again (I frisked him to make sure he didn't have my car keys before he left !!!) so I thought this would be the perfect (somewhat belated) opportunity to list the highlights of our recent trip up north :-

1. Taking off from Dunedin airport knowing we were heading in the right direction (north) !!
2. The look on G's face when we arrived at the airport and he saw the MOTH ("the final piece of the puzzle - it wouldn't have felt right without you man !!")
3. The sight of my MOTH in a morning suit ... one word ... WOW !!!
4. The look on G's face when he first saw the bride (gorgeous, radiant, elegant, just perfect) - tears, pride, disbelief ...
5. The ear to ear grin on G's face at the reception every time he mentioned "my wife" and the even bigger grin (if it was at all possible) as he added "and she's having my baby !!"
6. (PS : Did I mention the MOTH looked hot ?)
7. Lunch with the MOTH's family (make that our family) and feeling completely at ease
8. Driving over the hills and seeing Northland laid out before us (well, we had to use our imagination a bit, it was raining)
9. Hugs with a very pregnant P and talking for hours about nothing but understanding each other perfectly
10. Arguing with S, but knowing it was all good-natured
11. Morning tea with V (mochaccinos and chocolate brownies !!!!)
12. Lunch with Grandma and Grandad (the MOTH provided the tua tuas) :)
13. Our house !!! (going through our stuff in storage and picking more things to bring back with us to make our place here look more like ours)
14. Icecream on the waterfront and luxuriating in the feel of 21 degrees and warm wind !!!
15. Hugs and laughing and tickling with N & T, and then dinner and grown up talk with M & G
16. Morning tea with Nana :)

There were a few down sides to the trip too, and it wouldn't be honest if I didn't mention them as well :-
1. The wedding was beautiful, but it's really hard to watch two people so in love give themselves to each other when you can't be sitting with your special someone (even if he was standing at the front looking absolutely gorgeous !!!)
2. Oh yeah, was not at all prepared to feel physically nauseous when watching the MOTH walk in to dinner with another woman on his arm ... I mean, of course I know it's expected, but I was shocked at how bad it felt to see it ... the little "what if" portion of my brain working overtime and going "so if you and the MOTH ever break up, this is what it's gonna be like !!!" ...
3. Realising that the next time I see P & S, their baby will be six months old !!!
4. Walking through my house and seeing someone else's furniture and thinking "you know, that bed would look so much better against that wall !"
5. Seeing Max (my dog) again. I honestly agonised over this for weeks as to whether it was a good idea to go and see him - it took four months before I could look at a photo without crying and I had to take him off the desktop on my computer. He has put on sooooooo much weight ... and he doesn't look like my dog any more, let alone act like my dog ... so that was closure I guess ...
6. Driving over the hills coming south and wanting to turn the car around (I actually said to the MOTH "you know, we're going the wrong way") ...
7. Landing at Dunedin airport

The MOTH asked me as we were driving home from the airport "do you really hate it down here that much ?"

No, I don't hate it. But it isn't home.

And if N (Max's new daddy) can manage "two years, three months and four days" (not that he was counting) in a place he detested with every fibre of his being, then I'm pretty sure I can manage a couple of years here.

As long as we can go home every six months :)

Good news and bad news ...

MOTH : "Do you want the good news or the bad news ?"

Me : "Ummm, you know, these are normally trick questions ..."

MOTH : "I'm going to Greymouth for a week - I'm leaving on Sunday morning"

Me : "And the good news ?"

MOTH : "I'm taking the flatmate with me"

If you have a minute ...

... this is kinda fun *

1. Open Google

2. Enter your name and the word "needs" and see what you come up with ...

My list goes like this ...

R needs to learn to accept things even if she doesn't like them

R needs help, it's blindingly obvious that R's needs are simple !!

R needs Nintendo Fusion Tour tickets (?!?!?!?!?!?!?)

R needs a visual interpreter ...

R needs more liquid refreshments (these people know me so well !!!)

R needs to start taking sophisticated recipes and make them simplistic

R needs to get up and climb an apple tree (I'm scared of heights !!!!!)

R needs to run off the paved path

R needs a stopover in Italy (hell yeah !!!!)

R needs more yarn !!!

R needs a place to stay for the night

R needs a new hair stylist ...

R needs help (haven't we seen this one before ?!?! I'm noticing a pattern emerging)

R needs to apologise

R needs to be understood and appreciated for her uniqueness


What do you need ?!?!?!?!?

* with thanks to Rachel over at Milkbreath and Me for the idea !!!

Well, we're back ... mostly

The weekend away was great ... wedding was beautiful ... was fantastic to catch up with friends and family (who, curiously, are more my family than my real family) ...

Will write more later ... am currently in advanced work catch-up mode and feeling sorry for myself and seriously deflated about being back in Dunedin (the short break back up north only served to reinforce that Dunedin is not, and never will be, home).

Driving up to Oamaru tonight after work to collect the rugrats. The flatmate was supposed to drive up and get them after work last night and then bring them out to the airport to meet us. At 5.00pm on Friday night, as we were doing the zillion-and-one last minute things one does before going away, he told the MOTH that he was going to be out of town this week.

The MOTH rang my folks over the weekend and asked if they could bring the rugrats down to meet us instead and when we spoke to K on Monday he told us he was excited cos he was meeting us at the airport on Tuesday night. Wires got crossed ... we found out my folks never had any intention of driving them down ... then they didn't want us to go up and get them last night when we got home because it would be too late and "not in the best interests of the children" ... so they missed another day of school and we'll collect them tonight instead ...

Just what I need at this stage in my life ... parental disapproval ...

One of those days ...

OK ... I admit ... am finding it a little hard to concentrate !!

I'm going to miss all your fabulous reading material whilst I'm away ... but I'll have lots to catch up on when I get back :)

Try not to do anything too exciting while I'm gone !!!

Hrmm ...

You know, for a girl who's flying home tonight, I'm feeling surprisingly flat :(

There may very well be several factors contributing to this that rate a mention ...

The state of near hysteria with which we left K at his grandparents last night ... sobbing, tears, promises to be a good boy if he could come with us, the suggestion that he could sit on my knee on the plane so he didn't take up another seat, his terror we're both going to die in a plane crash, his concern we're going to be the whole length of NZ away from him and we might forget to come back, the threat to hold on to the towbar of the car so we couldn't leave ... all stuff guaranteed to make a parent forget that they're s'posed to be enjoying going away and instead make them feel about two inches tall ...

(Something both the MOTH and I forgot to take into our calculations last weekend was that the MOTH had been away for a week, then K only got to spend two hours with his father before we left him with his grandparents for the week and we came home. Now the MOTH and I are going away again, and he's never spent that long away from his dad before.)

S was fine ... she gave the MOTH five hugs (one for each day) and ten kisses (one for the morning and one for bed time) ... all I got was a quick hug, a smile and "see you on Tuesday !" ...

And this morning, driving into the carpark at work, I scraped the passenger's door down a concrete pillar pulling into my park :( It's not major - nothing that a cut and polish won't fix - but it's not exactly contributing to my feeling of "all's well with the world" !!

Roll on 4.30pm !!!!!

It's really really really truly going to happen !!!

Guess what ?!?!? We really are going up north ... it's really real :)

I went and had my hair cut last night.
We rang everyone we're going to see last night and confirmed where and when we'll see them and where we're staying (there is going to be a lot of coffee drinking and eating going on for the next few days !!)
I'm having my nails done tonight.
We're driving to Oamaru tomorrow night after work and dropping off the other rugrat with her grandparents for the weekend.
And I just took a phone call from the groom-to-be to double-check what time our plane lands on Friday evening (and at which terminal) !!!

Yayyyyyy !!!!

Off to a good start ...

This week is going to be very very long ... because I have going home to Whangarei to look forward to at the end of it, and everyone knows that when you're looking forward to something, it seems to take forever to get here ...

It started this morning with a visit to the doctor. For those of you who don't know, I'm epileptic and take daily meds. I rang to get a renewal on Friday and the nurse told me that because they had no record of a recent blood test, I had to go in and see the doc (hardly surprising they couldn't find it really, I honestly don't know when the last one was done ... I hate blood tests and managed to go two whole years in Whangarei without having to have one) ... appointment at 9.15 this morning thank you very much ...

I dropped the rugrats off at the school holiday programme, and then spent fifteen minutes trying to sort out a mix up with the fees from last week. Being considerate, I rang the doc to tell them I was running a bit late, would be five mins late for my appointment and I hoped that wasn't a problem ...

"We don't have you down for an appointment at all this morning, who did you speak to ?"
"The nurse. Look, I've taken time off work for this ... can you fit me in ?"
"How's 10.00am ?"
"Great, I'll see you then"

I arrived at five to ten, just in case my clock was wrong (we have five clocks in our house, and they all have different times on them !!!). No apology for messing me around, just the standard "take a seat, the doctor will be with you shortly" ...

At 10.20 I'd had enough and went back to the receptionist, who looked mortified when I told her I was leaving (why is it that some people act like doctors are gods ? It never ceases to amaze me the awe with which they're treated. I used to work at the med school .... but that's another story)

Me : "Look, this has been a disaster from start to finish. I rang on Friday ... all I want is a script and the nurse said I had to come in for an appointment ..."

Snippy Uptight Receptionist : "Well the nurse didn't put you in the book ..."

Me : "I don't really see that that's my problem, do you ?"

SUR : "Well the doctor is very busy ..."

Me : (by now in a dangerously calm voice) "So am I. So far I've taken two hours off work for this ... first my appointment doesn't exist and now it's 10.20 and I had a 10 o'clock appointment"

SUR : "Which nurse did you speak to on Friday ?"

Me : (very sweetly) "The incompetent one, obviously"

SUR : "The doctor is busy at the moment ..."

Me : "Me too. All I want is a script. Now, I'm not waiting any more ..."

SUR : "I'll get the nurse to phone you"

Me : "Please don't. Ask the doctor to phone me ... hopefully he knows what he's doing"

Graceful exit, stage left.

I was very proud of myself ... I didn't raise my voice once !!! Now I realise it wasn't the SUR's fault (which is why I didn't yell at her) ... but honestly her superior attitude and her "you should be grateful we let you sit in our waiting room until the doctor deigns to come see you" tone of voice and the fact that not once did I even get an "I'm sorry" didn't bode well for our future relationship.

Oh yeah ... and the number one phrase absolutely 100% guaranteed to get my back up is "such and such is very busy" .... it implies they have more important things to do than deal with me, and I don't appreciate that one iota !!!

There was a phone message when I finally arrived at work ... apparently my script is ready to be collected. There had better not be a charge involved ... or I am going to invoice them for the two hours I took off work this morning and still didn't get to see the doctor at the end of it.

I can feel my hourly rate soaring ...

My husband's home !!!

So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed.

Early.

(Grin)