78 posts tagged “family”
I've found America.
In the slide box that is.
I'm feeling a bit emotional actually.
This is a photo of my Papa. And that little contraption by his side is the camera he used to take all these photos we look at while he was on his world trip.
Amazing really. I often think of him and wonder what he would have made of the digital photography era. He developed his own photos, and when he died we cleared out his dark room. We took trailer loads of photos to the tip. Thousands. My father told me once that Papa asked him once if he wanted to go for a drive with him. He said they were gone for hours and hours because Frank (Papa) kept stopping to take photos. Dad said he took hundreds of photos.
After he had died, and Nan moved into a retirement home we cleared out the house. The sun room was full of National Geographic magazines. Thousands of them. He and Nan went on two world trips. One in 1957 and one in 1964. He must have had a real facination with the world.
He died one morning making toast. Nan said she heard the bang when he hit the ground. As you can see, he wasn't a small man. It was the way for someone like him to go.
Not so good for my Nan of course. She was very lonely after that.
I've never thought of them as being dead. I always imagine that they went off on another world trip and are having such a good time that they never came back.
My hilariousness knows no bounds.
At least I always think so.
See Kimba gave me this brilliant idea for a birthday present for her good friend Nat.
She told me that Nat was in love with Sam from Supernatural. And she wanted to make a scrapbook page with Nat and Sam getting married.
So I stole the idea and made it into a magnet for her.
Here they are on the happy day
You know it was hard to find a picture of him smiling, those Supernatural guys don't smile much do they.
But then I thought - she has to get rid of her boyfriend first so the nuptuals could go ahead. They need to have a fight.
And by then I was totally out of control.
And I got sidetracked from the wedding theme and went with the fighting theme. Because I thought I may as well add Lloyd, Kimba and Chicken Little and then they'd have the whole household to play with. Except Sam of course, because he doesn't really live there you know.
Anyway they looked pretty cool even though they were bastards to cut out. And now I've given them away my fridge looks very bare.
I can feel another set coming on.
If you could have personally witnessed one event in history, which one would you want to have seen?
I would want to have seen the one I witnessed today!!
The day we won the AFL Black Diamond Grand Final.
Not me personally, but Lloyd played in it, and if your children participate in a sporting event, it feels as if you've played the game yourself.
This morning I had the sick tummy. When we got there and sat down, I couldn't take a photo because my hands were shaking.
I did manage to get a shot of the bar though. Because it was pretty cool. And rowdy by the end of the day. Daz wants to hire it for a party. That top level was packed by 2pm.
And it was hot. 30 degrees. So the boys were running around for almost two hours in that heat.
So they ran out and had the pre game huddle like they always do.
The ball sat waiting for kickoff
And the mascot did... whatever mascots do. Which seemed to be run around and get chased by small children. Nice socks.
Half time came and it looked grim. We were losing 59 to 24. The coach would have been yelling, because he tends to go ballistic in that situation.
There was a brief moment of panic when I saw one of our guys fall down and I said - OH NO, HIS LEGS GONE. And poor Daz jumped up and started running off because he thought I was talking about Lloyd. Thats because Lloyd has something called myositis ossificans. That means that he has torn his thigh muscle almost in half and now it has a bone growing in it. Thats why he shouldn't have played. But they strapped him up and he did. Even though he wasn't supposed to play for three months. But as I said, he's a 19 year old young man who must make his own decisions about these things.
So when I saw this happening I was a little concerned
But it was all good. And it was pretty cool how they had that physiotherapist come and rub them all down.
And can you believe that just when the final bell went, the other team were leading by 5, and our man had just caught the ball and he had to kick the goal to win the game. No pressure on him. And he kicked it.
And they were joyous
And they recieved medals
And they sang loudly
And it was a good day.
And I had my first dose of sunburn for the summer.
And I just found this on top of my washing machine.
When I was a kid, and through my teenage years I did a lot of running. Sprinting. And my mother used to drive me around to these carnivals and when it was getting close to race time she'd start on about me going to the toilet. She'd ask me about ten times - do you have to go to the toilet? And I'd always say, no. Then right when we were in the marshalling area I'd say - I have to go to the toilet and she'd say, in an exasperated voice, well its too late now!
We did that for years.
And today I have the same nervous tummy, but its on behalf of my son. Today he is playing in the AFL grand final. And he's playing against doctors orders and against mothers orders because he has had a badly torn thigh muscle. But when I told him he was being ridiculous to risk it by playing he told me he was being a 19 year old boy who wanted to play in his grand final.
So I said I wasn't going to go and watch because I didn't want to see him get hurt or disappointed or carried off on a stretcher. And I said that if I went that would mean I condoned what he was doing. And Daz said that was ok because Hazim el Mazri's mum only ever went to two of his games because she didn't want to see him get hurt.
But when I woke up this morning I knew I just have to go. I can't sit here and not know whats going on there. I'd be ringing Daz every five minutes. So fingers crossed that it all goes well, the muscle hangs in there, he plays brilliantly and they win the comp.
Bloody kids.
I think I have to do a nervous poo.
I am disappointed with the world.
Again.
It never fails to disappoint me in disappointing me.
Every day I hope I move closer to my goal of escaping the world and becoming a recluse.
I've mentioned before that I live in a violent sort of town. 20,000 people, mining, army, farming, lots of testosterone, lots of bars, lots of beer, nothing to do. It doesn't lead anywhere good.
Last time I wrote about it a young man was bashed to within an inch of his life. Just down the road. And in the next few months, some other young men will go to jail for doing that to him.
Many lives ruined over what, five minutes of "fun".
No winners there.
A couple of nights ago another young man here was bashed and kicked to within an inch of his life. He's on life support with a fractured skull.
And I feel broken hearted about the whole affair.
Because everyone talks about it. And everyone says - oh, that was awful, oh poor guy, oh, they need their arses kicked.
But they don't really care.
People are so desensitised to violence that they say all the right words, but don't really feel anything.
You know what I thought about when I heard this had happened? I thought about his mother getting a phone call at 3am in the morning. I thought about her ringing the airline, booking a flight, making the trip to a shitty country town in NSW where her son was working, so she could stand beside his bed and watch him fight for his life, because twelve drunken idiots had decided his life wasn't worth anything.
Her beautiful boy.
Her beautiful boy come to this.
And if he dies, all he'll be to anyone is three or four lines in a newspaper.
A few years ago it used to be our teenage girls we had to worry about. And god, I still do, every time they leave the house. But now it seems to be our boys we have to worry about more. So much senseless random violence out there.
Kickings, bashings, glassings, stabbings.
Someones son, brother, father, boyfriend, husband.
Spare a thought for this young man. Wrong place, wrong time people say. Is that meant to be some sort of comfort.
5.30 am was a long time ago. Twelve hours ago actually.
That was when I was up and getting dressed ready to hit the road to Sydney for a christening.
Daz, Lizzie and I left at day break
We travelled about half way then picked up Kimba and Lloyd. I always think of that ad Not So Squeezy when I see them all in the back of the car. Poor old girl hasn't had the whole family in it for years. I think we were carrying about 360 kilos.
Lizzie has always had to sit in the middle and always complains about it, so on the way home I sat in the back and she sat in the front. Ahhh memories. When I was a kid we sat four across the back seat. Being the youngest I was always pushed forward. I don't think my back rested on a car seat my entire childhood.
The roads in NSW are some of the worst you will find anywhere in the world. At school holiday times they show a programme on tv called How To Survive the Pacific Highway. Which always makes me laugh. Nervously. Hey I know how to do it. How about the government gives us some money and we fix the roads!!
But I quite like these parts on the way to Sydney. I just imagine them going - right, well we want to get to Sydney so lets just cut straight through the mountain here. But there are always signs up saying - Caution, Falling Rocks. And I don't know what you're supposed to do about it. Not like you can go anywhere.
But we survived. And arrived. At a strange sort of christening. Where we got to watch a Sigur Ros video clip and were then asked to pray not only for the people suffering gastro in the nursing home, but also for the Iranian army.
But I was glad I went because I saw someone I hadn't seen for twenty years. And when I did know her back then, I really liked her.
And I got to pass on my buzzy buzzy bee.
The other day I was at the chemist and I saw this little guy and I loved him and bought him. And he was only $4.00.
And I've had him hanging around with me and he's made me smile every time I looked at him. So today I gave him to the baby having the christening and I hope he gets a smile out of him as well.
And I really hope God is keeping an eye on that gastro.
I can't wait to go to thailand.
We are going to have so much fun, you wouldn't believe it,
We will have so many good memories that our heads will explode.
Amd even if our plane gets blown to a million pieces, or a tsunami sweeps us away, or a crazy suicide bomber walks into our bar with a bomb on his back, one of us will surely come out of it with a book deal and a guaranteed spot on sixty minutes.
And i hope its me!!!
Sometimes I forget we're going to thailand. And then I'll be cooking dinner, or doing the washing or feeding the dog and all of a sudden I'll think -
HEY, we're going to thailand.
I must admit I felt a bit of pressure planning this holiday. I was trying to keep eleven people happy, ranging in ages from eleven to seventy four. But in the end we all agreed and I can't wait.
So lets do a recap of the demographic.
Theres me and my family.
Me - age 45 (am I 45, really????)
Husband Daz - aged 43
Daugter Kimba - 21
Son Lloyd -19
Daughter Lizzie - 17
Kimba's friend Riley - aged 21
I would just like to point out here that Kimba and her friend Riley are about 6 foot tall and gorgeous and maybe totally frightening to the thai people. (I've already warned them not to pat anyone on the head);
And then we have my friend Jem and her family
Jem - what are you anyway 41??
her husband, Captn Tidy - 47
her daughter, Diva - 13
her son psp3 boy - 11
and her father Frank - 74 years old
As you can see we're a bit of a motley crue but:-
GETT OUTTA HERE
we are going to be totally out of control
can't wait
But just remember girls - it's not funny to put something in your friends bag (or your mothers bag). Just remember, she doesn't want to spend the rest of her life in a thai jail.
If you're not from Australia you probably haven't heard the latest installment of Australians behaving badly overseas,
http://www.usp.com.au/fpss/news-thailand/news-thailand140.html
but even so, I can't wait
So at about this time, 21 years ago, I was standing in a maternity ward surrounded by babies, one of them belonging to me. My eldest daughter, Kimba, had her 21st birthday yesterday.
We would have been taught how to bath them by this time. Bath them without letting them slip away. Because they're slippery little buggers babies. You always hear a lot of talk about how babies find baths very relaxing. But I never found it to be that way. From the moment you took Kimba's singlet off to the moment you put a fresh one back on her, she screamed and thrashed through the whole bath experience.
But she was a nice little baby. Didn't need to be constantly amused or entertained. Was just happy to hang around with me and the cats and dogs.
Here she is with her father and uncle at about 4 weeks old. Sharing some ribs and beer. (Where's docs when you need them!)
And here she is pretty in pink
And playing it cool in the frog dress and some cool sunnies
So we had a bit of a party last night. And let me just say that Jem and I went off on the Singstar. Expect to see us soon in a town near you in our FABBA tribute band. Isn't it funny how all those ABBA lyrics have stayed in your head just waiting for a chance to get out.
Jems son celebrates his birthday today, he's 11. So last week I said - ok, we'll get a dually cake for them. And everyone went - who's Julie? So thats why the cake says to the julies. Well actually it says too the Julies.
And as you can see she has grown into a charmer.
So happy birthday to Kimba. Hope the next 21 years pass by a bit slower than that lot. Really has flown by.
I'm off to poke about the fridge for a while. I'm very lucky that I have one friend who makes the best potato bake you'll find and another who makes the best caesar salad. And there are big plates of both in the fridge.
Cheers.
My mother had a birthday on Saturday. She turned 76.
Here she is as a baby with her mum, my nan, who pops up every now and then in papa's slidebox photos.
And here she is with me at the beach. I guess she was about 35 here.
And here we are yesterday. We went over and had a bit of a shindig as my sister turned 50 a couple of weeks ago as well.
Holding up well for an old girl. And still got all her marbles.
Happy birthday Jude, hope there are plenty more to come.
Are you worried about a swine flu pandemic?
You know what, I can't even hear the words swine flu without having an uncontrollable urge to laugh.
Swine flu, swine flu, swine flu.
See, I'm laughing now,
And I'm pretty sure its not funny but it just sounds so awful. Swine flu. Does anyone actually call them swines. Even pig flu sounds better. I always get the image of some 18th century gentlemen in white gloves slapping each other and saying - you swine you.
And whenever they talk about it on the news where I am, they show this pen full of happy looking pigs snuffling around looking up at the camera. So I always imagine that if you have swine flu, you turn into a pig.
And even Daz knows now that if I'm being cranky he only has to say swine flu, and I'll crack a smile. How bad is that!
It reminded me of this day I was out with my father looking at farms. We were moving so we were checking out some new properties. I was about 15 at the time. And my father went of with the farmer to talk farm stuff and I was left with the stock and station agent. And we were standing near the pig pen and he had his foot up on the fence. And he pointed at the pigs and said to me
you know what they are dontcha?
I didn't know what to say. It was like a trick question. Where did this man think I'd been living for the past 15 years. Dad came back then so I didn't say anything. God he laughed when I told him about it. He'd thought the guy was a wanker right from the start.
So anyway back to the old swine flu. Don't get me wrong now, when I go on holidays I will be the one wearing a mask on the plane, but if I worried about everything out there that I could catch or that could happen to me or my family, I'd never leave the house. So I just try not to worry about these things because its all that worry and stress that will kill you in the end.
And its pretty funny now how I have a tag that is swine flu. Lets just hope it doesn't get too many entries under it.
