My name is Elizabeth and I make small boys cry

Okay I have had some days lately that are pure crazytown. One day involved two little flower girl dresses, panic buying in Myers Children Wear and me realising just how easily I could be a bridezilla.
Without going into it too much (cos it boring) the shop that my sister in law to be ordered and paid for flower girl dresses went under last month without her getting any flower girls dresses. In the end we did get the dresses without too much fuss (just lots of phone calls directly to the dress manufacturer ) and Krys didn't lose her dosh so alls well that ends well. The reason I'm telling this story is that on that Friday (what now will be known ever more as The Crazytown flower girl dress Day) Cath and I were killing time at Myer Children's Wear waiting for the stupid flower girl dress shop owner to call us. We were a bit stressed out. So stressed out that I bought Lulu a dress... I haven't bought my kids clothes since before Christmas and we are about to go to a country where cheap children's clothes are plentiful and the last time I bought Lulu clothes words like "I hate that" "Its so ugly " and "Please never buy me clothes again" were muttered.
Buying the dress was the equivalent of breathing into a brown paper bag... It calmed me down and took my mind off the out of control stress and stupidity that was occurring that day.
Its a given the dress didn't fit. Lulu sort of liked it but we had to go back and get the right size (and by going back and getting the right size I mean Lulu was hoping she could swap the pretty dress for skinny black jeans or something equally vile).
So of course there isn't Lulu's size in the dresses so she gets a bunch of other stuff to try on. We go into the children's dressing rooms and Lulu starts to get undressed. Then out of nowhere a hand comes under the partition and grabs my leg... hard. I yelled out a rude word which fortunately wasn't the f bomb and looked down to see a little boy of about 6 holding onto my leg (I could only see his head and arm mind you). I'm not really proud of what happened next ... I screamed at him "ARE YOU RIGHT!!!!" He of course was mortified and said "umm yes" and let go of my leg. His Mum comes running back to the dressing rooms and I open our door and say something like "sorry he grabbed my leg I think he thought I was you I'm sorry I swore I'm sorry I am even here". The little boy is crying by this time... so I feel like a real winner. (Especially because Bear use to do this sort of stuff as well... until me and Dave and the rest of society repeatedly told him to "Stop being Silly" :-( ...) So yeah like I said Crazytown: where you make small children cry and panic buy unneeded clothes for your kids -
Population : Me.

The Birthday Extravaganza Weekend

In order to get over being sad about my little Bro and my Bro in law having to go home I thought I'd recap the weekend that was.

One of the best things about my birthday was my brother Joel wrangling a work trip to coincide with a weekend with us! It was a fantastic surprise sort of... David actually had to tell me Joel was coming because I had organised for both Dave and I to volunteer at a school event ALL DAY Saturday so it was either tell me and spoil the "SURPRISE" or not tell me and watch the day go pear shape. I love this pic it sums up how Bear feels about his Uncle;-)

We had breaky at our place on Saturday morning and tried to get a decent shot of the fam (failed obviously).

Then I did some of my favourite things: watched other people work and read the paper.

We had a party that night and this is Cath and I doing what looks like an awesome rendition of "All the single ladies".

My niece DJ made my birthday cake and it was gorgeous... it had chocolate and cream and chocolate and strawberries and ... chocolate.

This is Lulu taking a spin (literally) in the dance floor assisted by Uncle Andrew.

Now this really was a "surprise". At about 4pm Sat afternoon we all decided to go for a walk around Cath's neighbourhood so we go outside only to be met by my Brother In Law Andrew coming down the drive. He had flown in from Far North Queensland where he works... for the weekend!!! He knows where the good parties are at ;-)

We did this for about the next 5 hours...

Until Cath and I decided that singing slow Powderfinger and John Denver songs REALLY loudly in Joel's ears was a great way to pass the time. Poor Joel.

Sunday saw us at the beach for a restorative cup of coffee and some sun sand and surf views. Bear of course was the only one crazy enough to go in the (freezing) water.

Sunday night was spent doing complicated maths homework... thank goodness for Uncle Joel as if it was left up to Dave and I to help Bear ... we all might still be doing it.

These gorgeous people made my weekend rock they cooked, cleaned, shopped, travelled, and danced I love them all and cant thank them enough :-)

I feel old and tired and I want to cry

If that is not the sign of a great Birthday weekend I don't know what is.




Of course I will be making your eyes bleed with a full recap of my birthday weekend (including the part where my baby brother and my brother in law surprised me by flying in for the weekend).
But for now I just wanted to say thank you so much for all my happy birthday wishes and comments. I loved them all and if you have read them you will know why I keep crying!!!(thanks Dad).
Ex

38 Opinions, Facts and Reasons to Celebrate

"Hippo Birdies Two Ewes Hippo Birdies Two Ewes".... its my Happy Birthday this weekend... so what better way for me to celebrate than yakking on for 38 dot points about Me Me Me.

1. I love International Roast Instant Coffee . I drink one a day first thing in the morning and I never want to live without it. This is the main reason I could never go on the reality TV series Survivor. I am also very picky about how I have my coffee. I like it really hot and it can be embarrassing (for others cough Dave cough) when I commandeer peoples microwaves to reheat.
   
   
   


2. I only iron clothes when I need to wear them. My Mum used to iron every Sunday and when she passed away from cancer aged 43 one of the things I thought was I would never devote huge chunks of time to having flat clothes. Maybe I'm lazy, maybe she enjoyed the activity of ironing, either way I cant commit to it.
   




3. My fast food preference is MacDonald's, although I agree the burgers are better at Hungary Jacks. My ultimate lunch is a toasted sandwich and a Coke Zero.




4. My favourite perfume is Issey by Issey Miyake and it annoys me when other peeps wear it. I realise this is not a very nice personality trait but it is what it is.
   
   
   




5. I get claustrophobic in underground parking areas and try to avoid them at all costs. It goes without saying that traveling in tunnels sends my to crazytown.
   
   
   
   


6. I love Coke Zero and I have at least one a day. I used to have a raging Diet Coke addiction but admitted my problem and cleaned up my act. Mini (200ml) Coke Zeros are my favorite.






7. I received the Junior Citizen Award in my home town from the Mayor at the Civic Centre no less, when I was in year 7. It has been all down hill since then in regards to my civic service.
   

The Original baby, The New Baby and My Baby.




8. I am the second youngest of my Mum's 4 kids and there is 10 years between me and my little brother( I was the baby of the family for many years and had the behaviour traits to prove it). I have two sisters. I made my Mum bring in my newborn baby brother for show and tell when I was in Year 5.
   
   The Sibs: Angela Catherine Joel Elizabeth and Krys
   




9. I am a recent convert to skinny jeans.
   





10. And purple nail polish.







11. And running. I love reading on blogs about how others are running in fun runs and marathons. It strengthens my resolve to complete one .

12. I consider my marriage to be my greatest gift and accomplishment. I value my marriage far more now than I did when I actually got married... maturity rocks. I consider my children to be the happy outcome of my marriage.

13. I have an Bachelor of Arts (International Studies) Degree that I started when I was 31 and did part time for six years. One day I may even use it.

14. My favourite colour is green.

15. I have worked in the same office as my husband for the last 8 years...until about 3 months ago when he built himself a new one next door. I didn't take it personally.

16. I have one tattoo and want another one for my birthday... this isn't going to happen because the tattoo studio has a long waiting list so maybe later this year.

17. I could do laundry (sorting, washing, hanging on the line, folding up) all day as I find it restful. Most other housework like dusting and washing windows I find pointless. I usually have clean toilets, bathrooms and vacuumed floors. I have a magnet on my fridge that says "Boring women have immaculate homes"... which I totally agree with but still suspect I'm just lazy.

18. The grief of my Mum's illness and death dumped me, my siblings and my step father into a sea of pain and just like being out in the middle of a cold dark sea it took all of our energies to stay afloat and keep our own spirits from going under. We could see eac other struggling and hurting but had no way to reach out and help. Maybe this is normal and each of us just has to come to terms with grief and loss in our own way. I wish I was a better support to my family at his time but realise that it was what it was.

19. I think that too many parents of my generation want to be their kids friends instead of being their parents. Kids of any age do not need another friend as much as they need a parent.

20. I couldn't get past the first page of the Twilight books and I think the movies have some of the worst acting I have ever seen. Can we still be friends Amanda?

21. I'm a savory girl, I have never met a potato chip I didn't like and I have been know to order another entree when everyone is ordering deserts at a restaurant. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate and if I make a cake its usually carrot, banana or hummingbird.

22. As an adult I have weighed both 53kg and 103kg. My heaviest was the day before I had Bear and my lightest was after 3 years of feeding Lulu (yes 3 years!).

23. David ditched me on our first date and I had to get a lift home with our mutual friends. I thought that was that...but I guess not.

24. On my wedding day my hairdresser confessed a secret crush on David and "wished she had dome something about it" Good on her for getting it off her chest but yeah... new hairdresser STAT.

25. I want to spend my 40th Birthday on an island with David ... and some books, with lots of food delivered pool side and a lot of coke zero. A very sparkly new ring also features heavily in my birthday desires.

26. I interned for a politician for 6 months and think that good politicians are worth more than they are paid and unfortunately crappy ones abound.

27. I have forgotten my own child's birthday. Whilst on holiday in Bali about 2 days after Bear turned 2 years old David and I saw a calender and realised.


28. I want to be the person who invents an effective procedure to remove tattoos. This is going to make me a billionaire in about 10 years time judging by the amount of young girls I see with full sleeves of ink at my local shopping centre.



29. I think Kevin Rudd has managed to turn savvy media skills into a two term Prime Ministership. I also think Tony Abbott has managed to turn some hard core conservative beliefs into mainstream Liberal policy. Also Malcolm Turnbull is not politically as dead in the water as you might think and Julia Gillard should stand up and be counted.

30. My greatest admiration is for parents of physically disabled or mentally impaired children. My Mum used to say having kids was a 20 year commitment (that was just to scare us into not having sex as teenagers) but for these parents its a freakin lifetime of parenting. I am not embarrassed to say David and I have some trips already planned for when the kids leave home.

31. If I had a mantra it would be "If its meant to be, its up to me". I cant stand useless people who whinge about their lot in life but wont do anything positive to help themselves. Australia is indeed the lucky country. Education, employment and advancement are all ours for the taking.

32. I didn't really get to know my Dad until I was 30... its been a sweet 8 years.

33. I was told by the ultrasound guy I was having a boy when I was having Lulu. David cried from shock when she was born and she came home to a lot of blue outfits.

34. David and I spend a lot of money in good restaurants. I would rather spend $200 bucks on great restaurant food than $200 bucks on shoes or clothes.

Us on a foodie trip to Sydney.

35. I love books. I love the public library and I love taking a notepad into bookshops to jot down books I'm going to borrow from the library. Yes I am cheap but our budget could never sustain my love of books.

36. All I want for my Birthday is anyone reading this to say hi... actually that is a big fat fib as I have also given a list of all the pretty shiny gifts I want for my Birthday to David.

37. One of my favourite activities is reading all the weekend papers. My weekend is greatly diminished if I cant get hold of the newspapers.

38. I have come to the conclusion on my 38th Birthday that... I Live A Pretty Charmed Life.

Questions, Comments, Thoughts???

What we did on our (weekend) holidays.

We went back to the Bay.


and cooked up yummy food with Nanna.


and watered Poppies and Nanna's new concrete drive.

and discussed boat building projects to be completed.

and raced children to the beach.

and played in the sand.

and ran away from children.

and tried to use our Rugby Union tackle skills on our mother.

and hugged.

and admired the twilight hour.

and realised just how much we will miss these guys.

and built a fire on the beach.

and told ghost stories.

and dug holes and pointed our butt at the photographer.

and played the Mexican train game ... for hours.

and said goodbye. No pic. Too sad.

Lulu says

Lulu is a classic... here is the convo as best as I can remember it from last week.

Lulu "Mum you know how I said I was going to be a teacher, well I have changed my mind. You know what I'm going to be?

Me "What babe?"

Lulu "I'm going to be one of those people on the airport show."

Me "like an Immigration or Customs Officer?"

Lulu "yes and I would be very good at that job you know why?"

Me "why?"

Lulu "Cos one ... I like dogs and two... I'm really nosy"

I laughed like a drain I tell ya.

Who Knew?

On Mothers Day I was having a lovely chat with my MIL and she was telling me how she got very cross at the lady in the bank because she messed her around with her Euros and Pounds travel money for her upcoming trip. If you ever met my MIL you would know that the lady at the bank was risking a good telling off by making her cross. Its my life's work to not make my MIL cross... luckily I get away with a fair bit and blame David for anything that I think is going to make her cross.

Anyhoo after her telling me all the trials and tribulations of getting organised to go OS I was secretly thinking I'm glad my family is just ducking up to Thailand for 2 weeks as Europe sounds like way too much hassle what with the volcanoes erupting and economies collapsing .... and then she says "when are you getting your shots?"
"shots? what shots? what are you talking about shots?"
Insert me looking like a chook trying to find its head.

So because I like to be helpful and in case you are planning a trip here... you need shots.


Of course because I like a budget and was feeling smug at having enough money to actually eat whilst we are away the shots are going to cost me about $600.00. That is a lot of manicures on the beach I tell ya.

Whilst we are on the subject has anyone reading this been to Phuket? and do you have any info you'd like to share with me... cos I love info as you know. I expect *crickets* but on the off chance that someones knows more than me about Thailand (you probably knew about the shots too) I thought I'd throw it out there.

Also if I'm chucking out information can I just tell you when you go to your Dr looking for a script for typhus and Hep A he will blindside you with two needles (tetanus and Swine flu) and you will be so overwhelmed by the fact that the Phuket shots are $600 bucks that you will agree to anything free and then you will have a sore arm. Free doesn't equal not hurting my arm now. Just so you know.