Engagement BBQ

I'm at Ian and Jo's engagement party.  Everyone is having a fantastic time, small groups of people mingling, smoking cigarettes and laughing.  Maybe I will help with cooking the barbie, show off my multi tasking skills, in fact I can cook a BBQ better than any of those men over there, who are sculling down bears by the dozen.

I clicked on the ignition button to light the barbie, in fact two BBQs.  I piled on beautiful fat sausages, marinated shaslicks with chicken, mushrooms and capsicum about thirty of those and some beef ones too, big t-bone steaks, and burgers by the dozen. There was so much meat piled up on each plate, easy.

Turning everything, geez I'm so clever.  This is going to be absolutely delicious and I'm helping my friends at this very important engagement party. 

OMG the BBQ has exploded into flames, everything is on fire, its to hot, black BBQ meat, shaslicks, sausages, steaks all on fire.  OMG how embarrassing.  I could see all those faces staring at me. 

Parting ways with my son at child care

Tears welled up in my eyes.  I couldn't believe that I would feel this intense feeling of guilt and abandonment when leaving my little boy at childcare. 

Friends had talked about their own experience leaving their child in care with strangers for the day so they could go to work but I never really understood how they felt.  It just didn't connect with me until I was put in the same position.

So Charlie's first day was harder for me then him but at the same time I felt so sad and he knew something was going on.  He grabbed my leg and kept hiding behind me from the ladies and children.  Such a little sensitive soul my little boy. 

We encouraged him to sit with the other children around a small table to have breakfast and then when he wasn't looking I sneaked out through a door into another room and left him.   I couldn't bear to see him upset that I had gone. 

In the car I cried.  I felts so bad. 

It's been more than a year since I first parted with him and he still cries and I cry a bit inside too.  They tell me he is okay about five minutes after I leave playing with the other children.  He is fine.  I'm not completely fine but he's in good hands. 

Parting ways with my my little boy is hard sometimes.

Charlie's 3rd Birthday Party 2010

Caleb, Charlie and Mia

Personally I think having a birthday in between Christmas and New Years celebration is one of the cruelest things you can do to a child.  All they want is to have a party with their friends, but when you have a birthday then people are usually away on their annual camping holiday or have something else on. Something like that anyway.   So this year we celebrated Charlie's birthday six weeks early on Sunday 14 November at the park at the MV rail mini trains at Morphett Vale. 

It was such a fabulous place to have a kids party.  We managed to get a spot under a big gum tree with some shade, and there was a big wooden table we used for the food.  So it was a massive park, with a creek, playground, RC track nearby, public toilet and about 50 metres away the mini steam trains. 

 Everyone was really generous by giving Charlie really beautiful gifts.  Most of the gifts were trucks, trains, cars, a harmonica, art and craft stuff, to tum tennis, and a Thomas DVD (and more).  We put all of them under a big gum tree and opened most of them when we got home.  He loved his new toys.

The food was devine.  Diana made 160 sausage rolls, Auntie Helen curried eggs, Dad 50 cream horns with cherry's on top, Tania yummy chocolate crackles, Renae a sweet twist, and Chris the amazing Thomas the Train Cake.  There were sandwiches, fairy bread, dips and meats too.

You should have seen this cake.  It was incredible.  Everyone was in aw of the cake.  Chris never does things in halves.  He is totally intelligent and a perfectionist.  He made the most amazing cake I have ever seen.  It was a Thomas Cake (of course) with the most incredible detail.  All of the kids gathered around the cake and were all very polite too.  None of them touched it or anything. They all waited quietly until we sang Happy Birthday and started cutting it.  Most of the kids came back for seconds and thirds. 



The Amazing Thomas the Train Cake





So after lunch and cake we all had rides on the mini steam and diesel trains.  Those are actually scaled down versions of the big trains.  They use coal and diesel to fuel them.  The track they run on is about 1.2 kilometres, and you can have as many rides as you want.  The kids and adults loved them.

So we had an awesome day.  Charlie enjoyed getting spoilt with presents and playing with his friends too.  So a big thank you to everyone for those beautiful gifts and helping out, and just coming along.  Love you all.  xx

By the way, if you ever want to go ride cool trains the details are on the MV rail website http://www.mvrail.org.au/

Also, my girlfriend Renae who runs her own card design business did the invitations.  They looked really awesome too.  If you want to check out her card design website "Cherry Bliss Designs" see http://www.cherrybliss.com.au/

I want to be Laura Ingalls-Wilder (Little Prairie on the House)

The Ingalls Family

Growing up did you ever have an idol or wish to be just like someone on TV. 

At the age of three years, every night on television at 7.30pm Fat Cat would wish all the children a good night with a kiss. I would be tucked into bed by mother and she would always read me a children’s story. “Good night my dear.” she said as she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Looking back I clearly remember that night. Unbeknown to me my parents had been devising the most scandalous plan to put me to bed without having watch my favourite program “Little House on the Prairie”. They had failed to tell me about my program and had turned down the volume on the television.

Despite this, I could still hear the familiar music coming down the hallway from the lounge room. Oh my goodness, how could they do this to me. How could they not let me watch LHOTP my favourite program and my favourite little girl Laura Ingalls-Wilder. HOW DARE THEY!

My little footprints could be heard coming down the hallway. My parents looking at me as the tears streamed down my cheeks and I was so sad I could hardly speak. With my bottom lip quivering “I I I I want want want to to to watch watch Little Prairie on the House.” (actually my parents insist I was screaming). My parents both having found this amusing and also feeling a little bad allowed me to stay.

Little House on the Prairie followed the lives of the Ingalls family who lived in a quaint little house on the banks of Plum Creek in Minnesota during the 1890s. It always started with the same music as Ingalls children ran down a steep hill through long golden grassy plains that surrounded their home.

Often narrated by Laura who at the time was a little girl just like me, the story showed her daily life and she often pondered on her future and the lessons learned.

I loved Laura. I wanted to be just like her. She was my idol and I loved those 19th century outfits. Those dresses that covered your entire body from neck, down the arms to your wrist, in tight at the waist and a long flowing skirt down the ground. They were usually a plain brown or blue colour and the girls wore little white pinafores over the top. Often having won breaking the chicken wishbone I would secretly wish for an entire wardrobe of LHOTP clothes. Bring them on!

I was obsessed and I was a little girl just like Laura.

Adelaide railway station dining room - lessons learnt from Nanna

Adelaide Railway Station dining room 1928

I have always valued the lessons learnt from the lives of my grandparents and ancestors. In particular, this story reminds me of my Nanna growing up during the depression and the importance of equality between people and fighting for what you believe in. It also helps me to remember the importance of appreciating what I have.

Recently when we visited the National Railways Museum at Port Adelaide I found an old photo of the Adelaide Railway Station dining rooms displayed in the rail history exhibition. I was so thrilled. It instantly took me back to my child's eyes peering up at Nanna as she told the story of her waitress job at these same dining rooms during the 1930s.

The photo was lovely. The dining room tables set beautifully with white table cloths, white crockery and silver, cruet sets and eucalyptus in vases decorating the centres. Young women stood around in the background dressed in a uniform, black dress with a white apron and little white hat on their head. Immediately I started to look for Nanna because maybe she was there but I didn't recognise anyone. I later found out the photo was taken when the Adelaide Railway station first opened in 1928. Nanna would have only been 10 years old at the time.

So the story Nanna told was about how she got the job at the old dining rooms. Being one of seven girls and two boys, she left home at a young age to earn money and provide half back to help her mother. There were waitress jobs available at the Adelaide Railway station but when her mother (my great grandmother) found out they were only employing Catholic girls she was infuriated. She was so angry that she went to see the manager and threatened that if they didn't employ her daughter she would report him to the government. So Nanna was given a waitress job and board. Nanna's family were Protestants and at the time there was quite a lot of opposition between Catholics and Protestants. Times were tough during the depression too, so they would have had to fight for what they wanted.

Hearing this story about their willingness to speak up for what they believe in, their strength and determination has helped shape the person I am today. Their experiences have been passed down through the generations and made me believe that all people are equal and that people should be considered on merit not their race or faith.

One of the main things Nanna always mentions about working there is they used to serve prawn cocktails. Only the rich could afford this type of luxury, and it was hard times then during the depression. It’s amazing that this memory has stuck in her mind. So I've been taught to always eat all the food on my plate. I still feel bad to waste any food. Waste not, want not!

So there are lessons to be learnt from others before us, passed down from one generation to the next and it has helped me learn many good things. It’s just fascinating to hear the old stories too. Fancy finding an old photo of the Adelaide Railway Station dining rooms. It definitely took me on a brief journey back into time.

Desiderata - desired things by Max Ehrmann

I love this poem.  It encourages us to try be at peace with ourselves despite the many the challenges that we face in our daily life because it's still a beautiful world isn't it. 



'Desiderata - desired things' by Max Ehrmann (written in 1929)


Go placidly amid the noise and haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.



As far as possible without surrender

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,

they are vexatious to the spirit.



If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain and bitter;

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.



Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs;

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals;

and everywhere life is full of heroism.



Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love;

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment

it is as perennial as the grass.



Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.



Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.



Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be,

and whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.



With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

American Tribal Style Belly Dancers



Cinnibar Red Dance Collective - ATS belly dancers

At the Willunga Folk Festival today Mum and I were very impressed with the folk dancers, singers and musicians.  My favourite was the Cinnabar Red Dance Collective an amazing group of contemporary American Tribal Style (ATS) belly dancers. 

ATS is an elegant belly dance style created in San Fransisco about 20 years ago and incorporates various other dance styles such as Flamenco, Egyptian, Indian and Oriental.  It was explained that the various movements are learnt like the alphabet and then used to create the vocabulary of movements and cues.  There is no choreography as such as it is created on the spot.  How fantastic to enjoy free movement.

Rachel - belly dancer

The women were absolutely stunningly beautiful with a mixed age group.  They wore the most magnificent black flowing dresses with red, black and white frills, and beautiful tribal belts with tiny coins that jingled as they moved their hips. They were adorned with impressive tribal jewellery like silver earrings, headpieces, bracelets, anklets, and wore tribal head pieces and red and white roses in their hair. They had zills or otherwise known as finger cymbals are tiny metallic cymbals in their hands.

It was lovely to see these beautiful women dancing, it gave me a feeling of encouragement and embracing being a woman.  It made me feel strong and proud of them.  They chanted Lu Lu Lu with a hand above their mouth which is a middle eastern chant that women use as a compliment like well done to each another. 

To help set the tempo there were some men playing percussion too.

I would love to learn this one day.  They looked like they were enjoying it so much. 

To read more about American Tribal Style Belly Dance see their website http://www.cinnabarred.com/