Home of Slightly Cracked Dreams

Things have been quite hectic around Kin’s-not-Home during the latter part of this week. A situation has come up which has thrown into doubt the whole move to The Big Smoke. Or at least possibly postponed it. Which is so NOT what I need at 39 weeks pregnant (yes that’s right, 7 whole days until the official due date).

Then I spent yesterday out of the house from 10:30am to 4:00pm variously having my nails done, working!!, shopping and getting new tyres on the car. Thankfully the car is now running at 100% and looks like it’s in condition to last a few more years yet.

Today looks like being almost as busy, assuming people emerge early enough. Being Australia Day, BBQ’s are on offer all over town (well, all over the country). So far the plans include: Breakfast BBQ in a nearby town before watching Hubby’s boss and his wife become Australian citizens; a visit to the lagoon in town here for a lunchtime BBQ, and later tonight, a BBQ again along with a showing of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I don’t think I could get more Australian than that. Although mother-in-law was making nioses about a lamb roast last night. Don’t think one of those would go astray either.

Also today is my cousin’s 4th wedding anniversary. Hopefully she’ll be celebrating in her new home with her baby girl who is nearly six months old. Which has made me even more clucky and desperate for my baby to arrive. Australia Day is a good day to have a baby isn’t it?

I’ve been staring at this blank page for over an hour now. I simply have nothing to say. It’s funny how when you’re talking about yourself, you can talk for hours. But, just today, I have not much to say. It may be that as we had dinner with friends last night, I’m talked out. Or it may just be that nothing exciting is happening in my life right now, apart from the never ending waiting game.

Even my old fallback, scanning my list of categories to find something inspiring to write about, has deserted me this morning. I have a list a mile long of things to post about, but no words are coming today. I wonder if it’s because I’m finding it really hard to find things to do with myself.

Staying with the in-laws has meant that not only are we in a smaller house, but there’s more people around to pitch in to things. There’s still two bathrooms, but (believe it or not) the kids clean one morning and night (they wipe down the glass and tiles while in the shower, and mop the floor afterwards, and we clean the other (Hubby has got into the habit now) - so no bathrooms. With 4 adults, it usually works out 2 cook, and 2 clean up. Not a lot to do there, with 2 people pitching it it’s over in no time. Father in Law is a VERY early riser, so he gets up to the kids in the morning, doing the shower, dress, breakfast thing (and loves it I might add). 4 adults to 2 kids means bedtime is a breeze. The washing is insane (remember my weekly washing program? Ha!) But again, with four adults it’s amazing how quickly things get done, despite all the rain!

As for the floors, the kids have so much fun sweeping, and mother in law is still taken with her new vacuum cleaner, that the place is always clean. I spend maybe 10-15 minutes a day doing a general “put away” of the kids and our stuff that accumulates in the living area, and that’s it.

No wonder I’m bored.

So basically, I have nothing to write about. Amazing isn’t it?

After the doctors appointment two weeks ago telling me my baby was unstable, I was told last week that she was head down and engaged. After feeling two lumps on either side of my belly yesterday, I rang the hospital to see a doctor instead of a midwife this week. And what did she do last night?? That’s right, burrowed herself down again. I mean, it’s nice to know that she’s doing it, but it’s seriously messing with my head (not to mention I feel like I want to throw up when she does it).

Soooo, today I’m off to the doctor to explain that I’m not an idiot, or a panic merchant, but rather an aware mother who knows what her child is doing. I hope.

And while every person I meet is full of useless helpful comments: “you look like you’re carrying low” and “you must be about to burst”, this child moves around so much that it’s hard to figure out what she’s doing. Like, trying to beat Grant Hackett to a spot on the 2008 Olympic swim team or just wanting to use my cervix as a bouncing caslte or trampoline, or trying to claw her way out.

Even now as I type I can feel two little hands and/or feet seemingly using my bladder for a punching bag. Aren’t the movements supposed to slow down in the last few weeks?

Maybe if I went back to bed, my little devil angel baby would have a rest too? Or is that just wishful thinking?

Warning, rantings of a pregnant woman ahead.

We all know that tempers are short and mood swings an inevitable part of any pregnancy.  And they increase exponentially with the length of time being pregnant. In short, today is not a day to annoy me.

Since it’s 3 years between babies, I’ve forgotten some things, and some things just won’t do three kids. Two of those things I’ve just remembered we need are a baby monitor and a bouncer/rocker. I was given a bouncer with my first, which did the first two kids quite well, but it was really ratty after the second, so I decided I’d buy a new one. And as for a baby monitor, we had one with Kiki, but never really used it. I have no idea where it is now.

Now at the in-laws a baby monitor could be considered a necessity. Our bedroom downstairs, everything else unpstairs. No internal stairs, nothing. Almost a completely separate house.

So, off we go to the shops. We figure we’ll hit the big shops first, you know with the department store that’s full size as opposed to the one with ‘clothesandwhateverelseisonspecialthisweekonly’. So colour me surprised to find NOT A SINGLE BABY MONITOR OR BOUNCER OR ROCKER. I mean really! Nothing.

Head over to the other department store, the one with ‘clothesandwhateverelseisonspecialthisweekonly’ to discover they close at 4pm on Saturday. 4PM!! We’re in a tourist area - one of the few spots in Queensland with Sunday trading. Oh, except they don’t open Sunday’s either.

So here I am, internet shopping, again. But is it too much to ask to want to physically see what I want to buy before buying it??

I’m feeling a little calmer now, so I’m off to find online babyshops to compare prices.

Thanks to Boneblower for tagging me for this one.  The rules are:

1. Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 key words : family, friend, yourself, your love, anything you like.

2. Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances so that you get to know them each a little bit better.

So, without further ado:

Family - Hmm, I don’t write too specifically about my family, but Happy New Year is as close as I get generally speaking.

Friends - I wrote a very well recieved post reflecting on past friendships last year. Sometimes it’s hard to let go…

Yourself - I could really cheat here and direct you to my 100 Things About Kin post. Yeah, it’s all about me baby

Your Love - Hmm, again, I really don’t write about hubby at all. It’s Night’s Like These is as good as I’ve got.

Anything You Like - And now for something completely random My dream about Prince William - enjoy

Well, I cannot for the life of me remember who has and who hasn’t done this, so forgive me if you’ve already been tagged:

Lisa

Katrina

Kez

Frogdancer

Cellobella when she gets back from holidays

I’ve been a bit slack on the old menu planning of late. Christmas, New Year, visitors and moving house will do that to your planning. Now we’re settled in the in-laws, my mother in law has asked me to make a list of foods the kids will eat. Turns out my kids are a wee bit fussy. Who’d have thunk?

Anyway, so I made a list of meals, and have done a shopping list for her. She’s happy that there’s food everyone will eat, and I feel productive making a list - even if I do get stuck doing a fair bit of cooking.

So, on the menu this week we have:

• Sausage Casserole
• Tuna & Corn Pasta Bake
• Lasagne
• Chicken & Sweet Potato Casserole
• Honey Mustard Roasted Chicken Drumsticks
• Creamy Chicken Pasta Bake
• Pork Casserole

MIL tells me they eat a lot of chicken, which is good because my kids do too. And the only meat we need is 14 chicken drumsticks. Bargain.

And for those of you who may have forgotten, head over to Laura’s site to see what everyone else is eating this week. And welcome back to Menu Plan Monday at Kin’s Not-House!

I know, I know, it’s just one thing after another. Settlement for the house is today. I presume it will go ahead despite the flooding, although I just thought the bank is in town where the worst of the flooding was… Hmm, might go for a drive in a bit and see how bad it is.

Soooo, just for fun it’s now a “baby stay there as long as you can” scenario, because currently my only way of getting to the hospital is a boat or helicopter. Oh the joys!

I just knew this would happen. I’m sooo getting my hospital bag packed properly today. Until now I’ve been like “if I need anything Hubby can bring it over” but it might be a little difficult, so I want to make sure I have everything I need ready to go.

I was going to go and take some photos today, but Hubby took the camera, so I might have some for tomorrow, if you’re lucky

Until then I have try and get some washing dry  and amuse the children with some rainy day activities.

Monday morning dawned bright and clear.

No, that’s not how it happened.

Monday morning dawned and it was overcast and grey. Kin arrived at the house early and turned the air conditioners on. The removalists arrived, slightly late, but enthused and excited about what the day might bring. Kin was not so enthused.

Infact, as the day dragged on, and Drew and Andrew continued to work tirelessly loading the furniture and single garage full of boxes into the truck, Kin became quite bored. So bored in fact, she talked Drew into leaving her comfy rocking chair until last, reclined the back and settled in for a nice snooze. That lasted for about 5 minutes until she was woken up by the removalists asking questions.

You have to watch these guys - if you say everything goes - everything goes! I’ve lost track of the number of things they packed that I thought I needed. Basically, it was the longest 5 hours of my life. I had nothing to do because Hubby and the in-laws had done such a good job of packing everything. I literally packed 3 boxes within the first hour, and that was it. And those tears I had when they were moving all our stuff? Pregnancy hormones I tells ya!

It’s taken two more sessions so far this week, and the in-laws and Hubby are over there now collecting the last few bits and finishing off the cleaning. Settlement is tomorrow, so then it’ll be all done and dusted. The only thing left for me to do now is drop the keys off at the agents tomorrow morning, then wait for phone call to tell me it’s all done!

Reading Jo’s post earlier reminded me of this recipe I’ve been meaning to try. It looks so easy that even I should be able to manage it without stuffing it up.

It comes from the 4 Ingredients cookbook which is full of simple recipe’s I want to try as soon as I get my own kitchen again.

Simplest Potato Bake Ever

• 6 Potatoes
• 300ml tub of cream
• 1 pkt French Onion Soup

Slice potatoes into 1cm thick slices, place into a baking dish, combine cream and soup, pour over potatoes and bake in oven at 180C for 30 minutes.

See? How could you stuff that up? I don’t think I could at all.

I have had to make a quick change to my feed, so if you suddenly have a pile of posts from me, feel free to ignore them (as long as you’ve read them already  ). I’m hoping this will fix all the problems people have been having with the feeds.