Either ... or ...

Either a) I have PMS ... or b) everyone I work with is a moron !!!

I suspect it might be (a).


PS : Some cretin stole my carpark this morning too, which hasn't helped matters any. My carpark ... the one I pay $50 a fortnight for !!!

Of creepies ... and crawlies ...

K and I took an unscheduled day off yesterday. Oh the horror !!!

Twas the month before Christmas
and all through the house
there were parasites lurking
yep, it was a louse !!!

After rinsing and scraping
she fell into bed
with visions of headlice
crawling over her head !!!

Four and a half hours it took. Next time I'm shaving his head !!! He can have a haircut to match his daddy's.

(Go on ... I'll bet you're scratching ... right now ... you are ... aren't you ?!?!?!)

Bumps (and bruises) ...

I hereby pledge an oath ...

“I will never, ever ever ever, ever again stand on the sidelines of a BMX track yelling “pedal pedal pedal” at my rugrats ever ever ever again “

After racing today (yep, we let the rugrats race ... they both did really well - S now has another trophy for her room and K won a “big-boys” prize of shower gel and body spray) my girlfriend and I decided it would be fun to borrow the kids’ gear and have a go around the track ...

I mean, come on, how hard could it be ?

In all seriousness, I am now in complete awe of my children. How S, who has only been riding a bike since the February, can not only get around the whole track without falling over, but also stand up and pedal while doing it, and avoid collisions with other riders, and not scream her head off the whole way round ... (shakes head in amazement) ... as I said, I’m in awe ...

And yes, I did ... a) collide with another rider ... b) fall off ... and c) scream a fair bit ...

Wanna see my bruises ?

So THAT'S what all the fuss is about !!!

A lazy blog, but finally a few pics of the rugrats from last weekend ...

S has just learnt to both start from the top of the ramp, and to stand up while she's doing it !!!


K would be the one in the middle in the blue, with the wheel off the ground ...


And after the racing was done, we asked them to give us their "intense racing faces" ...



I'd be scared, wouldn't you ?!?!?

Rugrat Update ...

K sat through a club night at BMX last night.

He was too cold.
He was too hot.
Did he enjoy it ?
No ... he did not !!!

And did he learn ?
I do not know.
The grumpy tempered
So-and-so.

The MOTH and I have a dilemma, however. There are only four weeks until Christmas. Which means, therefore, that there are only five weeks until the New Year. And, continuing with the theme, that means, therefore, that there are only six weeks until the South Island champs in Rangiora.

And sitting on the sidelines for two weeks really isn't going to help his chances any.

So, as the MOTH asked last night ... do we cave and let him race next week ?

I know if he was a convicted criminal he'd get time off for good behaviour ... do the same rules apply to a stubborn eight year old ?

Bikes, bikes, and more bikes ...

I know, I’ve been kind of slack lately with my blog regimen. But I can take a hint. I should warn you though, this is kind of long ...

Bikes have taken over our lives recently. Yes, both rugrats raced BMX last summer too, but it wasn’t this intense. But there is a reason for the insanity. This season we have a goal !!!

The nationals are in Cambridge over Easter next year. That’s still about four hours drive from Whangarei, but it’s on the right island at least. The master plan, so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel, is that the rugrats and the MOTH will be fit and healthy and have put in enough training that they will be racing. We’re planning on jumping on a plane with the bikes, flying to Auckland, driving south to Cambridge, racing the nationals, and then driving home to Whangarei to spend four or five days there.

In between now and then, both the rugrats and the MOTH have to earn sufficient “points” from qualifying meetings that they are eligible to race at national level. K is going to find it particularly difficult, as the rules state you must race in the age-group of “the age you turn in the birthday that year” ... so as from 1 January he will be racing nine year olds, although he has only just turned eight ...

Last Wednesday after work we went for a family bike ride. Honestly, it’s a bloody miracle that they didn’t find themselves under the wheels of a car on the way to the park !!! As mentioned previously, S’s bike skills are comparable to mine, which isn’t saying much. And K was repeatedly warned for practicing his jumping ability whilst riding down the middle of the road !!!

However, the really fun part (can you detect the sarcasm in my voice ?) was once we arrived at the park. Keeping in mind the required training, we were all doing quick laps around the bike track. S suddenly decided she wanted to go in the opposite direction, and the end result was the MOTH riding straight over the top of her, executing an extremely graceful somersault for someone of his height, rolling across the ground and coming to a stop lying flat on his back on the ground.

Actually, the end result was a severely damaged wrist (the ligaments or tendons, I forget which, have separated themselves from the end of the ulna), two days off work, and three to four weeks on light duties. It would actually have been preferable for the wrist to be broken, as it would probably have healed more cleanly.

So the MOTH wasn’t able to race at Invercargill last weekend. S came third in her age group and was presented with a medal, which she is extremely proud of. K, however, for some unknown reason, didn’t try at all, cruised lazily around the track, came fifth, and then threw a tantrum because he didn’t win a trophy.

We’ve grounded him from racing for two weeks, which means he will miss two club nights, and the Dunedin Open this weekend.

Honestly, we had no idea what else to do. It’s so heartbreaking and frustrating to see a kid with so much natural ability just not trying at all. The most frustrating thing is that he tried so hard last year, and did so well.

How do you motivate a kid like that ? Any ideas at all would be gratefully accepted ...

This morning on the radio ...

"When was the last time you cried over something really stupid ?"

Tears of frustration this morning 'cos I couldn't find my earrings, which are perfect for the outfit I wanted to wear today, and which just doesn't quite work without them !!!

I know, I know ...

Adventures in Bikeland ...

Well, I woke up yesterday morning determined my bike was not going to sit in the shed and gather dust. So of course, when confronted with such zeal and enthusiasm, what can the weather do ... but rain !!!

There was a minor break in the clouds mid afternoon, so in response to my nagging ("Can we go to the park now ? No ? ... What about now ?") off to the bike park we drove (still unsure enough of my ability to steer adequately to not want to risk riding anywhere near cars) and spent an hour riding around in big sweeping circles where it was easy to make it look like I meant to go that way all the time !!

Mid afternoon at work today I received a text from a girlfriend asking if I wanted to go for a ride after work. And guess what ? No procrastination, or excuses (I am so glad the rain stopped, because I do not do water !!) ... and after dinner off we went.

For an hour and a half !!! I had a blast !!! I am soooo buzzed !!! And apart from a temporary lapse in my ability to control my steering and remember where my brakes were, resulting in a minor altercation with a wall, it all went extremely well.

I am, however, unsure whether to be insulted or amused by the following comment :-

"You know, after seeing you on a bike, suddenly S makes sense !!"

Truth is stranger than fiction ...

K : "Mummy, why do you have a bruise on your neck ?"

Me (with a withering look at the MOTH who is suddenly extremely engrossed in his coffee and toast) : "Daddy bit me"

K (with a horrified look at his father) : "Why did you do that ?!?!?!?!"

MOTH (the picture of wide eyed innocence) : "Would I do that to your mother ? She was practicing on her new bike yesterday and she's so bad at it that she fell off and bumped herself on the handlebars"

K : "Oh, OK"



PS : Unfortunately that explanation did not work on the flatmate :/

Because I'm a girl ...

... I like shopping :) Or maybe I should say, I like buying things. I honestly, truly, have very very little patience for strolling around looking at things I'm never going to buy.

I used to enjoy it ... way back when my folks still lived in Auckland just around the corner from us, my mother and I used to while away many Saturdays by wandering the local malls and shops, investigating and exploring, meandering through uncharted territory and not buying a thing except maybe a coffee when our poor exhausted feet demanded a break ...

I think maybe my time is more valuable now, and there's always something else to do ... so I just want to run in, buy what I need, and run out to do something more interesting. Shopping is more a necessary evil than a hobby.

The MOTH and I wandered town this morning / afternoon, however, for several glorious hours, unencumbered by rugrats while we shopped for K's birthday presents. It felt quite bizarre to not have to be anywhere or do anything, even if just for a few hours.

He will not be the proud owner of a cell phone, a digital camera or a stunt bike this year. But we did manage to find the following ...

Assorted Holden racing paraphenalia
Sea Monkeys
Brainbox (electronic kitset full of tools, circuit boards, lights, switches and bells and whistles so he can make his own doorbell, burglar alarm, fan etc etc)
And the piece de resistance ... a BMX "pit bike" ... one of the tiny little "clown bikes" that they have as feature races at some of the national meetings ... which, although it's a bit of a joke ... will actually help him with his balance and coordination :)
With the new racing gear he'll be getting shortly, we figure that's a pretty good haul for an eight year old.

Oh ... by the way ... I bought myself a mountain bike. As it appears we are going to be living and breathing BMX for the next few months (or should that be years ?) I figured that it would probably be a good thing if I could go for a ride with the MOTH and the rugrats when they head out to the park.

It's all a bit scary though. I think the last time I was on a bike I was about 12. I nearly ran over the man in the bike shop when I was trying it out for size :( So would not imagine I will be trying out any BMX tracks or challenging either K or the MOTH to a race in the immediate future ...

Inside the mind of a seven year old boy ...

K turns eight in eleven days (and counting !!). He's been working on a "birthday wish list" for several days now. The first four items ?

- Cell phone
- Digital video camera
- Stunt bike (because he isn't allowed to jump his racing bike)
- A dog

?!?!?!?!?!?!?

The rest of the list is a little more realistic (and I've left the spelling intact, for authenticity) ...

- Mega howla
- Somthing preshas
- Lego
- REMOTE controll car
- Surf Bord
- Big Bag of Junk food
- A new colla for the cat
- Pogo Stick (which was crossed off the list shortly after he fell off S's one before dinner)

I'd really like to know what happened to the little boy who was happy with new crayons and a Wiggles drink bottle ...

Coincidence ?

Email circulated around at work today :

"It has been noted that internet usage has doubled over the past four months"

I started here in mid June ...

Oh my goodness ...

The Otago rugby player across the road should really pull his curtains whilst getting changed ...

PS : he's a briefs boy, not boxers ...

Kaboom !!!

"So it's Guy Fawkes"
"Yeah, I know"
"So who's this Guy Fawkes guy then ?"
"Isn't he someone who blew something up ?"
"Why ?"
"Dunno"
"Where ?"
"Dunno"
"When ?"
"November 5th"
"No, no ... what year ?"
"Ages ago"
"So why does everyone let off fireworks on Guy Fawkes ?"
"To celebrate"
"To celebrate what ? Some guy blowing something up somewhere ages ago ?"
"Uhhh ... yeah"

There has been much public debate over recent years as the spate of fireworks related fires and explosions increases as to the benefits or otherwise of celebrating, and whether or not the sale of fireworks should be banned.

We buy fireworks every year. And no, grouchy-lady-at-work-whom-I-had-an-argument-with, I do not buy fireworks to give in to the pleadings of my children. I buy them because I like them. And we are responsible with them ... we don't throw them at people, we don't try to start fires with them, we don't blow up people's letter boxes. We make sure we have plenty of cold water on standby. And we are teaching our rugrats to be responsible and careful with them too ...

We go to public displays, and this year was no different. But it's for reasons of economics rather than safety. For $20 the whole family can sit on the grass in a field listening to a band, watching police dogs, fire dancers, helicopters ... eating hot dogs on a stick and hot chips and candy floss ... and watch a great show at the end of the night. The rugrats twirled and danced around in the dark waving sparklers and wearing glow in the dark mouse ears and glasses (you had to be there to understand) ...

More people are maimed and killed, more damage is done in monetary terms ... every single year by lunatics behind the wheel than by idiots using fireworks. And you don't see anyone suggesting that cars should be banned. Personally I don't think the sale of fireworks to the general public should be stopped ... but I do think that buying them should be a lot more difficult ...

Why I miss Whangarei (Part One)

My best friend's son ... born 23 October (one day shy of my birthday)

The little guy is going to be six months old the first time I get to meet him.