Home of Slightly Cracked Dreams

You know what I’m talking about. Your house is plodding along ok, it’s not great, but getting there. Things are happening. The house is “lived in”. Then you find you have people coming for dinner. 4 to be precise. Grandma & Granddad are fine, they will probably find your home clean in comparison to what it normally is. But it’s the other guests you worry about. And you have…. 3 hours!

Yeah, that’s what’s happening here. So this afternoon I’m engaging in what is affectionately known as an Emergency Clean. It is a combination of other emergency style cleans I’ve ready on sites from Flylady to Candy’s Keeping the Home. Ours goes like this

1. Put disinfectant in the main toilet and spray the bathroom sink
2. Empty the dishwasher, restack, do excess dishes and clean the kitchen as best you can (clear the benches)
3. Clear the dining table and any other flat surfaces
4. Clear the floors, put everything away (if I’m really short of time I chuck everything in a laundry basket in the laundry to be put away tomorrow)
5. Clean the toilet and main bathroom and put out fresh towels
6. Sweep, vacuum or mop the main floor areas (lounge, dining, kitchen and anywhere else guests will go)
7. Check you have all the necessary food and drink for guests, if not duck out while the floors are drying and grab what you need.

Guess what I’m doing this afternoon? I’m up to number 2.

As I mentioned last week, we got our registration bill for the car. This often results in an avalanche of paperwork from the CTP insurer’s in Queensland. Just to make life interesting. One such offer arrived yesterday from RACQ. While all our insurances are through AAMI, we have RACQ cover for when I lock my keys in the car or leave the lights on. Those incidents have been non-existant since we got this car in 2004, but that’s a whole other post.

The offer this time from RACQ was a reduction by $10 on our bill if we switched our CTP insurance to them. While this offer would result in a $10 saving this year (the costs for insurance are exactly the same) the effects on our other insurance policies wouldn’t be noticed until March next year when all our other insurances are due. See having 4 policies (CTP, Comprehensive Car Insurance, Home and Contents Insurance) with the one provider, gets us a discount of about 15%. 10% on Car ($660) and Home & Contents ($650) policies is a LOT more than $10 (over $100!).

Obviously it’s sometimes worth looking at these offers and always worth running the numbers, for the most part offers that offer a saving for switching some part of your insurnace to another provider increases costs elsewhere. If you are considering switching providers anyway, this is obviously a good time to do it, and increase the benefits in your pocket. Alls I’m saying is, sometimes an advertised saving isn’t a saving at all, if you look beneath the surface.

Once in a while you meet a special person. Someone you can sit up all night with talking (either in person, on the phone, or on the net). Someone you talk about philosophy with. Someone who you solve the worlds problems with. Yes, I do that a lot.

I was very blessed to meet such a special person many years ago. Her name is Tania Major, and she is the Young Australian of the Year. At 25 she has achieved WAY more than I ever could dream at her age. She finished school at one of the toughest schools in the state, went on to university and studied criminology, and is now working in that field, and at 22 was elected to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, and now advocating the issues facing Aboriginal communities. What makes this more special is she was raised in an Aboriginal Community in Far (far) North Queensland.

I am saddened that I haven’t kept in contact with Tania. She was a very special person to me, and through some of my rather dark teenage years forced me to come out of my bubble and consider the world around me. I often talk about her to Hubby, and wondered what she was up to, hoping that she made it, and did something that she could be proud of.

When I heard she was named Young Australian of the Year I shed a few happy tears. What an amazing achievement for someone so young.

Last night she was interviewed on Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope (you can view video of her interview on the website). An amazing, articulate woman who had my Hubby trying to hide a few tears. He could hear the echos of my education in hers, and her passion and drive impressed us no end. He finally understood how she could have made such an impression on me at such a young age.

I have been blessed by some amazing friendships in my life, some wonderful people who will always hold a special place in my heart. Tania is one of them. She challenged my thinking and challenged me. I hope now she can challenge more people and create some of the change her community so desperately needs.

For ages now I’ve been bemoaning the kids in our lounge room! I clean it up and 10 minutes later it’s covered in toys and crap. SO I came up with the idea to set up a little lounge room in the dining room for them. I study and work on the computer in the dining room, and like most mothers spend a lot of time in the kitchen. This way they’re supervised all the time, and have their own space (and we get our space back!)

So while this was planned for Saturday - other things happened, and it finally happened last night. Here is the before shot:

As you can see there’s a lot of wasted space there (and it’s well used). Here’s the after shot:

They had two massive boxes of toys which I sorted into musical instruments, tea set and “other” and along with their lego that makes up the 4 boxes on the shelf. Under the table with the tv will be boxes with their DVD’s when I finish decluttering the lounge room. Those pictures are taken from the kitchen room, so you can see they’re well supervised while I’m there. Past the clock on the wall is the laundry, so I’m never far away now.

It was quite a big job, and I’m glad it’s done now. 1 room down, 10 to go

We’ve been flat out this weekend, hence my lack of posts. I hope to redeem myself with a detailed account of what we’ve been up to with photos later this afternoon.

As for our menu plan, I’ve got loads of food in the freezer, so we’re basically eating out of the freezer/pantry this week, which will keep the groceries low.

Monday: Apricot Chicken
Tuesday: Haystacks (vegetarian Nachos)
Wednesday: Veal Casserole
Thursday: Tomato Macaroni Cheese
Friday: Hamburgers
Saturday: Chicken Burgers
Sunday: Roast Chicken

Rego: $523.00
Rates: $2067.00
Electricity: $142.60
Total: $2732.60

Eeek. Electricity is good, it’s down HEAPS. Like, about $60. Rego I was expecting and has not changed. Rates have gone up $180. NOT happy with that. And my step-mother was complaining about her $1600 rates bill. I can only dream of a rates bill like that.

I get a glimse of what being the parent of a teenager is like.

Since I’ve known him my Hubby has been a volunteer in emergency services, specifically marine emergency services. Now while I’ve known him 10 years, lived with him for 7 years and been married for 6 years, I never get used to, or comfortable with the late night call outs. Granted tonight has been different. Two in one night is rare.

The thing is, apart from quick jobs, like someone running out of fuel, or rescuing people from boats that have run aground, most jobs can take a while, and often happen in less than favourable conditions.

I’m not a huge fan of the beach, or water, really, so I tend to stay away. And I probably shouldn’t watch the news either, because tonight I saw that the wind is picking up here, and I noticed last time I drove near the water, a large number of boats in the bay. Probably the most I’ve ever seen when there hasn’t been a cyclone bearing down on us. I’m guessing it’s pretty rough out there. And my Hubby’s out in it.

I know they have a great boat, and I know Hubby knows his boats, but it’s one of those times you think “now I know how my parents felt”. And feel bad for them. And me, because you know in 15 years I’ll probably be lying in this same bed, hopefully with Hubby beside me, wondering where the girls are, and what they’re doing. And I’ll not be able to sleep until they’re home. Just like now I can’t sleep until Hubby’s home.

Well, it’s getting to be that time of the year again, in October will start the great end of year birthday rush, which will now follow through until February when the little bean (ok, not so little bean now I guess) makes his/her entrance.

First up is Miss nearly 4! I can’t believe my baby is so big. While cleaning out the garage on the weekend we found all the pictures of my assorted birthday parties, and let me tell you, this kid is the image of me, if not in looks, then obviously in personality and style. Even the same tragic obsession with Strawberry Shortcake I had at her age. As I looked further back I found photos of me that prove I’m not insane when I look at Miss 2.5 and feel like I’m looking in a mirror. I might even share them one day.

But back to the important aspect of planning birthday parties for little people. We have a rule which hopefully will only last until their 12th birthday, that states however old you turn, you can have that many friends to your party. This year that makes it 4 kids, plus my two, plus parents, grandparents and assorted other family friends. I’m thinking about 20-24 people. Can you imagine if I said she could have 6 people??

Anyway, we’re thinking 2 hours was enough last year, maybe 2 or 2.5 again this year. With a theme. Oh I’m going to love this. Both my girls, and apparently any other girl I know between the ages of 2 and 6, are obsessed with Dora the Explorer, and Miss nearly 4 has asked for a Dora cake. Soooo, I’m thinking of planning a Dora expidition. I’ve watched enough DVD’s to know the format. Problem, someone hands them the solution, they check the map, remember the things to do on the way, then off they go to face 3 challenges along the way - but don’t forget Swiper the Fox! I figure that could take them a good 20 minutes. Which only leaves 1 hour and 40 minutes to fill. Last year we did some great activities like beading (even the token male got into it making jewellery for his sister and mother), dancing (freeze), pass the parcel, decorating cupcakes, before the culmination of the party and presentation of the cake. Dead on 2 hours. Anyone would think I’d planned it.

Of course plenty of food in there as well, although not too many lollies, which I think the parents were greatful for.

Well, only one of the kids who was here last year will be here again this year, so I guess I can recycle the same old activities as well! Unless someone can come up with other activities to do….?

I’m proud to be participating in Blog Action Day on October 15th.