Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Day One of Fifteen

I would brand day one a success!

She woke me at 7.30am with a big smiley face requesting that we begin our first activity for the day immediately! So I climbed out of bed and got dressed .. not allowed to have a shower this morning .. too much to do! I heated up my broth and while I drank it, I was instructed to play the minion game on the Ipad.

The first activity was the big book of dinosaur stickers which also included 8 dinosaurs to make out of cardboard cutouts.

We made the dinosaurs and then played with them for about 15 minutes, during which time, we received a phone call from Mama to tell us she was at the airport in Brisbane, checked in and waiting to board the plane. She sent through a photo of the plane for Chicklet to see.

Chicklet and I created a few masterpieces with blank paper and dinosaur stickers and decided to have a 'mailbox' each for Mama so that we could keep everything that we make over the two weeks for Mama to look at when she arrives home.

After we got bored with dinosaur stickers, it was time to watch the second half of 'Chicken Little' .. the first half of which we watched before dinner the night before (yes, we have watched it 3 times in two days, and would have been four if I hadn't convinced her to try a different movie this afternoon .. 'Open Season', which she turned off after 30 minutes).

When 'Chicken Little' was finished, we got dressed and jumped in the car with Dadu. Chicklet and Dadu went to the libraray together, while I spent some time in retail therapy .. always good for the soul.

Dadu and I both thought we had each other's phone number and agreed to text each other when ready to go home, but discovered later that neither of us had any phone numbers, just email addresses!

I found a health food shop and bought some raw organic honey, some raw organic cacao and some organic coconut oil. I'll make some chocolate muffins some time in the next couple of days.

I got myself a couple of tops at 40% off, bought an iron in Big W as well as some more stickers and the 'sad' doll from 'Inside Out', which is Chicklet's favourite character in the movie .. but she wasn't the slightest bit impressed by my choice!

A couple of hours later, I was walking through the mall and looked up to see this little blonde child running headlong towards me with the biggest cheekiest smile on her face! So cute!

We all did some grocery shopping together and bought a mango smoothie and a coffee on the way out before heading home.

Chicklet and I spent the afternoon putting stickers on the frame of her 'safe space', watching .. you guessed it .. 'Chicken Little' .. again .. while munching on mango, blueberries and watermelon.

We played outside and got photos of a kookaburra on the fence (Chicklet guarded the kookaburra while I retrieved my camera from inside). We played on the swing for about twenty minutes and then made a nest out of the washing basket, hoping to lure some birds into the back yard.

Soon it was dinner time and the Bare-chested Chef made a delicious and hearty chicken and corn soup from scratch. Chicklet must have been hungry because she ate a bowl of pasta, some cucumber and carrot, followed by a mango ice cream. She barely spoke during dinner and we could see that she was extremely tired, so she had a quick bath and story time from Dadu before falling into a deep slumber.

I've had a headache for a couple of hours this afternoon but I drank heaps of water over a one hour period and it has almost gone .. I really must remember to drink more water during the day! I have to look after myself while looking after Chicklet.

Before she climbed into bed, Chicklet took down butterfly number one off the wall (there are 15 butterflies for each day that Mama will be away and at the end of each day, she takes down a butterfly and puts it in her safe space). That way she can see how many days til Mama comes home.  She also took a small heart (which represents a Mama hug) and placed it inside the big blue heart on her bedroom wall.

There are big blue hearts in various locations around the house and whenever she needs a Mama hug, she has different sized and different coloured heart stickers from which to choose and stick on the big blue hearts. Mama will give her all of those hugs when she returns.

So day one has been a success.

It's not quite 9pm and I expect to be asleep before 10pm because we have another big day planned for tomorrow, including a bus ride.

The weather is uncomfortably warm and even with the window open and the fan on high, I still feel warm, however, it's going to be 3 degrees warmer up north at home tomorrow, so I'll be grateful to be here instead!

I hope Vegan Chickie is having an enjoyable flight.

Nite all.

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