Wedding Anniversary #4

Today is our fourth wedding anniversary. It also happens to be New Years Eve. Some people have asked us if we have anything special planned. The answer is "kind of". What to do to celebrate a wedding anniversary and New Years Eve with a small kid? Anything involving too much alcohol is out so that leaves not much. Everyone knows you can't have any fun without drinking! We have a nice bottle of champagne that we plan on drinking together after Henry has gone to bed. We also plan on cooking ourselves a nice dinner, hopefully involving prawns or some other kind of delicious seafood. We had a few dozen oysters just yesterday after I discovered them on sale at the supermarket for $2 a dozen. I bought six dozen, gave two away and was disappointed that we were only left with four dozen to share between us.

My mother who is 65 is having a shindig of a party with her church group to celebrate New Years Eve and she's 65. She has more of a time of it than we do and we're just over half her age. She'll be up past midnight ringing in the New Year. We can't stay awake that long. She'll probably sleep in past midday. We'll be up at 4.30am. I don't know how she does it. She's a party animal. I'm beginning to wonder if she's turning into one of those women I saw yesterday on Dr Phil. One of those women who refuse to act their age, who go out drinking and partying with young hooligans refusing to accept that they have responsibilities like children and a husband. I guess she doesn't take her clothes off in public nor drink so much that she is even slightly drunk but still. Aren't 65 year olds supposed to go to bed early and get up early because they can't sleep? Aren't they supposed to have dinner at 5pm, watch the news at 6 and then knit for a bit before retiring for the night?

I guess she and her friends will be crowded around the piano singing Auld Lang Syne at midnight while Ben and I are sleeping soundly preparing ourselves for the onslaught of Henry at 4.30am. Waiting to hear those first words he speaks every morning....."Oh big twuck". Those words will herald in the new year. They'll be the first words we hear in 2006, the first words we'll hear as we start our fifth year of marriage.

I couldn't really imagine anything else I'd rather hear first thing on New Years Day 2006. It will mean that all is well with the world.

Happy New Year! May 2006 bring peace, happiness, good health and good fortune.

This is all we can think to do to stay cool. Other than the air conditioned shopping centres.

I don't want to go on and on about it but the heat is oppressive. It's impossible to feel cool anywhere but in air conditioning.

We took Maya to the airport yesterday morning at around 5.30am to meet her flight to Tasmania. She's gone to spend some time with her Dad. It was hot at 5.30am. Sticky, humid, unbearable. Henry has been a little unwell with conjuctivitis and a fever. Coming home to a hot and sweltering house meant cranky people all around. Despite the air conditioning in the bedroom he didn't want to sleep or rest. He's been grumpy and a little out of sorts.

We bought a new phone just the other day but had some problems with it so we thought a trip to the air conditioned shopping centre in the air conditioned car to change the problem phone may provide relief for a short time. We changed the phone but didn't want to be assaulted by the heat from outside so wandered around there for a bit to soak up as much cool air as we could.

None of us, including Henry, like shopping centres. It wasn't long before we could no longer stand the throngs of people, the overstimulation of the music and lights and sights. The heat seemed much more attractive after spending an hour or so with the bargain hunters at the post christmas sales.

Christmas Day

Trying to keep cool in the laundry tub.

Time to get under the sprinkler and cool off.

Under the trees in the shade was the coolest place to be.

Aside from the heat we had a wonderful day. Angie and Brett did a fantastic job. We had more turkey, ham, delicious salads and a pudding made by my mother. Yum!
Henry learned very quickly that underneath all the wrapping paper may be one big surprise for him and wanted to unwrap everyone's gifts.

Cricket was played. Bloody Marys and Champagne flowed freely. The kids played with all their new toys and had the odd argument. A late afternoon thunderstorm did little to cool things down but was still a welcome respite for a short period because the clouds blocked the sun.

We came home around 5pm. Maya retired to her room to watch a movie on her new DVD player, I went straight to the airconditioning to lie down with Henry who was so overtired he refused to go to sleep. Ben was still hungry and ate. Mad!

All in all a wonderful Christmas day.

Presents from abroad

Dear Grandma Mary

The gifts you sent are absolutely delightful. The T-shirts a perfect fit and very groovy. Maya is in love with the sequinned cardigan. Once again you managed to excel in the gift department. Henry will enjoy wearing his new outfit to luch today. He gave the dog a very big hug and said "awwww".

We love you
The Australians.

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family around the world wherever you may be

It's 7.45 am. Hot, sticky and positively uncomfortable weather wise but a beautiful, peaceful and happy Christmas morning in all other regards.

We all slept in until 6am. I guess the big Christmas feast at my mothers house left us with a tummy full of food that could only be digested while sleeping. Our Christmas Tree is outside to keep busy little fingers off it so we got them all from under the tree and came inside and opened them. Henry was delighted by his firetrucks and let out some appropriate "wows". Amazing that a child of only 16 months can have such an obsession with trucks and all things with "weewaw"s (wheels).

We will be having lunch with my brother (Brett), his fiance (Angela) and their family. More turkey, hams and salads. Lord knows why we insist on having baked and roasted food in this weather. We still haven't made the switch to prawns and other cold dishes. My brother is highly allergic to seafood so this may be why. If he even so much as touches a prawn it could have serious consequences. Next time he's not around for Christmas I will insist on seafood only!

Until later.

Merry Christmas eve to those in the Northern Hemisphere. We wish we could be with you and enjoy the cold. It would be most welcome here right now.

Plus BBQ equals 50 degrees C

It's 3.30pm and hot as hell. It's about 37 degrees C in the house right now and the humidity is high. We got a plea call from my mother asking if I could cook the ham. I agreed. It can't be that hard. It looks and smells delicious but it wasn't all that easy. First I had to peel off the rind and then mix up the glaze and then coat the ham with the glaze, cook it for an hour, glaze again, cook for another hour and a half. The heat from the oven has turned the house into a sauna.



Ben grilled up some vegetables for me for my contribution of grilled vegetable salad for Christmas Day lunch tomorrow. Of course he had to have beer while doing that and I had to join him. It was HOT! The above pics are of just that. The capsicum is perfectly grilled and now marinating with the zucchini, eggplant and mushrooms.


Maya made chistmas themed chocolates for everyone before being whisked off to Nanna's to help with the planning of the Christmas feast over there.

I hope it cools down tonight because I want to eat like I've never eaten before. Christmas dinner with my mother is a treat not to be missed!

Conversations With Children

Sam: Mum, which car are we taking to Leyburn tomorrow?

Sam's Mum: Why Sam?

Sam: Because I want to make sure we can fit my bike in that Santa is brining me?

The Stockings Were Hung By The Fan With Care

Daddy and Henry peruse the recipe books in search of a delicious dessert for Christmas Day

It's 11am Christmas Eve and Henry has only just gone to bed two hours later than normal. He must be aware that Christmas is in the air. Maya was up earlier than normal and has cleaned her room, placed the wrapped gifts beneath the tree and is now making chocolates. Ben has tried to call his mum three times but she remains elusive. She must have a life because she is never home these days when we try to call.

My sister and her children have just called in to say goodbye as they head back home to Toowoomba to celebrate Christmas with Jack's (her husband) family. Sam and Madison are both eagerly awaiting Santa's visit tonight and will leave a carrot for the reindeer and a beer for Santa. My sister Susan and her brood will arrive late this afternoon in time for the massive feast my mother has planned.

Ben is preparing to make a pumpkin pie for dessert tomorrow and has made his shopping list. He and Henry lovingly browsed the recipe books this morning. Henry marked his approval with a "yummy" each time he saw something that took his fancy.

If only it were cooler. Maybe by ten degrees.

Exploding Ginger Beer

My mother has made ginger beer for Christmas. I love this stuff. She and Dad used to make it when we were kids and I can always remember it stacked up in the laundry. We were instructed not to touch it. Every now and then a small explosion could be heard as one of the bottles lost its top. Mum would grow her own "bug" and brew the stuff and then give it all away to anyone who came to visit and there'd be hardly any left for us.

I got to taste test this latest batch last night and I've got to say it's every bit as good as it was when we were kids. My mother never thinks anything she does is her best effort and before I drank any she warned me of all the things that could be wrong with it. Home Made Ginger Beer. What could be wrong??? It did a fantastic job of cooling the fire in my mouth caused by the chilli chutney personally made by my mother's neighbour who is Sri Lankan.

The ginger beer means Christmas is here!

Maya is excited because today is Christmas Eve and she can finally put the presents under the tree. We've waited until today because Henry would just destroy them. He's not been as interested in the Christmas tree as we might have thought. Aside from grabbing the occasional bauble and hurling it across the ground he really hasn't paid it much attention. My mother was worried he may totally destroy her tree. Hers is full of expensive and beautiful glass baubles. He hasn't touched it.

Maya has plans to tidy her room and the whole house and put out her santa sack and Henry's. This is the only time of year I can get her to do anything voluntarily. Without asking for money in return. I love Christmas!

Tonight we are having dinner with my mother. I have no idea how she does it but she has a three course feast planned, complete with stuffed turkey, home made cranberry sauce and pudding with sixpences hidden in it. Every night for the last two weeks she has entertained. Her feet are swollen and her back is about to break but she won't stop. She keeps saying "I love it". I personally think she's a glutton for punishment but I do think she loves every minute of christmas, having her family and loved ones close by and being able to delight them with her culinary skills.

The only wish I have is that those far away could be with us this christmas. Or that we could be with them as it's cold there and set to be 38 degrees here on Christmas day meaning we may not make it through the day. We may have melted by noon.

For those far away we wish you a Merry Christmas! We will be thinking of you all as you celebrate with family and friends and will dream of the time we can all be together.

Spaghetti Diaries entry #3

Help! I am becoming my mother. Tonight while searching the pantry for some pasta to cook for dinner I came across three opened packets of spaghetti and four unopened packets,three opened packets of now stale biscuits and some weevil infested rice.

My mother does this. Not me. She keeps everything. Not because she wants to but because she doesn't know she owns it. She hates grocery shopping so she just buys a carload full of stuff that she doesn't need in the hopes she won't have to go again for some time. She never checks the cupboard before leaving to see what she already has but just buys it all again then she loads all the new purchases on top of the existing things. I cleaned out her pantry in 1999 and found several jars of dried herbs with a useby date sometime in 1978. She had moved five times between 1978 and 1999. I was about to throw them out when she dived at me from across the room and yelled "Nooooo, they're still good". This is how much she hated the thought of having to shop to replace it. I often clean out her refrigerator because she seems incapable of ever throwing anything away and when I go over there to help myself to chocolate and open that fridge and am hit with an overpowering scent I just have to determine the source and dispose of it. She still stands over me to check what I might be throwing away. If it's not growing mould or is still recognisable she thinks it's fine. She once bought an enormous box of celery because it was only 10c a bunch. I asked her what she was intening on doing with so much celery and she said "who cares, I won' t have to buy it for a while and it was such a bargain". Never mind that the whole lot went rotten before it was eaten. Even the rotten food is reused. She blends it up and feeds it to the garden. She says it's great fertiliser and the worms love it. It looks and smells like some ancient herbal remedy used to bring the dead back to life.

I do love her resourcefulness but we no longer live in a depression. She doesn't have to keep everything and she would save herself a whole pile of money if she just shopped for smaller amounts more often. She won't hear of it though. If I suggest this she just rambles on for hours about how much she hates grocery shopping. I remember when I was a kid shopping with her and she would grumble the whole time. It never seemed such a drama to me. We had fruit and vege delivered by the mobile greengrocer, the milkman delivered the 12 bottles of milk we drank a day and the baker came by daily also. All she really had to do was go into the store occasionally and stock up things would be good. My father used to do it when he was home from his business trips. I gather he sensed her intense dislike of the supermarket also.

I remember her yelling one day about how much milk we drank and she said she was going to stop buying it because we just drank it. We all thought that's what we were supposed to do with it but maybe we were just meant to watch it go off in the fridge.

If ever I have green monsters growing on my food I will immediately seek psychiatric help.

Things I would tell my father this Christmas if he were here

That your grandson Sam is wearing my knee high leather boots.

Henry doesn't stop eating

Maya still has to control ALL the games

It's so hot right now and watermelon just isn't cutting it

I still hate washing dishes

Sharyn is still single

I still can't make salad dressing like you did. Or that special sauce you used to make to dip prawns into

That locking kids in a room to let them "fight it out" still doesn't work

Angie stupidly said yes to Brett

Patrick belted a goanna out of the tree with a golf stick because it was eating an oversized frog.

The mean mother still doesn't work

Alf is still in Summer Bay

We all still make too much noise when we're together. I don't think it's ever going to stop. No one has yet bought a drum to make more noise because we knew you were only joking.

A Little Trip Away

Maya and Riley. Hervey Bay.

Sand balls made by crabs.

This weekend just gone I took Henry and Maya for a visit to my sister and her husband and three children in Maryborough. I always love going there. They have three beautiful acres, a huge ranch style home, chooks, geese, dogs and a cow called Posie. Life there is so much different to life in the city and I am always reminded of my childhood when there. I was born there and grew up there. Some things have changed but the quietness and friendliness of the small town people has not. Things are so easy there compared to the city. There is never a problem finding a park although I must admit I'm not sure that the townspeople understand parking etiquette. I think most people just follow their own road rules. My sister never locks her house, in fact they rarely close the doors at all except at night time to keep out the bugs and other crawly creatures like snakes and goannas.

Henry enjoyed himself immensely. The room to run was overwhelming for him. He was not interested in being inside at all. Not interested in climbing on the furniture as he does here which is obviously a sign of boredom. I had to keep him lathered in sunscreen lotion and insect repellent and keep his hat and shoes on at all times but that was a simple task. He played with the dogs and threw the ball and ran around and around the patio. The only thing he didn't like was the wet, freshly mowed grass sticking to his feet in the morning. He would screw up his face and dance a little dance in the hope that he could shake it off. When that didn't work he tried to brush it away with his hands. This proved fruitless though as wet grass sticks and sticks hard. We had to hose it off and he wasn't happy until it was all gone. We don't have any grass to play on here. We used to but our landlord who lives behind us took our grassed area to add to his own garden so his five children would have more room to play. Now all we have is a paved area which is small and hot because the pavers retain the heat and reflect the sun making it impossible to spend any time outdoors in the middle of the day in summer.

I yearn for a simpler life. Some place to grow vegetables and for the kids to run and play. My sister's three children are never bored. They have animals to be responsible for, they build Bin Laden Bunkers (a huge mound of dirt with a tunnel through it), they build tree houses, they kill cane toads with golf sticks and cricket bats, they take the cow across the road to the paddock full of bulls in the hopes of getting her pregnant with a calf they can sell at the markets to add to their spending money. When they get tired they take time out to read a book. They occasionally play computer games but this is something that takes a back seat to everything else. They are not interested in owning the latest ipod or Sony playstation nor do they care about which fashion stores stock the most sought after clothing items.

I regret making the decision to move to Brisbane all those years ago. I did it for several reasons, all too long to go into here but I would rather be back there even though I hated it as a teenager and couldn't wait to get out.

We took a trip to the Hervey Bay to go to the beach while there. Late afternoon, the tide was out and the sun was low in the sky. What a beautiful afternoon. Henry swam and splashed and tried to eat some sand. We ate fish and chips by the water and had an ice cream before coming home. So relaxing! We used to go here almost every weekend as kids and Dad would build enormous sandcastles. We'd have ice cream at the Nicker Bocker Glory Ice Creamery. Buy some fresh sandcrabs to have on sandwiches when we got home. My father believed the sea would cure any ailment and I think he was right.

Back then Hervey Bay was just a small fishing village, now it's a town thriving and spreading. There is no land for sale and when it does come up it's snatched up in an instant. There are five star resorts and whale watching tours and restaurants and upmarket hotels. Who would have thought.

Truck Book

I really hope Grandma has included some new truck books in her Christmas package this year because I can't read the two we have one more time without wanting to tear my hair out!

Playing "Where's Henry"

Barney the Driving Dinosaur

Yesterday Maya had to have some kind of incredibly expensive xrays on her teeth as a lead up to the surgery she must have to try to remove some teeth which are growing in the wrong direction inside her gums. This was a relatively stress free outing as far as outings go. (I always psyche myself up for the possibility that any outing may be the outing from hell). After that, Maya, who had only days before placed a dress on hold at Indooroopilly shopping centre, wanted to go pick it up and pay for it with the money she got for her birthday and which was burning a hole in her pocket (the "dress on hold" story is another story in itself and that will come at a later date). Me who hates shopping centres more than I hate almost anything else in the world did not object to this because I knew they had air conditioning as did the car. I could pretend all the people and overstimulating music and lights and sounds didn't exist just to experience the marvel that is air conditioning. We arrived, ate lunch at a leisurely pace and headed for the dress shop. While we waited for Maya to pay for her dress Henry had a ride on Barney the $2 for 30 seconds thrill ride for wee ones. Barney, along with some unidentifiable friends, sat beside the driver (Henry) and spoke some indecipherable language as only Barney could. There is a little steering wheel for the driver which completes this up and down dinosaur driving experience. Henry was so absolutely in love with it that I wondered if he would ever allow us to remove him once the ride stopped. He beeped the horn and said "wow, wow, wow" over and over just like I would if someone handed over a million dollars in cash. Suddenly Barney stopped moving and talking and all was still. Henry stared for several seconds before he realised it wasn't going anywhere anymore. Maya, who had handed over ALL of her cash on one little dress, removed him from the seat and he cried and cried and cried like his heart had been broken in the most awful of ways. I wanted to cry too. How could Barney be so cruel as to only last a few precious moments? Couldn't he see that my child was not going to ever breathe again if Barney didn't just start up and keep going all day and night? I decided then and there that if Barney ever shows his face on our TV again he will be switched off immediately lest my child have nightmares about the day Barney stopped driving.

Que Saco Fazer um Blog

Apparently this means" What a pain in the ass making a blog is" in Portugese.

Our friend Rob is currently in Brazil. For this reason alone I no longer like him. He's a great guy and very smart but HE GETS TO GO TO BRAZIL. What's worse is he's decided to write about it in his own blog which you can read here .

He has been diving. Off a boat. Into beautiful waters. Attempting to pick up beautiful Brazilian women. Walking the streets of some place with an amazing history.

I have to learn to forgive him though as he promised to bring home some Brazilian coffee, Haviana rubber thongs for Maya (special currency) and a Brazilian soccer Jersey for Henry. We'll be in heaven.

My First Sleepover...

Dear Grandma
The other night I went for my first sleepover to my other grandma's house. Mum and Dad and Maya went out for dinner. I dont' know why they wouldn't take me. I like restaurants that have tables loaded with breakable glasses and stuff. I like to go and climb on other people's chairs at their tables too. I didn't really mind that much though because Nanna and Richie always spoil me. I went to bed like a really good boy and the next day Nanna and Richie took me with them to Maroochydore for a drive. They had to do some work. Mum told them they might regret it but I was alright. At least that's what Nanna said. I don't think she wanted to upset Mum though because maybe mum wouldn't let me stay with her again if she told her I was naughty. Nanna let me out of the pram for a little bit and I found a really cute little girl to hug. Her mum wanted my phone number so I can take her daughter on a date when I'm older. She thought I was pretty cute. Richie took me to a pet shop to show me the puppies. I really wanted one but they said no. I didn't sleep much that day though and so by the time mum picked me up after work I was really cranky. Nanna was pleased I was going home even though she didn't say that. She told mum to bring me back anytime for a sleepover. Maybe she really liked having me there. I know she liked it when I got in bed with her and Richie in the morning even though it was 4am!

I love you Grandma
Henry
xoxoxoxo

The Dish Difference and The Heat

"Leave the dishes. I'll do them in the morning. It's too hot right now"

"What, you think it's going to be cooler in the morning? After the sun comes up? It's only 480 degrees right now and 100% humidity. You should do them now".

School's Out for Summer and I don't have any Valium

I think Maya and I will want to go our separate ways by the end of the six weeks. I'll still love her but I'm sure I'll want to lock her in her room so she can NEVER ANSWER ME BACK AGAIN. Maybe she'll just ignore me like she usually does and that would be ok too.

Marketing Magic

I don't know if it's just me getting old or if the world is really going to the pack. As I write this the European music awards are on the television. There are no European performers. They are all American. Fair enough. What I can't believe is that these top selling artists have no talent when performing live. They can't sing! They sound like crap! They sound like me when I sing in the shower. It's the power of marketing, a great recording studio and clothing that only has enough fabric to cover their most intimate body parts. Take Madonna for instance. She was raunchy and sexy way before raunchy and sexy became the norm. She was outrageous in her raunchiness and sexiness. Now she just looks plain sad. Sad because she feels she has to dress in a minuscule amount of clothing and gyrate the parts of her body normally reserved for bearing children in front of a camera in order to compete with the talentless, just out of diapers, female performers of today's generation. She is over 40! She just looks desperate. She looks like mutton dressed as lamb! She sang live and for that I applaud her but she sounded as though she just thought it might be fun to annoy an audience of thousands (millions if we include TV) by deliberately not staying in tune. Not quite as bad Avril Lavigne live but only marginally. Now I realise that some people believe that age should be no barrier to sexiness but this is not sexy. It's downright horrifying. Sure she looks fantastic and I would kill for a body like hers at any age, especially after 40 but come on. She had a demure period a few years back and she should have kept it. It seems its no longer about art and talent, it's about marketing and anyone can be marketed. It just takes money and desperation to get and keep your face on TV.

Waiting for the Garbage Truck

This is not my favourite past time but it is Henry's. He is obsessed with trucks and anything that has "weewaws" (wheels) and makes big loud noises. Every Tuesday the Garbage truck comes to collect our weekly trash. Henry can hear it streets away and starts to tell us that the "big twuck" is on its way. He runs to the window and waits for us to come pick him up for a better view. He starts saying "ooohh wow" when it's still miles from our house. This Tuesday he was in for a treat but it was a frightening treat. He and I went out to the driveway to wait for the truck so we could get a closeup view of it. We waited and waited and finally it made its way to our bins which were loyally waiting to be emptied of the putrid smelling, rotting rubbish. When it got to our house it emptied first the recycling bin which was full of glass bottles and jars. Henry watched intently as the arm lifted the bin. He wasn't prepared however for the explosive sound those bottles made as they crashed into the other bottles already laying low waiting to be turned into other glass bottles and jars. He clung tight to me and started to cry. I think he thought the truck might come collect him out of my arms and throw him in there too. Some of the papers fell on the ground and the truck had to stop right there in front of us and the driver had to get out and pick some of these things up. Henry calmed down for a bit and actually pointed and said "wow". As the truck drove off he waved and said "bye" ferociously as though he was telling it not to bother coming back this way. The thing he thought the most exciting thing in the world turned out to be a big, loud, scary monster.

In the Heat of the Moment

It's just so hot! So so hot! I used to love summer when I was a kid. That was before I had any responsibilities and didn't have to worry about keeping anyone else cool or out of the sun. When I was slim and attractive enough to walk around in a bikini all day. When I could go hang out at the beach because I didn't have to be home doing housework or waiting on kids and husbands, or going to work to earn a living. Now I just plain hate it. The sun is relentless. It burns at 5.30am and doesn't stop until the sun has completely disappeared. The humidity remains even after that and everyone tosses and turns all night trying to keep their arms from sticking to their stomachs and the mosquitoes from buzzing around their heads. There's just no relief, no let up. It burns and it's sticky.

Going to the beach or the pool to cool off is fraught with danger because the sun is too hot to even swim under. By the time you get out of the water and get back in the hot car to go home everyone's wishing they hadn't bothered because they're hotter than when they arrived.

Everyone's tempers are frayed because the heat just saps energy. Tropical fever starts to set in. Everyone develops a personality disorder. No one speaks to each other unless they have to because this uses up precious resources. The air conditioning in the car becomes useless unless you plan to be in it for over an hour because this is how long it takes to combat the heat after the car has sat in the sun for more than 30 seconds.

I try hard to think of the advantages. I can think of at least one. The washing dries in less than a minute.

"The Best Birthday I've Ever Had"

Back of Beyond With No Signage Chermside Waterpark where teenage boys and teenage girls spend the day eyeing each other off.

Teenage girls spending the day at Back of Beyond With No Signage Chermside Water park.

Maya says her 13th birthday was the best one she ever had. It should have been. She got some Way Cool presents and a day at the waterpark and 3 friends for a sleep over and a BBQ dinner last night.

We went off to the Back of Beyond With No Signage Chermside Waterpark. The girls are lucky I didn't turn around and go right back home after taking three wrong turns to get there because this town has something against directional street signage. It was hot and I was trying to concentrate with three teenage girls in the car giggling and showing off their mobile phone ring tones and the radio blaring. I was almost ready to grab one of those phones and call the Brisbane City Council and demand they bring the waterpark to me if they can't put up some decent signage.


We parked, we walked....a long way....with a heavy esky and a load full of teenage girl stuff and we plonked ourselves down at a spare table and the girls disappeared for three hours while I sat and read some trash magazines. A perfect opportunity to brush up on my celebrity trivia. I had no idea so many celebrities battled eating disorders and broken marriages.

I overheard this conversation between the girls at around midnight. I don't know who said what but it went something like this.

TG (Teenage Girl) 1: You're so pretty.
TG2: No I'm not. You are.
TG3: Yes you are. You should be a model. Those boys were so looking at you.
TG4: Yeah, they were.
TG1: Don't ever say I'm pretty. (It was at this point that I yelled out that they could say I was pretty and the response was the most I'd got out of them all day. They all replied in unison. "Yes you are Michelle. You are really beautiful" - if only they meant it.)

Maya says thank you to Grandma Mary for the very cool clothes sent all the way from America.

Disgustingly Sad

Coming home to find the cat has been locked inside all day and a horrid smell coming from the bedroom......no.......... from the bed..........

Sad Also Is.....

Not being able to clean my teeth without having to stop 12 times to save my son from falling off the toilet and cracking his head open

Some Things Are Just So Sad

Perhaps one of the saddest of all is when a five year old girl says she wants to be just like Pammy Anderson. In the words of a five year old:

"I want big sexy boobies like her and hair like her and some of those shorts and her high heels. She is really sexy".