Archives for November 2006

I might go back on my word but I plan not to open up my laptop over the weekend because I’ve been posting to my blog every day for the last 30 days. I need a break.

At the moment I feel really tired. It’s quite warm here at the moment and I’m going through a stage where I’m not sleeping very well at night – partly due to warm nights and partly due to the moon cycle. Not sure about the moon cycle bit but I’m sure that’s got something to do with it. Plus there’s been the stresses of parenting over the last month that only really started full-on when I started filling in for my boss for a few weeks and when I had extra work to do at home.

And now it’s the Christmas stress of trying to decide what to buy everyone and sorting out what we’re going to do.

It’s not all bad of course. With Christmas comes holidays for me and school holidays for JJ.

I know there’s one day to go, but I’m nothing if not optimistic. I suspect come Friday 1 December quite a few bloggers will be taking a break from blogging. I’m pretty sure I will.

I’m proud that I’ve sustained a post a day during the month of November. I can’t say they’ve been all that riveting but I’ve done it nonetheless.

If nothing else I’ve become really good at typing NaBloPoMo. When I first started this NaBloPoMo thing it would come out as NaPoBloMo or NaMoBloPo or maybe I should have just coined NaBloMoFo. I don’t know how the people who are doing the NaNoWriMo are managing. Maybe once I stop doing this one post a day thing, I’ll go check it out.

I might also have a chance to checkout the NaBloPoMo randomizer. I’ve popped on it a few times but with work, blogging, mothering, and relaxing for one hour a day in front of the telly before I fall into bed I haven’t had time.

One more post to go, one more post to go, hi ho the dairyo, one more post to go……..

Via Diary of a Single Mom on the Edge a meme of sorts. I’m not passing it on, but using is as a filler for the month of November. The idea is that all the things that are bold below are what I’ve done (some with extra information).

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise (did this most recently for my 40th)
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa.
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (at church when I was a kid and at school, both numerous times)
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends (still have)
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign (took it home and then took it back)
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach (with accompanying skinny dip on a couple of occasions)
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs (once, then decided why bother?)
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater (not many left in these parts)
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured an ancient site
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played Dungeons & Dragons for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand (unfortunately only Bangkok airport)
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently well enough to have a decent conversation
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised (raising) children (child)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days (does camel trip count?)
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
l131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read (Patrick White)
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

It’s been a full-on couple of days. Yesterday was quite good, the day flowed on quite well. After picking up my friend from the airport, we chatted, drank, chatted drank, laughed and JJ wasn’t too domineering of my friend. I even managed a couple of childfree hours to go and sit in a coffee shop with her without any distractions of the non-adult kind. Today was different, JJ was tired and boy did it manifest itself in some tantrums.

My friend has 4 children of her own so it was good talking to her about parenthood and getting her perspective on what she saw and heard about JJ. It’s hard for me not to get caught up in his behaviour and think that he’s really bad all the time. He can be naughty but he can also be good.

He’s not the only tired one. I had a cappacino yesterday then I drank scotch and diet coke and it really affected my sleep last night, in that I had a really awful sleep.

Now it’s Sunday evening, I’m cooking a roast chook, I’ve waved my friend off and JJ is in bed. I won’t be far behind him tonight. The Australian Idol final will just have to limp along without me.

Yesterday I started composing a post in readiness for today but Typepad let me down and I’ve lost it. The reason I started it early was that I have a friend coming to stay with me for the weekend from interstate (that wasn’t what the post was about).

I worked out yesterday that we’ve known each other for 35 years so she’s my oldest friend. I met her when I was my son’s age – five – and she came to my primary school. Her family moved elsewhere when we were in high school but we’ve kept in touch ever since. She was in Adelaide for a while but moved to Melbourne and now has four children.

So it’s 7.30am, I’ve got the iron on to iron a dress for me, and a shirt for JJ. We’ll have breakfast and go to the airport to pick her up. Hopefully I can publish this without any mishap.