Sunday, February 28, 2010
Why Hello There, Little, Old, Me.....
If you met your younger self - What would you tell yourself? Would you give advice? What advice would that be? Ask about your perception of the world? Give us an idea of who you think you were or who you think you'll be in the future...
( Note, i have done a post similar in topic to this back in 2007, but in the past two years i've learnt so much more! So this challenge post is a completely new and different post to the old one.... )
If i were able to travel back in time, Marty McFly style, and have a bit of a deep and meaningful with my younger self, i think there would have to be three key bits of advice i'd have to impart to teenage me:
Number one: DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR NEGATIVE SELF-VOICE. Seriously, thats in capital letters for a reason, 'cause its pretty damn important. You miss out on so much fun and adventure because you listen so attentively to your worst critic - you. Thats right, its nobody else saying it but you. Its entirely in your head, and in your head is where you'll be spending most of your formative years if you dont tell your inner critic to back the fork off, okay? Turn it off, tune it out and instead of backing out of things when they get a little scary, run into them head first and see which parts hit and which parts glance right off without so much as a scratch.
Number two: Save more money. How very pedestrian of me to advise you, but yea - save more money. You start working at the age of 14 which means you've literally earned hundreds of thousands of dollars, but now at 26 its nowhere to be found. I'm not saying you have to turn all Scrooge on me and not spend a single cent - i'm just saying maybe dont waste so much of it on crap. CD's are great and all ( although you could have done without East 17's " Walthamstow " or Ricky Martins self titled release... ) and its great having a different top to wear for every day of the month, but all that money frittered away on junk could have had you paying off more of your house or got you overseas sooner, and more often. Future-You loves to travel, but you wont get to do all that much of it ( a year sent living overseas and one short trip to SE Asia ) before your first child arrives because Young-You didnt save, save, save!
Lastly, Number three: Pay more attention at your Year 12 formal. Particularly to a young man that comes as a guest of one of your classmates. His name is Mick and you will meet him 8 years into the future, fall madly in love, get engaged and have a gorgeous baby boy. When you meet, you have no idea you were both at that same function all those years ago, and find it amusing that the universe sees fit to bring you back together after that first faint brush with fate. If you had both only known, you could have been together so much sooner, and both of your lives would have been completely different!
Also, rethink the velvet dress- right cut, right colour, wroooooooong fabric.......
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Thinking Happy, Week 5
1. Winnie the Pooh - Flynn is just starting to take an interest in toys and this week he's really started to pay attention to a small Winnie the Pooh comforter he was given. Mick and i wave it in front of his face and talk to him as Winnie and he's started to smile and giggle at it. Smiles and giggles make me happy!
2. Hot cross buns - so Easter is still a month away, i dont care. Fresh, warm, hot cross buns with sultanas in them are the bomb!
3. Bloggy love - I got me some bloggy love from DaughterOfTheStars this week. She bestowed the 'Sunshine Award " on me and directed her lovely readers to my page. Thanks much! She also described my son as gorgeous, so extra happiness points for that!
4. My beautiful fiance - he's done so mcuh work around the house today, and i've done nothing but feed the baby, read the sunday papers and take a nap on the lounge. I just really appreciate him. Aww....
5. Engagement party stuff - again. We've settled on a date - April 3rd, which is Easter Saturday. Party time!
6. Operation Sleep - its starting to work! 3 days in a row Flynn has settled down to a 2 hr nap in the middle of the day. His efforts, even though it must be hard for him being put into a new routine, have really made me happy. Tonight ? He's moving into his own room for night time sleep!
7. Knowing my weight - yep, i finally weighed myself for the first time after giving birth. And i have to say, the results werent too bad. In fact, i'm only 3 and half kilos heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight, and i'm happy with that. Still, am i going to tell you the actual number ? Uh...no.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Operation ' Get My Child To Sleep Longer So I Can Stop Being A Dairy Cow ' Begins....Now!
We've started today and so far its gone pretty well. Its feed, play , wrap and then a quick pat and cuddle before i put him into bed. If he cries i leave him for 10 minutes before i lift him out, give him another cuddle and put him back. He's managed, after two cry/cuddles to sleep for a total of 2 hrs, twice, already today. So, cross your fingers for me for the rest of the weekend!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
I Wanna Be Like Mike...Umm, I Mean Martha
So as of grocery shopping this week i'm inspired to stock my cupboards and fridge with some cooking show basics: filo pastry, rock salt, bread crumbs, frozen berries, tumeric, paprika, soba noodles. You know, things like that. I mean, i already have mixed dried herbs, plain salt and 2 minute noodles, but they just dont cut it. If i have all that stuff then i can just pop on my favourite recipe website, www.taste.com.au, and find myself a meal to impress my fiance with every night, without having to drag poor Flynn to the supermarket when i only need to buy one or two items.
So tonight, bearing in mind that i dont yet have my fancy pantry set up, we'll be having barbecued lamb steaks topped with avocado and melted feta, accompanied by my mixed tzatziki salad concotion - cubed cucumber, red capsicum, cherry tomatoes and baby spinach covered in tzatziki dressing. Y-u-mmmmmmm......
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Welcome to the 'New' .....
Well, in case you havent noticed, i've changed my blog name. Thats right, take a look up there on the header - " Insomniatic Musings " is gone and has been replaced with " New Adventures in Dreamworld ". Huh?
Well, to be truthful, i just wasnt feeling the whole " Insomniatic Musings " thing anymore. It hasnt matched 'me' or my blog for a while - i started this blog in the midst of depression, when i wasnt getting much sleep, and i was using the blog as a tool to get all those things that kept me awake at night off my chest. With the depression gone and the sleep ( somewhat ) returned, the name just didnt feel relative anymore. I wanted to find something new, something that better reflected whats happening with me now and what could be happening in the future. So, after a little thought, i've gone with:
" New Adventures in Dreamworld ".
The ' New Adventures " part is pretty self explanatory. Why the " Dreamworld " bit? Well not to sound too schmaltzy, but thats where i'm living now - in the world i'd always dreamed of when sleep did eventually come to me. I have a beautiful man who i'm in love with and who loves me back; a gorgeous son; my wonderful family and friends; and a whole bunch of positivity to move forward with. I dont just see light at the end of a tunnel - i generate the light and its a damned beautiful glow!
So welcome to my ' Dreamworld '. Oh, and if you arent already following me, go press that button over to your left and become an official follower!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Thinking Happy, Week 4
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
A Recap, Valentines Style
This gorgeous little charm to go on the Pandora bracelet that he had bought for my birthday. Pretty, right ? And what was also lovely was that he told me it wasnt a charm - he was giving me a piece of his heart. Awwwwww.....
I made pancakes with banana and honey for breakfast; we took turns reading the Sunday papers while i fed the baby; we just lolled around the house and took it easy until mid afternoon, when it came time for me to start gettng ready for dinner. I specify " me " because i had to spread the whole " getting ready " thing out over an hour or two: i had to shower, shave my legs,blow dry and straighten my hair and do my makeup. Which is not too bad except that i had to have a half hour break somewhere in there to breastfeed Flynn, before he got too cranky at Daddy for not having any boobies. But i got prettified ( unfortunately we werent clever enough to take any photos ) and i must say it felt great to get all dolled up again without having to contend with a huge belly.
We dropped Flynn off at my parents place and Mick and I had a nice dinner at a semi-fancy resturant. I got the chicken, stuffed with cheese and bacon, wrapped in filo pastry; he had the nutcrusted barramundi; and we both indulged in dessert. We werent out long - Mick, especially, missed his " little mate " - but it was nice to have an hour and half to be a couple again, not just " parents ".
I know its kind of late, but i hope the rest of you had a great Valentines Day, whether you were coupled up for the day or not!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Comfort Food, Come Full Circle
'Blog about your comfort food. What is it? Do you make it? How did you stumble upon it? Is it at your favourite restaurant? How does it make you feel ? Share a recipe, restaurant review or about the last time you ate it!'
To be quite honest with you, i didnt know that the concept of a " comfort " food existed until i became a regular viewer of reality tv. That is, it wasnt until every second episode of " Oprah " or " Dr Phil " mentioned comfort eating, or that " The Biggest Loser " exploded onto our screens with its cast of comfort eaters and comfort eating combatants ... well, before all that i just thought food was divided into foods you did like, and foods you didnt; foods you craved more than others and foods you wouldnt eat in a pink fit. But once the whole " comfort eating " concept, for better or worse, had been drummed into me i realised i've had a love affair with more than one comfort food throughout my life. Never more than one comfort food at a time though - that would be like cheating on your partner or lying to your Dad.
So where did i start ? Peanut butter. Or, more specifically, smooth peanut butter on white toast. It couldnt be the crunchy variety, and it couldnt be brown bread. Hell, it couldnt even be just 'bread ' - it had to be toasted. It happened in my teens - in the throes of a deep rooted depression ( which i had diagnosed yet, but thats another a story ) i would turn to the sweet, nutty, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth goodness of humble peanut butter to make me feel better. To feel normal. I would come in from school and go straight to the bread bin, make me up some toast and slather it in peanut butter. I'd eat 5 or 6 pieces in one sitting and it would never fail to make me feel okay. Or full....
Fast forward a few years. I've finished high school, started medication, and am now working in a part-time retail job. I've given the humble peanut butter the flick. What's comforting me now? Tuna, avocado and lettuce sandwiches. I've upgraded from white bread to the far more complex multigrain, and have discovered the exotic, creamy delight that is avocado. I'd always enjoyed tuna sandwiches - but no brine, ok? - but the avocado just gave it that little something extra. I'd eat this same thing for lunch everyday, day in, day out. It was there when those pesky custmers were giving me hell and it was there when i was just so bored/tired/lazy i couldnt be bothered to make anything else. Tuna and avocado gave me that same sense of order and normalcy that peanut butter did - just in a so uch more grown up way.
A new adventure - now i'm living in the United States, working as an au pair. I'm on the opposite side of the world to everyone i know and love, and i've left the tuna sandwiches behind along with that stubborn depression. Where do i turn for comfort this time? This great little deli in the town where i live ( very originally called Towne Deli ) and their amazing chicken salad sandwiches. I eat so many of them that i no longer need to order them specifically, i just need to turn up and Roberto or Nathan or whomever i was behind the counter would say " The usual ? ". Yep - a chicken salad sandwich, lettuce, and tomato on a Portuguese roll. The chicken salad was comprised of diced chicken, finely chopped cucumber and this delicious mayonnaise who's ingredients were never revealed to me. It wasnt like anything i could get at home so i'm not quite sure how eased my homesickness, but somehow this chicken salad just " got " me. Thats what we all really want, right ?
Rewind to last year and a situation that practically guarantees i'm going to find a new food affair - i'm pregnant! I'm expecting to crave the cliche pickles-and-icecream combo but no - no crazy, far out, weird pregnancy cravings for me. Nope, just, well... devon. I'm kind of ashamed to admit that ( lets face it, devon is not exactly the rockstar of the deli meat world). I also had the tendency to exhale whole loaves of garlic bread in one go, but devon was the easiest, yummiest, bestest on the go snack during my pregnancy. A midwife tells me that craving salty, savoury foods like these mean i'm having a boy - and i do!
And now? My Flynn is 7 weeks old and where am i at? I'm back with my first real love - peanut butter. Its still the smooth kind only this time it has to be on multi grain toast. Its my breakfast staple and if i cant my beautiful boy to sleep or i'm pushed for time or he just wont for the love of God stop crying! - well sometimes its my lunch aswell.
My life my have changed forever, certain people and things may have come and gone, but i think peanut butter is here to stay.....
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thinking Happy, Week 3 - Happy Valentines Day!
Monday, February 8, 2010
At Last - The Unmasking...
Or Michael, as his mother named him. Or Mick, as he prefers to be called. Thats us right there - me and my fiance, the man i have formerly hidden behind the mantle of Mr Gil and who will now be referred to in this blog as Mick.
Why unmask him now, after all this time? Well i figure i use my own name and because i cant help but gush over my gorgeous boy i've used my son's real name and plastered his photo all over this site; plus if you're my friend on Facebook ( which you can be, if you wanna.... just let me know ) you'd be able to see Mick's page via the " Amy Wells is engaged to " link anyway. And this way when I have any cute pictures of Flynn with his daddy or both of his parents i can post them without having to blur Micks face or crop him out. Its just going to make things so much easier!
So there you have it. I dont know if any of you were curious to see what " Mr Gil " looked like but if you were i hope your curiousity has been satisfied. And now onto the rest of my day - Flynn is ( thankfully ) having a nap so i get some lunch in before i take him for his 6 week check up - and needles - this afternoon....
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Thinking Happy, Week 2
1. Finding my son a girlfriend - or my best friend P had her baby this week and i've decided that she and Flynn will day get married. Welcome little E.C!
2. Spending time with my sister - i dont always get along with my sister, but it was nice just hanging out watching some movies with her one rainy afternoon. Also, it meant i could eat my lunch/go to the toilet/fold some washing uninterrupted because i had someone to help me with Flynn.
3. Cashew marsala - i literally only ate this meal half an hour ago but it was sooooo delicious. Chicken and rice and sweetness and creaminess and - yum.
4. Singing - i used to give awesome concerts whilst cruising around in my car; now bouncing around the loungeroom singing my son to sleep makes me happy. Today i gave a particularly tuneful rendition of " Love Me Like The World Is Ending " by Ben Lee, yesterday it was " Gravity " by Allison Krauss...
5. Afternoon naps - i've been lucky enough to fit in some afternoon naps while Flynn has been sleeping. I've always been a fan but now that i have a baby and sleep is not as abundant as it used to to be, a really good nap makes me very hapy indeed.
6. My neice B's smile - she's just tunred one and she has the cutest little smile. Not all her teeth have come in yet so its all gappy, which only makes it cuter. She also likes to accompany it with her favourite word - " Hello! " - over and over. Too sweet!
7. Mr Gil - admittedly he was kind of reading this list over my shoulder and wanted to know why he hadnt been included yet. So i've kept the best for last - of course he makes me happy! Sometimes unbelivably so.....
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Why Are People of My Generation So Stupid?
They are kidding right ? Apparently, aswell as finding that the majority of respondents have no idea about the benefits of breastfeeding, according to a survey conducted by the Queensland University of Technology :
More than 50 per cent of women believed it would be uncomfortable to breastfeed in public, and a majority of men and women did not want their child to be breastfed in public for fear of embarrassment.
Why - why should breastfeeding be embarrassing ? And are we talking its embarrassing for the women who is feeding or for the people around who may be able to see her ? It just exasperates me that these people of my generation, aged 19 - 29, who if they dont already have kids may be having them sometimes in the near future..... it just frusturates me that they would respond that way.
Breastfeeding is literally the most natural thing in the world - a womans body is genetically engineered for it. Nature intended for a woman to breastfeed, and for a baby to get the best nutritional benefit from being fed this way, so why is somehing so natural and so good for us considered " embarrassing " ? I can understand perhaps if you were an overly shy woman you might feel a little strange getting your breasts out in public, or a modest bystander may blush a little seeing a woman with a breast out. But lets face it - we're not talking " Girls Gone Wild " exhibitionism here: we're talking a display of flesh so slight you may aswell not see anything at all. It takes maybe 20 seconds to slip your shirt strap and bra down and once thats done the babies head is in the way of anything titillating.
So maybe i can understand how breastfeeding could be embarrassing for a mother ( i still fail to see how its embarrassing so much for bystanders ). What i cant not, and will not ever, be able to wrap my head around is how it can possible be found offensive ( NOTE: offensive is never mentioned in the article; its just a bug bear of mine ). I was listening to talk back radio the other night - at 4am whilst breastfeeding - and some old woman had called in to say that she finds it offensive to see women breastfeeding in public. Its indecent, she said. Seriously, i wanted to either call the radio station and berate this lady or find the old bird and give a good hard bitch slap. How can it possibly be offensive to feed a child the best way possible? Nobody is at the mall just flopping their boobs out for all and sundry to see; none of us breastfeeding ladies is doing it for some pervy, kinky reason, or see how many people we can upset by flashing a bit of nipple as we lift the baby to our breast. Nope, breastfeeding is simply about nutrition and bonding with your child, i dont know how you can find anything offensive about that.
Its people with the same attitude as crazy radio lady that make it embarrassing for some women to feed their children in public. So what do you guys think - embarrassing ? Offensive? Or just plain natural?
Monday, February 1, 2010
A Photo Update
He's beginning to really like his seahorse - see, he's giving it hugs! Flynn's seahorse lights up and plays music and just in the last few days Flynn has started taking a real liking to it. This is handy, because if he wont fall asleep i can put him in his bassinette, turn the seahorse on, and i know i have exactly 5 minutes of music ( and thus, amusement ) to have a shower!
And this one is not so much an update as it is a backdate - thats me and my little dude straight after his birth. As haggard as i look, i'm not ashamed to share this one. I'm allowed to look tired - i've just accomplished something amazing!