Friday Feel Goods

So - i was working by myself today. No other dispenser, and no optom, which also meant no patients...which all equals not much work to do. And what better way to keep myself amused at work ( you know, when you arent allowed access to Facebook ... ) than to make of all the things that i enjoy in life. The feel good things. The ones that make me smile instead of causing me unnecessary worry ( and bloody frown lines.... ). Things like:

* Warm days during winter. Its no secret that i hate the cold, so when we do get a mild/warm day in between the frost, i like to make the most of it - take Flynn to the park, play out in our front yard, or scour through our (small) garden looking for ladybugs or caterpillars.

This got a really big " woooooooooow! "

* Flynns excitment - his childs enthusiasm makes me smile. For example, the other day he found a caterpillar on our tree and it was like it was the most amaaaaaazing thing ever, in the whole wide world . ( And lets face it, when your only 19mths old, caterpillars probably are pretty awesome ). Ladybugs and the moon and dandelions are illicited the same " Wow Mummy - wow! " on the first encounter.

* Dessert - i've got a sweet tooth all year round but winter desserts are just so ....good. Great. Warming. Comforting. I'm thinking tonight would bea great night for a crumble and ice cream. Ooh, or homemade cheats apple danish.

*A good book - i'm a bit of a reader. I have been since kindergarten.... its only now that i have a family and, thus, very little time to myself that i appreciate a good book, the escapism that it offers. I'm in the middle of " The Shifting Fog " by Kate Morton at the moment ( yea, yea, i know - i'm only a few years behind everyone else... ) and if i had the opportunity to just sit and read and read i'd finish it in one sitting...

I am SO hanging out with these people next week!

* Text flirting with my fiance - and you can get your minds out of the gutter. I dont mean "sexting ", i mean playful little messages through the day, or a random " Love u babe xx " out of the blue. Its nice that we still do silly things like that, and that they still make me smile.

* Having " things " to look forward to - like a roadtrip to Sydney next week where we will stay with Micks aunt and unlce, catch up, go and see Cirque Du Soleil and do some shopping. Excited!

My Weekend, A Story In 3 Parts: Part 3 - Where I Have To Go Home

Yes, I realize that I’ve dragged this story out a little bit – the weekend in question was two weekends ago, but I figured if I’ve labeled it a story in 3 parts, I best finish the third part. In truth the third part is the most boring, but its also the shortest. It’s the bit where I have to pack up my crap, say farewell to P, and head back home to DubVegas.

Like I said, we both loved Cirque Du Soliel’s “ Dralion “ and I loved being able to share it with P, because she hasn’t seen anything like it before. We had planned on having dinner in the Entertainment Quarter before we headed back to the mountains, but we kind of stuffed ourselves full of popcorn during the show and weren’t really hungry anymore. So, rather than hang out for a nice little dinner in the “ city “ we just headed straight home. This wasn’t exactly a bad thing – it gave us the opportunity for more chat without having to hear each other over the din of other diners, plus we made it home in time to catch the majority of the Australia vs Springboks rugby test match . Which, for any Saffa’s reading this, we won.

And that’s about it. Sunday morning, P hosted a Tupperware party. For any women who’ve ever been to one we all know they aren’t the most exciting of events, but I bought this neat little chopper machine – no more tears when cutting onions! Will chop any firm vegetables such as carrots or potato! And, midway through the post-Tupperware ramble, I had to make my exit. The party had started late because other than myself and her mother-in-law, none of P’s other friends know how to be punctual, so I had to say a quick goodbye to P and let her get back to her hosting duties. I would have preferred if I’d had a little more time to say “ hey, had an awesome weekend, thanks for hanging out, I miss you big lots already! “ but these things happen.

And that was it, weekend over. Except for my four and half hour drive home, during which I turned up my road tripping music and gave my best “ Australian Idol “ audition impression ever. And don’t be laughing – you know you all do it too. That’s half the fun of traveling by yourself – you can make like you’re the biggest rock star ever and there’s no-one there to laugh at you.

So, in closing, a big thanks to P for being my bestest buddy, and I’d like to thank the Australian public for voting me their Idol…..

My Weekend, A Story In 3 Parts:Part 2 - Where I Almost Make P Cry

So we enjoyed our dinner at The Mean Fiddler. Incidentally, police statistics released earlier this year showed The Mean Fiddler to be the most violent pub in the state - and my uncle, who is a police sargeant, chose to take us there. Weird. Anyways, we drove the 30 minutes back to P's place ( talking about my uncle and his girlfriend all the way there ) and guess what we found on our return ? P's hubby ( PH) and his best friend S playing Nintendo Wii. We love Wii! Needless to say the next two hours wre spent in a battle for Wii supremacy. We were playing this really nonsensical game with " rabid rabbits " - I was pretty awesome at shooting them with plungers, but not so great at punching them in time to the disco beat. Apparently, i have no ryhthm. And - suprise, suprise - P and I headed to our respective beds WAY before the boys did....

It might have been all the Nintendo played the night before, but come Saturday morning everyone woke up a little sluggish. A little blah, a little meh. I got out of bed at 8:45am and didnt drag myself off to the shower until 11am. Even then it was only because P said we were going to a birthday party at 12pm and if we didnt get a shuffle we'd be late. Who's birthday party, you ask ? A one year olds. A happy 1st birthday. And as entirely un-awesome asit may sound to attend the 1st birthday party of a child you dont know, it was nice to see P interacting with him. I know how badly she wants to be a mother and, also though she doesnt verbalise it, how much she worries about being good at it. In my humble opinion - P will make a great mum! And i'll be an awesome surrogate aunty, the one with the tattoos and crazy travel stories. By the way, it was at this party we made the pact to become " fat nannas " together. Everyone loves a fat nanna - you know, the chubby nan who bakes all the time and lets you sit on her lap for a nanna hug ? Thats going to be us. Fat Nannas.

But i digress. We newly appointed Fat Nannas of the future excused ourselves early and hit the highway. See, the main reason for my visit was that i had got tickets for P and I to see Cirque Du Soleil and it was time to make our way from the mountains to the city. Woo hoo! Now, i dont live in the city but i know how to get from the mountains to Moore Park but guess what ? It was World Youth Day ( Miss Em will feel my pain here ) and there were road closures. Bloody pilgrims! No matter - P and I are two very capable women and were able to read a map and make it there within an hour, no wrong turns or anything. Its okay, you dont have to say it - we rock.

Not only did we make it with no mishaps, we made it with plenty of time up our sleeves. Icecream and a chat solved that dilemma. We grabbed some New Zealand Natural ( mmm... macadamia flavour ) and settled in to deep and meaningful mode. Seeing as it was WYD we settled into some serious religious discussion. As i said, P is newly married, she wants to start a family and I guess she must be looking for that elsuive " something ", because she ecpressed an interest in suddenly attending church and maybe sending any future children to a Catholic school. Curious, i asked why ? P said that all the hype surrounding WYD, the entusiasm of the pilgrims for their faith, the prayers - all that had made her feel good. She thought going to church even once a month might work the same, and it would nice for her children to have God in their lives. Normally i would make some kind of joke but i could see that she was serious. She asked what i thought - i ahd to be honest with her. I told her that i love her and if she felt thats what she needed, and wanted, then i support her 100% - its just not for me. I had religion rammed down my throat when i was younger and at the age of 15 i told my mother, and my priest, that i wouldnt be going to church anymore, that i did believe in God. And i dont - i believe in good and evil, but i dont believe in God and the Devil. I believe the 10 Commandments are good guidelines ( notice i didnt say rules ...) but you should live your life well because it enriches you as a person, not because some supposed spiritual being told you to. I told her that even though it wasnt for me, i had respect that it IS for other people. My respect for others beliefs and how serious they are taken extends so far that, when asked to be my neices godmother, i said no. I told my brother and his wife although i love my neice to bits and that i would always be there for her, i could not go into a place of worship and profess to believing in God and promising to raise her in His church - just to gain some kind of title. That would make me hypocritical.

Thats when i turned back to P. I had been vaguely people-watching as i spoke and when i turned back P had tears in her eyes and this horrified look on her face. " But PH and I had alreayd picked you to be the godmother of our first child ". She looked like i had just broken her heart and her voice was breaking as she spoke. I gave her a hug - " We already picked you and now your saying you wont do it... ". I felt like a complete douche - she was nearly crying! I sat back and explained to her that of course i wanted to be her first borns godmother, it wasnt the godmothering that i was against - it was the trivialisation and manipulation of some people's sacred beliefs and hypocrisy that i was against. Those are my personal principles, a moral code, if you like, that i try and live by, even if it means not gaining something i would like. Then P totally blew me away - " Amy, you must be the strongest person i know ". Verbatim. Thats what she said. And THAT almost made me cry. After some of the shit i have had gone through, lows i've had, how weak i sometimes consider myself, for my best friend to say that i'm the strongest person she knows meant a hell of a lot. And that was it - no more tears. A deep and meaningful to remember.

And then it was show time! I wont go into details because, frankly, this post has gone long enough and i'm suprised anybody is still reading it. Suffice to say, it was awesome. I had seen two Cirque Du Soleil productions before so i knew what to expect, but i'm glad P really enjoyed it. It was nice to be able to share something i like so much within someone totally new to it.

I love sharing!

And then