Why?

Jacinda who has just turned six has been bugging me for ages to learn to stitch. I finally gave in. We went to Spotlight & picked up one of those DMC starter kits. It comes with a canvas with a pattern printed on it, wool & a HUGE needle. Jacinda was keen to start straight away, I was feeling a bit scared & told her that Mummy needed a coffee first.

I showed Jacinda how to do the 1st stitch & she just couldnt get the hang of it, she said it felt "yuckky". There was lots of tears (mine), tantrums (mine), & screams of "I cant do this" (mine).

I couldnt work out why she was finding it so difficult. I have involved her in craft for as long as I can remember.Then it came to me. I replaced the wool with DMC, much better. Then I changed the needle ( excellent!) She started going really, really well!

So now the little treasure is calmly sitting down, with My DMC threads & my piecemaker needles & stitching her 1st piece.

Gosh, I hope she does not dicover silks! She is already eyeing off Mirabillia designs.

Well, that sucks!

I warn everyone upfront that this is going to be a whiny, self indulgent post.

What I havent told people is that for the last few months I have been feeling crappy. What I also didnt tell anyone was that I was so scared. I have been feeling unwell for quiet a while now, but passed it off as being a Mum, running around etc. The last month the pain has gotten a lot worse. I was so scared to go to the Doctor. When I finally went to the doctor he ordered some tests, me being me made the appointment & cancelled. After being shouted at ( you know who you are, & being made to promise to go ) I went. The ultrasound reveled enlarged lymph nodes. I left it again ( who has time to go to the doctor, it is school holidays ). I finally went & the doctor ordered some blood tests. I asked him if he need me to have them next month, he looked at me over his glasses & said today or tomorrow & I expect to see you in my office 3 days after the blood has been taken. Believe it or not I actually went back for the results. It appears that I have been tested postive for the Epstien Barr Virus. A yuccky little virus that is transmitted by mosqoitos. Among lots of things Epstein Barr Virus causes is Chronic Fatige Syndrome.

I know that this is not life threatening & there are so many people in the world that have worse than me, but it just sucks. It hurts, & I mean real pain in your muscels. I can handel the being tired crap, but what is pissing me off is my "I cant be bothered to do it" attitude. What sort of Mother cant be bothered to take her kids to the pool 30 meters away? What sort of Mother cant be bothered playing with her children? What sort of Mother resorts to frozen crap to serve for dinner? What sort of Mother cant remember what she did 15 mins ago? What sort of Mother just wants to laze on the couch & occasionally stitch & be left alone?

Told you that this would be a shithouse post.

The Show...............

Remember how I said we were going to the show on Saturday? Well Ben & jacinda brought home notes from school saying they were having an EXCURSION to the show & they needed parent helpers. Mark & I thought what the hell, we will sign up as parent helpers go to the show, it cant be that hard, right? Wrong............... Mark went with Jacindas class & I went with Bens class ( I even signed Marks mum up as a helper, I thought she would like to see the show) Do you have any idea how hard it is to control 25 kids at a place that sells sugar by the bucket loads & gimmiky little things that kids play with once then break? I swear, i had an out of body experience when the kids went to buy show bags. I was put in charge of 5, 9 year old boys. Doesnt seem like a lot does it? I lost 2 of them & had to go looking for them, told the other 3 to stay right where they were & NOT MOVE, until I found the other 2. Guess what? They moved. This left me feeling the need for a stiff drink & a packet of cigarettes. Mark & I thought that we would keep the kids after the excursion & explore the show ( told you we were parents of the year) Jacinda had to heve a ride on a jumping castle that involved climing about 20 foot & sliding down the slide. She got stuck & scared at the top, so that the poor man coodrinating the ride had to climb up & get her down. I swear there was a crowd of about 10 people watching the outcome. Thought that the kids would like to go & feed the baby animals right? WRONG Jacinda threw so much of a tissy that the man that owned the travelling farm asked Mark or myself to go in because he was frigthened that she was being traumatised. Thought that Ben would like a ride on the dodgem cars. He was keen then Jacionda decided she wanted a go with her Dad. I got that sinking feeling. I HEARD jacinda from the side lines shouting at her brother & another child about not crashing into other people. We were supposed to stay for the fireworks, but just couldnt face the prospect. We went home.

On the other side, Petal took out 1st place & the mini Chatelaine took out 2nd. I hope we dont want to go to the show next year

The Family Fun Day

The family fun day was almost....well, fun. This is a day that the local club puts on for the members kids. There is face painting, a jumping castle, free lollies, drinks, ice blocks, dinner, chips etc. You will note I said Almost Fun.

They called out the age group for free lollies ( Jacinda had just had her face painted as a butterfly ) She went running out, found out it wasnt her age group, dropped her bottom lip & threatened to go ape shit in the middle of the club.

Ben was found on the jumping castle ( Ben wears glasses ) attempting to belly flop on the castle, glasses & all.

They also had kids Bingo. Jacinda & Ben sussed out the prizes. Jacinda got the shits when she didnt win the 1st game ( she had already chosen her prize) gave me her Bingo tickets & told me she was going out on the jumping castle.

Mark signed himself up for a game of bowls ( including drinking of beer, roll one, drink one) in the sun.

So many times I sat there thinking "bloody hell, I could of brought some stitching"

Marks mum came with us & I told her I had already picked out the Nursing home I was putting her in ( she laughed & didnt believe me...silly fool....).

All in all the kids were high on sugar ( but not tired according to them ) Jacinda was colouring in resting her head on her arm. Ben was running around with a green face ( he wanted to be something from Pokemon) & just think. The Lismore Show offically opens on Thursday.

Guess which Mother of the year is taking the tribe on Saturday??????????

Off we Go!

Took Petal Fairy & the Mini Chatelaine to the local show today for judging. We are going to the show on Saturady the 21st October so I will find out the results then. I was amazed when Sleeping Beauty took out Champion last year. Bit worried about the Chatelaine, saw the ladies looking at it & turning it around ( I dont think they know which way is the right way up) but then again I dont think many people know about Chatelaines in this little part of the country. Mark has decided to get involved with my stitching ( God help me) He has taken to telling me what I should & shouldnt do. According to him I shouldnt of entered the Chatelaine " cause people want to see pictures". Any sympathy given to me in regards to Mark getting involved with my hobby would be greatly appreciated.................

We Survived..................

So we piled into the car & the kids pretty much started to whinge before we backed out of the driveway. Thoughts of concrete floaties & a strong current heading towards New Zealand were swimming around in my brain. Mark & I took turns in shouting at the kids & threatening to turn the car around & head home. When we got to the beach, we drove the car on the sand looking for a place to lose the kids. Jacinda went apeshit about the waves coming to take the car into the water. Mark & I ( being the loving parents that we are) told her that if she didnt like being so close to the water to shut her eyes. We found a place to park & got out. I have to tell you, there was a cold wind blowing & the water didnt look that appealing. I told the kids just to play along the edge of the water cause it was to cold to get right in. The kids ran for the waves & Mark & I got out the food & blanket. When we looked up the kids were in the water. I looked at Mark & said " Mark, didnt I tell the kids NOT to go into the water?

"uh ha"

"Mark, the kids are In the water!"

"Uh Ha"

All in all it was actually turning into one of those nice family memories that you think about in years to come.

Then we told them it was time to go home.

The whinging & fighting & bitching pretty much started as soon as there seatbelts were on. Hear that sound of a toilet flushing? There goes my happy family memory..........

What to say,huh?

Ok, I realise that it has been ages since I posted. So much has happened, & life just kinda got in the way. I have received some not so subtle hints about updating, hell, I almost fell over thinking that someone actually read this stuff! Mark has had his 2nd operation in 18 months on his good arm ( lets just say wiping his arse is not my most favorite thing to do. ) Ben & Jacinda still give meaning to the words "freakshow" & yep, my mum in law still lives in the next street. Nikki created this really cool new BB, & boy did that open up a whole can of worms. Got to say I spent more time looking at the computer, shaking my head, than was really healthy. I have learnt that I have restraint, yep, me restraint. A couple of times there, I really had to sit on my hands & not comment with what I really thought. I have become friends with Sooz, I have that girl wiped into shape & getting those UFOs under control ( or so I thought) I find out that my little treasure has gone feral with knitting! I have not given up hope yet, I know that the thought of her finishing all her wips will have her back in the "finishers" club. (Finishes Netts, Finishes!) I have this really funny thought, that some our wonderful Netts is responsable for this defection, but alas, I have no proof. Tomorrow, Mark & I (against our better judgement) have decided to take the kids to the beach for a picnic. I have Tina's daughter here also, so that makes 3 kids & 2 adults ( I am sure i read somewhere that you should never, ever allow kids to out number adults) Anyway, I am sure that I will have something to blog about after this little adventure. On the stitching side, Dragon Dreaming is making some progress & I hope to start Queen mermaid soon, when Sooz comes to her senses & finishes with her knitting!