A date with my husband

Posted on April 16, 2007
Filed Under Australia - The land down under | 1 Comment

Last night, Chelsea slept at a friends house and so did Connor. Jamie and Chloe were at their mother’s so that meant… Brian and I had a night alone!

The last time this happened…I actually can’t remember the last time this happened, if it ever has.  Typically, there is always one child who cannot organize themselves when the others can. It doesn’t matter if we have my two or all four, there is always one leftover.

Until last night.

So, Brian and I went to dinner at the Greenwood Hotel.
 
It is a tavern, a restaurant, a sports bar and a bottle shop and has consistently won awards (or been finalists) since 1996.

The meal was divine. I had the scotch fillet in a mushroom sauce with roasted herb potatoes and steamed broccoli and Brian has the chicken parmigian with fries and salad after an appetizer of turkish bread and dips. I could have filled up on the bread and the gorgeous guacamole but I restrained myself!

Aside from the great food, being out with my husband, sans children, was the best part. It’s amazing the conversation that you can have when little ears and mouths aren’t around to hear or butt in.  I’d forgotten what a date was like and how easy and comfortable we are together in a setting away from home stresses and responsibilities.

I do wish that we could do this more often, and I suppose with the kids getting older (16, 13, 13 and 11) the time is coming when we can, but I guess the infrequency of being alone makes it all the sweeter when it does happen.

Horray for dating my hubby!

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Not so happy Easter

Posted on April 11, 2007
Filed Under Australia - The land down under | 5 Comments

We went camping this Easter, and though there is a lot to write about, I don’t particularly feel like it at the moment.

You see, Easter morning at 9:30 Brian’s Mum called to tell us that our beautiful Rani has just passed. She had been watching the dogs while we were on holiday. Needless to say, it put quite a damper on our holiday weekend. Brian, though very quiet, was gutted and I struggled not to cry in front of the kids (whom we didn’t tell until we were almost home.)

Rani would have been 10 years old on April 16th - just 6 days after Brian’s birthday, which was very subdued of course. She was a devoted pet and Brian’s pride and joy.  She will  be sorely missed.

 


The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not man’s.  ~Mark Twain 

“If I have any beliefs about immortality it is that certain dogs I know will go to heaven,
and very very few people.” ~ James Thurber

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Teenagers, parties and saftey

Posted on April 6, 2007
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Irony Anyone? | 2 Comments

I am sitting here at 12:05 am waiting for a phone call so that I can go pick up our eldest daughter at a party in a nearby suburb.

When I was a kid (teen) I can remember only one time that my father ever gave me a lift to a friends house. I was about Chloe’s age (16 give or take) and my mother had gone to visit her best friend from high school, who lived in Mississauga, Ont. She had taken my younger siblings with her, leaving my father and I to fend for ourselves.

I wanted to sleep at my friend Nicola’s house, and he wanted to go to the pub with some buddies. I was floored when he offered to drive me there! You see, when I turned 11 and started high school I got a golden ticket. Back then it was called a bus pass and it meant that I was FREE. I could go anywhere on the Island of Montreal by myself and always had transport. Failing the bus, there was always walking or biking to get you where you needed to go. I don’t even remember my friends getting lifts that often… we always made plans to meet at the nearest bus stop or a connecting terminal.

These days, you daren’t let your teen go anywhere without knowing exactly where they are and how they are getting home. (Meaning you picking them up or a friends Mum picking them up.) I often pull double or triple duty, taking Chloe’s friends to wherever they are going, or dropping them home after. All the Mum’s take turns with this in order to ensure that the girls get home safely.

Some part of me is a little envious that these kids get chauffeured around like royalty while I bussed and walked in -40 degree temperatures to get where I wanted to go. Another part of me feels sad for them, that they’ll never experience the independence and freedom that I had as a teen.  It was certainly exhilarating going downtown at 12 to “Rock en Stock” or “The Labyrinth” for the latest rock album, t-shirt or poster.

Life, and the world sure has changed.

Just got the call.  Taxi-Mum on duty.  :)

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