Clowns to the left of me...jokers to the right...

I have a phobia. It's serious and has been known to reduce me to tears and cause a racing heart and anxiety attacks.

This is it.....

Yep, clowns. I'm terrified of them. So you can imagine my delight when once a year the annual Christmas Pageant comes round.... oh yeah let me at it.....

However, my children love to go. So we go. It's very, very popular which means we need to get there at least a couple of hours before it starts to secure a good spot. So yesterday morning we were up at an ungodly hour and all packed sleepily into the car so that we could get there before the hoards. We arrived, a full two hours before take off and still didn't get a front row spot. However, we were closer than last year so we settled in, marking our territory with a picnic rug and some fold up chairs (this is serious business people). Tom went off to get me coffee (because he's scared of caffeine-free me) and soon returned laden with a couple of lattes and a selection of fresh pastries like the good hunter-gatherer he is.

Almost as soon as we settled in the warm-up acts began. Clowns. Because we all know how hilarious they are don't we? Walking, running, skipping, dancing, uni-cycling clowns. Big, over made-up freaks with giant shoes. Sorry, I just do not see the attraction. So, I read the paper, white knuckled thinking 'don't come near me, don't come near me'. But they're like cats aren't they, they can smell your fear so of course they were hanging around us A LOT!

Here's another one

And the crowds.....good God in heaven why do we do this to ourselves?

There are more photos of floats, fairies, princesses, more clowns and of course the main man himself (Santa) but I am so exhausted trying to download the clowns without actually looking at the computer that I've quit for the day.

Special thanks to Hannah who acted as photographer because she got sick of me falling backwards off my chair every time I got a clown in the view finder.

Fun times.

Two

Another one bites the dust.....

Oh, hello freedom...is that you I see a week away?

Clouds and Koalas

All on the way home today.....

Pretty clouds...

and I know it's hard to tell...but it is a koala

Don't ask stupid questions

When I picked Hannah up from school she got into the car with a face like thunder, grumpily saying she was tired and had a headache from all the screaming. 'Screaming?' I asked. 'Yes, the screaming during the race' she replied. Like all good Catholic schools our school encourages the children to get involved in gambling from an early age. So they went to the hall to watch the Melbourne Cup, also known as 'the race that stops a nation'. This is no exaggeration, a news report this afternoon has claimed that a judge allowed the jury to leave a trial to watch it.

I don't give a shit about horse races had forgotten it was on and the conversation went like this...

Me: Oh, so you saw it....the race?

Hannah: Yep.

Me: Right.....hmm, ok.... was it good?

Hannah: Yep.

Me: So....who won then...?

Hannah: The black one.

Me: Oh. Ok. ???????????

And in totally unrelated news I have just noticed that this is my 100th post!! I had planned some kind of celebration if I ever reached 100 posts but ....meh.... no time. I'll just quietly congratulate myself and get drunk on medicinal Chivas Regal since there are no painkillers left (see previous post).

Hang on.....how about this? Not entirely accurate but close enough.

Double trouble

I'm still deciding what has been the crappest part of today. Working on yet another frickin' essay or going to the dentist. It's a hard call. I'll hold off on my decision for a while though. There may be other contenders, after all, it's only 2pm.

I'll get back to you.

**Update** And we have a winner.....still having toothache after going to the dentist (and paying $88) and realising we've run out of painkillers. It's going to be an interesting night.

Three

One more assignment down - three to go.

I worked all day Saturday and all of Sunday morning to finish it. Then I decided to have a break and spend some time with my neglected husband and children. It was cold and raining so we....

......got the paints out.

Guess which paintings are mine?

Then Tom made scones......

.....which we ate with home made strawberry jam (courtesy of my mother-in-law)

Now for the next assignment.......

A little of this and that...

...so not much blogging from me recently, a couple of fillers to keep my hand in but no real news - sorry. The essay/assignment writing is sapping my energy and I'm feeling the stress, but it will all be over soon.

So today I'll do a little catch up.

Uni update, 14 days and 4 assignments to go. No more to say on that topic - it's making me cry.

I joined a new gym that has opened nearby. The gym used to be my exercise of choice, I was a 4 times a week girl for a long time. Having babies, then moving away from a convenient gym put an end to that. However a brand new gym recently opened 8 minutes from home. So in I went and signed up. I've been twice this week and it felt good to get some exercise. I've previously mentioned my expanding butt since finishing work, hopefully this will address the problem. It's a bit different to what I'm used to, it's women only for a start (no bad thing) and there's a circuit and a requirement to alternate weights with cardio using these springy little board things. I have no sense of rythm and even less coordination so the gym staff get their entertainment from my manic flailings. They should be paying me to go there for the endless fun I provide.

Paradoxically the stress of Uni is causing me to eat more than usual. I won't say how many double choc chip cookies I've already eaten today (five) and it's only 1pm.

My house is a mess. A huge, messy, untidy, in-serious-need-of-a-good-clean kind of mess. This depresses me like you wouldn't believe but I really just cannot dedicate the time to it just now. So it will have to wait. It also depresses and frustrates me that 'no-one' else who lives here is offering to clean it or even attempting to be a little bit tidier to reduce the mess. In fact the other day my children were quietly playing in their room (I should have been suspicious of that) and I later discovered that they'd played 'snow' tearing the contents of a whole box of tissues into teeny, tiny, wee pieces and throwing it all over the room. It's only partially cleaned up even now.

On a brighter note I am having a couple of hours off tonight to go to a friend's exhibition opening. My sister-in-law is coming with me (she is coincidentally finishing her degree right now as well - we both need a break) so we're taking a couple of hours to drink a glass (or three) of wine, eat some finger food, mix with some other human beings that don't need cleaning up after and look at some beautiful Persian Art (lots of textiles, rugs etc but other stuff too) while listening to Persian music. Quite looking forward to it. I may forget to come home.

I'm sure there are other things to tell, such as why the entire contents of my bathroom cupboard are on the desk in the office or how Sophie is posessed by the spirit of an angry leopard or simiar and has turned into Sophie the bitch cat from hell. But that will have to wait for another day.