The to do list (AM)

We leave for London on Sunday, which I'm sure you will agree is very soon. Taking a four month old baby overseas requires a fair bit of planning and organisation, so lately I've been doing a lot of planning and organisation.  I actually feel fairly on top of things. Or rather, I think I will after my mum comes over to help me today and tomorrow. She is an experienced adult and I'm pretty sure she's going to think of things that I'm not going to think of. 

So assuming  the essential things get taken care of, i'm now free to start a to do you list of those things that I would just like to do before we go. Given that we are going to be away for most of the summer, I would really quite like to do some things this week that will make me feel like I am not missing out on my favourite season. 

First things first: I would like to eat some quintessentially summery treats: a Frosty Fruit and a Calippo. Nothing says 'summer' to me like tomato and basil. But given that it's too early for the good summertime tomato and the good summertime basil, I have to turn to my attention to those second order summertime treats. For me, that's the delicious Frostt Fruit and the super refreshing Calippo. You can keep your magnums on your cornettos, make mine an icy pole any day. 

Second, I would like to have a barbie and drink beer in the afternoon sun. This requires no further explanation. 

Third, I would like to go for a swim in the beach and get proper beach hair. This is not likely to happen, because even though the weather is gonna be great this week the beach will still be effing cold. I may have to settle for a fringe trim. 

I think that's pretty much it really. Unless you guys think I have forgotten something? 

Aaaaaarrrgghhhh (PM)

Hey, speaking of simpler times, guess which other hunk had a birthday yesterday? Dostoyevsky! 

I don't agree that you are no good at being adult, Mate. You are great at it. 

It's just that adults have a lot of stuff to do. It's a full time job, and we are all trying to do it part time, alongside our actual jobs, so no wonder eyes start twitching.

I intended to adult a lot while on maternity leave. First I was going to do all the self indulgent things my parent pals told me would be impossible after KB arrived. Shopping. Massages. Movies. Waxing. Sitting around. The when KB arrived I was going to do other kinds of adulting, like learning more about economics and volunteering somewhere. In the two weeks I had off before KB arrived my list got so big and overwhelming I got the paralysis you talked about and ended up doing bugger all. Now KB is here I don't even know what economics is any more. I haven't waxed since July. A blood test form is  

sitting on top of my fridge, next to a Childcare application form, both of which I got the week after we brought KB home. But we're doing ok. And guess who has two thumbs and manages to take a shower every day? Someone else, of course. 

Aaaaaarghhhh (AM)

It was LB's birthday yesterday. And what better way to celebrate than take the day off work and just relax. So that is exactly what I did. LB didn't. He went to work as usual. He has an exam today so he wasn't really in the mood or position to celebrate. Me, I just felt like I needed a day to take care of some shit.

Last Wednesday I had a really annoying day at work, compounded by the fact that I had all these extra things to do: call a lawyer, call a bank, post some letters, clean the house, do a bunch of freelance work I've committed to doing, go to the city to buy some shu uemura face wash, get some blood tests, repot some plants, massively clean and overhaul the backyard, do all the serious house cleaning things like clean windows and pantry and a million more things, think of a birthday present for LB, be a loving and present mother to my children.

Frankly it was too much. And on top of that I've developed a twitch in my eye which periodically reminds me that I'm quite stressed. Just in case my brain decides to forget about the stress momentarily my body will remind me. Thanks body.  So I decided I'd take yesterday off work to get a jump on things. I felt really effing good about my decision. But then the list of things I wanted to do with my day off became unmanageable. The vital things included: getting my shu uemura face wash (yes, I could buy it online but why would I want to pay shipping for a product I could buy so close to my house?!?), cleaning the house, make dinner while everyone was out, freelance work, enjoy a coffee by myself. Then the list started growing: do serious house cleaning of all the second tier jobs, get a manicure or maybe a facial something real nice like that, a spot of shopping would be nice, get the blood test, get my legs waxed, my eyebrows done.

The list got so out of hand it became as stressful as my everyday life, it became practically paralysing. I started trying to plan my day but I found it impossible to prioritise the boring stuff like cleaning and work over the nice stuff like shopping and grooming, but because I knew that the boring stuff would help make my life overall better I couldn't really commit to just doing the nice stuff so basically I just ended up doing a half arsed version of everything. I looked in a few shops, I finally bought my face wash and I got my legs waxed too. And my eyebrows done. I cleaned the house in a regular way, but didn't even get around to doing the bedrooms. I still didn't get all the freelance work done and the garden is a mess, but all of my boring phone calls have been made. I don't know when I will ever get a blood test.

Apparently I am fucking rubbish at being an adult and actually need to dedicate my working week just to doing the things that constitute functioning as a human in this modern world. So just when I thought I was alright at it, turns out I'm not.

Oh well. At least I got to include a picture of Leonardo in this post. Why? Because it's (half) my blog I'll do whatever the hell I want!!! Just jokes, because it was his birthday yesterday too (or today, given timezone differences) and I thought we should celebrate by remembering a simpler time when all I had to worry about was movies and unrequited crushes. Sigh.

Just another manic Monday (PM)

Yeah. Working for the man. That's what makes Monday so unwelcome. Of course 'the man' I'm working for is pretty tiny and cute but he has round-the-clock needs so Monday is kind of meaningless because the job didn't stop on the weekend. I'll tell you one thing though. There is something really great about not having to set an alarm. Sure, I have to get up during the night and do a bunch of mothering plus wake up pretty early, but not having to wake to an alarm really works for me.  These days I just use the alarm when I'm baking something or need to remind myself that eBay auction is ending. Not bad, eh? 

Just another manic Monday (AM)

God, The Bangles were so right. I mean technically things don't really feel that manic. I mean yes, it's 6:30 in the morning and I'd rather be asleep but instead I'm writing this. And I've already put the oven on so I can cook a loaf of bread. But I am just lying in bed as I write and I feel pretty chill so I guess it's not really that manic. And it won't be either except for the half hour when I'm trying to get babies ready to leave the house so I can get to work at a reasonable hour. So I guess the words of The Bangles don't really apply to me at all. Probably it would be better if that song was called Fucking Monday.

It's just another fucking Monday. That would apply to pretty much everyone, wouldn't it. Because it's not the mania of Monday that's a problem, is it? It's that you have to get out of bed, go to work, work for the man. That's the problem.  Even though we're lucky to have jobs and if we didn't have a job to get up and go to there'd be a whole other set of issues. Life is full of paradoxes I guess. 

Just another paradoxical Monday. 

Donut haiku Thursday (PM)

I'm nuts and you're nuts

We are all nuts for donuts

Hooray for donuts!

Donut haiku Thursday (AM)

I like Nutella.

In a donut, sure, sounds nice.

But let's stay calm, friends.

Your simplicity

Leads to pure satisfaction

Cinnamon donut.

Juxtaposition

Of sweet hot jam and dough. Wow.

Gets me each time. 

Into the fog (PM)

Sheesh, according to BOM it’s only 14.7 degrees outside right now. That is not cool. Although, literally it is very cool. I wouldn’t know, I’m at work but it looks pretty miserable outside.

I always find myself a little anxious before any kind of travel, even the minor kind, and an overseas trip is attended by a lot more pretravel anxiety. Throw in a baby and some really cold weather – total fog wandering. When Baby was 8 months we went to USA. I’ve probably told you this before, but as we waited in the dark cold night of a February NYC, very underdressed for the weather an apparently homeless man saw my bundle of baby (the warmest dressed of the three of us) strapped to me in a BabyBjorn and said, “You got a baby in there? Get that baby inside!” Believe me, I wanted to! But the guy who was meant to meet us and let us in to the Air B’n’B apartment we’d booked wasn’t answering his phone. Eventually we ended up in the same place as that homeless guy, a McDonalds around the corner, and not long after that we were let into the apartment. Oh, God, I remember how happy I felt, being in a warm apartment, with a couch and TV and bed and kitchenette. It  made me the happiest girl in the world.

I guess what I’m saying is that there’ll be times when a stranger yells at you on the street as you stand cold and homeless and there’ll be times when you are ensconced in a warm happy home. You know, like life. But better. And sometimes maybe worse.

Into the fog (AM)

Our trip to Hobart is sadly over. Gee it was a nice time. Hobart is as lovely as the first time J, Chickpea, Baby and I went there in 2012. That time we saw art, drank stout and  ate bienenstich. This time was much the same but we didn't drink stout our eat bienenstich. We did, however, drink regular beer and wine and ate oysters and donuts (one of which was a sourdough donut with chocolate and pistachio filling) and a wallaby burrito. There's very good eating in Tas. 

I have no photos to share of course, because these days all my photos involve KB, and that won't do. But take my word for it: Hobart is beautiful and warm and lovely and we had a great time. 

Coming home was pretty lovely too. Like J said a couple of posts ago. You can have pretty great time away but still really really really want to go home. 

Now it's only three weeks until we go to Europe. That's no time at all. 

Obviously it's very awesome to be going to Europe for two and a half months, but I'm nervous about it too. Being far far away with a new baby. The cold. Moving around a bit. Not knowing what to expect at a stage of life where I don't know what I'm doing. There's this saying in Sweden, 'in i dimman' which people say in place of our 'cheers'. It means 'into the fog'. I really feel like that's what we are doing. Literally and figuratively. So I am really hoping that the unseasonal warmth continues in Melbourne. Today is clearly a write-off but the other days. Let them be super warm. Because though the weather in London doesn't seem too diabolical, the clouds have very thick black lines on the outside and I could use the boost.

Emojitastic (PM)

Oh no, I am going to seem like such a killjoy because I don't really use emojis very much. It's because I dislike text speak and at first emojis seemed like an extension of that. These days, they seem totally different and much more enjoyable and spazz. But I've already cast myself as a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to the way the kids communicate via text so I feel like I can't go back now.  I have to maintain my anti emoji stance. 

But I'd be lying if I said I didn't update to the new operating system as soon as I could because the new emojis meant nothing to me. That would be a lie. 

I may not use them, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy looking at them. 

Also, the women in my mothers group are all on the young side and communicate to one another through whatsapp. It is wall to wall emoji, like "baby o has a rash...any suggestions? 🤒😩", then about 5 responses which look like this: 🤔😰🙏🏾🍼

I have no idea what they mean but I figure I need to expose myself to them so I can stay relevant. 

Emojitastic (AM)

I know that the latest update for iPhone's  operating system came out a week ago or something but I was on holidays, OK, with nothing but a 3G internet connection. I couldn't update until I got home on Monday night. And even then there were issues, mainly that my phone was too flat to install it and I couldn't find a charger for, like, an hour but eventually I got that new iOS on my phone and I couldn't be happier! I was pretty much gagging for it by that time. I'd seen the new taco and burrito emojis on Instagram and then Chickpea texted me asking if I'd done the update. She added a bunch of cheese emojis but without the update they just came through as weird little arrows. 

I'm a pretty heavy emoji user and not a week goes by that I don't lament the absence of a certain emoji. Usually facial expressions or hand gestures or cheese, but there are other foodstuffs that I couldn't believe were missing too. Like pancakes and chillies. But this update, you guys!!! This update!! Sure there is still no pancakes but the cheese! The taco! And the chilli!!

But then there are the emojis you didn't even know you wanted! A crab! Scorpion! A patch of grey rainy sky! There's even a Chickpea emoji! But sadly no chickpea emoji. 

After I updated my phone Chickpea and I spent about half an hour texting about the new emojis. The range is so good you guys! You must update immediately! As Chickers and I concluded:

Holiday day 12 Final Day (PM)

Coincidentally I am starting a holiday today, and this post is coming to you from the baggage claim area at Hobart International Airport. It's a bit unpleasant, and perhaps its things like this that make us dead keen to get home at the end of a holiday. But the lack of regular chores and the fact that we are staying at a pal's place which is really really nice, plus the high likelihood of eating oysters and cheese most days...these things make me pretty happy. 

Holiday Day 12 - final day (AM)

Holidays are great aren't they?! All kinds, but I'm at the end of enjoying the kind of holiday where you basically do nothing. Oh we went to Wet 'n' Wild one day and we've driven about 900km, but most days were characterised by a morning at the beach and an afternoon in the pool. Or sometimes vice versa. There has been a lot of ice cream eaten, lots of fruit and some chips. It's been really great and super relaxing. On holidays I think you probably enjoy being away from work but the highlight is being away from the rest of the drudgery. Cleaning the house, grocery shopping, tending to whatever boring shit you have to do in real life which I can't identify here because I don't know exactly what it is, but I know there is heaps of it. 

Although you still have to tidy and eat on holiday the impermanence of it makes all chores far less overwhelming. If you eff it up or skip it one day you can sort it out the next. And even if you don't sort it out you'll be leaving soon enough. That has really been the joy of this holiday. Just enjoying the things I'm doing and the adorable people in with without those boring-ass distractions. 

The weather has been great too, sunny, warm but not too hot. We've seen heaps of greenery, you know in nature, plus a couple of whales, a pod of dolphins,a wallaby, both black and white cockatoos, kookaburras, lizards galore and one morning we had a buffet breakfast.

Holidays really are great. Funny then that I cannot wait to get home tonight. I really can't wait. 

 

Memory lane (PM)

I love a paper trail walk down memory lane. Especially when it takes you to a time in your life when your were overseas or newly returned from overseas or just found out you were pregnant or you had a baby or some other exciting time. I like a hard copy paper trail trip too, which is why my wallet is usually full of old tickets and receipts. 

We went to Disneyland two years ago when Newbie was just a tiny bean in my belly and the signs at Disneyland's doors, necessary by California law, declaring that the park had things containing carcinogenic products that could cause harm to people and unborn babies were pretty disconcerting. Anyway we're all fine and had a great day. 

I've been taking my own trip down memory lane lately because I left my face wash in a hotel in Byron Bay and had to buy a replacement in the local IGA near where we are now staying which is a town of some hundreds people and has a shop with one face wash, Johnson's gentle exfoliating wash, which, although I've never used it, smells just like something I used as a teenager, according to the power of olfactory memory. 

Memories, like the corners of my nose.