List of 50 lessons learned over the weekend...

1. If your organisational skills are in any way reliant on your washing machine being timely, be prepared for rude reminders that your washing machine has a mind of its own, and it is going to be as obstreperous as possible.
   
   
2. Even if you chose to circumvent the time consuming nature of the washing machine by employing the dryer, you will not be guaranteed that it will either be timely OR completely dry its contents.
   
   
3. To get through the list and retain as much whinging time as possible in the day you may be tempted to gloss over some more "houseworky" items. Do so at your own peril - for although the "there will always be housework" advice rings true, there will always be MORE housework for those who slacken.
   
   
4. A plant is a great present. A citrus tree is a marvellous present. An overloaded sedan with a child in the back seat (who has a track record with defoliation) and a (prickly) citrus tree loses something in the fantastic present giving feeling process.
   
   
5. Getting away at any point earlier than when you are ready is impossible. Getting away at any point earlier than an hour later than you thought was possible is also impossible. Getting to the other end of the journey earlier is also a feat worthy of Hercules no matter what the leaving time is, so do not dispair.
   
   
6. You meet interesting people waiting for the toilets in petrol stations.
   
   
7. If you decide to go off the highway to find some local fare for dinner and see a Fish'n'Chip Shop doing a roaring trade, do not thing "oh we can come back to that if we can't find anything else", because
   1. you may not pass by that way again,
   2. even though you may not get lost, you may get disconcerted by this strange town,
   3. some towns are downright creepy at night, and
      
   4. you may be disappointed in the final dinner options available and contemplate many what if's.
      
      
8. Noodles are impossible to eat while driving - even if you got a fork.
   
   
9. Apparently not all Mongolian Beefs taste like Mongolian Beef. Some Mongolian Beefs are a little bit sweet and satay-ey.
   
   
10. Apparently when chilli is mentioned as a flavour on the noodle menu for your totally foreign sounding second dish, this is a serious promise.
    
    
11. Some children have crap taste in pizza toppings.
    
    
12. Some pizza franchises have crappier pizza topping options than others - and if you are not a connoisseur of pizza franchises you will invariably end up with flavours out of your experience range.
    
    
13. 9 year old girls happy to be having crap pizza for dinner will not notice.
    
    
14. Drivers frustrated with noodles and requiring food will - but will eat anyway (thinking about the what-ifs of Point 7).
    
    
15. Giving a 9 year old child the task of calling relatives to advise of dinner plans and estimated destination times will be successful in the transmission, but by talking to another 9 year old to give details will not guarantee the adults at the destination will know of said dinner plans.
    
    
16. The alphabet game has 3 very difficult letters - J, Q and Z - on a highway. I truly feel for anyone not living in Queensland on the second of those 3 letters.
    
    
17. The decision to go through the guts of a city rather than facing the task of using a tollway that now has no options for payment ON said tollway is a good one generally late of an evening.
    
    
18. Well, it is a good one if you do not decide to go through an area where many people converge on a Friday night to drink copiously and act like buffoons.
    
    
19. Drivers who do tend to travel into said areas are rude, arrogant schmucks who do not understand the concept of "keeping intersections clear".
    
    
20. This applies equally to professional drivers (buses, taxis) as to the unprofessional variety.
    
    
21. There is at least 1 lovely policeman in Brisbane who deserved the round of applause received in our car when he cleared the intersection after we had waited for 5 light changes to get through and on our way.
    
    
22. Harking back to point 16, said relatives will wait dinner for you until ungodly hours if it is in their culture to offer food on arrival.
    
    
23. Noone is really that hungry at 11pm.
    
    
24. Pregnant feet swell horribly after being in a car for most of 6 hours.
    
    
25. 'Salina has excellent reflexes for kicking cousins when being kicked - even when asleep and top and tailing in bed.
    
    
26. 72 year old ladies who have had 2 knee replacements will look much younger and happier with the success of said operation.
    
    
27. Cultural offering of food is fantastic when one is hungry enough to appreciate the gesture.
    
    
28. No matter how much you eat, some cultures like to insist on you eating more!
    
    
29. Instincts on finding parking spots based on experience over 3 years out of date are occasionally pleasantly surprising in their abilities.
    
    
30. Meeting up with women who, in some cases, you have not seen for 23 years at a venue you have never been to can be daunting.
    
    
31. Never arrive on time for such a meeting - you will require a pot plant to hide behind while people watching and a task to perform while waiting.
    
    
32. Mobile phones are handy to find said task.
    
    
33. Some people change beyond recognition in 23 years.
    
    
34. Luckily, some people don't.
    
    
35. Ankles can resemble balloons after a day of Brisbane heat (especially after driving the night before).
    
    
36. Never buy household staples at petrol stations!
    
    
37. 'Salina can eat fish that have bones, heads and tails in tact.
    
    
38. She prefers them to be filleted, though.
    
    
39. Uncles can be very indulgent.
    
    
40. Houses can be built on the sides of hills. This is especially freaky to us now, as there is only 1 HILL in the realm of paradise.
    
    
41. Hills are beautiful.
    
    
42. Even if you didn't love a house you once lived in, it is still sad to find a block of apartments where it stood.
    
    
43. Children, no matter how much they love one another, need time out (more so if both children are onlys)
    
    
44. A champion team can beat a team of champions (especially if a large section of the former are Queenslanders!).
    
    
45. 23 year old people are an excellent addition to the dinner table - even if they do make you very cognisant of your age. This especially applies when you mention a year that you suddenly realise was prior to their birth!!
    
    
46. The road home can seem quite long. Never more so than when you are behind the sort of driver that speeds for overtaking lanes and dawdles on the in-betweens.
    
    
47. You never know who you will run into at a park 200km from where you live and 200km from where they live.
    
    
48. This is far more likely to happen if the park has a great playground, of course.
    
    
49. Sometimes trying a new road will save you time and let you see some wonderful sights.
    
    
50. Cats do not appreciate being left for an extended period in a safe and healthy environment, and are not afraid to shirk from yelling their displeasure at you.
    

I feel like a far more enlightened person.

Did your weekend teach you anything?

October 2 to do list

Because it may not get written otherwise.

• Write list
• Stuff around
• Sort washing, put first load of washing on
• Breakfast
• Make 'Salina's lunchbox
• Do household budget
• Find cat, violin and sadly overdue library books
• Stuff cat into catbox and put it, 'Salina, her lunchbox and other items into car
• Deposit cat at Garfield's Purrfect Cat Motel, get violin tuned, drop books into library, find mechanic to give me a screw (in the mounting around the front passenger side tyre), drop 'Salina at vacation care
• Do other seventy-six million (okay, 3) loads of washing, peg them out in a timely manner
• Colour hair
• Water gardens
• Do work budget and any outstanding worky tasks
• Shower
• Work out details for the weekend
• Pack
• Vacuum
• Sweep
• Clean kitchen
• Contemplate cleaning bathroom
• Collapse
• Pack car
• Collect 'Salina from Vacation Care
• Hit the road
• Drive for 4-7 hours

oh, and

• Blog

What does yours look like?

October?

How the heck did that happen? Hang on, 2009, you are getting waaay ahead of yourself.

I vote for it still being August - anyone with me?

Thank you all for your comments about the moments made special. On Monday, there ended up being many of them.

'Salina decided she wanted to make a picnic for visiting cousins and so there were chicken and egg (separate) sandwiches, banana muffins, fruit and cordial packed up for feasting and adventures.

We met up with my brother and SIL and stole their three children for our entertainment (and gave them leave to have a few child-free hours - they looked quite lost at the concept)

We went to a new playground. New playgrounds are fantastic - no graffiti, the bits of tree are still soft fill and not hardened torture, all the pieces of equipment still work (and aren't vandalised) - and so exciting to explore.

(note to playground designers - you know those useless ladies and/or gents following your target audience around - a request for a bit more shade for them to loiter in please)

After dropping off one cousin to an appointment with her dad, we went to the Botanic Gardens ('Salina and I are still arguing the toss on it being "Botanic" or "Botanical" - signs were contradictory supporting both arguments) for the main drawcard we offer visitors - the little train that circles the gardens on random days during the holidays.

(As an aside to shake a stick at bureaucracy gone mad, apparently the State Government were making noises that the small voluntary group of train enthusiasts who lovingly restore old diesels and steam trains for this circuit of no more than 3km at a top speed of around 5 km/h and who have NEVER had an accident should adhere to the same standards as their soon-to-be-sold-off public network which would cost them about $1 million in upgrades - that is a heck of a lot of $1 train rides to flog to little children, isn't it?)

Unfortunately, we had not gambled on the day we chose being one of the random days they weren't running the trains during the holidays so we elected instead to use our legs and explore.

Note to the wise - if you are going to ramble through lush trees and look at ducks and lizards and splash in puddles and marvel at disappearing turtles, do it with a 3 year old in tow. Increases joy all around.

Of course, one of the problems with dragging children around in the tamed wilderness is the sudden of toilet needs (not to mention pregnant lady requirements) - but one of the attributes of tamed wilderness is that it is never too far to another building that might have toilets.

The best, best, BEST thing about the gardens, however, was the bit of lawn in front of the cafe when three children could run wild round and round and round for about 1.5 hours while I sat and watched!

Today, however, our special moments have consisted of "do I have to go to Vacation Care" and grumbles, as someone has seen fit to request me to type all day in their meeting.

Still, tomorrow is another day - and it is one where we aim to venture down to the Big Smoke for a very speedy catchup with an unofficial school reunion, 'Salina's dad's family, old friends and fit in the footy grand final before returning to the real world on Monday.

How's your mother?

My head is clear, the coughs are receding into the background and oh my goodness, doesn't it make a difference feeling okay?

A friend of mine yesterday mentioned that this will be the last school holidays where 'Salina will be the only child, and was I doing anything special 1 on 1 with her.

Eeek - I hadn't even thought!!

Where am I going to find such moments? In the 8 days ahead we have cousins in town today, a playdate and softball training tomorrow, I am working Wednesday-Friday, we (including V) anticipate a flying visit to Brisbane over the weekend and the pupil-free day next Monday will be travelling back or recovery!!

I mean, last week we had some real quality mother/daughter times - there was the drive to and from Granite Glen (always fun - except when she is sleeping, which is generally the case on the return because generally she has well and truly worn out the batteries on horses and cousins) and I picked her up from Vacation Care early on Friday.

Right now I am on the computer and she is watching a kids show she NEVER gets to watch the whole way through because the bus arrives - as they say in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, it is about the definition of quality.

Well, okay, Z&TAOMM probably wasn't alluding to domestic excuses AND it has been a few years since I dived into that tome, but I am going to have to work on how to harness quality M/D time from the aspect of definition - because time/money/opportunity isn't as free flowing in this second week of the holidays as is required for the zenith of such experiences.

So her making scrambled eggs for me and only having one slight mishap involving balance, beaters, gravity and yolks fits in to the category of "great Mother/Daughter moments". As does 'Salina spreading mulch while I weeded and pruned. I think the moments of tidying together are priceless, and we did do the groceries together yesterday.

Then I think back to last week - one night she went to other cousins and I stayed with my parents, and then I spent most of the next day with my own mother.

Of course, I was on the computer for the majority of it (real work, not just fluffing around) and she was pottering - but we got to wash up together and the comfort of just being around each other - its nice.

So I wonder - what are great mother/daughter moments for all of you? Is it the moments crafted, the moments stolen, the moments of excess or the moments of mundane?

I would like to announce my return to the real world

However the dust storm on Wednesday started it all off again, and therefore we have interminable coughing from this neck of the woods.

To compound the joy of the moment, 'Salina has her own special variation of it going, a lovely hybrid of what she has had lingering for months and what Mummy has brought to the table.

Oh, and not to miss out on the action, V has just started his version, and we can have the full symphony at some points of the evening.

Vitamin Cs in high demand and a fun September school holidays being enjoyed by all.

Prior to Wednesday, however, things were brighter - we were visiting relatives which meant a great deal of horsely and cousinly activity for 'Salina.

There was a slight amount of hair pulling for me with diminished internet connectivity (not just for my social life - I actually had some work that required a bit of internet - I have the WORST boss in the world, she won't even let me enjoy a holiday. Of course, I could just thumb my nose and resign but as I work for myself I do this regularly and no notice is taken)

Next week I have plans of actually having some school holidays with 'Salina, and then bundle her into care for a few days while I work and prepare for a lightening trip to Brisbane (already overbooked with relatives, friends, school reunions and buying stuff for baby).

Collapsing is on the cards in October.

I hope the world is treating my internet friends well, and I promise to pop by at some point soon.