The Week That's Been

To all my loyal fans, I'm sorry it's been a while between posts... it's just been one of those weeks where everything happened. There was Easter of course and my boys are on school holidays (it seems like they are ALWAYS on school holidays!) and in between there has been some fun, sorrow, excitement, setting some house rules, an early birthday present (7 months early!), uncertainty and an early morning stretch that turned into an emergency trip down to my chiropractor.

Last Saturday, the boys and I ventured down to the City of Port Phillip and enjoyed lunch at our favourite eclectic cafe 'Jerry's Milk Bar' in Elwood. We sat in the courtyard, and the boys were able to climb the tree while they waited for their milkshakes and sausage rolls.

We walked along Melbourne's largest pier - Station Pier. It was like a ghost town of Customs check points and empty docks waiting for luxury cruise liners to check in all their seasoned travellers. The Spirit of Tasmania II was in dock, waiting for its passengers for its evening return to the Apple Isle, but still, it felt quiet.

Of course, we found the 'end of the pier' (They had to tell us twice, just in case we didn't see it!).

After that, we went to Luna Park for a bit of amusement park fun. The second lot of amusement park fun in a month! I think they are starting to take me for a ride!

On Sunday, the boys went to see their father, so I went on a bike ride along the beach and went to see an adult movie, Silver Linings Playbook' at the local cinemas. Quite a powerful movie, that I'm glad I went to see by myself, as the boys wouldn't understand it.

Monday was a lazy day, however we did make some banana bread and have a friend over for dinner, and Tuesday I was back at work, juggling slipping back to home to see the boys and getting to my appointments. However, in between it all, I had one of the best conversations with a dear friend I'd had in months, making me smile from ear to ear. Then, I went out with an old friend for dinner to give me an early birthday present, which was sweet.

On Wednesday, the shit hit the fan, as the boys hit a school holiday low. They had exhausted all the things they wanted to do and were BORED! Annoying each other, getting each other upset, not being the best friends they normally are to each other... So I had to call a family meeting, and I blamed myself for not being there, so we worked out a way to ensure that boredom would lessen, and they kept out of each other's way when they wanted their own space. I'm very mindful that next year, my oldest one will be starting high school, and my younger one won't be able to rely on his big brother being around as much. We decided that I would write a list of things - both fun and not so fun things to do in the day, post it on their bedroom door the night before, and then at least, they have a list of things to do to keep them occupied when I'm working. And we have now enforced the 'respect' rule. If a door is closed, then we have to knock and be welcomed in before we enter... If we are told to go away, we have to respect it.

The next day, work wasn't so busy, so we decided to create a Coke/Mentos bomb/rocket. We went down to the local high school playing fields to try it out. Unfortunately, between us, we didn't have the strength to really make it fly. But we experimented with it, and got closer to a viable explosion!

Friday was fairly similar - not much work, but hanging out with the boys. They had a friend sleep over, so I ordered pizzas. They played Minecraft on their iPads, while I decided to pull out the guitar and make a fool of myself. And for a Friday night at home, I was rather busy on the social front - had four different guys contact me, two girlfriends and my sister. I went to bed around midnight and told the boys that they need to turn the lights off and think about sleeping... but they continued until 3am.

Saturday was when I got out of bed, did my morning stretch and 'crunch', my back went out. It was so painful, it was impossible getting dishes out of the dishwasher and even putting on a t-shirt. I called my chiro straight away, and could be seen in a couple of hours. I had to do a last minute job for work, so I managed to slowly drive there, in complete pain, and write it up before my chiro appointment. Luckily, he was able to identify it, and straighten me out, but it's still not 100% (I'll give it 70%). The boys with friend went down the park and did more Mentos/Coke bombs, and then went down to Hampton Street for an ice-cream... 

So in between it all, there were many conversations of weird and wonderful things, some too bizarre to make a mention, others that brought happiness, intrigue, laughter and mystery.

So as we head into our 3rd week of school holidays (and last!)... hopefully, it will be just as weird and wonderful. I've already started making water bombs for the boys as they enjoy maybe one of the last summery days of the season, but am thinking we might take a drive down the coast...