#Photoadaymay 11| Kitchen

Whew!  This one was easier than yesterday's instalment.  Here 'tis!

I love our kitchen.  It's nothing fancy but it's ours and many family meals are shared here.  It didn't always look like this.  When we first arrived, the kitchen was orange, and had an electric can opener attached to the wall.  In the real estate photo there was a painting of Elvis on the wall.  True story.  I was kind of disappointed that they took it with them.

Our house is a constant work in progress for The Architect.  His first 'project' was our kitchen and to have a gander at what's been done so far, check out my blog here.

Kitchens are awesome aren't they?  They really are the heart and hub of the entire house.

xx

#Photoadaymay 10| A favourite word

I am a nerd.  The Architect calls me a nerd regularly.  A word nerd.

I love words and I used to collect them.  Back in the day when I had a filofax, I had a page that I had entitled “Favourite words”.  As I read or heard words that I liked, I’d look them up in the dictionary and then dutifully add them to the list.  Definition and all.  My list included words like dilettante, pusillanimous, reprobate, avaricious.  Love ‘em.  Love the way they sound.  I know….nerdy.

An old friend and I used to text each other words of the day and then we had to text back the word in a sentence.  Sigh.  I miss that friendship.  One day I sent her “matricide”.  Let’s just say it wasn’t a harmonious visit to Mum’s that day.

Anyway, one of my favourite words is this one:

The definition I used to rattle off the top of my head was “frugal to the point of stinginess”.  Love it.

Do you know any parsimonious people?

Photo a Day May - Day 9| Something you do everyday

This.  This is what I do everyday.  At least ten times a day or until he pushes me away.

I know there will come a time when I’m not as in love with Little Warrior as I am at the moment (nor him, me) and I want to make sure I revel in these moments.  Cherish them and remember them.

Everyone tells you they grow up so quickly, and as a new Mum I thought “yeah, whatever”, but seriously – never a truer word has been spoken.  All too soon Polynesian Princess was in school, and rolling her eyes at me after I’ve asked for a kiss good-bye.  She’s five for pity’s sake.  So I'm making the most of still having chubby cheeks in the house.

Mmmmmwahh!

Childhood Book...

This morning on the news I read that Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are had died.  My first exposure to this 1963 classic was when I had children and I fell in love with it immediately.  It’s no wonder it was loved by all – it was written for children and adults alike without  patronising either set.

I had many, many books throughout my childhood and a few of them have been passed down to the Polynesian Princess.  I dare say that the Little Warrior won’t be getting his hands on these as she seems to be deeply attached to these books.

The one childhood book that I absolutely adored was The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.  Have you read it?  It’s just the most beautiful story about a friendship beween a boy and a tree.  I never forgot the lessons this book taught me about love and friendship.  Sadly, I don’t have my copy anymore and one day I will buy one for the Polynesian Princess and Little Warrior.  And I hope they too will love the book as much as I did.

What was your favourite childhood book?  Do you still have it?

Photo a Day May: Day 7 & 8

So I’m participating in "Photo a Day May" which I discovered on this blog by Fat Mum Slim.  I love the idea so jumped on the bandwagon seven days in.

The general premise is to take a photo a day using the categories that Fat Mum Slim has designated to each day.  You can then upload to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or your blog and simply use the hashtag #photoadaymay.

I started yesterday on day 7 and the category was “Someone that inspires you”.  This was my photo.

This is my friend Shelley.  Why does she inspire me?  Many reasons, I guess.  Too many for me to really list and frankly, they’re all a bit personal.  Suffice to say that I adore her, I look up to her and I go to her when I need a slap down to earth.

Today is Day 8: A smell you adore

How do you pick just one?  I blogged about memory smells, specifically those from my childhood.  I just love how one smell can transport you back in time and bring forth memories you’d long since forgotten.

But for today's photo, I chose garlic.

I was cooking dinner for Polynesian Princess and Little Warrior (teriyaki ginger beef & fried rice) and had just thrown the garlic into the oil.  Gawd I just LOVE that smell.  Then it came to me.  This was going to be “day 8” for me.  Isn’t the smell of garlic and oil just delicious?

Are you participating? What was your photo for today?

A reason, a season, a lifetime

This morning I had breakfast with friends.  I love having breakfast with friends.  And having breakfast with these friends is always fun because these girls have known me for 31 years.  Well, one of them has.  One has known me for 26 years, and the other for 22 years.  Whatever.  It’s a long time in anyone’s book.  Especially when you’re 38.  I have another close friend who has known me for 26 years, but she lives interstate and when she visits, we always catch up.

I adore making new friends and I always feel extremely fortunate when someone expresses an interest in being friends with me.  Call it low self-confidence, call it what you like, but I am always pleasantly surprised.

When I was in my final year of high school, I naively assumed that the good friends I had in school would carry through my entire life.  As the years have soldiered on, many of those friendships have died (some natural deaths, others not so natural) and the large posse that I once had (and believed would have forever) has dwindled immensely.

But in their place I have found new, equally wonderful friends that I just adore.   Friends who have taught me things about myself, and some who have made me laugh so hard I’ve cried.  As I get older, I find it easier to accept that people are in your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.  And I can relax into the friendship and enjoy the time we have together.

But the ones who have been around for a long time are few and far between.  These ones have been around since before I actually knew who I was.  I have history with these girls.  They knew me when my hair could give Diana Ross a run for her money; when my forehead was a zit farm and when I hated my thighs.  They sang Wilson Phillips songs with me, and danced to “Groove is in the Heart” with me countless times.  They made fun of me when I thought I was smoking (I wasn’t inhaling).  And, like the good friends they are, patiently taught me how to inhale the toxic fumes into my clean lungs.  Then laughed like maniacs when I choked on the smoke.  Only good friends would do that.

They’ve watched me grow from an awkward teen into the woman I am today.  We're lucky.  We’ve managed to grow together and everytime we get together I am thankful for what we have.

I’ve blogged about them before and this is what I wrote:

There’s something about old friends.  Something safe and warm and incredibly comfortable.  They’re like my tracky daks after a day of corporate wear.  Do I need to explain?  Didn’t think so.

I have a lot of friends.  And I love making new friends, meeting new people and seeing things from different perspectives.  Through my children I have met and made groups of friends I would probably have never met B.K. (Before Kids).  Sometimes it doesn’t work, but other times, it does, and it’s great.  So my point is that I have a lot of friends and I know that through my life, I’ll make even more friends.

But nothing comes close to my old friends.  The friends who were there before kids. Before my husband.  Before I had a job. Before my Mum and I started getting along.  They know things about me that I don’t even know.  They remember things I don’t remember.  They’ve been with me through bad hair, bad skin, bad clothes, bad boys and bad, bad make-up.  And they still love me.  And I, them.

Are you the same?  Do you still have a strong connection with school friends or childhood friends?

Compass with no north

Little Warrior had his second day in daycare yesterday.  He had a great day.   He played, he ate,  he slept and he got carried around by all the carers who thought he was adorable.

I, on the other hand, was not so great.  We’re talking about someone who cries at her daughter’s first cross-country, so the odds were never going to be stacked in my favour.  But I was unprepared for the feeling of loss.  “A compass without a north” was a phrase I used more than once yesterday.  I couldn’t settle on doing any one thing.  I drove around aimlessly for about 30 minutes before coming home and half-heartedly cleaning the house (is there any other way to clean?).  I didn’t draw a real, deep breath until Little Warrior was back in my arms.  Which meant I was shallow breathing all day.  Truly.  I think I was on the verge of passing out for the six hours he was in care.

I called The Architect and cried down the phone.  He said “I think it’s great that he’s in daycare now – it gives you a chance to get your life back”.   And I just wanted to shout: What life?  These kids ARE my life!

It was an awakening.  I know that I have dedicated the last (almost) three years wholly and solely to my children, but didn’t appreciate the scale of how much of myself was wrapped up in them.  Polynesian Princess is at school now, and Little Warrior is entering the system by starting daycare.  And me?  Well, as Polynesian Princess so clearly articulated to me yesterday “what are you going to do today Mummy?  You’re going to be allllllllllllllllll alone”.

Relaying this story to my friend today, she laughingly said, “you can try to recapture the woman you were before kids.  Would you even remember who she was?”  Straight off the top of my head, the answer was “no”.  I don’t remember.  But then I said, “I DO know that woman couldn’t bake”.  Or cook a proper meal.  Oh how the times have changed.

I realise now my mistake was not having anything planned.  I should have organised lunch or a movie with a friend.  This would have helped.  This would have ensured that I had a north for my compass.  Something to anchor my day.  I didn't do this yesterday, but you can be sure that I will be doing something next week. 

The next step is re-entering the workforce.  Once that has been achieved, I will be one step closer to being the woman I used to be.  

© Valkhromov | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos