Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Merry Christmas!




Dear you,

Merry Christmas! Thanks for dropping by, your support and comments during the year have never failed to make me smile.

I will be travelling over Christmas, doing the rounds of Australia visiting family.

Because I will be off having heaps of fun in real life, I will be giving this blog a little break of it's own.

I hope you have a fabulous holiday season. See you in the new year!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Happy Anniversary Mr Accident!

So, what's a girl to do when her handsome husband is far, far away on their wedding anniversary?

Why, make a husband-on-a-stick, of course.



Just a few minutes with an old picture, a decent colour printer, some cardboard and clear contact paper, tape it onto some old scrap wood and voila - a poor substitute for the real deal!



Baby thought it was pretty funny.


After she had a good look, and checked it really was a picture of her Daddy, she puckered up and practiced her smooching.



Her baby smooches can be a little... enthusiastic. And quite often they involve the occasional tooth mark and a healthy helping of slobber. I was glad I covered the picture in plastic. I think she has been getting kissing tips from the dogs.


Speaking of dogs, someone wasn't too enthusiastic about the new addition to the house.




After a thorough warning bark, and some manly, nervous prancing, Archie gave up and took refuge in the coffee table.



He is a terrible pansy. Not only is he afraid of disembodied owners, but balloons, feather dusters and Christmas lights. It's a hard life for a dog.



My friends threw me a BBQ in honour of the day. Of course I took husband-on-a-stick.

It was in public.

With people we knew walking past.

I propped him up and he watched the whole thing. And I made him kiss me, too.  I am actually amazed I have friends who love me regardless of my antics.

These same long suffering friends brought me a massive bunch of beautiful flowers and an awesome present, too. It was a "Meet Me At Mike's" craft book, stuffed full of creative ideas that made me want to make Every Single Thing in the book immediately.


When I opened the book I noticed a lot of post-it notes. One of my friends had gone through the book and tagged all the things she wants as presents from me in the near future. I suspect the gift was not entirely altruistic!

I'm so glad I don't need friends-on-a-stick, too.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Nienie

In other news, this is by far the most beautiful photo I have seen today. If you don't already read Nienie, drop by. You won't regret it.


Photo from Nienie Dialogues

Fashion folly

I admit it, I slipped into new mum fashion land. My wardrobe mainly consisted of tshirts, jeans and baggy shorts.

The truth is I had been there for a long while before I was pregnant, too. I spent so much time in a uniform at work that when the weekend finally rolled around I just wanted to be comfortable. I would go into a cheap chain store a couple of times a year and buy a few new tshirts, or replace my jeans when they became too worn, and that was it.

Having so much time off work this year really brought my wardrobe woes into stark relief. It came to a head when I took Baby to a play centre, and was by far the worst dressed person there. I didn't receive any dirty looks but I was thoroughly ignored.  (In my defence, I had just been to Bunnings Hardware and lugged dirty bags of sand, and the clientele of the centre that day all seemed to be members of the popped collars and pearls brigade. But still...)

So I cleaned out my wardrobe.  I waited until Baby was asleep then tried on every single item of clothing that I owned. I made two piles: flattering, and non flattering. It didn't matter if it was gym gear or a silk dress, if it didn't fit well, or was too worn or stained, it was out. This left me with about three shirts, a dress, my new jeans and a pair of shorts. Since it takes a full day for clothes to dry in this humidity, this was clearly not going to be sufficient!

Having all my clothes laid out also allowed me to take stock of my clothing habits. Although I favour a clean cut, slightly preppy look, this was not reflected in my clothes. I also noticed that I am far more likely to wear out a tshirt than stain or tear it - clearly I could look after my clothes, and the overall shabby look was coming from the cheap fabric, not my garment care.

It only took a couple of hours at the shops to restock my wardrobe. Although it was almost an automatic response to head to the same cheap chain stores and repeat my previous folly, I resisted. The clothes I bought were not expensive in the Gucci / Prada / Ralph sense of the word, but they were not cheap and nasty, either.

I chose a lovely linen shirt that will improve and soften with washing, which is lucky, as I'm sure Baby will take advantage. I also picked out a nice silk shirt. Although this one is hand wash, it is amazingly cool in the tropical heat and actually quite easy to launder - I've already done it twice (thanks Baby!) I added a couple more cotton, collared shirts and a new cotton dress. I tried to pick out clothes that were less casual than a tshirt, but didn't scream "repurposed work wear" and I think I mostly succeeded.

Since the cleanout, I have already noticed the change in people's attitude when they meet me. I didn't change my demeanour in any way, I just changed my clothes. I now get more smiles, more doors opened and more polite responses from shop keepers. I went back to the play centre and people approached me just to chat. A cleaner, neater type of person struck up a conversation with me at Baby Rhyme Time. This could all be a gross coincidence, but I doubt it. I now feel that I portray externally the way I feel inside, and it's a very comfortable feeling. I recommend it!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

I'm being followed by a moon shadow

The moon tonight is fat, heavy and full. It's leering down into the warm tropical night; close enough to reach up and squeeze.

Tonight is a night for gin and tonics with plenty of ice, served in crystal on a wooden verandah. Tonight is a night for skinny dipping in a public pool, and then climbing back over the fence and running home barefoot. Tonight is a night for wading out into the ocean fully clothed in jeans, then lying back and watching the sky.

It's a night for lying on damp sheets with the window shutters open, and listening to the night birds complain about the abnormal light. It's a fine night for taking the dogs out, just to amble slowly along and let them burn off their werewolf induced energy, gamboling by the lake.

But I need to stay home. I need to be sensible. I need to watch over baby, listen for her cries and keep her safe. Because I want her to grow up and create her own memories of full-moon nights, too. I hope they are wonderful.