52 Weeks of Me: Looking In

This is me 'looking in' on my husband's weekend treat to himself...the football.

This is actually LAST week's theme but, who knows, with a bit of luck I'll get something else up before the week is out! Mind you, the way the week is shaping up, I will not have time to scratch myself. This seems to be my excuse for my appalling lack of exercise and resultant ballooning waistline and thighs but really, let me give you an idea of of what's on the cards.....

Monday: work, specialist's appointment for shoulder...(YAY! Let's get this ball rolling!) And then tutoring at 7.30pm
Tuesday: work, middle school parent teacher interviews until......not sure yet....and then maybe tutoring (or not...depending upon lateness of PTIs)
Weds: work, after school parent meeting, parent meetings at the BA's school (this time as a parent), netball practice and an important meeting with Small Boy's Mum (more of this later)
Thurs: Fridge repair man in the morning, Himself's office in the afternoon learning how to do their account payments, Tutoring at 7.30pm
Fri: Work.......and home to collapse in the evening. Don't THINK there's anything on in the afternoon or evening. Could be wrong. Frequently am. Probably have to take the BA to some social event. (Thanks be, for Himself who both took her and picked her up from the party last Saturday night. There was a reason the suburb didn't sound familiar! 40 minutes each way from our place!!!!!)

On Saturdays now I have to transport the BA to school netball in the morning and Club netball in the afternoon. It's no wonder I have no time to get to the gym myself.

As for the meeting with Small Boy's mum: this week we were graced with sleepovers Weds, Thurs and Fri nights! It's the first time he's stayed with us in about two months and only the second time this year. He's now at the local High School which is actually closer to our place than his mum's so it is easier for him to stay here during the week. Himself is naturally quite keen for this arrangement to be formally established in order to 'get some routine' into him and to keep an eye on what's going on with schoolwork etc as his term 1 report Card was dire :-(. As a result, we are going to meet with the Small Boy's mum, a rare occurrence, to make sure we are on the same page about some issues. For example, on Thursday night Himself got a call to pick Small Boy up from the local mall on his way home from work. This was circa 6pm and had not been negotiated. Apparently he 'had no homework' and, as I prepared dinner, announced to me that he had 'eaten at the mall'. He also won't eat breakfast in the mornings. :-( All these things need discussion although, as he is not mine, I am going to have to back off on some of the issues I guess.

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At last we are seeing him.

52 Weeks of Me: Shadows. (From last week!)

I am behind on my 52 Weeks of Me project through holiday depression and a quick trip to Kangaroo Island for a business workshop last week. That was where I finally grabbed a shot for the 'Shadow' theme. Now I am already overdue to post the next shot for the 'Looking In' theme and I haven't even started thinking about that one yet. My decent PAS has jammed up and I am reduced to shooting with an 8 year old 3.2 megapixel dinosaur. It's not very inspiring.

52 Weeks of Me: Memories

I didn't know where I was going with this theme and, after a thumpingly full weekend and a few earth shattering events in our personal (and business life), I just took some pictures. And even though this one is not flattering, or glamorous, and shows me in all my middle aged imperfection, I can show it to you because at the end of the day, it's who I am.

I also quite like the expression on my face because it's related to the story of the day. Here's what happened.

Every morning I drive through the back streets of our local suburbs, dodging main road traffic. One long, wide street leads down towards the forecourt of a reasonably 'well to do' private Catholic school and sweeps past it in a ninety degree elbow. As I approach it every morning, my mind full of the day to come, the details of houses, fences and gardens slip past me, blurred by the never-ending 'journalist vs politician' banter and traffic news on the the radio. It is only when there is some change to the routine landscape, something which jars my vision, that my conscious mind even registers its surroundings.

What exactly is that strange black and white shape up in the forecourt ahead?

From a distance, some sort of white column emerges, topped by a squashed black mass
(bahahaha...pardon the pun :-D).
I vaguely remember seeing something standing in that courtyard on previous mornings. Certainly not this incongruous shape though. Was it a rubbish bin? No, surely not. Mind you, evidently, something once regular and routine has been remodelled; perhaps by passing vandals? If it was a rubbish bin, the black top certainly doesn't seem to be rubbish bin shaped anymore...
What exactly have they done to that..........whatever it is.......... that I am accustomed to seeing there?
As I draw closer, the shape seems to resolve itself in my field of vision although my brain struggles to process it. Suddenly, a light bulb goes off in my sleep tousled cerebellum!

It's Lent! And this is a Catholic school.

Now, if you are one of those for whom the above two sentences mean nothing, let me enlighten you.

The season of Lent precedes the celebration of Easter in the traditional christian communion. A forty day period which recalls the time Jesus spent fasting in the 'wild', Lent is traditionally a period of mourning, self deprivation and reflection.

("Have a chocolate mate?" "Nah thanks, given it up for Lent.")

In addition to this self righteous, self-deprivation, many traditional Catholic churches practise the veiling of statues and icons during the Lenten period, as a reminder of........ (*thinks*)..............
(OK, I'm not actually sure what it's supposed to remind you of; maybe a symbolic 'entering of the grave' in order that the Resurrection be even more impressive? Who knows?)
 (and anyone who does is welcome to fill us in by leaving a comment btw!)

Anyway, as I approached this convoluted and perplexing shape in the front courtyard of 'Quite Well Off Catholic School', I had the kind of revelation that leaves you going:
'ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh' (sigh of revelation)
and then
'PFFFFFFFTTTTTT   BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH'
(shriek of hysterical laughter as you really think about it).

They had covered the statue with a garbage bag!
BA-HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH
I mean! WHAT were they thinking???????

Well, to be honest, I really don't care what they were thinking cause it gave me such a laugh that I reflected on it for several days afterwards, at those moments when only a laugh will do.

Here I am, minutes later, back in the car, still snickering.
For better or worse BA, this is your mother, and of these things memories are made.

Join Corey as she tracks 52 Weeks Of Me over on her site. Or better still, join in!


image credit

52 Weeks of Me: Outside (and other stuff)

Having finally got my camera back, I find myself completely out of the habit of taking photos. Nevertheless, with this week's '52 Weeks of Me' prompt in mind, I sat in the carpark of a local park and snapped myself 'Outside'.
I had just dropped the BA off at a party and the temp was in the high 20s. She insisted I walk down to the picnic spot with her and, as I had no sun hat, I reached into the back seat to utilise the only thing I had to hand, her school hat. Once she was delivered to her party I came back up to the carpark and sat on the gutter savouring the cool breeze before getting back into my stiflingly hot car (note to self: get air conditioning fixed). It was a delightful few minutes 'Outside'.

It was a long weekend here in Adelaide, celebrating nothing more edifying than a horse race.
Himself was disgusted.
"This has got to be the lamest public holiday in Australia!" he ranted.
"Come now," I suggested,"what about the Queen's birthday? Surely you can't approve of that holiday?"
"At least that's historic," he countered, surprising me once more with his fundamentally conservative nature. For a man who has worked at the forefront of the arts, wears his hair (what's left of it) long and is proud of the T shirts he designed in the 70s which read 'If It's Too Loud You're Too Old", he  exhibits some incredibly 'unhippy' -like values.
"At least she's our Head of State," he continued, "this is just a horse race!"
"What about the Melbourne Cup?" I cast out and reeled.
"At least the whole country is interested in that!" he exclaimed,"unlike this one, where 98% of the local population don't even know what we're celebrating!!!!!"
He does have a point. But who am I to argue with a long weekend? Lord knows with the incredibly 'full on' start to the school year, we could all do with a break.

The Baby Angel had a full calendar of events lined up for her weekend. She was little disappointed that tickets for the Womadelaide Festival were beyond her means. She was particularly disappointed when not only did her boyfriend attend all three days without her, but Boy Z was in the crowd with his father (at the tender age of 4!). She did not want for  entertainment however.

On Friday afternoon we commenced the hunt for the Formal Dress, had her hair cut and shared a pizza dinner before dropping her off for a sleepover at a friend's house. The following morning I picked her up ready to continue the Formal Dress Quest. At around 5pm we found the one I described here: this is my 'artist's impression'. The underskirt is actually the same colour as the overskirt ...

That night the two of us watched Eddie Izzard together as she practised face painting for her Research project. Life has surely calmed down since last year.

So what was Himself doing as I had quality time with my BA? Well, the only up side of my ruined shoulder is that Himself has become a little more proactive around the garden. On Saturday, in perfect Adelaide weather (27C) he worked his b*** off in the front garden. These are his pruning and lawn mowing efforts.
 Amidst this sterling work we had a brief and heated conversation regarding the watering system. I have recently turned it off as a) it is autumn and b) we had a $960.00 water bill!!!!  Himself suggested, perhaps fairly, that I should have let him know as the grass is now a little 'crunchy'.

 Meanwhile, the downside of my ruined shoulder is my slackness on the house keeping front. This photo was taken in the family room at mid-afternoon. I am torn between shame and awe at the amazing work spiders do.

If only I could channel their efforts usefully!

52 Weeks Of Me: Dark

Well, how late can you get on a post??

52 Weeks of Me is hosted by Corey over at 'Living and Loving Every Minute', on a Saturday no less! Now, my excuses start with the fact that I recently had the absolute joy of attending the engagement party of my Kindergarten Friend, an unmarried man of my age who, in a blessed turn of events, met his soul mate three years ago and finally proposed to her on Milford Sound at the end of last year. Why is this relevant? Because I left my camera at their house!

I keep meaning to pick it up but haven't made it back yet and so I commissioned Himself (who really is a lovely patient husband at times) to take a 'dark' photo of me with his phone. After several exceptionally unflattering shots, I decided on this one. Certainly for my family it will 'ring bells' as I sit silhouetted by the ubiquitous computer monitor. For those with an eye for detail, spot my handsome nephew on my pinboard along with my husband, my baby (when she was a baby) and the medal awarded to me by my bestest work colleague for me managing to keep it all together last year!

I may sit in the dark but my life is full of light.

If you fancy joining us on the 52 Weeks of me Journey, click over to Corey's place by using the button.