Saturday, May 23, 2009

Hot Chicks

The First Fastest Report

Last night the first of us met for the Inaugural Hedlanders Bookclub on a nice cool night in a house near the ocean, with nibblies galore and a gorgeous little dog by the name of Coco punctuating the conversation. There were 5 of us and I was the only one who had actually finished the book. Bec had only just been invited so didn't even have it. Lisa, Alice and Britt were all reading it but were at various stages near the end; Britt flicked to the end and read the last page though!

So it was up to me to fill Bec in on the general story and then, with their permission, fill the girls in on the ending and who killed Laura Wishart, as well as tying up other plot lines. We sat for 3 and a half hours and talked, especially about books and authors, and inevitably got onto other subjects. But Bec was great at getting us back on the subject and we got so far as to pick a date for our next meeting as well as the next book, which was chosen by Bec. She was recently on holiday in Bali and desperate for something to read one day, she picked this out of only 3 english books available at the hotel. She described it as a not very well written book, very much a Kathy Lette/chick lit style of writing and much overdone but a really interesting story of a woman who doesn't know what to give her husband for his 40th birthday. So she offers him 365 nights of sex!
Personally I hate chick literature books. But I'm willing to try this; to read any style and any author is part of being in a bookclub isn't it. At least it'll be quick and easy to read. So I'm lending Bec's copy before I go on holiday and I need to finish it while I'm away. Bring on the Jane Austen I say. TTFN.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Smile for the birdie...

With 4 of us now in the family, it's 4 times as hard to get a good photo! We eventually got the above shot, but only after a dozen or so tries...

The First Fastest.

So I finished reading 'Jasper Jones' on Tuesday night and tonight is our first book club meeting. I have to take a plate of nibbles (does an apple cut into quarters count?) and be there at 6.30pm, brain and book ready. Shame really, coz I've been up since 4.30am and I just don't think it's gonna happen! (the brain that is...)

I was reading a review about the book on CourierMail.com.au and as it is a coming of age story, they likened it to 'To Kill A Mockingbird' which is strange considering my last post! Here's a pic of the very talented Craig Silvey.
Wish me luck, I hope we just don't end up discussing my new haircut (noice) and the floods in NSW (bad). TTFN.

Sunday, May 17, 2009


Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Fastest Book Club in the West.

My friend Britt (it's her 33rd birthday today, Happy Birthday Britt-Marie!) is an avid reader, like myself. She introduced me to the Twilight series of books by Stephanie Meyer and we are now both currently obsessed with them, and have both also purchased the DVD of the movie. Britt reads heaps and recently her workmate Alice and herself decided to act on a conversation we'd had and start a book club.

I've been reading since I was in primary school and Mum used to buy me an edition of Enid Blyton every Thursday when she did her food shopping. Amelia Jane the Naughtiest Girl in the School, The Magic Faraway Tree, The Famous Five, and so on. I still have all these books, I wouldn't get rid of them for the world. They represent my escape as a child into a place that I could read over and over and over. Not that I needed to escape from my childhood; I just grew up in Hedland and it was too hot to do anything else but sit inside and read!
I remember going to the library in my lunch break in primary school and spending the whole time perusing the books to read. In the end, having decided there were too many to choose from, I started at A and read my way through the whole alphabet of the library!

When I lived in Perth I had my Enid Blyton books on display in my dining room, but alas, they've been packed away in boxes for over 4 years now. I'm really hoping, and it looks to be true, that Cassidy will inherit my love of books. I hope both the girls do because I think being well read is a great enhancement to an education. I'm the sort of person who knows a little about everything and I believe I am like that due to reading books. And magazines. And blogs. And also being obsessed with 4 Corners but that's another story.

At the moment Cassidy has about 50 or 60 books in her room, from Disney editions of Cinderella to the Green Sheep, Paddington Bear to Little Golden Books. Do you know there are Golden Books you can buy that are the same ones we had when we were kids? Like, 35 years ago? Fantastic! I love that they haven't changed. Shane and I get a real blast from reading the same books we used to have. Well, for the first 5 reads maybe. Unfortunately, Cassidy also has a terrible habit of ripping out pages of some of them as well, much to my disgust. Books are to be revered. Treated well. Don't bend the corners over. Don't break the spines. Don't get them dirty or eat around them.
Years ago I was given a copy of 'The Stand' by Stephen King from an ex-boyfriend. I hadn't been able to find this book anywhere so I was overjoyed and proceeded to read it immediately. Then, said ex-boyfriend borrowed the book and took it to work. At BHP. And returned it covered in iron ore. I was so effing ropable at him, a fantastic book, one of the best books ever written, and he didn't even take the care to look after it. What a crime.

To my extreme pleasure, I have recently reread all my Jane Austen books and this has lead to a desire for old style literature, such as Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte and one of my favourites, Wilkie Collins. And 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee is easily one of the best books I have ever read. When I was younger I used to be a real horror nut and I still collect and enjoy Stephen King books. But it's a shame I missed out on discovering beautiful authors, like Nicholas Evans who wrote 'The Horse Whisperer' and the Australian author Tim Winton, at a younger age. Then I would have had more time to read them all!
Incidentally, I am not a fan of old movies but one night ABC were showing the old black and white verson of To Kill A Mockingbird with Gregory Peck. It was just beautiful, a lovely, well-made captivating movie and I really enjoyed how true to the book it was.


So we are reading 'Jasper Jones' by the Australian author Craig Silvey and so far, it is great. He reminds me a lot of Tim Winton; his storytelling is very aussie. The kids sniff and say 'roit' and one boy is obsessed with cricket. We are meeting next weekend to have our first book club meeting so I have until then to read it and have enough time left over to lend it to Joanne to read too. I am very excited about this and hopefully we will actually discuss the book a little rather than just get straight into talking about our lives and getting distracted.
Britt has already mentioned she'd like to make the next book a Jane Austen one. Which is perfect as I'll then be 'forced' to read her again. Oh the difficulties of my life! TTFN.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

How Kids Sleep. Part 2.







Devon is a wonderful sleeper. She sleeps through the vacuum cleaning, washine machine running and Cassidy singing at the top of her lungs. Once again, she takes after her mother.

How Kids Sleep.




For those of you with kids, you will understand. For those of you not with kids, make sure when you do have them, that you keep your camera handy at bedtime. Because kids sleep in the weirdest of ways. At tables over their tea. In bed upside down. Sitting up while watching a movie. And if they are anything like my two, you will not need to walk up to them to know, coz you'll hear them snoring from another room!

Holidays in my Tiny Mind

As you may have noticed, I haven't written on this blog for AGES. This is because I am obsessed. Obsessed with planning, picking, organizing, packing, choosing, selecting, writing, typing, ringing and what shoes I might need. Yes people, you guessed it. I'm going on holiday.

Well, we're going on holiday. 3 and a half glorious weeks away from the Hedland doldrums (and my mothers group ladies coz I need a break, more on that later) and off to the cold, leafy green slack-jawed yokel-populated south west. And mid west. And mid north. All around WA to be precise.

Every year my family goes on holiday down south. Every June. When it's freezing. This is because my sister Jodie's daughter Tayla was born in June, so it started as being a visit to coincide with Tayla's birthday, taken by my Mum and Dad every year. When I moved to Hedland, Shane and I joined them in the first year and basically continued each June. Later, Jodie politely obliged us by giving birth to Marlyn in June as well. So both the kids get us for their birthdays each year. Nice pressie huh?

Now I happen to love this time of year. Living up here we don't really experience any sort of winter, although it definitely does get colder. In Perth, I got the chance to bust out the woollen coats, boots, scarves and gloves. Once, I even wore a beanie! The only chance to wear a beanie up here is when you go camping in winter and you're sitting round the fire talking about fishing. Then it's freezing coz you're 300 km's inland. Admittedly, 3 months into the chilling winds and rain, I end up slightly over it. But after sweltering in 40 degree heat all year, it's nice to experience some cold and sit around fires drinking Milo (me) and slightly less colder beers (Shane).

Now our itinerary. I won't post the exact dates we are leaving and travelling on, in case someone out there is a burglar and wants to know when the house will be vacated (fat chance, we've got a housesitter!).
We travel from Hedland to Mt Magnet on the first day. This is the main drive as it will take 8 to 9 hours and is very boring, being on the inland road. So, bring on the portable DVD player for the kids, and lots of magazines for me.
The next day we drive through Perth, stopping at the KFC in Midland to have lunch and meet my sister, who is coming down from Geraldton the day before. Then on through Perth and to Narrogin, where both my uncles live.
The next day it is only 3 hours to Albany which is where Mum and us 3 kids were born and all our family still reside. Albany is a beautiful town, with ACTUAL white sand on the beaches. We are lucky enough to be staying at a house on the beach (imagine that, with 5 adults and 4 kids - uproar!), so we plan to do lots of walks along the trails and foothpaths there. Shane's sister in law and kids moved to Albany at Xmas time as well, so we are going to see them and I can give Narelle the scrapbooked photo frame I made a couple of months ago as their housewarming present.
After a few days, we leave Albany and travel to Walpole to go on the Giant Tree Top Walk. We went there with Mum and Dad 2 years ago and LOVED it. This time Cassidy is older and Tayla and Marlyn will be there too and they haven't been, so we are very excited to see the reaction of the kids to the heights and swinging walkways. At the end we will get certificates signed to commemorate the occasion as well. Then onto Bunbury. This is particularly exciting as 2 of my close girlfriends, Justine and Mel, both live in Bunbury now so we are all spending a morning together to see each others kids and catch up.
Another few days more and we drive onto Perth. Mum and Jodie are staying with my Auntie and Shane and I are off to our hotel in the city. Hopefully we get another room high up like last time, as we had a beautiful view of the city and down towards the WACA. Another special place to visit as I get to catch up with my best friend Ani and talk... well, about special things, but more about that later as well! We are also taking all the kids to the Perth Zoo. I haven't been since Tayla was little so I am really looking forward to this as well.
We then move onto Geraldton for a relaxing 12 day break. This, theoretically, should mean less running around and more relaxing. But it never works out that way. There's always one more shop to visit and one more feed of Subway or Hungry Jacks to get. There's also a scrapbooking shop in Gero, but let's not go there!
We are staying at our old haunt which is a house on the beach. It's nice, an old place with brick interior, but plenty of room to spread out and a little patio area out the front where we can sit and watch the water, and sometimes the dolphins!
When we leave, we travel 5 hours to stay in Carnarvon overnight, then we have 8 hours back to Hedland the next day. It's a big trip, a big drive, but I can't wait. Shane my hero will be doing most of the driving, poor thing. Even worse if we realise our dream and buy a campervan while we're away. But I'm not sure about that; at this point we need to take out a loan just to buy petrol! Sigh.

I'd better go. I have been packing for 3 weeks and I still haven't figured out how many pairs of tights Cassidy will need, let alone what colours. And I've got to decant my shampoo and conditioner into tiny little bottles. Phew. I'm exhausted. Hmm, I might just check that my Mahjong game is working first, heh heh. TTFN.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Pyjamas on a Tiny Mind...

Further to my earlier post on wearing my pyjamas to the shops, I copied it into a discussion on the Facebook page of my ABC Mums Group. And guess what? So many mums loved the idea, we're having a pyjama morning tea! Ha ha, told you I'd start a trend.

Bubba... do you have the remote?

My bubba looks like she's hiding something...
Every day she has more personality, more smiles and more jumps in her development. She loves to stand up but hasn't gotten used to sitting (supported) in her walker yet. She smiles heaps, often without anything being said to her, you just glance over and she's grinning away. What can I say? I think she's gorgeous and I'm SO biased!