Author: laranettle

Ooooo! Stitch ‘n Bitch for Blokes

Amazon link here.

Speaking of knitting, I have progressed beyond baby hats. I got all clever, and worked out how to turn the triangular “Swallowtail Shawl” into a square, which I have made into a blankie for my sister in law Christine, who is having a (girl) baby about three weeks after Ampersand is due.

Christine and her husband really wanted to be parents, and have struggled to conceive – I’m sure it was really hard for her to hear me being so ambivalent abut being pregnant, and I wanted to give her something special for her baby, to acknowledge that her baby is precious and special, and that I know she and Matt will be great parents.

Project Specs to come after blocking, weaving in ends, and photography.

Life comes to bite me on the arse

The car still hasn’t been diagnosed. I dropped it in on monday afternoon, and it’s now wednesday night, and all I know that it has something to do with the power steering system. Could be expensive, could be just a hose.

We got a letter from the credit union – apparently we need to provide a shipload more documents for settlement, including a recent surveyors certificate (we need to pay a surveyor to do that – and we need to do it YESTERDAY – settlement is friday week, seven working days!), we also need certified copies of both our birth certificates for the first home buyers grant (which we were told the credit union would deal with), and also another certificate from some department or other. I feel like a ton of bricks has just landed on me, after feeling that everything was going a little too smoothly earlier.

Add to that the fact that the bloody real estate agency has decided to show our house this saturday (to try to get new tennants), so we have to make sure the place looks respectable while we’re in the middle of moving. They asked us to mow the lawns too, but I declined. There is only so much stress I am prepared to deal with in one week.

It’s a good thing I have such a large arse. I can still turn the other cheek.

And to prove that I’m coping, not drowning – waving, here is a really cool video that I have been searching for for about ten years.

And more great news – Mohammed Haneef‘s case will be reviewed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. About bloody time.

Grumbles

Thanks everyone for your support. I really am ok with Ampersand and his testicles – some of my favourite people are men, and though my projections for my immediate future are having to be altered slightly, I do see the upside of having a boy.

The depression is more about moving. Firstly, the massive amount of work involved in moving a three bedroom house full of stuff, and secondly, it’s about dealing with change.

Though the house we are moving to is gorgeous, and we’ll own it one day, and we won’t have to worry about putting pictures on the walls or painting it orange, it is a pretty big change.

I’ve lived most of my life around here, close to family and familiar landmarks and shops, and I tend to be resistant to any change. I crave it, but I hate it at the same time.

This house has been the stage for some of my happiest moments, and though I hope the new house will be even happier, it’s a family house. Mark and I are moving from the carefree days of youth to the responsible days of grown upness, and the symbolic change requires a bit of respect.

Add to all this the fact that my middle has ceased to resemble a waist, and I seem to have pinched a nerve in my lower back, and (on reflection), it’s no surprise that I’m feeling a wee bit sorry for myself.

But I will get over it, and having good support helps a lot 🙂

How do I really feel about having a boy?

I’ll be ok.

I’ve spent a few days thinking about it, and I think the real reason I wanted a girl is because I feel that I have more to offer a girl. My experience is as a girl, and there is a hell of a lot of stuff that I worked out and feel that I could share with a girl.

But on the upside, boy stuff is pretty uncomplicated.

Now to the serious stuff.

I think it’s ok to admit that I’m miserable. I crashed the car on saturday night, and scared the shit out of Mark and myself. We’re OK (I had some cramps, and was worried about Ampersand for a bit, but ok now), but the car is in hospital. It’s making odd noises, pulling to the left, and bottoming out in places where it never did before. So my trip south to visit Ailsa has to be postponed. And I just went to her blog to get the link, and I see that she HAS A NEW PUPPY!

The social worker form the hospital rang today, and I just couldn’t tell her I was ok. Instead, I burst into tears, and found myself realising that I’m losing my grip on the OKness of the world. There’s a bit of industrial action at the serotonin factory. So I spent most of today feeling sorry for my self without recognising it, then bawling into the phone at a complete stranger, and then I had to drag my sorry carcass up the hill to the car hospital, only to be told that I’d have to leave it overnight for a diagnosis. I didn’t cry, but neither did I continue on to the shops to get something for dinner tonight.

Back home to bed, wondering if Mark can cope with boiled rice for dinner again tonight.

Thanks Donyale!

A link for anyone who thinks that rabbits are furry little cuddly people.

And now an ad. Wait for the surprise ending 🙂

And P.S. Never flash your lights at a pregnant woman. Leaving North Sydney on Wednesday night during peak hour, I had to cross six lanes (yes, really – SIX lanes) of freeway traffic. By necessity, I had to cut in front of a guy in a Subaru who was driving much faster than the traffic flow. He flashed me. I gave him the finger, and immediately started to plan how I could swap back a couple of lanes and ram the bastard. He needed to die, and I was the right woman for the job.

Apparently, all those gushy, protect my beloved husband and unborn child hormones haven’t kicked in yet. But I sure have a full dose of the road rage ones…

A tree full of Galahs

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Aussies will know the expression “as mad as a tree full of Galahs”.  For the rest of you, a Galah is a beautiful parrot, known for eccentricity and inedibility.

A tree full of any type of bird is a noisy and raucous place to be, all the more so if the birds in question are large, noisy, and feisty.  You don’t try to reason with a tree full of galahs.

This is actually a tree full of Corellas, another Australian parrot that mum photographed and sent to me tonight.  Mum and Dad are in the wilds of Bourke – mum is on a six week mission to help out, and it looks like I won’t be able to go out and visit as was originally planned.

In an interesting piece of domestic news, Cocky has decided that Daisy is a threat that must be eliminated.  She has taken to hissing and posturing at the poor feline whenever he slinks past her house.  Emma had it right – a parrot is like a two year old with a can opener on their faces.