Yes, it has been awhile since the last blog entry by myself but the wait is over. The last weekend was spent at Pepper's Lodge at Spicer's Peak as a birthday present for Mel (which I obviously benefitted from as well) and the second and probably last weekend getaway before Noodles arrives. This lodge was recommended to us by Mel's anaesthetist and we are glad he did so. It was probably the best place we have stayed at for a long time if not ever. It is unusual to be able to stay somewhere and not be able to fault anything. It was simply fabulous.
But wait, I am getting ahead of myself here. The journey started with the drive up to the lodge. We were warned by the aforementioned anaesthetist that the road was a bit dodgy and if you didn't have a 4WD then you could have difficulty. I had mentioned to the staff of the Lodge that we planned to take Mel's car which has lowered suspension and low profile wheels but we were assured that it would be ok if we went slowly. That advice was given before if rained quite a lot on the Friday that we set off on our trip. As we started on the final 12km of dirt road (by now mostly mud) I had a few reservations. My concerns seemed to be reinforced when we got to a sign that said "only suitable for 4WD's when wet". Oh my! Never the less we pushed on with a certain feeling of foreboding. They had said it would be ok hadn't they. All cars can access our property the blurb said. At one point I thought things would work out....that was until the road started going up and the car started going nowhere! Surely my advanced driver training would come to the fore and somehow enable me to pilot this sports car up this muddy goat track without too much fuss. Sadly I was wrong. Spinning wheels in mud and a sinking feeling told me to raise the white flag and check my masculinity at the door. Even just reversing the car back down the slope to a flatter, and presumably safer, part was a bit hairy as the car seemed to be going sideways at one point.
Luckily we had mobile phone reception and were able to call for backup and were picked up in a sensible 4WD and taken to the top in relative comfort and warmth. Mind you, you could even feel the 4WD sliding a bit from time to time. Their defense was that they hadn't realised it had rained so much further down the hill and that other cars had made it up earlier in the day including a Hyundai. A Hyundai! How could this be? I consoled myself with the fact he must have been an ex rally driver and I was told it was a rental car so he probably didn't care if he wrecked it in the atrocious conditions.
Anyway we made it up safely and proceeded straight to the bar for a stiff drink by the log fire and quickly forgot the recent traumatic events. Oh, and we made it in time for a 3 course lunch as well. Now, back to the bar for some more refreshments!
Part 2 tomorrow.
Monday, July 31
Tuesday, July 18
Hormonal manipulation
Continuing on with the theme of my previous entry - regarding the susceptibility of the impregnated woman to manipulation by multinationalistic corporations ... I provide a vignette of a recent event which resulted in palpitations and postural hypotension on my part (and yes, I was wearing those damn stockings). Alas, twas on a smaller retail scale (I can't claim another international conspiracy) and which perhaps goes to show that placenta brain should be included as a potential medical diagnosis for women with my hormonal imbalance (or at least be able to be used as a valid excuse as to why we sometimes do some pretty wacked out things)
The last three weeks had been particularly hellish at work, so with a part weekend off I needed some down time.
I ventured into a hair salon for an overdue haircut (ginger roots!!) and was greeted by an over zealous hairdresser who told me I was all washed out and needed a makeover. (Not to mention that if I thought I was going to be able to keep up with regular hair foils post-partum I was living in la la land.)
All washed out? Not being able to cope with foils every 2 months??? Meep!
Naturally no woman wants to be labelled "washed out" - so I agreed to a slight change in hair colour. In his words, just a little darker. Darker I thought, meant some sort of caramel and not the PURPLE-RED hue which it ended up being. To add insult to injury, my eyebrows were darkened too. I left the salon looking a bit goth like (well, my make-up applied that morning had washed off) and not the smug married which I thought I was. Dear husband didn't make matters MUCH better by saying "What the freak have you done to your hair???"
Sadly, I had to agree with him.
Fortunately the colour is only semi-permanent.
There must be a good colourist in Brisvegas somewhere. Right?? RIGHT???
And I am NOT putting a picture to this post until I have given it another 10 more washes or so.
The last three weeks had been particularly hellish at work, so with a part weekend off I needed some down time.
I ventured into a hair salon for an overdue haircut (ginger roots!!) and was greeted by an over zealous hairdresser who told me I was all washed out and needed a makeover. (Not to mention that if I thought I was going to be able to keep up with regular hair foils post-partum I was living in la la land.)
All washed out? Not being able to cope with foils every 2 months??? Meep!
Naturally no woman wants to be labelled "washed out" - so I agreed to a slight change in hair colour. In his words, just a little darker. Darker I thought, meant some sort of caramel and not the PURPLE-RED hue which it ended up being. To add insult to injury, my eyebrows were darkened too. I left the salon looking a bit goth like (well, my make-up applied that morning had washed off) and not the smug married which I thought I was. Dear husband didn't make matters MUCH better by saying "What the freak have you done to your hair???"
Sadly, I had to agree with him.
Fortunately the colour is only semi-permanent.
There must be a good colourist in Brisvegas somewhere. Right?? RIGHT???
And I am NOT putting a picture to this post until I have given it another 10 more washes or so.
Monday, July 10
Tour de Nundah!
A few months (I will not say exactly how many) since my last bike ride and I think the TDF has inspired Les and myself again. We dusted of the bikes, pumped up the tires and after a few moments of trying to remember were my helmet was hidden we managed to get underway. It all seemed to be a bit like...well, riding a bike really. Hadn't seemed to have forgotten how to handle the bike but I almost forgot how to work the cyclo-computer. Although quite cool this morning (but I do like it cold) and trying out my new arm warmers (which were actually purchased quite a while ago) it seemed quite easy. This feels quite good I thought.....sitting behind Les doing 30km/hr. That was until we turned around and hit a head wind.....it was actually more like a head breeze but it has been 6 months off the bike. I wasn't going to say how long it had been was I...oh well! After a relatively short ride (compared to the TDF boys) we made it home but my legs were trying to negotiate a surrender! Sitting back on the lounge, where Les and I seem to be more at home, we were quite satisfied with our attempt at getting some exercise and restarting our love affair with road riding! To top it all off we watched the 8th stage of the Tour de France and saw Robbie win another bunch sprint (it was only for 4th spot but still quite important for the maillot vert). Life is good!
Belgian Beer Cafe Brussels
What better way to celebrate Robbie's third stage win in the tour on Saturday, (and introduce Noodles to some European style surrounds) than to go to the Belgian beer bar and have a kilo of moules et frites (each!). Of course I had to accompany it with some Hoegaarden white and we finished off our meal with some Belgian style waffles which were divine. The good thing is that children are allowed in the resturant part so when our little man arrives we will be able to take him back for some more waffles!
Thursday, July 6
More waiting!
Not much to report at present.
Mel's working hard....too hard if you ask me!
I am trying to watch all of the Tour de France but am finding with work I am too tired to stay up so I tape it and get up about 4.45am and watch it before going to work.
Items purchased but still waiting on:
P.S. Allez Robbie pour le maillot vert et allez Cadel pour le maillot jaune!
Mel's working hard....too hard if you ask me!
I am trying to watch all of the Tour de France but am finding with work I am too tired to stay up so I tape it and get up about 4.45am and watch it before going to work.
Items purchased but still waiting on:
- change table
- cot
- video camera
- breast pump
P.S. Allez Robbie pour le maillot vert et allez Cadel pour le maillot jaune!
Tuesday, July 4
More of the Bump!
Some of you have been asking for more bump photos so to satisfy the masses, or at least Jen, here is a snippet to tide you over. But don't worry...there will be more to come!
More operating for us both today followed by a leisurely lunch at Capri, Emporium. Rather civilised really!
More operating for us both today followed by a leisurely lunch at Capri, Emporium. Rather civilised really!
Monday, July 3
Bon Voyage!
I saw Riley off at the airport today for her 6 month stint overseas. I couldn't help but feel a little envious! I am sure she will have a good time but she did say she would be sad to miss the arrival of Noodles. Oh well I am sure she will get over it with a trip to Paris!
Another visit to the O+G today. All is still well. Our doctor commented on how active Noodles is every time she puts the U/S scanner on Mel's belly. Apparently some babies spend much more time sleeping or lying peacefully. She said she could even feel him kicking the scanner probe. I don't know what this is going to mean when he is born. Maybe he will take after his father and not be able to sit still for any length of time. Should keep us busy I suppose!
Another visit to the O+G today. All is still well. Our doctor commented on how active Noodles is every time she puts the U/S scanner on Mel's belly. Apparently some babies spend much more time sleeping or lying peacefully. She said she could even feel him kicking the scanner probe. I don't know what this is going to mean when he is born. Maybe he will take after his father and not be able to sit still for any length of time. Should keep us busy I suppose!
Sunday, July 2
Male "baby survival kit" .......
Continuing where Mel left off yesterday on the theme of "what was wrong with the Baby expo", then this photo is a prime example. It also goes a long towards explaining why I don't tend to drink this particular brand of beer (apart from the fact it tastes like *#@%). Even though I realise that this is meant to be humourous, I think it is probably too close to the truth for too many to make it funny. It just scares me!. Others will already be familiar with this kit as my understanding is that Greg and Cheryl got this as part of a "sample bag" from the hospital when Felix was born. So there is no escaping it really it would seem. Talk about the dumbing down of our society! Maybe I have been approaching this pregnancy all wrong......maybe I should just drink more crap beer to make me forget that I now have responsibilities and try to get out of doing as much as possible when it comes to looking after the baby, as quite clearly I have neither the interest or aptitude to help out and have better things to do such as watch more football on TV, and not that pansy soccer either just real football mate!
Saturday, July 1
Welcome to our nightmare....
I must confess to some (perhaps many) misgivings regarding the attendance at the Brisbane baby expo. My significant other (aka the Ben) thought that perhaps it would be a good idea to see if there was anything we were missing out on. We thus handed over $12 and a complimentary ticket to be greeted by a hall full of "...life Jim, but not as we know it..."
First stop - the Australian breast feeding association stand. Now, I am hoping to breast feed (for as long as possible) but am well aware that in this less than utopian world sometimes those things don't work. Or work well enough. Or become infected. Necessitating intravenous antibiotics and hospital admission...etc etc. So do I really want to pay $50 to join an association where I get a how to breast feed book and a warm fuzzy feeling that I belong to some secret clique of womanhood? WHO KNOWS???
I got suckered into the mother and baby stand - thinking that maybe I should try to be a little more open minded and subscribe to a magazine to get in touch with my mothering instinct. Or something. For a small exchange of $28 I had a 12 month subscription, a showbag and a SUCKA sticker to place on my forehead.
GAH
It went downhill from there - too much commercialised plastic crap masquerading as educational toys for children. Too many ways to wrap your child's feet in plaster of paris and then bronze them. Seriously, how long is THAT going to be hanging up on the wall. Too many cheesy photographers spruiking their wares - whilst their wares looked like a couple of bad shots from a Kmart photo lab. I felt faint at the sight of it all - either that or I had postural hypotension and wasn't wearing my compression stockings. I suspect it was a combination of the both.
At least we got to admire a small menangerie of baby animals at the back of the hall - the piglets in particular showed a rather impressive display of intelligence by steering clear of the small plastic cups held by children and trying to jump into the large feed bin instead.
Several comments came to mind as we escaped from the zoo... but none are polite enough to post in this blog. We are smugs after all.
Melinda
First stop - the Australian breast feeding association stand. Now, I am hoping to breast feed (for as long as possible) but am well aware that in this less than utopian world sometimes those things don't work. Or work well enough. Or become infected. Necessitating intravenous antibiotics and hospital admission...etc etc. So do I really want to pay $50 to join an association where I get a how to breast feed book and a warm fuzzy feeling that I belong to some secret clique of womanhood? WHO KNOWS???
I got suckered into the mother and baby stand - thinking that maybe I should try to be a little more open minded and subscribe to a magazine to get in touch with my mothering instinct. Or something. For a small exchange of $28 I had a 12 month subscription, a showbag and a SUCKA sticker to place on my forehead.
GAH
It went downhill from there - too much commercialised plastic crap masquerading as educational toys for children. Too many ways to wrap your child's feet in plaster of paris and then bronze them. Seriously, how long is THAT going to be hanging up on the wall. Too many cheesy photographers spruiking their wares - whilst their wares looked like a couple of bad shots from a Kmart photo lab. I felt faint at the sight of it all - either that or I had postural hypotension and wasn't wearing my compression stockings. I suspect it was a combination of the both.
At least we got to admire a small menangerie of baby animals at the back of the hall - the piglets in particular showed a rather impressive display of intelligence by steering clear of the small plastic cups held by children and trying to jump into the large feed bin instead.
Several comments came to mind as we escaped from the zoo... but none are polite enough to post in this blog. We are smugs after all.
Melinda
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