A cheery Christmas thought

We were listening to the radio on the way to the busy shops yesterday and I was thinking about how much the way the carols are sung has changed. The style sounded more like: We wish you a Mary Christmas and a Heppy New Year.

In between the carols one pest control company had an advertisement. They delighted in telling us that, in an average lifetime, each person swallows 10 spiders when asleep. They also reassured us that if we used their company they could reduce that to 3. How's that for a cheery Christmas thought?

When Lloyd was about 10 months old I found him chewing on something and pulled out the article with my finger. It was a dead spider. Thereafter my friend's children called him 'Spider Man'. I just looked at his bedroom earlier and I can tell you he makes a very messy web.

Mary ... oops I mean Merry Christmas to all.

My children are weird

When going down to the shops for some Christmas shopping last Saturday Anika, Hubby and I were discussing how you can get gift vouchers for almost anything for Christmas. At this point we happened to pass a funeral director and Anika said, "You could even get a gift voucher for a funeral. How about that for a back-handed present?"



Meanwhile Lloyd has been busy putting his mechanical skills to work. During the renovation he decided that he'd like to get our grandson clock ticking again since it has spent the last few years tick-tockless on the wall after something didn't seem to work in it. Being one for noise he's set it up in his room.
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He got it going in a nice state of tick-tockness and was pleased when he got the bongs going too. The problem was it was bonging 11 at 8:30 am in the morning and 5 at 11:50 am. After investigating the various types of spanners and screwdrivers we have he's got the bongs right now but I noticed yesterday that it's four minutes slow. Maybe he should use that watch his uncle and aunt gave him last Christmas.



Matt has been growing at a very fast rate at the moment but it doesn't seem to affect his co-ordination. A couple of nights ago he was drying a plastic cup and dropped it. It fell onto the bench, bounced then went over the side. He caught it deftly and exclaimed, "Wow, I've got great refluxes Mum!"



It's amazing the difference one vowel makes.

Live Blog of the Renovation (start reading from the bottom)

9:30 Collapse into bed exhausted and wake at 6 am to do it all again tomorrow with the next two rooms.
2:30 Recommence cleaning and moving stuff. Decide that dinner is going to be at least partly take-away.
2:15 pm Pick up Anika from work.
1:36 Having a slight breather after lunch and moving stuff. Piano moving soon to come. Maybe not quite so thankful for the hot day - can't put the air-con on in Anika's room until the furniture is in and the doors on.
11:46 Find out that Anika's room is finished so start cleaning there.
11:45 Oops, forgot the curtains still in the washing machine. Will hang curtains first and eat afterwards.
11:44 Is happy that it seems it will be finished by lunchtime. Is wondering if Lloyd and I should have an early lunch so as to be ready to hit it with the cleaning and moving once it's done? Going to investigate the fridge.
10:29 Am happy that he did not have to grind the slab of concrete after the carpet left. Just in case, am glad that the plastic drop sheet still covers the piano wedged in the hallway. Look at the wonderful new floor being put down.
10:28 See to the fourth (or is it the fifth?) load of washing of quilts, sheets, curtains, matress protectors etc. Am thankful for a very hot day to get it all dry.
9:30 Leave to take Anika to work.
8:00 I am reminded of Dr Zeuss: "This mess is so big and so deep and so tall, We cannot pick it up, we cannot do it all." Apologies for a (most likely) mis-quote. 'The Cat in the Hat' is somewhere around here but it's hard to get to around the dismembered pieces of beds.
7:57 Floor man arrives
7:55 Grandma arrives
7:50 am Australian Eastern Standard: Waiting for the floor person to arrive. Getting Mike and Matt ready to go to Grandma's house for the day.

The end of year signs

I can tell that it's the end of the school year. The weather is hot and everyone is tired and just a little 'not with it'. A couple of days ago Matt was sharing his superior understanding of what is done in school by illuminating Mike:

"Next year you get to do English. That's when you learn to write and draw straight lines."

And at this time of year we're either on holidays or doing some sort of renovating. This year it's the renovation and I'm asking, "Why do I do this to myself?"

The carpet is being removed in stages and replaced with hard flooring over the next two days. This meant that today was spent removing the entire contents of two rooms (including piano and thousands of books and toys) and somehow finding space for the contents in the rest of the house. Tomorrow after the floor is in we have the fun of putting it all back and repeating the idea with another two rooms. There's always so much more stuff than you realise and more cleaning and throwing out to do than you realise. As I was clearing up behind the furniture moving I was thinking, "It would be really good to paint while all the furniture is out."

I did not think that for very long. Too hot and too much work. It will get done eventually.

*reminds herself that she's been wanting to get rid of the dusty carpet for years and is thankful even though it's a huge mess now*

Can someone explain?

At dinner the other night Mike decided to let us in on 6-year-old wisdom:

"My fork can hold more than my spoon and the pen is mightier than the sword."

Can someone explain the (not-so-obvious-to-me) connection?