Amy's Hens Night

Well on the 11th October 2008 I went to the Hens Night of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Amy!

Just for a background, we have been really good friends since first meeting at Fremont High School, and along with Lisa, Lana and Tuti, is really the only ones from our year 12 gang that I really keep in contact with any more.

We have all seen each other go through the perils of puberty, moving out of home, adult hood, finding first loves and losing first loves, first cars, first homes, marriage, divorce, 18th 21st and now 30th birthdays (sorry girls), We have helped each other through loss of loved ones, and celebrations on other big achievements - I love my dear and wonderful friends and even though oceans and states or just Main North Road divide us all. I cherish every little bit of our friendships!

Ok now that a lump has welled in my throat and I am getting all mushy and emotional, ill go on to the lovely Amy. Even though it took moving to Melbourne to meet the dashing Bryan, she still remembered her routes and had her hens night with all of us lovely Adelaide girls!

Michelle who has been Amy's best friend since Kindergarten, had the job of arranging the hens night and finding things to do that Amy loves the most and of course picked a dancing theme. We all met at Bar Rouge on North Tce, and then was treated to an hour of lessons in Belly Dancing, Bollywood Dancing and Burlesque Dancing. We were given the belly dancing belts to wear, kicked off our shoes and went with it!

After the tiring escapades of dancing at Bar Rouge, we moved on to dinner at a lovely Indian Restaurant called 'Jasmins' on Hindmarsh Square. The food was lovely, but somethings were a little more spicy than expected and I was kicked a little by Baby Mc who did not agree with some of chilli's and Indian spices in the food!

After more food than anyone could bare was served, us lovely ex-Fremont girls headed off to a cocktail bar in Rundle Street.

The girls looked after me and made sure that Tuti and I who where the two pregnant chicks did not miss out on a cocktail and got the waiter to make us up a lovely 'Mocktail' which was fruity and much like a boost juice in a cocktail glass!

After much catch up, and comparing ourselves to the characters from 'Sex In the City' we went home to look forward to the next weekend which was the lovely Amy's big day!

A big congratulations my dear friend - enjoy all of the experiences that all of this brings for you!

xox

A New Baby Mc

Well I have been holding off on blogging about the pending arrival of the new baby Mc, just because it is still a concept that I have been getting used to myself and since it is completely impossible to hide the baby bump, I thought that it is now time to introduce one of the first photos of the next baby Mc!


Baby Mc is currently due to arrive into the world on the 9th January 2009, and will be our second child and a brother or sister to Harrison.

Sorry people no spoilers, because we do not know the sex of bubs, we just know that all scans so far show that it is healthy and growing at a normal rate. If you ask Harrison what I am having, he is adamant that he is having a brother, other people say the way I am carrying shows it is a girl, so if anyone wants to lay any bets, the odds are good at 50/50!

We have about 14 weeks now to get through, and to get organised. I finish work in the 1st week of December, so hopefully this baby does not do what Harrison did and arrive a month earlier than planned.

Watch this space for baby news as it happens!!!!

Harrison's Surgery - AGAIN!!!!

Ok yes, it Dejavu because it was only a year ago that I was writing about Harrison having the same surgery, but he has just yesterday had his second lot of grommets put in his ears.

The last lot came out about 6 months ago, and once again he has had ear infection after ear infection. Not a good thing for him or us because we have to deal with Mr Grumble Bum! Hopefully this second dose of surgery will be a bit of a relief for him.

This time round I did have my trusty camera phone handy and took a couple of 'before the surgery' shots.

And then the journey to theatre, started off fun, but I don't think Harrison was prepared for what was waiting for him at the other end.

Harrison was such a brave little man, he came out from surgery a bit groggy, but soon settled quickly and was asking for food, drink, toys, TV - yep didnt take him long to get back to his normal self!

Harry's 3rd Birthday

Well Just thought I had better do a quick post to reflect on my little monster turning 3 years old.

We decided that instead of a party this year, we would have a little family time to rest and de-stress and as a result on the morning of the big event, we were actually on a little get away in Port Vincent on the York Peninsula, so of course had to lug all of the presents with us.

For some reason we thought it was a marvellous idea to bring a 'Thomas The Tank' train set that when set up ended up taking control of the entire lounge room!

It is now a permanent fixture in our front lounge room, because it is too hard to pack up and set up all of the time. Harrison still plays with it daily so it has so far been good value!

On the lead up to Harrison's birthday, every time we talked about it, Harry mentioned that he wanted a 'Thomas The Tank' birthday cake and I being the always obliging mum, made an attempt and the final result did not look too bad!

I really have no idea where the last 3 years have gone, everyone said to me to enjoy the baby stage because it does not last long and they were right. Harrison is really now a little boy, and I look forward to experiencing with him all that being 3 years old brings (mind you attitude and his search for independence is already starting to age me beyond my time!).

Love you my 'baby' boy

xox

First semester of Uni is over and despite not having any time in my life for catching up with friends, family or updating blogs in past 4-5 months, I actually passed!

In the two subjects that I studied, I got a credit for Accounting and a P1 for Management, so I guess all of the isolation has payed off!

My next subjects start this week so I guess that the cycle starts again, but at least now Uni life is not foreign to me and I now have some idea on what I can do to study effectively, and hopefully manage my non existent social life as well.

My apologies to all my family and friends for being absent, I hope you all understand and will forgive me - I will make an effort to catch up with everyone over the next few weeks before I get into the serious study again.

Laura
xox

Harry has been published!!!!!

Well even though his name does not appear in the article, my little Mr Harrison has had his photo published in the Australian wide magazine 'Take 5'.

My friend Sharon has been doing a weekly article on how to save some cash with a big family, and well for her daughters 2nd birthday she was able to do a birthday party for under $50.00 and as a result with Harry at the party, he got his photo taken and he is now an instant celebrity - well at least in my eyes!

I know that the scanned copy is not real easy to read but here is a close up of Harrison:

I am very happy that I kept my face out of the photo, and I am very happy that Harrison made the article instead!!!!

Powderfinger at the Clipsal 500

I am the first to admit I am not a car racing kind of person, but I absolutely love how Adelaide comes alive in February and March with all the festivals and motor sports!

I went to the Clipsal 500 on Friday 22 February 08 not to see the V8 engines go racing around the streets of my beautiful city, but to see Powderfinger, Expatriate and Kiss Chasey live in the after concert!

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I went with my friend Leanne for a bit of a kid free evening, and ended up enjoying it even more by running into my lovely old friend Lana.

We all had a great time, all of the bands were great - and Powderfinger were fantastic! Apart from some rain during the show (which always ironically happens when people are out in it and don't want it - yet we all beg for it the rest of the time!)

I would love to know what the actual crowd numbers were from the night - I was up the front but it seemed and sounded like there were thousands of people there!!!

Oh yeah - thanks to mum for scoring the tickets for me!!!! xox

Lisa - sorry about the confusing sms, i tried to send you a clip from the night but it obviously did not get through!!!!!

My Nan - The anniversary I wish I didnt have!

Well how do you put into words a year of grief, especially when it is the 1st anniversary of the death of someone that you loved so much.

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I didn't want to put a memorial advert in the paper because I find that tacky so this is my personal memorial to my nan - and hey she would have told me off for wasting money on the Advertiser, and she would have been amazed that she had made it into the world of cyber space!!!
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This is my nan taken about 6 weeks before her death, I always told everyone that for a lady of 82 years she lived independent and was so proud of herself for doing so. If it was not for the factor of the big 'C' I think she might have lived to 100 with all her senses!

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I am lucky to have so many wonderful memories of nan, school holidays and waking up with cinnamon toast then a trip to town for the movies - some times two! She would make me dinner every time I had a shift at the Entertainment Centre which was often followed by a game of 'Skipbo'. Nan was the queen of the Country shows that she attended, where she floated round the building as if she owned Nashville!
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I am grateful that I was able to always share a very special bond with nan, she looked after me and kept me sane - she was always there for a cup of tea if you needed one.

If anyone spoke to nan one of her proudest achievements was that she was able to say that she was a great grand mother to so many children. I am so happy to have been able to add to that tally and I can say that it makes me so happy that she adored Harrison so much.
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Harry when you are old enough to read this blog, you may not remember your great grandma, but know that she loved you so much and you gave her so much joy every time we bought you round to visit!

They say it gets easier to deal with the grief of loosing someone that you loved so dearly, but too be honest I don't want it to get easier. Yes I get sad, and have a cry, but then the grief helps me to remember the good times, the laughs, and every precious moment that we shared that I will always hold dear to my heart.

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I have sent through a donation to the Mary Potter Hospice on behalf of my family, which I will continue to do so every year for nan - The wonderful staff and volunteers at Mary Potter gave my nan the dignity to die as someone more than just an elderly cancer patient, but to go as "Joyce Anderson - Mother, Nana, Great Grandma and Friend"
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'Joyce Anderson'

Nan & Great Grandma

Rest in Peace

3/3/1924 - 30/1/2007

Aged 82 Years

A Mad Hatters Story

Now to tell the tale of wonderful lady who had the dilemma of sometimes wearing too many hats.

Well to start with the story of this woman is metaphorical, in the sense where it would be nice to say she owned lots of actual hats and enjoyed over accessorising, but the ‘hats’ in this story actually has a meaning of lots on the agenda!!

For the sense of the story we shall name this lovely lady “Laura”. (purely fictional name, and taken from the song “Laura” by the Scissor Sisters)

Laura’s first hat which is probably the largest hat on the hat rack, carries the responsibility of being the 'mum' hat – yes Laura deals with the trials and tribulations of two year old tantrums, of kissing away the pain from squished fingers, mending broken toys, giving cuddles to help forget sickness, the mediator between other children that dare to touch the sacred toys, interpreter to others as only the owner of the mum hat can understand 2 year old jargon.
When Laura decided to purchase the mum hat, being the bargain hunter that she is, she received a special deal of ‘buy one big hat, and you get a bag full of smaller hats for free’, some of these freebee hats included: Cook, Childcare Worker, Cleaner, First Aid Officer, Mediator, Swimming Instructor, Artist, Storybook Reader, Entertainer, Chauffeur, Toy Inspector, Interior Decorator, Clothing Designer and many more.

Laura’s other big hat on the rack is the 'Wife' hat, while not quite as challenging as the mum hat, owning this hat comes with many responsibilities, this is the Auditor, the Housekeeper, the friend, the decision maker, the Budgeter, the Cook, The Secretary, The worrier and many more too numerous to mention.

Further down the hat rack Laura has two work hats, one she wears to be paid to work at concerts and to show people to their seats, (by choice Laura would love to wear this hat on a more regular basis but unfortunately this hat does not pay the bills as well as her other work hat). The other work hat involves more complicated matters such as Auditing, Maths, computing and dealing with clients that would generally prefer not to hear from poor Laura at all. This work hat has both advantages and disadvantages, but on the plus side she gets to also wear her friend hat on a regular basis because the people she works with make the days worthwhile.

Next hat is the family member hat – while Laura loves to wear this hat, unfortunately sometimes this hat has a hidden agenda of mediator, referee, and problems solver, or could be summarised as the matador between two raging bulls. This hat can sometimes be a stressful one to wear, but one Laura loves to wear regardless.

The friend hat is a good one to wear, this hat allows Laura to go out and socialise, have fun, and helps brings Laura back to earth when all the other hats start weighing her down. Laura’s friend hat does give her some worry when other associates wearing their own friend hats are hurting or sad, but thankfully Laura’s hat also allows for a shoulder to cry when needed - Wearing the friend hat is a special privilege – one she wears with pride.

Recently Laura just purchased a new hat that she will also have to wear at the same time as all the other hats. This hat is titled the University Student. Laura has not worn this new hat yet, and frankly makes her a little terrified at what the future will bring and if she will be able to walk around balancing all the hats at once. It does however give Laura the confidence of wanting to achieve more for herself than what she had previously thought possible.

While the balancing act of wearing all these hats at the same time might be a struggle, Laura is the type of person who will work it through with lots of determination.

When all the other hats are off, Laura wears the ‘I am an individual hat’ this hat makes Laura the person that she is – and love her or hate her she is achieving everything that she has wanted to do with her self with very little regrets.

Maybe one day this lovely lady will stop wearing so many hats and slow down a little but that may make life a little boring.

The end

(well for now anyway)

This fictional story was written by one mad hatter who actually had a little spare time to be mildly creative.

A Christmas 2007 and New Year 2008 Summary!

Well it is a few days past New Years 2008 and Christmas 2007, but I thought I would do a bit of a wrap up on what we have been up to!

Christmas was great in that it was the first year that Harrison has really been excited about seeing Christmas lights and decorations, and was curious as to what 'Santa' was all about.

We spent Christmas Eve with Amanda, Tre and Mum and had a lovely Turkey salad for dinner. Amanda was working Christmas day which meant we would not be able to catch up - The joys of being a Nurse.

Christmas morning we were up at about 6:30am (unfortunately there is nothing unusual about that) and we all ventured into the lounge room to see what goodies Santa brought. Of course Harrison ripped into his presents as soon as he saw all the millions under the tree. I filmed him opening his pressies, and it honestly took about an hour to get through them all - he would open one then want to play with that before moving on to the next one.

His main present came from Santa being a huge sand pit arriving in the back yard - those reindeer's must have been relieved to get rid of that heavy load from their sleigh!

Christmas morning here in South Australia was actually quite cool so we didn't get a chance to spend too much time building sand castles - but plenty of time to play with the cars, trucks, Thomas the Tank and all the other bits and pieces he got!

Then we had a visits from the grandparents (Granddad, Nana Karen and Nana) and once again more presents arrived! My boy was very spoilt.

For lunch we went to Grahams Parents (Nan and Pops house) and we had a lovely Barbecue with lovely Scotch Fillet Steak and Chicken, with some lovely salads, the food was lovely but of course we all ate way too much. More grandparents meant more presents for Harrison so he had the present unwrapping down packed by this stage.

After an afternoon nap (I think for all of us) we then went and spent a bit of time with Rachel, Michael and the Kids! We went home exhausted and kind of glad it was over!

Boxing day was spent down south with a visit to my dads house for a few hours and then after to a friends from work for a swim in their pool.

Well for New Years the temperatures here in Adelaide soared, we hit I think 43 degrees (Celsius) and we were all sweltering!

We did however manage to leave the house in the evening to go to Elder Park for a family fire works show held at 9pm. This was Harrison's first experience of fireworks and he loved them, I was a bit worried that it might hurt his ears especially since sounds are a bit more sensitive to him, but he was in awe of it all.

We then got home and met up with our friends Rachel and Michael, put Harrison to bed and had just a few beverages of the alcoholic nature to see 2008 in!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008 TO ALL OF OUR FRIENDS

Christmas Photo 2007

Well who ever said you need to go to the Magic Cave to get a good photo of your child with Santa??

After the Wiggles concert I ventured into the city with Harrison in the hope to let him see the wonders of the Magic Cave in David Jones - well what a joke that idea was! I take my hat off to those parents who choose to brave the trials and tribulations on what can only be the craziest place on earth! Hundreds of children lining up for about two hours to have their short time with Santa - Well we went, saw the Que, turned around and went and saw Santa in the Harris Scarf department store and had this lovely photo taken instead!

I love this photo - it is so natural and one of the better ones we have managed to get in awhile!

Christmas this year is so exciting now that Harrison kind of has an idea what it is! 8 more sleeps till the big day, then it is all over and we will all be saving for it again next year!

Get Ready to Wiggle!!!!!!

Well what an adventure it is when you spend your Sunday morning in the company of a very excited 2 year old and his idols the 'Wiggles'.

Yes today Harrison and I ventured to the Entertainment Centre to see the Wiggles perform their Christmas 'Pop Goes The Wiggles' concert.

The concert started at 10am, which was a perfect time considering my little Mr Magoo (AKA Harrison) still has a lovely huge sleep in the afternoon (allelulah for the afternoon nap!).

As you can see from the following photos we had some wicked seats - we were in the 'Hot Potato' section not far from the stage. It is kind of my motto for shows that unless we get good seats I don't even bother! Here are a few highlights from the show:

This is Anthony Wiggles being distinguished gentleman in an English garden

mu mu music with Murray

Ballet with Dorothy - oh poor Dorothy sorry we forgot to bring some roses!!!

Quack Quack Quack Quack - Cocka Doodle Doo - Yes it is Captain Feathersword

Hi there it is the new Wiggle "Sam"

And what is a Christmas show without the big man in red? Don't you just love the reindeer costumes!!

And finally 'Toot toot chugga chugga big red car' with Jeff asleep in the rear!

And when you are all wiggled out and just can not take it anymore what do you do - you lay on the lovely filthy floor of the Entertainment Centre for a snooze - got to love my sweet little boy!!

(Don't worry he was only there for a few seconds, I am not that bad a mum!)

Naomi and Ryans Wedding - 30/11/2007

On the weekend I got the privilege of attending the wedding of my cousin Naomi and her partner Ryan in Melbourne.

It was a wonderful ceremony and reception and they both looked so happy. Naomi who took a striking resemblance to Kylie Minogue on the day, looked stunning and surprisingly relaxed!!!

Congratulations guys - may your lives together be long, happy and full of daily surprises!
xox