Best weekend ever!!!

Yesterday was mum and dad’s 50th Wedding Anniversary!! Many of you know that my brother, sister and I had a surprise celebration planned for them, what you didn’t know and what they didn’t know, was that our surprise was a night out on the Titanic!!

That’s the Titanic theatre restaurant not the actual Titanic that sunk in 1912. The Titanic theatre restaurant is a beautiful restaurant in Williamstown Melbourne done up as a replica of the Titanic ocean liner. A limousine picked us up at mum and dads place around 5:30pm, and after taking heaps of photos we set off for what was a great night.

Mum and dad were very happy, everything was perfect, the food, the atmosphere, the show, the limo ride there and back.

50 years of marriage is an awe inspiring milestone that needs to be celebrated that’s for sure.

Here’s to many more happy years mum and dad.

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Getting ready to celebrate a massive milestone

For over a year now we have been planning something special for my parents as a way of celebrating their upcoming 50th Wedding Anniversary. Finally the moment is almost here and we are up to finalising last minute details before the big event.

I wish I could tell you all exactly what we have planned but unfortunately my parents do follow my blog, and I don’t want to ruin the surprise, so like mum and dad, you too will just have to wait till next Saturday.

I do want to acknowledge though that 50 years of marriage is a massive milestone!! It is an achievement that they can both be proud of. An achievement that we too can be proud of as we have been along for much of the journey. My parents have not had the easiest life, they have had many ups and many downs, but through it all they have managed to stay together.

I hope that Saturday will be a great day and that they will enjoy all that we have planned for them. I can’t help feeling a little excited and at the same time a little nervous, there has been so much hype around this I can’t help worrying what if reality does not live up to expectation.

16 years and counting..

So today is my wedding anniversary 16 years of marital bliss! We have had many highs and a few lows in that time. I don’t think I am the same person who made those vows 16 years ago. I think Stephen is though, he hasn’t changed at all, but I know I have. Earlier this year I walked through the city, down past all the old haunts where we use to frequent, including the Rialto Towers where we spent our wedding night, and I couldn’t help feeling a little nostalgic. I found myself wondering what had happened to that girl? How much life had changed her, matured her, she was a mother now, older, with responsibilities, wrinkles and a few more kilos. I think if I am to be honest with myself I would have to say that I am happier with in myself now, happier with myself also. I don’t miss that girl, she was just the template for the woman I have now become. I no longer feel I need to be perfect. In fact I realised a long time ago that no matter how much you strive for it perfection is unattainable. I think I am just happy being me. Tonight we are celebrating with a simple dinner at one our favourite restaurants, my sister is looking after the kids so we have the house to ourselves. So here’s to 16 happy years, may we have many many more.

Surprise gift

My husband surprised me with this cute heart shaped watch. He even went as far as to have my name engraved on the front of it.

It was a sweet gesture, from a lovely man. Feeling happy and very loved 🙂

My son has a better social life than me!

My son has a better social life than me! This thought is going through my mind as I wait in the cinema foyer for him to come out of the new Spider-Man 2 movie he is watching with his friends. Not that I should really complain my social life is very full.

I use to be the kind of person who would pass up on opportunities to get out and have fun. I had this idealistic notion in my head that if my husband didn’t want to do something or go somewhere that I shouldn’t either.

The only problem is that my husband is a real home body he doesn’t want to do anything or go anywhere. He is truly happiest when he is home out on the deck doing his own thing.

It was very liberating when I finally made the conscious decision to go on with my life without him. Now when ever an opportunity presents I take it. I am doing more, having more fun, and I think my marriage is that much better off because of it.

Nowadays whenever my husband and I do go out it is because we both want to and not just because I am dragging him along someplace he does not want to go. So we inevitably end up having more fun.

There are times I know, that I wish he would want to do more with me, and I know there are times when he wishes I didn’t want to do as much but unfortunately that is life and as long as we maintain a nice balance I think we are both happy.

You shouldn’t have to give up the things you like just to be with someone, they should ultimately love you because of those things, because that is what makes you, you.

Happy Valentines day

Although it been a while since my husband and I made a big fuss about Valentines day, we still try to go out and spend the night together. Tonight is no exception the kids are staying at my sister’s and we are off to dinner and a movie. Happy Valentines day to everyone. Xxx

Clueless

Today my husband went in for a gastroscopy it was a relatively painless procedure, and lasted only 10 or so minutes. Ofcourse it took a lot longer for the anaesthetic to wear off. Oddly the last gastroscopy that he had a couple of years ago had shown a hiatus hernia which my mother in law also has, this time the gastroscopy however revealed no hiatus hernia, is it possible for it to just go away?

I’m no doctor so I guess we will have to wait until we see our GP next week and see what he has to say. The post procedure care instructions cautioned against driving a vehicle or operating heavy machinery or signing any legal documents. It makes sense he was a little groggy when he came out and not at all steady on his feet. Hopefully nothing a good nights sleep won’t fix.

Unfortunately my husband is not one to take warnings seriously and even though technically the IPad isn’t heavy machinery, for a computer novice like my husband (and myself I might add) it may just as well be. Somehow he has managed to lock himself out of his Facebook and the games he so loves to play.

So tonight has not been much fun as we cluelessly fumble around trying to rectify the problem, it is a case of the blind leading the blind.

Teenagers …..enough said

I know I’ve said before how challenging life with a teenager can be. Even though people warn you about how the teenage years are the hardest I don’t think you can ever really appreciate just how hard, how challenging they can actually be.

My teenage son is a sweet loving boy with a playful cheeky nature most of the time that is, but without warning he can quickly turn into this whole other person, he will rant and rave and say the most horrible things, he will be rude and obnoxious and totally self absorbed.

Me. Me. Me. To hear him going off like that is so heartbreaking. Everything is my fault. I don’t know anything. I expect too much from him. I clearly don’t have a life and on and on it goes, occasionally his father will cop a spray too but most of the time this rage is directed at me.

It makes sense I am the one home with him the most. Plus he knows that no matter what he says or does my feelings towards him will never change. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt, it does. Sometimes I will look at him and wonder what on earth happened to my sweet little boy. Who is this person, I don’t recognise?

Today’s tantrum was about what else school work! That seems to be what we fight about most lately. If its not school work its the Xbox. Fortunately these tantrums or mood swings do not last long, and when I’m least expecting it that sweet little boy that I adore so much will reappear, and within an instant the sun is shining again and all is well in my world again.

Soccer mum

I never cease to be amazed by the overwhelming feelings that motherhood has allowed me to experience. Before I became a mother I had never felt my heart feel so full of love for another human being that it literally felt like it would explode. I never experienced self loathing like the kind I have felt anytime that I have lost control and smacked one of my children.

The fear whenever one of them is hurt or sick is almost paralysing, as is the sorrow that squeezes my heart whenever I see any of them hurt or disappointed. The mere thought of anything bad ever happening to them is so horrifying that I cannot even bear the thought of it.

No one tells you about these feelings, the roller coaster of highs and lows that you will no doubt experience as a parent. Nobody tells you how from the moment you become a parent to the day you close your eyes your thoughts and prayers all your hopes and dreams will revolve around these children.

Tonight I am on a high, my youngest son who has been dying to play soccer for quite a while now finally had his first game in the summer soccer 7s league. For those of you who don’t know much about soccer and don’t feel bad because I am one of you, soccer 7’s is just like normal soccer only on a smaller field and there are only 7 players per side, each half goes for 20 mins and there are no off sides.

Anyway tonight was my sons first game and he was awesome, he was on fire!! Was I proud? You bet!!! To see the light in his eyes knowing that he did a good job, and have his team members, children he doesn’t know, has never played with, most of them older, congratulate him was just the best thing ever.

Sleepover

I am not a fan of sleepovers. I don’t like them, I certainly don’t encourage them. In my opinion a sleepover means having to be alert 24hours a day. It means you can’t switch off or take anytime out because effectively you are on duty all night long. Someone else has trusted you with their child, and you in turn have to make sure that that child feels happy, safe and comfortable.

But there is an unexplainable allure to sleepovers especially when you are a kid and I really can’t understand why that is . Perhaps it is the knowledge that they will get to stay up late, for let’s be honest a sleepover should really be called a stay up as most children use them as an excuse to stay up most of the night anyway , talking or playing on the Xbox or Playstation.

I don’t just dislike sleepovers at my house, I dislike sleepovers period. I don’t like my children staying over at other peoples house either. The reason is that as a natural worrier I worry the whole time they are gone about whether or not they are ok. I like having my children home safely with me, I like to be able to go into their rooms at night when things always seems just that tiny bit scarier and see their angelic faces sound asleep.

Tonight my daughter is sleeping over at a friends house, I have known the family for many years through the school and they seem like lovely people, but that does little to stop me worrying and thinking about her, it’s like a piece of me is missing and this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach will not subside until she comes home this afternoon.