Grand Central Station

i think a whole year is long enough to be hermits.

something i love about our kiddos' mates
is that it's always an all play.

everyone, together, all the time.

it's been such an awesome weekend.

here's to a particularly unhermitty summer.

it's the shrieking weekend baby, they're about to have them some fun...

so, they had
the big shriekover sleepover
last night,
the big picnic
over the road
this morning,
and now it's
the big yellow bus trip
to the beach...

i have no idea where raych gets these ideas for week-long sillybrations... but hey, skool exams are all over red rover, and there's a line being drawn in the sand. or a castle being built, or some waves being shrieked at, and summerygoodness is in the air... X

Well, Gran, you might have noticed that my boyfriend glitters. It’s just something he does in the sun. Don’t worry about it…

sunflowery skirtness

i think it's genetic. this huge buzz i get from making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. doing a jerry rig. making old sheets into skirts. why is resurrecting someone else's throw-outs so satisfying? and addictive?

it's like my own personal brand of heroin.

(yeah, that was a movie line. i wore the sunflower skirt to new moon tonight. which, incidentally, blew both the teens and the cougars away. those glittery sparkles. gasp. and the fight scene with the volturi!!! oh and alice and jasper!!!!! and jacob climbing up the house!!! and wasn't victoria fantastic?!!! i think i'll dye my hair... oh, i might have to get a red sheet to match.)
P.S. i'm still Team Fozzie X

certifiKATEd

i know i do go on,
but i am feeling all
velveteen rabbity
(even though i was already real).

drum roll please:
presenting.....
card card, sample sample.
yeah, i'm a legal eagle.

happy birthday charlie boy

still inspired by your incredible creativeness,
your love of beautifulness,

your attention to detailness.

you make the perfect espresso.
and when you play bella's lullaby
on the piano, it makes me go all sniffy.
today you got an excellence grade for
a french test two years ahead of yourself.

and this afternoon you got gok'd.

lovin' the new look.

two and a half seconds of fame

it's been about three decades since i was last on telly - 'twas when my dad was involved in a project with vietnamese refugees in the late 1970s. i remember the bright lights shining in my eyes, but i didn't see myself onscreen. oh how i love today's technology. and replays. and screen prints:

can you say, "CELEB"?

yep. that's me'n'the girls having a hilarious two and a half seconds with the PRIME MINISTER, during our girls' weekend in the sunny seaside town of whangamata...

so, we arrived early afternoon, and after a glass or two of bubbles to celebrate, we turned up at the marina, which was being opened, controversially, at two o'clock. i said that the PM would probably arrive by helicopter, so while we were waiting, we all wove our way to to the front of the oldies to get a good vantage point. and dared each other to shake his hand. so mags nipped over to the other side of the throng to take a photo of the shake, and of course i pushed to the front of the queue, and thrust out my arm!!! i admit i sorta got celeb'd out and gushed "lovely to meet you!" cos he's a nice guy (no i didn't vote nats in the election).

anyway, after the legendary shake, ang said out loud that she wished we had a photo, and the PM's delish bodyguard offered us to have one!!!! and the tv cameras were rolling... and (to cut this ridiculous ramble off at the kneecaps) here we are!!!!! (fast forward to the 53rd second) (PS the footage was taken before the formalities, which we *ahem* skipped.
cos we had a date with the Air Force One chopper pilots.)
oh, more photos:

(some of) The Afternoon:

complete with freebie drinkies.

The Evening:

The Morning After:

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Mexican Sunglasses :

twirly whirly swirly girly

ohk, the short story is: while Bulldog was at The Cake Tin watching his brother get arrested for running out onto the soccer pitch and hugging all our lads our kiwi boys making history, i made an amazingly soft, extremely long, twirly whirly swirly skirt out of a chocolate sheet.

* * * * *

the long story is: on saturday night (after the night before's tequila lemon wedges headache had finally passed), the kids went for an after-dinner-stroll and wound up at Danny's friend Chris's place where they ate everything in his mum's fridge, and then brought an extra six teens/twenty year olds back to our place to eat everything in our fridge.

oh but guess what: it wasn't the usual house full of boys either. Danny's teenage/twenty year old Bachelor mates are acquiring beautiful girlfriends!!! one of whom came to our place wearing an amazingly soft, extremely long, twirly whirly swirly skirt.

so while the lads ate everything in our fridge and the leftover lasagne and some peachy white choc muffins that i made cos they looked so hungry, and watched old Chuck Norris movies, the chicks and i ate all the chocolate from the secret stash and Beautiful Girlfriend let me in on the secret of her op shop skirt, which turned out to be a bunch of rectangles and triangles all holding hands in a twirly whirly swirly circle.

which immediately called for another refabriKATEd moment:
enter a chocolate sheet, a bit of measuring with the width of a little piece of paper, some rippage and freehand triangle-cutting.

a sleep. well, actually, everyone's carriages turned into pumpkins and so the kids turned the lights off and went to bed and i thought i'd better follow suit.

a seven o'clock wake up call,
followed by a two-hour dawn stint while mick snuggled in the parental bed hushedly watching a movie.
(yes that *is* woozie's sewing machine propped up on the bed. we had to keep the noise down for the sleeper-inners.)
(yes, i switcheroo'd the sewing machine with the overlocker. actually i sewed rectangles to triangles on the overlocker and then i stitched the seams on the sewing machine. yeah. backwards.)
another hour while as others drifted in for a veggie intake. a bit of advice from woozie as to elastic waistband tricksies (which i thought i took a photo of, but hey, it seems i did not)...

* * * * *

and BOO YAH.

it totally worked!!!
and it's amazingly long.
and extremely soft.

and it even fits me. perfickly.

and it has serious
twirly whirly swirlyness.

making the grade

cheese and crackers,
this year has been
such a big deal.

i'm just a mummy,

trying to renegotiate
the universe-ity.

all year long,

i've felt i've had to
validate myself.

some days i thought
i wouldn't make it.

but, i dunnit.

this piece of
gold-plated paper
is finally mine. go me:

flaming nora,

GO ME!!!

i'd like to thank

the academy.

salt tequila lemon

don't panic, there were more lemons than tequilas
...or maybe it was the other way around.
anyway, i think this is the last of the sillybrations,
cos *ahem* the serious job starts on monday.
oh, it's not a real teachy job, it's exam supervision.
and i will get paid - dollars - can't remember how that feels.
and guess what? a whole new wardrobe just fell out of the sky.
well, three skirts did. yeah, i'm gonna wear a skirt.
so i'm not gonna wear jeans. woo woo kangaroo.

inside story

it’s been quite a while since i had a navel-gazing convo. i spotted this today,while thinking about posting a purse or two to mocha momma's school-girls. if you're feeling pur-purse-fully posty too, you can join in here.

* * * * *

saying no to:

the overwhelmingness of smint, espresso, essay, essay, espresso, smint.

ignoring my children in favour of the above.

silly expectations.

saying yes to:

defying gravity.

reminiscing.

laughter.

P!NK* by *Christmas: go the abs!

making the bed.

giddy about:

all the kids at home for the summer.

daisies on the back lawn.

making stuff.

endless hot sunshine.

scared of:

sn*kes.

the inside of the box.

infinity and beyond.

deeply inspired by:

the usual: musicians, poets, artists.

Bulldog's grasp of all the strings.

the way that our kids continue to bounce.

obsessed with:

making sure that everyone is happy.

nail polish on my toes.

happy-chicken soup.

in love with:

all things hippie.

Paris in the summertime.

cinnamon-scented candle wax.

the big wide open spaces.

haunted by:

a perfect moment, slightly mis-timed, and

little fingerprints that made it all better.

saved by:

love.

friendship.

secrets shared.

the road less-travelled.

solidarity.

and you?

* * * * *