Sunday, June 3, 2012

On the up


Today was a great day. HM suggested early on in the morning that I go for a walk to get the paper. While this suggestion may sound horribly sexist in a Tony Abbott "make me a sandwich" kind of way, it was a gesture of caring as he knows that I must exercise in order to stay sane and am also very unmotivated to do so. The last thing I would be thinking at that time is about getting out for a walk. I am thinking about putting a load of washing on, making the bed, having a shower, getting the house a bit tidy in case there is a random drop-in, making a batch of scones for said random drop-in, and of course my neverending task, sitting down to some work once the kids are sorted.

I never feel I can just up and go somewhere like HM so often does ... off for a surf or a walk or whatever he feels like. It's not that he says I can't go, it's just that I feel I must be here to make sure all is ok. And also because I know that the kids will want to come with me and there will be a scene. Which I would have caused.

So I decided to go for the solo walk and block out all other distractions. Just me, my iPod and the fresh sea air.

And of course Hammerhead and Barnstormer are in for the "solo" trip. There are demands of a change of clothes, shoes and socks,  matching hair clips, not those ones, these ones and on it went. Half an hour later we are ready to depart for my "solo" walk to the servo! We leave the house only to find HM has also decided to come on our mission. So it turns into a family outing. The sort of outing I often dread. Where the kids will run off, often in different directions. Where I will end up carrying their shoes, their jumpers and the things they find on the beach. HM never has to worry about this. He can even walk ahead unencumbered.

Anyway, the family outing turned out to be not so bad. Down the road to the beach and then up to the servo. Basically a ten minute walk. A couple of lemonade icy poles and everyone's happy. The obligatory play on the beach and two hours later we have staggered up our huge hill and are home. So tired, little Barnstormer falls asleep on my lap and I forget to get everyone some lunch. Everyone sorts themselves out and a computer-related visit from Father-in-law caps off the early afternoon (there's always a random drop-in). The day is characterised by endless Foxtel movies, cups of tea that never get finished and the weekend papers sprawled everywhere.

A trip to the shops turns out to be a social event for which I wish I had have prepared a little better. I manage to go solo, however, I am caught in the clothes I slept in with only a dash of lipstick by every school mum I know, which at this early point is not that many. I am even accosted by The Surfer himself who is inspecting the trolley for snacks. He is with his friends and they are trying to find some kind of juice smoothie that has spirulina in it. Ugh. Horrid flashbacks of an earlier time of depression circa 1996 come to mind. Vile bottle-green tablets that smelt of the sea in a not very good way.

I run into our neighbour. She recounts this horrendous story that her in-laws had to endure on a flight back to England. She apologises for their new dog. The one that yaps all night and keeps HM awake so that he is cross in the morning. I mention nothing of this and act surprised when she tells me they have a new dog. Their new dog needs more attention and care than a new baby. They have had to get a custom made box thing and put the dog in their bedroom so that it sleeps at night. It can't settle unless it can see them at all times. WTF? Why would you purchase a puppy like this? She is complaining about the vet bills. I am not a pet person.

So I am at the car putting shopping bags in and The Surfer can't decide whether he should come home in the car with me or come home in half an hour via streetboard when the sun goes down - the rule of the house. He is asking me what he should do. Honestly, as if it makes any difference to me? In the end, it is decided that he should stay out but only after he has offered to go back into the shop to purchase me a spirulina smoothie. I later find out that this was a tactic to purchase other goods and am given less change than I was expecting. But really it was what I was expecting.

Dinner was delightful and restaurant quality. Tasmanian salmon and prawn spaghetti with lime, EVOO, parsley and garlic. And the left over lemon delicious that my ultra-gourmet friend whipped up. Kids in bed before 8 after another rendition of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Why do they always ask me the same questions during the story?

Ok, it's obvious that no work is going to get done tonight. I have had a good day though and felt happy and relaxed. I don't even think I snapped at anyone.

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