Archives for October 2005

Recovery

October 18, 2005 by Jen at Semantically driven

I managed to have a couple of good days on my actual birthday and the day after when I’d organised a night out. It was good fun, although I did wonder why I organised it so that people came to my house. That just means more work for me and I shouldn’t be doing more work on my birthday, it’s just not right. I even made my own birthday cake, but that was more for the kids to blow out the candles than anything.

But having said that I did get a good birthday present haul this year, the best for a while yet. A couple of people rocked up sans present and JJ asked me where was my present from them? I didn’t quite know what to say. It’s not like I expect a present from everyone, I sure don’t give all my friends presents on their birthdays as it would just be ridiculous. I just mumbled something and tried to move on but he asked me about three times. I eventually distracted him.

The birthday celebrations caught up with me, or the virus lurking around in my system has caught up with me. I had yesterday off sick and am off sick again today. I’ve got one of those dry coughs that keep you awake at night and I’ve got the husky voice to go with it.

Happy birthday to me!

October 13, 2005 by Jen at Semantically driven

It’s my birthday tomorrow. Birthday wishes are more than welcome, and while you’re doing that, wish me good health too. I feel as though I’m coming down with something. I’ve been beaming positive thoughts throughout my brain in the hope that I will beat it.

I want to celebrate my birthday, not spend it in bed feeling sorry for myself.

Happy birthday to me…..

Where I count my blessings

October 12, 2005 by Jen at Semantically driven

Yesterday afternoon after work JJ and I trotted off to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital to visit a friend in the ante-natal ward. She’s been there for four weeks and is now 24 weeks pregnant. She’s confined to her bed so she can hopefully keep this baby. She’s had two pregnancies, that I know of in the past, where she’s lost the baby at about 18-20 weeks.

She’s at the stage now where it would be touch and go if she did have this baby right now but hopefully – fingers and legs crossed – this one stays put for a while.

It made me think last night, especially as my energetic four-year-old was running amok in her room, that I was extremely lucky to have kept my baby, and have a pretty healthy one. I’ve read that one in four babies are miscarried in the early stages. I would think that some of these miscarriages are in the very early stages and many people might not even realise they’ve miscarried.

These statistics make you realise that we are very lucky to have children at all and even though they are a lot of hard work they are a blessing.

I hope my friend gets to experience the joy of her own child. She would make an excellent mum and I’m crossing my fingers and legs for her.

A spring garden party

October 10, 2005 by Jen at Semantically driven

A friend organised a garden party for her birthday. You would think that holding a garden party in nearly the middle of spring you would be fairly lucky with the weather, or not.

Unfortunately it was the crappiest day since the middle of winter. It rained nearly all day and all night so we all huddled either under the marquee, in the cute little caravan they’ve got in their backyard or in the room out the back, oh, and in the kitchen where the drinks and food were.

It was a good party but would have been so much more enjoyable if the weather had been more in line with spring.

I had offloaded JJ for what was going to be nearly a whole day prior to the party and just as I was about to walk into the party my babysitter rang. Damnit, I thought, I haven’t even had a drink yet and I might have to go pick him up. But luckily everything was ok, she just needed clarification about JJ’s allergies.

Not only did I have this phone call but I had one for a friend about her daughter. In the three years I’ve been going out without JJ and carting my phone around all these times this is the first time I’ve ever been called on it for an issue with my child. This is lucky I guess. I would hate to go out and get a call saying JJ is being unbearable, or he’s eaten some nuts and is sick, come and get him. Actually no-one’s ever told me that JJ is unbearable and the time he did inadvertently have a peanut butter sandwich I was in the next room.

I have a confession to make

October 7, 2005 by Jen at Semantically driven

I’ve started playing the ukulele. Why you ask? Well a few reasons.

I’ve always wanted to play a guitar and as I never got around to that and as a ukulele has 4 strings as opposed to 6 I thought it would be a lot easier to learn.
The two friends I sing with got one each and I didn’t want to feel left out so I went and bought one too.
It’s supposed to be easier to learn – oops I already said that but I ran out of reasons for buying it.

I only got it about four weeks ago and I got a learn how to play uke book (us ukulele players don’t call them ukulele’s, we call ’em ukes) and it didn’t take me long to realise that it was written for playing in a different key as it’s an old book and just about everything you can get off the internet is done in GCEA notes. I haven’t really looked at the book more than once or twice so that was a waste of money.

The internet being the wonderful resource that it is has provided me with everything I’ve needed since then. I’ve got my chord chart and a few easy three-four chord songs that I’m playing now. Well trying to play.

One of my friends came around last night with her uke and we played three songs, ‘These Boots are Made for Walkin’, ‘Ring of Fire’, ‘Walkin’ After Midnight’ and a bit of ‘Afternoon Delight’.

We treated my sister to an impromptu show when she dropped in to pick up her dog which she was very polite about as we were a bit drunk by this time, sang way too loud. We also played and sang the song ‘These Boots are Made for Walkin’ quite a bit slower than it’s meant to be sung so we could get our fingers around the tricky chord in this song.

Despite this I am amazed at how quickly we’ve come along. I used to read music and used to play the recorder, the fife and the flute but have forgotten how to play these instruments and forgotten how to read music. But I have no problem with a uke chord chart. I haven’t moved to picking out notes yet, that’s a whole different kettle of fish I guess.

Only two weeks ago I’d try and play a song and nothing really clicked but during the last week things have started to fall into place and I’m getting more confident and can hear when I haven’t made the correct chord change or if I’ve timed it incorrectly. I have the uke sitting in the lounge and when television is boring me I’ll quite often get the uke out and have a strum and singalong by myself. It’s good fun.

I’m liking this blogging thing more and more

October 5, 2005 by Jen at Semantically driven

One of the great things about weblogs, apart from practising the art of writing, is the interactivity gained from an audience. I’m not saying, by any means, that I have a large audience but I can say I have a regular readership of at least one person.

My one person is Joy Des Jardins over at the Joy of Six.. and I was virtually introduced to her by her daughter Jory.

Joy has the right name as she is an absolute Joy to have as a reader of my blog because she gives me some great comments, inevitably to do with my posts about parenting. Joy has had considerable experience in parenting with four children of her own so when she says things like,

‘…so don’t feel guilty about taking those extra moments in the mornings…you need them when you can get them.’

and

‘If you continue to do things right, he never WILL be embarrassed…and all those wonderfully sweet moments will go on forever. You sound like that kind of mom.’

it makes me feel really good and makes me feel that maybe I’m doing okay at this parenting thing.

As well as leaving comments on each others blogs we have quick off-blog emails to each other. In one of these I impulsively asked Joy if she could be my internet mum. She said,

‘Yep, I’ll be your internet Mum. You
already fit into the family with your "J" name. (Joel, Joy, Jenna, Julie, Jory,
Joe and Jen!)’

and she even used the Australian spelling, not that I would have minded if she didn’t (I just notice these things).

I wish I had found blogging when I was a new mum. I think it would have helped enormously to write about being a single parent of a young baby, and read other blogs about having new babies as that was my sole focus at the time. Better late than never I guess.

Why are you here mum?

October 4, 2005 by Jen at Semantically driven

Between the times I put JJ to bed and go to bed myself I go in and check on him twice. The first time is about an hour after I’ve put him to bed to make sure he’s covered up and warm, and just before I go to bed for the same reasons, and to give him a kiss and a gentle pat on the bottom. I used to love it when he slept with his bum up in the air but he doesn’t seem to do that any more.

The other night though, he was a bit hot. It’s that between seasons time where we’ve still got flanelette pajamas and sheets so if the night is warmer than usual it gets hot in bed and JJ is a hot sleeper anyway. He was quite sweaty so as I was rearranging his blankets he woke up and I asked him if he wanted to take his pajama pants off. He sleepily said ‘yes’. Then as I was pulling them off him, he said, ‘What are you doing here mum?’ as if to say I should not be checking on him because he is fine thank you. I said, ‘I always check on you when you’re asleep.’ He asked me why and I told him it was to see that he was okay.

No sooner had I completed the task of taking his pajama pants off and tucking him back in he was fast asleep. I planted quite a few kisses on his soft chubby cheek and went off to bed.

Thinking about this last night I wondered how long I would continue to check on him like this. When I was a kid I used to kiss mum and dad goodnight before I went to bed. Around the time I was 13 I announced I was too old to do the kiss goodnight any more and it stopped there and then.

I think with JJ it will probably stop when I start going to bed before he does.

« Previous Page