a Beer, a Whine and The Spirit

Today is Sunday. And, incidentally, the last day of my NaBloPoMoMoMo. How did I do? Did I get a post in every day?

So what's so special about Sundays?

On any typical visit to Brisbane, and for as long as I can remember, Sunday has been the day we visit Nanny and Grandpa's place for a meal. Most recently (as in the last decade) it has been an 11am meal. We would normally stay for a couple of hours while Nanny served up 3 courses of delicious foods. It would be mostly the same each week, but every now and then she would surprise us with something "a bit different. Just for fun."

We won't be going to lunch at Nanny and Grandpa's today. Nanny's not doing so well. We don't know what the future holds for her, but we do know that she won't be cooking for us at her place again. It's the end of an era. No more will we sit around Nanny and Grandpa's kitchen table and laugh and joke and tell Nanny she has cooked too much again. Or listen to her and Grandpa tell stories. Or get a tap on the shoulder and be beckoned to the "back room" where she would give us a little present she had bought for us. We won't get to see her wave us goodbye from her gate, not going inside until she can't see the car anymore.

How do you say goodbye to someone who's still here, but at the same time, isn't?

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... that I wish I smoked.

Okay, so clearly that statement is untrue on pretty much every single level. Except for the fact that I am so restless and fidgety and stressed out at the moment, and I've started biting my nails again, and when I see smokers, inhaling deeply, they seem to blow away their troubles with that lungful of smoke.

And smoking is cool. Well, at least it used to be. Let's not deny it people! James Dean anyone? Carrie Bradshaw? Why else would people smoke, if not to look cool*? I mean, it's not like it tastes any good, or does your health any favours. Let's all just admit it. There's something cool and sexy about smoking. I know that's why I experimented with cigarettes (I'm such a rebel) while I was at uni. A few of the people I hung out with at uni smoked while we were out drinking, so, being the little sheep that I can be, I gave it a whirl. And it was oh-so-foul, but you know, it was cool. I felt cool. I'm sure I looked like an idiot (I probably scrunched up my face from the yucky taste and didn't inhale properly!) And it made me sick. I have asthma and I know it exacerbated it. I'm even quite convinced it gave me a horrible old man cough that stuck around for 18 months.

Why did I stop? I tried one while I was stone cold sober. That was it for me. I've never touched them since, and have reverted back to my snooty-nose face when I get stuck walking behind someone who is smoking, or when I'm on my way in to the hospital to visit Nanny, and all the smokers (and there are lots) are crowding around the gates to have their cigarettes because you can no longer smoke inside government grounds.

But to have that feeling of blowing all your problems away, into the wind, even if it's just a feeling and not an actuality... Well. That is certainly appealing.


*obviously, apart from the whole addiction thing

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Before we left Wang, we had a garage sale to try and get rid of excess stuff. And boy did we have excess stuff. I think I put out as many clothes as I had left in my wardrobe! I decided it was time to get rid of things that "might fit me one day" and just start fresh. (i.e. more op-shop clothes!) We were told to expect early callers, so we made a starting time of 8:30am on the Saturday morning. At 7:40am, a woman turned up and commented on how we weren't very organised and told us "I've been up since before 6:00am!" And that's my problem, how?? So she proceeded to help us set up, just so she could get through looking at everything and obviously move on to the next one. Sheesh!

We got rid of some furniture and a lot of crap, but hardly any clothes and not the big stuff like the big desks (one of which we ended up taking to our new place) or the couch or chairs.

Hubs and I were really looking forward to having the garage sale - neither of us had ever had one before - but I've gotta say, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. In fact, it was kind of depressing watching people go through our stuff and decide that they didn't want it. Like it wasn't good enough for them. I said to Hubs "if I had come to this garage sale, I would have bought all these clothes!" Funny about that...

Anyway, we made a few hundred dollars and donated the remaining things to Vinnies, so it was a moderately successful day for us, and a more successful day for Vinnies. Next time we might skip the middle man and just send our stuff straight to Vinnies

Here's Hubs and Chanbe at our garage sale. It was a very very cold morning and we'd had frost overnight. We had set everything up under our carport, but once the frost started melting, all the condensation poured onto the goods (you can see it on the ground) so we had to move everything out from under cover until it stopped! Funny!

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Chance really put on a lovely show and it was lovely to see Grandpa with a smile on his face.

It's been a very tough time for him, understandably, and it was great to see that he is being so well looked after. He is currently in a respite care facility and although he misses Nanny terribly and would rather be in his own home, he is doing as well as can be expected.


We saw Nanny again today and she actually opened her eyes and was reaching out to us which was really great. It's still early days and things can change rapidly and significantly but we're all hoping for the best.

Posted by Renae at 10:21 PM Comments

It was hard. Really hard. I haven't had to face this sort of situation - sickness of a loved one - many times in my life. In fact, I can probably count on one hand. But today I saw a woman lying in bed, hooked up to leads and tubes, and I knew it was Nanny, but it wasn't. This is how I remember Nanny:

I keep trying to reason with myself that Nanny is 87 (88 next month) and has had a great life and and and... but it doesn't make it easier. This woman has been in my life in so many different ways from the day that I was born. And to see her this way is breaking my heart.

We don't really know what the prognosis is at this stage; we just have to take it one day at a time. So that's what we'll do.

(Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers and texts.)

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Hubs wanted a "jelly pool" cake. So, you know, I made one. It was pretty yummy and lots of fun! (I really should take more care with the backgrounds for my photos, but... well... you know... whatever....)

Posted by Renae at 11:00 AM Comments

While Michael and Lea and family were visiting, we took a trip up to Falls Creek for a day in the snow. We had bought up big at ALDI's snow sale, so we were prepared for anything... or so we thought. Dad even gave Chanbe his silk balaclava to wear!

Unbeknownst to us bottom-of-the-mountain folk, it was snowing up the top! We arrived, snow chains at the ready, around lunch time and got straight into the white stuff.

Or perhaps to put it more accurately, it got straight in to us. It was snowing pretty hard up the top and it was pretty darn cold and windy! Not that Chance cared much!



It got a bit much for me after a while so Chance and I headed indoors to thaw out and have a bite to eat while the rest of the gang played in the snow. After this, we headed around to "Windy Corner" for some tabogganing. The name didn't lie.


Thankfully, Hubs took Chance for a while on the ergo, as I was having a hard time juggling a 10kg baby (not literally - but what a sight that would be!) and all those darn layers!


I had a couple of runs on the taboggan, but I kinda sucked at it, so Hubs took Chance for a go. Fun!


We decided to hunker down at the hut for a rest and another thaw-out so I carried Chance there in the windy snow. It was haaaaaaard work. That 50m seemed like an eternity! But we made it and were followed not long after by the rest of our group.


So again, Chance and I were happy to hang out there while everyone else went for round 2 on the taboggan slope. We then headed back down to the car and after another bite to eat, hit the road. We had to use snow chains on the way down as it was very icy indeed. We all got home safe and sound and that hot shower I had was one of the best ever. Hubs has been up the mountain twice since then for a bit of snowboarding action, and is up there again today. He's got to make good use of his season pass that he got for his birthday!! As to when I'll be back up there? Well, the jury's still out on that one...

Posted by Renae at 8:50 AM Comments

Hubs goes to Shepparton on Sunday for orientation for 2 weeks, and Mum was going to come down here for that time to keep Chanbe and I company. Unfortunately, my Nanny had a stroke a week ago and is currently in hospital. She's doing okay under the circumstances but we thought it would be nice to go and spend some time with her, so Chance and I are jumping on a plane (again) on Sunday evening and heading on up. We'll be there just under 2 weeks so I hope to be seeing some of you Brisbane folk while we're up there.

Posted by Renae at 10:58 PM Comments

I LOVE a house full of people. Whether it be for a meal, a party or an extended stay, (or all 3!) I just love knowing there are people around and that good times are to be had. We have lived in our new place for 17 days, and for 14 of those, we have had either 5, or 9 or 10 people in the house. It's been awesome.

As I mentioned, Mum and Dad helped us move and then stayed with us in our new place for 10 days before heading back to Brizzie. Also in that time, we were lucky enough to have Chance's Godmum and her family (her Hubs and my Hubs study med together - that's how we all met initially) stay with us. Their 2 kids were an absolute delight to have around and loved playing with Chance. And of course he was just memorised by them.

We all sat down and ate breakfasts and dinners together and the wine and beers and conversation flowed freely. We hope you guys come back to visit again some time!!

Posted by Renae at 10:28 PM Comments

This is the problem with not blogging "live" for a while - too much to catch up on!! For those of you who were in on the secret, the surprise weekend birthday party for Hubs was just brilliant. Maybe I'll start with that, and work my way backwards. A few months ago, Hubs' sister and I started planning for her and 6 of Hubs' friends to fly down to Melbourne, drive to Mt Beauty, and turn up on our doorstep as a surprise to Hubs, and spend the weekend here. I cannot tell you how many times I accidentally nearly blew the surprise. Sleep deprivation does not help with keeping surprises a secret, but I managed to keep my mouth shut and even convinced Hubs to go snowboarding on Friday (didn't take much) so I could prepare for the arrivals.

The first carload of people rocked up at 5pm and Hubs came home a bit after 6 and got a great surprise! The beers and rum began to flow freely, and by 11:30pm I was beat, so left Hubs and 3 of his mates (2 others had retired earlier) to catch up. I knew Hubs' sister and other friend were due to arrive after 3am and I could hear Hubs and Uncle Ben - the last men standing - chatting and drinking into the wee hours. I thought they would come to bed, and have Lsl wake Hubs up to surprise him, but Ben had other plans. They were still up when Lsl and Hubs' mate arrived at 3:30am and he got another great surprise!! I popped out to say hi and set up extra beds, and retired again around 4:30am. Hubs didn't crawl into bed until 6, and guess who woke up, ready to play with Mama at 6:15am!!! WOO HOO!!!! Thankfully after a little brekky and play, Chanbe and I rejoined Hubs for another hour of sleep around 8.

So Saturday was spent with a walk into town, a visit to the local Tavern, and a push home in the stroller. (I had driven Chance home earlier.) Oh, and Hubs' last birthday cake for this year.

I had had the Tetris cake idea in my head (and in my iPhone reminders) for months, and I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

We spent Sunday at a few wineries and the Bright Brewery, and had dinner at home. At this point, I might share some photos instead of more words.

Posted by Renae at 10:13 AM Comments

I'm working on some posts at the moment, but seem to be having some technical difficulties (read: I'm a bit useless today). But here's a shot Hubs took on Sunday at the Bright Brewery. Mmmmmm.... snuggles......

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Hubs with the other dreaded, skate boarding, new father in Wangaratta, Stefan, and his son Frederick.

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We have internet connected!! I'm really rather impressed that it happened so quickly in the end! And, I had only scheduled posts up until Sunday so I just scraped in!

The move went really well, due in no small part to the help from my parents. They looked after Chance while we got stuck into the packing, moving, and cleaning the old place. Then once we were in our new place, they cooked, cleaned and babysat while we settled in. They left this morning and I've already noticed all the extra things they had been doing (washing, doing the dishes, cooking) that I now have to get used to doing again! It was so great having them around and I'm already looking forward to Mum coming back down in 10 days to stay with Chance and I while Hubs is in Shep for 2 weeks of orientation. But that's a story for another day.

We also had help from our friends Kyra and Stephan and little Frederick. Thanks guys!! Can't wait to have you back here for a holiday sometime. 

We love the new place. The extra space is fantastic, and Mt Beauty is such a cute little town. We had our friends Mick (Hubs' med friend) and Lea (Chance's Godmother) and their 2 kids stay with us over for a few days. We went up to the snow on Sunday - photos to come - and generally just hung around and had a great catch up. It was so wonderful having them around, and having a really full house. This is what we have missed so much - having friends and family stay with us. We can't wait for the next lot of visitors to come!

Hubs went snowboarding yesterday and is going again tomorrow so he's already putting his season pass to good use. I'll leave the update there for now, and share more with you in the next few days.

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On our way back from Brisbane in April (the 6th). Chanbe was an absolute dream...

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Taken 28th March, 2010

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It's going well! Slowly, but well. All the new stuff is in the new place, and now the unpacking begins! I am committing to taking a box of "stuff" down to Vinnies each week at the new place, to try and de-clutter. Maybe it'll be each month. Hmmm... Might have to think that through a bit more.

Anyway, we are all going well and I'll be back in blogging land as soon as we work out which provider to go with up there. Hopefully I'll be able to keep my NaBloPoMoMoMo commitment!!

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Taken 20th Jan, 2010

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He barely fits in this bassinet anymore...

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Taken 3rd January, 2011

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