Bloggin' on a Friday.

I've literally just sat down at the computer and decided to do a blog as Sommer is happily eating all her brother & sisters toys and i have an hour to spare before the school pick up. Normally i have some sort of idea what i'm going to write about but today .. meh. No idea. I'll just write and see where it takes me.

We got the kids report cards back this week .. Heath's was flying high, all highs and very highs and the teacher wrote that he has been a perfect role model to all the other students. It was like music to my ears and made me so proud. It's no secret that Heath and i often clash and he can be a handful, so to know he is reaching for the stars at school makes me feel relief, that even though i feel like i'm getting this parenting gig wrong sometimes, i must  be doing something right too.

Roxiees report .. hmm .. well i think they had trouble writing it in a positive way, you see .. i read things like .. "Roxiee is a vocal member of the class who has a very unique point of view on certain topics" .. in my head i translated that to .. "She's really fucking loud and says some strange shit" .. gosh i love her, and just quietly i think the teachers do too!!

She got herself in trouble a few weeks back, the teacher had to come talk to me after class and let me know that she had to put Roxiees peg on to the sad face .. (Happy face = good kids, sad face = asshole kids, pretty much) Turns out Roxiee had said a 'bad word' to one of her friends and then told the friend to tell another friend .. when the first friend went and told another friend, Roxiee took it upon herself to go 'dob' on the friend for swearing!!!! .. i was thinking the 'bad' word may have been something like .. "shit" .. crap .. penis? Something along those lines. Wrong .. twas' "Fucking hell"!!! .. needless to say, the whole situation wasn't AS funny when i learnt that was the word used and she got into trouble.
I told her Dad about it when he got home .. he says .. "What word did she say?" .. so i whisper "fucking hell" .. what does he say? .. "FUCKING HELL!" .. me : "Gregg, i think this is where we are going wrong, maybe you could stop swearing!!!!!" ..

Gastro - that sonovva bitch has been doing it's rounds in this house the past week. Heath was the start, last Friday. As we were all getting ready for his footy match he says to me .. "I don't think we can go, i don't feel so good" .. this was really out of the blue so i hit him with the whole .. "buddy, what's going on at footy, what's making you not want to go" .. his reply, in not so many words, but more actions .. was .. "Dude, i'm going to now vomit the shit out of this house. Step back lady, coz some is gunna land on your shoes!"

Somewhere along the gastro lines Gregg was talking to Heath about "The bug" and how it tells your body to eat more, but really you need to starve the bug till' it leaves your body. Nek minute - (actually the next morning, but whatever!) ..

 "MUMMMMMM .. i think I've found the bug!" ..
me : "huh?" ..
Heath : "you know .. the bug that was making me sick" .. *points to a teeny little bug creature crawling across his floor* ..
Me : "Ohhhhhhhhh - well .. uhh .. do you feel better now?"
Heath : "yeah, heaps better!"
Me : "Fab. No more eating bugs then,  i guess"

I have come to a blank now so i'm going to share a long, but very worthwhile story that i came across on Facebook. It may be true it may not be true but at the end of the day it makes a very valid point which i feel strongly about. I love to make others happy and i hope that it's something i can instill in my kids. I believe strongly in karma and i very much believe that good things come to good people. I hope with all my heart that if anything should ever, ever, ever happen to me and my kids needed a helping hand that i wasn't around to give .. that those who i may have helped, would someday be there to help my kids. So here it is ..

It will take just 37 seconds to read this and

change your thinking..

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same

hospital room.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an

hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from

his lungs.

His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on

his back.

The men talked for hours on end.

They spoke of their wives and families, their

homes, their jobs, their involvement in the

military service, where they had been on

vacation..

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the

window could sit up, he would pass the time by

describing to his roommate all the things he could

see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those

one hour periods where his world would be

broadened and enlivened by all the activity and

colour of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.Ducks and swans played on the water while

children sailed their model boats. Young lovers

walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour

and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen

in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in

exquisite details, the man on the other side of

the room would close his eyes and imagine this

picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window

described a parade passing by.

Although the other man could not hear the band -

he could see it in his mind's eye as the

gentleman by the window portrayed it with

descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring

water for their baths only to find the lifeless body

of the man by the window, who had died

peacefully in his sleep.

She was saddened and called the hospital

attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man

asked if he could be moved next to the window.

The nurse was happy to make the switch, and

after making sure he was comfortable, she left

him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one

elbow to take his first look at the real world

outside.

He strained to slowly turn to look out the window

besides the bed.

It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have

compelled his deceased roommate who had

described such wonderful things outside this

window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and

could not even see the wall.

She said, 'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage

you.'

Epilogue:

There is tremendous happiness in making others

happy, despite our own situations.

Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness

when shared, is doubled.

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things

you have that money can't buy.

'Today is a gift, that is why it is called The

Present .'

I LOVE this more than words. When my kids are old enough i will make them read this often to remind them to do good for others. When they're old enough to protest reading it, i'll smack em' upside the head with one of my parenting books.

And just to clarify, i am by no means one of those 'do gooder' people who goes about hugging the tree's and forgiving people of their sins. Yes, i like to help people but if you mess with me, or more importantly you mess with my kids, you're gunna bring out 36 shades of psycho that you've never seen before. Good people can still be arseholes, trust me :-)

Till next time .. peace and mung beans my friends xx

Life is peachy

okay okay .. I know ya'll have been hanging for an ultra amazing blog from my bloggerific self, so here it is. I just read over my last one and it made me tear up again so let me throw a quick update out there before we move on to the awesomeness of this blog .. Bundy is well on it's way to recovery. I went and helped out with the Mud army on their first weekend, i would liked to have helped some more but it was all i could do as i don't have someone else to look after the kids. It was a great feeling to be playing a part in the clean up, but it was also terribly draining mentally to walk into those streets, into those houses and into such .. such .. i don't have words. It was just draining and it could be a blog on it's own, but not today, coz today's blog is titled "life is peachy' and frankly .. that part isn't peachy. It's not even apricoty. 

Roxiee started school in January and i feel so lucky to have met some amazingly awesome Mummy's from her school group, it is SUCH a nice feeling to be able to come home and say to Gregg .. "Gregg, i met another lady today, she's REALLY normal AND .. she likes her kids!!!" .. it's nice to be adding more 'normal' friends to the list. I like it when friends a) don't try to sell me drugs, b) don't try to eat me and c) don't try to sell drugs to or eat their own kids. Those kinds of people are hard to come by. Don't believe me? Move to Bundy my friend - MOVE TO BUNDY! And although it's not absolutely necessary, it is always welcoming to make new friends who have at least 3 teeth in their mouth. Don't get all judgy on me, I'm not a bitch, i don't care if the teeth are fake .. sometimes it's just nice to make a friend with teeth. 

Roxiee's first day of school went well apparently  I asked her how it was .. she replied "Oh it was great. A boy pushed me into a pole, so i beat the shit out of him, then i ate my sultanas" .. HA! What was i meant to say to that .. i mean .. "did you eat your apple too?" .. she can take care of herself that kid!! Heath says he seen it all happen and i asked him what he seen .. "Mum, i was waiting to make sure she was okay. She went crazy. She didn't stop punching. She DID NOT need my help" .. ahhhh .. go ahead and get judgy again, but that was a proud moment. If she'd have thrown the first punch i'd have grounded her till' she was 48 (or taller than me, which could very well be when she's 7) .. 

For those of you who are aware of Roxiees preference of being nude, you will be pleased (or not pleased) to know that so far she has managed to keep her clothes on every single day at school. I'm still waiting for the day where she clambers out the classroom door in nothing but knickers, socks and shoes but it's yet to happen. Well done my love, i'm proud!! 

Heath's class was set a task of making the principle a lunchbox in the last week of term. Heath was SO excited that he made his at home. He stuck an old Halloween picture on the front, it was a green, monsterish thing with funny teeth and big bulgy eyes, he said to me that it looked like Mr Fitz (principle) and that was why he was using it. I joked with him that i was going to tell Mr Fitz what he said. That Friday at school assembly i seen Mr Fitz walking in holding the green, monsterish, lunchbox. I looked over to Heath and seen that he too had noticed, i gave him a sly wink and i swear i seen him turn green too .. i knew straight away Heath was imagining i had told Mr Fitz what he has said. Of course, that wasn't the case. My clever little man was presented with a Principles award .. way to go little dude, so proud <3 i="" nbsp="">

Around 5 months ago i opened up a facebook page called "Shazzas shizz" so i could see if there was any interest in some of the items i had been sewing up for friends. Never in my wildest dreams did i imagine that this facebook page would see me with a constant and steady waiting list of over a dozen people. It has been non-stop since i opened it. It is such an amazingly awesome feeling to know that i have started something successful and i am still here to help my kids whenever they need me. 

.. hmmm .. now I've got this far and I've realized i really don't have anything all that amazingly amazing to say at all .. life is peachy and that's all folks. Keep it real, keep it dry and keep it put away, unless people ask to see it. Also, floss regularly as i will no longer be accepting applications of friendships from toothless people, life is too short for that shizz. 

On closure - if you haven't liked my page, you totally should because .. bitch, I'm fabulous! 

http://www.facebook.com/ShazzasShizz

So many heroes.

HERO :  Noun A person, typically a man, who is admired for courage or noble qualities. The chief male character in a book, play, or movie, who is typically identified with good qualities

When you google, the above is what you see. I obviously disagree. A hero isn't necessarily a man. It is a good person, with good qualities. Hero's come in all different shapes and sizes.

When the rain started falling, at first it was a bit of fun. The tanks were being filled and we could once again have long, LONG showers. The kids invented a newer version of our old tradition of 'puddlin' .. we called this one 'muddlin'. As the kids sat in big buckets filled with rain water out in the garden I laughed at them while pouring the shampoo in to make bubbles.

Then .. then the rain just didn't stop. It kept coming and coming and coming. Then the wind came. Then the news stations started throwing out warnings left, right and centre. Then we lost power and perhaps a little panic settled in.

Right now as we sit in our high and dry house we have SO much to be thankful for. SO much. Only 5 minutes away are the major flood areas. 2 minutes away is one of the many evacuation centres. It is a very surreal feeling to be sitting unscathed and unharmed while so many others are facing such disaster. Some of them are facing it for the 2nd time. My heart has never been so sad. It is hard to see on face book how everyone is 'carrying on' .. their life has not paused. It is hard to understand that the entire world has not paused.

Driving around today to find a dr's surgery for my little girl who has a high temp and is very sleepy, my main focus was taken away from the immediate disaster as i concentrated solely on my daughters well being. I could have almost forgotten what was happening as i drove around. There were cars driving about as normal, people walking about as normal, business' seemed to be running as per normal. And then i caught sight of another black hawk flying above. A very loud and sobering realisation that it's not normal at all. Turning into the road where our dr's surgery is there is a road block sign forcing me to drive on the wrong side of the road to get through. 3 car lengths away from the surgery is where the river is now sitting. Somehow the surgery was untouched.

I learnt a long time ago that i am not one who can simply say .. "let me know if there's anything i can do" .. the truth to that is, that most people won't tell you what you can do. This leaves me feeling helpless and like a failure. I learnt that i need to  put on my thinking cap and get moving. A school Mum confided in me a few months ago that she wasn't very well and cancer was taking over her body. She may have a long time, she may have a short time. I asked what i could do, she said 'nothing' .. I went home, felt useless, put on my thinking cap and a few weeks later she went with her beautiful family and had the family portraits done that i organised for her. I shed a few tears when she showed me her photos. Beautiful, precious moments were captured.

 When the news started reporting just how bad things were 5 minutes from here i felt that same sinking, helpless feeling. I didn't know how to stop the rain, how to stop the river from flowing or how to get the wind to stop. The best that i could do was run a few towels and sanitary items down to one of the evacuation centres. I took Roxiee and Sommer with me while Heath stayed with Grandad. Once we found somewhere to park i simply wasn't prepared for what we came across, maybe i'm naive, i just wasn't ready. As i carried Sommer in my arms, and held Roxiees hand i juggled the 2 bags in my free(ish) hand. We walked past all the rescue helicopters, all the ambulances, all the police, all the SES teams and so many other people, so many other hero's. True, REAL hero's. Every single one of them.

The first shed we went to was a make shift type of hospital with stretchers everywhere, wheelchairs everywhere, ambulances everywhere and people rushing about 100 miles an hour while still appearing so calm. Hero's. Lots of them.

The 2nd shed was where we needed to be and after off loading all our goodies i went to the table and popped my own name and Greggs name down to volunteer to help with anything and everything. I then spoke with another lady about what else they needed. Among her list were a lot of things we couldn't help with, then she said toys. I knew we could help there.

As Roxiee and i walked back to the car i held back tears and i explained to her in 4 year olds terms what was happening. I explained that lots of people had lost their houses and everything in them and that we were going to go home, talk to Heath and pack up as many toys as we could so we could make some of those kids happy. "Okay Mummy" she says.

I'm barely in the door and Roxiee is tipping out toy boxes and scooping up handfuls of toys. In the words of my beautiful 4 year old daughter .. "Mummy, this is my favourite toy, but now it can be someone else's favourite" .. and in went the talking 'my little pony' which she has loved and cuddled in bed every single night since receiving it. My 4 year old daughter, is a hero. And i am damned proud.

Although hesitant, Heath did the same and in went a lot of his favourites. We can and we will replace these, it may take a few Christmas' and Birthdays, but they will all be replaced. With each toy that was put into the bags i praised the kids and told them .. "Well done, some little girl is going to cuddle that in her bed tonight and it will make her SO happy. It will be her ONLY toy. You are doing a great thing" ..

The 2nd trip out to the evac centre both the bigger kids wanted to walk in with me and i let them. I explained to Heath as we were walking past all the emergency crews, just i had explained to Roxiee a few hours ago and i could see in his face, he 'got it' .. he was 'getting it' .. suddenly it was more than just 'cool army helicopters' .. it was real.

As I'm watching the news i am seeing so many heroes, the guy who has spent days ferrying people across swollen creeks etc. The local SES worker who has worked through the past 2 floods while her own house went under each time. The rescue crew who had to winch the toddler to safety in a zipped up bag. So many heroes. The hundreds of locals who are opening their homes to strangers. Heroes.

All i can do at the moment is keep looking for families to help by donating what i can. A friend has deposited money into my account so I can personally hand it to someone in need. She's a hero too. When the clean up begins i will chuck some gloves on and help. If i can instil just one thing into my kids, i want it to be to help others when in need.

Never has my heart been so sad. Beautiful Bundaberg looks somewhat like a war zone  Black hawks flying above, sandbags everywhere. Tents set up all over the place. There is so much going on it is hard to know where to begin. It was gut wrenching to watch it from Melbourne 2 years ago, and a million times more devastating to witness when it is your own backyard. It's happening to people you know, business' you call your local and people you call friends. It's happening in the streets you always drive down.

So while i am sitting in my high and dry house, this mess is in my head the entire time. My brain will continue finding ways to directly help those who need it and i am making it my mission to be part of this big clean up. The kids and i sat and watched to convoy of army trucks arrive this evening, what a sight that was. And what a realisation of just how much help Bundy is going to need. While i don't have the power of an army, i know how to pick up a shovel and put some gloves on my hands. If i have two dollars and can get my family by on one dollar, you can bet that the spare dollar is going to be helping these here who need it. Why should i have 2 dollars if i only need one.

My heart is sad, but at the same time if someone offered me a ticket to leave Bundy, which will no doubt flood again, i wouldn't leave. Bundy is my home. It is beautiful and it is full of heroes who i am glad to call my neighbours.

Destined to be domestic.

So, (mental note, I feel like I start most blogs with 'so' .. must look into this and then use a thesaurus!) .. we are 2 days into a little getaway. We have had family getaways before but I always still do the usual cooking as with a young family it is too expensive to eat out and it's more convenient to have food on hand wherever we are staying. This time however, I had a genius idea to not be a domestic godess, but to instead spend all our getaway time enjoying a proper break like the others in my family. No cooking. We were ignoring the bank balance and eating out every lunch and dinner. Gregg and I don't really eat breakfast so I packed some cereal, bread and a few necessities for the kids and that was it.

We arrived here at 11.30 and couldn't get into the holiday house until it's current occupants left at 2pm so we headed to the club (walking distance.. YAY!!) for some lunch. OH MY GOD .. it was ridiculously delicious. The kids shared a pizza, gregg had some fish and I had a chicken ceaser salad. We had a few drinks, my favourite was a blue, frozen thing with vodka. I'm sure it had a name, but that's irrelevant. The important thing to remember here is that it was blue, it was frozen and it had vodka. If we had to narrow it down to only one important describing word, it would be .. Vodka. It had vodka. Anywho .. this place was OBVIOUSLY heaven. We all left with full tummies, and slightly blurred vision. (Note re: the blurred vision - not true, at all, but it certainly sounds good so lets go with it)

The rest of this day was spend making ourselves familiar with the holiday house, unpacking, a play at the beach and then back home for showers. After our showers it was time to head back to the club where we were to have dinner, a few drinks and walk home. The kids were excited about possibly encountering the kangaroos on the way home in the dark, they had somewhat 'charged' at us on our earlier walk, which, in hindsight is rather hilarious, at the time though it was rather scary. I checked my sexy holiday undies for poo, we were all clear though. It was scary all the same, regardless of poo status.

Anywho .. we grabbed a table at the club, just like we had at lunchtime. We got a drink each, we looked at the menu, we finished the drink and I went up to order, with the 2 big kids. I'm in the large line up and I'm about 3 people from ordering when one of the waiters come up and ask me if we had a table booked, I tell him no we hadn't 'booked' but we had a table outside, he then tells me .. "I should let you know that we aren't actually taking any other customers tonight, aside from the ones who have booked" .. he has picked me, out of the whole line, to come and say this too. I quickly look at my shoes, they are standard Queensland attire shoes, aka thongs. And they are clean. I cleaned them 'specially for this getaway! Can't be the thongs. The rest of my body is dressed appropriately, denim shorts, and a floral top which is showing 'just enough' boob really!!! .. the waiter babbles for a bit and it's hard to understand what he is getting at. "You're telling me we can't eat tonight?" .. "well, yes, sorry" .. what the hell?!?!? .. he goes on to explain that they are booked out and he's very sorry. I am very embarrassed at this stage as I've not heard him tell anyone else this. The kids and I leave the line and return to the table where we left Gregg. As we walk towards Gregg and I try and make sense of what happened the kids are shouting out through the restaurant .. "Dad, we can't get food!" .. I give Gregg a quick run down and say that the only food we have back at the holiday house is bread, so I could make the kids some vegemite toast and they could have some snack foods that I had also packed. Gregg goes and has a word to the waiter who says he can get the kids meals done as fast as he can, and we can get food, we would just have to wait quite a bit later than the kids meals. As Gregg comes back and tells me this I say I would rather not give them the business after the way I was approached in the line, plus, being the trustworthy person that I am I am thoroughly convinced that if we were to stay for a meal now they would indeed be spitting (or worse) in our food. The waiter approaches and apologises again, saying that if we choose to stay he can get the kids meals out asap. So, while I despise giving them the business we stay as I'd rather my kids be fed. There are several more apologies throughout the night and I take them out of my 'return at night to kill' book and just jot them into the 'bad book', along with most ex boyfriends and the occasional random person who has gotten in my way while shopping.

The club is walking distance to our house and the food is bloody great so we ring them noon today to book in for dinner tonight. "Sorry, we are all booked out" .. "You're kidding me!" .. "No Ma'am, sorry" .. mind says "FUCK YOU!" .. mouth says .. "THANK YOU!"

So, we head to the pub instead. We book in and it's all good to go. We arrive and I go up to order. "Sorry, there's no pasta left" .. my head says .. "Of course there is no pasta left, your entire menu fits into one paragraph, pasta is your ONLY reasonably priced meal, of course there is none left!!" .. while my mouth says .. "can I have the Chicken Parma please" .. mind says .. "FOR AN EXTRA TWENTY FUCKING DOLLARS!!!!!"

$30 parma comes out, $20 pizza comes out, and $40 steak comes out. Steak looks good, pizza looks like cardboard, and my parma looks like someone hammered a chicken fillet onto my plate and then threw some of the cardboard pizza on top. THEN  .. we go to order some dessert as a treat. Gregg wants sticky date pudding - they're all out, there's none left. The two kids wanted ice cream so he orders them.

As he comes back to the table he tells me .. "they're running out of everything, I just heard them telling other people that they don't have much food left" .. as we discuss how odd things are up here the cashier approaches with some money in her hand .. "Sorry, I haveta' give ya money back, there aint no icecream, someone chucked an empty tainer' back in the freeza" ..

I tell the kids we will drive to IGA to get an ice cream. It's 7pm and it's IGA, surely it would be open? .. no, fail. Sorry kids, we'll go to the little milk bar outside the caravan park .. nope, not open. Sorry kids, we'll give the fuck up because this place is full of deadbeats who don't know how to run a business! .. we promise the kids not one, but TWO ice creams tomorrow and I make a pact with myself that next time we head away on a little getaway, I will indeed remember to bring the domestic godess with me as it is next to impossible to rely on others to get my family fed.

Aside from the non domestic godess problems it has been a beautiful getaway so far. It's so great to just get away and relax. I think if we were to return here again, I would seriously book in dinner at the club every night, one week in advance, because let's face it ... who can resist blue, frozen, vodka.

P.S - I will make a better effort to blog more, and I do have a blog planned to tell ya'll about my new facebook page, but for now .. i'll just quickly link it, I will come back and blog about it at a later date.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shazzas-Shizz/389392631147282?fref=ts .. head over there and like it friends.

Bye for now, take care, and also take your domestic godess wherever you go, good help these days is hard to find. And so is ice cream and pasta. And just plain seats and tables in some places.

Bye for now friends ..