March Madness

Well it's not quite over yet, but March has been pretty mad so far.

Not quite this mad ...

.. but mad nonetheless.

We've shovelled the small amount of snow that's still in the garden.

The bathroom renovations have begun which has required us to move out of the house for a few weeks.

We've had birthdays ...

... and dancing ...

... and stories with Grandma and Grandma (nope, that's not a typo, that's just what Grandpa is currently called).

And as always we've had music ...

... lots and lots of music.

Kalani is currently 'learning' to play the piano (well, he's learning the difference between playing loudly and softly, but you have to start somewhere) which is fun, though slightly deafening.

And I'll end this with a photo that shows the beginnings of Kalani's Coronation Street addiction.

It's oh so quiet

Tonight I have the house to myself.

Kalani is upstairs sleeping, and the cat is lying on the couch next to me, happy and content and deep in feline slumber.

Normally I get a lot of time to myself, but we're having some work done on our house at the moment, and so we're staying with Dan's parents while this is being done.

Now don't get me wrong, I love being around people, but I also need to be by myself too.  

I need the time to recharge and unwind and think and reflect and to just be me.  Not a mother. Or a wife. Or a daughter-in-law.  Or a work colleague.  Just me.

"Hi me, I've missed you."

Things are really busy right now.  I'm starting a new job in a few weeks so there's been a lot of interviews, discussions, meetings.  We're living out of suitcases.  Our house is a building site.  We're frazzled from spending so long each day commuting back and forth.  We're very very tired.

But things are also good.  

Each day brings us a little closer to completed bathrooms and us being back in our house.

Each day also brings Kalani and I a little closer to going back to Australia for a visit in June.

Each day brings the warmth of a summer a little bit closer.

Each day Kalani learns new words and surprises us with his use of them.

Life is good.  And right now I'm as content as the cat on the couch next to me.  

It's oh so still.  Shhhhhhhhh 

And now you are 2

Today you turn 2.

TWO!

That's two whole years that have gone by since you were born.

Sometimes it seems like just yesterday that I held you for the first time.  We were both pretty exhausted. Being born is hard work.  You were so small and scrunchy and perfect.

Then you started to grow ...

... and grow ...

... and grow ...

... and grow.

And now we're entering the third year of your existence, and still you are perfect.

Soon you won't want to hold my hand any more.  You won't want to cuddle and sit on my lap while I read you a story.  You won't let me twirl your baby curls around my finger or kiss you on your still chubby cheeks.

But for now you do.  And I love every minute of being with you, even when those minutes start way too early in the day.

So Happy Birthday little boo, let's play.

The Sleep Diaries: Week 3. The End.

Well the clock is going in the bin.  I have given up.

Wheee

I've been trying really hard to find things to write about in my Things I Love About Newfoundland series, and I'm happy to report that eventually I've found something! :)

A few nights ago we had a big dump of snow, and we finally made it to the closest hill to go sliding.

If you're not from a cold snowy place, the basic concept is this ...

1. Put on a LOT of warm clothes.

2. Go to the top of a hill.

3. Sit on sliding thing.

4. Go down hill.

Pretty simple but lots of fun.

We all went down the hill together.  Then Kalani was more interested in the swings and slide in the playground than in having another go.

So I went down by myself.

Steering was a slight issue (I'm facing backwards down the hill).

Then, just before we were about to leave, Kalani decided that he did in fact want another go.  So down he and Dan went, again and again and again.

Fun!

So I'm not saying that I want winter to stick around (spring starts on the 20th of this month Mother Nature, so you'd better warm up!), but I am saying that I quite like sliding, and if we do get more snow then perhaps I might enjoy going again.

PS - If anyone finds a black winter glove on the Pippy Park sliding hill, please let me know.  My hand misses it.

Friendsick

Since I wrote that post, I've received messages from so many people.  People that I'm friends with on facebook, but haven't spoken to for such a long time.  People that I thought weren't really in my life anymore.

It didn't really affect me until the other day when I received a message from a girl (eek - I guess we're women now) who I met at my very first job.  In 1995.  That's a long long time ago.  We met in Brisbane, but kept in contact through numerous moves around the world, and I actually thought that my last move was it, and that we were now out of touch, and then she sent me a message.

And it made me so sad and so homesick.  Though I guess it's not homesickness, it's more friendsickness.  I really miss friends.  I miss you all.

I miss 'Culture Days' with Chantal - where we'd make a token visit to an art gallery/photography exhibition/museum, and then hotfoot it to the pub afterwards - smug in the knowledge that we'd earned our drink.

I miss going to the pub on a Sunday afternoon with everyone who lived on Strand on the Green, and eating pub food, while drinking boozes and ensuring that Monday was going to be even more painful than it already is.

I miss after work drinks with work colleagues in Chiswick.  I miss kick-boxing with Jane (remember that Jane - we were literally kick-ass back then!).  I miss weekend trips to Leeds to visit an amazing couple, who now have an amazing family.  

I miss going to the bowls club/golf club disco's in Weipa - though I don't miss what we used to wear!

I miss you all.

So this is just to say 'Hi' to everyone who's reading this.  I'm so glad that you're still part of my life, and I wish that all of YOU would start writing blogs too so that I feel like I can be part of your lives as well (Nat - obviously you're ahead of the game here!).

Big big big love.

(I just read over this and realised that I'm turning into an uber-softy.  I blame old age)