Despite this, My Cat still Loves Me..

After many weeks of saving I finally bought myself a new camera! It's a Canon Powershot XS120 IS. I love it. It is so clever. While I work out the many features on it ,I have the setting on AUTO and it does everything. After visiting Carens' Cat Chat I was inspired to do some creative Photography. Subject: Moby.
While he wasn't a very co-operative model I did manage to snap a few cute pics. (After I realised I should have set the camera to SMALL CHILDREN AND PETS. lol.. oh well.. live and learn!) Merry Christmas everyone!

I managed to sit him in a white wreath I have

this one was blurry because he was trying to escape..

This one is my favourite so I jazzed it up a little

Bah Humbug!

This is the time of year that kind of hits a raw nerve with me. This year I am sad about the loss of our ivf/embryo/baby. I am missing my parents. My husband’s health is not good. I start thinking about how pissed off at my sisters I am. And now Christmas day itself has turned into one big drama. Courtesy of my husband’s sister.

Here’s the thing..

Every year we have gone to their place for Christmas because they didn’t want to come to our place.  I get that the first year was because my brother-in-law had just come home from his tour of duty in Iraq and wanted to do his Christmas thing, which includes roasting every sort of meat known to man. I get that. Then the year after it was that our house was too small (Even though their house was way smaller). This year there was no excuse, it was a flat out “NO, we are doing it at OUR place”. And given that we don’t have much money we agreed reluctantly, on the condition that hubby would make his fabulous chicken roll, and I would make the deserts. We discussed this on one or two occasions. Tonight we ring them and his sister says, no you can’t bring a chicken roll, I’m roasting a chicken. AND she is also making a Pavlova. Which I said I would make. She ended up yelling at my hubby down the phone and pulled her “Everyone is against me” routine, stressing my hubby out and making him not feel well (easy to do with a dying heart).

So basically they have made us out to be the pov people who aren’t bringing anything, and once again they can throw in our faces how much more money they earn than us. I know this sounds like awful bitching but I am pissed off! Mainly because they have forgotten the fact that my husband doesn’t have that many Christmas’s left in him and all he wants to do is entertain. That’s his bliss. And also because I am sick of having to do everything THEIR way. No really, it happens all the time and I am getting more than annoyed about it.

So I hit the roof. I let them know I was mad, which is something I normally don’t do. I told them flat out that we are doing Christmas at our house next year, and if they don’t come then tuff!

Am I being a bitch or are they being unreasonable and selfish? I know Christmas is supposed to be the time of good cheer and stuff, and that my whining may come off as trivial, but it’s turning out to be the one day I’d rather sleep right through and miss.

Memories of Christmas.

Having just read a lovely Christmas story by dbs here , and just finished making a batch of fruit mince from scratch I am feeling all nostalgic-y, so I thought I'd write about my memories of Christmas.
I can't really remember any of my childhood Christmas's all that well. I remember my older sister making me grope around for presents in our parents dark wardrobe. I felt something soft, fluffy and with a plastic nose.
That was the year she got a large stuffed Basset-hound toy. I also remember the year I pestered my parents for a pair of skates, that they couldn't afford. Christmas morning I woke up to a pair of gleaming white skates with red wheels. I also remember the year I finally got my very own bike and not my brothers hand-me-down. It was a pink mountain bike. I remember the year I decided to make a baked Alaska and it turned out to be the hottest day in the history of our time. I had my Mum helping me shape the meringue into a snowy mountain, so we could quickly whip it in the oven before the ice cream melted everywhere! We were in fits of laughter as I yelled "GO! GO! GO!" like a commando squat team leader. One year we were renting a house that had a pool and so as luck would have it, it turned out to be the coldest, rainest Christmas in the history of our time. It didn't stop us kids from plunging into the pool though. That is the best Christmas I remember with my brother and sisters. It was 1992. (My anger towards my siblings now is an entirely new blog in itself)
I remember that we were a poor family with three kids, and yet my parents always managed to get us that one gift we'd all been dying to receive that year. And it wasn't until I was a parent (single mum) myself that I realised just how much my parents sacrificed for us kids. I went through my childhood not even knowing that we were poor. We were always fed, happy, and with a roof over our heads. But as I got older and understood the value of money, I realised that my parents did everything they could to provide us with a happy and safe home. Even if it meant that they went without some things. These days kids learn about the value of money earlier I guess. If my son wants something he saves and saves his pocket money for it.
This is the first year that I will be spending Christmas without my parents. They are retired now and are traveling around Australia. I was really disappointed when they said that they wouldn't be back for Christmas. It's hit me a bit hard (especially after our recent tragedy) just how much I miss them and how special every Christmas with them was. But they are living their dream and I would not begrudge them for that.
So I am spending Christmas with my husbands family this year. Which is nice.
But just not the same.

This is my tree. In a red, green and white theme this year. Yeah I'm a little crazed when it comes to decorating and the whole present matching thing.

How I met my Cat.

How I met my Cat.

In 2001 I was a very new single mum. I had moved in with my parents, and when my son was 8 months old I decided to get myself a kitty. So I looked through the local papers until I found an add I liked the sound of. I rang the owners and a time was set to view the kittens.

When I arrived I was greeted at the door by what I was later told was the kittens mother. She was a gorgeous short haired ginger and white kitty. The Daddy was ginger and white as well but he had longer hair. The owners took me to the room that the kittens were in and I sat on the floor to watch them for a bit while they waddled around and played with each other. They were only three weeks old at this stage, and today I was only picking out which one I wanted. They wouldn’t be ready to take home for a few more weeks after they were weaned off their mummy.

I eventually decided on one kitten that was a light ginger all over, and cuddled it for a while before bidding a reluctant goodbye.

Some time later the kittens owners rang to tell me my little fur baby was ready to be picked up!

When I got there things didn’t quite go to plan. I spotted the kitten I had picked and when I went to pick it up it hissed at me and ran away! Oh no! What was I going to do? I couldn’t bear to have a kitty who hated me! Lol..

I sat there for a while hoping that the kitty would come out. But while I was waiting, another kitty spotted me. He was a very cute chubby baby, with lovely ginger and white markings on him. He waddled over to me, climbed into my lap and looked up into my eyes. I had been PICKED, and I was in love. The feeling was obviously mutual.

I took my new fur baby home. He was so small and cute. I named him Moby. My son and Moby got along so well I nick-named them “The Twins”. If one was getting into mischief you could bet the other was not far behind, or lending a helping hand/paw.

Moby grew into an enormous long haired scruff of a cat. He is extremely loving and follows me everywhere, sticking to my leg like a barnacle. His fur gets everywhere. He once went missing for two days, before he eventually turned up again. One morning I found him with a cat food tin stuck on his head. He loves to chase sticks, hates dogs and chases them to. He loves to squeeze his big body into the smallest of places. He sometimes sleeps in the weirdest of spots, and in the craziest positions.

It shocked me to realize that he is now nine years old. I think he is the cat I’ve had for the longest amount of time. I’ve been very lucky in that he has been a very healthy cat, having only had to take him to the vet once in all his years.

 I know He is an old timer now, and that one day he will eventually pass on, but while he is still with us he will be dearly loved.

He will be my Moby.

Special Children's Christmas Party

Today we took our son to the annual Special Children's Christmas Party. It was held at the convention centre and I can honestly say it was awesome! It was held over two of the huge halls and was full of jumping castles of every shape and size and a giant ball pit (which reminded me of my favourite Big Bang Theory episode. BAZINGA!) While waiting in the line at the sinking Titanic jumping castle, we got to talking to another mother who had her little son with her. She told us that she didn't know if he would be able to climb up the chute that led to the top of the slide, so my son took the little boy in charge, and guided him up the stairs and even slid down the slide with him, each time. One camera man thought it was so cute (more like a great piece of footage) he filmed it and it was on the evening news! We were so proud of him! (Our son...not the camera man, though I am sure he is talented....)
There were police vehicles and a bunch of Harley Davidson's for the kids to get photos with. Our boy sat on a police motorbike. There were also heaps of characters walking around the halls. Our son got photos with Darth Vader, A bunch of Storm Troopers, and the dude from Halo!
He got to pat baby farm animals, and a police puppy-in-training, and saw a police horse do a huge pee on the carpet (which he thought was hilarious). He got a huge blue and white balloon hat given to him by some talented policemen (who apparently moonlight as balloon artists).
Every kid who went (and there were heaps), got a present at the end as well. Our son got a really cool remote control Camaro (like Bumblebee) with light-up wheels, some light-up dice, and this cool flashlight with a radio and a compass in it.
It was a big day, but it was also a GREAT day. 

ARMED AND DANGEROUS!
(This was outside before we went into the halls.)