children should be seen and not heard...

Why are other peoples kids so bloody annoying and unbearable?  Before you panic and think I'm talking about your kids - I'm not. I'm talking about strangers kids. 

Take the other day as an example. I'm at a theme park. My kids and their friends have run off to have fun, leaving me for an hour of quiet time (yes I found a nice sunny, quiet corner) to read and enjoy a coffee. When suddenly I hear a loud barking next to me. Bark, bark, bark, yap, yap, yap, bark ,bark, bark, growl, bark, and so it goes on in the same loud, monotone pitch...  WTF?! I look over to see a boy, aged anywhere between 8-12 standing about a foot from me, just barking to himself.  I glared at him, silently shouting, 'Go away annoying little shit, you're old enough to know better!', then his family and friends arrived and 'parked' at a nearby table for a 'rest' and he just carried on barking!  They totally ignored him. I don't understand?! Why don't people control their kids, think of others, act like normal people?! 

Another example. My two hours of hell on my recent flight from KL to Brisbane. We were about to take off. My sister and I have managed to bag ourselves two seats each (window and aisle). Excellent. When the pilot announces there is a problem with one of the doors, so could we please stay in our seats with our seat belts fastened. Great! Then, all the people from near the faulty door please move to fill empty seats up the back.  What? My empty seat. NO!  My sister got a nice looking man. Who did I get? Oh f**k.  Please don't sit next to me, please don't sit next to me!!!  They did.  An old crinkled granny (who couldn't speak any English) and her all wriggling, all kicking, all grabbing, hyper grandson, aged about two. AGGGHHHHH!  I am not joking when I say the next couple of hours were TORTURE.  F***********K!  I then had to endure being kicked constantly by two little hard hitting feet (clad in heavy boots), being jabbed in the ribs every 30 seconds by Granny, and being lent over to try and open and shut my window shade and poke at my personal seat back TV!!!  I tried smiling politely and gently moving the boys kicking legs from my thighs. In the end I gave up, turned totally purple (with rage), and flattened myself as close as possible to the plane 'wall' in an effort to minimise bruising, all the while boring holes of resentment into the back of my sisters head, as she peacefully read her damn book! I'm not joking when I say that it took every little bit of self control not to lose the plot. I was seeing the newspaper headlines, 'Stuck up cow hits small child as his old loving grandmother tried to protect him'... 

Eventually the Granny and the boy moved to two seats of their own.  My blood levels returned to normal and our flight finally took off.

today I am wearing...

This may offend you. I know it's not what you're expecting to see on my feet, but do you know what, it's winter, I'm cold and I have given in to the warm, soft, sheepskin bliss of Skinny's uggs!

Ahhh. Foot heaven. Not eye candy I'll admit, but an absolute must for the cooler months!
I love 'em, so there!

Skinny's Uggs in soft caramel suede sheepskin

back to reality...

I've been back a little over a week. After my initial relief to be off the plane and back home with Mr S, our kids and my babies (of the hairy pussy kind), I must admit to feeling flat and drained. I'm kind of back to feeling normal now, after a mad week of playing catch up. But the emotional toll of seeing my Dad for the last time ever was exhausting. Almost as bad was the environment he is in. I just wasn't prepared for The Nursing Home.
 
The smell. My God, I literally had vomit rising in my throat on several occasions and had to make a speedy exit back to fresh (ish) air! I have a sensitive nose. I do. Handy for detecting subtle scents and flavours.  But unfortunately on this occasion, I was picking up a combination of shit, piss, puke, floral air 'fresheners', bleach, meat, boiled veg and yesterday's stale version of all of the above! The only solution was to turn off my nose and breathe through my mouth, and put up with the hot, thick air.

I have upmost respect for the men and women who work in these places. And my Dad is lucky enough to live in one of the 'best'... How they manage to remain upbeat and positive beats me. In the two weeks that I visited Dad, I lost count of the times we had to call them to help out at 'toilet time' and they would happily roll on a pair of latex gloves and deal with dirty nappies, accidents, nappy rash and soiled clothes. If I ever get like that, kill me!

The saddest thing though, wasn't the old people in various states of illness, aging, dementia, confusion, depression and loneliness, it was the younger residents. People in their 30-50s in palliative care, trapped in useless, trembling bodies, but with alert eyes that look so desperate for relief or for their former lives. So unbelievably depressing. 

I'm sorry for putting you all in a downer with this grim post. But blimey life can be so cruel! And don't even get me started on the subject of euthanasia! Human's are sick bastards for insisting on prolonging a life of suffering and humiliation.

So, my words of advice people, is to make the bloody most of it for as long as you can! 

I don't want to get old!!!

over and out (for a bit)

Well dear readers the time has come for me to take a short break while I travel overseas to sunny (ha ha) England.  I've packed my winter clothes ready for the English summer and I have my sleeping pills at the ready (for the flight).  My list of instructions for dear Mr S have been printed and I'm kind of all ready to go.  Just trying to think of the positives, for example:

I will see a new country. I haven't stopped over at KL before, so that'll be nice
I will see my lovely brothers again (who I haven't seen in a year or two)
We'll be all together as a family
I will soak up London for a brief spell and wonder why I ever left (because it is a bloody great city)
Possible shopping...

I'm still trying not to think about why I'm going. When Little Miss S asked me last night why I was going away, I simply told her the truth, "Granddad is going to die soon, and I need to see him one last time, to tell him that I love him very much and that he has been the best Dad". Tears welled up in her eyes and it suddenly hit me hard in the chest, like a tight squeeze around my heart. The image of my dad and me as a young girl and how important he was to me, my world, or one half of it... God it's so much easier to keep that hard wall up! This dying thing is horrible.  I know we all have to face it but it really is a sad part of life. It made me think of when Mr S and I are old and it's our turn... Gotta make the most of it people!

Right. Enough. Over and out.

x

everyone makes mistakes

What can I say? I know, I know. What was I thinking. Me in flats?! Pfft!!!

Don't worry, I took them back and swapped them for some Katie Holmes inspired 'aged' ankle boots. Comfy and practical. With jeans, not, a la Ms Holmes with everything (whether they go or not, in her case 99% of the time not).

My excuse, for a temporary lapse in judgement? Well, I have a similar pair of heeled (blush bow peeptoe) shoes which are lovely. So I thought, for winter, when heels aren't the thing, a flat version may be okay. 

But when I got home? No, no, no, no, no! Awful. Granny shoes! Made my legs feel weird, and look like a hoofed Rumpelstiltskin!

 

Tony Bianco patent blush bowed flats $40 (were $119)



Tony Biano 'aged suede' ankle Boots $60 (were $149)

the high leg

Oh Lordy no! Please tell me that high cut leg look is not coming back! Even Miranda is having trouble making this cozzie look nice! Some 80s fashion trends should stay in the archives! 

I wonder who gets the job of applying fake tan to M's white bits...? Or maybe someone will miss out on that treat due to the wonders of photoshop.

today I am wearing...

I feel bored and moany today. It's damp and chilly and grey and miserable and blah. I really hope the weather won't be like this when I go to the UK (in under two weeks!). It'll make the trip so much more gloomy.

I'm off to see the doctors tomorrow to get sleeping pill advice. I never sleep on planes. Never. Ever. No matter how long the flight or how exhausted I am. My eyes resemble sore, dry, pickled eggs after a long flight. So this time, I'm wimping out. I want some drugs! Also there is a chance I may be sharing a room with my mum occasionally (on the trip) and believe me, she snores like a fog horn. I'm not kidding when I say it is a form of torture. As a child, at night, sometimes after a bad dream I would crawl into mum and dad's bed for some warm comfort, only to have to climb out and back in to my own cold bed because of the snoring. A snore chorus in stereo!

So drugs will be required. I'll get some doctorly recommendations about the hard stuff v natural stuff and decide what i need. 

Meantime, I'm (meant to be) working. Hopefully my coffee will kick in in a minute and I'll feel the Tuesdayitus fog clearing from my brain. I really could have just stayed in my cosy warm bed this morning.



Basque printed cowl neck dress with Tony Bianco snakeskin platform peeptoe heels