She she she shine on

There was such a righteous smirkyness about me last week.

At 12.37pm on Thursday, one hour and 13 minutes early(!), I uploaded the last assessment task of this, my first, semester. Oh yippeee for me. It felt fabulous.

I felt happy and light and proud. I did it... started another degree. I do Love studying. In the joyful words of Mumford and Sons, Awake my soul!  And at the end of this first semester I've discovered medical sociology, which I believe to be the academic term for my area of interest. So I'm not alone! Ahhhhh.

After completing my last essay I...

1. gave Banjo a big fat smile and took him for a walk.
2. fed chooks and found an egg. One egg. 10 chooks, one egg. I don't think I'm having the last laugh in the chook yard.
3. Re-stocked the wood pile. That worked up a sweat and illuminated my righteousness again.
4. Baked an apple pie, complete with pastry angels.

O some days we feel 10 feet tall, don't we?

And after that riveting piece of blow-my-own-trumpet-blogging, you may be pleased to know that the very next day my superwoman cape failed me, causing me to crash and lose my dignity (again). I was a tired, weepy, whiny, pre-menstrual mess, reduced to a slump over my cup o' tea at the lovely Michelle's kitchen table.  That's why I blog, you see. To remind myself of the fleeting moments when I truly am a domestic goddess.

I am woman, hear me roar

Me: So... Dad... do you think that's something I could do?

Dad: Ha! You can do anything... you make things happen.

Perhaps the nicest thing my Dad has ever said to me :).

chewing the fat

The problem with craving baked goods made with lots of butter is that in this here house, on this here island, where there are no bakeries, or any other shop, it's me who has to bake the baked goods. But I have sooooo much work to do on the essay due this week. That's probably indeed why I'm cravng fat and sugar!

I WANT IT NOW.

I keep hinting that the nicest present (birthday, mother's day, any day) for me would be for my boys to bake for me. I bake for them all the time. I want to walk through the kitchen, oh so carelessly happen to find a freshly baked item cooling on the bench, casually slice a bit off and eat it. Just like that. Carelessly.

It's never going to happen is it. I won't even bother to punctuate with a question mark because that was a flat-arsed statement. Not a question.

Oh boo hoo.

What do we want? Baked goods!
When do we want them? NOW!

the yearning

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are tossing around the idea of leaving this place, tossing it around like a light summer salad, to go and find a bit of adventure in another country. It's often been the way for me. Most times when I've headed off, looking for 'a bit of adventure', I'm happy where I am.

Have I told you lately how much I like it here? Like it... I think it's LOVE, baby! I think this patch of water and hill of an island and these spotted gums have surpassed the Shoalhaven River - place of my childhood dreams - to become my favourite place in Australia. And not just the beautiful surrounds... this house IN these beautiful surrounds gives such a magical, loving energy of its own.

I feel safe here. I feel well. I have this viewing platform sanctuary, looking north, high up in the trees, that really takes my breath away and fills me with deep sustaining breath simultaneously. It breathes life in to me - this home, in this place. As well as all that I have space and plenty of spare beds and enough pillows and blankets and mugs to share it all with treasured loved ones. O how they are treasured.

So why would we leave?

I'll tell you why (did you really doubt that I would?)...

Because "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got" (Anthony Robbins).

Because when I was 19 I danced around the kitchen of an old German farmhouse in Libby-dibby's ugg boots to There's more to life than this, completely happy and madly in love with the Zimbo and those 3 loved ones who were all quite bemused by my music tastes, and I haven't forgotten it.

Because we've dreamed and spoken of the freedom of global trit-trotting with our boyks when the time comes.

Because to say "No" to an opportunity could be saying no to something extraordinary.

Because we can't say no. We just aren't made that way. It's not how we operate.

Because our friend Marina said "You're very brave, you know", and a part of me believes her.

Because as much as we love this, there's more. God knows, this is not the Zimbabwean's full stop.

Because this is not my full stop.

A roadtrip to Canberra

 Parliament House, Canberra

 Inside the Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra. Wasn't the Great Hall designed for Australian citizens to let off steam? Oh yes it was. They sincerely enjoyed it.

 Notice how busy it is, inside Parliament House. The space and serenity were quite a delight. I don't think I'd like to be there on a day when our nation's politicians (cough cough) are at work.

 The House of Representatives

 There goes a Choochie, over the railing in the House of Representatives

 Fighting our way through the crowds, outside Parliament House

 Aboriginal tent embassy

 Little boys watching the art of glass blowing at the Glass Factory. Thank you glass artist, for being young and spunky and listening to Radiohead while you worked. I do like a good ambassador of the arts for my little boys to see this as a valid career choice. If one of them becomes a banker... well, I don't know how I'll cope.

 Bus Depot Markets. A funky find.

 

See! They do like each other afterall!

Have you noticed how few road trips I've been taking lately? That last big one, up north to Bellingen and on to Byron Bay for Bluesfest a year ago, really took the wind out of my road trip sails. We did, however, recently head to our nation's capital for a few days out of Sydney.

Canberra is quite an easy 4 hour drive from Sydney. Once you've navigated your way through 1.5-2 hours of Sydney traffic you find yourself on easy roads with vast countryside. We drove through the southern highlands and had a leisurely lunch in Bowral (a pretty highland town with very Sydney prices... Sydney's rich like to have weekend farms in Bowral). There was way too much testosterone in the car for most of ride, Springbok Nude Girls blaring, but at least we had a 1:1 parent:child ratio so I wasn't complaining. Noah was... he thought I'd said Canada. He was quite disappointed when he realised we were going to Canberra for the weekend.

Not many of our friends would chose Canberra for their "get out of Sydney" destination but, you know, we were impressed. Driving around Canberra is a breeze (after Sydders), the streets are so uncongested. We found several free things to take the kids to: Parliament House, the Australian Mint (yawn, yawn, that was not operating so was a bit boring actually - the boys tried to slide down the railings), Canberra Glassworks, the Bus Depot Markets. I didn't push my luck with the National Art Gallery. I'll save that for a solo-Mama trit-trotting visit.

One of our favourite sights was the Parliament House Art Collection. My favourite was Arthur Boyd's Untitled (Shoalhaven Landscape), and we all enjoyed the portraits of Australian Prime Ministers.

For all of my disagreements with the Australian government, I am most grateful that Parliament House feels like it's there for me. My kids can run (not really but you know, they tried to walk) freely with no vulnerability whatsoever. I didn't notice any overt security, no one gave us any directives to be quieter, calmer, stiller. That Great Hall is amazing with panels of Australian timbers, and perfect for  little boys running laps (luckily no-one else was in there with us).

We also experienced the Quest-a-con (interactive science museum), but that is probably not yet age-appropriate (and therefore over-priced) for our two boyks. Next time, we'll go to the National Art Gallery, and try to get in to a workshop at the Glassworks.

(Just so you don't feel left out: Hello Colombia, Spain, Brazil, Russia and Bangladesh! 

'Globalvision', anyone?)