Category Archives: Girly Stuff

Grateful for good friends.

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At the moment I miss my friends, friends both near and far, things being so flat chat has meant that I haven’t had the chance I usually do to make phone calls, have an occasional cuppa with my friends or even run into anybody really. The focus has been on work and home, trying to get that balance right and keep things moving.

The thing is though that for me it’s my friends that keep me moving, that keep me running on an even keel. Yes Muddy Hubby is fantastic and he and the Muddy Kids are my world, but sometimes I just need a friend to bring things back into focus.

So this week I am grateful for my friends, because I know when I finally find some time they will be there for me, to listen, to laugh and to just enjoy spending time with. Because that’s what good friends do, just be there for you, even when you don’t have time to call them!

I am delighted to watch my Muddy Girls start to make more friends and I am hopeful that one day they have built a strong friendship network just like the wonderful one I have.

I get such joy out of them coming home and saying ‘I made a new friend today’ and hearing all about their new friend and what they did at school or preschool together. We sit down and we talk about the importance of friendships and being nice to everyone and I can’t wait til they realise the true value of good friends who will always be there for you.

Yes, this week I’m grateful for good friends, you know the ones, they’re always there for you no matter what.

Happy to be linking up with Maxabella for 52 Weeks of Grateful over at Village Voices. Please check it out, you’ll be pleased you did.

Curve Balls

When I was pregnant with my Muddy Organiser I worked out of an office in an old house, it was a run down office where the floors creaked when you walked, the paint colours were dark and the carpet was well worn so the only thing to brighten your day was your fellow workmates.  I shared my office with a  bright and brilliant woman who smiled no matter what was going on, she had the most amazing and positive attitude, with a fantastic sense of humour. I can honestly say she is one of the best people I have ever shared an office with.

As time moves on and the office moved and I went on maternity leave we didn’t see each other as much. We would cross paths and have a great catch up chat, she had two babies to my four and we continued to be friends and work colleagues. It hit straight to my heart when I heard her little
girl had a rare genetic condition called Tay-Sachs. With this condition the child develops normally until about 6 months and then their skills start to deteriorate and they have a limited life expectancy. Her gorgeous little girl brings sunshine into my day each time I see her and it has been so sad to watch her slowly lose her skills.

Then just before Christmas my lovely friend was thrown another curve ball – she has breast cancer. She is 36 years old, a mother of 2 children, one with a disability and now she is fighting another battle for her life. I was shattered, I cried (and admit I still cry some days to think of it) but each time I see her or talk to her she is positive, she still gives me a smile and we have a joke and that attitude and her two gorgeous children are what helps her get through each day.

I am amazed at people and the inner strength they find to keep going despite what life throws them. My friend has started chemotherapy and will then undergo radiation therapy. I can do no more than be there for her, she has a lot of people in her corner supporting her and her beautiful kids I just wish that a cure for cancer can be found sooner rather than later.

And Ladies and Gentleman (yes Men can get breast cancer too) please check your breasts regularly, it’s certainly reminding me to do mine.

Moving On

Friday night I put my glad rags on, blinged it up and headed out for a Girl’s only farewell for a friend who is moving away. It was a very, very fun night. Everyone bought a plate to share, there was lots of uninterrupted catch up and talking time, with a few drinks and dances thrown in for good measure, even a disco ball hing in a tree to add some extra bling.

As I made my way home though I started to think about the impact on our town when a large family, or any family really, leaves town. This lovely friend is the mother of four gorgeous kids, her husband has already left to start his new job and she is staying on with the kids til the end of the school year.

The council has lost a good worker, the High School will lose a good teacher, my Muddy Organiser and Muddy Pixie will each lose a classmate and that’s not to mention the loss of friends and being able to easily catch up, whether it be at school or preschool pick up, or a quick chat down the street.

Yes, other families move into town, just as much as families move on, but the impact felt is still a great loss. I often wonder if the same impact is felt in large cities and towns when a family moves on, or is it felt more in a small town like ours, where there are less people to fill that gap left behind?

Clever Friends

I am constantly amazed when I discover the hidden talents of my friends. Me, I’m not a sewer (as much as I try), I’m not a painter (as much as I wanted to be as a kid). I dabble in the kitchen, but am not anything special and I potter in the garden and when things flower it’s more through good luck than good management. I tap away on the computer and fiddle with photo edits but am by no means an expert or do I really have any idea about design. So I get so excited when I find out my friends are very clever at doing any of these tasks, as I hope to garner skills from them.
 
I am even more excited when they start up their own business with their skills. My best friend Laura has started up a fantastic site for Office Administration Professionals it’s called Smarter Admins and you can find it here. I am constantly in awe of Laura, no matter what, each time I ring with a question she has the answer, or will find it out for me, she designs gorgeous websites and is pretty handy with photos and design (see my Header, that’s her work).
 
 
 
Then there’s my friend J, who has amazed me again by starting up her own business called Button Tots, you can find it here. J creates gorgeous shirts, singlets and onesies for kids and for the life of me I don’t know where she finds the time with two busy boys! But find it she does and I think she is very clever and so had to share. I attempted to take a lovely family photo of the Muddy Kids in their Button Tots shirts, but that proved near impossible, so we ended up with individual shots!
 
Do your friends amaze you as much as mine do with their hidden, and never ending talents???
  
 

Family and Good Friends

On the weekend we packed up the family and headed to the Big Smoke to surprise my Mum (Hi Mum!) who was getting back from her trip overseas. I won’t talk about the fact that the trip down took us an extra 400km because the Blue Mountains were closed due to snow, or the fact I broke Mum’s washing Machine right when she needs it most to wash holiday clothes, or the fact I broke the bathroom door and we couldn’t get in until Muddy Hubby fixed it.
 
I will however show you how much fun the Muddy Kids had which makes it all worth it. They were so excited to see their Nana and we had a very special catch up with a beautiful old friend and her gorgeous boys.
 
My friend J and I started Kindergarten together and now her little boy will start school exactly one year after my Muddy Organiser. I am always in awe of how blessed I am to share my parenting journey with good friends at the same time. Somehow it makes it go that much easier knowing your friends are riding the ups and downs at the same time.
 

Grateful For Sisters

I am an only child, my mum said ‘a smart woman never forgets the pain of childbirth’ and decided that one was enough for her. Mum said I only ever asked once for a brother or sister, other than that I was content. Happy to play with close family friends who were like sisters and then I have my BFF who is like my sister from another mother. I never wanted, I had good friends and a loving family.
Then I married into a large family (well large by my only child standards), Muddy Hubby has 2 sisters and 1 brother. Just before I got married my 2 sister-in-laws gifted me with a lovely photo frame with the heading ‘Sisters’ on it, they made it quite clear that they didn’t wanted to be treated as ‘sister-in-laws’ they wanted to be ‘sisters‘. I have never forgotten and it has always been that way, we have talked and fought and cried and laughed together.
Last year my Muddy brother-in-law got married, he married the most wonderful girl and we enveloped her into our family fold as another ‘sister‘ despite the fact that she already had two sisters of her own. This week I am so grateful for all of my sisters. I was in desperate need of a babysitter so I could go to Boot camp this week and one of my sisters stepped in. We’re throwing a big party here today and surprisingly it has so far been stress free. We have divided up the tasks amongst ourselves, cake with one sister, lunch with another and venue, dessert and lolly bags with me. All sorted thanks to my wonderful sisters.
It is only in the last few years as my parents begin to age a little and I have had children of my own that I have had a real yearning for my own sister, someone to share the load with and confide in. My sister-in-laws have been so wonderful in stepping in to fill this void that I only get an occasional pang for a sister of my own blood. For now though I am very grateful for my BFF (sister from another mother) and my ‘Sisters’ and their helpfulness that gets me through a week with a little less stress and some time for boot camp.
My Hen’s night when I look soooo young and was gifted with two ‘Sisters’

October 2011 where we got an updated photo for my ‘Sisters’ frame.
Photo Courtesy Pink Bug Photography

Love a Good Challenge

What I love most about the Internet and blogging is that it helps drive me to be a better person, work harder to achieve goals and fulfill challenges. And there is always a challenge and I love it when I find one I love. I put my hand up to complete Clairey Hewitt’s Handwriting Challenge (because you know Handwriting is the new black!). It meant 6 handwritten notes/letters/messages in 6 weeks. For me this challenge was perfect and meaningful, which is why I didn’t hesitate to sign up.
My Grandmother and her two sisters wrote two letters to each other every week for as long as I can remember, until the week my Grandmother passed away aged 92. They lived in 3 different cities and it was their way of keeping in touch and hearing the family gossip. When my Grandmother passed away I kept up the tradition (although a lot less frequently) of writing to both her sisters. I sent them photos of my family and the farm, with little notes or long letters depending on how busy I was. With the chaos of my family I hate to admit I got a little slack and it has been a while since I’ve written. So for the first two letters of the handwriting challenge I have written to my Grandmother’s sisters, aged 95 and 93. I pulled out my favourite stationary which I bought for just such a purpose and I wrote them each a letter, put in a few photos and will put them in the mailbox on Monday for the postman to collect and post in town.
For my next letter I’m focusing more on my friends, near and far. I just love the written word, it is always so exciting to receive a handwritten letter, no matter how long or short, it somehow seems so much more personal and you know it comes from the heart. Can’t wait to write my next handwritten letter!
My Grandmother and her two sisters on the left



My Grandmother and her two sisters at one of the last times they saw each other face to face

I love a good bit of stationary


Non-Verbal Tango

I was chatting to a friend recently about just how much we communicate with our husbands through a look or an action, so much is conveyed without words, like a dance back and forth. It’s not that Muddy Hubby and I don’t talk, in fact we talk lots and lots, several times a day (thank you phone plan for free calls to each other) but more and more there are non-verbal communications going on, our non-verbal tango.

These are not always communications I love, but at least the message is getting through. The other day Muddy Hubby let me know his work clothes needed washing, not by asking me to do a load, or by putting them in the machine, but by leaving the lid of his washing basket open, with clothes strategically draped to hang over the edge. Message received, I’ve almost run out of undies!

Then there’s my messages to him, given he’s been getting home after we’re all tucked up in bed, I leave his dinner in the microwave and he heats it up and eats alone. So he will stack it in the dishwasher and turn it on, I leave the dishwasher door open, with it all turned on and ready to go as soon as he puts his plate in and shuts the door. If the door was not open, it would be placed on the sink and the dishwasher forgotten in his tired state.

The non-verbal tango I love the most though is the one when we’re out and about. If one of us is heading to the bar, a quick look with a movement of the hand towards the mouth, a nod or a shake of the head in reply, with some lovely thank you eye contact. The look of I’m bored when I can see he’s stuck talking to an old granny and he’s having trouble following along. The look of love when he’s saying I just want to be alone, just the two of us, not stuck out at a boring dinner. Then at the end of the night, when we’ve both had enough that incline of the head ‘are you ready to go?‘, or it’s a touch that can covey so much, ‘you OK’, ‘you ready to go?’, ‘I love you’. message sent message received, our non-verbal tango.

Do you have a non-verbal tango with your partner?
What’s your favourite non-verbal communication?
Is it about the house work or when you’re out and about?

A Good Old Fashioned Party

Yesterday saw myself and the Muddy Kids attend a lovely 4th Birthday Party morning tea for one of Muddy Pixie’s little friends. It was low key with only close friends invited (mind you we all have between 2-4 kids so there were quite a few kids running around). There was no big theme, there were a few balloons, the usual backyard toys (plus chooks and a puppy), pass-the-parcel, musical statues and an ice cream cake. Simple, enjoyable party goodness.

The kids used their imaginations and created their own games, they ganged up girls vs boys to take over the tent filled with balloons, the girls held strong for a while until the boys launched a strong campaign and the balloons were no more. The boys played policeman, and hunters, while the girls played princesses and fairies. They all busted some moves under the clothesline to the music, some moves which left us all wondering ‘where did they learn how to do that?’.

It reminded me so much of when I was a kid and went to parties. My kids had a ball, Muddy Bubby included, they collected a small lolly bag at the end and came home exhausted, having run around and enjoyed just being kids. Sometimes when life is rushing by so fast and everything is pushing kids to grow up quicker than we are ready for it’s nice to be reminded of simple old fashioned fun and to sit and relish in the kids enjoyment.

Do your kids get to go to parties like we did when we were kids?
Or is it all about the ‘theme’ nowadays?

Time to get my Frock on!

Hooray for March! It’s here! At last it’s here. This month gives me the opportunity to frock up not once, not twice, not three times, but FOUR times! Two Weddings, One Ball and One Fabulous Tenth anniversary ‘Dinner Under the Stars’. Three of these will be child free events, this is almost unheard of in our house. Can you tell I’m just a teeny bit excited?!?! I think I’m already socially excited and the events haven’t even started.

The opportunity to talk to adults uninterrupted, to start and end a conversation without having to tend to the Muddy Kids Inbetween and come back to the conversation only to forget where you left off. The chance to admire Muddy Hubby all decked out in a suit and smelling of something other than sheep or engine oil. One morning to have the chance to sleep in. Three chances to not have my clothes pulled on or spewed on, or covered in sticky finger marks.

Don’t get me wrong I love taking my kids with me to places and sharing in exciting events with them, but I’m feeling ready for something different. Some Muddy Hubby and Me time, some adult company time, a glimpse into ‘oh yes I am still a person under all those children and piles of washing‘ time. I can safely say October was the last time I got all frocked up and I had a six week baby in tow, so not exactly a relaxing evening!

I have been feeling a little chaotic, a little unsettled, I’m hoping that some Frocking up time will help recharge my batteries and get me back on track, Help me remember I have some mojo in there that keeps me going each day!

Do you love getting dressed up and heading out for some child free time as much as I do?
What’s your favourite outing for you and Hubby?