Shhhhhhhhh!!!

Swing = $99.00
4 'D' batteries = $10.00
30 minutes of quiet = PRICELESS

It only lasts half an hour, but those 30 minutes are bliss.

Speaking in Tongues

While Mrs. Gabe was visiting, she commented a few times on my use of Aussie words in place of American ones. For example 'nappy' for 'diaper' and 'dummy' for 'pacifier'. I realize I do it a lot on the blog as well. Not just word substitutions but spelling as well - centre, colour, humour. I'm not being pretentious and I'm still fairly conscious of doing it. But I think it's high time I confess my reasons, much as I did to Mrs. Gabe.

There are two reasons. Reason one harks back to the 'when in Rome' line of thought. Not only do I live here, but I'm a citizen. I'm not shunning my garish, uncouth American upbringing - which I don't think was either garish or uncouth - but rather making a conscious effort to adapt to my new home. I've seen a fair number of Americans come here who so desperately cling to American ways, who so resist the tiniest changes, that they are absolutely miserable. They whine and complain about how things are better "back home" and things here are "so wrong" - from the driving to the spelling - that their misery blinds them. Australia doesn't ask much of you when you come here to live - only that you to your best to adapt to the Aussie way of life rather than the other way around. So if that means I change my spelling (which, to be honest, wasn't very good to begin with) so be it.

Reason two is the kids, especially Her Majesty and Clive. Miss Thing, and to a lesser extent Sparky, struggled a bit with the new words and spellings when we arrived. Fortunately they had understanding teachers and were old enough to understand the explanations as to why they suddenly had to add extra letters to words. I don't want Her Majesty and Clive to start out on the wrong foot when they get to school and be teased because they pronounce 'banana' differently.

So I make a conscious effort to make my vowel sounds longer in words like 'banana' and 'tomato'. I try to remember to say 'bonnet' instead of 'hood' and 'boot' instead of 'trunk' when referring to my car. I say 'zed' instead of 'zee' for the last letter of the alphabet. Which really f*cks up the rhythm to the 'ABC Song' because zed doesn't flow as well as zee. You just sang it, didn't you?

But you see my point. I'll never get it 100% right. I'll never pronounce the word 'schedule' 'shed-u-wul', it'll always be 'sked-u-wul'. I don't think I'll ever be able to say the phrase 'fair dinkum' without sounding like a bit of a dork. But I'm willing to give it a go for my kids and for my new country.

Saturday Skinfest

The Post-Origin I edition.

I was feeling really crummy yesterday. I woke up in the middle of the night with the worst feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I was going to throw up all over my sheets if I didn't get into the bathroom straight away. I spent the next hour alternating between the bathroom and being curling up on the bed trying to work out why I was suddenly so sick. I finally dozed off and woke up (or rather was woken up by Her Majesty) later that morning not feeling quite so bad but still not feeling great. Which is how I spent most of the day - not great, but not horrible. After some potato and spinich soup - looks gross, tastes good - and a snooze I'm back to my old self. Huzzah! But I still have no idea what caused my 18 hour sour stomach.

Now that we're up to date on my latest excuse for not doing the Skinfest on its intended Saturday we can get to it! Since the mighty Maroons were the winners on Wednesday I'm featuring two Queenslanders this week. Jacob Lillyman - silly name, ohmyGAWD shoulders:

Who wants to volunteer to be the one to work on Darren Lockyer's, er, whatever bit he's having worked on? I should've gone into physical therapy instead of nursing:

The single picture of a Queensland Origin cheergirl, well, sucked. I wouldn't do that to you guys out there - I like you too much for that. Instead I'll introduce you to the Gold Coast Meter Maids. These ladies patrol the parking strips not to fine you for an expired meter, but to top your meter up so you don't get in trouble. And how else would you dress for such an occasion but thusly:

I'm not making it up - check out the website on the backside of the girl on the left if you don't believe me. Oh c'mon, it's not like you didn't notice it the first time!

More skin next week.

Photo Friday

When we took Mr & Mrs Gabe to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, we simply had to introduce Clive to his first kangaroo:

Yeah, totally not interested. Her Majesty loves them, though. Even Sparky still enjoys feeding them. You're never too old to pat a 'roo.

Useless Directions

I was going to blog about State of Origin - the first game of the three game series was last night with Queensland winning 25-18 - but now that we've crested the first hill of excitement and had a nail biting downward ride last night I'm not in the mood anymore. You'll have to wait a couple of weeks until the build up for game 2 for your explanation.

Instead we're going to discuss useless directions. Not the ones someone gives you to get somewhere - "Take yer second left, right, and follow that road til you get to the old Donaldson place and then take yer third right, right?" - but the ones on basic items.

There are some things, I think, that are fairly intuitive. Making a cup of tea, shampooing your hair or heating up a can of beans are things we don't need directions for. We've spent all of our younger years unconsciously watching it be done, so when it's our turn we don't need written directions. It's already in the brain. I was making coffee for my mother before I was old enough to shave (and since I was pretty hirsute that was fairly young).

So as I was unpacking the groceries yesterday this little blurb on the side of the box of nappies caught my eye:

How to Use: 1) Slide the nappy under the baby with the tapes at upper top. Bring the front of the nappy between the baby's legs and fan out across tummy.

The classic scene from a 'dumb/selfish man gets landed with cute baby' movie is the changing of the nappy scene. Said dumbass looks mightily confused while said cute baby wees all over both of them and finally ends up with the nappy on backwards and fastened with duct tape. If said dumbass read the directions on the package... well then he'd be even more confused! "Slide the nappy..."? Have you ever tried to slide a nappy under a baby's backside? Does. Not. Work.

But really, is it that difficult to work out that you need to lift the baby's bum up off the surface of whatever he's laying on and then put the nappy down before depositing tush back down on it? Maybe it's a girl thing, being exposed to young babies and just learning by watching, but are we still that segregated? Do we really need directions for something like this? I tend to think not, but maybe I'm wrong. It has been known to happen.

But since we seem to need it all spelled out for us, a better idea would be to have directions not for reapplying a clean nappy, but getting rid of the dirty one:

1) After watching baby's face turn several shades of red and purple, accompanied by various grunting sounds, delicately sniff the air to determine if the nappy is soiled. If visual confirmation is needed, check via the 'quick peek' method of looking down the waistband or through the leg elastic.

2) Attempt to bribe partner into changing the soiled nappy by promising to vacuum the house, cooking dinner or doing that 'thing you like so much' after everyone else is asleep.

3) When step two has failed, carry the baby into the designated changing area, being sure to provide proper head support as you carry baby at arms' length.

4) Gather the necessary supplies - clean nappy, multiple fresh wipes, baby powder, gloves and a respirator.

5) Remove baby's clothing and undo the tabs. Peel back the nappy and make the appropriate gagging and retching noises.

6) Take a deep breath and quickly clean the baby. Do not forget to clean each skin crevice and/or underneath 'hanging skin'. Perform this step as quickly as possible before baby either urinates or attempts to roll away.

7) Dispose of soiled nappy in appropriate airproof container before releasing breath. Wash hands thoroughly.

Seriously, give us your examples of instructions we just don't need.

Match Report Monday

Miss WTF can use my blog to vent anytime she wants! Her views expressed in this week's Match Report mirror my own and I'm certain many other parents on our team. While Sparky played, I wasn't at this week's game - I was collecting the baggage-less Hermit(whose bags arrived today, btw) at the airport - but what you're about to read is nothing new. There is a lot of frustration boiling up and only a genuine liking of the club (Hee - I initially typed 'licking' for 'liking'... which is funny... right, moving on) plus good friends keep us there. Hopefully we can all vent our spleens and work toward a solution that keep us all at Wests, and if my blog is the venue for that so be it.

Take it away, Miss WTF:


Round 5, Division 1
Date: Sunday 20th May, 2007
Where: Purtell Park, Bardon
Who: Wests Panthers v Brighton Roosters
Score: 6 - 30


The boys actually looked like they were ready to play as they warmed up. They were reasonably subdued and one could almost have been forgiven for thinking they might have actually listening to their coaches. They even arrived on the park BEFORE the ref blew his whistle this week. WOOHOO!!! Progress, although they’re not huge advances... we’ll take baby steps at this point.

The first half was a corker. There weren’t too many scoring opportunities for either side as the defence was brilliant by both teams. Can’t remember who went in first but it was either a long streak of a lad from Brighton who barged up the middle or Harrison from our team who simply ran around them all and scored under the posts. The boys went into the half time break dead even at 6 all.

The second half, however, made my blood boil.

Our touch judge (who is just a parent who volunteered to run the side line) was abused by the opposition’s parents and called an arsehole because he said a kid was taken into touch... which he was (taken into touch I mean, not an arsehole!). That is really REALLY poor form in my opinion. The coach of the opposition even apologised to him for their behaviour. How sad is that!? No wonder nobody wants to volunteer.

Anyway, the second half footy was crap. Our boys forgot how to tackle and let the big fella who scored the first try, score another 3. We were held scoreless but Brighton put on a heap of tries to beat us 30 points to 6. It really should have only been 24 to 6 because the young ref allowed a 40/20 kick which aren’t supposed to be allowed in our age group. I think it was his first game as referee so we’ll forgive him that one, but he also missed a heap of knock-ons and called us offside when we honestly weren’t. Anyway, that’s football... I’m not complaining about that.

I am complaining about the attitude of the boys and the coaches, though. They just plain lost the plot. It’s not hard to do though, when the opposition are running all over you and the coaches of your own team are yelling out things like “Do SOMETHING (insert name here)” when (insert name here) missed a tackle. As soon as Brighton scored a couple, the heads went down and the boys went into self-destruct mode. The arguing began again, no organisation in the line or the plays. They just looked ordinary and whilst they did really well to hold Brighton out a few times, they just couldn’t compete. The coaches just kept barking out instructions at them the whole second half.

Now, I don’t know about most people on the team, but my son plays footy for fun. (Seconded! - Mooselet) Whether we win or lose, he doesn’t really care, so long as he gets a fair run and has fun doing it. But you can’t honestly expect kids to enjoy being barked at from the side lines like the fate of their entire future depends on whether or not they make a tackle. It was pathetic and made me so angry that I was milliseconds away from dragging my kid off the field and taking him home. Fortunately, he tweaked his ankle and was replaced by some other poor unfortunate kid. (Probably mine, who copes by tuning the coaches out - Mooselet)

Anyway, I just think if there are 21 kids in a team that each kid should get even game time, no matter how good or how bad they are, regardless of the score line and who’s son they are. That doesn’t seem to happen in our team. There are at least 4 kids that never come off the field (sure, they’re in key positions... so what!) and the rest of the boys (especially the wingers) get their token 10 minutes and that’s all folks. I’m peeved! Really peeved! Nuff said... except for this... if you’re a centre in our team, you need to learn to pass the ball to the wings... just so the wingers get some action instead of sitting on the side line, picking their noses until some super quick winger from the opposition gets the ball and whizzes past you to score. PFFT!

Rant over....for now.

No game this weekend so Mooselet will have to find something else to blog about. (GAH! No friggin' way! Weak... - Mooselet) I may or may not be back in 2 weeks time... see how it goes and if we have a enough kids to make a footy team that can take the park.

Saturday Skinfest

You really didn't think I'd go two weeks in a row without the Skinfest, did you? Oh ye of little faith. The Hermit returned today, very much delayed and minus his luggage. Qantas, usually an excellent airline, have 'misplaced' it. I suspect it's on the original flight which was delayed nearly twelve hours due to mechanical troubles. Thankfully the Hermit managed to get another flight to Australia before that, arriving in Brisbane only 6 hours late, but alas we have no goodies from home. Fingers crossed it's now in Brisbane with the first plane, rather than waiting in LAX for some flunkie to transfer it, and we have it tomorrow. The Hermit is now sawing wood down in the bedroom, and I'm glad to have him back.

So we welcome back the Skinfest, and our theme this week is that Aussie classic, the Speedo. Have you heard about the new 'Wonderjocks' by aussieBum? (WARNING: MILDLY NSFW) They "lift and promote" your, er, natural assets. Basically a wonderbra for the men's dangly bits. I can only imagine the results on our NRL blokes this week, Scottie Prince and Mark Minichiello from the Gold Coast Titans:


Speaking of the Gold Coast, I bring to the menfolk the Gold Coast Indy girls in all their wonderbra'd and bikini'd glory:

More skin next week!

Aussie Visit Pictures

Gabe must be recovering from his jet lag as he sent me the link to his Flickr set for the pictures from his visit. Pictures like these:


Want to see more? Click here to see his entire set. Lazy bugger hasn't updated his blog yet, but when he does I'll point you in that direction as well.

Yes, I'm really blogging at 3:45 am. Clive is up and is fighting going back to sleep. He did this last night as well but since I know he can sleep through the night - and has done for several nights in a row off and on since the Hermit left - I'm resisting getting him up and feeding him. I did just that last night and it really didn't help as Clive was still up at 6 am and cranky. Wish me luck, and enjoy the photos.

Photo Friday

I seem to be on a wildlife kick at the moment. As you know we have all kinds of wildlife here in Australia, and I'm fortunate enough to live on acreage and see a lot of it. Here's a little fellah that got cornered around the back of the house by one of the dogs not long after we moved in:

He took refuge in the corner behind the laundry trolley and was hissing at Sydney to scare her off when I came onto the scene. Didn't work in the sense that she didn't leave, but she didn't hurt him either. I know that they're not called a frilled-neck lizard, but that's my term for him and I'm stickin' to it.

Miss WTF's Interview by Mooselet

Miss WTF was the only one to take me up on the interview meme - see mine here - and thank goodness for that! It's taken me this long to get her the questions. Since Miss WTF has no blog of her own, I'm posting her responses here.

It's not too late to play along. Leave a comment saying "Interview me" for either myself or Miss WTF (what, you didn't think you'd get off scott free did you Miss WTF?) and one of us will get back to you before hell freezes over. For a full list of the rules please go and read the original post.

For those of you who don't know Miss WTF personally and only through her comments here, be warned. She is of strong opinions and won't back down from anyone, which is why she is so awesome. Question #3 was a toughie; I had an inkling what I would be getting when I wrote it and while I have no problems with her answer someone might. If that someone is you then... fly over here and we'll discuss it.

1) Why the West Tigers, a Sydney based team, when you're a born and breed Queensland girl?

I’ve always loved footy. Ever since I was a wee whipper snapper sitting beside my grandad’s chair wondering why the hell he was screaming at the tv. I started really following it when the Broncos entered the competition in 1988 (at the ripe footy age of 15) and was an avid Broncos supporter. Yes, I know what you’re thinking....you used to support the Broncos and now you loathe them....why? I’ll tell you. The Broncos, in their early days, didn’t provide much support to junior players (unlike the foundation clubs from Sydney, who take kids from the age of 5 and support and mould them into footy players over the next 13 plus years). No, instead the Broncos pilfered players that other clubs had trained from their junior footy days. I don’t know why, it just really annoyed me. Anyway, when the super league debacle happened I really just went off footy pretty much altogether. What was a great competition, turned into 2 competitions, one offering loads of money to players and the other offering what had always been offered....play for glory. Being a staunch old style girl, if I did watch footy, it was definitely not super league, but instead I chose to support those teams that remained in the original competition, i.e. Western Suburbs Magpies. Why the Magpies? Well, my best mate Dave was born and bred in Magpie country and as I always watched the footy with him, and I always backed the under dogs, Dave recommended that I follow the Black and Whites (or Fibros as they were called). I had always had a soft spot for the Maggies so I did and I haven’t looked back. I’ve been there, in the pouring rain, freezing cold after driving an hour, to watch them get flogged by 70 plus points. I’ve been there for the seasons where they only had 3 wins. I’ve been there through thick and thin. Then came the talk that some teams were going to be kicked out of the comp unless they could prove they were financially viable. Wests were in pretty poor shape. All their money went to junior development and the club was scraping in each year by the skin of their teeth. Many clubs merged: St George merged with Illawarra, Norths merged with Manly.... yeah, where are Norths and Illawarra now? GORNESKY! Souths were forced out of the competition altogether. A complete travesty of justice! The Magpies merged with Balmain (another foundation club) and the rest, as they say is history. First premiership was in 2005 and it was, without a doubt, the best night of my life. Made up for all those years of heart break. GO THE MIGHTY WESTS TIGERS!!

2) Where is your favourite destination in all of Australia, aside from anywhere the Tigers are playing, and why?

I have to say Western Australia.....all of it. I just love it. It’s a massive state that contains so many different natural habitats. It’s brilliant. You can drive an hour out of Perth and either be in a tall timbered valley with rainforest all around you, or if you go another way, you can be exploring massive caves, another way you hit magnificent beaches, another way you hit almost desert like surrounds. Honestly, it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen and I reckon if I spent the rest of my life over there, I would still miss out on seeing some of its wonders. And then there’s the fishing.....

3) In your opinion, why is America disliked by other Western nation's inhabitants, including Australians?

This will probably offend some of you... I’d be offended if someone said it about Australia, but it’s hard not to offend someone when you’re offering a very strong opinion. I base this on the US as a country, not on the American individuals I’ve have met along the way, so here goes.

Firstly, any country that votes for a monkey as president....well, I mean honestly??? The fact you repeated the same mistake...... oish!! I have to turn the tv off when he comes on. He infuriates me. (In the board game “Trivial Pursuit” there are numerous questions asking “Which US president said ‘insert stupid phrase here’?” The answer in my game is always Ronald Regan.... next edition, it’s bound to be Dubbya.) I think it all comes down to an arrogance thing. Many in the US don’t seem to acknowledge that there are other countries in the world... hello.... we’re down here, in fact, we’re all around you!! Sorry, I got on a rant there.... let me start at the beginning.

- US tourists, in general, give your country a bad name. They are loud, obnoxious, rude, very opinionated, arrogant and just generally annoying. Funnily enough, those Americans that choose to stay here are really lovely people. From this I can only guess that either a) the American people I see who really annoy me are the ones that go home or b) It’s an annoyance en masse thing.

- Your leadership, the monkey brigade, are far too quick to leap onto the war wagon to suit personal agendas. Not only that, I know most politicians would sell their mothers for election, but over there, you seem to take it to a whole new level of corruption and nobody seems to mind. Please explain?

- Any country that can spend squillions of dollars on bombs and military offensives into countries for dubiously “suspected WMDs” but can’t sort out fundamental issues such as health, education, gun control etc, needs a serious kick up the arse. Not just the US either (don’t think I’m singling you out!). However, at the rate you’re going, you’re soon enough not going to have anyone fit enough to hold the guns you so vehemently vow it’s your right to carry. I saw an interview with the gun shop owner that supplied a gun to the psycho that annihilated Virginia Tech and I have to say, it didn’t do you any favours over here. He said “So many kids died because they didn’t have guns to defend themselves”....are you fucking serious!? In a country that has more gun related deaths than many war zones per day, I can’t even begin to fathom this mentality. Charlton Heston and the NRA, you can kiss my hairy white arse....you wankers!

- Language. The US don’t speak English, they speak American. Color, Aluminum, nucular (that’s the phonetic spelling).... you just want to be different don’t you? And why do you get the telephone country prefix of 1? What makes you so special? Sorry, they’re a little trivial, but you’ve got me started now and I can’t stop.

- Australia is a very multicultural nation. To be honest, the majority of us couldn’t give a rat’s arse what colour your skin is, what religion you are (as long as you don’t try and convert us) or where you’re from. We couldn’t care less....you wanna live here, get your arse on the plane, boat, pushbike, whatever, and come on over, we’ll put the barbie on and chill you a beer....unless you’re American. They you have to apply through all the regular channels. Why? Because, from where we sit, down here on the arse end of the world, the view is pretty damn spectacular and it seems to us that all the US want to do is ruin our view. We are slowly becoming Americanised and that scares me. You can keep your TV shows, you can keep your President (locked up where he belongs.... you might want to take our bum kissing PM with you hey?), you can keep your racism, you can keep your lack of civility, you can keep your dominant attitudes, you can keep your guns and violence, you can keep all of that. Just keep it. We don’t want it. It’s not who we are and not who we want to become. I rest my case.

4) Do you look back on the choices you've made in life and wonder if you should've gone left when you went right? In other words, any regrets?

Not a single one that I had any control over. Had an ass of a step-father, but I got out of there as quickly as I could and managed to reap a little revenge for his behaviour. Had Master 11 really early, the result of one too many Fruit Tingle Cocktails but wouldn’t change it for the world. Haven’t got any real regrets at all. I’m loving it, even though I’m knackered.

5) What do you see yourself doing 10 years from now, when Master 11 is grown and (hopefully) gone?

Geez, that’s a hard one. Haven’t got a clue really. I’ve never been much of a planner though. All I can say is I hope I have a boat and a spot to go fishing and I’ll be happy. Whether there is a partner thrown in there for good measure doesn’t really worry me at all. Master 11 will lead a happy life (hopefully he’ll find a girlfriend (Sparky) to drive insane instead of me) and it’ll all be good! The lotto could really play a big factor in all of this though LOL.

Aussie Ads

While Gabe was here I was describing to him two of my favourite Aussie commercials. Thanks to the power of You Tube I can share them with all of you.

The first one is the more recent one. I love it and I haven't meet anyone who doesn't like this ad:



This one was popular last year and it's tops on my list. If I didn't hate the taste of beer so much I'd drink this brand just because of the ad:


Share with us - what are your favourite ads?

Match Report Monday - The Return

We welcome back the return of Match Report Monday and the continuing struggle of the mighty Wests Panthers under 12s junior rugby league team. If you've followed Mooselet Musings for any length of time, you'll know that the word 'struggle' isn't used lightly. We're well into the season proper and we've yet to win. The first couple of games were just too depressing to blog about - 48-0, 28-0... Last week was a bit better, a 10-12 loss but neither Miss WTF or I could get up the energy to do a report. But now we're back - still struggling, but back! Match report, and videos, brought to you as always by Miss WTF:

Round 4, Division 1
Date: 13 May 2007 - Mother's Day
Where: Dayboro rugby league club
Who: Wests Panthers v Dayboro Cowboys
Score: 16-18

Let’s just set the scene shall we? Mother’s day. Midday game. We arrived at Dayboro (an hour's drive for most people) in the pouring rain and freezing cold. Within 15 minutes, layers were being shed and it had become sunny and humid. The boys were all fired up... they rocked up and half of them had a dagwood dog and a Coke for breakfast (half an hour before the game mind you! Only a kid could get away with that!) and into the sheds they went.

The ref blew the “Game on” whistle and on ran Dayboro... and the Panthers were nowhere to be seen. Finally they appeared from the sheds and raced down the hill onto the park! Let’s go...

There was lots of early pressure from our boys and on the fifth tackle, Stuart put a kick in that went sideways out to Sean who picked it up and ran 10m to score in the corner. Woohoo!! Kick unsuccessful but we’re up 4 - nil. Great start guys! Our defence was great for the first half. They kept putting pressure on Dayboro and forcing them to make mistakes. Again, Stuart kicks on the 5th tackle and Sean scooped it up to score an almost identical try to his first. Then he converted his own try, we’re up 10 - nil. Parents were getting nervous on the sidelines.

Our third try came close to half time when the boys passed it out through the back line and Scott darted across to score. He converted and we were up 16 nil at the break.

I think we should pretty much leave the match report there as, if you see the final score above, you pretty much know what happened in the second half. Our boys played really well, but were just outplayed in the second half. We held Dayboro up several times over the line but we just couldn’t keep them out and in the end, they got the points. A very disappointing result considering how well the boys played and how much of a lead they had at half time. (Indeed. I really thought they had it - Mooselet)

One thing I would like to say boys - at the end of a game, no matter what the result and no matter who you think robbed you of the game, please show some composure and congratulate the other team and accept the result. It was very disappointing to see the way some of you behaved and spoke after the game. Sure, the ref wasn’t exactly straight down the line (I think his evil twin came on in the second half - Mooselet) but there’s nothing you can do about it and some of you went a bit too far with your mouths which is not the image we at Wests Panthers wish to project. (Yes, let's leave that to certain other clubs - Mooselet) Just remember boys, you play this game for fun. A win is just a bonus. Don’t get bogged down by the results fellas, you’ll get a win soon enough if you keep playing great footy like you did on Sunday.

Family Update

Let's get y'all up to speed.

Gabe: Gabe & the Missus flew out yesterday morning, Brisbane time, and if all went well they should be back in Massachusetts asleep in their bed wondering just what day it is. It was great to see them again, especially Gabe. He's my only sibling* and because we are less than 2 years apart with similar senses of humour, we get on very well. We get each others jokes and can have conversations about all manner of subjects that are just considered verboten in today's 'don't offend anyone' society. I enjoyed debating politics, current events, US v Australia way-of-life, discussing his job, the joys of raising teen-aged girls (The Princess is 18 and would be turning Gabe's hair grey, if he had any), and quizzing him more on his conversion of Judaism. I also enjoyed watching Her Majesty chewing his ear off first thing in the morning. Gabe isn't a morning person. Hee! I look forward to reading about his trip over on his blog, and will share more tidbits with all of you later this week.

Miss Thing: Miss Thing turned 16 this past Saturday. 16. That's 192 months old. Holy crap, how did that happen? How am I mother to a 16 year old? I nearly slapped the hairdresser who was showing Miss Thing how to attach her new hair extensions - "Sixteen? Oh my, you look much older than just 16!" Shush woman! Don't give her any ideas.

"So how does it feel to be 16 now?" I asked her Saturday night as I dropped her off at a friends house, ready to go to a party another friend was throwing for her.

"No different," she said. And she proved it this morning by spitting the dummy when I didn't drive her to the bus stop several suburbs away - making a 15 minute round trip drive into a 30 minute one - because she didn't get up on time to make her usual bus. The more things change...



Sparky: Not content to play one sport, Sparky now plays on 3 different football teams. He continues to play for Wests Juniors (watch for the return of Match Report Monday) but has also made the school rugby league seniors team AND the North's Districts touch rugby league team. Unfortunately training days are on the same days; on Tuesday he goes to school an hour early for school footy, then has an hour right after school for touch footy after which I pick him up straight away to head for club footy for another hour. Needless to say he's very fit, if a little worn out on Wednesdays. Keeps him off the streets.




Her Majesty: Her Majesty knows her birthday is after Miss Thing's, however she's having trouble grasping the concept of just how long after. Her birthday isn't until July, yet she woke up Sunday morning loudly insisting it was her birthday. She has her heart set on a new bicycle, as well as a cat and a mouse and a red dress. And possibly a pony if she sees one between now and then. It's going to be a long 9 weeks.

Clive: Well putting aside the fact that he's starting to get cranky as he chills on the floor next to me, he's not quite Sir Screams-A-Lot these days. More like Sir Screams-Now-and-Then. He's starting to sleep through the night, eat pureed foods (current fav - pears and banana) and giggle maniacally when tickled under the chin. While still a Mamma's Boy, he did allow his Auntie to hold him, give him bottles and even a bath one night when Her Majesty was having a meltdown that required all my attention. However, he's not one to entertain himself for more than a few seconds - no putting him under a play gym or in a rocker with a few toys while ducking out of the room to tend to the fun things like laundry or peeing. And he still doesn't sleep well during the day - Mrs. Gabe thought I was kidding about his propensity for cat napping at first, but she soon learned otherwise.

The Hermit: Still in the US. Has been able to catch up with all of the local family as well as some friends in between 14 hour days and jet lag. According to Momma Mooselet, he even enjoyed shopping for goodies to bring back this past weekend. He sounds very worn out, however, as he juggles Aussie and US work problems, and will need a vacation when he comes back. He's due back Sunday, I think.

Finally, I apologize for skipping the Skinfest this weekend. I hated to do it, but I was just plain worn out. I promise I won't do it again anytime soon as I don't think anyone else is visiting - unless we win Gold Lotto. Then all bets are off.

We now resume our regular blogging schedule...

*ok technically that's not true, but that's a story for another day...

I am ALIVE

Although I feel a little dead.

It's been wonderful to see my brother Gabe and Mrs. Gabe, but... Because they are here for a relatively short time I'm trying to squeeze as much in as possible while still running a household with four kids minus the Hermit who's still away on business. It doesn't help that Mrs. Gabe runs on her own time zone.

Yes, I went there. I can because a) Mrs. Gabe doesn't read my blog all that often and b) Gabe, who does read my blog, fully admits his wife's inability to be in synch with the rest of us and has spent a lot of time apologizing to me. I can laugh it off because it's only a visit, but quite frankly I don't know how Gabe does it - he's not the most patient man in the world. Actually, that's an understatement. It's one of the primary reasons he doesn't want children - he admits he doesn't have the patience. He enjoys mine, even Her Majesty in full on chatterbox mode(Clive is a bit much for him to take, but then again Clive in full blown screaming mode is a bit much for the Hermit to take, so I can't blame Gabe), but this is because he can give them back to me. So missing their connecting flight to Brisbane due to Mrs. Gabe wanting to check out things in the terminal and Gabe NOT having a stroke tells me he must love his wife very much - or be on medication. No, it's the first thing.

Still, we've had a lot of laughs catching up. They did the whole koala/kangaroo thing at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary:

Enjoyed the warmth of a Queensland autumn:

And Mrs. Gabe had the fright of her life when she found this "little guy" hiding on my veranda:

(Lovely little bulge in his middle, isn't it?)

We're off to the beach today, and Mrs. Gabe wants to try to squeeze in High Tea on Friday. She'll have to get Gabe to do that one - I like my tea, but I like it wearing my jeans and t-shirt while downing Tim Tams. We'll also be taking Miss Thing out to dinner Friday night for her birthday, which is a nice treat for her to have her aunt and uncle here.

Life will return to normal, or what passes as normal, here at Mooselet Musings on Sunday when they fly out. Until then be patient - more stuff is coming!

Saturday Skinfest

The Lickety-Split (and slightly NSFW) edition.

Mr. & Mrs. Gabe are having a good time - at least I assume so as I've worn Mrs. Gabe right out. We're off today to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to see the 'roos and koalas, and since I'm way behind in posting and reading my usual blogs - if I haven't commented on yours lately, I'm not ignoring you I'm just really really busy - let's make this quick. You just want the flesh anyway.

If I'm a good girl, can I towel you off, Mark Minichiello:

This has to be one of the most, er, suspicious pictures of two straight men in a shower I've ever seen. EVER. Yeah I'm looking at you, Shawn Berrigan and Brett Seymour:

In honour of Gabe's visit, I've swiped this from his own site. But given his ever growing love of motorcycles I'm certain he won't mind a bit:

More skin next week!

Photo Friday

Spotted in our bamboo trees last weekend:

Hello Mr. Koala!!! How cool is this - to have a koala in the trees at your house?

Appeasement

Of course, you cannot get a shrubbery through Australian customs. But a whole lotta peanut butter cups (48, to be precise) works just as well. As did the box of Krispy Kremes.

The Knights Who Say Ni (Australian branch) are satisfied, and Mr. & Mrs. Gabe were allowed into the country. Or into my car and driven to my house

I wonder if I should make him cut down a tree with a herring...

Random Goodness

My brother Gabe arrives today for an 11 day visit, along with Mrs. Gabe. I would've posted about it sooner, but I didn't get confirmation until 10pm Monday night when I called them:

Gabe: "Hello."
Mooselet: "Dude!!! Are you guys coming over or not?"
Gabe: "Uh, yeah," said in a tone in which you'd speak to a 4 year old.
Mooselet: "Great. When?"
Gabe: "What do you mean when?"
Mooselet: "All you gave me were vague dates - 'leave around Monday, get there sometime Wednesday'. Are you planning on walking from the airport and sleeping on my couch?"

At which point Gabe laughed, admitted they had forgotten to send me the specifics details and were leaving that afternoon. So the place isn't as clean as it might be, but given my notice I think they're lucky to be getting a bed! Seriously, I'm excited they're coming - although disappointed that my niece, 18, wouldn't leave her boyfriend for the two weeks to come visit. Dopey.

Yesterday Anissa tagged me with a meme to list 7 random facts or habits about themselves. I've done two variations on this one, listing weird things about myself - see them here and here.. So here are some random, but not terribly weird, things you're just dying to know about me:

1. Growing up I was the shortest one in my immediate family. Not by much, but it irked me.
2. Despite having parents who smoked like chimneys and a close aunt who openly enjoyed those funny smelling 'herbal cigarettes', I have never smoked or tried any illegal drugs. Never.
3. To make up for the above fact I developed an addiction to chocolate and caffeine.
4. I have been drinking diet soft drinks for well over 20 years.
5. I have a small half-moon birthmark on my back.
6. I can pick objects up with my feet - toys, pens, paper, etc.
7. I had my tonsils removed when I was in the second grade.

I think that's sufficiently random. I won't tag anyone specific, but feel free to play along on your own blog or in the comments. Now I must dash and get ready for the airport run. Boy had best bring me some Krispy Kremes from Sydney or we's having words.....