weekend with the oldies
Oh man! I'm so zonked today. Sharing a bedroom with a 2yo all weekend isn't exactly conducive to sleep. In addition to which, I took some Mersyndol last night because I arrived home with a stabbing headache. Which leads to a Mersyndol hangover - it's why I try not to take Mersyndol on school nights. The tabs themselves work beautifully, but I don't enjoy trying to work through the vague and fuzzy feeling the next day. 
Despite the fact that the weekend both started and finished with a headache, it was actually a really good weekend. I drove up on Friday night through pelting rain and fog (it was so foggy when I hit the range that I was couldn't see to the end of my headlights) and dropped in quickly to Mum and Dad's to give my great-aunt her birthday present before heading over to B&S's to sleep. Poor B wasn't having a good time. S works on weekday nights and B looks after the kids. When I arrived, my nephew was asleep but my niece was still up. B tried to get her to go to sleep after about 1/2 hour, but she'd had a big day and just screamed for about the next hour. Then her screaming woke up my nephew and by the time B had got her off, my nephew was running around full of beans like it was the middle of the afternoon rather than the middle of the night. Since he wasn't settling down with me in front of the TV (I was watching The Sound of Music), B took him off to his bed and then my nephew screamed for about 1/2 hour. B actually fell asleep in there when settling him. So I didn't get to bed until after 11pm, despite having been tired enough to sleep since about 8pm.
And I was up bright and early the next day. My nephew woke up a little after 5am and then woke me up by yelling 'Hello (OLS)' in his brightest, cheeriest voice... right next to my ear. I played with him for a couple of hours until B&S got up and then I went back to bed for a quick snooze before I had to head off to Mum and Dad's to help Mum prepare for the big family lunch.
As per usual, Mum was completely disorganised. She hadn't even shopped when I arrived, but headed off about 11am for a lunch that was supposed to start at midday. *sigh* I really wonder about her sometimes. You see, she leaves everything until the last minute and then gets all flustered when it takes ages to get stuff ready. And complains afterwards that she didn't get to really talk to anyone. I'm an organiser. For the same sort of thing that she did on Saturday, I would have shopped on Thursday (before everyone arrived), prepared most of it on Friday and then done the last couple of things on Saturday morning before mid-morning. So from then on, all I'd have to do is get myself beautiful and relax with the early arrivers (of which there were many as they all had to drive at least 2 hours to get there). But no, Mum leaves everything to the last minute and then gets flustered. And she'd hurt her back as well from trying to do too much around the house in the lead up to it all. She just won't admit that she's not as limber and strong as she used to be. I don't get it - I'm as independant as she is (actually, probably more!), but I'm good at delegation and do it frequently, especially if I'm injured or unable to do it myself for some other reason (like time/timing).
Anyway, the lunch still went well. Grandma was given her gift when she arrived (by the way, they were both chuffed with their pashminas). There were about 20 of us all up, ranging in age from my nephew at 2yo to my grandma at 85. But it was mostly my Dad's generation - his cousins and their spouses to be precise. Many of them hadn't seen me since I was knee-high to a grasshopper and I didn't remember them at all. We started out talking about all of the wrong things - politics mainly, but the party still stayed friendly and the only disagreements were between the octagenarian sisters - who still bicker like 5 year olds, despite the fact that they see each other only rarely.
The only person who seemed to get bored was the 12yo. She was stuck in the middle between the little kids of 4yo and 2yo and me (the next up in age from her) at 30yo. She didn't know any of us well enough to talk (she's very shy) and the kids didn't know her well enough (at that stage) to drag her off to play. So she mostly just hung around and looked at everyone. Or at the table. Her mum was most put out with her - not because she was bored, but because she was making it so obvious and wasn't doing anything to change it.
I recognised a lot of her behaviour and felt a little sorry for her. It's not easy to be stuck with a bunch of people so different in age to you when you're her age. I was the same age when I first met her mum and I'm sure I was just like that. I mentioned this to her mum, and she said that I'd seemed older. Maybe it was just that she'd been younger.
Late afternoon, I finally gave in to my sleepies and headed back to B&S's for a nap. My nap didn't really eventuate though, since B&S arrived back with the kids only about 1/2 hour after I'd hit home and I'd only just settled in to the couch when I got woken up by a 'Hello (OLS)' in my ear - yep, my nephew again. It was his phrase of choice for the weekend. I couldn't even go to the loo or in for a shower without him standing outside the door yelling it at me. Getting progressively louder and louder until he got his 'Hello (nephew)' in return. Then he'd kill himself laughing and start all over again. I got into the habit of just saying 'Hello (nephew)' each time he's start and just continuing on with whatever I was doing.
That night we had the 12yo and her mum staying over with B&S as well. By the time they'd been there for about an hour, the kids had lost their shyness and had started bossing the 12yo around. They'd just grab her hand and drag her off to wherever they wanted her to be. And she'd let them. They all had a lovely time from then on in.
We all had a BBQ for dinner - sitting outside in the clean, rain-sweet, fresh air with a slight smell of citronella from the anti-bug candles. With the older generation drinking Bundy Rum and coke. It was great.
Sunday was a relaxed day, but with lots to do and lots done. I took the 12yo and her mum off to buy some flowers for Mum and S about mid-morning. I took them to the family of a friend of mine who grow roses commercially in the area and she got a great deal - 4 big bunches of short-stemmed roses for $10. Two of the bunches were already open and only had a couple of days left in them, so she'd actually only paid for two bunches. In the meantime, I chatted to the family about what was happening with them and my friend. So it all worked well.
Then we headed off to see my niece dance in her ballet recital. It was her first public performance and she was very shy, but still quite the little performer. I took heaps of photos and my brother took video of the whole thing.
Then it was back to Mum and Dad's again for another lunch created from the leftovers from Saturday. This was less people - just those who had stayed over with either Mum and Dad or B&S. Another relaxed lunch, and then back to the bright lights of BrisVegas, as I was leading the 12yo's mum back to the Logan Motorway turnoff.
Sunday night I watched Shrek 2 (and laughed a lot), packed up some of my stuff in preparation for the move (stuff I won't need in the next couple of weeks - winter clothes, ornamental stuff, pictures), and was asleep by 9pm.
I haven't heard back yet about the place I applied for on Friday. I'm hoping more and more that I get it. I had my appointment for this morning cancelled and the one for tomorrow morning has just been cancelled as well. I'm so sick of this! And I'm sure you're getting sick of reading about it!
Listening to: Ausie March - Sunset Studies
Despite the fact that the weekend both started and finished with a headache, it was actually a really good weekend. I drove up on Friday night through pelting rain and fog (it was so foggy when I hit the range that I was couldn't see to the end of my headlights) and dropped in quickly to Mum and Dad's to give my great-aunt her birthday present before heading over to B&S's to sleep. Poor B wasn't having a good time. S works on weekday nights and B looks after the kids. When I arrived, my nephew was asleep but my niece was still up. B tried to get her to go to sleep after about 1/2 hour, but she'd had a big day and just screamed for about the next hour. Then her screaming woke up my nephew and by the time B had got her off, my nephew was running around full of beans like it was the middle of the afternoon rather than the middle of the night. Since he wasn't settling down with me in front of the TV (I was watching The Sound of Music), B took him off to his bed and then my nephew screamed for about 1/2 hour. B actually fell asleep in there when settling him. So I didn't get to bed until after 11pm, despite having been tired enough to sleep since about 8pm.
And I was up bright and early the next day. My nephew woke up a little after 5am and then woke me up by yelling 'Hello (OLS)' in his brightest, cheeriest voice... right next to my ear. I played with him for a couple of hours until B&S got up and then I went back to bed for a quick snooze before I had to head off to Mum and Dad's to help Mum prepare for the big family lunch.
As per usual, Mum was completely disorganised. She hadn't even shopped when I arrived, but headed off about 11am for a lunch that was supposed to start at midday. *sigh* I really wonder about her sometimes. You see, she leaves everything until the last minute and then gets all flustered when it takes ages to get stuff ready. And complains afterwards that she didn't get to really talk to anyone. I'm an organiser. For the same sort of thing that she did on Saturday, I would have shopped on Thursday (before everyone arrived), prepared most of it on Friday and then done the last couple of things on Saturday morning before mid-morning. So from then on, all I'd have to do is get myself beautiful and relax with the early arrivers (of which there were many as they all had to drive at least 2 hours to get there). But no, Mum leaves everything to the last minute and then gets flustered. And she'd hurt her back as well from trying to do too much around the house in the lead up to it all. She just won't admit that she's not as limber and strong as she used to be. I don't get it - I'm as independant as she is (actually, probably more!), but I'm good at delegation and do it frequently, especially if I'm injured or unable to do it myself for some other reason (like time/timing).
Anyway, the lunch still went well. Grandma was given her gift when she arrived (by the way, they were both chuffed with their pashminas). There were about 20 of us all up, ranging in age from my nephew at 2yo to my grandma at 85. But it was mostly my Dad's generation - his cousins and their spouses to be precise. Many of them hadn't seen me since I was knee-high to a grasshopper and I didn't remember them at all. We started out talking about all of the wrong things - politics mainly, but the party still stayed friendly and the only disagreements were between the octagenarian sisters - who still bicker like 5 year olds, despite the fact that they see each other only rarely.
The only person who seemed to get bored was the 12yo. She was stuck in the middle between the little kids of 4yo and 2yo and me (the next up in age from her) at 30yo. She didn't know any of us well enough to talk (she's very shy) and the kids didn't know her well enough (at that stage) to drag her off to play. So she mostly just hung around and looked at everyone. Or at the table. Her mum was most put out with her - not because she was bored, but because she was making it so obvious and wasn't doing anything to change it.
I recognised a lot of her behaviour and felt a little sorry for her. It's not easy to be stuck with a bunch of people so different in age to you when you're her age. I was the same age when I first met her mum and I'm sure I was just like that. I mentioned this to her mum, and she said that I'd seemed older. Maybe it was just that she'd been younger.
Late afternoon, I finally gave in to my sleepies and headed back to B&S's for a nap. My nap didn't really eventuate though, since B&S arrived back with the kids only about 1/2 hour after I'd hit home and I'd only just settled in to the couch when I got woken up by a 'Hello (OLS)' in my ear - yep, my nephew again. It was his phrase of choice for the weekend. I couldn't even go to the loo or in for a shower without him standing outside the door yelling it at me. Getting progressively louder and louder until he got his 'Hello (nephew)' in return. Then he'd kill himself laughing and start all over again. I got into the habit of just saying 'Hello (nephew)' each time he's start and just continuing on with whatever I was doing.
That night we had the 12yo and her mum staying over with B&S as well. By the time they'd been there for about an hour, the kids had lost their shyness and had started bossing the 12yo around. They'd just grab her hand and drag her off to wherever they wanted her to be. And she'd let them. They all had a lovely time from then on in.
We all had a BBQ for dinner - sitting outside in the clean, rain-sweet, fresh air with a slight smell of citronella from the anti-bug candles. With the older generation drinking Bundy Rum and coke. It was great.
Sunday was a relaxed day, but with lots to do and lots done. I took the 12yo and her mum off to buy some flowers for Mum and S about mid-morning. I took them to the family of a friend of mine who grow roses commercially in the area and she got a great deal - 4 big bunches of short-stemmed roses for $10. Two of the bunches were already open and only had a couple of days left in them, so she'd actually only paid for two bunches. In the meantime, I chatted to the family about what was happening with them and my friend. So it all worked well.
Then we headed off to see my niece dance in her ballet recital. It was her first public performance and she was very shy, but still quite the little performer. I took heaps of photos and my brother took video of the whole thing.
Then it was back to Mum and Dad's again for another lunch created from the leftovers from Saturday. This was less people - just those who had stayed over with either Mum and Dad or B&S. Another relaxed lunch, and then back to the bright lights of BrisVegas, as I was leading the 12yo's mum back to the Logan Motorway turnoff.
Sunday night I watched Shrek 2 (and laughed a lot), packed up some of my stuff in preparation for the move (stuff I won't need in the next couple of weeks - winter clothes, ornamental stuff, pictures), and was asleep by 9pm.
I haven't heard back yet about the place I applied for on Friday. I'm hoping more and more that I get it. I had my appointment for this morning cancelled and the one for tomorrow morning has just been cancelled as well. I'm so sick of this! And I'm sure you're getting sick of reading about it!
Listening to: Ausie March - Sunset Studies
posted by OLS |
Monday, November 08, 2004 | 12:34 pm
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