Post Palooza. Part 2.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

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Post Palooza. Part 1.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I have to break palooza into three parts. We really did that much. Firstly, TL:DR - Best weekend ever. I have not had such a fun time in ages, it was fantastic! We crammed a heap in, and it was nowhere near long enough.

Thursday night, Anna picked me up and we headed in to Andrews Airport Parking along with cardboard Megan. We were so sad Megs couldn't come with us, Anna made a cardboard version and we took her along with us. So funny.

So we got driven to the airport, the driver warning us of the dangers of drinking too much. Heh. As we were checking in, Fleur joined the line and told us she had been about to go and get on the shuttle to get to the airport, when some guy had accosted her offering a $15 limo ride instead. Along with a bunch of other strangers. So she took it up and arrived in style. Lol!

We grabbed a bite to eat, and got caught up in a random argument about donuts when some guy decided to join in on our conversation. "Donut king are the best!" he shouted with fervour. Um. Okay then!?

On the plane we were those passengers. We're sorry. No we're not really. We were chatting and giggling the entire flight. Since it was an after 4pm flight, there was a free piccolo of wine. Score! We downed that and the stewardess returned after Anna told her we were on a girls weekend with another piccolo each. Mid way through that, she came back again with an enormous bag of mini packs of pretzels and another 3 piccolos of wine. "Take these back to the hotel! Just don't tell the cabin manager!" she said. What a lovely woman she was. We were so stoked. So, on a slight buzz now, we arrived in Sydney. My god it was hot. Humid as hell. It was 11pm at night and we were sweltering. We grabbed a cab to the hotel and checked in. We stayed at The Hyde Park Inn, and it was a good room. We kicked back and eventually went to bed sometime around 1am.

On Friday we woke up and had breakfast and headed to circular quay on the double decker wacky trains. Whilst waiting at the station, we heard quacking. Some guy on the opposite platform, was quacking. WTF??? It was so bizarre. We all got the giggles and fell onto the train laughing. At Circular Quay we got some gelato, and took the obligatory photos of the bridge and opera house. Then, it was time.

We had booked a jetboat ride through Spreets a few weeks back, for a bargain. We decided to brave the no poncho required, and jumped in. Oh. My. God. That thing could move!! He would wave his hand in a circle and we'd all count down to an awesome 360 degree spin. All of us ended up soaked through. Such a salt water drenching! God it was fun though! The Thunder Jetboat ride was well worth it. We met some odd character in Sydney. Whilst we were waiting for this ride, a cruise operator next to us was trying to sell a cruise to Korean tourists. When they walked off, he turned to us and said: "well that was a waste of time. You know what they were? Energy vampires. Seriously. They suck your energy out. Like a prune. He will live longer now and I have a year off my life. I feel just.. drained.. you know? Have you ever seen the movie cocoon? With the old people? And the alien thing sucked their youth? It's just like that. Only energy. They are energy vampires. You really have to watch out for them because they will come..." and on and on he went. Fleur and Anna lost it and were laughing their arses off. I was nodding and empathising with the poor crazy man and trying to escape onto the boat...

After that, we decided to jump straight on a ferry, still soaked, and head to Manly. We walked around and found an outdoor restaurant where we had King Prawns and wine for lunch. Fleur had to teach me how to peel the prawns, which was... an adventure. Eww. They tasted damn good though! Then we walked to Adriano Zumbos patisserie , and indulged in fancy cakes and macaroons. I had something called a Craigie Bam cake - chocolate dacquoise, chocolate sabayon with salted caramel debris, chocolate caramel creameux, caramel mousse. Soooo yummy.

Then we just caught the ferry in time to head back to Circular Quay, and back to the hotel. The humidity meant none of us had dried out from the jetboat ride, so we changed before heading out to meet our lovely friend Marisa for an after work drink at the Darlo Bar. When we walked back into the hotel, Anna asked the receptionist if she knew somewhere we could go and get a manicure and pedicure. She disappeared to the back office, and we assumed she was getting us information. Instead, she returned with the manager who asked us how much?? We looked at her a little confused. "err.. I don't really know..." I said. She asked the other girls who replied similarly confused. "SO none of you know how much?" she said accusingly. Anna said "we just want to know where we can go to get a pedicure!!" "ohhhh!" the manager replied, as the receptionists hands flew to her face and she bolted out to the back office. Fleur had had it. "What on earth is going on? What is the big deal?" she asked, frustrated and confused. I started to giggle. "I think she thought we were offering the mani/pedis" I said. "Yes. That." The manager replied. We were in hysterics. How very odd!!!

So, we caught a cab to the Darlo Bar, and the taxi driver asked us what we were up to. We told him a girls weekend. He then told us if we had husbands, they'd cheat on us because all men do, none can be trusted, he knows, hes a man and they can never be trusted, and anyway, if they DID cheat, it was deserved because we had gone away. As we left the cab (me biting my tongue to not argue), he says "Hope your husbands are still there when you get home..." What is with the weird people there, Sydney?! Anyway, we sat there in the Darlo Bar waiting for Marisa, having a few drinks and people watching. Let me tell you, if it is people watching you are after, this is the place to go. Oh my. Some very, very odd characters. And almost certainly a gay bar. We had a good time chatting with Marisa, who was glowing in her pregnancy, and then we all walked down toward Kings Cross to get some dinner. We decided on a Japanese restaurant and Marisa introduced the three of us to the wonders of edamame. So. Freakin. Yum. We spent ages just talking and laughing and having a good meal. My idea of heaven! Afterwards, Marisa's lovely husband drove us back to George Street where we had tickets to a movie at Gold Class. We ordered 2 cocktails and a super sundae each to devour throughout the very odd movie. Classic crude line: "It's like there's a crime scene in my pants!" Ooookayyyy. After that, we walked back to the hotel, there were people everywhere. I know it was a Friday night and all, but the place was pumping. People everywhere. I know we were up fairly late this night chatting, and we decided we'd hit the town the next night to burn the floor. And boy did we.

And this was just the first 24 hours!!! Stay tuned for post palooza blog part 2! (after part 3 I will do a photo post of the entire trip!)

The sweetness

Monday, February 14, 2011


RJ with F on the right in his hoodie, and one of her adoring fans, a classmate of F that loves to walk her out each day.


My little girl is not long 2 years old. She just started dancing classes which she adores. Dressing up in her pink tutu with her little ballet slippers, getting her hair done. She can be such a girly girl. Yesterday, I was painting my toenails, and she insisted I paint her toenails too. She adores her dresses, yet she can rough and tumble with the best of them and boy is she an adrenalin junkie. She will be a rollercoaster rider for sure. I adore this age, she's learning new words, discovering the world. It's beautiful.

My boy is growing into a young man. He is starting to look older, and he is so damn smart. He wins maths comps, creates amazing characters, and adores his baby sister so completely. He cares for her, loves her, and includes her. He is advancing in so many areas. He does karate and it's so well suited to him. It requires focus, determination and discipline - all areas he excels in. He is brilliant at it. I hope he stays with it for a decent time, I think he will, he seems to love it.

These are my reasons to get out of bed every day. These are my happy, my sweet, my babies. I am a lucky Mama.

Slacktivism

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

This may irritate or offend people I care about. That's really not my intention, it's just a post about something that bugs me. Okay, drives me to stab myself in the eyes with a fork, if I am truly honest.

It's called SLACKTIVISM. You know what I'm talking about, activism without any actual legitimate effort. For example, let's post on facebook about the color of our bras, or even more far fetched, where we like to keep our handbags. And why? To help breast cancer awareness.

Um... What the fuck? How on earth, does that help someone that has breast cancer?! All it does is make the poster feel good. Pat on the back, I care about breast cancer, look at me! Seriously?? Of course, its not just breast cancer that evokes this behaviour, it's just that it is more frequent, because, lets face it, it involves boobs. Everyone likes boobs.

When I first joined twitter, I discovered there was a group of people who liked to take the opportunity each Wednesday, to post pictures of their boobs in bras. Sometimes very barely, in bras. Or even just their boobs in general. In theory, they said this was to raise Breast Cancer Awareness and remind people to do breast checks. Seriously. Hows about a simple reminder tweet to check for lumps, and put your saggy tits away, because no one wants to see your skank. These people aren't whipping tits out for anyones benefit. They are doing it as exhibitionists. If you want to flash, then by all means, knock yourself out, but don't bullshit and claim it is for "breast cancer awareness." Bull. Shit.

You want to make a difference? DONATE. <--- CLICK it and act.

/end rant. Stepping down from high horse.

lolz

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

A bit of light humor to start your week!




There is a whole series of these. They make me chuckle. What do you think?!

Standing on a precipice

Saturday, February 5, 2011

I have 2 weeks left. 2 weeks before life becomes a haze of chaos when I start the Master of Teaching with Deakin. Some of the materials arrived today for the English class. The teaching ones won't be far off. It looks like an interesting course, challenging, but achievable. I'm excited about it, but nervous too. It's been so long now since I was in the workforce, it will take some adjustment. This is why I kept studying all this time, it kept me in the loop and skilled up.

F started grade 2 this week, it seems only yesterday he was starting playgroup, clinging to me, desperately attached and bonded and still a baby, really. It should get easier, that first day, but I still shed a few tears on the drive home. God help me when I take 2 kids for a first day. RJ is starting playgroup at montessori shortly as well, though I will be with her. She started dance classes last week, and F is back at karate this coming week, so things are busy already. Adding study in to the mix is sure going to keep me on my toes.

I will finish my 2 weeks of remaining leisure up with palooza. Sure will be a way to go out with a bang! It's hard to balance being a mother, with being Kelly. But to me, it is so important to be more. I don't want to lose my own identity. I love being a mother, and it is a huge part of who I am, but it doesn't make all of me. I am still Kelly, and I still have my own interests and passions, my own goals and my own life. Going away with friends, studying, writing... This is why when I blog, I blog about all kinds of things. Sure, my kids make up a huge part of it, but I have to make sure I don't lose Kelly. Its crucial.

A friend of mine, Gayle, sent me a message today that totally made my day. She had been reading the blog of one of her favourite authors, and sent me the link saying that she felt I had a similar 'voice' and may enjoy her work. It was flattering and encouraging (and a new author is always gold!) I was thrilled when the first post I read by the author mentioned The Tea Party (think band not politics). Definitely some similarity there ;) It has inspired me to go back to my writing again, to keep plugging away at it, and exploring it. I am trying not to focus so much on the end goal of publication so much as just experimenting with works and enjoying the process. Bliss for its own sake.

An Atheists 'Prayer'

Thursday, February 3, 2011

So, unless you have been living under a rock, you'll know Australia has had hard core weather lately up north. Major floods, and a huge monster of a cyclone overnight. I was thinking about all the status updates I would see on facebook, the comments on news sites, and the tweets and so on, where people were praying for Queenslanders. I don't pray. But I care.

An Atheists 'Prayer'.

I hope that your inner strength shines through.
I hope you remain safe and secure.
My thoughts turn to those in the midst of fear,
And I hope that it passes for you soon.

May you gain comfort and support from the community: local, nation, world.
May you find positives in the negative.
I hope that you come out of the experience with a greater sense of fortitude and pride in spirit.
Know we'll help where we can, you won't face it alone.

Keep safe.