Well, I’m on the home stretch now. My Mr Mum stint is almost over. One more day to go and my better half returns from New Zealand. The kids are excited and I will be very relieved.
I had lots of good intentions but, as I reflect over the past week I realised that I have not done a lick of housework, the laundry is starting to evolve into a higher life form and the kiddos have had instant noodles too many times.
On Sunday I took them to Frankston Beach. They both luv going to the beach no matter even when it is very cold (by Australian standards) and very very windy. I captured a few shots that I liked from the trip. The first is the one above of Juniper and Willow. I don’t know why but I really like this image, the composition and color.
The one below of Willow … well, I just thought the heading on the sign behind her summed her up quiet well.
Hello, Mr Mum here. The gals got up first thing this Saturday morning and wanted to go to the aquarium. So I made them breakfast got the little wyld one dressed and then waited and waited some more for the older, much more vain one to finish getting ready. We went by train into the city to the aquarium. They had a blast cause we took the train ride then had a short tram ride.
They whizzed through the aquarium to get to the other side (did I mention there was a gift store on the other side at the exit?). We then strolled along the banks of the Yarra River as it meanders down the heart of Melbourne.
We didn’t get home until dinnertime and both were knackered. I even got the wyld one in bed early. w00t!
I took several photos during the day. Most while we were playing around the river.
Hope you have a great weekend!
This weeks Photo Hunt theme is BRIGHT. Just thought I would share a very rare event in my life - a Bright Idea!
Sometimes when I’m feeling blue, I just want to fly away. This has been a strange and tough week. My better half has been gone for the most of the week to New Zealand for a conference. I have been getting the girls up, dressed, lunches packed, dropped off to school, to work myself, pick up the girls in the evening, make dinner, put gals in bed, clean house, do laundry and etc. I just really, really appreciate single parents. I don’t know how they do it. I’m buggered!
Work has been particularly challenging at the same time. The end of the financial year is upon us and we are massively over budget (like me personally - go figure) to the tune of several million. I submitted a budget for next financial year only to have it shredded by god today and was told I would likely need to reduce staffing to accommodate a balanced budget! This is in an environment where staff are massively stressed already and I face 33% turnover rate due to workload pressures. So, I’m back to the drawing board. I’m pulling in a financial consultant to draw up a budget/workload analysis to see if I can placate the powers that be.
So, all in all, this week has sucked pretty hard. I’ll be glad when my better half returns next week. Until then, I’ll just dream of sprouting wings and soaring someplace calm.
In yesterday’s post, I mentioned my daughter and her room. About a year ago I offered to paint her room for her. Being the very creative and ecofriendly kiddo she is, she asked me to paint a forest on her walls. I had no idea how one would go about painting a forest on walls. I decided to try something mural style and painted a simple forest scene on one of her walls as a feature. A few weeks ago, she came to me and said “Ah Dad, do you think my room looks ‘beachy’?” This came after she had spent quiet a long time redecorating and using her pocket money to buy pretty ‘beach’ things for it. “Of course it looks beachy!” I enthusiastically replied. She then pointed out that her room was mostly green and that it had a big forest on one wall. Not very beachy.
In a flash of brilliance (yes, self adulations here) I said “Well, you know that Australia is one of the only places in the world where the rainforest meets the reef” meaning that in North Australia, the tropical Daintree Rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef. “Your mural really depicts this very unique and special trait”. No matter the brilliance, she didn’t buy it.
“Dad, it just doesn’t look beachy. Can you paint me a beach scene?”
So, I offered to extend her mural and really make it look like rainforest meets the reef. I extended her mural over to the next wall and added the sand and starfish. Looks like I don’t have to completely repaint the walls but now she’s asking for a couple of potted palm trees to accompany the extension.
Of course, when I paint for one of the kiddos, I have to paint for them both. So after my mural extension, the little own asked for her own mural.
Will it ever end?
