My Mum.

My mum some times takes me to school
My mum she's pretty cool
She comforts me when I am sad
She keeps pretty calm when I am mad

She lets me do all kinds of stuff
even when I've had enough
She cooks us dinner every night
but sends us to our rooms when we have a fight

She may get angry a lot
but let's not lose the poem plot
She makes our lunch every morning
when she is a bit grumpy and yawning

On ebay she sells all my things
In return we find her keys, wallet and wedding rings
She tucks me in every night
She even leaves on the bedroom light

My Mum never gives me a smack
I love her to the moon and back

Angus Rea
Date unknown approx 2009

High on Life

Haven't blogged for the longest time. Life has been moving along. Kids are all going and growning. Life is Tassie is bliss... esp on a sunny day. We are mostly high on life... prolly addicted to adrenalin.

There is a special place in heaven for Lego builders...

I don't remember my big boys being into Lego as much as Wilson is... I often find his little men posed in precarious scripted scenes around the house. It may be an obsession. His walls are framed with Lego posters, the shelves (in his bedroom and downstairs) are full of his creations and not a day passes without someone in the family suffering a Lego injury. I am pretty sure there is someone at the dump who filters my vacuum cleaner bags and makes a living selling our Lego loss on eBay.

Of course this Christmas it was nothing out of the ordinary for Wilson to have Lego at the top of his list... (actually, there was nothing else on his list). Wilson is always very keen to open ALL the Lego bags, laying them ALL over his floor in order to start work immediately. With some of the big Lego enterprises Wilson usually needs some help. The problem is, if help is not sought early a mistake in the building will have compounded, and a LOT of time can be spent searching and correcting the error and rebuilding. This year to prevent frustration we worked with Wil early in the piece (so to speak).

Adam doesn't do Lego... so the job is usually divided between Angus and myself. This year we had our lovely visitor Nadine to assist. Wilson could not believe his luck, all these attentive Lego building assistants willing to walk him through the creation, collecting pieces and providing encouragement. Angus and I having been through this soooo many times before and we both skived off for a while and left Nadine with Wilson to continue with the project.

I came back an hour later and could hear the strain in Nadine's voice... the quality time, the novelty of it had worn off. I understood... Anyways, we got to a point where we could have a break from it and two weeks later nothing more has been done. Nadine has taken off touring around the island, I have been studying and Wilson has had enough play dates that he has not been pressing to get the Lego project finished... until yesterday... he asked me to work on it again with him...

Wilson grew very fond of Nadine while she was here. It may be due to the fact she played charades, jumped on the trampoline or because she gave him chocolate for Christmas, however I suspect it had a lot to do with her Lego building tenacity. He has been missing Nads and asks every day when she will return. Comments like, 'She's got our car, she will be coming back won't she?', 'I want Nadine to be my Aunty' and this morning, 'I want Nadine to come back, can you get me cornflakes'.

In order to allow Nadine to foster the relationship with her newest fan, I told Wilson that Nadine had asked me NOT to help him build the Lego. I was sure that Nadine had told me she wanted him to save it for next week, when I will be at the hospital and she will be back home with us looking for things to do.... I think there is a special place in heaven for Lego builders... To close the deal all I need to do now is let Nadine know that Wilson didn't want my building help, he wanted to wait for her to come back!

dear diary...

the news here,

today I went to the dressmaker to have my dress fitted... it is beautiful, I can not wait to wear it.

ethan is taking full advantage of his parents being out for NYE, he has a few mates coming over... this afternoon I took him to the supermarket to run in and get milk. he went in with my debit card, half an hour later he came out with all he needed for his 'get together', I didn't realise I was funding the whole shindig.

had dinner and checked out a movie with my girlfriends tonight.... scored tickets to the Taste for NYE...(thanks Maryanne and Adam).

have been working a few shifts out at the aged care place, had a slow dance with a very distinguished resident last night. made my evening.

oh, the highlight for me today was taking full advantage of the beautiful weather and sunbaking in the backyard. I got into my togs and lay out in the yard, read some uni articles... I did get a bit of colour, just not evenly distributed colour, I now have a bum shadow...

definition of bum shadow: MOTIVATION to STOP eating chocolate. (I just googled bum shadow images... there is nothing there that really depicts my experience).

ps... nadine, come back.



kind of what my dress looks like. don't think I'll look this cute wearing it, but I sure will feel it!

School girl antics...

For the last twenty years my friend Nadine has been travelling the planet, working overseas, growing dreadlocks and having adventures... she claims that she is getting tired and too old for the travel nowadays and the flight down to Tassie was a 'little too long'. Her life is now as a teacher in Mount Perry QLD, making a difference in the lives of the children at the local primary school.... (if she's not making a difference she's at least making them laugh).

Yesterday Nadine and I had spent the day at Mona, Cadbury and then the Shot Tower. We just happened to be visiting the tower during a massive downpour. Rain is my favourite weather but the walk up the 259 stairs was not something Nadine was keen on, the rain making the hike seem more foreboding.

The fear and anxiety in Nadine's voice took me back to those school days where I (and usually Carley Rogers) would be gently forcing Nadine to do something she was petrified of doing. I felt the same little bit of evil pleasure I have always done, watching this very capable woman crumble in fear.... the memories made me smile... yes, there is a little twisted side to my personality.

Every step of the way Nadine was holding onto the rail for dear life, chanting 'Oh my God, Oh my God'... I laughingly reassured her that the chances of her falling through more than one stair rung was slight and in that case the worst thing that would happen was her landing a level below... Nadine took no delight in my reassurance and said, 'It's alright for you, you've got God!!'... we couldn't stop laughing. I said to Nadine, 'Okay, well I've got my God and you've got me... so instead of saying 'Oh my God', you can cry 'Oh Fiona' then God and I will have it sorted'...

We giggled our way to the top of the tower to find unsurprisingly no view due to cloud cover... Nads took a few picks to prove she had conquered the Tower and we headed back down.

It has been so great to forget about the stress of uni and just have fun with a childhood friend. Other highlights this weekend were Cargo, Salamanca Market, Party at Fern Tree and Goyte in the Botanical Gardens....
I am looking forward to tonight's Ghost tour at Port Arthur.... Nadine is going to be real easy to scare!

Merry Christmas 2011

I have been lucky enough to receive a few of those Christmas letters in the last couple of weeks. I am always so grateful for the time people put into writing them and love how I am able to keep up with the comings and goings of my friends who are not close by. I have not written one of those for a few years and today because I am feeling a little floaty, I thought I would share some of our secrets...

Today I realised that I only have two days, three weeks, one Viva and two essays due before I finish my studies.... This sounds a little selfish to start with ME, however what I have been doing has taken its toll on the whole family for the last couple of years and collectively we are excited that it will soon come to an end.




When I was first accepted into the course, Adam and I talked about how our roles would change for a season. The discussion quickly focused on the families nutritional requirements, I had been responsible for this in the past and was quite happy to hand that job over to Adam, with some advice that sounded like, 'Hot chips are never the answer'...

Well, yesterday while I was in my local fish and chip store, those words echoed in my mind and I was reminded of just how far we have fallen!

From the mouths of big kids...

'Mum, I was just thinking the other day that you will probably never make my lunch again'

'I'm sick of this study, you're never here to take me places when I need a ride'

Dad joking around with the kids while folding washing one day says, 'This is Mums job, we want our Mum back'... Big child replies, 'She is never coming back now'.

"Wow, you cooked dinner?'

From the mouths of babes...

Nina has been a little harsh with me at times, comparing me to the Mums at school who are crafty, available for parent help and walk their kids to school... I think we need to move to a different suburb, a change in demographics will fix that! Seriously though, she has been amazing. She supports Wilson with his school responsibilities, homework and general care. As I posted on facebook this afternoon, she is so capable... strongwilled too, Adam won't take the credit for that trait.

My baby is the most forgiving, he thinks I am wonderful, smart, beautiful and as long as I give him everything his little heart desires we are the perfect partnership, mother and son.

From the mouth of my burdened husband... 'Things can only get better!'

Adam and I reminisce about the days when there was time to take an evening walk together. I got lucky when I married my man!

We have had some wonderful highlights too. Many visitors coming down from the mainland to share time with us and nurture friendships. We were especially happy to have the Brown family down from Brisbane for a week over Easter this year. Twelve people in the house for a week, was WONDERFUL! It was so great to spend time with these old friends and catch up were we left off. The kids had a blast, we did road trips, fished, toured, ate too much and laughed non stop. It was great!

Other special visitors have included Bruce and Anastasia, who love Tassie as much as we do. The kids are always SOOOOOO excited to see Uncle Bruce and Anastasia and we keep wishing they would move down. Every so often they tease us and tell us they are thinking about it. It would be so wonderful to have family close by.

Rebekah Seeman, flew down to spend a day with me. Rebekah is an Angel on earth, I love how we connect and I'm always happy to spend time with her.

Nana also came down (her first visit in three years). The whole family loved having her here, someone to provide cuddles, taxiing service, costume making, after school treats and lots of love. She is everything a Nana should be!

The kids are all doing well in their individual endeavours. I am excited most when I see them engaged in their pursuits with a look of determination in their eyes. These pursuits differ for each child.

Ethan has just finished year eleven, we are waiting for his results...



He has enjoyed the freedom of College and has done a good job organising himself to do all he needs to do... Seminary, school work, part time job, youth group, socialising, Call of Duty computer gaming, Facebook, skateboarding, bike riding, sleeping in, helping out around home and working with Dad. It really is a lot for a kid to do. He is now six foot four and makes Adam and I look like mini people. He is a pretty cool cat, nothing much ruffles his feathers if he has had enough sleep.

Angus is my contemplative child...


he is a deep thinker and has life planned out for the next twenty years. I'll leave it to him to share those details, yet it is enough to say that those who plan succeed. Angus is the perfect mix, a golden child who is rough around the edges. Under his prickly, grumpy and sometimes rude exterior is a boy who still likes get a cuddle from Mum and doesn't cringe when I rub his back. He does well at school but doesn't suck up, he hangs with the cool kids yet the teachers praise him. When he was a baby he had a blessing from Dad that said, 'Angus will make and keep friends'. He is a loyal, family centred boy.

Nina Jean is about to enter puberty...


I'll tell you how I know... it has something to do with the eye rolls, the slamming doors and the high pitched wail that comes with trying to get her brothers into trouble. I contemplate how my parenting is going to be stretched over the next few years with this wonderful ball of spunk and Adam advises me that I should treat her like he treats me... hmmm. I need to think about that. Seriously though, she was born knowing, discerning, capable and humbly confident. She has a talent to care for people and loves her social life. Nina has been busy with art classes this year and will continue next, adding to her after school activities a drama class. We're glad to have our girl.

Wilson Kelly...
Really I should stop there because the name says it all, or I cold have called him Stitch. He reminds me of the random little creature from the movie, 'Lilo and Stitch'. Our lives would be so dull without this boy. He is a teenager in a seven year old body. Recently Adam was asking Wilson to sit up for dinner, as Wilson somersaulted over the leather lounge, he called out 'I wasn't born for sitting still, I was born for freedom!'. Wilson appears brave, tough and indestructible, for the most part he is, yet there is a softness that shines through and we are so thankful to see it.

He gets that softness from his Dad. Adam has been stretched beyond belief this year. He continues to work hard building properties to sell and enjoys working on Sunny days the most! Adam is looking forward to my finishing school, we have recently reduced our financial commitments in Tasmania and look forward to a little freedom. Adam is planning to work on the mainland for the winter next year, just to capture the sun. He is such a great Dad, we love his laugh, his youthful attitude and his fortitude. I've said it before, but I will say it again, he rocks my socks!

I really can not think of anything else to share. Our lives are full, happy, blessed and we are tested like most. All these things seem to be part of the deal. Tasmania is such a beautiful place, we have surrounded ourselves with people in the community that we call family, for now Hobart is home.... (Please come down and visit while we are still here!!!)

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2012.

Interesting Link.

here...

Stories

I am on my placement at the moment, enjoying putting into practice my uni learning. I love listening to the stories that patients share. I especially like talking to people who are in the later half of their life, their reflections are something I find fascinating.

I have a few standard questions, I just wanted to share some of my favourite answers...

Do you have any regrets?

A man shared that after divorcing his wife of fifty years, regretted was that he did not cherish her and put his career pursuits before his relationship.
A man who has had his ability to travel taken from him by ill health, regretted that he did not have more adventures.
A woman who had lived with an abusive husband regretted not leaving him.

What is the secret to a long marriage?

Luck.
Putting up with each other.
Doing the right thing.
Falling in love again and again.

my favourite so far,

'This too will pass'


Cool job huh.

Ethan

Ethan had an epiphany this morning...
'When do you finish uni Mum?'
'February, why?'
'I was just wondering if you will ever make my lunch again, it probably isn't going to happen is it?'
Growing up is tough.

Wilson

Driving in the car...Wilson says "Mum, I've decided what I want to be when I grow up'... (his last career aim was to work at Dominos, like Ethan)...'I think I will be a pirate, because Jack Sparrow probably has everyday clothes'...

The sun was shining on me today... Life is good.

This is one of those feel good posts. I have been having up and down days the last two weeks, mainly the regular humdrum of my life, add a bit of spice.

The sun was shining today and after yesterdays pit of emotional choc mint ice cream and nutella dulldrum, I was suddenly aware of all the great things I have going on in my life... comprising mainly of people. I have always been a great believer that friends are forever. My mother would tell me that people come and go and I have always tried to prove her somewhat incorrect by 'collecting' people that warm my heart. I endeavour to stay in contact and care for those close and dear to me.

So this post is a post of thanks... a thank you to those I love who enrich my life with their spunk, openness, dedication, humour, angelicness, free spiritedness, adventure seeking nature, cheek, sass and love. I was especially appreciative today.

If you don't love Lego, you don't love life.

My baby turned seven today... SO EXCITING! He is looking forward to his birthday party tomorrow.

job list...

pick up cake
charge camera batteries
advise the party place of numbers

Think I should have remembered to purchase wrapping paper too... the newspaper at the bottom of the pic is another present... that is called sustainability!

We love you Wilson.

Eat your greens.

I can still hear those words echoing... my mother, telling my brother to eat his greens. Craig was such a stubborn kid, he would fall asleep at the table instead of eating his green vegetables.

Adam has been doing most of the cooking this year, he takes turns with Dominos. Last week while I was on prac, I felt a pang of guilt about the diet we are currently consuming. I popped into Woolworth and at that same moment my guilt started feeling a little exhausted itself. I decided on spaghetti bolognese. Easy spaghetti bolognese.... the bottled sauce, mince and pasta type. On the way to the check out with my dinner option, I realised I had no vegetables... spinach!! Easy.

I had a few errands to run on the way home and by this stage the bottled sauce spaghetti option was starting to sound like hard work. I decided to make it easier. I have always been the type of person to wonder, if a recipie needs twenty minutes to simmer, why not boil it in five? So the approach I took really was quite practical and appropriate given my recent kitchen history.

The blender is my favourite kitchen appliance. I have been known to blend a chicken roast, vegetable and gravy dinner for the sake of getting a child to eat it. So it seemed a sensible idea to throw the spinach in the blender with the bottled pasta sauce. When the spinach filled the whole canister and I needed to add water to get the sauce and spinach to mix, I realised I had overstepped the mark of what could be considered an appropriate amount of spinach to disguise in the sauce...

What I think I did successfully achieve, was a fifteen minute surprise meal. A surprise because we did not really know what it was anymore, surprising that it actually turned out looking so gruesome, and by far the greatest surprise was that it didn't taste too bad and the kids ate it. Really just needed enough cheese to hide the colour... viola!

I had a picture of the meal on facebook and made the comment to a friend that if I was being graded on my cooking my report card would read like the one my least favourite teacher, Mr Kenovan, wrote in primary school... 'Fiona has potential beyond the results she is currently achieving, yet... she continues to display a 'careless' attitude!'

I would not really say I have never been a cook, I remember at one stage in early married family life, I bottled sauce, made jam and home made bread... I catered my twenty first birthday party... I can even make a mean baked cheesecake. I would say however, that at the moment my attitude is careless, not really only towards cooking but I would also add to the list... housework, bookwork, ironing and really anything that can wait until next February.

I prefer to think of myself as easygoing, not necessarily careless... seems that's the way we are rolling and to some degree surviving... so I think we will stick with this method with the expectation that things will get better, until then, one word... BLENDER!

Paris

Angus arrived home yesterday, spending the last two weeks in France. He is a kind hearted boy and had purchased gifts for all family members. He presented me with my gifts, a tea towel and a crystal ornament of the Eiffel tower. As he walked away he chuckled to himself and said 'I was going to buy you a chef's hat Mum, I thought that would have been a good joke'... I agree, it would have been.

Since Mum started University...

I came home from work this afternoon. Nina presented me with a pie chart that she had created on the computer. I can not get it to copy to blogger... here are the percentages...

Going to university - 75%
Helping the kids - 5%
Having fun - 10%
Sleeping - 4%
Cleaning - 1%
Studying - 5%

We are certainly missing a balanced life!!

Annie Lennox - Keep Young & Beautiful

A 'beautiful' example of social consciousness.

Another one of those days...

I have mentioned previously how impressive the view is from my home. I have not however, shared that I often enjoy this view while sitting out the front of the house in my parked car.

Talking to my mother the other night about the strains of a large family, I asked her how she coped.... She told me that she really didn't think she coped, she survived. That was interesting because as the oldest child, that seemed to be my interpretation of her performance too (I say that with love Mum).

I am having one of those survival days, going to bed late last night didn't help.

Today my well intentioned plans of productivity just went out the door. In my mind I have been going over the events that transpired, there is no moment I could pinpoint and say, that's when it all started going to crap...it just unraveled that way.

I won't go into the details of my days demise, yet I will share that I have now been sitting in my car for an hour...the view is amazing and I almost feel ready to go inside to see this evening out...wish me warmth and luck...tomorrow is a new day!

Do I need a plan?

Just wondering about this forty something crisis that people go through...I thought by the time I was my age I would know what I wanted from life...

I finish my study in January and I had anticipated by this stage in my degree I would have a clue of what type of nursing I wanted to venture into... nope... My favourite placement was probably mental health, tragic yet hilarious... I imagine too that I would enjoy midwifery, seems birthing was one of my personal talents, I'm sure I would enjoy witnessing new life emerge on a daily basis... Having the opportunity to care for a patient as they depart this life, is also a blessed experience... however, I still don't know what I want to do with this new knowledge...

I think about my family living in Tasmania, how did that happen? I was just watching Sixty minutes one night in QLD and something came on about Tasmania... Seemed like a good idea, suggested it to Adam... purchased a house over the phone within the week and made plans to move... without ever visiting the place... who does that, and I really do wonder why?

Married at eighteen? Seriously, if my Ethan came home and told me he was getting married, I am sorry I would have him on a plane North... somewhere, anywhere. I will admit, marrying my wonderful husband was a saving grace for me, he is my anchor, but I do wonder what my parents were thinking.

Then children... we have four... not really planned that way, we never thought we should not have too many children, we might not be able to afford them, might be too difficult, we should wait until we pay the house off... yada yada. We just did it and I do love them, although I have been known to hide under the stairwell, or lock myself in my bedroom to get a break.

The businesses we have owned... Adam and I were sitting in Cold Rock in Brisbane and watching people line up for this ice cream sensation and thought we could do that... we just decided on the spot and opened a store a few months later. Sold our home to finance it.

I was a customer at the local organic store here in Hobart, the guy who worked there told me the shop was closing if no one purchased it by the end of the week... so I did, I purchased it and was running the store by the Friday of that week... We were in the middle of renovating a house and I was breastfeeding a baby... why?

It seems that is the way I like to live and I think secretly Adam enjoys the spontaneity of it too... just decide on something and go for it. Turns out, things have worked well enough living like this... I do wonder however, what would be different if we had a plan?

This coming up to forty in a few years is making me feel like I need one...

I'm planning a few things...

- being happy
- giving love
- feeling free
- wondering more

... and I am looking forward to seeing what opportunities strike our fancy in the future... I just wish they would hurry up already!

Who knows...

My kids know everything... I am not quite sure when that happened... the older I get the less I feel I know. The older they get, the more they know. Kinda drives me nuts.
I can't tell Ethan when he does something wrong while driving... he already knows...
Nina does not need to be told that she needs to feed the rabbit or get ready for school... she already knows... actually, she knows with an eye roll.
Angus doesn't need to know that he needs to do his piano practice... he already knows.
Wilson knows too... he knows he has me wrapped around his little finger!

Lines of time

This photo was taken in a Southern Oregon Coastal town. It one of my favourite pictures of the trip. We are both getting older. I love looking at peoples faces. I would like to read this book at the moment...about face reading, it looks interesting... I'll add it to the growing pile next to my bed... the 'when uni finishes' pile:)