Wipe On, Wipe Off

I'm all for being green and considering the environmental impact of our selfish, disposable lifestyles... but there's some indulgences I just can't relinquish.
One in particular.

Baby wipes. Wet Ones. Modern Manna.

Whatever you choose to call them.

I've been employing these bad boys since I was a fresh faced teenager working in retail and am committed to the cause.

From the kitchen, to the playroom, to the bedroom (yep!), to the bathroom, the living room, the garage and beyond.

There is no problem too big or small for the trusty baby wipes.

You know all that orange foundation those young (ahem) ladies like to rub generously all over the neckline of clothing in the fitting rooms before deciding that they don't want to purchase them?
(Hey, we've all done it!)

Baby wipes.

Most obviously - a bumful (and often handful) of poo?

Baby wipes.


Interior of the car looking a bit dusty?

Baby wipes.

Reverse into Hubby's car damaging the paint work on both?

Baby wipes.

No toilet paper?

Baby wipes.

No ablutions full stop.

Baby wipes.

Lipstick on that collar, tiger?

Baby wipes.

Pram looking a little grubby?

Baby wipes.

No time for a shower/bath?

Baby wipes.

Make up removal made easy?

Baby wipes.

No time to haul out the cleaning gear as visitors pull in the driveway?

Baby wipes.

Public-use high chair look like it's been publicly used?

Baby wipes.

Dirty feet after playing outside and Mum has just mopped?

Baby wipes.

Sticky fingers of any description?

Baby wipes.

Excess silicone when plumbing a toilet or sink?

Baby wipes.

Surf ski repairs involving resin?

Baby wipes.

Gardening grub?

Baby wipes.

Another tip from the dumb files for you...
Don't use the scented variety.
Smell association is a b*%ch.
Magoo and I spent a whole day searching the car for the (thankfully non existent) rogue poo after I had wiped the interior with the smelly wipes.

Do tell. What do you use these modern magicians for?

Shar :-)

Point + Shoot : Monster Street

A weekend of firsts...

My first ever garage sale.

Courtesy of a neighbour's great idea.

Not just any garage sale - a Monster Street Garage Sale.

As in six families in our cul-de-sac held garage sales on Sunday morning.

One ad, six garage sales, eleventy thousand people (or so) in our street

- an hour before the advertised time, if you don't mind.

I've never had an audience to support the opening of my garage before!

There are some die hards out there.

And there are some cute little people who loved setting up their 'shops'

 and being 'shop-persons' - until the novelty wore off about 8am

 and normal play transmission resumed for them.

The feeling of community in our street over the weekend was just brilliant

- and not a bottle of beer in sight!

We wandered between each other's yards, socialising and comparing junk.

The kids played playroom ping pong between the houses and even performed a wonderful (it's an acquired taste) impromptu concert.

I gave free plant cuttings to a woman before realising other neighbours were actually selling the green stuff.
I asked people what they would like to pay for items and sold clothing for less than the cost of my wooden coat hangers - which they took with them.
A seasoned campaigner, I am not.

A number of 'customers' commented on the lovely feel in our street and how lucky we are.

We are.

My first ever Krispy Kreme experience.

Courtesy of a neighbour's return from Melbourne.

(It's a sheltered, amazing-donut-deprived existence we live over here in the West.)

I shall dream in Krispy Kreme tonight.

Magoo's first ever skateboard.

Courtesy of another neighbour's junk.

Bruises courtesy of my brilliant parenting.

Hope you had a beautiful monster of a weekend too.

Linking myself silly with

Lou's Point + Shoot

Sonia's Wonderful Weekends

and

Mandy's Sentimental Summer

Happy Monday!

Shar :-)

Grateful For...

Reasons to celebrate.

People who make anything worth celebrating.

Surprise downpours that literally clear the deck and bring relief in this 40 degree heat.

Grateful, grateful, grateful.

Linking with Maxabella Loves' 52 Weeks of Grateful

Happy weekending!

Shar :-)

52 Week Project : Wk 19

Snapped on Australia Day by a gorgeous friend
as I bid her goodbye - through our back gate!

For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair.

I'm not going to weigh in on a political debate.

I'm far too frivolous and lacking in serious smarts for that.

However, I consider myself an Australian.

Proudly.

Until I hear some people speak about their version of 'Australian'.

I was not born in this country. Neither were my parents.

I am an Australian citizen, but hold dual citizenship with my birth country.

Am I unwelcome then?

Or is it okay, because I speak English and fit into

what the physical requirements of a 'white Australia' dictate?

With our Aboriginal heritage, could there be a more offensive term?

Happy Australia Day - Australians All....

Linking with My Mummy Daze and her 52 Week Project

Shar :-)

Or Shaz - for one day only!

Could We Be Breaking Up?

Dear Work,


I hate to pull out an old cliche - but... it's not you, it's me.


You see, I've changed.
Things have changed.
I'm not the person I used to be and my priorities are completely different.
The chemistry that was once between us has faded somewhat.

After six weeks apart, we should be inseparable by now.
Absence and hearts and all that.
But we're not.

I'll just come out and say it...
I'm avoiding you.
My efforts, when I make them, are half hearted.
I'm sorry.


Yes, you used to complete me.
Yes, I was willing to spend every spare moment in your company.
Yes, I happily spent wads of cash on making you beautiful, colourful and oh-so-organised.
It was good. We were good.
Better than good. Passionate and energetic great.


But it's different, now.
Isn't it?
You must feel it too. Surely?

That lovin' feeling is just not what it used to be.
I still love you, I'm just not IN love with you.

At the end of a beautiful day with my son and Hubby, the thought of running into your arms no longer excites me.
You see, now they complete me.

I'll admit I've been thinking about other options too.
You were the be-all and end-all.
But now I can see myself with others, enjoying a different life.


Don't just sit there.
Say something.



But maybe it's not all me.

Dare I say, maybe you have taken me for granted over the past thirteen years?
Neglected me.
Failed to see what my needs were.
Asked more and more of me with each passing year.


Look, work, we're in this now.
I know that when the kids come along this will improve.
We'll be so busy, we'll barely notice the time pass.

Maybe this is just a phase, a funk, for us.
I've made a commitment and I'll see it through, make the best of it.
For the kids, you know.

With love and guilt, lots of guilt.
Shar :-)

Mum on the Run Turns One

Bloggiversary? Or Blogirthday?

Either way, it's my first. :-)

One year since I signed up as 'Mum on the Run' and started publicly shaming Hubby on a world wide (web) kinda scale.

269 posts later and it appears I still have some waffle left.

Thank you for enduring joining me here.

It has been a sweet ride that has exceeded any vague,

undefined expectations I may have had a year ago.

I've 'met' some truly amazing and inspirational people here in this weird and virtual world.

I have learnt, laughed and lamented through connections with beautiful bloggy folk.

I've grown to love my early morning or late night tip tapping away

and the therapy that is writing rubbish.

Cheers!

Shar :-) xx

 

Point + Shoot : Doctor, Doctor

Thanks to my Hubby, I spent the bulk of my weekend at The Doctor*.

And The Doctor* didn't even show up as planned on the Saturday**.

Awful, pitiful, unfair... I know.

I deserve a medal.

Half of my weekend spent with a little boy in a crowded space

with nothing to do but stare aimlessly at this :

And listen to this :

And feel like this :

Hubby owes me. Big time.

*'The Doctor' refers to an international paddling event that is hosted in Perth each year. Competitors paddle 27km from Rottenst Island to our local beach at Sorrento, WA - usually with the assistance (and fun) of the afternoon sea breeze known as 'The Fremantle Doctor'.

The next day is a follow up team event called 'The Coastal Challenge'

which runs from Fremantle to Sorrento.

**The race on Saturday is usually a downwind escapade, but with nothing but a gentle crosswind to contend with, the race was pure, hard, slower than usual, slog.

Even the winners couldn't find many positive things to say.

Please, don't shower me with sympathy.

It just makes the whole ordeal even worse, really.

Hopefully next weekend Hubby will make it up to me and I'll get to enjoy

my coveted simple pleasures of sun, surf and sand.

It's not too much to ask, is it?

Linking with

Lou's Point + Shoot

Sonia's Wonderful Weekends

&

Mandy's Sentimental Summer

Shar ;-)

Grateful For...Home Sweet Home

With this holiday time, sloooow pace of life has come plenty more home time.

Down time a la casa.

I've always loved this home of ours.

(okay, except those occasions when I stomp around here boo-hoo-ing about how I have to do everything in this falling down tip

- a little rant is needed every now and then).

I've always pored over home magazines 

or home/real estate liftouts in the paper and still do.

Our home doesn't even begin to compare to those fantasy places,

yet I'm happy here in our reality place.

It might not look the goods, but it feels just perfect.

The good, the bad and the ugly - I'm grateful for it all.

Our home is not flash by anyone's standards but it is (relatively) ours.

It's comfortable.

It accommodates us - plus neighbours, friends & family.

It has enough rooms that when my short attention span threshold is reached, I can simply move to another room and be satisfied for another short time.

I can see the street, sky, trees and other people from most or all rooms in my home.

(Not to be underestimated, people. Townhouse claustrophobia, anyone?)

I can feel relaxed here (when I'm not doing the odd poor-slave-me stomp) and have a number of truly happy places around this joint.

Magoo has more than enough around here to keep him entertained and active for days on end should we become house bound.

I can pretty much control the temperature in here and, to some extent, the noise factor.

We live in a beautiful area and by far the friendliest street I've ever enjoyed.

I've always loved this home of ours.

Yes, the fridge door handle came clean off this week, the retic control box thing packed it in last week, the toilet played up the week prior, the lawnmower died the week before and the pool cleaner before that...

There is always something breaking, dying or expiring around here.

(Not of the human or canine variety, thank God.)

My dreams are filled with sparkling appliances, unstained carpet and unchipped tiles.

The luxury of skirting boards even!

Our laundry is a makeshift disgrace, storage (or hoarding??) is an eternal problem, every corner in this house has chunks missing from the wall, there's face brick and ugly beams, the window tint is peeling in such a fashion that the windows look constantly filthy, we have roof leaks and a small gutter issue, the front screen door warps in the weather, the front lawn is weed's paradise...

The maintainence crew at work.

I've always loved this home of ours.

This place was a lucky, last-godforsaken-house-I'm-looking-at find.

It was my home when I became engaged, where I fussed and primped before heading off to marry my love, where hopes and dreams have been put out there - and mostly realised.

We brought our gorgeous, but oh so timid, puppy dog home to this house and then our gorgeous and not so timid newborn Magoo home to this place.

We've repainted, repaired, refitted, replaced and revamped.

We've renovated bedrooms, backyards and bathrooms.. and have plans. So many plans.

I've always loved this home of ours.

I'm grateful for every part of it - especially those that bear the stamp of our blood, sweat and tears (with a few choice words for good measure).

Hey BTW, what do people with those brand,

 spanking new homes do with all that spare time???!!

Linking with Maxabella's 52 Weeks of Grateful.

Happy weekend.

Shar :-)

52 Week Project : Wk 18

I snapped this as I headed out this morning.

Without daylight saving and with a holiday sleep in
(by my standards)
the morning sun is my companion as I pound the pavement at the moment.

It's also doing a nice job of masking my shocking morning head here.

I've just popped some fresh tracks - new and old - onto my ipod,

so I had even more motivation to get up and out today.

When I can't rely on my own drive to get out the door, music is my motivator.
Hence, music has to be above a certain tempo to make it's way onto my ipod.

When I was training for the marathon I used music as my reward,
only turning it on for the last hour of a long run.

Funnily, during the Perth Marathon, I wore my ipod but didn't turn it on once.
There was no added incentive required on the big day.

I've recently bought Hubby a set of waterproof earphones and a waterproof case/armband to use with his ipod for paddling and swimming.
(From here, if you're interested.)

The little old lady within me is still marvelling that he can listen to his music under water.

What will they think of next, dear??!

Linking with My Mummy Daze and her 52 Week Project.

Check out her beautiful pic this week - it's breathtaking.

Shar :-)

How Do You get To Be???

How to you get to be one of those easygoing, 'what could possibly go wrong?', 'might just have a little snooze while I wait for the results' people???



Can you purchase that peace of mind and ease of living?

And was I supposed to pre-order it?

Is it genetic?

Is it directly related to the sum total of negatives experiences endured/witnessed/read/heard from a friend of a friend of a friend?

Is it the result of a strong mind or a weak imagination?

Is it positive thinking or naivety?

Is there only so much chill to go around (and my Hubby has selfishly absorbed all of mine)?

Huh? Huh?
Well, is it??

Do you subscribe to the fabulous 'go with the flow, what will be will be, what is yours will not pass you by, bigger picture' mentality?

Are they still taking applications?
I want in.

Shar :-)

Point + Shoot : Beach Bliss

Long. Live. Summer.

Dusting off and cranking up my broken record again ...

This time of year is absolute bliss with a capital B.

Coincidentally standing for boats, beach, burgers and besties too.

(Or bronzed bods, boys, bikinis and boobies if you're feeling pervy.)

But not bored.

I will never tire of this.

(Apologies if you have.)

Here's a handy tip from the dumb files...
 best not to paint your toenails just before heading to the beach -
unless you're aiming for a textured finish, that is.

Linking all over the place with
 Lou's Point + Shoot

Sonia's Wonderful Weekends  

and
Mandy's Sentimental Summer

Happy Monday.
Shar :-)

Grateful For... A Page Turner

These holidays I've reignited an old flame.

Rekindled a past love affair.

Revisited days when I was footloose and fancy free.

Resurrected a passion and pleasure that I've missed.

I've read me some books.


Not just children's books - as fabulous as they are.
Not for reference.
Not a couple of pages per night before crashing, only to have to re-read the same two pages the following night before crashing again.

Not at such a slow pace that I have had to renew my library loan twice to finish them.

U.S.S.R. as we used to call it (or loathe it) at school.
Uninterrupted. Sustained. Silent. Reading.
(Well, relatively uninterrupted anyway.)


I've loved immersing myself in a great story or a compelling read again.
This week alone I've read two novels.
A Jodi Picoult heart wrencher and an Alex Cava heart thumper.


I've read when I have woken stupid early in the morning, when riding the exercise bike, for a portion of Master Magoo's nap nap in the day, on lazy afternoons cuddling Magoo and his books on the deck and in the evenings wherever I flop...


This indulgence is only possible because we are living sloooooooooow right now.
It can't last but it. is. gooooooooooood.


It's only a matter of days before I'm back to trawling curriculum materials, immersed in emails or student files and reading the expositions of ten year olds, so I'm savouring this leisure reading for all it's worth.


What are you brimming with gratitude for this fine week?


Linking with Maxabella Loves & Kidspot for some grateful goodness.




Shar :-)

52 Week Project : Wk 17

I'm really milking this wedding anniversary of ours.
I promise this is the fourth and final mention - for at least a year.

(In truth, I didn't take a proper selfie this week - holiday head -  so this will get me off the hook, right?
Or I could say the dog ate it.)

Here I am at dinner with Hubby celebrating our five years as husband and wife.

We returned to the scene of the crime and were dining at the 'on the beach' spot where our reception was held, happily reminiscing like the old married couple that we are.

Linking with beautiful  Fi @ My Mummy Daze and her 52 Week Project.

This week we are being hosted by the equally beautiful Sonia

@ Life, Love and Hiccups while Fi enjoys a bloggy break.

Embrace the camera - from the other side - and come join us.

Shar :-)

Supermarket Snoop

There's nothing liking bumping into your naturopath in the supermarket to make you reassess your trolley.
Or start you searching for a couple of massive bags of LSA to plonk on top of the 'forbidden fruits' in there.
Or start scrambling to hide certain items under others like a naughty child trying to avoid detection.

Does this broccoli make my chocolate look healthy?

I rounded an aisle in Woolworths today and smiled when I recognised my lovely naturopath and her daughter heading in the opposite direction.
Then I actually cursed in my head when I realised that there was chocolate, un-natural yoghurt, processed foods and non organic produce all in plain view for the health goddess world to see.


How had I not been struck with trolley shame before now?
Was it worth mentioning that we were having an Australia Day celebration soon and the soft drink was on special?
Had she heard my son yell-talking about did I want any tampons or pads "for woo undeez and the bad stuffs, Mum"?  (The mind boggles at where he gets the "bad" part from!!)


The worst part is, I was so preoccupied with the contents of my trolley and hoping that she at least awarded me some points for making it dark chocolate, that I barely glanced at hers. Didn't take inventory at all.


But I can tell you that I small mindedly presume the woman in front of me at the register lives alone. Frozen meals and cat food galore on that conveyor belt.


And that the teenagers to the side without nothing but lemons and salt? They're partying tonight - Mexican style.


Do you 'check out' at the check out?
Do you hide any 'unmentionables' in the depths of your trolley?


Shar :-)

Forever Friends

I've always claimed I was built for endurance, not speed.

There's a well known idea floating around that friends can be for a season, a reason or a lifetime. The premise is that once you have identified the nature of the friendships in your life, you can then nurture them accordingly.

I truly love the friends I have made in recent years through work, parenting, fitness, our neighbourhood, my Hubby or other friends.

But there is definitely something special about enduring friendships.
The lifetime kind.
The ones that have weathered all manner of seasons, storms and stupidity.


I'm blessed to have a few long, long, long term friends that I am still close to.
These people are high school girlfriends, university buddies and work colleagues from my very first days of teaching.

These friends have seen some seriously bad fashion going on, they've watched in horror as I've put my foot in it - again and they've laughed with me until our cheeks ached.

I hope they'll be there when we laugh until we wet our incontinence pads through.

Through ups and downs and everything in the middle we've remained solid friends.

We've supported each other through excitements, disappointments, relationships, careers, homes, hangovers, pregnancies, losses, motherhood and mother in laws.

They're the ones with whom secrets are pointless and with whom one look can convey a thousand words.

These friends know my family, my neuroses, my history and what shapes the person I am today.

For some unknown, blessed reason they're still here.

With my closest family member some 15,000 kms away, these friends are the family that I have been lucky enough to choose.

These same friends have embraced Hubby and love my Magoo - no matter how poorly behaved either of them may be on any given occasion.

      

As an old girlfriend (as in we've been friends a long time - not that she's old) and I watched our sons in the bath the other night, we had a giggle at the way our lives and our friendship has evolved.

From propping up the bar, procuring drinks galore and dancing til the sun rose in the 'gool old days' - to playing with, feeding and bathing our kids together in the 'just as good now days'.
There's a gorgeous comfort in that familiarity and endurance.

Thank you, my lifetime friends.
All of you.
Words don't do you justice.

Shar :-) xx

Point + Shoot : Mastering The Chill

I'm really hitting my straps with this holiday business now.

Of course, I'm flourishing in the art of relaxation just in time to wave Hubby back out into the workforce, to bring my diary back on board here and to begin my own planning for the school year.

There's still plenty of lazy loveliness to be soaked up though.

Here's some from the weekend highlights reel - Magoo style...

(that means conveniently editing out the

 three year old diva moments, boring Mr. Dyson & his equally dull pal Mrs. Enjo.)

 

 

 

Hope yours was a beauty.
(And fire safety hazard free.)

Linking with Lou's Point + Shoot,

Sonia's Wonderful Weekends

& Mandy's Sentimental Summer

- if they are back in the swing of things too!

Shar :-)