Tales of the Red Headed Devil Child

Summer roadie

2012-01-17T21:16:00.000+13:00

Among other things, this summer included a trek over to Akaroa. Where we did some speedy sight seeing.

Played with a special auntie and uncle.

Hung out with extended family at a cousin's wedding.

And got to meet the squishy little Podgey cousin for the first time.

Basically that was the first and last of our summer sun. Dismal.

Raggedy Ann

2011-11-30T21:08:00.001+13:00

Little miss Hannah graced the stage as Raggedy Ann in her debut ballet performance on Saturday, while I also rocked it out as a "ballet mum" for the first time. She looked super cute in her costume; so she damn should have, as I slaved away in my duties as costume creator to make her look that good. (Ermmm... don't look closely please people.)

Her little counterpart, Raggedy Andy, also looked fabulous in her ~~hastily sewn together~~ well thought out costume but given that I didn't ask permission from her mother to plaster her all over Teh Internetz, I figure I'll limit the showing off to my grandmothers. Those grandmothers played a large part in the creation; Granny raided her fabric supply to send over ragdoll-suitable fabric and Gran's donated pattern magazines from the 1950s (with pre-cut-out patterns!!) provided the construction. I'd been despairing about how the heck I was going to pull it off until I came across those magazines. Yussssss grandmother power!

Anyway, Han was amazing in the production of Mary Poppins and it was totally worth going along to. I'd kinda assumed that D and I would be having a quiet nap in the theatre, ready to do the requisite parental cheering at Han, but I was enthralled the whole time! The principal dancers were amazing and the whole thing was really well put together. I'll be bullying the whole family to attend next year. Fo' shiz.

Podgelet

2011-11-22T21:49:00.000+13:00

This is my niece.

She happens to be my favourite niece in the whole world. And she looks good in my knitting. I can see this relationship lasting.

Tea for me

2011-11-19T21:17:00.000+13:00

For Jute's birthday today, we took a family trip to Sweet Pea in Petone for high tea. My little brother Robbie even put on a shirt for the occasion (after his flatmates suggested that it might be appropriate high-tea-wear). He didn't iron it, but that's possibly asking a bit much of an 18 year old.

Not to be outdone, Gaz amped the class up by ordering a crate bottle of Lion Brown to accompany his asparagus rolls and strawberry tart. Yes, Sweet Pea have Lion Brown on the drinks menu. Gaz officially stoked.

Jute also stoked with delicious food and has committed to making it her local now that she's a lady of leisure (/overworked and extremely un-paid stay at home mama).

And like a good little kidlet, Podgey slept her way through the whole outing.

2011-11-06T18:45:00.000+13:00

I've got a few items made for my sister who is due with Podgelet today. This Vanilla soaker is part of the collection of baby stuff that I've been assembling over the last 8 months or so. I also have managed to gather a whole damn nappy stash to go along with it thanks to my addiction to cloth nappy buying and some awesome people from The Nappy Network.

I can't wait to meet little Podgey. I have a flight booked on November 17th and either she'll be here to cuddle or I'll be there to sympathise with my sister's extreme overdue-ness. (Devil Child didn't make her entrance until 11 days after her due date.)

And then for next year I'm going to have to take out shares in AirNZ with all the flights I'm going to be making down to Wellington to ensure Favourite Auntie status.

Weeeeeeeee niecelet!

The week of intense scheduling

2011-11-03T22:18:00.000+13:00

Last week, prior to the kidlet's birthday, I went to Sydney for a couple of days for work. The night before I left, I said my good byes to the Devil Child. Then she made me reenact the damn scene again with full fake tears and hugs, as if I was at the airport, as my goodbye was apparently substandard.

Anyway, after my farewell was completed to her satisfaction, she expressed some concern that I wouldn't make it back in time for her birthday to which I replied that she being ridiculous and OF COURSE I'd be back for her birthday. Wouldn't miss it for the world... and so on.

I went on my merry way... touristing around Sydney and finding rad bars such as Bloodwood and getting nostalgic for Wellington. Oh, and working really hard too. Yes. Really hard. (ACTUAL TRUTH. LOTS OF MEETINGS. V. PRODUCTIVE. DECISIONS MADE. RELATIONSHIPS BUILT. AND THEN JUST A FEW COCKTAILS.)

And then on Saturday morning, the day prior to the party, also the day that I had to bake a cake and get various party things partyfied, the same very Saturday that I promised that I'd be back, we get to the airport and see the departures board read FLIGHT CANCELLED.

And frick me did it go through my head that the child has some sort of supernatural ability. Like the time she declared she believed in God because she'd prayed for ice cream and by some divine miracle, The Boy had decided that afternoon to pick up some good old hokey pokey. WHAT IS GOING ON, PEOPLE?

Luckily, my friend and travelling companion has super demanding powers and when the Air NZ woman finally called us to advise us the flight had been cancelled (after the flight was scheduled to have departed, mind), she made it absolutely clear that we were getting back home THAT DAY.

Hell. I wasn't going to mess with the kidlet after that.

I made it back late that night and found that my lovely friend had baked a cake for the kidlet's birthday and managed to circumvent my much anticipated stress induced breakdown.

And so I survived birthday panic stations for one more year. With an international trip and potential airport stranding thrown in for good measure.

And now I have a cold sore. Again. Good times.

The End.

Kidlet does seven

2011-10-31T22:50:00.000+13:00

The Devil Child is officially seven.

And for dinner on her 7th birthday, she requested macaroni cheese and left over cake. Suhweeeeeet.

Happy birthday my Halloween baby.

Peter Pan

2011-10-24T21:40:00.000+13:00

This weekend this boy turned 30. Clearly he refuses to grow up and pose nicely for photos. How rude.

I still like him though.

Happy birthday D!

New

2011-10-19T21:38:00.000+13:00

I braved the exciting (and terrifying) world of buying glasses online. I was really reluctant to let my old frames go as I loved them, so I basically matched my new frames to those ones... but for 1/10th of the price that it would have cost me to get them here. Converted! If I did it again I'd splash out on something a bit different... just cos I can.

Totally goes against my usual spending principles but damnit, if I have to be so damn blind, there has to be something good in it for me.

The bestest

2011-10-18T20:44:00.000+13:00

This week has been quite average. I didn't realise it until tonight when I burst into tears and didn't quite know how to stop. But the kidlet, she's awesome. She always looks after me when I'm upset. She heard me crying and came out to find me drying my eyes on a towel in the bathroom. She took my hand and led me back to her bed where she wrapped her arms around my neck and rocked me back and forth. She asked what was wrong and I started to tell her. She didn't offer anything, just listened while she cuddled me.

It's always been like this. Not that it happens often... but sometimes when it's all too much and I end up in tears, the kidlet is always the one to be able to get me through it. One time when I was crying in the car, she sang me songs to make me feel better. Another time, when I was heart broken, she gave me the four year old version of the "There's plenty more fish in the sea" speech.

I don't know how I ended up with such a wise little girl. Freaking lucky though, as I don't know what I'd do without her.

Goldilocks

2011-09-27T21:07:00.000+13:00

Miss Devil Child had the opening night of her school production tonight. Like the brilliant mother that I am, I forgot my camera so have no photos of her in her cute little Goldilocks get up. I do, however, have a photo of me using her as slave labour while I dye her costume. I figured if I was going to be roped into this costume-providing business by the Devil Child then she wasn't getting off scot-free herself. She was initially enthused but, after approximately 2 minutes stirring the dress in the dye, realised that the fun was fast running out. Especially when I told her she had to stir for another hour.

Devil Child made a fantabulous actress, performing the part of the dancing Goldilocks in the scene where the two heroes passed through the fairy tale. I think it'll be the first of many appearances on the stage, if her drama queen tendencies are anything to go by. In fact, we already have her ballet show scheduled in at the end of November. Wanna bet next time I won't get away so easily with only having a dye one dress? Best I start getting the Devil Child handy on ye olde sewing machine then.

Momentous occasion

2011-09-11T20:55:00.000+12:00

This, people, is the magnificent milestone I have been waiting 6 long years, 10 months, and 11 days for: the first cup of tea delivered lovingly to my bedside table on a Sunday morn.

Only minor spillage, on to the saucer (good choice, my child), and the tea was still vaguely warm by the time half a litre of milk was added and a slow procession up the stairs was made. SUCCESS.

I was super impressed with the kidlet despite the fact that she was actually procrastinating and was meant to be getting her own breakfast and finding some clothes, but I'll not complain. Never has a tea tasted so good as when brought to you by a super proud 6 year old.

Message to Auckland Council

2011-09-10T18:26:00.000+12:00

I don't know if there was a proper, fancy-like, garden-guru reason to plant parsley with poppies in the Auckland Council maintained street-side gardens by my work in Newmarket, but it meant that I got to have fresh parsley with my egg sandwiches for lunch. Stoked!

I have decided that I need to stop buying my lunch. It's budget central around here. So I'm reliant on Council gardens for fresh produce. More... more... moaaarrrrr!

I'm definitely not going to bother with flowery nonsense in my garden when I finally get it sorted. It's all going to be edible goodness. Yep. Edible gardens for all!

Niece knitting

2011-09-04T23:46:00.000+12:00

My sister and Gaz have a mere 10 weeks (OR LESS) until young Podge is due to arrive. I'm a smidgeon more worried about this than they are as I haven't even started knitting for the child! This is especially useless as Podge is due to arrive in November and that's heading in to the warmer months so I have approximately 2 months worth of knit wear to make the most of while the child is small.

These were my practice pair of pants for a cute little babe named Honour. I wanted to get more of a tapered leg than the usual straight down longies that I've knitted in the past. I wanted them to be reasonably tight but trying to guess how big babies' legs are is ridiculous.

So. On my list so far is: this cocoon / this cardigan / this hoodie / this hat / these longies

Just down the road

2011-09-04T23:26:00.000+12:00

Exists a glorious place for the time poor like myself - Let's go retro. It's a collection of all of the neatest stuff in the world with the friendliest of vendors. I've been driving past for two months now and staring in the shop windows on my way home.

Yesterday I had the chance to go in and see the vintage awesomeness for myself. If nothing else you need to go and check out Simonne's fantastic eye for spotting really neat shiz and then marvel at the layout of the shop. It's absolutely gorgeous. Jam packed enough that it feels like a good op shop should, but not so cluttered that you can't see how amazing every single thing is in there.

I plan to go back to have a really good look around. I love the lampshades so watch this space for as much retro-fication as the Boy can handle!

Hannarina Ballerina

2011-08-31T21:20:00.002+12:00

Little Miss Performy Pants has started at a new ballet school over here in West Auckland. She's gone from being a massive pain-in-the-ass at ballet lessons (I did confess I ended up in tears one day because she was such a little shite, didn't I?) to being the kid that listens really well and tries extra hard. (Check the seriousness with which we take ballet on kidlet's face. Heh) It's amazing! Not entirely sure what it was but I'm not going to question compliance too much lest it hasten its departure. Pretty sure the cute new purple leotard might have a part to play though.

Long may it live!

P.S. I'm still playing ballerinas too. Loving the fitness and starting to get faster at picking up the steps. Stretching the ability of ye olde goldfish memory!

The August edition

2011-08-25T22:18:00.001+12:00

Let's just gloss over the fact that I haven't been blogging regularly for quite some time and rejoice that I will be making a major attempt to for at least the next month (rejoice may be slightly to strong to use. Bahaha). And we have some updating to do!

So. The update in bullet point form:

I have a new job. I'm out of women's health and the feministy community and back to international development. I'm loving it!
New workmates drink a lot of coffee. Can safely say that after 2 weeks, I've reinstated my caffeine addiction to its previous high circa 2009. Mmmmm coffeeeeee. Weaning myself off that shiz again one day is gonna be horrific.
Kidlet is ear infected x2. On the plus side, it has prompted me to actually register her with a new GP around here. On the down side, she's not feeling great.
I went to roller derby and dragged along a friend and hung out with two hilarious twitter types. It was awesome. Roller derby is rocking.
Devil Child started a new ballet class out West. Major threats given. Significant bribes offered. The child listened! And paid attention! And danced really nicely! (?!?!?!) Weird... I know.
Trying to get house insulated and heated. Had a ginormous power bill last month. Nearly died. Found today on my little house assessment trip that there's a steady trickle of water coming from the hot water cylinder. Yeahhh that'll do it. Fricking money pit.
In other house news: I pulled the drawer front off one of our kitchen drawers and Dion broke two windows. As long as we can keep the ratio of damage between us both relatively even then we're good.
10 weeks til Podge is due! Booked flights to go down and meet the little one and/or rub my overdue sister's back and freeze meals. Quite excited. Need to get knitting asap!
Speaking of knitting.... I knitted stuff for people's babies. They gave me cuddles in return. It was awesome.

P.S. It's the Pebble Vest by the Thrifty Knitter. Again. That pattern rocks.

The warming of the house

2011-08-04T21:24:00.001+12:00

We had a house warming. It somehow morphed into a Westie theme. It turns out if you put up a facebook event with the title of "Westie house warming", being that your house is out West, people will get a bit keen on unleashing their inner white trash. Or outer. Whatevs.

Jute was the star of the night with the outfit featured in the photo here. Apart from her charming choice of apparel, there was more lace, black band t-shirts, and leopard print than was socially acceptable.

Anyway, people got a bit into the spirit of the Westie theme and let's just say that I've not had to clean up that much spew for a looooooooong time.

Oh, and we discovered out toilet isn't terribly stuck to the floor just as the party was in full swing. Apparently it leaks. Quite a bit. Clean water... luckily. Don't know if I could've handled spew and something-that-sounds-quite-a-lot-like-spew in one night.
Anyway, we survived, the house survived (kinda), and we successfully made enemies of the neighbours. Especially because we could still hear the music going when we woke up at 7am. Yeah, I hate us too.

House tour: the neat shiz edition

2011-07-17T18:43:00.000+12:00

I like snuggly kids in snuggly beds in morning sun. And midday sun. And afternoon sun. We get shitloads of sun. I like sun. Can ya tell?

Afternoon sun in our bedroom windows. Weeeeeeeeeee. The sun also fills Han's bedroom throughout the day, the lounge, the spare room, and the kitchen. Wait - that's all the rooms! Apart from the bathrooms. Poor bathrooms.

We have decks. Lots of decks. This is only really half of the deck that you can see here. Or maybe even less. I like decks. Especially combined with sun. Sun + decks = awesomeness. And in this photo on the right hand side, you can see the reason the Boy loves this house. That's only half the garage. It fits at least 6 cars. Don't worry, I've already banned him from having 6 cars.

We have a park next door. It rulz. We also have a playground across the street. It also rulz.

And I've already mentioned this but now you may see it for yourself: the best orange tree in the UNIVERSE. It has significantly less oranges on the tree than a week ago. Omnomnomnom.

So. There you have it. Some of the ace bits of our house. There's much more ace-ness in the house but I find it hard to rave about ace-ness when I take photos and the ace-ness is obscured by half unpacked boxes. One day I'll get there. And in the mean time, ace-ness may soon increase in the heating department as I've just discovered schemes to stop our house feeling like a refrigerator! Yaaaaay. (Fire was ripped out one day way back and no one installed any new heating. House is big and hard to heat once sun disappears.)

Next time I may blog about the other new rad thing about living out here: the train!

Naff Central: the tour of the interior

2011-07-11T21:41:00.000+12:00

I was hoping to take some photos in the weekend when it was actually light enough to do so but of course my camera battery was flat. So I charged it and now of course, there's no damn sunlight. And then I decided the photos weren't fit to show the world but realised I wasn't really up to staging a full photoshoot of the house including hiding all the crap, so you just get the real mess. Yup.

Disclaimer: I do actually like the house. And I'll have to do another post with things about the house that are GOOD now that I've chronicled all the nastiness.

Behold - ze KITCHEN!

Strange space that was once a bedroom and then renoed into a dining room and which we'll claim as an office for now. Some of the text was eaten from the photo because I was being rude about my geeky boyfriend having too many computer parts. Apparently he's conspiring with the interwebs to remove all insulting comments about him.

Lounge. Well. Some of it. There's a dining area behind me. And couches on the left. It's quite big.

Spare oom. (Bonus geek reference.) Includes dodgy wiring example.

Downstairs bathroom. Oh yeah. Previous owner was a car painter and panel beater so all the doors in the house have been taken down to the spray booth and been given the sweetest coat of gloss you could ever imagine. Hence shiny cabinet doors. Noice.

Have almost killed self multiple times already on these so deserve picture of their own.

Our bedroom

Will have to take another photo of fan one day to get its full metallic beauty.

Our bathroom. Or part of it. The unusable part.

Andddddd the rooms for short people. Yes. We have two rooms that you can barely stand in. Useful. Errrr.

Awwww. My house! Don't you just ADORE it? I could happily sink a couple of hundred grand in removing all the naffaciousness of it all. It'll be a loooong time before that actually happens. For now, we're learning to love it.

And the awesome stuff about the house makes up for it all. Promise. Actually, the oranges from the orange tree make up for it alone. All the other stuff that we like about the house is extra neat!

Absence

2011-07-06T08:53:00.001+12:00

Sorry! Been packing and cleaning and packing and cleaning and packing for the last couple of weeks. This is what is left to be boxed up and moved over to the new house tomorrow. Eeeeek!
So hopefully I'll be able to post pics soon of all of this mess neatly put away at the other end. Yeahhhhhh probably more likely that you'll get another photo just like this but on the other side of Auckland. Ace.

Argh... phone blogging fail. Ah well.

Knitting for tea parties

2011-06-20T21:00:00.000+12:00

Pretty sure I swore I'd never knit food or toys when I started knitting. I take it all back. Although I maintain that my life as a knitter is over the moment I knit a Jean Greenhowe pattern. And NEVER will I knit for dogs. EVERRRRR.

Anyway. Apparently I do, now, knit cakes.

Apparently, I also really shittily photoshop overexposed images. You wouldn't expect anything less now would you?

These little knitted baked goods were created as part of the world's coolest present for a 3 year old. My workmate bought a little tea set, a gingham carry case, made a table cloth, complete with hand embroidered doily with child's name, and napkins, stitched felt napkin holders and tea bags, and added three knitted cakes (made by moi) to complete the set for her little niece. Wish I had a photo of it all... it's AMAZING.

And whaddayaknow but the Devil Child wants some now too. So wool is too itchy to wear but isn't too itchy to play with now? Hrmmm. We'll see... we'll see.

P.S. Patterns here, here and here.

Babies, babies, everywhere...

2011-06-13T19:26:00.000+12:00

Did you know that we had to learn the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner at intermediate school? When I've got together with my old school buds and we've gotten drunk enough, we've been known to launch into a wee bit of Samuel Taylor Coleridge in tribute to our teacher, old -er. OK, that's a private joke. They'll understand.

Anywayyyyyy... before I got on to reminiscing about Form 1 geekiness, I was talking about babies. Yes. They're EVERYWHERE.

Most importantly, my sister is growing one for her and Gaz to play with.

Yes, I, Nicola Elisabeth, am going to be Auntie Nicola Elisabeth. A.K.A. Best Auntie in the UNIVERSE. A.K.A. Bane of my sister's existence. Yes. I have some serious payback to do.

And I may have accidentally started collecting nappies for her. Dooooooodeeeeedooooooooo.

P.S. We'll just ignore the fact that she's standing in the glass pyramid du Louvre hrmmm? Biarch.

Gasman

2011-06-01T20:41:00.000+12:00

Someone I know may be coming to a street near you... *ahem* Actually, make that two someones given that I know the creator of the art and I may have an inkling of who the model is too. I'm sure Gasman will have more churned out shortly. Weeeee!

And in other street art-ish news, Knitsch/Tash from OutdoorKnit is going to be creating something as part of Handmade this weekend. I'm also going to be helping her staff the Holland Road Yarn Company knit lounge. Please come see us for all your knitting needs and general fun and games.

P.S. You can see Tash talking about it all on Good Morning. Isn't she awesome?

Nature's design

2011-05-31T21:02:00.000+12:00

Hannah, Dion and I went on a zoo trip with a bunch of people to take photos of the aminals (as Hannah calls them).

All the animals are really weird looking. Like seriously weird looking if you really think about what they are. Especially rhinos. Weird. How the frick did creatures like this ever get created? You can't take me to the zoo... I get all concerned and pensive about creation and shiz.

So I stopped thinking before I spontaneously combusted and concentrated on this creature instead...

She's pretty cute...

And not quite as strange looking...

Well, actually humans are kinda weird looking too.

The world is a strange place.

38

2011-05-30T20:32:00.000+12:00

38 sleeps until we move into our new house! Yes. Our house in one of the lesser desired suburbs of Auckland (damn you property prices) but one that we don't have to deal with a landlady that selectively understands tenancy law. And one with a feijoa tree and orange tree and soon to be a zillion more fruit trees. Weeeeeeee! And a giant garage where I can jam ~~the Boy~~ all the Boy's car crap!

So now begins the glorious task of packing. I was initially really excited about this as my life felt a bit empty after trawling property websites for so long, then having to become an expert on conveyancing, the building code and council processes. Researching the most efficient and stress-free ways of packing relieved this emptiness. And I was well on my way to being fulfilled by the physicality of jamming my life into neatly labelled boxes ready to be ~~spread out~~ neatly put away in the new place BUT THEN I realised that before packing there's an awful lot of crap you have to get rid of, which I am much less excited about. Like, extremely opposed to.

The good news is that seeking to avoid having to rationalise all our accumulated rubbish means that I might blog a bit more. Or conversely, I might try to avoid blogging and actually get on to the required task. Win-win for me, it would seem.

P.S. I never want to go through the house buying process EVER again. And to think, we didn't even have to sell a house at the same time. *shudder*

The show. All over it.

2011-05-19T21:08:00.000+12:00

Oh yes. Bullet points. It's all I can deal with this week.

I can't talk about work but let's just say that work has changed somewhat this week.
Oh, and I started full time a couple of weeks ago and it's catching up with me finally.
So tired. Although at least I've managed to get rid of the two colds I had. In a row. Argh.
And house buying is disastrous.
Thought that the house could potentially fall down on us. House buying was off.
Started hunting out rentals instead.
Hating on life.
Managed to get hold of plans from Council. Turns out house isn't going to fall down on us. House buying back on.
Not hating on life so much.
Bank taking their sweet, sweeeeeet time letting us know about finance. House buying off.
Hating life again.
Vendor says that he's OK with an extension. House buying back on.
Now we have 5 more days to convince the bank that what I said on twitter when I called them effing useless wasn't actually true and I was pretending anddidn'tmean itandOHPLEASEDEARDOGGIVEUSSOMEMONEY.
Still failing to understand why it is so difficult. But apparently we are difficult. It is difficult. LIFE is difficult.
Goodness I whinge a lot!
I promise that I actually have happy things to say sometimes and actually, in the scheme of things, I thought I'd be WAYYYY more stressed than I currently am.
I'm just using my blog and twitter as my counselling sessions.
And now I'm trying to justify that.
In a conversation with myself.
I AM HAPPY.
Oooo... next week it's the two year anniversary of the Boy and I getting together. I'm trying to think of something romantic to do. It kinda has to make up for two years of being quite verbally abusive.
In a lovingly verbally abusive kind of way.
But yeah, romanticism. Not my strong point.
Ideas plz, romantic people?
In fact, could you please just plan it all and tell me where we have to be and at what time?
Thx.

Weekends

2011-05-15T14:31:00.000+12:00

Of gymnastics on beds

And post-hair-dyeing self portraits

Yep.

The culmination of much good

2011-05-10T19:51:00.000+12:00

And many, many stickers, was a trip to Rainbow's End.* Turns out I started the chart almost a year ago. Ha. That was value for money! Even with the hideous entry charge.

The Child was so into it and luckily was tall enough for most of the rides, including the Fear Fall and the roller coaster. Unfortunately that meant I had to accompany her on both those rides. And despite the fact that Rainbow's End is an amusement park, I was not amused.

I can safely say that the Pirate Ship was her favourite ride. She was fine about the roller coaster and Fear Fall but I don't think she wanted to go back on them after. And there was no way in hell she was going back in the Motion Master. The dinosaurs scared the crap out of her. Isn't that bizarre? Not terribly phased by dropping 18 stories, but won't head back into a glorified movie theater? heh

I survived, the Child had a great time, but I think the person that got the most out of it may have been this slightly larger kid...

*New Zealand's half arsed attempt at an amusement park

Second attempt

2011-05-07T17:59:00.000+12:00

It turns out it is almost to the day, two years ago that I made my first attempt at returning to dance, since finishing up when I turned 18 [and left Rotorua and actually had to pay for crap myself].

That last attempt lasted three short contemporary lessons before I was willing to accept that I couldn't quite keep up with the pace of the teacher's instructions and the other dance students in the class (on their third dance lesson that week, damn them). That and it was bloody hard to find a carpark in Wellington city at night.

This time, however, it's going to be different. I know it.

I went to my first adult open ballet class on Tuesday at MEBA (Mount Eden Ballet Academy) which is quite conveniently down the road from my work. The class takes place at 12.30pm which is also quite conveniently the perfect time to duck out for an hour and get some actual exercise.

I'm already loving it because I know a bit about ballet so it isn't as much of a stretch to get my head (and body) around... not like contemporary - which was pretty new to me at the time. I totally take it back when I said I needed something less structured. Deluded. And the other students in the class are adults too, exhibiting the same mental and physical degeneration as my apparently ancient 26 year old self. Yeah, actually. I did something ridiculous to my hip at the class and limped around for following three days moaning about a hip replacement.

Anyway, we'll see if I have more commitment to this class than the last.

On raising an adult

2011-05-02T21:57:00.000+12:00

The child requested painted nails. Whore red. Although she didn't request it in quite that shade... just "red", as far as she was concerned. Anyway, it got me thinking a bit, as she doesn't bite her nails [yet], about the things that we hope to pass on to our offspring, and those that we don't. Actually, I totally lie. I was going to post this picture and be all "We hung out and painted our nails together!" but it was when I was uploading this that I remembered I'd thought about it when Han got her immunisations tonight (her 4 year old imms. Errr... I was delaying the vaccinations...? Not because I'm laaaaazy as hell...? OK. Just lazy.).

So, we were driving back in the car and I was thinking about how brave she was getting the injections, how utterly unconcerned she is about stuff that freaks the shit out of other people, and I realised that her bravery was a trait I had consciously tried to instill in her. Which is awesome.

Then I remembered that there's a few things that I've been saying lately that have been trying to encourage a response in her, in social situations, that is more me (and my hangups) than it is her. And that needs to stop. Right now. Because, while I kick ass at taking needles, I'm really bloody terrible at other stuff. Like feeling that it's necessary to apologise for Hannah's need to break out into spontaneous performance at a friend's house, demanding everyone's attention. Trying to prevent her from asking questions of an acquaintance because she might be bothering them. Telling her she should always be nice to other kids, when she's trying to tell me about the injustices of the child world.

That last one especially came up today. And while I expect that she will always treat others with respect, being nice at the expense of expecting decent behaviour from your friends hasn't really done me all that well. It means that sometimes I haven't felt all that confident about speaking up for myself. So I think I need to watch which of my hangups that I pass on to the child. It's so hard, this parenting lark, because you don't really know if you've done a good job or not until it's miles too late.

Stress.

Another thing I hope the child doesn't pick up from me.

Buttoned

2011-05-02T21:05:00.001+12:00

I knitted a little hoodie for my workmate's babe. I may or may not have left room for the recipient's head. Oops.

He was born on Tuesday and is a teeny little thing. Hoping it's still winter when he gets big enough to wear it.

The plan is that he's going to come play in the office with us for the first six months or so. An office baby! Squeeeee! I foresee much cuddling and little work being done.

Crap. Forgot to post the link to the pattern. Easy peasy seamless baby hoodie. And also mention that I made the arms long enough to fit a human more closely resembling an ape. Oops.

Dots

2011-04-26T22:29:00.000+12:00

Bullet points. I love them.
I've sneezed approximately 9,782 times today.
Throat has that scratchy feeling.
Think I'm getting sick.
I've taken on extra hours at work.
Yay for extra money.
Boo for more work.
My 'to do' list contains extra fun stuff like: investigate house and contents insurance, draw up will, and schedule builder's inspection.
Mum's husband coming up to do builder's inspection. Excellent.
Have tenancy issues. Not brilliant at best of times but especially shit when running concurrently with house buying.
Child deposited at Mum's in Rotorua.
Miss child.
Child coming back to Auckland on Friday.
Have several parcels due in mail from excessive internet spending.
Online shopping makes you think you are paying with monopoly money.
You aren't.
Knitting has taken place.
Will show when can be arsed taking photos.
Yep.

Is it real yet?

2011-04-19T22:18:00.000+12:00

So, we signed a sale and purchase agreement today for a house we went to visit on Saturday. Dion pestered me to see it as it had a gigantic garage. I was reluctant as it was about 30 years newer than I'd have liked and not in my preferred suburb but I went to see it anyway. His enthusiasm for the garage, the playground across the road and the quiet street won me over.

Now I'm filling my pinterest boards with inspiration for decorating even though that'll likely happen over years, not the weeks I'd happily fill with painting and re-doing kitchens and bathrooms.

I think it's going to be a looooooong 10 weeks until we get to move. Rats.

We're going our separate ways

2011-04-17T22:22:00.000+12:00

The child and I, that is. And for 45 minutes per week. Namely when ballet class is running. The behaviour that I was hoping was a one off when she started ballet was apparently as she meant to go on. Culminating in a teary breakdown while hiding in the community hall kitchen. My tears, not the kid's. She was having a grand old time prancing around completely ignoring her teacher. Not entirely the mother-daughter bonding time I'd hoped for.

The solution: she goes to ballet and I spend time knitting. No more tears. We have an agreement whereby I ask her at the end of the lesson if she's been good enough for a treat, and she unflinchingly responds in the affirmative. We all know that's a blatant lie, but in the interests of maintaining sanity, I play along.

I've also found an adult open class that runs on Tuesday lunchtimes just down the road from my work. So who knows, perhaps we can stage a duet together in our own beautifully choreographed pantomime. As it turns out, she's not the only one who chooses to march[/dance] to the beat of her own drum...

Thanks to my mum for bringing these up to really rub it in my face that I'm just getting what I deserve after what I put her through.

The shoes that lasted 5 days

2011-04-14T17:26:00.000+12:00

Why is it that a child can keep hold a cheap pair of shoes, they wear out really fast and look horrible, cause blisters etc, but the MOMENT you buy a pair of expensive shoes, they lose them?

I've held out hope all week that her new fancy schmancy, comfy, cute, leather school shoes would turn up. She wore them for a grand total of 5 days before they disappeared. Yes, they were named. We're on day 4 of the hunt and they are no where to be seen. I'm starting to feel sick.

I guess my problem is that I don't want to buy her cheap shoes as that means I'll have to acknowledge that she'll more than likely lose them again. I'm not quite ready for that.

No news is not good news.

2011-04-11T21:24:00.000+12:00

We are waiting to hear back from the vendor about whether he has accepted our offer or not. He seems to be somewhere very remote overseas.

FRUUUUUSTRAAAAAATION.

So yeah. The suspense is killing me. I am gorging on feijoas to take my mind off the house. The boy came home from his friend's house with two shopping bags absolutely stuffed full of them. Yummmmm.

I'll let you know when I know.

Trash writing, with a point, damnit. It's World Health Day.

2011-04-07T06:00:00.007+12:00

You'll have to forgive my artistic license on the process for court summons... I've never been summonsed and in my usual style, I left this to the last minute so didn't have time for research. Or a creative writing course, as you may be able to tell.

Natalie opened her eyes and strained to hear what she thought was knocking at their front door. She heard her flatmate roll out of bed and footsteps make their way from next door to her room to further out in the lounge so it must have been a door knock. Strange at this time of morning, she thought. There came the mumbling of voices and suddenly louder "Nat - the police are here for you!". "The police?" She asked, as her heart started pounding trying to think of what could have happened to allow the police to visit her flat so early in the morning. What if it was Cameron? He hadn't stayed over the night before as he had a big assignment due for one of his law papers. Nat suspected he didn't like staying over because Georgie, Nat's daughter, often disturbed his sleep when she climbed in the bed at around 2am every morning. She felt a faint irritation towards Cameron beginning. But what if he'd been in an accident?

Nat caught the eye of the policeman as she hurried toward the door in her dressing gown, and he quickly turned away, embarrassed. Shouldn't he be more focussed on the potentially devastating news he was about to give her? She finally reached the door and in her usual flustered style, launched straight in with multiple questions: "Is he OK?... Or is it someone else?... Oh my gosh, is it Mum? Dad?" The policeman frowned, ignoring her questions he started to speak "Ms. Wright, I'm here to talk to you about a private matter. Can we go somewhere to talk?" His tone had thrown Nat, it certainly wasn't about an accident. She tried to slow her breathing and think, impatience was preventing her from getting them somewhere they could talk about what was obviously a sensitive matter.

She ushered her flatmate into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and gestured over at the couches in the lounge. The walls were paper thin, the whole flat would know what was going on anyway. The policeman took his seat and presented the papers he'd been holding by his side. The bold text emblazoned on the top of the page caught Nat's eye. It read "COURT SUMMONS". As Nat took the papers, the policeman began his explanation, "We have been led to believe that you underwent a... procedure... at the women's clinic at Wellington hospital on February 15th." He paused and waited for Nat's nod, "The operating doctor has been arrested and charged with procuring an abortion under section 183(b) of the Crimes Act 1961. We need you to appear as a witness for this case." Nat carefully took the papers and stared down at them, unable to comprehend what was happening. As far as she was concerned, that was all over two months ago. She'd been in for the procedure, gone through the laborious process of seeing a blur of health professionals all asking the same questions, and had finally got into the operating theatre and had the procedure done. Cameron had been there to support her as much as he could, but he didn't understand what she was going through. She just knew that she couldn't afford another child and didn't want to be a single mother of two children, as that's inevitably what would have happened.

The operating doctor had happened to be her daughter's GP and she remembered being glad that there was a familiar face in there. But that was who the policeman was talking about now. Arrested? Dr. Rutherford? For procuring an abortion?

The policeman seemed to follow Nat's thought process via her facial expressions and he stated smugly "The details are all in the papers there." He stood up and headed toward the door, leaving Nat on the couch with the summons. He turned before walking out, offering a parting comment, "Unless you were in danger of being declared clinically insane, she shouldn't have performed the operation. It's fourteen years imprisonment, you know."
_____________________

Once you get over marveling at how tragic my writing is, please consider that abortion is still in the Crimes Act in New Zealand. It's not a crime... it's a health issue.

House quest 2011

2011-04-05T20:26:00.001+12:00

A little update on the house front... we've pretty much been open homing it every weekend. Yayfunandgames. Unfortunately we rule out most houses as soon as we walk in the driveway. The Boy's car is about 0.5cm off the ground so requires a ridiculously flat entrance to the property to prevent massive scrapage. If the Boy isn't with me to check out houses then I have to make sure I fully document the entry way for his approval via photographs.
Here's where I was going to put a truly thrilling pic of a driveway but I stupidly decided to try and upload a 5MB video of the child demonstrating the latest in hand clapping rhyme game thingies. Remember those? Still going strong apparently. Anyway, that video has now meant that my phone is refusing to do anything so unable to upload the photo. Naturally, you'll be devastated. My sincerest apologies.
BUT don't despair yet, my friends (well, apart from missing the photo), as we have found not one, but TWO properties with [relatively] flat driveways, decent sized sections, and each with a house which has potential to be cute. Although one of them is a 2 bedroom - I've already drawn up plans for adding another bedroom with our magic monopoly money.
We've put an offer in on one of them (2 bdrm) and are waiting to hear back from the vendor, who very inconveniently is overseas at the moment. WE ARE TRYING TO BUY A HOUSE HERE, MAN. Get back immediately! And if that doesn't work out, there's an auction for one other this weekend (3 bdrm). Failing that, we go back to trawling TradeMe and realestate.co.nz and throwing tantrums about the lack of houses that meet our rather extensive criteria. All fun and games.
It better work out soon as I'm rather ready to ditch our land lady, as those witness to my whinging on twitter can attest. Wish us luck! I hope to have news for you by the end of the week.

Edited: You'll be stoked... finally got the pic through in my email! Regard, le driveway which is not quite flat enough.

Ok i lied

2011-04-01T18:54:00.001+13:00

Another phone photo. What's with all the damn praying mantii all over my house? This little dude is hanging out with me while working my way through my blog reader.

Cheater cheater

2011-03-28T20:57:00.001+13:00

So. I've realised why I'm obsessed with the vintage camera apps - it disguises the crap pictures that phone cameras take.
My new plan is to start carrying my actual camera around a bit more to save you from the excessive vignettes you've been seeing around these parts. Yup.

On liking Auckland

2011-03-23T20:27:00.001+13:00

I'm embracing Auckland this year. While I'm saving most of it for when we finally buy a house and we move from East to West, sometimes a bit of fondness for ye olde Land of Auck (haha autocorrect [blogging on my phone] Land of Suck - never fails to amuse) sneaks up on me...
Last Sunday, Dad forced the Kid and I to get some exercise by way of walking to the next beach over from ours. This was the view coming into that beach from the walking track. Kinda nice, I think. Thanks Suckland.

Starting my day

2011-03-19T21:49:00.001+13:00

This little caravan of caffeinated goodness popped up in our neighbourhood about a month back and I fully intended on making it my daily ritual. I had previously decided that coffee was too expensive and I was going to try and get rid of it all together... but then how could I resist this?

The first day I stopped and ordered my coffee and threw caution (and money) to the wind and opted for the large size, completely neglecting to think about the fact that from this beautiful spot on the side of the road just past the little seaside town I live in, I had to drive another HOUR AND A HALF to get to work. On the motorway. Most likely almost at stand still. With no public toilets to be seen. I needed to pee about half an hour in. Unpleasant.

Needless to say, that ended my little morning coffee caravan ritual. Although I did test out the small size the other day... and that presented no issues. Coffee addiction - here I come! (Again.)

Good lordy. Did I just write a blog post about my bladder capacity? I think I did.

Thumb sucker

2011-03-17T22:44:00.001+13:00

Yeahhhh... we're attempting to stop the thumb sucking. Han originally set the date of the end of thumb sucking for when she started school. Then it was moved out to turning 6. Now at 6 and 1/2 years, she's started mentioning 7.

My problem is that it's a good sign that I'll be able to get extreme cuddles as she jams her thumb in her mouth when she's tired, so I don't discourage it as much as I should. But with the front teeth [finally] coming in, it's probably a good idea to minimise it as much as possible. No freaking idea what you do at night though... any ideas?

Blog iz sleeping

2011-03-14T21:06:00.000+13:00

But I am not! I've been doing exciting pro-choice campaign organising in Wellington and squeezing in a few visits with rad peepz on the way. Some of them were a good antidote to my feminist raving about anti-choice weirdos.

And then there were the Feminazi Boner Killer drinks which weren't at all an antidote to my feminist raving, but very freaking fun all the same. Although I must tone down the confessions of internet stalking as apparently it freaks some people out. I guess I'm not quite pulling off the endearingly enthusiastic fan type persona like I thought I was. I'll work on that - can't promise I can contain all my excitement when I meet some of my Internet based heros!

I really managed to get quite a few bulk visits in which was super awesome in such a short space of time... including checking out Tash's absolutely gorgeous new yarn shop and catching up with some of my fave kidlets in the world and their equally rad parents. (Thanks for the couch Niamh!) I seriously need to do a proper Welly trip to catch up with everyone I missed.

Most importantly though, I got to visit this crazy woman, her husband, and my little brother who is now at Uni in Wellington. I might miss them just a tad.

I'll probably be doing a bit of a write up at some stage over at Mothers for Choice about where to from here, but in the mean time you can read the press release that came out of the Pro-Choice Gathering 2011 and also a taste of the Queen of Thorns at her best.

Feminazi Boner-Killers unite!

2011-03-08T21:48:00.002+13:00

I'm down in Wellington this weekend for Babykillcon2011 (thanks QOT) and so have taken it upon myself to stage the next round of Feminazi Boner Killer drinks... in training for staging the Auckland version in April sometime.
Anyone else wanna come play? Pro-feminazi Boner Killers welcome.
When? From 6pm, Saturday 12th March
Where? Did Apartment bar work well? I say there. 25 Allen St, Te Aro
Why? A healthy session of boner killing, of course.
Excitement!

I hurt again

2011-03-06T12:18:00.000+13:00

My ovarian region is hurting. It's not really bad this time, but the pain is definitely there again. At least I know what it is this time. I really don't want to have more surgery but I'm not quite sure how to prevent these things from happening.

Anyone else had recurring serous cystadenomas?

I think I'm going to consult a naturopath this time round. Feck knows how I'm going to pay for it though!

ARGH.

The latest from the Devil Child

2011-03-02T23:16:00.001+13:00

The Devil Child has started ballet. I'm thinking perhaps it would have been a better idea to hold out until I found a flamenco/interpretive dance class. Ballet seems to stifle the Devil Child's creativity. The Devil Child apparently knows better. I should have seen this coming.

So.

2011-02-28T19:53:00.002+13:00

I accidentally left the blog a bit. And then Christchurch had an earthquake. And then I couldn't blog because it was all very serious and scary and my natural reaction in that situation is to make bad jokes. Not good. People don't like bad jokes.

Turns out I'm not the only one as Dad emailed me a picture of him and friends out fishing on Saturday, with the clear blue sky as the background, and a caption reading: "Matt is helping me with earthquake recovery". Good work, Dad. [He'd flown up to the North Island the day before the earthquake... which happened on his birthday.]

But, bad jokes aside, so glad all my Christchurch based family are OK. And really sad for those whose families aren't.

Oh mannn. Look at me getting all serious and shiz. Better go think of something else to write about so I can bury this post down a bit and repress all those human feelings again.

The gumby does furniture restoration

2011-02-15T20:38:00.001+13:00

As you may know, I decided that it would be a genius idea to buy a second hand, extremely damaged, veneer dining suite from Trade Me and attempt to restore it to a non-cringeworthy standard. I sorta only halfway got there as I couldn't be arsed sanding down the whole table, so just worked on the top as that was the bit that was worst. And now the top is gloss and the rest is errrr... not gloss. Now I look at the chairs and the table legs and it makes me cringe. Damnit.

Unfortunately I don't have any proper shots of the table in the before and during stages, though I did find this one from Trade Me when I bought it. It kinda shows the state that the table top was in. Bear in mind that I did a whole lot more damage to it when I got it home and dragged it off the trailer and into the house by myself because I was too excited to wait until the Boy got home.

So this is before. The chairs are crap too but at least a smidgeon better than the table was. I'll deal with them at some point. In the during part of this DIY bizzo, I researched the shit out of how to restore veneer furniture without destroying it and the consensus was that you can do it, but you need to be really careful sanding it back. I'm not sure I followed all the rules right, and I managed to break Dion's sander in the process, but I did a passable job for a newbie to this business. I sanded until I ~~got sick of it~~ removed ~~all the~~ most of the cracked and damaged polyurethane and previous stain. Then I gave it a coat of a mostly matching stain (I had to take a guess at the shop), and then two coats of polyurethane. Totally forgot to sand it down between coats. Oops. And apparently I used cheap brushes because they left a zillion bristles behind in the polyurethane. If I ever find out who labelled those brushes with "No bristle loss" then I'm gonna punch them in the face.

And after all that, this is how it looks...

I'm not taking photos up close because then you'll see how badly the chairs and table legs need doing. heh. It definitely looks 100% better than it did when I started though so I'm really stoked. The only problem is that there are a couple of short cuts I took and now they bug the shit outta me. I got sick of sanding and so there are a couple of patches on the table which are slightly darker. And also someone must've used putty on the table before, as when I was sanding back, it uncovered a couple of white patches along the centre where the table extends. I should have gone back to the shop and got some matching putty to recolour the patches but I just wanted to move on to the next step so I pretended they didn't exist. They did. And they do. And now they are glaringly obvious to me. Argh.

We've been eating dinner almost every night at my new dining table and I really love it. Now I just can't wait to get a house of our own to put it in! House Quest 2011 begins.

I like the Boy

2011-02-14T20:39:00.000+13:00

The Boy and I like different things.

He likes cars.

I like photos of the shadows of people looking at cars.

He likes dance parties.

I quite like sleep.

But, luckily, he likes us. And we like him!

Happy Valentine's Day, lovely man. And sorry I didn't bake those cupcakes I mentioned. I would have preferred stabbing my eyes out over turning on the oven in the heat of this afternoon. Love you though!

Why the Internets is awesome.

2011-02-09T20:40:00.000+13:00

So... it started out with a declaration of my intense sugar craving on Twitter. Clearly my tweets are thrilling. You should totes follow me.

BUT THEN LOOK WHAT FOLLOWED!

Oh no I di'int.

I challenged The Baking Queen. And low, twelve gloriously sticky date cupcakes with caramel (and ginger?) icing arrived on my desk at work today...

I wasn't able to photograph twelve, because understandably, there are less than half left already. Oops.

But man alive, how could I hold myself back from them? I tell you now, they are up there with the best things I've ever tasted in my life. MY LIFE! Big call, but totally warranted.

So thank you thank you thank you to Stef. The most awesome Cupcake Fairy in the land. And she makes for a pretty neat lunch date too.

Baby knitting is all I am good for these days

2011-02-02T21:07:00.001+13:00

My attention span for knitting is short at the moment. I think I might churn out a few more baby knits just to get back into the swing of things. Love the instant gratification of baby stuff!

My workmate is having a baby and she's due in May. I'm convinced everyone should have babies in May. It makes for a happy knitter.

Oh crap. Useless. Forgot to mention that this pattern is the fabulous Pebble Vest from the Thrifty Knitter

[Almost] One year anniversary

2011-02-01T22:36:00.000+13:00

Of me having nails!

Yeah, it's still about a month away but I think I need to plan a little celebration event... like that manicure that I always promised myself.
I think I might also write a bit more about the process of giving up deforming my nails and what has happened since. All thrilling stuff, I know!
I'm still pretty proud that I managed to do it. And the novelty of wearing nail polish still hasn't worn off. Today I'm rocking whore red. It pleases me.
So yay for being able to rock nails that are worthy of attention and not have to hide my hands from everyone I come across. Tis the simple things, people.

The return of the Devil Child

2011-01-28T10:43:00.000+13:00

The Devil Child returns to Auckland tonight after a holiday in Rotorua for two weeks. Hopefully she's grown some teeth by now.

And then we return to the ~~drudgery~~ routine of school on Tuesday. Except this time it's gonna be different. Yep. 2011 is the year of being organised. Why yes, yes it is. Stop rolling your eyes, damnit!

For sale

2011-01-26T20:05:00.000+13:00

So... the house we live in is now officially on the market. I now have to keep the place looking like a show home (everyone who knows me in real life, queue hysterical laughter) and we have to allow people to wade through our space to stare, horrified, at the mould in our bathroom. heh

Personally, I'm horrified at the description that the real estate agent has put on the website, complete with spelling errors and misplaced capital letters. Not to mention terrible use of adjectives. I mean, I'm a wee bit free with ye olde descriptors but I expect a bit more from someone whose job it is to do this shiz. Our kitchen is described as "interesting" which has to be the most useless adjective I've ever heard used to describe a kitchen. Seriously. Oh gawd, and then she uses it again in relation to voids. "Interesting voids". What the fruck are voids? Let alone interesting ones? Do you mean the strange and entirely useless, yet specially lit, cubby holes this house has going on? Interesting alright...

I'm very tempted to rewrite the description and submit it to her.

And on a positive note, it means we have to get serious about this house saving business!

Reasonably Sized Day Out

2011-01-23T21:02:00.000+13:00

The Boy and I were among the throngs of people at the Big Day Out this year - the first time I have been since 2001. Oh dear. That's 10 years... I really am getting old. That's not the only thing that is signalling my age (probably well older than my 26 years) - we piked early. Quite early. Before half the main acts even. How sad is that?

We had an awesome time anyway... and probably saved me from getting to the hungry, tired, shivering, damp stage and wishing that I could go home to my bed and never ever have to hear the words "Big Day Out" ever again. Yeahhhh that's me trying to justify our piking. Shuddup.

Right. A few highlights then:

The Boy's friend providing us with a car park across the road from the main entrance at her work. Score.
The Boy's other friend (one of the event coordinators) providing us with passes to the lounge up the top of the West stand. Extra score.
Meeting Boganette. Briefly met the famed Boganette (and Mr Boganette) in the morning before we went off on a random mission and didn't manage to catch back up again due to general craziness. And *coupikinggh*.
Catching up with one of the Taranaki Mongrels who I haven't seen since 2004 when I left Otago (I flatted with five Naki boys in my second year of uni). I miss them.
Airbourne lead singer scaling the massive scaffolding between the two main stages. I got all motherly and worried my little socks off that he'd fall. It was a pretty impressive stunt despite the anxiety. I also just generally enjoyed their stage show because of how much they embrace the bogan stereotype. It's freaking awesome.
Bloody Beetroots main dude chain smoking through their whole set while playing guitar, doing vocals, and mixing shit. Hilarious. And I'd expected that they'd just be another damn DJ set (The Boy listens to electro and only electro and I whinge and whinge about it.) but their live set was freaking rocking.
Getting home before midnight and being able to lie on my bed and rest my legs!

Follow through

2011-01-20T23:04:00.000+13:00

The dining suite I bought was in terrible condition. Like, really atrocious. The whole lot but especially the table. The polyurethane was cracked, burned, scratched and gouged. Yeah, the scratching and gouging was me. Oops.

What you may not have known (yet probably could tell if you've been reading this blog for a while) is that I am famous for coming up with bright ideas and not following through. Jute may or may not be a little similar but not quite as bad as me. Us together though? Terrible. How about that couch cover that we got all excited about for 5 minutes and then never finished? Poor Gaz - having to live with both of us for four years. heh.

I kinda assumed the table might be one of those bright ideas. But it turns out that I've actually done something with it! Albeit a few months later... but still - ACTION! I spent some time during the last week of my holiday playing with a sander (read: breaking a sander. Sorry Dion.) and then researching stains and clear finishes. This week while the kidlet is away down in Rotorua, I have spent my evenings staining and polyurethaning my table top.

The quality of the reconditioning job leaves a little to be desired (I got sick of sanding. You can tell.) but it is miiiiiles better than the table I started with so I'm stoked. And again, can we marvel at me actually getting off my ass and doing something?

Photos may or may not arrive depending on how crap my polyurethane job looks in the daylight. I had to pick a million brush bristles out of the sticky clear stuff and I just hope like hell I got 'em all. Stupid brush.

Ze holiday: Part deux

2011-01-18T23:07:00.000+13:00

From Kaikoura we drove on to Nelson. Obligatory seal shots were involved:

Actually that wasn't the seal that we saw when we left. It was one from the day that Dion went out photographing while the boys went diving. But still... you get the idea. I can't tell damn seals apart so was sorta hoping you were all the same.

Post-seal stop and lots of driving, we made it to Nelson. The kidlet drove me absolutely round the bend with her 60 zillion questions. Han: "How long is it til we are there?" Me: "Ages... Ages and ages and ages." Han: "How long do I have to count for that much?" Me: "ARGHHHHHHHHH."

We set up camp with Jamara and her gorgy crew and the kids got into dressing up with poor little newbie Mila's playsilks straight away. I can't begin to tell you how many times I was asked "I wanna be a pirateship!" So terribly cute!

Pirate Han, Pirate Otis and Pirate Louie

To amuse ourselves (and fill our bellies) we also embarked upon a berry picking mission. We emerged with somewhat different coloured children. The little buggers did actually do a decent amount of picking. Then they disappeared and we found them here:

It was gorgy as always in Nelson and it was so cool to hang with the kidlets after so much time, and meet the little Mila. Supercutenessbabyfix. Thank you for putting up with us camping in your lounge, Jamara!

The next part of the journey involved several more hours of the questions as mentioned above while driving... and then a whole bunch of sleep (thank Dog)... until we finally arrived in Hanmer Springs! I'd called ahead to a camping ground to book a cabin but once we got there and I started whinging about wanting to sleep in a bouncy bed, the Boy floated the idea of the Heritage. And I was all "ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?!?" and it turned out he was. So we stayed there instead. heh

We ate several delicious meals at the Monteith's brewery bar. It had a TV playing kids films. And excellent service. I wanted to live there. Or at least leave the kid there for a few days.

Andddddddd then we went to the hot springs. In Summer. Yeahhhhhhh... spent most of our time in the kiddo pool. It was a fabulous kiddo pool for sure, but I'm pretty sure that when you pay that much for the entry, you are also meant to spend some time in the famed hot pools too. Ah well.

And then we headed back in the sweltering heat to Christchurch and collapsed in a heap and refused to get up for a few days. Oh, except to check out the Bealey Ave Speight's Ale House. Just for research, of course. It was also amazing. No TV though - minus a point. Colouring pencils and princess colouring pages instead - plus half a point.

Finally, after a grand 11 days on tour, we flew back to Auckland to deal with the fleas again. Oh, and the horrible prospect of returning to work. Well, not for me... I still had a week to go of my holiday, haha, but I felt it FOR Dion. Really. I did.

Ze holiday: Part one

2011-01-17T23:35:00.000+13:00

I was trying to get this shiz in order, which required the Boy processing wedding photos (he became "The Photographer" on the day of the wedding on account of having the biggest camera), but he's frigging useless (aw, and lovely) and hasn't done much with the photos yet. SO that means that I have to get off my ass and load my minimal photographic attempts. Slightly underwhelming but better than no blog post at all, yes? Don't worry, I'll steal some from Jute and Dion to flesh it all out.

Right. The first leg actually began in Rotorua... but I don't have any photos there apart from this dorky one of the child posing in front of the Christmas tree:

Oh, I lie. I also have this one of the team from the Boxing day races:

Stray Ben, The Boy (at the back with the beer), Zazu, Pommy Dave (down the front), Spamacious and the kidlet, Birthday Girl Kez (with the pink cup), and Chelcie (Super Blog Stalker).

Man. This is turning out to be a stellar post!

Where was I? Oh yes, Rotorua. Xmas done. Then back to Auckland briefly to discover the Great Flea Infestation of 2010. But that's a whole other bug-themed-blog-post I'm thinking. After that delightful discovery, we were out again in the morning to Earthquake Central, aka Christchurch, for Daddio's "garden party" aka Wedding. Dad very much in denial. Illustrated perfectly here:

Oh yeah, before I forget, Jute played florist for the day. See?:

And thennnnn you'll have to wait for Dion to sort his shit out to see proper photos of the married ones but here's a shot of the family looking relatively photogenic. Well, except Gaz who is apparently performing a solo haka. Or something.

That'll be Lauren, and me, and Hannah, and Jute, and Caro, and Dad, and Wob, and Matt, and the Boy, and Gaz the Doofus.

The wedding was relaxed and fun. And sunny. Very sunny. And so now I have two new step-siblings. I even like them. Quite a lot. Yep.

After the wedding, Jute, Rob, the Boy, Han and I wasted no time at all and trekked all the way to Kaikoura:

No, seriously, I mean alllllllllllllllll the slow damn way to Kaikoura:

Until we arrived at the Most Magical Camping Spot EVAH:

Wait. This one shows you better:

The old school house with wool shed behind

Now, Esther had told me that it was going to be a smidgeon primitive, with no running water and a long drop so I was a little scared. But it was FREAKING AWESOME! We had barbequed feasts at least twice a day with freshly shot/caught/gathered rabbit/butterfish/paua, a shower hooked up to a fertiliser barrel full of water heated by old kettle elements and with a pump powered by a car battery, and pretty ace company in the form of people we already knew (Thanks E!) and new people who were just as neat. Oh, and this view:

Esther took us up to a secret waterhole in the middle of nowhere and I wish I'd taken some photos... or had a swim... or both? It was gorgeous! But I was too hungover on account of Esther getting me exceptionally trashed the night before. Let us not speak of that time. I did manage the clamber up the river, in my seedy state, for about 20 minutes to get to the waterhole. 'Twas brilliant. Well worth it. And I'll get back there some day. Less hung. Fo' shiz.

Right. That'll do now that I've eaten up all your bandwidth with my excessive photo posting. More tomorrow... yaaaaaaay.

Next leg: Nelson and Hanmer Springs.

Prelude to the holiday posts

2011-01-13T15:03:00.000+13:00

In handy visual form, we holidayed where the stars are at various points over the last few weeks.

I really need to write about each one separately as each place included some fairly ace friends. Yep. They will follow as soon as I can be arsed.

Sucking at Christmas cheer

2010-12-20T22:14:00.000+13:00

It's a few days away from Christmas... and as usual, I left it until a couple of days ago to decide to make all my presents. HA! HA.

Once again, it would seem, my family are getting the world's shittiest Christmas gifts.

Ah well, at least I do good Christmas tree shaped gingerbread cookies.

Dweeblet child

2010-12-17T19:40:00.000+13:00

I wish everyone who reads this could meet the Devil Child. I really do.

While some days as a parent it feels like Groundhog Day, other times there's so much laughter I just want to hang out with her all day.

It's the never ending story

2010-12-16T20:38:00.000+13:00

I've been yelling a lot lately.

The child hasn't been particularly good at listening and I've resorted to yelling to try and get her to do the things I expect. I'd really like to yell less.

I have always tried to treat Hannah the way I'd like to be treated. And I wouldn't like to be yelled at.

I believe that yelling erodes the trust that a child has in an adult. I really don't want to get to the point where Hannah is a teenager and wonder why she doesn't tell me things. That thought distresses me.

When she's older, I want Hannah to be the kind of person who is confident enough to make the right choices. For herself and for other people. I want her to be patient, compassionate, responsible(ish), and happy. This requires modelling good behaviour, encouragement, praise, attentiveness and patience.

Tonight it's all just a bit overwhelming. That the road to being a good person is to be built bit by bit, every day. But it's so freaking long. It's a thousands of single days of "brush your teeth!", "bring in your school bag!", "tidy your room!"... and tonight? I just don't think I want to do it.

Oh yes, THAT person.

2010-12-13T20:49:00.000+13:00

So, I was merrily on my way to work last Friday when I realised I was awfully low on petroleum. It dawned on me as I pulled in to the petrol station that it had been a while since I'd last checked my oil and water so I should probably do that too.

The old pre-pay pump required me to venture inside to pay for my $60 worth of petrol before I got a-pumping. I cheerily smiled at the people serving inside, the same ones that I see every Friday morning, then wandered back out to my car and set the pump going while I popped my bonnet and checked things over.

I was thinking smugly to myself that I probably looked like I halfway knew what I was doing as I filled up the water reservoir and then wiped down the oil dipstick and pushed it back in. The smugness ended abruptly as I pulled the dipstick out of its holder and noted the distinct absence of oil. Not even below empty. Just none.

The panic started to set in as I realised I could have done some major damage to my car. Probably on the motorway. In peak hour. With my phone battery flat. Leaving my daughter stranded at after school care. It didn't feel good. I needed some oil NOW.

I looked around and saw that the petrol forecourt was getting busier so hastily jumped in my car to move it into one of the parks by the shop to put the oil in. I moved forward, thanking baby Jebus for helping me avoid breaking down on the motorway by somehow planting thoughts into my brain that meant that I stopped that day to check the oil.

What would have been nice of baby Jebus to do was to also warn me that I'd forgotten to PUT THE FRACKING PETROL NOZZLE BACK. Thanks baby Jebus!

I heard an almighty crash behind me and got out to find the nozzle and hose severed from the pump and EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the whole entire WORLD... OK... whole entire petrol station looking and me and trying REAL HARD not to laugh. Some more successfully than others, might I add.*

So yay. I became THAT person. Stoked.

And no, I will never ever live this down. Jute will see to that. And yeahhhh, I'm waiting for the bill in the mail. Double stoked.

* I'm looking at you, petrol station server woman.

Tales of the terribly crap gardener

2010-12-11T15:17:00.002+13:00

So, my green-thumbed friends... if I by chance allowed my herbs (planted in my lovingly crafted herb planter) to sort of wither and die, and the remaining hardy plants to bolt to seed... would I be able to collect the seeds and try again?

I think it's nice you can royally screw something up but they give you a second chance! Good herbs.

ZOMG. Just had another thought as I was sitting down to my lunch of carrot sticks and hummus with dukkah stuff (don't worry, I ate pancakes with white chocolate buttons for breakfast) - CORIANDER SEEDS FOR COOKING. Good lordy. Don't know why I didn't think of that earlier. Off to research edibility as is.

Treats

2010-12-08T21:52:00.000+13:00

OK, so I bought myself this treat. Found it in the op shop by my work today... $9. Yusssss. I'd watched it move from the normal racks to the bargain rack and the price get progressively lower. I finally decided to try it on today and weeeeeeeeeeee perfect fit.

Bike! For me! From the Boy! Turns out he DOES pay attention. Actually, I knew that. He's rad.

"It will all be OK" pencils from Tash. It lives on!

It's really handy having a friend who runs a yarn business and sells super rad books. Yippeeeeee!

And my little sister sent me some of Tegan Rose's Wrens. It finally arrived the other day and I was so excited! Until I realised that I hadn't yet found a suitable present for her despite her birthday being two weeks before mine. Slack sister. Still hunting.

Today also a courier delivered a batch of chocolate cupcakes made by my mama. The birthday continues... excellent.

Update

2010-12-07T21:32:00.000+13:00

Oops. Forgot about my blog for a bit. In my defence, I was having heaps of fun with Knitschy Tash and had little time for geeking. Especially because I also had to send off my phone to the shop to be repaired after my power button failed so even phone based geeking was off the cards.

And now Tash has flown back to Wellington... and I'm missing her already. I wish all my Wellington friends could come and play with me up here all the time. Yes, yes, I know moving back to Wellington would solve that problem but I don't think you realise how stubborn my boyfriend is. Worse than me, I tell you.

I'll have to post tomorrow and show you all my birthday treats because they are EXCITING! And my family is well known for forgetting birthdays, the upside of which is that you get fun birthday stuff drip fed for a month or so. Glorious.

Awesomeness

2010-12-02T21:16:00.000+13:00

Tomorrow is my birthday, and due to one of my colleagues having the day off tomorrow, I was surprised with an afternoon tea at the office today! Yay! I LOVE afternoon tea at the office! Especially with flowers and yuuuuuummy cheesecake.

Unfortunately, to get me out of the office they had to convince me to go on an errand to get stationery which I was MOST UNIMPRESSED about. I even threw a little tantrum. Felt like super doofus when I got back and realised what they'd done. heh.

And the nice thing was, it really felt like my birthday and I have a whole day left to celebrate tomorrow!*

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

P.S. Mind you, tomorrow evening I am heading along to an AGM for an organisation I am involved with. Not exactly my preferred place to spend my birthday.

My new project

2010-11-29T20:57:00.000+13:00

I bought myself a dining suite. The top of the table is screwwwwwwed. Even more so now because I thought it was a brilliant idea to try and drag it off the trailer and inside by myself. Impatient. Bad, bad idea. Ah well. So now I just have to get off my ass and start repairing it. I figure it can't get much worse than it currently is so will just start sanding and hope for the best. Yep.

Semi-splendiferous

2010-11-24T21:32:00.000+13:00

So, I started knitting these socks months ago. MONTHS. And I thought I had a great system of marking where I was up to on the pattern. Upon rediscovering my half sock this evening, I realised I didn't follow my system so I had no fricking idea which part of the lace pattern I was up to. Genius. And for some reason I am not terribly good at counting rows... never mind that I'd already effed up the pattern and was relying on me remembering where I'd effed up the pattern so I could continue effing if up in the same way and pretend that was how it was meant to be. Extra genius.

I just started somewhere that seemed vaguely right. Now that I'm a bit further down the track, I realise that I've repeated a row of lace but fecked if I'm going back and fixing it. I'm just glad the photo is kinda bright so you can't actually tell.

Now, if someone could just remind me of this when I'm knitting the other sock so that I can repeat my screw up (as per method above). Hrmmmm. Maybe they'll be the sort of socks that I wear concealed. Yeahhhh.

Bolt of Cloth

2010-11-21T21:50:00.000+13:00

Alexander Henry - Spot and stripes

I went and played in Christchurch this weekend. On an Earthquake Tour (I know! Terrible! But we needed to see some of the destruction/reconstruction to really understand how it had been for you CHCH people. Sorry!), we stumbled across Bolt of Cloth. ZOMG fabric heaven. I mean, I've been to their website before... but THEIR SHOP! A-Mazing. My sister and I only just managed to tear ourselves away without completely emptying our bank accounts. As it was, I had to buy some of the Spot and Stripes fabric (above) to make some cushions for Han's room. I didn't think I had a theme going on for Han's room and expected this to clash horribly, but now I'm back here I've figured I do: garish colours. Yusssss. And the clashing fits in fine with that. That's a worthy theme, surely? But I think I need to stick with some plain colour from now on. No. More. Prints.

And now for me, I just need to find the money to order a whole heap of this, and this, and this, and this, andddddd this.

Aren't a sense of humour and feminism mutually exclusive?

2010-11-16T23:07:00.001+13:00

I found the Privilege Denying Dude meme today (I can't remember whose blog it was that linked it. ARGH)... laughter... tears... shaking of the dead.

I could make so, so many of these. Hours of entertainment.

Banana gets married

2010-11-15T21:53:00.000+13:00

And I get to break out polka dots and red lipstick and try to pull off new red hair.

Good wedding though... extremely good wedding. The combo of lovely weather by the lake, awesome friends from school all back together, and a father-of-the-bride who owns a pub makes for a glorious wedding shindig.

And a glorious Sunday hang over. Ace.

Amusement

2010-11-11T22:48:00.000+13:00

While there was a party raging on downstairs for Dion's birthday, my sister, my brother, and I were upstairs watching the patterns that the lights were making on the walls. Robbo pulled out my camera and started taking photos... finally figuring out how he was going to proceed with his photography boards for year 13.

Kinda indicative of how my family roll, I do believe.

Geeks. Fo' life.

Kidlet

2010-11-08T20:48:00.000+13:00

Gratuitous gorgy kid photo

Oh, and that's paint on her arm, not bruises.

When your kidlet is this cute, how could you not want to make another one? Some weirdness in the stars/friends having cute babies/hormones/loveliness of my boyfriend has induced some serious strange cluckiness. I'm just kinda glad there's a few things that have to happen first. A few, small things like buying a house.

Relationship advice from Aunt Nikki: A single mother's guide to dating

2010-11-04T21:41:00.000+13:00

Me giving relationship advice? A good joke, yes? I figure if anyone knows how to screw this shit up, it's me, so I'll tell you what I did and you'll know very well where to steer clear.

And just so you know where this all began, I'll tell you that bit too... A wee while back a gorgy, young, recently single mother asked me about dating with a child. It seems there isn't a lot of advice out there for those who find themselves with a kid, at a stage where they still want to head out and socialise with other (potentially and probably childless) people, and possibly want to date one of those fine (or not so fine) people. So I thought I'd use a few of ~~my disaster stories~~ my experiences to start a bit of a convo on the matter. And also say how bullshit some of the taboos of single parenthood are.

A single mother's guide to dating (not exhaustive or accurate or even very helpful)

1) I can tell you now, your kid will not be damaged by being exposed to new people. Your kid will be damaged if you think they'll be damaged and treat them accordingly. I took the "be honest" route and found that Hannah was particularly perceptive about it all. I mean, they have no idea about the nuclear family at this stage so why should they be hung up on it? It changes a little as they get older and they get a smidgeon fixated on having a "daddy and mummy"... but the honesty thing has been working well for me. It also helps if you send your kid/s to a school in Wellington where the nuclear set seems to be in the minority. Damn Auckland and its conservative nature.

2) You didn't sign a vow of chastity when you had your kid. You are more than able to date someone without having to be a mother and let loose a little. I did it a few times (2009: the year of fun, anyone?) and didn't really intend for those "dates" to turn into a lasting relationship and it just pissed me off when I was asked about the kid. Especially with an exceptional hangover after a certain person caught a pic of the kid on the screen of my phone as I checked the time. He got dangerously close to being kicked out on the spot. So, anywayyyy... you are allowed to have fun. There's no rules saying you have to have a courting period in this whole dating game.

3) And while we are on the subject of fun... a kid walking in on you having sex can be quite distressing. But it's probably just as distressing as if it were their other parent, so don't worry about that either.

4) Sometimes kids are a pain in the ass to new people. Don't take the kid's behaviour personally. And neither should your partner. Hannah barely ever listens to Dion. And sometimes she refuses to give him hugs or kisses. It breaks my heart. But when I think about, she never listens to me either and often declines by attempts at affection so I don't know what I'm worried about! She doles them out when it suits her.

5) Bribery is a beautiful, beautiful thing. Treats can win over kids. And no, don't feel guilty about it. They are fickle little demons.

6) Sometimes it's a logistical nightmare dating with a kid. So creative date ideas are handy. Childless people [mostly] don't seem to understand that it is a massive pain in the ass to get babysitters. Especially on a regular basis. But it needs to be remembered that dates don't have to take place in the evening, and don't have to be somewhere you can't take the kid. Or can be at home!

7) There's no such thing as going on a date with a new person being "too soon" after a relationship ending - or at least when you think that's being dictated to you by other people anyway. If you find someone you like then that's fine... if you need a bit more time by yourself, that's fine too.

8) When hanging out with a new person it's kinda hard to figure out how much of your identity is you, and how much is that of a parent. You need them to know your kid/s to know you, but then you need them to know you so they'll be able to accept your kid/s. Catch 22. Basically, if they are worth it then it'll work out.

and I guess the last thing I'll say is...

9) Figuring out what kind of relationship your new partner and the kidlet/s will have is a work in progress. It can change. As I said in number 1, the honesty thing helps. It's a hard one entering an insta-family - the parents have the chance to grow and learn with their kids from birth while a new partner often has to learn to deal with a kid from day one. I'm not terribly surprised it takes a bit of getting used to when I start to think about that. Never an excuse for being an asshole to your kid though. Remember that.

I think that's enough from me without regaling you with stories of specific, horrific dates. Perhaps I'll save those for another day. If anyone has any much better advice, feel free to share that too.

Love,

Aunt Nikki

Gratuitous puppy shots

2010-11-02T11:04:00.000+13:00

My sister is getting a Weimaraner puppy. It's so freaking cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute. On Sunday (Han's birthday) we went and visited the litter of 11 and got to check out the little puppy that will be theirs at the start of December.

Photos totally stolen from my sister (her post here):

And I think my own little one provided some cuteness here too:

And because I'm lazy as hell, you can read about Han's birthday party on Jute's blog as she's the only one that took photos because I was in my usual highly strung, panic mode. Oh, and check out the ace clock she made Han too. Jute is clever. And clearly the last-minute-present-creation is genetic.

Devil child does Halloween

2010-10-31T23:03:00.001+13:00

The kidlet turned 6 today. Her day of birth was celebrated on Saturday with a Halloween disco. I managed to make a cake that was simple as hell and fit the theme. What I lack in cake decorating skills, I make up for in manipulation. The kid had requested a unicorn cake and knowing that I'm no cake decorating extraordinaire, I managed to get her excited about a Halloween cake instead. Genius, I tellyou.

Ohforgoodnesssake

2010-10-29T10:01:00.000+13:00

Warning: too much information including another reproductive organ discussion and a message to my bowel.

So, I had my specialist appointment and it turns out I don't have endometriosis after all. Now I guilty for being so happy not to have that condition because so many women are stuck with it!

Anyway, so sitting at this appointment with my big fancy specialist gynaecologist person, and she brings up the lab result thingies (I'm really brill at this medical terminology business) and she says "Oh!" and frowns. And I'm all "Whaaaaaaaaaat!?!?!" and then she turns to me and says "So, it turns out it isn't endometriosis after all!" That's all very fine and dandy for her, but I've been stressing my little heart out about fertility, and adhesions, and pain, and ongoing medical costs, and how I'm going to cope with having a hormonal contraceptive device and blah blah blah. And all of a sudden that isn't of any concern! It threw me. I forgot my Very Important Questions. But seeing as I'd already forgotten to bring the list of my Very Important Questions with me, the likelihood of me remembering to ask them was already very slim, but STILL. It threw me.

My specialist then informed me that it was a serous cystadenoma. Which isn't serious. Just serous. And probably won't happen again. I mean, not entirely out of this realm of possibility, but not a high chance like the return of endo ya know? She showed me some photos looking at the cyst and we 'ooohed' and 'aaahed' a bit about how attached the cyst was to my bowel and how twisted it was at its base (that's "torsion" apparently... see, I will get my head around this medical stuff eventually). And I felt rather fond of my bowel because it was just trying to protect that wee cystadenoma because while it was twisting around it was cutting off its own blood supply. So my gallant bowel came to the rescue and tried to save it by wrapping itself around the poor cyst. Isn't that nice? Oh, except for the fact that it was a GIANT CYST. Bowel, you really need to think about who you try and save next time.

Especially because somehow that cyst had got itself caught up with my fallopian tube too. So unfortunately the right one is a write off, as my specialisty person couldn't tell that it was there until it was too late. But I have another! All is not lost!

So apart from grossing me out by throwing around the term "necrosis" a few times (that was what was happening to the cyst. Ick.), I was really enjoying learning all about this stuff. But it seems my journey into becoming a reproductive organ expert has come to the end as I won't be needing to see my incredibly expensive specialist again. My bank account is STOKED. And hopefully no more cysts ever again in my whole entire life. That'd be nice.

I forgot a title

2010-10-27T11:21:00.001+13:00

This rose is to push the photo of my stomach down the page. You're welcome.
I'm obsessed with the naff retro camera applications on my phone as you may be able to tell. I have three different ones now. heh.
This rose smelled amazing. AMAZING. It's from Dion's mum's garden at the beach house at Pukehina.
I tried to take it home in the car to make my house also smell AMAZING but it didn't like being in a hot car all day.
So now not only does my house not smell AMAZING but it still has fleas. I hate them.
We have a new flatmate. I don't think we disclosed to him about the fleas. Oops. We probably also didn't warn him about the slightly insane landlady. Oops again.
I'll have to write another post about the landlady. It's one of those "if you don't laugh, you'll cry" sort of situations.
We are going to see a house tomorrow. The Boy isn't keen because it doesn't have a gigantor garage. I'm keen because it's cheap enough we could make our own garage.
I'm not meant to be looking at houses til April.
I'm impatient.
That's all.

As promised...

2010-10-26T22:46:00.002+13:00

Here is my manky stomach. I have a million things to apologise for but it's late and I want to go to bed, so I'm not going to. Oh, I would like to you to observe the stellar job I did of photoshopping out my hideous underwear. I did contemplate changing into something that was worthy of being splashed all over the internet but then I realised that would be too much effort. Mainly because I don't have any underwear worthy of being splashed everywhere. So, a wee bit of amateur photoshop it is. heh. For the underwear and the weird stomach pimple thing I have that won't go away. But that's not in the photo so let's not mention that.

So how cool are my scars? There's four of 'em all together. One under my belly button, two on the side, and then the larger one (about 2cm) down the bottom.

The stitches seemed to be doing more damage than the actual incisions so I took most of them last night (they are the red bits... you can barely see the *actual* scars). I figured that the nurse was only pretending when she told me not to remove the stitches myself. Why else would she give me the cool stitch cutter thing, right? I did tell her I wanted to do it and she did shake her head and frown but I'll bet she was just pretending to be concerned... oh she was a hilarious one, that nurse. Anyway, the doctor said I could. She was quite keen on all things surgeony. She gets quite animated when she discusses the procedures and stuff... and I can't help but be enthralled by her descriptions. I think she appreciated my interest in the gore.

And I think that the bottom stitches in the largest incision are dissolving ones. At least I hope so. I suppose I'd better check.

And does anyone know how the hell you are supposed to get all the sticky stuff from the dressings etc off? I think the black crap left all over my stomach is almost more unattractive than the scars and inflamed stitches!

This is not a craft blog.

2010-10-25T21:32:00.000+13:00

Or a bug blog.

After reading Clare's post about the direction of her blog and how she'd got caught up and had forgotten that she was supposed to be blogging for herself, I've realised that's what I've been doing too... or more accurately, not doing, seeing as posting around here has been rather slow.

So yeah, I think I've been censoring a fair bit of my life and I've decided you can have all that too. ALL OF IT.

So be prepared for this blog to become [even more] unapologetically self indulgent. Complete with up close and personal, probably blurry pics of my scars, among other delights. Oh yeahhhhh.

She's lucky she's cute

2010-10-20T21:01:00.000+13:00

Tonight the Devil Child earned herself a hefty lecture. It was during the pre-dinner hell period, I was feeling a bit sore and tired, simultaneously trying to deal with dinner and the incessant demands from the child, Hannah was hungry... recipe for disaster, some might say.

Without screeching [no mean feat], I managed to ask her to remove her ~~crap~~ pictures and toys from the table in preparation for serving dinner and she responded with the usual reluctance to do anything I ask and then remarked slightly cheerfully "You are going to have to do things for me soon."

"And why is this?" I asked. "Because it's my birthday, and on my birthday you have to do things for me!" came her response.

She picked a bad time to come up with that little gem. I spent the next 15 minutes regaling her with the responsibilities of parenthood and everything I have to do for her.

Unfortunately for me, she spent that 15 minutes completely ignoring me. Argh.

Rocket

2010-10-17T11:11:00.000+13:00

This is my little wonky rocket. I made it for a friend who is having a babe over in the Gold Coast in November. I was dying to knit teeny tiny baby clothes but the damn seasons aren't right. Luckily the wonderful Megan has this ace little rocket pattern available freely on her blog, littlethings. It's so freaking cute that it was even better than knitting teeny baby clothes!

There is also a mini rocket version that she's recently put up and I think I may have to try a couple of those too. Cuuuuuute!

Up and about

2010-10-16T15:33:00.001+13:00

Warning: much divulging information and musing about state of health of my reproductive organs.

I am officially out of bed. I could have been earlier but I had the luxury of having my mama around to deal with the kidlet and the Boy to spoil me with treats. Omigosh. So many treats. Never want to see another piece of chocolate again.... well, maybe not ever again.

So yeah, surgery went well. They removed the cyst, pretty damn attached though it was, and stitched me back up. Dr found it was actually endometriosis... though I'm yet to figure out how much active endometriosis she found, apart from the large cysty thing I'd apparently been growing for a few years. It seems weird that it's endo because I've never really had any pain (apart from Aug 6th and Sept 20th) and don't really have any of the other symptoms. I'd like to think that it's because of my extremely high pain tolerance (Dr's words :P ) but I'm such a fricking wuss when it comes to other types of pain that I hardly think that's the case!

And so now I guess I figure out a way to manage it all and hope like hell that it doesn't come back quickly and that when I do finally want to have another babe, that it's as easy as it has been in the past to get pregnant. It's kinda weird to go from thinking that you are some sort of reproductive goddess to finding out that you might fall into the "infertile" category. And it's the "might" that is the strange part. I think I could get my head around it if it was a definite "No way, jose" but as it is, I won't know until I try.

And I can't really whinge too much about it. It's not cancer or anything. And it's pretty damn common. It's just that I've always been so healthy! (Well, relatively.) I'll get my head around it at some point.

Now I have to get on to the zillion things I've been putting off for the last couple of weeks. Argh.

Oh look, it's a post!

2010-10-11T20:59:00.001+13:00

Goodness gracious, I forgot how freaking busy it is being childless. I usually whinge on about how childless people have no idea of the freedom they have to do things spontaneously... but then I've just had two weeks of dealing with that same spontaneity that I miss and HOLY CRAP I NEED A BREAK.

It turns out it's quite pleasant having to be at home and not having to rush around visiting people, sanding cars, and going out for dinner!

So this is what I have been doing:

Skid fest. Yes. I was dragged along. I managed to make it through the wet t-shirt competition without kicking anyone in the balls. Only just. I have been ranting about it ever since. And apart from horror of that, and the environmental disaster that is a whole day of burn outs, it's kinda neat watching cars blow shit up. Tyres... motors... I'm not fussy.
Sanding the RX7. Employed to be the Boy's helper. I much prefer that to getting my boobs out and being harassed by middle aged men.
Specialist appointment. Surgery tomorrow! Eeeeep!
Hen's nights. Naked men this time. I'm not all that sure it's less degrading than wet t-shirt competitions but never mind. I spent most of the night avoiding alcohol being thrust at me. Surgery was the perfect excuse.
Oh mannn. I'm so sure there was a pile more stuff than just that. I'm just having a mind blank. Can I try and be more interesting next time?

And now I have the kidlet back. And she's lost a tooth. And has more wiggly. And this really is the most boring post in the world. Can I save it with a horrendous photo of the child sporting a pea in place of her front tooth? Suuuure.

The absence of the devil child

2010-10-05T23:15:00.001+13:00

Another, slightly smaller child came to play. She was ace... and re-kiddified my house in about 5 seconds flat. It was alright though... I didn't really feel at home in my ultra tidy house.

And now I miss my own kidlet. 5 days before she'll be back... driving me crazy like she usually does.

Please observe

2010-10-01T20:39:00.001+13:00

My awesome favicon of awesomeness. If you are reading this post in a reader then get thee to my blog STAT. And now, look up in the toolbar of whatever browser you are using and LOOK AT MY FAAAAAVICON.

And now you can go visit the genius who created it for me and see what other awesome favicons she has made. Ain't she RAD?

Right, raving about Ange over. For now, my friends... for now.

P.S. I have a new computer. Weeeeeeeee. Blogging will recommence tomorrow.

Daylight

2010-09-28T20:29:00.000+13:00

It stays around long enough to have picnics for dinner by the beach. Yusss.

The kidlet is away for two weeks so the Boy and I are cramming in as many dates as possible.

Currency

2010-09-25T10:47:00.000+12:00

Me: Hannah, come pack your bag for Rotorua!

Hannah: *whingeing* Noooo... I don't know how to do ittttt.

Me: Well, if I have to do it then I won't put in any pink clothes.

Hannah: Oh fine. *reluctantly drags herself into her room to pack her bag*

Me: *muahahahahahaha*

______________

Oh shit. It's just backfired. I can hear her commentary from her room... "Pink pyjamas... pink singlet... pink shorts... pink skirt... pink jersey..."

Argh. How can she be so much smarter than me?!

Princesses in stripy socks

2010-09-22T10:04:00.000+12:00

I haven't really given a run down of the workshop I attended out at Kotare last month, but it was so much fun. And inspiration. And a chance to try a whole lot of new things as everyone was so willing to share their skills and materials.

Kotare is also such a fabulous place. Peaceful, sunny, and beautiful. And they do such awesome activist workshops.

While I was there, among other things, I learned to screen print. I decided I wanted to make something for Hannah. She was meant to come out with me as I wanted her to spend time with a bunch of strong women, but I decided to send her down to Rotorua instead to hang out with family as her fave person in the world, Aunty Jute, was coming up from Wellington.

A lot of the conversations I had over the weekend revolved around raising girls in our society. I want Hannah to have loads of self esteem, to be confident enough to challenge authority, ask questions, find answers. I struggle a bit that she's so affected by the marketing to young girls and is obsessed with all things Princessy. But I find ways to encourage her to be critical of the messages she receives, while allowing her to enjoy all things "girly".

So my screen print tried to incorporate elements of her interests and my quest for her to see the world through a feminist/environmental/socially aware lense.

Et voila! The gardening princess with stripy socks! *ahem* yes, she is holding a hoe.

I printed it on a few types of fabric but this one is intended to be made into a lovely dress for my little princess. Hopefully to be worn with stripy socks and gumboots!!

Please excuse that this print was starting to bleed a little... I think it was one of my last ones and given that my design was made on paper, the ink had started to seep through a little.

The print reminded me of another fabulous woman, so I sent her one too.

A fabulous weekend spent with fabulous women. And that reminds me, while I'm bed-bound, I should do some work on the "Fuck Patriarchy" cross-stitch I started while I was there. This bed business has to be good for something!

Explanation

2010-09-21T17:46:00.000+12:00

Sorry! Sorry! I know I've been gone a while... and I don't know exactly when I'll be back blogging regularly. It's been a couple of things: first my damn laptop died. I knew it was coming, it has been limping along for quite a while, and then one day it just wouldn't turn on. Wah. Luckily I had backed it up recently onto an external drive when I started thinking that losing all my photos from the last few years would probably make me cry. So yay... although now I've jinxed myself and the external drive is going to die too. Rats.

Then my body went and caused me some major problems. I had a day's worth of mystery pain back in August that seemed to resolve itself after 24 hours of causing my problems, and I thought nothing much of it. But on Sunday morning I woke up at 1.30am with a pretty similar type of pain, but much worse in intensity. We went to the Accident and Emergency clinic and they gave me some drugs and told me that it was probably period pain but I should get it checked out with my GP anyway.

And errrr.. period pain? Right. I've been doing this menstrual thing for a few years now and I tell you now, that was NOT period pain. I was still feeling quite crap on Monday so went along to the GP who referred me for a scan. I managed to squeeze myself in a scan appointment that day and within about 30 seconds the radiologist had found a 6cm cyst on my ovary. Now THAT would be a reason for pain!

I'd begun feeling a bit better by that stage and the doctor didn't seem to think anything was urgent... but then later that night I ended up in agony again. Turns out I should have been in bed rather than rushing around getting scans and things. Mind you, if I didn't get the scan, I wouldn't have known! So now I'm on bed rest for a couple of days. And once the pain goes away, we'll figure out the next part of the plan.

So is that a valid excuse for not blogging? I hope so!! I do have quite a lot to ramble on about so when I get the chance to steal the boy's computer, I'll be back.

xo

P.S. All the people on twitter have heard all this, so apologies for putting you all through it again!!

Some day I'll actually stick with a decision...

2010-09-13T22:32:00.000+12:00

I've done some more career planning... and this time I wanna be a lawyer. A nice one.

If I even get in to second year then it'll be about 873 years before I have a degree which is brilliant because it gives me 873 years to change my mind and decide I want to be a scuba diver.

Child labour

2010-09-09T20:26:00.000+12:00

Every now and again, it's SO worth having a kid. She helped me with a work mail out recently and her payment was three stickers. THREE STICKERS!

Woah

2010-09-08T20:21:00.000+12:00

Oops. Sorta forgot about this bloggy business for a while there! And here begins my confession. Somehow, my cousin blackmailed me into reading the fifth book in the Twilight series.* So I'm all angsty vampire/werewolfy at the moment. It's utter bullshit. But I have to read it. It's like a fricking train wreck.

The stoopid thing is that I know what happens. I mean, that's how I got sucked into this thing in the first place. (*ahem* Too hard not to make bad jokes.) She'd mentioned something about an obsession with Edward and I asked if she'd read the books, to which she gestured to her bookshelf which was basically a shrine to the series. And I decided to ask something that had been bugging me for months. I'd overheard someone saying something about Bella having a baby. The whole thing seemed so fricking ridiculous for a vampire-based series that I really had to know how Meyer had worked this in.

Heather was reluctant to explain, it seems Meyer really dragged this shit out, and implored me to read the last book. I think my reply was something along the lines of looking more favourably upon jabbing my eyeballs out with a sharp knife than reading that crap. Unfortunately for me, Heather has always been pretty damn persuasive. She made me promise to read the book before she'd tell me the storyline. And I stupidly caved in, thinking I could just ignore her once she'd dished out the goss.

But I made the mistake of starting the book. And now I'm stuck. And it's horrible. No less because it's gi-freaking-normous and my neck is now killing me after trying to read the hefty damn tome in bed. Argh, why do I do this to myself?

* Yeah, yeah, your last smidgeon of respect for me was just erased. Well, I read Diana Gabaldon too. I'm not known for my literary taste.

Untitled1

2010-08-29T21:08:00.000+12:00

My little brother, Blobbit, had an entry in this year's Rotorua Creation and Colour Awards (our version of wearable arts). Last night while we were down in Rotorua, that little brother of mine happened to take out three of the top awards. His design won the Colour Award, the top prize for the youth section, and then the Supreme Award!

The official pics aren't out yet but some are appearing on facebook so this is the best you get :P

Robbie, Ngatai, and Zoe

He's an ace kid. I'm so proud of him! He's heading to Massey University in Wellington next year and I know he's gonna do fabulous things. Weeeeeeeeeeeee.

Fleurs

2010-08-27T17:39:00.000+12:00

Flowers, most definitely, make your day better. Thank you Dion.

Redemption

2010-08-20T19:15:00.000+12:00

She collected this little posy of weeds for me and brought it in with the mail when returning from her friend's house. I heard her say to her friend "My mum is going to be so happy with me!" as she walked up the path to the front door. She was so right.

* * *

On the phone last night with my sister Hannah confessed that she hoped that I would forget it was a school day on Friday so she could go to Hamilton earlier to see her. She ran into my room this morning and asked "Mum, can I watch TV this morning?" and when I informed her that it was a school day [and apparently foiled her plan], she gave me the silent treatment for about 15 minutes.

* * *

As she dipped her soldiers in her perfectly boiled egg tonight she exclaimed "You're the Master of Eggs, Mum!"

* * *

Her little puzzle given to me as we were sitting on the couch, "I'm going to miss out a word and you have to guess what it is: 'I ... a cuddle'"

Another dorky photo

2010-08-19T11:00:00.000+12:00

I figure I've already embarrassed myself once this week so may as well keep to the theme. I'll just have to blog lots in the coming days to push these photos down the page. heh.

So I finished my scarf. I swore I'd never knit a scarf again after the Scarf of Doom but I did. The only way I was going to manage to knit a scarf was if I used super amazing yarn. The lovely Shae came to my rescue and we traded, two skeins of delish Malabrigo for knitting services [that took almost a year to eventuate *ahem*].

Unfortunately my polar fleece pyjama pants made it in to this shot. Rats.

And this weekend I am off to a workshop called "Women Crafting Justice" so expect much craftivisty goodness to come from that. Wooooooooop.