Photostory Friday - Early Christmas Surprise

Last week, I was in a big hardware warehouse. They had all the usual drills, ladders, wheel barrows and whatever else needed for handyman type stuff.

Strangely, they also had a section of children's outdoor toys including a cubby house and a backyard jungle gym. I remember looking at it and wishing we lived here in Brisbane so I could get him the cubby house. It wasn't overly expensive but it also wasn't an amount I was willing to pay since we'll only be here for a few more weeks.

OK. Fast forward to this week. We were driving through a suburb that was having their annual large "junk" items pick up. Once a year, the Brisbane City Council will come through the neighborhoods to pick up oversized items that you can't put in your weekly bin. Things like mattresses, TVs, ovens, fridges etc.

We were on the way to the library and just laughing at the stuff that people were throwing away. Suddenly, we saw a cubby house!!!

Someone else's junk is now Aaron's treasure :)



We've put it on the deck because its been raining so much. Its also not a "house" according to Aaron. He calls it his restaurant and here he is handing out my order of fried rice.




Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Thursday Thirteen - Things I will miss

I'm down to my last few weeks in Brisbane and am starting to think of all the things that I won't get to enjoy till my next trip here. These are the top 13 in no particular order.

1. Sausage rolls - I kept myself to one a week so far but I think I'll just have them whenever I feel like it now.

2. GRASS - We have none in Palembang and there is no place to go to really enjoy grass.

3. Parks - Separate to the grassy part of parks. We'll definitely be missing the children's play equipment.

4. Libraries - We'll miss the story telling, and all the toys they have in libraries. And we'll definitely miss the abundant books that are on long for as long as a month each time. Here is a photo of Aaron playing dress up at the State Library.



5. My mother's oven - There have been more than a few failed meals but it has been fun.

6. Sewing - THIS has definitely been one of the highlights of my time here. Every night, after blogging, I rush down to spend a good 2-3 hrs sewing. I feel productive and it gives me a real sense of accomplishment.

7. A dry bathroom - *sigh* I think readers in the West may not realize it but many bathrooms in Asia are still the wet kind. And, our bathroom in Palembang falls into that category. There are no partitions, so, after a "shower" the whole floor is wet. Actually, its not really a shower, its more like throwing buckets of water over yourself.

8. Quiet nights - We'll be going back to the sound of the A/C, the water pump, the neighbor's water pump, the beeping of all the neighbor's cars when they lock it, the mosque at 5am etc etc etc.....

9. Special K - I can honestly say that I haven't missed a single morning of my Special K routine here.

10. Playing on the deck - Aaron and I spend a lot of time on the deck. Its a fun area that is outside but still shaded. And there are no mosquitoes to worry about.

11. Free concerts on weekends - We got a brochure that listed free concerts for each month and have been going to many different places, including several wonderful parks.

12. Clogging - I'm going to try doing this by myself but its just not going to be the same. I doubt I'll have the drive to continue alone for long.

13. Gym classes - I'll go back to my old gym routine in Palembang but there are no classes there. The instructor led classes here have been so much more interesting than my jogs alone on a treadmill. The torture that they have put me through seemed to have done a lot of good too. I'll definitely miss being pushed to get fit.

I've Been Everywhere

Recently, I bought Aaron a children's CD of Australian songs. I have no idea what songs little kids here learn but I found it helpful that Aaron already knew all the nursery rhymes that are sung during library storytimes and playgroups. So, just in case they are also learning these Australian ones, I bought a CD. It had all the usual ones like Walzing Matilda, Road to Gundagai and Tie me kangaroo down, sport. Initially, I was enjoying the CD more than Aaron but he's familiar with it now and tries to sing a long.

There is one particular song there that leaves us all in fits of laughter every time. It is the "funnest" song I have heard in a long time. I can't even say some of those names fast enough let alone sing it!

According to Wikipedia, the original "I've been everywhere" was written in 1959 by Geoff Mack and made popular by Lucky Starr in 1962. Go here to see the Wikipedia map of where all the Australian places mentioned are located. You'll need to scroll down a little. Looks like there are plenty of other versions of that song now for many other countries.

Have a watch and listen. I can't say for sure if ALL the photos are from the places but I know that Indooroopilly and Canberra are correct. I think I've only been to 15 out of the 92 places there. There could be more if you count driving past those towns but I really don't remember.

Be patient. The first few slides are just words...pictures come later.

Exponential Defiance

I've mentioned before that I don't have a stressful life. I do find that I have a lot of tension in me though. Probably from the daily frustration of needing to repeat instructions multiple times before getting any sort of response. And, this has been increasing exponentially in recent days.... [Yes, I know they don't call it the terrible twos for nothing]

Firstly, I have to say that Aaron is a really great little guy for 99% of the day. He is truly funny, helpful, quick to learn and a pleasure to be around. But for 1% of the day, I could really just throw him in the store room under the stairs and lock the door. I haven't done that of course but he gets me so mad.

Its as if he has to fill a quota of defying me each day. He could be happily picking up his toys and will come to the last one, then refuse to move it the 30cm left to place them IN the cupboard. The intensity of his refusal then spirals upwards at an unimaginably fast rate. Before I know it, he's crying/sobbing as if I had really locked him in the store room. I've noticed this happening over the most trivial of non-issues! And, its happening more frequently. (He's 2 years, 3 months and 21 days old)

Anyway, I'm big on exercise and have always known that a good workout session fixes any day. Recently, I've found a SUPERB way for quick release of all tension and bringing on a immediate smile.

I've been going for this gym class called Body Attack (It attacks my body by making me jump/hop/bop/lunge on the spot for 55 minutes). Somewhere towards the end of the class, there is a very short section, probably no more than a minute and a half where there are sequences of jumping up and stomping down hard with both feet. Just like a toddler in the middle of a tantrum. I LOVE IT! You all must try it. Do it on a wooden floor with sports shoes on. It makes a lot of noise and it feels great. Once I'm back in Palembang, I'll have to do this all by myself. OR maybe I'll just join in with Aaron if he ever throws a tantrum!

Where is the internet?

I've been pretty good with answering Aaron's questions so far. The last one that I remember getting stuck on was "What is heaven?" I guess it was time for another tricky one to pop up.

Like many other parents today, I spend a lot of time on the internet, and, Aaron is often by my side when I am there (or should I say "here"?). He thinks YouTube is the place for all Thomas clips. He also knows that I have to check my "EMU" each day. Its funny how he substituted the word EMU for EMAIL just because "email" wasn't familiar to him. The computer is also where he goes to talk to his dad.

On the weekend, he picked up on the word "internet". I must have mentioned it one to many times that I have to go "download some Thomas" from the internet.

So, the next time we sat in from of the computer. He asks Where is the internet?.

I was stumped. It really is a question that I should have had a prepared answer to but I didn't see it coming. I was speechless for longer than I would have liked, hmmm-ing and er-ing and I did try to fudge the answer but he persisted. He expected it to be a physical place and it was so hard to explain something virtual to him.

In the end, the best I could do was "The internet is an invisible place where people go to share information. Things like Thomas videos and music. When you learn to read and spell, you can find out anything you want to know there."

Today, I've been searching the internet for something I want to know. How do you accurately describe the internet to a 2 year old?

I'm still looking :). Feel free to leave me some comments on how you'd explain the internet to a 2 year old.

The Irony of Alone Time to a Mom

One of my frequent complaints about being a mom to a 2 yr old is that I never get any time to myself. I don't think I verbalize this complaint much but I definitely think it A LOT.

The past few weeks have actually been great because my mother has been looking after Aaron in the mornings so that I can get to the gym. I usually rush there and back, sometimes stopping to pick up groceries. All in all, I'm probably gone for 1.5 hrs. And let me tell you, I have been enjoying every minute of that time to myself. The solitary drive in the car, the freedom to walk without "Aaron herding" and of course the time working out.

The gym is in a shopping center and I often look into the shops but never stop to browse. And of course, I wish to myself (many times) that I will one day be able to shop like I used to. To wander aimlessly. To spend too long in the book section. To try on the clothes instead of just holding it out and looking at it.

Well, that day came today. My mother wanted to take Aaron somewhere so she needed the car and would drop me off a little earlier and then would pick me up again later. I thought "Great! I can shop. Maybe go to the library as well. AND, I can get to the gym"

I got there and headed first to the library. I looked for a book I saw on the e-catalog, not there, looked through the magazine section, read one article on how to get sexy hair in 5 minutes and then thought, I'd better leave so I can look through the shops. I zoomed out and made a beeline for the shops that I had taken mental note of. They were probably covered in 10 minutes.

I looked at my watch and I was still 30 mins early for my class.

What now?

I honestly didn't know what I wanted to do with that time. Wandering aimlessly through the shops wasn't as enjoyable as I remembered it to be. I had done all I thought I wanted to do and there was time left over. I wracked my brain and remembered that it would be nice to get Aaron a Wiggles magazine. The newsagents didn't carry any. 25 minutes left.

In the end, I gave up and just went early to the gym to do some cardio first. All the time thinking "Am I sure there is nothing else I want to do. I have all this bonus alone time. Its what I long for. Why am I not using it????"

I think I should just put it down to motherhood making me more efficient with my time and less frivolous with my wants.

Cheer, Routines and Walnuts

This evening, a friend commented that I sounded "cheerful". This led me to wonder about my "cheerfulness" each day. Life here is fun. EVERY DAY. I'm cheery all the time!

I definitely don't have a stressful lifestyle (here or anywhere else). My life is often tiring but its not particularly hectic. The best word that I can use to describe it is "routine". It is full of routines revolving around Aaron.

This is especially true in Palembang. I've forgotten what it feels like now but I know that our time in Palembang is often less cheery that what we have here in Brisbane. The routines are more routine than ever over there. Its a little like Groundhog Day over there. And, spending the whole day being cheery with Aaron often leaves me with zero cheer at the end of the day for anybody else.

I think next year is going to be better. I know a few more people and Aaron is a very talkative companion now. Plus, I have several new ideas to try out.

Still, I need to do things to remind myself to have fun and enjoy each day. Sometimes, forcing yourself to be cheerful (when you don't feel like it) and purposely finding something to laugh about is all thats needed to make a day that little bit brighter. I think I sound a little like a self help website, but I'm genuinely starting to think about things like this because we'll be back in Palembang in a little over a month and the routine will start again.

Alright, enough of that. All it needs is planning and I'm starting now. So, let me leave you with something funny I heard this morning. It has been floating around my head the whole day and has been adding to the giggles I've had.

At the gym class, the instructor said something like "OK. Squeeze your butts. Pretend that you are trying to crack a walnut!" I just can't get that imagery out of my head.....