* Catch up* Blog Everyday in May #14 Ten Things That Make You Really Happy.

Now I am not going to say rainbows, puppies and unicorns because they don’t. Actually rainbows do. They are so pretty. So I’ll have to make that one of the ten. As for puppies, they are cute and stuff, but they yap and chew things… I have small children… I don’t need a puppy doing that stuff too! As for unicorns, well they are not real so i feel like I’d be totally wasting my time adding them to the ten things.


1 My kids make me happy. They really, really do. Even when they are driving me up the wall they make me happy ( after I have given myself timeout).

2 My Beloved  makes me happy.

3 Seeing people get something they have always wanted or worked really hard to get. I am always genuinely happy for them. It is a great feeling to get something you have always wanted and an even greater one to something you have worked hard for.

4 Talking to people that you have heaps in common with, In my case someone I can have a great conversation with when we both have completely different points of view and the conversation seems like a full blown argument to eavesdroppers but it so totally is not. That is awesome!

5 My house and garden, even in it’s ‘This place will never be finished’ state I love it. I love winter for the chance to garden without sweating to death, getting heat stroke or bitten by snakes.

6 The kids bedtime, it makes me happy for a number of reasons, mostly because it means I get some peace and quiet.

7 Planning and then ‘doing’ what ever project I find myself doing, it is an added bonus when I get it finished too (I am the Queen of unfinished projects taking months sometimes years to get completed).

8 Horse riding, though I have not ridden in years!

9 Sitting on the veranda with My Beloved, when there are no kids around.

10 RAINBOWS!!

* Catch up* Blog Everyday in May #12 What do you miss?

I didn’t give this one too much thought, I just thought I would, in list form, jot dot down the things I miss. Nothing too deep and meaningful here.

1. I miss being able to sit down all day on the weekends and read, like I did when I was still living in my parents house. I never really appreciated the luxury of that.
2. I miss Choo Choo bars, Fag lollies ( now called Fads, if indeed they still make them) and Black Cats ( a liquorice lolly in the shape of, you guessed it, a cat.)
3. I miss My Beloved walking around in his Surf Lifesaving shirt. Mmmmmmm
4. I miss our friend Dave, he was many things but good value and a good person. 
5. I miss The Man Child and Big Miss as little kids. I actually is sad kids have to grow up.
6. I miss ( now this is gonna sound unbelievable) the years when we had not put the ceiling in the house and we had to sit around the fire during winter because it was so damn cold, though it was glorious in summer. It was such a simple, but lovely time.

*updated* It was bought to my attention in the comments that the above may have some people concerned... we are owner builders and in the first years we had a roof but no ceiling (plasteboardr/gyprock sheets between us and the tin roof above). It was cold in winter and beautifully cool in summer. 

1. I miss my box of books I’d kept from my collection when I was younger, the same box My Beloved accidentally ‘burnt’… yes, BURNT! What a monster. (Remind me to post a bonfire story here one time.)
2. I miss having bonfire nights
3. I miss… no that is it. I don’t think I miss much else.

*Catch up* Blog Everyday in May. #11 Sell yourself in 10 words.

Ten words starting now:

I am me, genuine, loyal, kind, smart, forgiving, passionate & loving.

There is a flipside, but I wont go into details as I am meant to be selling myself here.

Blog eveyday in May #13 A Public Apology

I am not one for issuing public apologies, I'd rather just express my remorse to the person affected. So this one is a little difficult. I decided instead to try to be slightly humorous and apologise to my husband for all the comments of how amazing I am.

Darling
          I am sorry that when we are out working with sand, cement, hoses and mixers, burrows and shovel and spade that people stop to marvel at the 'lady over there'. You know the one who is putting all the mixes in and pushing the wheelbarrow ( unless it is up a hill or really really full), who is running back and forward mixing up the colour and getting sprayed with droplets of black, terracotta or red oxide, whose hair is all over the place and whose face looks like someone has had a fit trying to apply camo face paint.

I am sorry everyone comments on how amazing that is. I am sorry that after telling them how many children we have they go on with such awe about it, that you feel the need to say "I have 6 (at the time) kids too!". I am sorry that on that really, really, really hot day the owner of the house brought an umbrella over and stood next to me with it to shade me. Bahahahahaha do you remember that? It was so funny! After thanking him and assuring him I was OK you said " Bring that over here if you like, I am fairer than she is and turning red.".

I am sorry that on my facebook page I dont take photos of messy stuff, but take photos of stuff I have just completed. I am sorry that you think  people assume our house is awesome, everywhere... though I am pretty sure they do not. I am sorry I took a picture of our kitchen sink, with the dished piled up, promising I'd post that one, just for you and I didn't. I am sorry that friend of ours gave you a lecture about how great I am when you had a whine about my bitching the other week. Even though if we were being truthful she is a good judge of who is being the dick. She has known us since the beginning and says it straight. I am just lucky I was being awesome most of this time.

I am sorry that when I come home from somewhere without him Mr Cheeky runs up and says " Oh Mummy I missed you so, so much!" but that when you come home he says " Hello, Doodlebum."  It is actually your fault. You laugh at him. I am sorry that people that say I am awesome, don't get to see me in the mornings, before my coffee and someone asks me to think. I am sorry that on the odd occasion people do get to see me wake up I have actually been left alone to wake up properly and I don't turn into an awesome bitch.

But we both know you think I am awesome, so I don't see what the big deal is! Oh I get it... you want people to say you're awesome too. I'll do it. I am sorry that people do not realise how hard you work how awesome your clients/customers in the taxi's, for our business and the tourists think you are. I am sorry people do not realise what an awesome father you are. I am sorry people don't get told how much of an awesome husband you are ( even though you can be an awesome pain in the arse too).

I am sorry that when you go away to work our bedroom is usually in a different room or has been rearranged. I am sorry that when you have been away and come home I have new and even more awesome than the last plans for us to do to the house. I am sorry that I actually let you know when you do something dumb I should just shut my mouth, right? ;) hehehehehe I am sorry that they do not make a national Adam is Awesome Day... they really should, shouldn't they!

Well, that will do. love your remorseful wife xx

# 8 Blog everyday in May - What advice would you give someone

'Ooooooh goodie! A housewife with 7 kids dishing out 'advice'. This will be worth the read.' Is what I imagine you'll be thinking about now. Fear not! I have a tendency of giving good advice, just not always being able to follow  good advice myself. Especially if the advice offered is in response to something that really has me fired up. I tend to get all 'passionate' (according to my mother) or 'flip out' (according to My Beloved) about things and react first. Well, that  used to be the case but as I get older I have learned it just is not worth getting so outraged at stuff because, quite frankly counting to ten and taking a deep breath or two is a good idea and I think I am getting too old for that shit. So that would be my first piece of advice  Do not sweat the small stuff! Oh and don't forget to breathe deeply before you do say anything...

• Never assume lightening hitting a tree and blowing the fusey thingies in your electrical items, will be an obvious reason to your husband as to why your television does not work.

• If you have kids ALWAYS keep 'spare' things (clothes, shoes, bags, boosterseats, chocolate,) in your car, you will need them just hopefully not all at once!

• When you have made absolutely no effort what so ever before leaving the house because you are just 'dropping' or 'picking' somebody up, do not assume every bodies stares mean you must look alright for a change. You DO NOT. Check the crotch of your pants, also consider checking your head for decorative googly eyed head bands and for god sake make sure you washed off the face painting/make up you and the kids thought would be fun to do that day. SERIOUSLY!

• Always remember if you and your husband decide to do something, anything  and the kids are asleep the more risque that something or anything is, is equal to the odds you have of one or more of your children waking up. e.g 1 Eating ice cream.... you'll probably get away scott free. e.g 2 'couple time' the more one or both of you are enjoying yourself the higher the chance of a child suddenly ( and silently like a ninja)  standing behind you in what ever room of the house you are in.

• The above advice probably makes you think that seeing as I am meant to be dishing out good advice I'd suggest you get a child free night (bahahahahahaha) that would be bad advice... unless of course you want to fall asleep shortly after sitting down on the lounge and not waking till morning.

• THE best bit of advice I can think of however really is take peoples advice with a grain of salt and do what works for you.

Day 10 Blog Everyday in May- Most Embarrassing Moment/s

I’d like to start by saying how much I have healed from what was the most embarrassing and traumatic experience for me. It actually took me 10 years to stop physically shuddering when ever I thought of it. True story! The very fact that I am sharing this with people who I do and do not know from all over the world should tell you that I have moved on. So feel free to laugh your arses off at my expense. It is OK. I can handle it.

I’d also like to add that ALL my embarrassing moments have been a wardrobe related malfunction ( or in this case partially wardrobe related). All have had something to do with the nether regions. Lets ponder that for a moment. Hmmmmmmm lets not.The MOST embarrassing moment of my life occurred when I was 15. It lasted for at least 10 hours and just got worse and worse and worse until I finally got home,fell into bed and managed to fall asleep. Oh sweet relief. Then of course I had to wake up and go back to school the next day.

It began the lunchtime of the day we were off to go via a bus, with every student in the dance and drama classes in my high school to Brisbane.We were to watch some famous dance company preform a contemporary dance about something. You will have to forgive me as most of that 10 hour period I have blacked out, except for those parts I really, really wanted too. You know, the MOST traumatic bits.

The embarrassment started fifteen minuets into the 10 hours. It was of course my wardrobe choice. We were told, and I do remember this bit CLEARLY, ‘to get very, very dressed up.’ my friend Sam and I took that seriously and we put A LOT of thought into our outfit choice. Mine was a red mini dress,a navy blue sports jacket ( OH SHUT UP, I WAS A TEENAGER!!!), black tights and black high heels. My hair and make up was not quite as ‘evening’ but less IS more you know!

We left the school toilet block and started what I have forever more termed ‘the walk of mortification’. To set the scene you need to understand every student in the school, aside from the kids in detention or the library (so my friends) were seated in the area I had to walk. With in seconds the entire area erupted into wolf whistles and calls of all sorts. I was embarrassed straight away. But with a head held high and a don’t give them the satisfaction attitude I managed to walk half of the way to the meeting point. Then I dropped my bag.

Without thinking I bent down, legs straight to pick it up. The whistles and calls erupted again and I just wanted to sink into the ground. But instead I quickly straightened up and tried to continue, in heels the rest of the way, without breaking into a crying run. I finally made it into the sanctuary of the school office only to see everyone except my friend was wearing some kind of denim outfit. “OMG I AM WAAAAAAAAAAAY OVER DRESSED” I thought completely forgetting the embarrassment of ‘out there’.

Now I had the different kind of embarrassment of a hundred of your peers, teenage female peers no less, smirking to each other about my outfit choice. I briefly considered faking some kind of terrible illness but I realised that wouldn’t work so I’d have to stand tall and pretend it didn’t bother me at all. Not long after I managed to gain my composure and ignore the sideway stares the Deputy Principal came up to me and said ‘That is an interesting choice of dress Emma, where is the rest of it?’

‘What about her!’ I wanted to scream and point to my friend who was also wearing skin tight clothing that was too old for her. But I didn’t because that would not have been very nice. Finally we made it to the bus and safely arrived in Brisbane two hours later. Ok so I imagine you thinking ‘yeah that would have been embarrassing but come on THE most embarrassing thing to EVER happen?’ and I would say to you ‘I am not finished yet! It got worse and worse and worse remember? I said that up there ^.

So where was I? Oh that’s right, the ‘it got worse’ part. After walking past a million people pretty much all of who at least slightly noticed my over dress and terrible wobble that can only come from wearing a pair of heels that are too damn high and exasperated by the fact that I had actually never walked in heels before. We finally made it to the venue and we walked up the stairs to then walk down more stairs to get to our seats. Naturally I fell down three stairs and knocked two people over.

THE CALM BEFORE THE REAL STORM

I obviously did not pay any attention to the dancers and spent the whole time wishing that we could just go home. I really was starting to lose my ‘I can do this’ attitude. Finally it was over and time to walk to the food court ( of where ever the hell we were), that was great because that meant that we had 30 minutes until we could board the bus and go home. hallelujah!

 I was feeling buoyed by this fact and I knew I could deal with it. I could make it home with out breaking down. I ordered my favourite dish Mongolian lamb and rice. I chatted with my friends and I was starting to feel better. Soon it was time to board the bus and we were off. My friend needed to use the toilet and was directed to the back of the bus. I sat awkwardly silent til she returned and we chatted for twenty minuets. Then the first of the searing pains gripped my stomach and I fought off passing gas.


‘Oh no I can not fart on this bus,’ I freaked to myself. ‘NO! I will hold it!’
Then another pain and another shot across my stomach and knew what I had to do. I had to use the toilet. '

‘Shit.’ I said, out loud this time.

‘What’s wrong?’ Sam asked me.

‘I need to go to the toilet.’

‘It is back there.’ she said to me.

‘I know where it is,’ I hissed at I her ‘I NEED to go to the toilet.’ I said to her again.
Sam laughed a little nervously for me and said hesitantly ‘ It is fine, just go and wait a few minuets before opening the door.’

‘Ok, good idea.’


I walked from the front seat of the bus to the very back and closed the door. I knew straight away from the explosiveness of the call of nature that everyone in at least a five row radius had heard something. Finally I felt safe enough to leave the toilet and quickly opened the door and closed it behind me. It didn’t help the “Oh my gods’ and ‘ ewwwws’ were barely audible and the smell had beaten me to the front of the bus.

‘Kill me now.’ I thought and I sat there strangely happy that the pain and urgency I was experiencing had gone. That relief lasted ten minutes and it was back. Finally I could not hold off any longer and I had to walk back up the bus. ‘Oh here we go again someone’ said as I closed the door behind me. I came out again with my head low and quickly  sunk into the seat and just wanted to die because I felt the pains again and I had to go back.


‘Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo’ I cried inside my head and I stopped listening to the murmurs and whispers of my bus full of peers as I walked back up the aisle for the third and not the last time. The walk on two other occasions I have managed to black out but the sixth and final time I will never forget because as I got up to go EVERY SINGLE PERSON on the bus let out an involuntary ‘Oooooooh noooooo, not again!’ If I could have, I would have sunk through the floor of the bus and never been seen or heard of again.


But I couldn’t and twenty minuets later we were mercifully back at the school and I could see my father standing at the designated pick up point. I stood up before the bus had stopped. I was standing at that door itching to get out. Nobody chastised me, no one gave me a lecture about standing on a moving bus. I now imagine that both the teachers and the bus driver on board were either really glad I was getting off or realised that I wanted off and I’d probably claw my way out of the windscreen if I had to.

My father was standing at the door and I said ‘Oh thank god you are here dad, I have never been so happy to see anyone in my life. Please lets just go home now.’ and I walked off to our car. I didn’t say good bye to anyone I just left. If we spoke on the way home I do not remember as I spent the whole trip remembering and cringing at all the details of the day.

 The next morning  I suggested I didn’t want to go to school.
‘Oh don’t be silly.’ my mother said to me and that was the end of that. I went to school and suffered the jokes and the stares and pointing, But it was nothing, NOTHING compared to the bus trip home the night before.

I'll catch up with the other days I have missed over this weekend. But in a strange way i am glad my computer and I became friends today because day number 10 was part of the reason I liked this Blog everyday in May challenge. I guess you know you are completely over something like that when you can happily blog about it! Now if you have something more embarrassing than that LEAVE a comment, I want to hear it! :)

#7 Blog Everyday in May - What are you most afraid of?

There is one thing that truly terrifies me and that is losing my children.That includes any of they ways you could lose a child, through death, through drugs, illness, arguments, through marriage ( of course you don't lose your kids once they are married but they are not wholly yours any more, well not as far as their partner is concerned,  So in light of that I should also add I am afraid of  being a monster in law ;) though not really as I won't be ).  I don't even want to talk about it. 

#6 Blogging everyday in May- What do I do?

OK then. That is pretty simple to answer really, I mean I could ramble on with the whole, personal manager, chauffeur, cook, washerwoman, camping victim, slave, sex goddess, stuff but I wont. Instead I can sum up what I do into a sentence, albeit a long one.

“I do my best to raise 7 decent, caring human beings, who will be able to contribute to the world in some way, whilst being a loyal and pretty awesome wife.”

As far as I am concerned I get an A+ for my efforts on all counts. There are days I am not such an awesome wife to be sure, but those days are usually the same days my husband is annoying the crap outta me, so fairs fair I say.


I will add that My Beloved would describe what I do something similar to this. ‘Emma is a crazy person who finds more and more things for me to do around our place and spends a lots of time on that damn computer! She is a good mum and a good wife, when the dishes are done.’ then he’d get a slap from me and he’d laugh.

What gives me comfort about not having answered with some in depth, soul searching answer is that I once listened to a guy talking about ideas to make the world a better place, and he suggested that every person who could not say what they did in one sentence was part of the problem and one of the reasons the world ain’t as great as it could be. So I guess I just scraped in to the category of not ‘being the problem’ and that has gotta be something too!

Day 5 of Blogging Everyday in May- Declare your love for a bloggy friend.

For starters I only know one blogger personally and that blogger is a he. My Beloved would not like me declaring  any kind of love for him ( pretty sure his wife wouldn’t either ) or anyone else ,so I am publicly declaring my admiration of said Bloggy friend. I have known this bloggy friend and I use the term ‘known’ quite loosely, as in I have been aware of his existence, since I opened a bank account when I was 16. Since then I have only really  known him as ‘ Bruce from the bank who has lots of kids too’. 

I am of course talking about the unbelievably talented, Biggest Daddy Blogger in Australia ( you know which account to put the money in Bruce ), who also happened to be featured, along with two other Daddy Bloggers on Australian primetime TV a few weeks back. In fact if you enjoy my blog or hate it you have him to thank.

You see it was only after reading his blog posts with interest that I even thought of this whole blogging thing. I thought, ‘Hmmmmmmmm, that looks like fun. Might give that a go.’ Granted I am not a ‘I am going to blog and become a millionaire’ kinda of blogger, i am quite happy spewing forth what ever pops into my mind and just hitting publish kind of blogger ( the kind that doesn’t go far, but that is fine by me) and we all have him to thank for it. So THANKS BRUCE!

If you have not already checked out his Big Family, little income facebook page or the BLOG itself than you do not know what you are missing. It is a humorous and well thought out blog ( he is one of THOSE bloggers). Filled with his family of seven children’s antics and his gorgeous and talented wife Tracey, who is responsible for our header pic, you can check out her other awesome pics on her facebook page Tracey Devereaux Photography.

One of the highlights of Bruce’s blog is his BIG on Kiva monthly posts. Where the family takes it in turns to decide what small /home business in an impoverished country they will loan 25 dollars to, in order to help that particular person make their families lives better. That is a wonderful thing to do. I can not forget the BIG Recipes section either! So if you have never heard of this blog or blogger you should  do yourself (and lets face it, him) a favour and check it out. You have to read the Bio while your there!

Geeze, Day Five was a breeze, I think I am getting the hang of this everyday thang!

#4 Blogging Every Day in May- Favourite Quote and Why.

Ok so my enthusiasm for this self imposed blogging every day challenge has diminished somewhat. But I will see it through.  I will. I WILL. Luckily 'there are no rules' so that means my having skipped completely over Day 2 is A Okay!

So today's topic is a favourite quote and why I like it. This quote is my favourite "The secret to happiness is being content with what you have" I don't know who actually said it for it to have been quoted in the first place. If you do, let me know in the comments. Yes, I could Google it. But I don't actually need to know who said it, to me that is not important.

Life has it's ups and it downs. That is true for everybody. No matter who they are and what they have. There are good years and bad years. Be it financially, health wise or relationship wise the trick to make those bad times better or at the least bearable has always been the ability to be content with what you do have. For us it is a roof over our heads, usually our health and each other, our little family unit. Sure, 9 people may not be the usual size that comes to mind when you hear the words 'little family unit' but it is just the same.

When we first started out building our place we didn't get into huge debt and have the house built to completion, we took the Owner Builder route. Something that My Beloved wishes we didn't at times but everything in our house has so many memories attached to it. It is ours as we have done it ourselves, long chats about the hows and whys. Memories of the bigger kids as babies, our friends and families helping out. Everywhere we look there are memories, like the three gum leaf imprints in the third bedrooms cement floor Perfect gum leaf imprints, viens an all that fell from the gum tree My Beloved didn't knock down when he and his father cleared the block. There are  also reminders of stuff still left to do... that can suck sometimes. Like the man hole cover in the cieling of the main bedroom, it is just a bit of board up inside the roof stopping the possums and probably snakes from coming inside during winter.

 If we were not content with what we had, we'd have a hard time living in a 'work in progress'. Lets face it most people move into their house with nothing left to do but unpack (and I get the pros of that, believe me I do). But to me that isn't a home, it is a place you keep your stuff and sleep.

So that is why I like that quote because it is so true, if you can not be contented with what you have you will never be happy. Imagine never being happy, that would suck a lot more than most other things in life.

#2 Things That Make Me Uncomfortable- Blog every day in May

If you know about the Blog Every Day In May list, you’ll know that I am doing day 3 ( because I do not have enough time to talk about something I know a lot about. Besides I have had 3 Bacardi's and coke and I am tired!)

So I’ll get straight in to it. Not a lot makes me uncomfortable, though there is one thing I seem to find difficult to ‘handle’ and that is people that make their vulnerabilities blindly obvious to the world, while they are feeling vulnerable. It is kinda like saying here, this is how you can get to me. Don’t get me wrong it is not such a bad thing I guess as most people are not on the hunt to find people’s ‘cracks’ and in fact are very helpful and supportive. I just get uncomfortable for people when I see them doing it.

I also get uncomfortable on a soft mattress.  I wake up with a sore back and it takes days to recover from.
That is it for me

 If you expected more, then sadly you just do not realise how damn tired I am. We have been tiling the kitchen all day and that has made me uncomfortable too. Why? Because I now have to rearrange the kitchen cupboards… you know because a change is as good as a holiday. And I had the energy at the time… but not so much now and I still have three base cupboards to organise tomorrow… * sigh*

Story Of My Life (blog every day in may)

So, I have been slack with the blog recently. I was checking out a blog I love, Common Chaos Chronicle and I saw the Blog Every Day in May challenge. “Ah seems as good a reason as any to blog’ I thought. I also thought as we have so many things happening this month, not the least of them my birthday (happy birthday meeeeeeeeeeeeee) I’d do it. So I clicked on the linky thingy (down the bottom of this post you see it) and I read the subject for each day… I suggest you tune in for Day 10 Most Embarrassing Moment/s… Trust me if you want to feel better about your most embarrassing moments then you’ll WANT to read that one.)


I was Born. In Sydney in 78. Six months after my parents ( Aussie dad and English mum) got married, at the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross. I am assured it was because they were an interfaith couple or something ridiculous like that. So when my parents decided, after my sister was born, that they would not be raising their kids in Sydney we moved to a very country town in the Queensland hinterland, not too far from Fraser Island in fact.


I spent my whole childhood blissfully unaware of the worries in life, my parents were vegetarian for a while there ( oh not vegetarians!!!) then they came to their senses. We had a big vege patch and my mother made the majority of everything we ate. Sometimes she’d even grown it all as well. I went to a local school, a really great community minded school and had the best teachers a kid could ask for. I spent most of my primary school years either reading stories or writing them. Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!


My father worked where ever the work was ( he is a bricklayer by trade but is also a Rugby League coach and a fitness instructor, or what ever they are called) and in my early years he was away all week. I grew up with our house being built when my parents could afford to add on to the place and what was once a two car block garage is quite literally HUGE!!!!! My mother ran a hairdressing salon and my father started a gym when I was in year 7. He also started up a football team ( well, not entirely by himself) and football ( Rugby League) became a huge part of my early teens.


By the time I was in year 9 I decided that I was going to leave school at the end of that year and start my hair dressing apprenticeship in my mums salon.  I did that for three years in total but did not complete fourth year as I was pregnant with The Man Child. Something I have never regretted for a number of reasons but the main one is I don’t like hairdressing. I have done a few tafe courses but never actually used them for a paying job.


You know all about the kids and My beloved so I wont go on any more except that this was only meant to be 250 words…. it is now 500…. ooops. This is why I am no good at twitter!!


Oh I forgot to add I was in a local TV commercial, dressed in a grass skirt, promoting a ‘win a trip to Hawaii' with every car purchased’ thing. I have done other stuff but I’ll get to that one day, if  I could be bothered.