Heart Be Still - Valentines Day

In all of our 11 years together, I don't think the Husband has only ever given me 1 valentines gift,
He did give me flowers once,
But it wasn't valentines day - that was when  I gave birth to our first child.

I was generally put off by an Ex boyfriend who became an ex after buying me gorgeous expensive longere for V day one year, while this sounds lovely it was tainted by the fact that he bought me an A cup bra when I was a C cup - I would have forgiven him for being male if he hadn't launched into a speil about how the sales assistent was asking him if he was SURE that was my size and he the all knowing one KNEW it was. Bah!

So when I sit down and ponder this 'day of love' I think valentines day is an over commercialised greeting card holiday, A cup bra's and that it would be silly to exchange gifts purely to line the pockets of the retail giants.

But then the women inside me peeks through and thinks... it would be kinda nice to do somthing special... you know, just once?

I will admit that The Husband did propose to me on Valentines Day, oh it was SO romantic! I was making dinner in the kitchen when he walked in and asked me what we were eating, I told him, he replied 'great' and then said "So you still want to marry me, right?" and I was like "yeah..." and he goes oh good and pulls out a ring box from his pocket.

I go into OH MY GOD!! mode and carefully opened the box, inside was the prettiest pair of garnet earrings you have ever seen in your life.

To say I was dissapointed would have been an understatement, but true to form I smiled politely, told him they were beautiful and felt like crying.

THEN the bugger pulls out another box, "just kidding!" he winks at me - and there was the ring.

I think that (and the fact that #2 was on the way) was one of the many reasons I said yes, he can always make me laugh.

So I will give him points for that one I suppose, this year however I went out and bought myself a $5.99 red patio rose from Aldi.

Happy Valentines Day to me  :) And to you!

What was your best valentines?
Do you celebrate this greeting card holdiday?

Its not OK to have kids if your under 21.

At least this seems to be the view of the wider community – the older generation in particular.

A midwife in the hospital where I had my first child in refused to help me learn to breast feed as it was a “natural instinct REAL mothers should have, teenagers shouldn’t bother”.

Filthy looks, and shaking heads were thrown my way when ever my 17yr old self dared to venture out of the house to the local shopping centre with baby Buzz. I used to wonder if perhaps I was imagining it, but then when 14 months later Gucci got thrown into the mix those looks turned into very real, very nasty comments from total strangers.

I remember the feeling of my face turning beet red and wishing the ground would swallow me up, as an elderly lady passing on the escalator nodded toward me and proclaimed for all to hear that “poor little things, teenage riff raff should not be allowed to bring children into this world.”

She didn’t know me, she had no idea of my circumstances – for all she knew they may not have even been my children. God that comment hurt, and unfortunately it was only one of many. Eventually it got to the point where I actually avoided going out because I felt so embarrassed.

Then one day not long after I turned 21, a strange thing happened. My mother in law was looking after the older boys, as I was taking newborn baby Felix to a doctors’ appointment when an old lady stopped me on the street.

Thinking I was about to cop another lecture about ‘today’s youth’ I was pleasantly surprised if not a little shocked when she said, ‘I just had to stop you to say what a beautiful baby you have!’ She gave me a huge smile and told me to enjoy him while he was still so little. Not wanting to ruin the moment by mentioning he wasn’t my first, I thanked her and continued on.

Later that same day I noticed that other old women were not muttering at me or shaking their heads, but instead stopping and cooing at Felix, smiling to their husbands and generally being very friendly and receptive.  

Several days later, I ventured out with the 3 boys and was sad to see that the looks had reverted back to ones of dismay by the general public, and over the next few years when all the children were with me, I was frequently asked “how many fathers?” by people I had only just met.

 It seemed that 21 was the ‘OK’ age to have your first child but any time before that and you were just a teenage slut.

I used to try and explain to the accusing types that I was married and the children all had the one father, and despite my total lack of religious persuasion I even pulled out the “I will have as many children as God blesses me with” card a few times in a desperate attempt to seek approval from the world.

Now at the ripe old age of 27, I am learning that when people comment “Wow, you look too young to have 4 kids!” they are not in fact owed an explanation, my choices were and are my own and my children and I are very happy with the way things are thank you. very. much.

 So rather than launcning into my life story, now I simply smile back at them and say “oh, you’re so sweet!” and let them wonder if perhaps I am actually older than I look.

Were/are you a teenage mum?

How did you deal with the comments?

Have you been guilty of making comments yourself?

Do you worry too much about what people think?

Armed and Dangerous

So in the state of New South Wales if one is a property owner and has had no previous convictions they are entitled to own and operate a firearm for the ‘control of feral animals’.  As we live on a property and The Husband has a ‘Y’ chromosome and no previous convictions, it is apparently his ‘right of passage’ to purchase a gun.

Being generally lazy and not wishing to make any phone calls, The Husband insisted that I, the ex-vegetarian, extremely clumsy, Nerf-fearing, animal lover from way back should also acquire a firearms license, therefore organising the ‘test’ and any relevant paperwork.

Now in order to purchase said weapon of fox destruction, one must first spend several hundred dollars on an overpriced ‘gun safe’ and partake in approximately $100 per persons’ worth of ‘gun licence’ testing.  

The ‘test’ involved going to a seedy part of town with an envelope of cash, and handing it over to a guy in the upstairs store room of the local gun shop.

The man then sits you down on *upside-down milk crates in the afore mentioned storeroom which is full of **hundreds of different guns, and proceeds to turn on a 30 year old video  that teaches you all about firearm safety.  Commonsense stuff like “Don’t point a gun at someone’s face” and things that may be more open to interpretation, such as “Don’t use the gun for any purpose other than for which it is intended”. hmmm...

So at the end of the video we had all learned which end of a gun not to hold in order to keep all our digits and that we should probably not lend our guns out to unlicensed friends with shaved heads and gotee’s named “Hammer”.

Then it was test time. Now thankfully for me, the test didn’t involve naming a variety of guns, ammo or the best place to shoot Bambi’s mother for maximum visual effect. It was in fact, a simple multiple choice quiz and if you have the IQ of a 4yr old you should be able to pass with flying colours.

Once you have passed the test you send away your verified paperwork and go home and twiddle your thumbs while your husband checks the mail religiously for approximately 9 weeks until a little piece of paper arrives saying that the State of New South Wales is blissfully unaware of your clumsiness and that they are giving you the right to bear arms, on condition that you part with a further $200 at your local RTA.

As I have no interest in firearms what so ever, and frankly feel it’s probably a darn sight cheaper to just replace your chickens as required. The highlight of this little experience for me at this point is the simple fact that my little piece of paper arrived in the mailbox over a week ago, and alas The Husband’s has still not.  

Do you have the right to bear arms?

Have you ever felt really weird carrying an envelope of cash into the store room of your local gun shop?

*Ok they had chairs, but there were milk crates propping up the TV.

** There probably weren’t hundreds, but there were definitely over 50.

Hello Blogoverse!

Well it’s sure been a while, I wasn’t intending to have a blog break but due to losing my internet connection, the school holidays and The Husband being off work since November, I just haven’t had any opportunities to blog!

Now the house is quiet with 3 out of the 4 munchkins back at school and The Husband returning to work and the internet is actually connecting for more than 4 seconds at a time, I am taking the chance to stick my head in and say hi.

A lot seems to have happened to you all over the last 3 months and I have heaps to catch up on, so apologies if I don’t get to comment as much as I would like.

We have been busy here too, 2 of the boys had birthdays, we hosted the Christmas Eve celebrations (hubby's family are European) have been to the beach and done a stack of work in the garden.

December also saw our first births on the farm!

We hatched 9 little Muscovy Ducklings, but unfortunately due to a rogue bird of prey we were only left with 3...  We are now organising netting to cover the top before the next clutch hatch.

Sadly we also had to say goodbye to our faithful Border Collie 'Bowie' in January. I got Bowie when I was 15 as an 8 week old pup and found out when he was just 6months old that he had an incurable disease and would be unlikely to see his 2nd Birthday.

But with the help of a great vet, expensive drugs and a whole lotta love Bowie had a very happy long life. He passed away in his sleep shortly after his 12th birthday.

I guess we will see what this year brings us, but I am hoping for a happy one for the family, void of any unplanned kidney operations or health issues in general! I have heaps of plans for the garden, and a hopefully 2012 will see the start of some inside renovations too! 

Well, Happy Christmas, New Year and all of that to everyone and I look forward to reading about what’s happening in your worlds.

Luv Always,

Suzi