Prawns Anyone???

I give you the prawns of the easter world!!! All that peeling for such little reward but they taste so good you just can't resist!

What To Say ...

So much to say right now but just don't know where to begin...

There is one thing I now know for sure though. When all those little quizzes and "getting to know you" emails get sent around and the question asks "what traits do you dislike the most?", I can confidently say selfishness and stupidity!

I used to go through so many different ones but over the past couple of weeks I have realised that these are the ones I find most offensive!

So Angry...

At myself. At him.

And that makes me sad...

Never Too Young ...

This is what the girls were up to this morning...

Sisters

Miss AJ reading the books they got as an easter gift from a very naughty friend of ours - who is forever buying my girls stuff and spoiling them rotten (so sweet that she does it though) - to her younger siblings. So cute.

What a Hoot ...

I was reading my friend's blog the other day and came across this post. Strange that I had not realised she had posted this theme on her other website that I visit regularly also because for the past few months I have been quite intrigued with anything owl.

I instantly think of the Wee One and have already bought a shirt with owls on the front for her. I have done a limited amount of googling on the subject and it seems to fit in well with the other "feelings" I have of her.

Anyway, I was instantly taken with the necklace and left a comment telling her so then promptly went to the site with the intention of buying said necklace. On arriving at the site, I instead found it a little weird to be buying the exact same necklace that someone else was given as a gift.

It was a feeling of taking something away from the meaning of it, well to me anyway. I felt there was a reason she had received an owl totem as a gift and that buying it for myself wasn't appropriate. I then scoured the site looking for the perfect necklace to treat myself but just couldn't settle on one - not only the owls but the poppy pendants and cherry blossoms just made it so hard to choose. 

There are so many gorgeous pendants on that site and I sat for around half an hour looking at all the beautiful designs, even telling my husband all about them. I found the perfect one for another friend and wondered when I could buy it for her as her birthday had already passed this year. I decided I would just buy it in the next couple of weeks when I had some spare cash as a "just because" present.

I could have sat for so much longer just looking at the designs but pulled myself away, promised to revisit it again soon and went back to doing other things.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I entered the office and the Easter Bunny** had also left me a special gift. I had stumbled across said gift last night while in the office but pretended to ignore it - I have to admit to being slightly excited about receiving a present just for me, especially when I wasn't expecting one.

I opened the present and could not believe my eyes. The exact same owl pendant and chain that my friend was given sat in a little tube. I was totally stunned. I asked T if I had told her about the owl pendant - knowing I wouldn't have considering the other pendant I was going to buy was for her. She had found it in her favourite shop - this shop is just about the only shop she goes to for gifts these days - and said she thought of me as soon as she saw it and just had to buy it.

Normally when she sees turtles she thinks of me so to buy me anything owl, although not totally left of centre being that I have been talking a lot about them lately, is unusual for her.

I am still amazed that she has chosen the exact same pendant that I only commented on days ago and I absolutely love it! Just such an amazing coincidence.

**My best friend T came up last night to help celebrate Easter with the girls today and, together with Audrey, they planted a special treat just for Mummy. Awwww!

In Your Easter Bonnet ...

The Easter Bonnet parade was a bit of a hit this year with the big Grade Oners having to make their own hats.

Daddy was given job as chief creative designer this year - I figure he doesn't get to do a lot of stuff with the girls so he is always given a couple of the finer jobs to do during the year - and AJ was quite happy to let him take control and just give her the end product. LOL

So here it is....

And I just have to post this one for those in need of a chuckle....

Pretty happy with himself

Bwahahahaha!!!

The Best Part...

There are people out there who say that you're missing the best part of the morning if you have been woken at 4.30am for a few mornings in a row and you're pissed about it. Or that half the day's gone if you get up any later. Bah!

No point in complaining to them because they just don't understand that you'll NEVER find 4.30am an appropriate time of the morning.

The reply. I am missing the best part of the day by getting up at 4.30am. That part being S-L-E-E-P!!!

There is no missing of anything at 4.30am. I don't even think the first sparrow has farted that early in the morning. Seriously!

BUT I am learning to deal with it far better than in times past. I have even managed a joke or two and a laugh. Not a big hearty, make you weak at the knees guffaw but a bit of a chuckle none the less - I have just rewritten those last three words as one then hyphenated and I still can't figure out how I should have written it so it's staying the way it is! 

And it's a good thing that I am trying to embrace it because it would seem that, in line with her older sisters, the Wee One is going to go through a phase of pooing at 4.30am every morning. I know she'll grow out of it. The other two did. I don't know why it happens. I have tried to change her meal times to earlier or later but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I know the past two days I have managed a resettle but never am I foolish enough to hold out hope that this is a common theme.

So I'll ride it out. And just keep looking to the weekends for some respite when my husband is home and gives me the greatest gift of all. A sleep in!!!

About Grandma ...

The long term readers of my blog will remember reading all about my then 95 year old grandmother. Those who are new to my blog might like to have a read so I've put a couple of links here just to get you started.

The Thing About Hospitals cont'd.

A Quick Update.

Where Has The Time Gone.

More News On Grandma.

Well, tomorrow morning we are heading off to visit her. She will be 99 this year. Can you believe it? It has been three years since she was rushed to hospital with internal bleeding. She is the toughest lady I know.

After all was said and done and the hospital staff "saved" her - and I really do use the term loosely let me tell you - she was placed in the care of a nursing home. Well, that was after being rehabilitated for months and months at the hospital. I did struggle with periods of guilt after the event because Dad and I really thought it was time to let her go.

By the time she reached the nursing home she was not walking well so into a chair they put her. She has sat in that chair for near on two years and has endured hours of endless sittings at tables with people who's minds were all but gone. Being that my grandmother NEVER complains even though her mind is still highly functioning she has sat and sat and sat ...

She has been back to hospital a few times for one thing or another. Her hip has now let her down and she is in increasing amounts of pain. She is now confined to her bed. Confined. To. Her. Bed.

She can't even move without assistance if she is uncomfortable due to the hip. Dad has said she is going downhill fast. She can't feed herself, she can't wash herself or go to the toilet. And yet she still has her mind. Which, sometimes I think has to be worse for her to be so aware of her body failing her more and more each day. Of knowing how dependent she is on others when she hates to be a burden and after living independently into her 96th year. And knowing she is living somewhere she vowed never to live before the doctors "saved" her.

So we will go tomorrow and visit her. She will meet my youngest daughter for the first time. AJ is very teary at the thought that this may be the last time she will see her. AJ has such a big kind heart and never likes to say goodbye to anyone even if she is going to see them again so you can imagine how devastated she is to think that this is it.

Grandma still remembers us all which is remarkable for all the mind numbingly boring days she has endured in this place. It is her short term memory that seems to fail her more often than not and this is nowhere more evident than in her talk of Schmoo. I was pregnant with Schmoo through her ordeal and she has struggled to remember that Schmoo is my second daughter and that she is in fact a girl even. She was convinced right up until our last visit that Schmoo was a boy so it will be interesting to see if she remembers her when we visit tomorrow.

I am glad she gets to meet her youngest great grandchild. I am glad my girls will get to see her again too and that they had the privilege of meeting her BUT, now more than ever, I believe Dad and I were right when we asked the doctors what quality of life she would have if they saved her.

Sadly that answer is none.