Home of Slightly Cracked Dreams

I would say silence, but the dryer is working hard, and Hubby has the TV on. Also the tap tap tap on the keyboard can hardly be described as silence.

Still, it’s quiet.

For some reason quieter than a normal Friday night.

It may have something to do with the fact all three children are elsewhere.

As in, not in my house.

So the toilet light is off. There’s no chatter, sleeptalking or snoring coming from any of the bedrooms. No one will sneak out in 10 minutes asking for a drink of water. Even the dog is having a sleep over at Grandma’s (have I mentioned lately how much I love my in-laws? No? Well I do. A lot). So there’ll be no little bodies in bed tonight. No wet noses trying to get under the blankets. No midnight “Mummy I wet the bed” wake up calls.

What’s a girl to do?

Oh right, the usual. Stay up late and play on the computer.

But it’s quiet.

Shhh! Don’t spoil it.

I think the universe is taking pity smiling on me today, I have 3 wonderful things to report tonight.

1. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has placed a 20 year moratorium on Shale Oil Mining in the state, effectively ending the “investigation” in the Whitsundays I discussed in what is now my most popular post ever: Bye Bye Nemo??? This is a wonderful boost for our town, and while it’s hard to believe the government would seriously have considered it, it was far too important to be ignored. I thank everyone who signed a petition or stumbled/dugg my post to help raise awareness.
2. My puppy should be well enough to come home tomorrow. We had a couple of days there we didn’t think he’d make it. I’m pleased to report today he turned up his nose at dog food, ate BBQ chicken and growled at the vet’s father . He must be feeling better.
3. Tonight Meg from Dipping into the Blogpond contacted me to let me know that I had finally made it into the Top 100 Australian Blog Index she painstakingly puts together every month. Ok, so at number 96 I’m not going to take over the internet just yet, but it’s something I’ve been secretly coveting for just over a year, ever since I found Meg’s blog through Miscmum.

So there you have it, a lovely end to the week, which, despite it’s many many downs, still brought me a lot of joy.

Have you ever coveted something completely impractical, overpriced, and completely unnecessary? Have you ever got it?

There’s a new member of our family this week. While not technically part of my Mother’s Day gifts, her arrival in the lead up to Mother’s Day is enough for me to lump her in.

Isn’t she beautiful? (as an aside, you won’t believe how many photo’s I had to take to get a good one). I’ve been coveting one for years now, I had put the money aside. And my biggest problem was what colour to get. In the end I decided it had to be red, because red goes faster.

I <3 my Kitchenaid for sooo many reasons. The red really does go faster (honest)*. And it looks so pretty and shiny on my kitchen bench. Where it will stay. For all eternity.

My biggest problem now is to find something to cook in it. So far I’ve whipped cream. I’m thinking I’ll make some cookies today. Or a pudding. Or maybe some bread. Because my red wonder does them all. So now I’ve bought this one, my next question is to decide which red appliance to save up for next. The blender is the cheapest…. but that coffee machine would look so good on the bench next to my lovely. My precioussss. And yes, I’ve spent ages just stroking her. Do you have a problem with that?

*I have absolutely no evidence to back up this claim

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I’m doing swiming training 3 days a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I’ve been building up to this for a few weeks now. You know, a couple of weeks once a week, then twice a week, and so on and so forth. It’s a one hour session called “swim-fit”. The idea being to build fitness. I gotta tell you though, if fitness involves sore muscles, aching joints and complete and utter exhaustion - it’s working!

This is also part of Operation “Make Friends” (hereafter referred to as OMF ) as after a session we sit around over a coffee and gossip trade stories about our kids.

Earlier this week it was noted how much fitter everyone was getting, and today I really felt it. I was able to keep going when previously I would have given up stopped for a rest. The confidence boos alone from that has made a big difference. I don’t keep track of how far we swim each day, but according to the coach it’s around 2 - 2.5km. Not to be sneezed at.

But beyond actually getting fit, I’ve decided I need a somewhat more specific goal.

In September our town holds its annual triathalon. Well, a half triathalon anyway. Now don’t go giving yourself a panic attack - I would dream for a second of aiming that high, but as a part of the triathalon festival is a 750m open water swim. THAT I could do. So by September I’m aiming to be able to swim 750m. I don’t plan to win, or even make the top 10. Just to be able to complete the whole 750m is enough for me.

And I’m getting there. This morning I swam 400m before I stopped for a rest. I’ve still got 4 months to go. Imagine what I’ll be able to do then?

The happiness you feel when your eldest child finally goes to bed without a nappy is exquisite. The joy of finally only having 2 children in nappies, well. It’s exciting.

What’s also exciting, is that Kiki is not far behind, which means in a couple of weeks I’ll be down to one child in nappies for the first time in over 3 years. And she’s in cloth! Hello $$$$!!!

Despite the fact I love nothing more than a quiet day at home, alone, with some good DVD’s or books, after yesterday I’m still enjoying the busy-ness.

I had nearly forgotten today that I had an appointment with another financial planner for a second opinion. And since the office was next door to McDonalds, I thought a spot of morning tea with the kids would be a nice treat for them being so *cough cough* good while I was talking to the financial planner. Of course then I realised we would be across the road from the ‘goon (translation from Kin’sKidSpeak: Lagoon) which the girls had been begging to go to for ages. I could feel my quiet day slipping away, and mentally imagining the condition of the house in a few days time.

But what the hell? I packed bags, and due to some interesting ideas put forward by the other financial planner, I ended up needing to see someone else a bit later. So rather than getting wet, we had a play on the playground, went BACK to the bank, THEN hit the lagoon. By the time we got home it was 1pm, and to be honest, I’m exhausted. I managed a short lie down before I remembered I had to duck to the shops to get snacks for daycare tomorrow. Although, to be honest, I think next time I’ll bake something, because a “quick trip” to the shops with three kids often turns into an hour long test of my patience. Not to mention the $10 in bribes rewards for the kids for getting out of the shops without causing me to raise my voice.

But after a generally fun and happy day, I still have a messy house, the same amount of washing to do as when the day started. And I’ve hardly been home long enough to do anything. And tomorrow isn’t going to be much quieter.

Being a daycare day, I’m dropping the kidliwinks off, then heading to my torture session swimfit training, then have a nail repaired, before meeting Hubby for lunch. Me thinks the next few weeks will be busy trying to catch up from two completely lost days this week. On top of everything else.

Like today. I took Meg to the shops, just the two of us. It was sweet, for 5 minutes until she started crying the shopping centre down. Drama Queen, just like her mother sisters!

But what really made me happy. Chopping boards that can go in the dishwasher. Nice.

Hey, I had to get something new for the new house!