Thursday, April 10, 2008

Things I have learned in the past week...

  1. That driving 350km to a wedding while watching the clock AND coping with a migraine IS NOT MUCH FUN AT ALL.

  2. Weddings always make me cry. So does pretty much anything else involving a little emotion - heck, I can cry at ads or a horse race. I fairly frequently cry at other people's posts, too. (I rarely cry at my own, except when they are REALLY REALLY bad.)

  3. You can pull on a party face and really enjoy a reception when you have great people around you and are genuinely happy for the couple. Oh, and when you are dancing to the same songs that you have danced to with the same girls you have dance to them with at all the other family weddings.

  4. Your child can prove to babysitters that she can stay up past midnight. Your babysitters may not have the staying power. Your child can then dance through the remnants of a reception and be far more brilliant than you socially. Your child can refuse to go to sleep for a myriad of reasons, mainly the one that she wants to stay up all night. HOWEVER you can (eventually) steer your child around to realising that all night can end just before 1am if the mother is serious enough.

  5. Just because a resort is expensive and swanky DOES NOT MEAN there will be hot water for a morning shower - or bath even, when you realise the water ain't heating up so you try a different method. A cold bath in the morning does not automatically give you the shining successful persona you so want to put on as you greet the thousand or so relatives who all believe we should meet for breakfast at 7am. It will make no difference to your daughter, who is fresh-faced, bouncy, joyful and still wants to swim in the unheated pools for a few hours before leaving.

  6. That driving 350km back from a wedding while analysing your life in minutae as your child is sleeping IS NOT MUCH FUN AT ALL. It also doesn't help to do so while balancing the factors of your nuptial organisational skills vs those of the extended family, your lifetime plan vs those of the extended family, your dreams and realities vs those of the extended family. Blogging, as a life skill, is apparently not a saleable commodity when no-one has ever heard of it (or you don't even bother discussing it because they won't get it).

  7. That you can start a one-sided argument with your partner for NO REASON AT ALL after such a journey, and nothing he can say or do will alter the path of the dispute before you throw the biggest wobbly and have a complete meltdown.

  8. That if you chose the correct partner (and apply the correct hold) this will be forgiven.

  9. That, after you leave him again and travel 250km to spend time with closer extended family, you cannot have the sort of phone calls you used to have with him if you happen to be in the same room as members of your family especially if it involves yelling, screaming or delighted children or adults who know the innuendo.

  10. That you can have a great time with your closer extended family, especially if you enjoy watching your daughter's face light up when she is promised she will go mustering with Grandpa, and watching your father's face light up when he has a good little ringer at his side.

  11. That everybody should watch Andrew Denton's Enough Rope - Angels and Demons to understand more about mental health.

  12. That, as much as I enjoy being away from home, I enjoy being there more. Even when it involves child-free time. Heck, on occasion especially when it involves child-free time. NOT when it involves more migraine time. I hate migraines. But I also especially love the cessation of that child-free stuff and am looking forward to seeing 'Salina again in a few minutes after a day of such.

  13. That there is NO WAY I can read all of the posts that I have missed, so you will all miss out on my scintillating comments. Sorry, folks - I will try and catch up some time.
Hey - guess what? My first ever Thursday Thirteen!!! Probably not in the rules to have so much bellybutton fluff, but oh well, its not like I am a real player!

16 comments:

Debby said...

Aren't family rites a wonder? I should post sometime about family funerals and my strange old aunt who runs around taking inventory of everyone. (She has some sort of online medical degree, it seems.) The last funeral was for a cousin who had died in his sleep. He was younger than me. It was a shock to us all. My auntie wanders up to ask me if I've had a hysterectomy. When I replied in the negative, she recited all the cousins that HAD. Surprisingly, they were all female...and I seem to be an oddity. Perplexed by this, she said, "Well bowel problems also run in our family..." It was then that I ran. From her. My bowels didn't. But I took them with me....

Alison said...

Welcome home :)
Love the belly button fluff. It makes me smile.

Life. Complicated. said...

Well, I am glad your home and i am sure that V is as well!! Children aren't they a delight. Just remember the ceremony is just a small part of what your building with V and when your both ready it will happen. Glad your home!

Pencil Writer said...

Sor verrrrrrrrry sorry about the extended migraine. They are NEVER a happy moment--then topped by a long drive? Well, may you have blessed relief and peace for the space of however long you need to recoup and find rest.

Arguments are also another of my most unfavorite time-consummers. Listened to too many of them growing up. Never have learned to appreciate (?) them. Guess I'm weird like that.

Missed your posts. Glad you're back. Have a sweet, peaceful walk today.

jeanie said...

debby - luckily (touch wood) we haven't had too many family funerals to attend in all, and our main family tradition (well, after all the head stuff a few generations back) is alzheimers, so we can't really REMEMBER what runs in our family!

alison - I like making your smile, especially if it only takes belly button fluff.

the palms - from your lips to my unachievable goals umpire in my brain, honey!

pencil writer - I am so with you on the arguing thing, just that I used to be so good at it I specialised in it in relationships. I thought I was over it, but it seems there are untapped seams when I put myself in a funk for no good reason. I think I apologised to him for being an unwitting target. Didn't get the walk, but I created a blog for a client - almost peaceful!

mommamia said...

Glad you are home and that you mostly enjoyed spending time with your family.

BB said...

Well, welcome home honey! We did love getting to share your for such an extended period of time... I'm humming 'Devil Went Down to Georgia' as I write this as a special tribute to our family's wedding rituals! You know, we are ALL ready to help with the wedding organisation - all you need to do is say the word!!!! I'm thinking candles, paisley and poppies... or something equally 'Jeanie'... what does everyone else think??
Hugs
BB

Tracey said...

Welcome back! Sorry you had to deal with migraines... much much sympathy, as you know.

BB said...

PS Debby - you are a funny woman!!!

BB said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hilary said...

How come I've never seen this blog before? I came to look when I saw it 'cos I thought we must be neighbours since you are in paradise and I am in heaven. So, can I borrow a cup of sugar?

I'll be back to visit more. Love it.

♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys said...

Jeanie - welcome back. There are no rules for T13 - the more fluff the better.

I hope you enjoyed the wedding. Sounds like you have been visiting Granite Glen country too. No wonder Salina would love it.(oops I just saw BB has posted)

I have woven everything into a 13 post and seen others do very creative ones too.

Hope the migraines ease off and the arguments resolve.

Jenni said...

Ah, so you are Bush Babe's sister. Yes? Thanks for dropping by my blog:o)

Long car rides have produced some of my best and some of my worst thinking. Hey, if the ride is long enough, it can't *all* be good, can it?

Debby's comment made me laugh. It seems every time there is a family get together, the older folks turn to potty talk. Unfortunately potty talk for them is not cursing but actually talking about bowel movements and the frequency thereof.

Cathy, Amy and Kristina said...

Eek -- just flashed back to my sister's wedding.

I had a migraine, a toddler who was the flower girl and a nursing baby.

I was a bridesmaid in a dress that was glued to me and made nursing impossible.

There was no alcohol at the wedding, not that I could have had any anyway due to the raging migraine.

Welcome back!

Crazed Nitwit said...

Migraines suck. Congrats in your first. They are fun yes?

Hugs.

Aniqa said...

Hey Jeanie remember the car ride where we ate a tube of pringles in one go (took all of about 10 mins) and then whinged for the rest of the trip about how sick we felt? I think we were going down the coast.

Or the trip back from Mudfest where the car broke down. Me pushing your station wagon around the roundabout late at night - puts a smile on my face. When can you move paradise closer to hell down here so we can have more of the same?

Sorry to hear about the mingranes - sounds like that cure for stress still hasn't been found. Though am glad to hear that the family is well. Say hi to them for me.