So I confess, I am on blogging strike. I want to write - and once in a while I have a fleeting funny thought - but the truth is that I am uninspired and of no use to the blog-o-sphere right now. And while I am not contributing, I have stumbled on a blog that promised to provide me with endless amounts of daydreaming and voyeurism. Want to take a looksee?
http://wherearebradandkaren.blogspot.com/
My uncle and his lovely wife are on holiday in Australia and it looks glorious. I am envious of their travel style. It is off the beaten path, meet the locals, see the sights, keep it under the radar type of travelling and I aspire to it. I want to lap it up out of a bowl.
But for now, I will have to satisfy myself with pictures.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Notes from a fun Weekend...
We male bonded....
We family bonded....
We female bonded....
And we played video games....
We family bonded....
We female bonded....
And we played video games....
Weekend Pt 2
We played games...
We ate junk food....
We saw some wildlife....
And we played more games...
We ate junk food....
We saw some wildlife....
And we played more games...
Weekend Pt 3
We got our car tagged by a Motorcycle Gang...
We built a campfire...
We saw some beautiful sights...
And at the end, we all slept snuggly in our beds.
We saw some beautiful sights...
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
The Day is Here...
The fateful day is finally here. I knew it was coming. I could feel it in my bones (.... or maybe that was my rear end...) I went to the doctor this morning and after swearing to myself that I wouldn't freak out no matter how much weight I have gained..........
I freaked out.
Because I now outweigh my husband.
And I have 6 weeks to go.
This isn't going to be pretty, friends.
(And sorry about the light posting. My laptop is broken and I don't make it to the basement very often to use the big computer. Hope to return soon.)
I freaked out.
Because I now outweigh my husband.
And I have 6 weeks to go.
This isn't going to be pretty, friends.
(And sorry about the light posting. My laptop is broken and I don't make it to the basement very often to use the big computer. Hope to return soon.)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
When Angry Meets Angry
It takes very thick skin to take four small children shopping when you are eight months pregnant. Nevermind the physical aches and pains, the comments and gawking is enough to make even the most confident want to run screaming from wherever they are. Little stingers such as "So, you're done, right?" or "All they all yours?" make me feel like a circus sideshow. And it is not like we are trying to grab attention. The kids usually behave fairly well - but the sheer volume of our presence is enough to move bystanders to commentary.
As you might imagine, I have been in no mood to deal with the attention. I just want to move quickly and efficiently into and out of the places we frequent, avoiding all pregnancy/baby/large family-related conversation until I feel physically stronger. So I have taken pains to make sure that we get all of our running around done while the big kids are at school and we usually make it out of the public eye without notice. Until yesterday...
A heavily aged woman pushed a loaded shopping cart near us in the grocery store. She stopped near us where I assumed she was looking for similar fare. All of a sudden I heard her voice pointed at me, "That's quite a family you have there." I looked down at my two youngest kids with their sparkly eyes and their soft little blonde heads and smiled at her in agreement, "Yes. And this is only half of them." She stared venom at me. "Do you mean to tell me that you are expecting your fifth child?" Oh, hell, I thought. This isn't a compliment. I felt the flush of anger, pain, rage rush to my cheeks as I chose my words carefully. "Well, yes," was all I could muster. "Well, you must want a large family," she scoffed. "God wants us to have a large family. Plus, they are wonderful kids," my flight response dying quickly as fight quickly started to kick in. Her, "You must be Mormon." Me, "No we're Catholic." Her, "Well I am glad you can afford them." Me, "Well, who can really afford them? If you wait for that, you'll never have any." Her, (nasty laughter) "Well, good luck to you." Me (screaming) "WE DON'T NEED LUCK!"
As furious as I was that someone could actually insult my children and lifestyle choices in front of me, I just wondered what brings a person to the place where they are so angered by the presence of a happy, well-adjusted family? What is it that moves people to be so aggressive as to make a public spectacle out of someone who was otherwise just trying to mind her own business? Have I ever done that to someone? If I have, whoever you are, please, please forgive me. It's awful.
And of course, in the moment, word always fail me. When cornered, I usually resort to either shouting, tears, or a combination of both. Never calm articulation. But in this case words probably wouldn't have worked anyway. I probably just sent that woman on her way with the calm assuredness that I was too unstable to handle minor confrontation without screaming my head off. And you want to know what? She's right.
As you might imagine, I have been in no mood to deal with the attention. I just want to move quickly and efficiently into and out of the places we frequent, avoiding all pregnancy/baby/large family-related conversation until I feel physically stronger. So I have taken pains to make sure that we get all of our running around done while the big kids are at school and we usually make it out of the public eye without notice. Until yesterday...
A heavily aged woman pushed a loaded shopping cart near us in the grocery store. She stopped near us where I assumed she was looking for similar fare. All of a sudden I heard her voice pointed at me, "That's quite a family you have there." I looked down at my two youngest kids with their sparkly eyes and their soft little blonde heads and smiled at her in agreement, "Yes. And this is only half of them." She stared venom at me. "Do you mean to tell me that you are expecting your fifth child?" Oh, hell, I thought. This isn't a compliment. I felt the flush of anger, pain, rage rush to my cheeks as I chose my words carefully. "Well, yes," was all I could muster. "Well, you must want a large family," she scoffed. "God wants us to have a large family. Plus, they are wonderful kids," my flight response dying quickly as fight quickly started to kick in. Her, "You must be Mormon." Me, "No we're Catholic." Her, "Well I am glad you can afford them." Me, "Well, who can really afford them? If you wait for that, you'll never have any." Her, (nasty laughter) "Well, good luck to you." Me (screaming) "WE DON'T NEED LUCK!"
As furious as I was that someone could actually insult my children and lifestyle choices in front of me, I just wondered what brings a person to the place where they are so angered by the presence of a happy, well-adjusted family? What is it that moves people to be so aggressive as to make a public spectacle out of someone who was otherwise just trying to mind her own business? Have I ever done that to someone? If I have, whoever you are, please, please forgive me. It's awful.
And of course, in the moment, word always fail me. When cornered, I usually resort to either shouting, tears, or a combination of both. Never calm articulation. But in this case words probably wouldn't have worked anyway. I probably just sent that woman on her way with the calm assuredness that I was too unstable to handle minor confrontation without screaming my head off. And you want to know what? She's right.
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