Picking up the pieces on a Fragmented Friday

Hosted by Mrs4444. I’ve been a bit scarce around the blogosphere this week on account of it not having been the greatest week ever, I tend to read but not post or comment when I’m stressed. I don’t really have much by way of amusement or fascination to offer today, rather I seem to be dumping a whole lot of whinging out for you instead. For fragments that might be a little more fun to read, head on over to Half-Past Kissin’ Time and find out what everyone else has on offer this week. **** On Sunday night last weekend … Continue reading Picking up the pieces on a Fragmented Friday

Making plans

No resolutions, no grand plans for the year, no lists of things to accomplish. Just the intention to plan ahead a little bit at a time and try not to let things get too overwhelming. By the end of last year I was really not doing too well, I had made too many commitments and left myself stretched way too thin. I kept thinking it should be ok, I wasn’t really short of time and other people were managing to do as much and more without crumbling into a heap. But I’m not other people, I’m me and I have … Continue reading Making plans

Pictorial fragments from the past week

Hosted by Mrs4444. This week’s Friday Fragments has, very conveniently, been put off till Saturday which means I didn’t have to be incredibly rude and spend part of Christmas Day hiding away behind the laptop in order to participate. Of course just because I didn’t have to have net time yesterday doesn’t mean I stayed completely away…. I’m so addicted. Head on over to Half-Past Kissin’ Time for more fragments from the festive season. **** Our camping trip to Fingal Bay last weekend kicked off to a great start with us stuck in a traffic jam on the freeway, we … Continue reading Pictorial fragments from the past week

The times they are a-changing

When Adam and I married I pretty much co-opted him into our family Christmas traditions, when Christmas lunch was at my mum’s place we’d have lunch with his parents and then head over to join my family, if my family were further afield for the day we’d go to them for lunch and see his parents in the evening on the way home. That became less fun when we had small kids – traveling for an hour across Sydney in the heat on Christmas day was pretty hideous and after one particularly bad experience involving visits to three different homes, … Continue reading The times they are a-changing

Friday Fragments and Linkfest No. 13

Hosted by Mrs4444. I won’t be around to comment on everyone else’s Friday Fragments till early next week, we’re off camping at the beach for the weekend – wish us good weather and kid-friendly surf! **** Monday morning’s car trip to school conversation went like this – Tom: Mum, how old do you have to be to mumble mumble mumble? Me: I can’t understand what you’re asking. Tom: *repeats* Me: It’s like you’re speaking a foreign language! Tom: How old do you have to be to have sex? Me: *enlightenment dawns, he was spelling S-E-X and I just wasn’t parsing … Continue reading Friday Fragments and Linkfest No. 13

Party time!

Our Christmas party on Saturday afternoon and evening seemed to go well, I certainly had fun and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one. We began the afternoon with the traditional sharing of diseases. What? That’s not part of your usual Christmas celebrations? Viv, aka tigtog, fared particularly badly on the contagion front. A little later on, just as Adam had been obliged to duck out for a few minutes, this strange man dressed in a completely inappropriate fashion for a summer day in Sydney, turned up carrying a sack full of goodies. The kids seemed to know what … Continue reading Party time!

Friday Fragments

Hosted by Mrs4444. Things about which I am glad: Despite my fears I did not have an excruciating back spasm and find myself swearing loudly in the middle of delivering my Parents & Citizens Association President’s report to the hall packed with the entire families of nearly every student at my kids’ school. When Caitlin tried to pick the front door lock with a stick this afternoon she broke a piece of stick off inside it thus preventing the key from fitting in the lock. The sliding security door uses the same key as the front door (which was the … Continue reading Friday Fragments

The ghost of Christmas past

Once upon a time my Christmas day started with getting up as early as I thought I could get away with and seeing what was in the pillowslip on the end of my bed. I still have very clear memories of finding books and games in there. The books were my favourite presents. The pillowcase in question was this one. It was bought at a school fete I think, many many moons ago, it must be going on for 30 years old now, I still use it on my bed occasionally. My tiger used to spend most of the year … Continue reading The ghost of Christmas past

I’m really rather fond of this time of year

Here we are at the beginning of December, my house is strewn with Christmas decorations, the kids have decorated the tree, we have strings of lights ready to festoon the garden, I have all my special Christmas candles out, the Advent calendar is hanging by the dining table, there’s Christmas music loaded up on the iPod and I’ve started my annual re-read of Connie Willis’ Miracle and Other Christmas Stories. Yes, I’m an atheist celebrating a pagan mid-winter festival co-opted by the Christian church to commemorate the birth of a man who was was almost certainly not born on the … Continue reading I’m really rather fond of this time of year

Bye, bye November

It’s been fun, I’ve written 12 times as many posts as I did last month making it through my third NaBloPoMo with relative ease and, I think, only minor irritation to my family. We have 2 and a half weeks of school left for the kids, that’s only 12 days of primary school to go for David. I got his high school orientation info pack today, so many pieces of paper, so many forms to fill in, fees to pay (I’m interested to see that these include a voluntary $100 per student donation to the P&C – wonder how many … Continue reading Bye, bye November