Friday, January 30, 2009

Imagination

An imagination is a wonderful thing to have and to use, but sometimes it can be cruel, mean and downright nasty.

I, like most of my fellow Melbournians, have been thrown by the news of the man who threw his daughter off the 60 metre high Westgate bridge yesterday. She lost her life after hours of medicos trying to bring her back. She was 5 and on her way to her first day of school.

I cannot fathom what could drive someone to this. Like many other parents around the world, my children have driven me to frustration and craxed thoughts, but never, ever would I allow myself to get to this point. There is a little thing in my brain that doesn't allow for it. Unfortunately for little Darcey, her Dad didn't have this thing in his brain kick in.

I don't know all the details, but suffice to say, I'm sickened at the thought of this horrendous situation and what has happened. And my imagination is not letting it go. Constantly my thoughts stray back to this story and what happened. I don't help myself by reading up on details in the online newspapers.

My imagination be damned. I fear for her two brothers, aged 6 and 2 who witnessed their father do this to their sister. I fear what their imaginations will bring to their minds over the course of their life. I feel so bad for her mother who may now be wondering why she allowed her husband to take the kids to school, when it should have been a normal thing to have happen. The guilt this poor woman must be going through must be monstrous.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Growing up

Well it's official; eldest daughter is now a 'woman'. Ahem, well it's nicer to put it that way than stating the obvious! Or is that what I have done?

Hmmm...

Anyway, cheers to her hormones hopefully settling down and her being a narky cow just for the PMS week of the month, instead of the whole 28 freakin' days!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Yay!

Finally in the new home and have my own wireless back on. Have been able to check my email etc on hubby's little mobile connection, but never felt comfortable in downloading too much, or using it too much, so didn't get around to writing here. *sigh* another excuse :)

So, we moved on the Saturday after Boxing Day, with the help of 4 fantastic friends. Mum took the kids off our hands and that made the move a lot easier. With only the hard flooring in place, we couldn't move completely in. Hubby and I spent the first few nights on the mattress on the floor in the dining room. Our first night in the bed in the bedroom was New Years Eve, so though that was lovely, it was also a bit of a shame, as the neighbours over the road were having a NYE party in their garage, and our room is in the front of our home. So it was louder there than it would have been if we were in the dining room. Still, I think I slept better in the bed than I ever had on the mattress on the floor.

New Years Day I put eldest son's single bunks up in his room. Gave him the option of staying in the toddler bed, between the twin's cots, or of using the 'big' bed; it didn't take him long in jumping straight in the big bed and he hasn't looked back. Loves it. He's a big boy now :)

Eldest daughter is also in her own room, in a big big bed. Twins are still in cots and will be for a very long time at this point. They won't stay in bed if they aren't 'locked' in cots. They are 18 months old now. Gah! Amazing and wonderful at this age.

Eldest daughter is no longer 'seeing' her boyf. Was a little worried on the confession that she was only kissing cos he wanted to. Hmmm.... Not a good way to act, especially with a couple steps on from kissing is.... well, you know what I mean. I've told her on several occasions about using condoms etc, when it's time, but you just don't know how much sinks in. She's 13 in March, so I don't think that 'time' will be soon, but really, who knows. Kids are getting older faster these days.

So we're still waiting on a few things that we've budgeted for; blinds, alarm, fence (if the neighbour ever gets in touch to confirm he'll pay half - doesn't help he doesn't live there and is trying to sell the place), screen doors for the big sliding doors at the back of the house, but we've done well. Got the clothes line up this week, that was a freebie from freecycle, only cost us the concrete and 'plug' to insert it into the ground. Got the big table up in the dining room, that was a gift frommy brother. Got 8 chairs from IKEA to go with - they were $30 each (yes! $30) and Mum, Mum-in-Law, and Nana all pooled together and gave them to us for Xmas. Got a 2 seater and 2 big armchairs in fantastic condition from a friend for only $80. Got a letterbox for only $5 on ebay (which I've seen at Bunnings for $110). Got a second telly for the kids area from freecycle. So many freebies and gifts and lots of luck. And it was a bonus that our rental home had such a huge garage that we could store our stuff in. Things like the clothesline and dining table were in therefor around a year before we moved.

Once everything is paid off, we're going to look into our final savings amounts and see if we can afford a deck out the back of the house. The kids will be able to play outisde then, and won't go so stir crazy indoors too much.

Back to work next week. Has been a great few weeks off. Here's hoping the new longer drive won't be too draining.