The waiting game sucks, let's play Hungry Hippo

Image from here

I'm generally a patient person.  I don't usually fret or get too anxious about things. Everything will happen in good time. I'm happy to just go with the flow.

There are times in life when being patient and having to wait can just plain suck. When you want to speed everything up or just take a peek at what the outcome is going to be so you can relax (or prepare). You know, take a peek at the last page of a novel just to make sure your favourite character doesn't cark it.

As a family, we've got a lot of balls up in the air at the moment. The prospect of moving house, which will entail finding a new area we can live and be happy in. Finding a new home that we love, as well as selling this house and all that stress. Skip starting a new position at work, which will mean adjustment for him, extra stress and more travel, but will hopefully make his day more enjoyable and rewarding.

It's going to be an exciting year, but my mind keeps wandering to the all the negative possibilities. I hate feeling this way. I wish I could just take a peek at the last page and know how it all ends, so I can stop worrying.

One of my favourite quotes from The Simpsons sums up how I feel today, as Homer says: 'The waiting game sucks, let's play Hungry, Hungry Hippo.'

Walking wounded

Monday, monday. It's been a weekend of blood, pus and kissing ouchies. My two kids were walking accidents, tripping, falling, scraping, every step of the way.

It started on Friday, when the girls seemed to spend their whole day being scraped off the footpath. Their legs were a zig-zag of cuts and scrapes. Then there was a hair pulling incident that ended with Lil-lil having a rather large scratch across her face. Friday afternoon involved stripping off clothes and rolling in a mud puddle (as you do). Despite an intense scrubbing in the bath, we still ended up at the doctors on Saturday morning to have an infected toe tended to. The nurse scraped half of the park out of Goosey's toe and we headed home with a prescription under our arm.

Sunday morning, Lil-lil went for a fly over the concrete and ended up with a badly scraped knee, elbow, hip and tummy. After a lot of tears and Princess band-aids (Thank you Mrs Woog) the warrior was  back and ready to go again.

We spent the afternoon lazing and eating at my dad's place and decided a mid-afternoon trip on the boat would cap off a lovely day. It did until Goosey's uninjured big toe ended up under an anchor. A river of tears and a black toenail later, we decided it might be time to head home.

At home, we had two little girls lying on the couch crying about their injuries. Lashings of Dettol and a few Princess band-aids and a dose of antibiotics later the patients were finally quiet and asleep. Here we are ready for another week battered and bruised (me on the inside). I think we've seen enough blood around here for now.

Playground pick-ups

My Lil-lil is a social butterfly. She loves nothing more than having a playmate, someone to skip with, someone to join her in her imaginary world, someone to giggle with. Being such an outgoing lass she rarely has trouble to get someone to join in her fun. Goosey, on the other hand, is not fussed, she's happy to play by herself or join in when she feels like it.

Lil-lil's efforts to pick-up a friend do make me chuckle though. Watching her can sometimes remind me of a desperate guy in a nightclub, she prowls and pick her target and then uses one of her tried and true pick-up methods. Yesterday, there was just one other little girl at the park who definitely wasn't looking for a playmate, but that wasn't going to deter our Lil-lil.

Her first tactic was to casually play near the other girl and then look up surprised: "Oh hello! Do you want to play with me?" The other girl scurried away.

Not to be deterred Lil-lil ran up and introduced herself and said 'Let's play!' The girl ran away again.

Lil-lil started to look confused. Like, is she crazy, how could she not want to play?!

This time she sat next to the girl and said: "I don't have anyone to play with". Yet again, the girl ran away.

So, Lil-lil pulled out the big guns and circled the girl and cried loudly: "I'm so sad, I don't have anyone to play with" repeatedly. Nope, no response again.

Lil-lil ran back to me and slumped on the ground. "No-one wants to play with me." She truly can't understand that someone won't fall under her spell. I had to explain that sometimes there are going to be people who won't want to play, they just want to be by themselves. She looked at me like I was insane.

At that moment, one of her mates arrived and she was off in a bubble of giggles. The playground pick-up attempt all forgotten.

Polly Dolly goes to the Oscars

Being so grumpy today, I thought I better do something to cheer myself up. So I joined in Danimezza's Thursday's Polly Dolly. The theme this week is Red Carpet Recreation. I loved Michelle Williams' look at the Oscars, I thought she was so luminous and different from everyone else. Plus I just love her.

Here's my take on her Oscar look, not one that I'd be able to pull off, but one I love nonetheless.

A post not about rainbows, sunshine or any of that crap

I have awoken in a bad mood. I wanted to write about cheery things, nice things, but the cranky pants are firmly on and don't look like they're coming off anytime soon.

It's only just past 7am, and already I've yelled, I've snapped, I've ranted.

The cold I had recovered from last week seems to have made a reappearance, waking me all through the night with its scratchy throat. Then little children came in at different hours demanding things. In other words, I'm sitting here tired, grumpy and feeling sorry for myself.

Today, is swimming lesson day. I hate swimming lessons. I hate the dressing and undressing. The cranky mothers in the car park. Having to take Goosey in the water while Lil-lil has her lesson. Stinking of chlorine for the rest of the day. Wrangling the kids in the change room in different stages of undress. Seriously, if it wasn't for it life-saving purposes I'd chuck it in and do something else.

We punished the kids for bad behaviour by banning TV this morning, that seems like a really bad idea now as they bicker and throw wooden blocks at each other's heads.

At least the tea I made this morning was perfection. Lil-lil has already done an impression of my bad mood. Only 12 more hours until bed time.....

At the movies

Watching the Oscars this week reminded me of how much I love movies. For me, there's nothing better than settling down in a seat in a theatre, filled with promise. Escaping reality for 90 or more minutes. Being absorbed in another world, time or place. Laughing, crying, feeling fear and love.

I especially love going to the movies by myself. I know this sounds strange to a lot of people, but I love being able to throw myself into a film wholeheartedly. Not being distracted by the person next to me or having to dissect the movie once it's finished. Though seeing the right kind of flick with a friend can be a lot of fun too. I love taking my kids to movies and watching their little faces as their drawn into the screen.

Watching a movie curled up on the couch on a Friday night or a Sunday afternoon is the next best thing.

Once upon a lifetime ago, I studied film at Uni, with the intention of working in the film industry. I'm not really quite sure what happened to that dream, I guess life got in the way. My first job in journalism though was writing movie reviews and synopses. I couldn't believe I was being paid to watch movies and write about them.

These days I don't go to the movies so much and tend to fall asleep during most films at home. Still, there's nothing better than that feeling of anticipation as the title credits begin to roll.

Weekend wonderland

I couldn't not blog about the weekend catch up, could I? Beth did a great wrap with her post and pictures yesterday, but here's my take on the weekend.

After a quick trip down the motorway (the time fly by with lots of chat with PPMJ) we stopped off in to pick up some essentials – you know Veuve, Moet and apple tarts (essential, I tell you). Then before we knew it we were pulling into Beth's gorgeous gravel driveway and was pleased to see her country abode is even more beautiful in real life.

There were scones, champagne, a trip to the most picturesque pub, play with her delightful girls and then dinner. Oh my lord, the pork was sensational and about two-thirds of the way through I thought I'd be able to finish it easily, but I suddenly hit the wall. Big. Time.

We retired to the lounge to unbutton our pants and chat some more. Let's just say there was a lot of giggling. I then had the most blissful sleep – dark, silent, no little people to wake me, cool weather = perfect sleeping conditions.

Scrumptious bacon, eggs and coffee in the morning and then it was time to hit the motorway again (with a quick stop at a fabulous antique shop on the way).

It was a truly fun weekend. Beth was the most fabulous hostess, being in her picture-perfect home with her gracious hospitality had me feeling like I was staying in a boutique hotel. If you ever get an invite to her home, make sure you say 'YES!'.

I can not wait to do it again soon.