Ten

Well, I got to tell you when I went to look at Miss Soft Crab last week I was not really expecting to find a post from K. I was expecting to see the Kravitz-Bonets looking at me with their beautiful faces but instead I saw this little ray of sunshine. Congratulations Tugboat and K - the big oh-one!

Having a baby - it's the biz. But of course not everyone gets to do that or wants to that so forget about it - there is so much great shit in the world and having a baby is just one thing.

Anyway, I was recently reminiscing about  the day Baby was born because he turned the big one-oh a couple of weeks ago. TEN! Sometimes (always) on my kids birthdays I like to recall their birth and make them listen to the details. They love it. When Pickle and Minderbinder dropped past on Baby's birthday they asked "It must be his birthday right around now, wasn't he born around now?" to which I answered, "In about an hour. Now would be around the time that I would have been screaming 'Turn off the drip!! IT'S TOO MUCH!!! PLEASE TURN OF THE DRIP!!!'"

Later he was born and whoa - what a delight. And then I had the best shower of my life. I couldn't leave. Though you know when I really couldn't leave the shower - DURING labour with Newbie. But that's another story.

Hi again

Despite assurances from K a couple of weeks ago that she was still here, the truth of this seems in doubt. I know she is still somewhere, but I'm not so sure about here. But that's cool. As Baby keeps reminding me, we're living in dark times, give a co-blogger a break!

In some ways it has felt like dark times. First there was the fear that someone I knew and loved would get sick with the dreaded CV. Then there were the more general fears about a society full of people out of work and suffering. Then there was the anxiety of working from home with children bothering me. And while the first of those fears has greatly lessened, the second adequately pushed under a rug, and third somewhat made peace with, technically I guess you could say I've been feeling better about things.

Due to a number of very first world problems like too much work, a bathroom renovation and three healthy children that are essentially in my care constantly now, I feel busier now more than ever and what with having to be in the same physical space all the time with the same people my brain feels jammed packed. At first when I'd hear people on the radio talking about all the Netflix they could catch up on and projects they could undertake my blood would boil. Fuck you and your Netflix. But I have realised, despite having no extra time for Netflix or personal projects, I do have time for small moments and they are pretty nice.

Without the commute to work I get home from work at 5PM. That is, I walk from my bedroom, where I work, to the family room where everyone else is and I'm done for the day. And then I have time to hang out with my darlings AND cook a nice dinner. Yesterday morning I went for an early walk with Little Bean before I had to start work. Usually there's no time for stuff like that. I can't tell you what a drain on my normal mornings making school lunches is. I love not making them in the morning. I love it. And Baby talks to me all the time about funny stuff. That kid is going to be ten in a month - if you can believe that - and he basically has a teenager's lack of desire to talk too his parents already. But now that he has no one to talk to anymore I'm really reaping the benefits. So I'm not going to hate people for watching lots of Netflix anymore.

An end

J: So mate. The end of an era and the beginning of an indefinite hiatus. How do you feel?

K: I feel happysad! Like I often feel at the end of a wonderful book. I'm so happy that I've arrived at a point of resolution, but sad that I don't get to spend time with these characters anymore.

What about you?

J: Yeah, I pretty much feel the same way. Like I think it will be a liberating new time, but also I will really miss reading and writing Miss Soft Crab!

K: I'll miss it too. Heaps.

J: I feel sad that I won't be able to explore things in the same way anymore in this forum and maybe I won't think about things the same way. And I feel like I missed all these opportunities! Like why didn't I ever write about how much I love Jonny Lee Miller's dorky Instagram account where he basically just posts pictures of his cat and stories of himself putting the last piece into puzzles!? 

K: He does? That's pretty charming. Appleheart has an amusing instagram account that involves him posting photos of abandoned trolleys, which you see a lot of in the 3072. Yesterday he posted a photo of a trolley full, and I mean FULL of protea flowers.  Maybe it's because MSC is winding up, but I found it very moving.

J: Yeah, that was amazing!

K: It was. But that's a side note. The point is that with MSC winding up, we'll be doing less pausing and reflecting.

J: YES! I really worry about that.  But I do also wonder if it will give us some space to think about things in other ways. Maybe a new way to approach MSC down the track?

K: I think we both want that to happen, right? If you love something, set it free? If it comes back to you etc etc blah blah blah?

J: You said it mate. You and all those other people said it!

So are there any old posts you've thought about this week you would have like to showcase or just have remembered fondly in this reflective time?

K: Whoa, great question. Let's see. All the HotMC posts. Every time we spoke about Ewan. You?

J: Oh god! Every time we spoke about Ewan! I'll really miss that! 

K: Oh! The times we went out for fancy meals! When we went to see Prince!

J: I recently remembered that post I wrote when I realised all my clothes lookedjust like Olivia the pig.

Yeah! When we realised Prince was creepy/sexy!

I love how MSC documents phases. Like the weird Twilight phase.  Or the current totally distracted by life phase.

K: Yeah, Miss Soft Crab has seen it all. When we started, Baby was a tiny baby. I was living in North Carlton and about to go to NYC with KJ.

We spent half that holiday talking about the dude that ran the local bar who she thought was a pretty fun guy to hang out with.  Now she's married to him and little Pip is here. 

Now KB is here, Appleheart is here. 

Newbie and Little Bean are here.

J: You didn't even know Appleheart existed!

K: I thought MONA was the best thing to come out of Hobart! And Thor Friendship.

J: Wehadn't even been to Hobart when Miss Soft Crab began!

Oh, I'm sad that when we go to Adelaide to try Jamface we won't be able to document it here. 

K:  MATE when are we going to do that?!

J: I'm sad that when I finally dye my hair blonde I won't be able to document it here!

K:  MATE when are we going to do that?!

J: I'm sad that when I discover whether or not Tom Hardy is hot I won't be able to document it here! Mate. When are we going to do all this?!

K:  Look. We're not dying, we're just putting MSC on indefinite hiatus.  And Tom Hardy is hot, it's a true fact.  And I'm sure there will be things that happen to us, with us, to all of us, that we'll need to come here to discuss.  Maybe when we go to Jamface.  Maybe when you/we dye your/our hair blonde.  Definitely when QEII, well, you know.

J: Oh geez.

K: And what happens if another true hunk comes along? We're going to have to meet here to talk about it.

J: Yeah! You're right! We're not dying. And neither is QEII!! We're just taking an indefinite hiatus! I just really love MSC!

K: Me too. Heaps.

J: May another true hunk come along, mate! I mean things looked bleak for a while there and then Hemsworth arrived! 

K: Yeah he did. Things are changing, sure. But we love MSC. And we love to eat, see and think about stuff. We're just going to do it a little differently from now on.

So Crab fans, you magnificent people, I guess we'll see you on the flip side?

J: I guess you're right mate. You're right. But can I just add Leonardo DiCaprio to this conversation? Not ‘cause I have anything to say about him, it just feels right to mention him.

And now I guess I'll say see ya!

K:  I do not take Leonardo DiCaprio for granted and I do not take Miss Soft Crab for granted.

J: Fin?

K: See you Matey. 😢

J: Bye 😭

           

Enjoy relaxing

Although it sounds like K is holidaying in Japan's answer to King Street it has one advantage over King Street. The availability of beer from convenience stores. Oh and an onsen in the hotel. Though onsen in summer does not seem that appealing to me but what do I know? I'll tell you what I know, you can get beer from convenience stores. And the best kind of beer snacks. Even the midges can't ruin that, surely. 

Winter doona

On Saturday Chickpea had a birthday party doona and I told anyone who would listen that I was super excited that I was going to take off my summer doona and put the winter doona on the bed that night. On the way home I told LB that I’d told everyone about our winter doona and he suggested I was boring. But I don't even care because when I got under the winter doona that night I was so gdamn happy I wanted to tell the world about it. I'm in love with my winter doona and I don't care who knows!

Another though on seasons

Touché mate, touché!

Last night I woke in the middle of the night thinking about Japan and the Japanese appreciation of nature and seasons. On Tuesday I had a brief interaction with my next door neighbour, it went something like this:
Neighbour: Beautiful day!
Me: Isn't it!
Neighbour: *Murmur mutter* autumn!
Me: I love autumn!
Neighbour: Me too!

It was the most meaningful conversation I'd ever had with him, I think because it was really obvious we both love autumn and I never really felt any connection with him before, though he's a perfectly pleasant person. This mutual season-loving conversation was really nice and I don't know if it was that or something I dreamed but I just woke up thinking about how in Japan, in the spring, they have cherry blossom parties. Japanese people would tell me that on a morning in sakura season a person in the office (every office) would be sent to a park with a blue tarp (so many blue tarps in Japan) and stake out their spot for the sakura party. The person would have to sit and mind that spot all day and then the rest of the office would come and join them to drink and enjoy the sakura when the work day finished. Can you imagine this being part of the Australian calendar. I mean it's awesome. In Japan in spring there are cherry blossoms everywhere and in the parks under those trees there are people on blue tarps everywhere. It's beautiful.

In the autumn in Japan if you tell someone you are going out of town they'd tell you the best places to visit to see the changing leaves. Or if you stay in town they tell you parks to visit to view the best autumn leaves. It struck me as a little strange until I walked through the forest in Kamakura in autumn and saw that the leaves really are beautiful.

I know that here on Miss Soft Crab we talk a lot about seasons. But on the whole I think Japan does it better and I just think we should take a leaf out of their book. A beautiful autumn leaf.

In praise of sleep

On Wednesday I was so tired. I nearly fell asleep on the couch while Newbie watched iView on my phone. Then later I nearly fell asleep again when Newbie and Baby did something. I don't even know what. I was practically asleep after all. So that night I went to bed at 9:30.

Newbie, who was still awake, came into my bed so I didn't look at Instagram or listen to a podcast I just rolled over so we could both go to sleep. Baby came in a little later but I was already half asleep so just pretended I didn't notice and when LB came in later still and saw the tableau he briefly woke me with his exclamation "Are you kidding?!" Then he went to bed in the kids room and I was back asleep within seconds. And I stayed that way until Little Bean woke me at 4. And,  just to round out the boring details of my sleep, I'll tell you that I went back to sleep then until 7 and yesterday I felt like a million bucks. What a difference a sleep makes. And when I say I felt like a million bucks I guess I probably felt like a normal person. Like a person without a baby and two other small children. Just a person with a moderate amount of demands on their time or with more sleep under their sleeve. I cleaned the fridge, I did a giant supermarket shop, I made a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment, I booked Baby's birthday party which isn't happening until June. JUNE! I've never done anything this far in advance. Imagine how productive I could be if I went to bed at 9:30 everyday. Oh, how I wanted to do the same again last night. But Broad City was on at 10 and I stayed up to watch it. But then I went straight to bed so I have reasonable high hopes for today.

I love sleep and I'm really going to make an effort to get more of it because I think it may just make everything better.

History is cool

I've been listening to this really great podcast. A History of the World in 100 objects. Each episode is about an object from the British Museum, starting with very early human tools found in Africa. The episodes talk about the objects, the place and time they came from and what they tell us about the past. The best ones also talk about the circumstances in which the object was found. Like, a bunch of welsh miners were just doing a spot of mining when boom, they uncovered a Bronze Age grave which has taught us heaps about the social and economic lives of people from thousands of years ago. 

It reminds me of being at school and learning about the Grauballe Man. You know, this guy:

 

He is an Iron Age era fellow who was preserved for thousands of years in a peat bog in Denmark. 

My kid mind was totally blown by the Grauballe Man. I mean, he was a dead body from the deep distant past, a time when people were killed and chucked in peat bogs as a human sacrifice. These things had never occurred to me. I thought history consisted of  those Old Testament guys, a bit of time,  then Jesus, a bit more time, then Captain Cook and Soverign Hill and then colour television. The notion that there were just regular folks living their regular lives in their old timesy societies well before Jesus? I loved it. I still love it. 

One of my favourite episodes of the podcast is the one where they talk about something called the flood tablet. It's a tablet from Mesopotamia that contains an account of a great flood, where it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. It's a great episode and contains some unexpected nudity. And all the things that are great about history. 

A better tomorrow

I was going to write a post about the great weather that's forecast for the next couple of days, and how on days like today and tomorrow, life feels easier and it feels better and I feel happier. Then the title A Better Tomorrow popped into my head and I thought ooh, that's what I'll call it, in homage to the film of the same name that came out in the 90s and J and I watched as part of our exploration of cinema from Hong Kong. Then I started thinking about Hong Kong cinema and how great it was in the 90s and 2000s, and I wondered if it was still great. Thinking about this made me happy. Then I wondered where I would turn to find out about what's coming out of Hong Kong, somewhere I could trust, not just 'the internet'. I thought about Margaret and David and how much I relied on them to educate me on cinema and thinking about that made me happy too. What a great show that was. What a great community service. Sure, they never talked about Hong Kong cinema but they had producers they needed to keep happy. Then I thought about Terry Gross, and the great interviews she does with the filmmakers and actors involved in films she loves, and that her radio show has certainly helped fill the hole left by Margaret and David. I'm sure you can see where this is going, but I have to say people, it made me happy. Happy happy joy joy. That's where all trains of thought are chugging me to, and it's all because the goddamned weather is so goddamned nice! 

Sunshine revisited

You didn't have to be in NSW last week to enjoy some sunshine. Although today's forecast of 38 is beyond what I like in a summer day, last Thursday's 32 was just about perfect. I'm not saying I like day after day of 32s but a few now and again suits me just fine.

Last Thursday evening on that hot day I took the kids to the pool. As we were walking out the front door my next door neighbour was walking out her from door with her 2.5-year-old on their way to the pool too, she met her partner there and half an hour later LB showed up with another neighbour's 3-year-old son and as the sun lowered in the sky hitting everything with that yellow summer's evening light I felt like I was in a god damn Tim Winton novel. In the best possible way. I mean, is this Australia or what!? The neighbours all at the pool, sharing responsibility of watching the children as they frolic in the water cooling themselves in the golden light of summer. It was so idyllic, I could barely believe it. My neighbours later had Jimmy Grants delivered by Uber Eats to the pool, and although I can't imagine that happening in a Tim Winton novel it really did add to the feeling that life can be pretty sweet.

I know I complained a lot last week, about my pregnancy weight and politics but the truth is I'm mainly a glass-half-full kinda gal. I may whinge about a lot of things. I may draw conclusions about people I don't know, I may complain about people I do know. I may lament not having a good wardrobe or money or a satisfying job. And I'm sorry, because all in all life is pretty good most of the time. I know that the light of the lowering sun is pretty special and can not be replicated any old time and I know that not everyone gets to live in an awesome street with neighbours who become friends and have similarly aged children, but hell guys, a sweet evening at Fitzroy pool really makes you see the good in life. As long as these 38 degree days don't keep up I've got some pretty good feelings about this summer.

I've even planned my summer look, despite Pickle being too distracted to even ask about where my summer look is headed. But more about that some other time.

Thursday's post (AM)

On Monday I had my baby and who forgot to do their blog post!? Not me, K! To be fair she did hit send on my post so I guess I can't say she did nothing to fulfill her MSC obligations but sheesh. My baby is a little girl and I love her. Having a baby is truly a best thing and going through labour is truly a worst thing. All I kept thinking was how the fuck do we get through this. I mean sure we all do it differently with varying degrees of intervention and tolerance and I'd chose labour over Caesar. But what a fucking a-hole it is. Having a tiny baby in he house is totally adorable though, if challenging and accompanied by an onslaught of hormones and attendant mood swings. So excuse me while I go burst into tears or stare at my baby adoringly or sit under a shower for a perverse amount of time.

High holy days (AM)

Look what came in the mail for me today. 

 

I'm very proud. But also disappointed that I wasn't in the top ten. Need to work harder in the preseason I guess. 

Happy grand final week everyone! Go dogs! 

Here we go again (AM)

I know that spring is the most fickle of mistresses. And I know that the forecast for tomorrow suggests there'll be 40mm of rain. But it's weeks like these you understand why people stick around with  fickle mistresses. I mean all the promise and delight spring makes you feel. Even though you know that after tomorrow this kind of sunshine and warmth may disappear for weeks on end, the sweet floral scents may be nothing but a tease of a promise on a cold wind, right now all you can think about is spring's beauty and how good it makes you feel when it's around. Sheesh. Love's hard. 

In praise of Mums (AM)

Last week, J and I may or may not have been complaining about our Mums. How they can and do say things that are very very annoying to us. That somehow they annoy like no one else. That some of the things they do and say...well, it's just all very annoying. We said all of this knowing how lucky we are to have mothers, and to have such great, loving and (substantially) supportive mothers. We know were among the luckiest of the lucky. And yet. Sometimes they can be annoying. Periodically we complain about our mothers on MSC too. 

But we both know it's not cool, so today I'm going to just highlight how excellent my mum is. Yesterday, KB was sick with the kind of projectile vomiting that I wouldn't believe was real had I not been covered in it. What with Appleheart away for work and the super gross smell of vomit in my face, I panicked. I called mum and basically said "I need help!" In a panicked voice. About half an hour later she was pulling into my driveway which is weird, because she lives a 45 minute drive from my house. She then spent the entire day backing me up with everything I suggested, despite me continually snapping at her. She drove us to the doctor and waited the 2.5hours it took to get KB seen to. She bought me coffee. She cleaned up the trail of vomit destruction in the house. She poured me a beer while I was bathing KB. She did it all without complaint and then stayed over last night so I could go to work today and she could look after KB. The woman's kindness knows no bounds. Which is why I have to stop complaining about the annoyance I feel. And why I shouldn't have snapped at her when she commented, while watching an episode of Homeland after KB finally fell asleep, that Islam has more demonstrative prayer rituals than Catholicism. I should have just let her think her thoughts about that and not said a thing. 

And I shouldn't have snapped at her this morning when I whispered something so as not to wake baby KB and she misheard and thought I said it was going to be 17 degrees. I'm sorry about all of it Mum and I am so grateful for all of it and please don't ever die and I love you.

And look what just came through! 

 

Edward II (AM)

I went to see this great play last night. Edward II. At the Malthouse. Gee whiz it was good. I see plays all the time these days. Well, sometimes. I see them sometimes. Which feels like all the time. Mostly I have a pretty nice time but at some point engage in a great struggle to stay awake and  that really takes my focus away from what's happening on the stage. Not last night. Last night I only got distracted once, during Edward II's coronation. It was a scene I found so moving I couldn't help thinking about QEII and what it wil be like when she dies and someone else takes over. 

But I only thought about that for a moment. That's how good this play was! 

Five crabby stars from me. 

Best things (PM)

Ice cream is one of the greatest things around for sure. I came quite late to loving it, due to not being mad on dairy as a wee one. Interesting fact: apparently I didn't like food much when I was a baby. I discovered this only last night, when I was at my parents' house feeding KB and mum commented on what a great eater he is, adding "not like you were". 

"Exfudgingsqueeze me??!!" I asked. Apparently I wasn't into food. Not fussy about what I ate, apparently, just harbouring a take-it-or-leave-it attitude to food. I could not believe my ears because I absolutely do not feel that way now. 

Anyway, I definitely recall not liking milk but eventually I came around to that, and which in turn paved the way for ice cream love. But i have to say that J and her outstanding ice cream making skills have nudged me further along the path. I regularly think about the cinnamon ice cream in a gingerbread biscuit sandwich in the shape of snowflake she made for us once. I reckon if there was a choice between seeing blur and eating that again I would see blur every single time. But it was totally outstanding. 

Best things (AM)

Today, I just wanted to talk about something I really love. 

Guys! Just because it is my Bluriversary today doesn't mean I'm going to go on about how great it was to see them a year ago or how much I love them or Damon. Give me some credit. Sheesh.

No, today I want to talk about ice cream. I don't know when I started loving ice cream so much, but I just love it. I feel like I know it well and understand it and if I could dedicate more time and effort to it I could do something really special. Has my early days working in an ice cream shop got something to do with it? I don't know. 

Where does the magic of ice cream lie? Is it the way it is both creamy and refreshing? The way you can pretty much make it any flavour and it will probably work. The way you can add it to cake or biscuits and both ice cream and companion are transformed into something better? The way it works with a warm pie?!? A warm anything! ICE CREAM GUYS!

According to Wikipedia, in Ancient Greece Hippocrates recommended people to "eat ice as it livens the lifejuices and increases the wellbeing." I think that by extension he would have said the same about ice cream right. And he's the father of western medicine. Or something. 

I feel like if I could spend my life getting to know ice cream better me and the world would be better off. I just want a lab and some testers and some ingredients and some time. And to try all the ice cream related things I've invented in my head. And then to share them with the world. And to have something better to do with the egg whites than make meringues. And to see Blur again. 

Once around the sun (PM)

Geez, I can't believe KB has been here a whole year. They grow up so fast.

You know what this means? One year ago K was having to come to terms with the fact she wouldn't get to see Blur. And in a week it will be one year since I saw Blur. God, what a special week June 21-28 was last year. Truly one of the greats!

Once around the sun (AM)

Today is KB's first birthday. 

A whole year of love and terror and comfort eating. 

Hooray!

Bad news week (PM)

You guys, I'm jonesing for my baby while also loving the shit out of this coffee I'm having right now and that combination is making me lightheaded. 

I think Kimmy Schmit has a lot to teach us, and getting pissed on sounds right. 

But look at this beautiful Coffee I'm having all by myself! 

That's all I can do right now I'm afraid.