Cousins as sisters

Spent a lovely day with my cousin 'E', the daughter of mum's sister (almost identical in looks) today. We grew up like sister's she and I, born 6 months apart. Me being the older of the two of meant I always felt that little bit wiser, a little more experienced than my younger cousin - and to this day I have always felt like I should be the one leading the way, should have that deeper perspective on life, to have the right answers to pass on. It's funny how 6 months can put you psychologically at that next level. To think how our current friendship group is so diverse in age, in some cases 6 years of difference, and no one is treated any differently to one another.

So anyhow, our mum's were always very close albeit being very different - both were stunners in their youth (and have aged ever so gracefully), the oldest two sisters of eight siblings, mum being the oldest of the group. Both have acted as mothers to both of us (as have all our wonderful aunts - equally special and unique in their own ways), building us dolls houses, teddy bears, making our matching outfits, taking us on holidays and handing out advice whether wanted or not. Mum always held her opinions very close to her chest, and my aunty was much more vocal in sharing them. But I love her for that. Mum is incredibly organised and tidy and is a saint, and i've always looked up to my aunt for her philosophy that 'you will not remember a clean house in years to come, but you will always remember this / or that fantastic time you had'.

Many a school holiday would come around where I would go and stay with E's family in Kyabram, or she would come and stay with mine in Melbourne. Her place was always much more fun. Set on a 1/2 acre block on a wide street, there was a huge tree out the front in which we would spend hours in and let our imaginations run wild. We literally had free rein of the little country town from dawn until dusk, heading out on our bikes to have picnics at the local animal sanctuary, to the milkbar to each buy a huge bag of lollies for less than a dollar, going to shot goals at the local deserted netball courts. Building golf courses and a full restaurant in the backyard. Setting the 'tramp' up under the eaves of the garage - climbing up onto the roof via the big tree beside it, and jumping off onto it. Taking pretend drives by the back fence in her older brother's out of action V-dub. Setting up 'house' in the garage, fully decorated, having her father (my uncle) back the old sky-blue Commodore stationwagon in and we would attempt to have a sleepout in the boot. It would only last a couple of hours until one of us freaked out and due to the dark, we'd have to scream for someone to come out and escort us inside. My uncle would call us 'twerps' and laugh in that way that would make any fear quickly subside and we'd end up in fits of laughter too.

We would do little jobs for my aunty (and mum when we were in Melbourne) to earn money. One memorable time was when we both managed to earn $70 for cleaning up the back verandah at their place. It was the most amount of money we'd ever earnt. Did we save it? No way! Albeit our mothers doing a great job at teaching us the value of money, it was always there to be spent, never saved for too long. We spent a long time thinking about our potential purchases. The next day we were driven into Bendigo where we were dropped off and given two hours to shop. E was always very crafty and would buy little sewing kits, knitting wool, t-shirt paint. I had my eyes on something bigger. 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' by the Chilli Peppers. It was the first CD I ever bought, and it came with another free CD 'The Plasma Shaft' (just typing that now have I realised how wrong that sounds). We were 12. That afternoon, we came home and hooked up the CD player on top of the bunks in her little bedroom, closed all the curtains, turned off the lights and with our matching green and red tartan pajamas and John Lennon sunglasses on, proceeded to sing 'Under the Bridge' over and over and over again until we knew it off by heart. And there our shared love of the Chilli Peppers began. To this day we have both shared a strong deep love of music.

Today we had a lovely day out starting off with pizza at Bimbo's, then a visit to the Heidi Gallery in Bulleen, followed by devonshire tea in Warrandyte. Tonight she is spending the night catching up with her mum and having a break from her two beautiful boys.

Heide Gallery - Bulleen

Some more memorable moments of time spent with E.C.B.P:

• playing huge games of hide n' seek and 'murder in the dark' at Corowa Caravan Park with an enourmous amount of kids - mostly family friends
• almost falling off the water bikes at Lake Hume resort
• playing behind the huge 100+ year old hedge at our grandparents house
• her middle brother J balancing us on his feet as he lay on his back, and catapulting us through the air across the sitting room of our grandparents old Victorian house. One time I missed the mattress and ended up with a fractured wrist (and was told to get over it - until the x-rays showed
• sneaking ciggies at the local park near her house, then coating ourselves in Impulse in the hope that our mum's would not notice
• sneaking in a boyfriend to sleep-over at her house in year 10, and then sending him home before 2am in the morning when we started freaking out that her parents might come home
• meeting her hubby and seeing how happy she was at her housewarming in Malvern
• organising her hen's night with her best friend and soon to be sister-in-law - was a memorable one!
• her wedding in 2006 - at Bendigo Pottery. It was 45 degrees, and everyone was sweltering but she looked stunning, and it brought our very fun and large extended family together
• the cousins night out in Bendigo with our other cousin who is 6 months older than me
• being on a ski lift in Nagano Japan (after having been overseas for eight months), and getting the text and then the phonecall to announce she was pregnant with her first baby
• ladies day out in 2011 - visiting art galleries in Bendigo and having lunching at quirky little cafes
• sharing her oldest brother's wedding day with her recently in May - attending one of the most memorable family functions of all time for so many reasons that will have to save for another post!

And sad times......

• Being with her during and after the passing away of her father in 1999 - taking a drive through the Dandenongs and sharing our memories. Knowing how much she has lost, and how much she still thinks about him, as we all do.
• Being told that her youngest child has cerebral palsy

E will always be close to my heart - love her like a sister through all the good times and bad - she is def one of my 'all time top fives' as Si would say! We are slowly becoming our mum's too. Hopefully it is not too long before we can next catch-up again xx

E (left) and I

friends becoming mums

I think I am finally clucky. Well clucky for friends babies at least! There was a time there when I admittedly somewhat began to selfishly mourn the loss of a friend when they announced they were pregnant. With the surprise and excitement from receiving the text message that 'a little insert name will be arriving around Christmas / Easter / July!!!' came a little tinge of 'another (party / festival / hit the dancefloor / all round fun friend) bites the dust', and a little part inside of me let out a sigh.


The exception being my first girlfriend to announce she was having a baby. In a fight to still be 'amongst it' her and her beloved would leave their little daughter at her parents place and they would embark on mad adventures to Meredith, the races, to be the last people standing at birthday parties / engagements / weddings etc. She was still one of us although her recovery from a big night was less cruisy given that she had a responsibility to be 'on' whilst the rest of us were cringing in bed / watching movies from the couch. Respect. 2 more little girls added to the mix, and her situation has changed, however she did recently organise a birthday party for her oldest less than a week out from giving birth to her youngest.


Not to forget another good friend of ours of recent years, the partner of a best mate of my man's who has been living in Perth. Said friend has just given birth to their second little boy - and within days, they were out and about on their first adventure. Throughout the first 2 years of life of their first-born, they were at every party, every dinner, with their little boy in tow or not. In the couple of years of almost every month back to back weddings, they were on the dancefloor and partying into the night and next day at each one. Babysitter - sometimes. Bringing the young one along and putting him to bed close to the action - frequently.


Catching up with my girlfriend Jess and her little boy yesterday for the first time in two months since we visited them in hospital was wonderful. Admittedly tired from an unusually tough day of crying all day the day before - all you can see is the love for her little boy written in her face. She is a wonderful mum, and one that will bring the rest of us girls up when we are having rough days with our own babies down the track. Often the life of the party, always out still stumps, everyone's best-friend, and so supportive of her partner (and his mates who do everything in their power to get take him to the next level where he forgets where he is and who he is) - this little boy is so lucky to have the parents that he has. And her parting comment - please make sure everyone remembers to invite us to things!!


So massive respect to all the wonderful women out there doing it tough raising their babies whilst maintaining a life - it must not be an easy feat, and I hope I can do it as well one day. 


Seeing Jess with her new little boy goes that selfish thought of 'a friend lost' to bring on the babies friends!!

the first day..... of holidays..... of the blog.......

Ok here goes. After looking on urban dictionary to find another interesting name for ‘teacher’ to call my blog – I have wasted (or should I say lost) 1 hour of my life albeit having a few laughs out loud and learning a few new terms such as ‘bi-polar coaster’, ’fartapnea’, ‘i-finger’, ‘holiday-hangover’ and too many more, way too unladylike to have come out of me in writing. I have looked up the names of my family, my other half, and our last-names to find out that ours is another word for drugs.

So for the time being I am going to write in word and then transfer to cyber-space after I write this entry.

On my quest to improve my memory and document life in some form, I am setting out to write a bit of a diary. In order to have it kept private (you're reading this so it can't be that private!), as well as minimising paper waste, have decided to go online. In all honesty I know I would probably sensor more if I knew that it may be stumbled upon by one of my nearest and dearest looking for gym gear / a dress / a diary. So this way the problem of accidentally stumbling upon said diary is solved. If the truth be known I am quite forgetful and want to have some memories of life to colour conversations with and share with my grandchildren some day.

So it’s finally the school holidays which means that the time has come around whereby I have given my soul to the kiddies all term and really need to just relax. After spending Friday night madly filing the last of my floating paper mess, and then Saturday spent tidying and cleaning the upstairs part of our home (shared with 'Si' and his father as we save for our own house), yesterday was a time to either start on job applications or start to wind down. I chose wind down. A clean-out of the car, lazy walk with the dogs followed by a long read of the paper, home-manicure and watching the last episode of the block curled up in the man sized brown suede bean bag has meant that the wind down has properly begun. Tomorrow am off to catch up with a girlfriend Jess, and her new little baby boy followed by a netball break-up dinner at the Corner hotel. Might pop around to visit some good friends of ours that have just had their second baby.

Wednesday is catching up with mum, my sister and her boyfriend for dinner, and then Thursday looking forward to hanging out with my cousin who will be coming down from the country for the day to have a break from her two kids. We grew up like sisters, being 6 months apart, and she is one of the most special people in my life although we don’t see each other too often. Friday – catching up with some girlfriends from work to do a cupcake course, and then next week the man and I will head off to the beach for a week to relax and rejuvenate for the term ahead. We just booked tickets to Thailand the other night for Christmas, and am really excited. Has been so long since we’ve been on a holiday, really makes the cold and miserable weather of the moment really not seem so bad.

And on that note..... the blog begins. Si is on his way back from checking out an even for work. After falling asleep last night face-down on the carpet (following a 'whetting') – will no doubt be tired and possibly grumpy. Off to see what’s on telly, and then hot chocolate, some Jeffery Archer (not quite Shade's of Grey but will keep me engaged enough to enjoy but then send me off to sleep without being too exciting!).

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. Dr. Seuss