What I Didn't Know About Moving House

I've never moved house before at a time when I carried any sort of responsibility.

..until now.

Last time I moved, I was moving into our new place when James and I got married, so I chucked my clothes and books in a few boxes and my wonderful family moved the things into our unit while we were on our honeymoon.  The time before that, I was 5.  Almost 2 weeks ago now, we moved house.  You'll be shocked to hear that we're not unpacked yet.  Actually, if you've done this before and/or are any more savvy than me, scratch that!  I think I approached this a bit naively.  I mean, I'd heard it was stressful, but I thought I was done with that part of it when we settled on a new place and had paid the first 2 weeks of rent in advance.  I had no idea!

So here's some info for anyone out there who's thinking of moving house any time in the future, who's as clueless about this as I am (if there are any of you in existence..!).

1. Everything costs more than you think it will.

   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   

   And things you think are free, are not.  Like the awesome mail redirection service Australia Post offers.  SUCH a good idea (and one I HIGHLY recommend - way less stressful than trying to remember every person/company who will send you anything via post in the next 6 months and letting them know you've moved!!  This way you can let them know as they write to you and you remember you need to tell them!), but it's $45 for 6 months of redirection, not $0.  And moving 5 minutes down the road, it turns out we're on a whole new phone grid or something, so Optus needed to change our number, and conveniently charge us a $55 number changing fee.  And we're on a different type of internet on this side of the highway, so there was another $20 fee for that :P  Just little things adding, adding, adding up!!!  And to hire the truck, it was double what I thought it would be.  AND they needed a $500 bond, which they took out of our account for 5 days.  The didn't mention it when we booked, so it was a bit of a bank transfer scramble at the truck place - eek :S  But save as much as you think you'll need, and then maybe triple it. It's really expensive!  Even if you 'do it all yourself'.

   
   
   
2. Packing.  It's not as much fun as I thought it would be.  It's not even fun, at all.  In fact, I'd say it's UN-fun.  And stressful.  And you run out of time, and don't get to thoroughly sort through everything and organise it perfectly the way you think you will (I was actually looking forward to packing - ha!).  Unless you're way more prepared than me and do it more in advance.  Which is possible.  But it's really stressful - how do I pack that without breaking it?  Will those fit in that box?  Will I need that in the next week?  Etc.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Unpacking IS fun!!  At least, unpacking your kitchen is.  Once you're down to 'study' and 'random' boxes it gets a little less fun.  But unpacking my new kitchen has to be a highlight!! It was awesome, and I continue to get kicks out of it everytime I walk in there :)  Now I just need to figure out how to turn the oven and stovetop on...

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. The week after you move - the week you think you'll spend unpacking, cleaning and settling into your new home, you won't be.  You'll be stressed to the max (this was the worst part of all for me!) trying to get the old house in order in time to hand it over - perfectly cleaned, any repairs done, etc. - you'll need to get it back in perfect order, and even if you're not a crazy person and you're generally clean, there is a lot to clean and maintain in a whole house!!!  Even if it's a small 3 bedroom unit... :)  Seriously, allow lots of time for cleaning.  Like, all your time.  I was blessed with my fabulous friend Stace and my Mum and Sister and James helping me out a lot.  Did I mention there's a lot to do??  I could have saved myself all this cleaning for about $800 apparently, but did I mention how expensive moving is to begin with?!!  Making sure the old place is perfect will probably also cost some unexpected cash!
   
   
   
   
5. Never move with a newborn.  Ever.  Even if your awesome and very capable ex-removalist husband  assures you that you won't have to lift a finger.  Don't do it.  Don't do it 9 months pregnant either.  Just don't move with a newborn.  Stay in your old house and just shuffle over so there's room for the new boy.  Move later.

   
   

   

   Look how miserable this girl is!!  And she's not even newborn!
   
   

   
   
6. When you call the electricity company the day before you move to switch over your power, they might laugh at you.  The phone/internet companies tend to do the same.  I'd call a week in advance.  That way you might not be living in darkness for 48 hours after you move in.  After having just been out of power for 3 days from floods/storms.  You'll be much happier if you can turn on a light.  Electricity is exciting!  So call early!! :)
   
   
   
7. Not everything is going to work/fit in rooms, in the same way that it did in your old house.  Common sense?  Well, you'd think so :p lol
   
   
   
8. Despite what these people would have you believe, this is probably not how you'll look on moving day... :)

Anyway, I'm off to try and unpack some more... :p

Good luck!! :)

Whistle while you work

This morning I've been remembering a story about my great grandmother, Kathleen Mary Fitzgerald (how's that for a good solid Irish name? Lol). She had a very difficult life in many ways, and with a lot of hardship.  But she was a very kind and gentle woman with a great sense of fun. My great uncle Doug (her son) has told me that she was also very popular because she was an accomplished pianist with a beautiful singing voice. 

Anyway, my favourite story about her goes something like this: One time she was riding the train from Adelaide to Darwin - right up the middle of Australia - and for some reason the train either broke down, or was forced to stop due to flooding up ahead.  But either way, the train (and everyone on it) was stuck there in the middle of Australia, for two days! Anyway, it was soon discovered that she could play and sing, AND it turned out that there was a piano in one of the luggage cars.  So a bunch of fellows on the train unloaded the piano out onto the ground right there in the middle of nowhere, by the railway track, and as Uncle Doug puts it she 'practically played for two days and two nights straight while everyone enjoyed a non-stop singalong!'  She played everything.  From all the great wartime classics (like 'it's a long way to tipararee'), well loved 'pop songs' of the era, like 'somewhere over the rainbow' and of course all the old Irish songs like 'take me home Kathleen'.

 I love that story not only because it tells me something about her, but also because it's a wonderful example of finding a silver lining, of making lemonade out of lemons, of blooming where you're planted.  Of making the best of whatever situation you might find yourself in at a particular time.  Especially when the situation isn't one you'd expected.

So that's my thought for the day:  If you find yourself stuck by railway track in the middle of nowhere, you can either sit feeling all bored and hot and sorry for yourself, OR you can make the effort to pull out the piano and make some music! The first is definitely easier, but I've been getting better at the whole pull out the piano and sing your way through the hard times thing lately, and I'm definitely happier for it.  La la la la la la la!

(Feel free to join in - we could make this quite a sing-a-long!)

xo Tammy

What to Expect As A New Mother - 5 Things That Took Me By Surprise!

(Our guest post today is by beautiful Bethany, one of the sweetest and nicest people we know!  Thank you Bethany! :)

I have a 9 month old daughter, Hallie, who is just the cutest thing (in my very biased opinion :P) in the whole entire world!!

She is our first so I guess you could say I'm still relatively new at the whole Mother thing.
I often get asked by people "Is motherhood what you expected?"
I find those sort of questions difficult to answer because I'm not the sort of person who generally thinks things through beforehand or has expectations.  ...I realise that makes me sound like a bimbo! Lol. But what I mean is that I try not to over think things that I have no control over; that way I'm not disappointed if things turn out differently than I anticipated.
Having said that, there are things about being a new mother that I totally expected. I expected that I would love my child like crazy, I expected that I would have a huge amount of pride in her, I expected that life would change etc.
But thinking about it, there are also things that took me a little by surprise...


1. I didn't expect that my baby would cry SO much!

My daughter, Hallie, had colic. It started getting better when she was about 14 weeks old, but those first 3.5 months were a bit hard. She cried and screamed all. day. long.
From when she woke up in the morning to when she finally conked out at about 11pm (with no daytime naps in between) she was screaming. Quite loudly as well. The poor little thing. We found that the only thing that calmed her, besides feeding, was to bounce her up and down (some medical reason about the bouncing motion helping things move through her stomach better..). From that, the gym ball in our house became our best friend :) We could sit and bounce in semi comfort .
My husband would come home to find me still in my PJs just sitting on this big blue bouncy ball with Hallie. No I hadn't cleaned my teeth. No I hadn't eaten any proper meals besides a piece of bread or chocolate here and there (chocolate - the ultimate comfort). And yes, I could tell him everything that had happened that day on Dr. Phil, Ellen, Jag, the Doctors, Friends, the News updates, and whatever else had been on TV in the last 12 hrs.
Robbie would come and relieve me of bouncing duties so that I could have a shower and then throughout the evening we'd take turns bouncing and eating our dinner etc.

Before I'd had the baby people had told us that babies just slept and ate, so I guess I'd come to expect that.
Not true.
I'm absolutely astounded when I see a newborn baby that just sleeps and eats!


2. I didn't expect to be quite so anxious
One thing that would really get to me is when we'd be driving in the car and Hallie would be crying because she was hungry. I'd start to get really antsy. If she was crying because she was tired, it wasn't so bad because I knew that sooner or later, she'd fall asleep.
But if they were hunger cries ringing out from the back seat, it'd kill me. Because that's my job, to feed her, and it meant that I was somehow not fulfilling my Mother role properly. If I was the one driving, my driving would start to get erratic and quite frankly a little dangerous. If  Robbie was the one driving, I'd start to get really snippy and want him to drive faster, faster, faster! Whether driving or not I'd find myself fidgeting and tapping my foot.
Now I know that reason says we'll be home in 5 mins and she's not going to waste away, and getting edgy and driving dangerous or being snappy with Robbie helps nothing. But in those moments, reason didn't really count. I only wanted to be out of that car, inside our house and fulfilling my baby's needs.
I didn't expect to be so anxious about things like that. I thought I'd be quite mellow at such times :P


3. I didn't expect to be quite so doting
I grew up with a mother who has always been 100% loving, but very steady and firm in her discipline or expectations. I worked in a day care center with 18 two year olds each day and I loved them to pieces, but could always easily put on my serious face and remove them from an activity if need be.
I thought it would be easy for me to do the same with my daughter. But sometimes, when she's purposely doing something she knows is cheeky (like spitting food into my face during a meal or throwing toys around and tantrum-ing when she's meant to be sleeping) it's all I can do sometimes to not laugh, pick her up and just shower her with cuddles and kisses. Sometimes it takes all my own discipline to simply keep my face semi-straight and calmly tell her what she needs to do.
I used to think I'd be fine in the discipline area. Now I worry that maybe this little girl who can melt my heart with just the smallest glance will crumble all my careful plans to pieces.

4. I didn't expect to be quite so obsessive
I really didn't. But there's no other word for what I am sometimes. After Hallie's colic started getting better, we had the problem of a little girl who was not used to going to sleep any way but by being bounced, and who was excessively over-tired. I did not want to teach her that she could be bounced, patted or cuddled to sleep, but at the same time I didn't want to put her down on her own if she was in pain (which still seemed to come and go). I spent hours upon hours listening outside her door as she cried, debating with Robbie or myself (there's an interesting conversation to see) about whether or not she was ok.
Do you think she's in pain? Or is that just a tired cry? It's not stopping, and the book says that's a pained or hungry cry if the pitch hasn't changed and it's constant... I'm going to go get her...oh, wait....she paused....now she's going again - so does that mean it's a protest cry? Pauses mean protest cries right? .....I'm going to get that book out again.     Do you think she's too cold? Too hot maybe? Am I doing the right thing? Why isn't she sleeping? Everyone else on those online pages say their babies didn't even take half this long. I'm going to google again....
Call mum again.
Call my sisters again.
And not just about the crying thing (turns out we have a very strong willed little machine on our hands, she can go for AGES if she wants. Thankfully, she's in a good pattern now :) ....6 months later :P), I'm sure my mother can attest to countless phone calls about whether I'm doing something right, what would she do in my situation? etc etc. Nappy rashes, foods to feed her (how much, what consistency, what times), breastfeeding issues, cradle cap, whatever!
I also call to say, She's sitting! She's crawling! She's playing with this! She's doing that! She's learned how to...! and so on.
Clearly, I'm one of THOSE mums. *Sigh* So sue me, I don't think I can change :P

(She sleeps now :))

ANYWAY, so those are just a few of the things that if I think about it, I didn't expect. And I might also add that while I fully expected to love her will all my heart...


5. I didn't expect I could love her SOOO much!!!
She truly just makes my heart swell with every good feeling :) And I've been blessed with such a happy, sweet little girl!

To conclude, I just Love being a mother.

'There Is No Such Word As Can't'

I'm happy to consider myself to be someone who doesn't just sit down in the road when I come to an obstacle in life.   I like to think that I live life on, (at least some of), my terms.  But I am clearly a novice in self-determination and tenacity when compared to a little English lady named May Savidge, latterly of Hertfordshire and Norfolk in England.

May's story, 'Moving house: How a little old lady spent 23 years single-handedly dismantling her cottage brick by brick and rebuilding it 100 miles away'  is quite amazing.  It's the tale of one lone woman, (and her dog), who battled developers, authorities, increasing age and personal hardship to save the 15th century home she had already spent six years restoring.

"My mother brought us up on the maxim that there is no such word as 'can't',"  May said.

Long haul: May carried the timbers herself to the lorries that would move her house 

... Which kind of underlines the importance of what we teach our children, doesn't it?

I think you'll like it if you have the time to read the whole article.  It's a tale of tragic love and loss, a long-held secret, snippets of history, the kindness of strangers, inspiring stoicism .. it even includes a visit to the Queen.

I especially like the brief letter May wrote to the man who jilted her after 17 years.  After finding faith and having fallen in love with his cousin, he had written to her, (quoting from the article):


 'I have, thanks to God, seen my dear cousin Iris in a new and wonderful light...  I know this will hurt you as I know only too well how you feel towards me. I pray to the Lord that you, too, may experience this most wonderful love...  I should like nothing better than for you to regard us as a new sister and brother. I would like to bring Iris to see you when you feel like it, I know you, too, will love her - everybody does!'

Clearly cut to the quick, May wrote back: 'It surprises me that anyone so dear and lovable as your Cousin Iris should have thought it right to come between us, after 17 years. My heart is not made of stone. You often spoke of our marriage. Is it surprising that I thought you really cared? I hope you will be more faithful to Iris than you have been to me. Goodbye.'

Well said May!  


What I think I'll remember most from the story of May is her passion.  She did what any of us might be able to do.  If we felt strongly enough.  Cared enough.  Had enough spunk.  It made me wonder about the things in my life that I care that strongly about.  I hope we all have things we care that strongly about.

......

And now, just because I came across this a few days ago too, and it fits right in to the theme of how incredible some people are, I present, for your viewing pleasure and amazement, the following clip from Fb.  (Click on the picture if you like amazing sports and adventure seeking clips ...  I don't always but some of these are pretty incredible...)

People are Amazing!

"Then the clouds opened up and God said..."

Last week was a series of unfortunate events for our little family.  It started off with a small something gone wrong here or there, but by the end it seemed like I was sitting in a disaster zone!

On Saturday we woke up excited for Maggie's birthday party, only to find Ana asleep in the midst of a cot full of vomit - she'd been sick in the night and James and I never heard a sound, so she mustn't have even cried!  The morning swam by, giving Ana hugs and warm showers while she continued to be sick over and over, while trying to get things ready for the party!!  The party came and went.  Maggie had a lovely time, and we took turns with Ana up in our unit, separate from the celebrations.  A doctor came out that afternoon and said it was possibly an ear infection and it should go away soon.

On Sunday I stayed home from church so Ana could rest, because she was still being sick.  James and Maggie went to church, but everyone was sent home early because the weather was insane and it was getting a bit dangerous.  Apparently we had the dregs of a cyclone passing through over the next day or two.    Just before dark, our power went out.  We ate cold leftovers for dinner, put the children to bed, lit candles and chilled on our big bean bags by the back door, talking for hours and watching the storm.  Apart from worrying about Ana, it was a cool night with the storm and the candles, just relaxing!

www.abc.net.au

On Monday morning we woke up to no power, still!  James went in search of ice to keep our fridge cool and there was wreckage all over the streets, and nothing had power!  All the servos around us were closed, fast food, everything.  He drove a while away and found a girl at a servo just closing up, and convinced her to let him pay her cash for some ice. It was the public holiday for Australia Day, so James wasn't working and we were planning to pack all day.  We called Energex and the hotline said they were attempting to have our power back on by "6:30 tomorow evening".  We thought it must be a mistake, but by the end of the day I had driven our meat and James' work shirts to Mum and Dad's place, 5 minute down the road where everybody still had power(!!!), to cook and iron there.  Eating by candlelight was a LOT less fun.  And Ana hadn't eaten a thing for her 3rd day running, and was still dry heaving, so we had a doctor out to our place Monday night, where he examined her by candlelight and again found basically nothing wrong but prescribed antibiotics just in case of infection..

Tuesday morning I drove James to work, and we stopped at a bakery on the way so he could grab some food.

• Our kitchen was flooded from the ice, which had melted, and everything in our fridge was officially 'off'. 
• The baby's nappy exploded and our sheets, his sheets, and a bunch of his clothes were covered in poo.  I rinsed them and put them in the powerless washing machine, along with a bunch of things covered in vomit from Ana.  
• Washing situation getting desperate.  
• I went to Mum and Dad's house and we ate some food and hung out in their air con for a bit.  Home was a little depressing.  I was HANGING OUT for 6:30pm so desperately!! 
• Ana was still miserable, but actually ate a little! - first time since Friday night!  
• My amazing little sister was bringing us dinner that night.  
• I went home to wash our dishes and realised our hot water was off!! It had finally run out - we hadn't thought to ration it.  
• I was meant to be packing.  We were moving in 5 days.  Our house was a complete mess.  I mopped up more of the water seeping from the bottom of our fridge.  It was 'stinking hot'.
• Took our rotten food in bags down to our bins.  Many neighbors in the units surrounding us were out discussing the things that had rotted or been ruined for them.

Called Energex again (Okay, I got a little obsessed with calling Energex for updates) and the message told me they were attempting to restore power by "10:30 Thursday morning"

!!!

I hung up and looked around me.  Ana was lying down miserably, not playing.  Maggie running riot.  Our house was completely covered in boxes and packing tape, bits of half-packed things and other mess.  We had no sheets on 3 of our beds.  They were in the washing machine covered in poo and/or vomit.  There was no hot water.  Our kitchen was covered in dirty dishes.  We were all dirty and hot, and running out of clean clothes.  I had a beautiful newborn sweating nearby (who knew how efficient and awesome fans are?!).  The roads surrounding us were flooding.  There were 2 roads out of our area and they were completely crazy.  All of the food in our fridge was rotten.  And it was so hot!  And the power wasn't coming back on until THURSDAY?!!!!! I flung myself dramatically on the couch ready to cry, when suddenly a line from that movie we all loved when we were 8 came to mind:

"Then the clouds opened up and God said, "I hate you, Alfalfa!"

I starting laughing instead.  "The Susan Hayward - the exquisite tragedy of it all!" (movie?!).  What a HORRIBLE week!!! And we were NOT remotely ready to move.  The next morning Dad came to pick me up and rescue me in their home for another day.  It took an hour and a half for him to come and take me back to their place, normally 5 minutes away.  Those 2 roads were carparks, and it seemed like everywhere was flooded.  Bless having the most patient man in the world for a father - thanks Daddy!  He's also the man who cooked up all our meat for us so it didn't go off, and Mum hosted us and fed us cold food every day! - thank goodness for kind family!! - and offers from my other sisters for more help.

Fortunately, and miraculously, our power came back on on Wednesday afternoon at about 2pm!  About 20 hours early!!! Bless Energex!!

I know we have so much to be grateful for, and even our 'disaster week' has nothing on many peoples every day living situations all over the world, and we didn't lose our home or anything... but boy was it miserable!!

So you can imagine my delight when I called our power company to transfer our power to our new home this weekend, and they told me they wouldn't be able to hook it up until 2 days after we moved in... !! - but that's another story :)

I hope everyone was safe and well - and not too miserable - through last week with the floods and the fires throughout this wonderful, crazy country we live in!!!!

xo

Sisters

I have 4 wonderful sisters (such a lucky girl!), and last night I got to hang out in Brisbane with this sister for a few hours.

We went to Southbank, rode the Ferris Wheel, went for a walk, had some dinner, and then went to see the play “Driving Miss Daisy”.   (Both activities we enjoyed.)

Bethany’s great.  She’s sweet and kind and funny and interesting, and I think there’s a lovely mix of wisdom in there too.  She's also a great little wife and mother, and I love to hear about the things that are going on in her life and the things that she's doing. I’m very proud of the way she’s grown up, and the woman she’s become.

Thank you so much for making the drive and taking the time to hang out Bethany!

xoxo


(Note  - Yes, we've been a bit mixed up with our Blog posts lately!  Lots of things going on (you can read a bit about what Abby's been having fun with tomorrow :)  We'll be more back to the usual next week. - S.)

What friends do best

I'll start with the sob story:  I've had a hard week this week (*sob*). A lot of things have just happened at once and I've been feeling stretched thin, completely overwhelmed, and completely aware that I'm failing in almost every way possible. I've also become aware of some areas I need to do better in, and some faults I didn't realize I had (which obviously now have to be fixed), and have been trying to understand and learn how to manage things like the trooper I'd like to be.

At times like this, as things reach a tipping point (aka. low point), I find myself becoming just a little more fervent in my prayers (pleas!) for help to find the strength to keep going and to actually start managing life like a normal (non crazy) person. 

Anyway - here's the lovely part of the story: Right at the tipping point, I was blessed by wonderful friends who have really buoyed and lifted me up, and it's obvious that Heavenly Father has answered my prayers through them.  A friend brought me a little package on Friday night (as we met to go out for her birthday) which really meant a lot to me. Another friend left some flowers for me on Monday afternoon - which are so beautiful and are lighting up my room and my heart. I received some answers and some needed TLC and wisdom from Mum in a couple of phone calls yesterday.  A wonderful and also wise friend gave me some straight advice with some much felt kindness through a series of emails yesterday (and I know how busy she is at work).  And when I left my room to start the day at 5:30am this morning, there was a sign outside my room, left by my 3 roommates, instructing me to check the fridge because they'd left me breakfast.  They'd cleared off a shelf so I wouldn't miss it, and had made some pancakes, boiled some eggs, put half a banana in a bag, and made a raspberry smoothie for me - all decorated with pretty flowers. Such a surprise, and such a well needed boost to my spirits (and my stomach!). 

The really lovely part, to me, is that each of them only knew that I needed the pick me up because they had noticed a slightly harried expression as I ran past, or had taken the time to ask the right questions.  Or perhaps they just followed a prompting.  I know I've sometimes been the person who does something little and nice for someone who's having a hard time, but I don't think I really appreciate just how much those little gestures can mean until I'm suddenly on the receiving end of them.  Because they sure mean a lot.

So thank you friends, for being on the Lord's errand. I'm thinking I can maybe make it through today without a flood of tears - which would be a nice change!  How wonderful it is to have the blessing of being and having friends.

xo Tammy

PS.  PLUS tonight I get to hang out with my wonderful sister/friend for her birthday.  And if there's a kinder, nicer person then her, I don't think I know them.  Am excited to see her :)

The Writing of Dickens

Do many people still read Dickens?  Have you ever read Dickens?  

Charles Dickens edited a weekly journal for 20 years.  He wrote 15 novels, 5 novellas and hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles.  Obviously he was prolific.  He was also an active social reformer and campaigner for children's rights and education and other social reforms.  His works have been adapted for the stage, and for over 200 film and TV productions.  (So at the least you have probably seen one of his stories adapted to the screen.)

I love the works of Dickens.  I have all 15 of his novels.  One of the things I love about his books is that although life is hard and often unfair in the world of his characters, in the end all is made right: the heroes win through, the baddies collect their just reward, and every little end is neatly tied off and dispatched and all is right with the world by the last page, (at least for those who who shown themselves deserving of a good ending).  Yay!!

I also love the insightful writing of Dickens, and his humour.  Following are a few of his well-known quotes.  Can you guess which of his books they are from?  Even if you haven't got a hope of knowing any, I hope you enjoy the quotes :)  (I'll put the answers in the comments)  

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” 

“I wear the chain I forged in life....I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.” 

“Out of my thoughts! You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since – on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to displace with your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere, and will be. Estella, to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil. But, in this separation I associate you only with the good, and I will faithfully hold you to that always, for you must have done me far more good than harm, let me feel now what sharp distress I may. O God bless you, God forgive you!” 

“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,it was the season of light,it was the season of darkness,it was the spring of hope,it was the winter of despair.” 

“There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.” 

"It was a maxim with Mr. Brass that the habit of paying compliments kept a man’s tongue oiled without any expense; and that, as that useful member ought never to grow rusty or creak in turning on its hinges in the case of a practitioner of the law, in whom it should be always glib and easy, he lost few opportunities of improving himself by the utterance of handsome speeches and eulogistic expressions."

"Papa is a preferable mode of address," observed Mrs General. "Father is rather vulgar, my dear. The word Papa, besides, gives a pretty form to the lips. Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes, and prism are all very good words for the lips: especially prunes and prism. You will find it serviceable, in the formation of a demeanour, if you sometimes say to yourself in company — on entering a room, for instance — Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prism, prunes and prism.

Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.

…vices are sometimes only virtues carried to excess!

We are not rich in the bank, but we have always prospered and we have quite enough. I never walk out with my husband but I hear the people bless him. I never lie down at night but I know that in the course of that day he has alleviated pain and soothed some fellow creature in the time of need. Is not this to be rich?

And finally, the quote at the top of the page?

How did you do?  

Why I will never pack light again

I think I mentioned in Wednesday's post that I've been to Sydney a couple of times recently for work.  Well, this past week, I was there for two days:  Got up at 3am on Tuesday morning, caught a 5am flight. Worked all day. Stayed in a hotel that night, got up Wednesday morning, worked on Wednesday, and then flew home Wednesday night. (Now you have the logistical context for this story).


Well, as I was doing my customary 'throw some things in my small suitcase a few minutes before heading out the door' thing on Tuesday morning, it occurred to me that I really did not need a small suitcase, surely.  It was just one night. Surely a little overnight bag (that doesn't even have wheels) will be fine, right? I mean, I'm wearing Tuesday's clothes, so just throw in pajamas, Wednesday's clothes, and a toothbrush! There's shampoo, conditioner, soap etc. at the hotel.  And on a final whim, I didn't even throw in my hairdryer, because they have those in the hotel too.  I was taking my iPad and my laptop, so I had anything else I would need right there.

Delightedly, my little overnight bag was so empty that I was able to fit the iPad and laptop into my overnight bag.  Ohhhhh yeah.  I strutted that bag down to the car with all the swagger of a true packing-light rockstar.

Driving to the airport is always the moment where I stress and wrack my brain a little until I can figure out what it is that I've forgotten to pack:.... mmm.....mmmm....mmmm.... Ah! Deodorant.  I forgot deodorant...... Okay, well, there's nothing I can do about that, and it's better than the time I forgot my makeup, or the time I forgot my shoes.  I'll just shower at the last minute tomorrow morning, and I'm only filming for a few hours before I'm just laptop working by myself at the airport for the afternoon, so I should be able to get away with it. I have a plan. Disaster largely averted.

Shooting went well Tuesday, got a lot of laptop work done Tuesday night.  Had a good sleep.  Got up early Wednesday morning. Had a shower. Went to blow dry my hair, and realized that the hotel hairdryer actually blows about one 100th of the amount of hot air that an actual hairdryer does.  Oh no. Well, on the upside, I wasn't in too much of a hurry, so I spent the hour it took to get my hair mostly dry. Not a great hair day I'm afraid. Had to half clip it back and looked more like a 15 year old than anything else.  Oh well.  Don't think about it.  Went to finish getting dressed and got down the iron and ironing board to iron my clothes.  Realized the iron didn't have a place to pour water. Obviously a really cheap, dumb iron that probably wouldn't even get hot! Grrr! Just like the hairdryer. Nothing works. *sigh*  *heavy sigh*  Oh well, cranked it up and tried to do my best to iron my shirt even though the iron would be useless.

Promptly burned a massive, double fist sized hole right through the middle of the back of my shirt.

I just stood there, staring at it for a moment, and actually attempted the thought 'Maybe no one will notice?' which even I had to admit was a ridiculous thing to think.  Panicked. Realized I hadn't brought an extra shirt with me like I normally do, because I was a packing light ninja. Finally admitted that I would have to wear yesterday's shirt again (which I hoped no one would notice, although of course it was a bright red shirt, so anyone with a brain would notice), and of course I had no deodorant, and it was yesterday's shirt.  PLUS, it was wrinkled because I'd tossed it in my bag last night and it really needed an iron.  I couldn't chance that though - it was my last shirt and I couldn't really wear my pajama top!  So on went my smelly wrinkled top.  At least I had a new skirt for today.  Took some solace in that thought as I put it on.

Went into the bathroom to put on makeup.  My liquid foundation was almost empty, so I was shaking the bottle.  It slipped out of my fingers and landing on the floor - spraying (what turned out to be a lot of) foundation all over the front of my skirt. Like, all over the skirt.  My first thought:  "I can not wear yesterday's skirt too!".  So I pulled it off, lay it out on the bed, got soap and water and attacked that skirt!  Half an hour later, it was sopping wet, but the foundation marks were at least a little bit less obvious.  If you squinted your eyes a little. A lot.

Hung the skirt up to dry, put on yesterday's skirt, grabbed the book I was reading and headed down to have the lovely buffet breakfast that had been included with the hotel.  It was a lovely spread, and I was trying to forget that I was wearing all of yesterday's clothes.  I got a nice hot breakfast, sat down to eat in the lovely restaurant, pulled out my book to read. Cut into the grilled tomato and proceeded to squirt 87 tomatoes worth of tomato juice all over the white table cloth. The silver lining: it squirted away from me and yesterday's shirt, but I was still absolutely horrified. It completely covered the table cloth in a half metre ring around my plate.  How did that one tomato do that? It should be off winning some kind of 'world's juiciest tomato' contest, not sitting here on my plate!

At this point I froze, and decided not to move for the rest of the day. It had become painfully obvious that I was simply not business trip material! I was a serious danger to myself, and probably anyone else who came too close!

But then I got hungry, so I finished my breakfast.

The good news is that nothing too terrible happened for the rest of the day (other than working with the crew while sporting yesterdays crinkled, smelly top and a sopping wet skirt with a 15 year old hair do).

But I've learnt a few lessons:
1) Always bring deodorant
2) Always bring your hairdryer
3) Always bring spare clothes
4) It's probably a good idea to also bring the kitchen sink

Happy packing!!
xo