First Step to Fame & Fortune

... and keeping their mother in the manner in which she'd like to become accustomed.

Go check out this article that features Sparky and Her Majesty (with their real life identities exposed... well, almost) and their love of rugby league.

I'm on a mission to get the article to the top of the 'Top Stories' list, so show a little blog love and check it out. How can you not with this picture:

If any family back Stateside are interested in hard copies, let me know and I'll chase down some.

Now go and read Sparky's words of wisdom. Go now. Please?

Match Report Monday

This report will be shorter than I'd like owing to the fact I still can't type with my wounded finger. Even the little bit of pressure needed to press a key makes me want to say "Ouch ouch OUCH!" with every touch. It is getting better, it's just a very slow process. Painfully slow.

Round 4 U7s, N1
Date: 29 March 2009, 9:00 am kickoff
Where: Purtell Park, Bardon
Who: Wests Panthers v Albany Creek Crushers

Now I know I said there is no official score attached to these games for the young 'uns, but when one team scores quite a few tries and the other team doesn't score any then it's safe to say one team "won". Luckily for us, the winning team was Wests!

Her Majesty played the first three quarters and was itching to go back on in the last quarter. She had a few good runs, including actually running forward before being tackled, and helped in a couple of tackles. She didn't panic when she lost her shoe when she was tackled, instead trying to keep up with the play while stomping her foot back into her boot. Classic! She continues to improve every week and still loves to play.

Round 4 U14s, Div 2
Date: 29 March 2009, 12:15 pm kickoff
Where: Ken Heyward Oval, Deception Bay
Who: Deception Bay Raiders v Wests Panthers
Score: 22-20, Deception Bay. So close!

It was 4 tries apiece, with the ultimate difference coming from the kicks. And the boys didn't have their best game. Their passes and ball control were not what it has been if late. When it happened it was fantastic, but unfortunately it just fell short of the mark this week. Their defence was spectacular, with Deception Bay having to work hard for every point. In fact it took 15-20 minutes for the first points of the game to come from the Raiders. Wests struck back shortly after off a great run by newcomer Nick to level the score at 6-6. Deception Bay scored just before halftime to take a narrow 10-6 lead at the break.

The Panthers had a slow start in the second half, with the Raiders getting out to a 16-6 lead before Chris crashed over twice to level the scores. Then it became nail biting stuff, with Deception Bay getting over and converting to take the lead, 22-16. Chris again took charge and scored his third try, but it was just too far out for Jack the Taller to convert and the score sat at 22-20. The boys kept at it, with Josh's attempt to get over called a double movement and some excellent chasing to deny Deception Bay an easy victory. There was a last desperate attempt by Zack, who tried to kick the ball and chase it down, but the Raiders were just too quick. The final whistle blew and the score line remained 22-20.

On a positive note, this loss should see the boys remain in Division 2 where they clearly belong. It should also take them to second place and keep them in contention for the Broncos Challenge Cup. I think it was good to show them that there's still work to be done.

Next week is the last round before the Easter break, and I hope my finger is better by then. I'm over this constant backspacing to fix my typing errors.

GO THE PANTHERS!!!

Saturday Skinfest

I'm still typing with only 9 fingers, so bear with me if you come across any typos. My finger is better, but it's still quite swollen and painful when I use it.

Plus I'm trying to get Clive to go to sleep after a 15 hour day, text Miss Thing so she'll go away long enough for me to miss her, and hope Sparky starts to feel better else I'll have him home tomorrow. I know, Mother of the Year...

Skin time!!! The theme this evening is swimwear...

These Speedos are so small Cooper Cronk actually looks as if he's in pain. Take 'em off already, I say!

Benji Marshall and the Wests Tigers, who I wish would get some consistency so I'd do better with my tips. Love pool recovery photos!

Kurt Gidley, looking somehow both studly and pastey. Kurt, they make excellent fake tan product now if you're worried about skin damage. But you have such nice shoulders I forgive you for the pale look.

Bar Rafaeli and her crochet swim, er, thing. It's not really a swimsuit, not even bottoms. Just yarn, really. Guess even hot models are feeling the economic pinch.

More skin, less backspace key (trust me on this one) next week!

Photo Friday

It's been a long time, but yesterday I finally managed to damage one of my digits again:

Not the best picture, but notice the dark shading on the left side of tip of my finger.

And the collection of blood 'neath my nailbed.

Slammed it in the car door. Don't ask. I really thought I broke it as the pain was excruciating, even hours later. As it turns out I didn't, but they gave me some good drugs (morphine) at the hospital last night so I was much more comfortable. Now, not so much. Time to go to the chemist and get me some codeine!

Grain of Salt

I have to write a 3000 character "application statement" on my job application to convince Queensland Health to hire me as a nurse when I finish university in June. That's not as daunting as I first thought, as it's 3000 characters, not words. If you give an average length of 5 letters per word, that's 600 words. Then subtract spaces and punctuation - which count as characters on an online application - and it's even less.

So maybe my original plan of "because I'm awesome and you know you want to" would still work.

Hmmmm, perhaps not.

I have to answer this question that was especially devised by the graduate nurse recruiters:

What do you envisage your role and responsibilities as a first year Registered Nurse to be?

Oh dear. Where's my shovel and boots... time to sling some fertilizer about!

Anyway, whilst I contemplate the best way to get hired, you can contemplate this coupon I swiped from some sea salt at The Large Grocery Store That Employees Me:


180 DOLLARS FOR A SALT MILL??? Let me tell you, for a salt mill to be worth that much it better do a lot more than just grind my salt. It should cook the meal for me, clean up afterwards and possibly tell me how wonderful I am for $180. Because I can think of other battery operated devices that would do a hell of a lot more for me in the personal satisfaction department than mash up salt crystals for less than that price.

Match Report Monday Returns in 2009

As you may recall me mentioning I've got both Sparky and Her Majesty playing football this year. So does that mean 2 match reports? No. Quite frankly Her Majesty's Under 7s team does not have the skills to offer decent commentary. They're cute as hell and it's very relaxing to watch compared to Sparky's team, but even with a coach out on the field to help them it's like herding cats. I'll likely just give a brief update on how Her Majesty is doing - and yes, she's the only girl on her team, one of only two girls in the club and we haven't come across another girl on another team yet.

Her Majesty at home in her gear.

Sparky's reports will be a little light on the details for now. Whereas last year we struggled to get a full 13 on the field, never mind reserves, we now have so many new boys that one will be required to miss the game every week as we are only allowed to have 19 boys on the game sheet. In addition, there are so many new boys that I can't keep their names straight - and a lot of them seem to start with 'J'. I'm pretty sure we have another Jack and 2 Jakes on top of the 2 Jacks and a Jackson, plus a Josh and a Jarrod we already had.

I will also have times where both kids will have games too close together and in two different locations. This coming week, for example, Sparky will play in Deception Bay and Her Majesty will be at home in Bardon. Now that not may mean anything to some of you but they're well over an hour apart, so if the times are close then I will be taking one child and The Hermit will be taking the other. Details on the one I miss will, naturally, be sketchy.

Right - with all the details out of the road, let's get to it!

Round 3 U7s N1
Date: 22 March 2009, 9:00 am kickoff
Where: Kirby Park, Aspley
Who: Aspley Hornets v Wests Panthers

Oh, and there will be no score for the littlies games. Sure they do score tries, and occasionally kick a conversion goal, but we don't keep track.

That's her game face - complete with mouthguard and headgear.

Her Majesty played for 3 and a bit quarters - going on for 5 minutes in the quarter she was supposed to be off when someone was injured. She did tell me after the game that some of the boys on the other team were laughing at her because she was a girl playing football, but she didn't let it bother her during the game. She is still pretty hesitant on the field - you'd think after all these years of watching Sparky play she'd be more confident - but she's getting there. She did make a couple of runs with the ball and helped in a few tackles, and even tried for a conversion! Most importantly she's still liking the game and looks forward to training on Monday nights.

Round 3 U14s, Div 2
Date: 22 March 2009, 12:15 pm kickoff
Where: Purtell Park, Bardon
Who: Wests Panthers v Albany Creek Crushers
Score: 20-6, Wests. Two in a row!

Two, you're asking? But it's round 3. I know... they had a forfeit in round 1 so while they got the points it didn't give them an actual game to test their skill. They pulled off a 30-22 win last week over the Aspley Hornets in a game where they had a blinder of a first half and then went missing in the second half.

So did they do the same this week? Not on your life. The two teams were pretty evenly matched, with Wests having more opportunity to score in the first half. Zack (I think) was the first to put points on the board (if we had one), diving over in the far left corner. Josh(I think) scored next under the black dot, setting up a much easier conversion and leaving Albany Creek shut out in the first half with the score 10-0.

The Crushers struck back early in the second half off an intercept, running the length of the field to come within 4 points. Wests looked wobbly for a bit, at one point conceding 3 penalties in a row, but lots of chatter (NOT fighting) and encouragement on the field saw them deny Albany Creek and forced errors, allowing them to hold their lead. In the final 10 minutes they broke the game open, scoring 2 quick tries (both by Jackson I think) and widening the gap to a 20-6 lead.

It was such a great effort by all involved. A couple of the newbies had a fantastic game, and it's great to hear them all talk to each other and take direction from each other (not to mention actually giving directions as well) without getting angry. Unless Deception Bay had a blinder of a game, the boys should remain at the top of the ladder - a feat never accomplished by them.

GO PANTHERS!!!

As The Hermit Commands

OK, that's not entirely true. I was going to get around to updating this weekend, but this evening The Hermit said to me "OK, hon? You really need to update your blog. Your last post was over a week ago. Your fans need you."

Really, he said that. He knows how to make me laugh.

But I know my family worries about me when I go too long. And I haven't been hugely busy like I was when I was doing my clinical prac, so what's my excuse this time?

It's been the troubles with Miss Thing. I think my mind just refused to really deal with it until my prac was over, and when it was it all came crashing down. I didn't want to go on about it here as I didn't want you all to roll your eyes because I was bitching and whingeing about my daughter... again. It's not like she's out shooting up drugs or committing murder, right?

So I've spent the last week or so trying to come to grips with it all. I've discovered that I'm more like my late father than I wanted to admit. And since my father could be stubborn at best and cruel at worst (usually when he had been drinking exceptionally heavily) when his feelings were hurt, you can imagine this was not a realization I enjoyed making. Since I was having such a hard time in coming up with the right words to say to my firstborn - I knew what had to be said but I just couldn't make the words come out - I made The Hermit do it.

I'm still upset with myself for not being able to do it. I did finally make an effort, but it nearly killed me and it felt so forced... This bothers me more than you can possibly imagine. So I'm fairly emotionally drained. I'm so tense and cranky and just. Not. Happy.

But the cage door was opened this weekend. Miss Thing has officially moved out. The Hermit helped her move her most of her things today. And I'm done talking about it. M'kay?

I'm trying to get my equilibrium back now, and will be back here on the blog this week. Match Report Monday returns tomorrow, and you can look forward to Photo Friday, the Skinfest and all the things that make this blog something you like to visit and read.

Thanks for being patient with me during this most difficult time. I'll try and be happy again for you, for my family, and for me.

Imagination Movers

One of Her Majesty's and Clive's favourite shows is a newcomer (at least here in Australia) to the preschool set, The Imagination Movers:

A slightly different theme clip plays on Australian Playhouse Disney, but I can't find that one. This is close enough...

Their website describes their style as the brain child of a collaboration between Mr. Rogers and the Beastie Boys. Well there are no sweaters hung up on coat hangers or Brylcreem, but there is lots of trendy facial hair, a backwards baseball cap and one member (Scott) who spends waaaay too much time with a hair straightener. You'd think with that statement I'd dislike them.

But I don't. The Wiggles may be the safe and responsible parent that we all trust, but I like to think of The Imagination Movers as that cool and crazy uncle kids wish they had (or have in lucky cases). The one who would hang out with them, play rock music and be lots of fun but still not let the kids play in traffic. Your kids love to hang out with them, and you know you'll get them back in one piece.

And I have to admit that I'd rather have their music playing in the background than some Hannah Montana pop crap, or (forgive me) the millionenth rendition of Hot Potato. Or most other music from the preschool set. The lyrics are pretty standard fare for little kids - songs about cleaning your room and good manners - but Barney and his diabetic-coma inducing sweetness would be trampled in the mosh pit in comparison.

So we welcome The Imagination Movers to Chez Mooselet, and pretend that when I download their songs onto my iPod it's really for Clive and Her Majesty in the car.

About Yesterday

Thanks to everyone who left encouraging comments on yesterday's post. I'm feeling more like myself after a fairly good night's sleep, although I'm still a bit sick inside over the thought.

But I want to make a few more points. Or more accurately clarify a few things. I wasn't at my best yesterday and I think I may have left the wrong impression.

One - That I in absolutely no way, shape or form blame Momma Mooselet and the problems in my parent's marriage for my own situation with the Bastard. MM made the only decision she could in an impossible situation and no apology is necessary. I'm a big believer in personal responsibility - maybe too much as I tend to take responsibility for EVERYTHING - and so I do not lay blame on others for my stuff-ups. I made mention of my then-homelife to give you some context in what I felt the differences were between my own mistake-filled younger years and Miss Thing's life.

Two - That I feel someone who does not have a college or university degree is somehow less worthy. My father never went to college, and my mother went but never finished. My brother does not hold a degree of any kind. My mother was a senior VP in her super-large company, and my brother is the CTO of his. And more importantly, they're awesome people. A lot of my friends don't have degrees, and you know they're great people because they're my friends. {{insert smiley face here}} A lack of a piece of paper does not condemn you to a miserable life. Nor does holding advanced degrees make you a better person - George W. Bush, anyone??? But I think most people would agree that furthering your education, be it degrees or certificates or training courses, helps you a great deal. It can be a struggle without them. But the point I was trying to make, and I think it came across badly, was that Miss Thing has no plan. No plan to go to school, no plans NOT to go to school. We can't even get her to ring up and find out her rank to see what her options would be - she just doesn't want to know. (And no, I can't do it for her... I tried.)

Again, I know that no plan doesn't mean a life of misery. But it means a lot of struggling, and I'd spare her that if I could. If she'd let me. But she won't, and so I'm left feeling like something of a failure even though I know I'm not. I think if you took me to a shrink right now I'd get some heavy-duty medication and time in a padded cell. Hmmm... doesn't sound unappealing right about now.

So I baked a cake yesterday, and it turned out decently. I've had two pieces this morning. Hermit's Lil Sis sent me virtual chocolate and much-missed Ben & Jerry's over on Facebook. I've gotten messages that tell me I'm not alone, which means a lot. Thanks.

And now I'm heading out for my 4th week of clinical prac. I only hope it's busier than last week so I can get my mind off all this for a little while.

Down and Confused

... and a little hurt.

I'm not quite ready to blog about it in all its gory detail, because I haven't sorted out how I completely feel about it yet. But I will tell you it involves Miss Thing, her plans to move out when she turns 18 in May and what her future plans are.

That sounds very melodramatic, and it's not like she's planning on joining the circus or anything. It's very much in line with Miss Thing's personality of knowing everything and not listening to what those in know have to say - a continuation of her high school ways, really. For which she still refuses to accept responsibility for her less-than-stellar outcome, stating that no one told her what was expected or what would happen. I somehow prevented my head from exploding when she said that and set her straight - that all we did for 3 years was tell her but she refused to listen until it was too late.

So here we are again. The Hermit and I have been after her to set some plans in motion as concerns future education, and her response is to not hear what we're saying and move out. Do her own thing. I'm sure my own mother is reading this and seeing shades of several irresponsible decisions I made when I was only a couple of years older than Miss Thing, and that's true. I fucked up and took a HUGE detour in life when I was 20. In my defence, I had two things happening in my life that Miss Thing does not - I was involved with the Bastard and all the fucked-up dynamics that an abusive relationship brings, and (without getting into details that would hurt Momma Mooselet, whom I love and adore) my own family dynamics weren't good. Sorry, you'll have to take my word for that as I won't get into it. Miss Thing does not have those pressures - all she has is a mother and stepfather who want her to make a plan that goes beyond a job that, while it pays well, really doesn't have a future path for someone so young. I always knew that schooling was important, yet I somehow can't get that message to my offspring no matter how hard I try.

Does that make sense?

I'm a bit depressed by it all. I'm happy for her to be on her own someday - it's something I never experienced that I sometimes wished I did. But not like this. And I'm confused by my own feelings - I'm not trying to keep her in the nest, but I don't think she can fly yet. And I'm hurt that I still can't reach her, that all she sees is right now and can't see how an education will help her in the future. I feel like all I can do is watch her fall from the nest, and what kind of a mother does that?

Gee, I guess I gave you more gory detail that I thought I would.

So excuse me while I go have a good cry and then over-indulge in chocolate to make myself feel better. I'll try and be happier tomorrow.

Photo Friday

So how am I doing after Week 3 of clinical prac?

Kinda tired. Learning a lot - except for today which was a waste of a day - and pretty much have my mind made up as to where I want to work when this is over.

Can you tell I want it to be over soon?

Saturday Skinfest

No banter tonight... I'm just too tired from the busy-as-usual weekend and sad owing to hearing the inevitable news that Lisa of Clusterfook passed away late Friday evening (US time). If you have no idea what I'm talking about read this entry of mine from a few days ago first before continuing.

But I can't keep blowing off the Skinfest, so here we go:

Billy Slater (left) seems to be checking out the muscles of former league player Lote Tuquiri, who looks like he could kick Billy's ass with one gorgeously muscled arm tied behind his back. I wish Lote would come back to the NRL so I could feature him more often.

James Pritchard should have stood in front of something with more colour as it really washes him and his overly waxed chest out. I would like to offer my services as a consultant the next time he has these types of pictures taken, purely from an artistic standpoint of course.

I'm not a fan of Nick Youngquest's new David Beckham-wannabe look, but I'm sure some of you feel otherwise. This is for you good people!

Someone should really tell Bar Rafaeli that spaghetti should NOT be used as a swimsuit top. Any of you blokes want to put your hands up for that?

More skin, hopefully more happiness, next week!