Happy Sunday!

 On Friday I got some major muscles aches, like I was getting the 'flu. How ironic that would be, since this year was the first I had gotten the 'flu jab. So I got the boy to come take me home cos the last thing I wanted was to be sitting in a bus during a Covid-19 pandemic looking like death...

Ever since then I've been resting at home. But it hasn't been so restful today.

First, it seems that my skin is reacting to the new batch of moisturiser I made yesterday and wore overnight. So I had to spend time apply enough concealer on my face to prevent shock and alarm in my household.

Then, I discovered that my family cannot read my mind nor correctly interpret my hints, so I had to take out the recycling that was overflowing onto the kitchen floor, and tidy it away into the outside bin. It took me 3 trips.

Then, I tried to print out Style Arc's face mask pattern  so I could make some to add to the family supply. But it would not print.

One software install and a system update later, I have already had to give up vacuuming the bedroom because the bag was full and we are out of spare bags.

I finally have my face mask pattern printed out now, and if nothing further goes wrong today I might complete one or two...

Springing forward and singing in the dark

With the weather improving in fits and starts, I went for a walk with a friend one weekend and found our local version of Easter Island.

We also went up the hill last Saturday night, just TLM and I, to watch the Guy Fawkes fireworks display. What I forgot is that most people drive half way up the hill and walk the rest of the way, whereas we walked all the way up and would have to walk all the way back again in the dark (albeit torchlit). 

So, after the fireworks ended, TLM and I walked confidently down the hill - until halfway down when I realised we were all alone. Then I noticed the light from the torch was fading. do you know what saved us from panicking? Singing Maori songs at the tops of our voices and hoping the battery  didn't run out completely.

I've also been knitting. First up is this raglan sleeve denim knit with three quarter sleeves and a little lacy insert in the middle of the chest. More details on Ravelry.

Next is another raglan sleeve jumper, this time with a random-striped body and sleeves with all-over eyelets. It's a mixture of cottoned acrylic. More on Ravelry.

And lastly, in anticipation of warmer temperatures still, a singlet made from leftover denim yarn plus blue yarn scraps (hence the multi toned stripes). Details on Ravelry.

Thanks, folks, for your messages of sympathy about my mum. I still often get this feeling that I'm supposed to be somewhere, doing something. Plus I live just up the road from the rest home where she live, so there's no escape really.

The last of our summer holiday

Just before Christmas last year I had spontaneously decided to take a couple of week off in January in addition to several days over Christmas and New Year. It meant I'd have only crumbs of annual leave for the rest of the year, but while I'm on holiday at home it feels like the right decision.

We'd had restful mornings followed by leisurely lunches followed by splashing at the beach. We've had visits from TLM's friends, I've managed to cover our porch (as well as my hair, some of the concrete around the porch, and some of my clothes) in a couple of coats of paint. I've nearly finished my non-classic denim jacket and finished my Japanese-inspired linen maxi dress (to be posted here later).

Although it hasn't been all fun and games, what with my elderly mum requiring visits to the doctor, the practice nurse and the medical lab, as well as many visits to cook for her while waiting for her home health service to kick in.

At the same time, the boy was diagnosed with shingles in his optic nerve. That was pretty scary at the time but the big box of various drugs seems to have worked because he looks normal now and didn't lose his sight. He still gets a lot of pain though, unsurprisingly.

I sure hope the rest of 2015 isn't so medically stressful as it's been so far...

There's a lot going on right now

I was kinda excited at the thought that Scotland might vote for independence from the UK (seeing as so many clever people were or are from there). I don't know how well they would have got on without England, but now we'll never know.

And tomorrow is Election Day in NZ. Traditionally either my brother or myself would take our mum along to vote too, after giving her a brief run-down on the two major parties' philosophies (really quick, as our Cantonese doesn't allow for sophisticated political discussion, nor witty dissing of those I don't approve of).

I wasn't sure what we would do about helping mum vote this election, since I'm far more aware these days of the other parties. It turns out that our mum is quite content with how things have been going re: state of the nation, though that's not surprising since her focus is on the size of her superannuation payments and whether she's able to get free stuff from the government.

So if she votes National then I will not stand in her way (in fact I will drive to her house, pick her up and drive her around the corner to her polling booth. Then take her grocery shopping afterwards). Even though I disagree with her and even though she is not exactly well informed about the political goings on etc over the last few years. I figure, even with her narrowly focussed viewpoint, she is probably about as well informed as the majority of voters are anyway.

Also....we are going to Rarotonga for my birthday!! It won't be for a few weeks yet, and is only for 6 nights, but we're all looking forward to our first holiday (barring long weekends) since our trip to the UK back in 2011 or 2012 (I forget).

After that, I have to prepare for three days in Auckland for work, then getting TLM ready for her Brownie camp over Labour Weekend. It's all on!

When the child's away, the parents will play - kind of

"You could go out of town! Have dinner up the coast!" my sister-in-law said, just before driving away with our only child for an impromptu sleep-over.

Ooh, yes. We certainly could. We don't get away much, with or without TLM (but especially without). The boy used to love it when we went to Rotorua for the weekend and stayed somewhere with geothermal pools.  And the weather forecast for the weekend was really promising.

I was so excited by the possibilities that I washed the dishes prematurely (rather than waiting till nightfall) - so that ants wouldn't get into them while we were away.

Well, we didn't go away in the end. I wanted to go for walks but the pale and sun-shy boy couldn't find his hat. So we went into town and went shopping for a new one. Don't get me wrong, I love shopping almost as much as the boy does - I found a new sunhat for me,  and the boy, after much searching, found a cap to fit his enormous (but handsome) head. He also found a new designer hoodie, two designer t-shirts and some Calvin Klein undies (much-needed, trust me). (Later, the boy told me that his highlight of the day was the look of horror on my face when the saleswoman told us how much all of the boy's new clothes cost. If you'd have been there, you would have looked like that too.)

Then we went for a drive an a walk at Percy Reserve, shopped for groceries and returned home for some relaxing reading in the sun before the boy cooked me a nice dinner (crispy duck with courgettes and capsicums, plus warm turkish bread).

Afterwards I read in the news that majors roads up the coast had been blocked off for roadworks, so I guess it's just as well we didn't decide to get out of town.

Saturday night in bed

...and not in that way, either.

I had hoped to spend the evening putting my coat together - I finally got going with the construction last week (which is why I've been silent on the blogging front) and wanted to make the most of this evening alone (the boy was going to go out and watch the rugby with my ex-guy friends - I say "ex" because I never see them any more). I reckon I'm about 25-30 percent done, which is not bad considering I'm working with a fast-fraying fabric which leaves the carpet looking like it's had a shave but no-one's bothered to come sweep up the cuttings.

But TLM got me up a couple of times last night, so I'm feeling really tired - and now I have a headache.

So I'm going to bed early. G'night.

Perhaps I should be flattered

It's 9pm and we're watching Tuesday night's episode of Outrageous Fortune.

The phone rings. I curse, then get up to answer it.

"Hello?" I ask in my still-husky voice.
"Ah...could I speak to your mum or dad please?" says the voice on the other end.

!!!

"Um...no." I say.
"Oh, why?"
"Because..they don't live here. Who are you?"
"Oh, this is just a marketing call. Sorry, bye."

It was very slightly surreal.

Notes from the sick bed

• We have had in our possession, a copy of the DVD Let the right one in. It's a vampire movie which is supposed to be pretty damn good and I am keen to see it. Unfortunately, I've been going to bed at 8.30 every night, and when I'm awake I'm sort of semi-sleepy. So we still haven't seen it.
• Apparently one of my work colleagues is just as sick as I am, which makes me feel better. Not because I want her to be unwell, but because 2 weeks is an awfully long time to be off sick and now I know it's not an improbably long time.
• TLM has been an angel. She tells me she misses me not being sick, and tries to entertain me. She only very occasionally tries to climb on me mid-cough.
• I saw in the Sunday paper's society pages, that the book launch I missed last week was packed full of relatives and famous (in New Zealand) writers. For a second or two, I wistfully wondered whether my mug should have been there along with Fiona Kidman, Patricia Grace and Alison Wong (whose book it was). Then I realised that I am neither famous enough nor photogenic enough to get my photo in the society pages anyway.
• Sorry I missed your wedding, Flying Kiwi. But even if I had not decided that it was too far to go without the boy and TLM, I wouldn't have made it anyway due to my super-lurgy.

And now it's back to the daytime telly...

This head is occupied

Quite possibly, the only thing that could clear my head effectively would be a gym workout, or a 2-hour life drawing class. Because at the moment my head is full of the kind of stuff that I've already blogged about to the point of boring you to death, and yet it's still there, in my head, not allowing anything interesting to come to the fore.

Preoccupied, that's what I am.

I should be editing my children's stories, especially since I've had some useful feedback. Or I could be doing our household budget (though, to be honest, I would probably only do that if our lives depended on it). Or I could be taking up the hems on those work trousers I bought, which will otherwise languish on my hanger until they are no longer in fashion (or too tight).

Perhaps I should take a long walk, but I walked home from town this morning and ended up dwelling on the same old stuff again (will I be any good at my new job? will I look like an idiot in those cuban heel-ed shoes? will TLM be miserable with her new childcare arrangement? will I be too tired for sex (well, more so than now, anyway)?).

What do you do to clear your head to shake out those unproductive thoughts?

Wassup this weekend

On Friday, I traded in the (unworn) toilet-training pants that I'd bought a week before, for a copy of Baby Jazz. TLM loves it, and it makes a nice change from French Playground (which has been playing constantly for months). Can't imagine a ciggie-toting toddler in a black turtleneck? Give it time.

TLM is obssessed with the orange jellyfish she saw on our HD DVD of David Attenborough's Planet Earth. It's, like, the best thing since Fairy Trina.

I have a cold, and all weekend I've been feeling sluggish and unhealthy. Is it possible to feel both light-headed and leaden-headed at the same time? Because I do. Oh, and TLM has a cold too.

My mum, my brother and my brother's family are all back from Hong Kong. Apparently it's been quite cold over there, so I bet they're a little disappointed to return home just in time for a cold snap. TLM and I will probably head over to see them once we've stopped sneezing and spluttering.