"Merely Glow"? I Don't Think So!

Apart from the fact that the above cartoon is totally my life at the moment, today has been one of those 'auughh' days. And I wasn't even going to post because today is Saturday and I'm trying really hard not to blog on weekends because of pressing household tasks (see above) and general family togetherness and all, and then I realised I didn't post on Friday so if you count today as Friday's post, and if I forget to post another couple of times this week I calculate I'll be back on track in around two weeks. Or, you can just count all the grammatical errors in that last sentence. Equally enthralling, I'm sure :P

Remember this post? Remember specifically this sentence?

Now, I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to look back on my words come
the end of November and wonder why I was whingeing about the cold weather...

Yep, I was right. My city has gone through a warm stretch for the last week and a bit. On the 3rd (at the height of the rainy start to the month), the temp was 16.4ºC (62ºF). On Friday 9th, when the warm run began, it was 29.4ºC (85ºF) and hasn't dropped below that since. This past Friday, the 16th, it got to 37.1ºC (98.8ºF). And it's not over yet. This is the forecast for the next few days. I'm hanging out for Wednesday, let me tell you.

I do not do well in the heat. I am a 25 Degree Gal, max. I make no apologies for that, LOL.

This morning was Boofah and Miss Moo's school Christmas Fair. I badly wanted to stay at home in a caftan sipping icy drinks under the air-conditioner, but I sucked it up and the kids and I headed down to the school. A five minute walk and we were all sweating when we got there. Whoever penned that saying "Horses sweat, gentlemen perspire, and women merely glow" obviously never spent any time in an Australian summer! Plus, women do sweat. Icky, but true.

Our local primary (elementary) school is quite a big one, so the Fair is big as school shindigs go. They had a 'sideshow alley' of sorts - one of those gigantic metal slides (now there's a place you want to be putting your rear end on a 35ºC (95ºF) day!), the biggest jumping castle I've ever seen, mini golf, those clown/ball machines, a 'vitual reality' ride, and a miniature motorised merry-go round for the littlies. Master J and Boofah chose the virtual reality ride, which was a hoot because they had a TV screen set up for the parents to watch the poor kids petrified reactions to the 3D action while they waited outside. I briefly thought J would have some sensory issues (it's dark, pitching left and right, and there are monsters basically jumping off the screen to get him) but he was just fine. We've been pretty lucky in that regard. Miss Moo chose the jumping castle. I was completely mean and set a limit of one ride each (at $5 a pop, it's not cheap) so after we'd sweated our way through the crowds we got a cold drink and sat down a while. Still sweating. Blech.

I'd also given the kids $2 each to spent as they saw fit. There are always lots of fair-type crafts on sale, mostly trinket stuff you know won't last out the week but it all goes toward the experience so you wear the expense with good grace, LOL. You know, kind of like those $7 non-satisfying hotdogs at sporting events when a 50c sandwich from home would have filled you up better? :P Master J had a slight problem when he didn't win anything on a 'spin the wheel' game and realised he'd 'wasted' his $2. By 'problem', I mean 'mini meltdown'. We haven't had one of those in quite a while but one of the things we're firm with him on is his behaviour, and he knows better, so he got a Screen Free Day the rest of the day (no computer, Playstation, hand-held games) Boofah was marginally more successful and brought home a box of Christmas crackers which he won on a 'lucky (popsicle) stick' game and Miss Moo spent her money (and borrowed some off Mum) for a chance at a Lucky Dip, from which she pulled out a hideous purple faux fur bag she instantly fell in love with. Five year old girls are so easy to please.

My favourite part of the Fair though was the folk art stall. The school's gym is open to stallholders on the day (usually Mums from within the school 'family') and I bought a few country-style wooden door/wall-hangings. I wish I had more people on my Christmas list who appreciate the country decorating style (my mother would have loved, loved, loved what was on offer, sigh) but I settled for this wall hanging for the inlaws, who have five grandkids:

This wall hanging just for me, which I'll hang on my laundry room door, LOL.


And this last one was just cute and fun so into the bag it went too. It will go somewhere in the kitchen. Ahem.


The mum who makes these generally just does this one stall each year but I know who she is (our kids were in the same class last year) so I can corner her before school lets out for the year if I figure out who else to gift with one. I'm sure she'd be happy to make some post-Fair sales :)

Life is just crazy at the moment. As well as an extremely high (self-inflicted, sigh) study load which is due in less than two weeks, we have the wrap-up to our school year in full force. With three kids in two different schools, we have performances, concerts, excursions, fairs, you name it all squeezed into a three or four week period before school lets out on December 14. For those unaware, Australia's school year runs from the last week in January until around the middle of December, broken up by 2 week holidays every 10 weeks or so (and hence, four terms in the school year). Some states (I think Tasmania?) have three terms so longer holiday periods throughout the year, and some states' schools don't break for the year until the third week of December (just a few days before Christmas), but my state, South Australia, breaks mid-December. All states have around a six-week or so summer holiday stretch over the height of the heat (these three month long summers I keep hearing about in the States? I can't decide whether 3 months without school is a good thing or a bad thing, LOL).

November is almost worse than December around here, in terms of 'stuff' on the calendar. Hubs just called from work to ask me to ring to book our respite worker (special needs qualified care worker/babysitter) so we can attend a team Christmas party next Saturday. That same day, we have a birthday party for one of Miss Moo's classmates and it's the federal election day in Australia so we have to find the time time to vote as well (voting is compulsory here, and you can be fined if you skip it) And to top it all off, Hubs' major training stint begins on November 22 and runs for a month. This is one of those training things where even when he's here physically, he won't be here mentally or emotionally, LOL. What Christmas shopping we can't get done between now and Thursday will have to fall on my shoulders, as for those four weeks he'll be too exhausted to do anything other than eat, sleep and train. I'm so excited for him, but I can anticipate things getting really tough around here and the housework falling to the wayside. I suspect the shopping will have to wait until after my study deadline of November 30 anyway. I so didn't want to be shopping in December this year, sigh. Is it strange that I'm planning the variety of tea to stock up on for those post-Christmas-post-study-sorely-needed-relaxation phases?

What day is it again? LOL.

Cheers,
Lizzie