When we went to Karumba in October 2014. We were living in Mount Isa, Chance was nearly 4, Quinn was 18 months and looking very much like Julius, don’t you think!! And I was very preggo with Darby.
Category: Mount Isa
Flashback Friday
I wrote this post 4 years ago to the day and stumbled upon it while looking for inspiration for this week’s Flashback Friday. I read those words and remember that feeling I had at that time. The feeling is different now. The focus is different. But it’s interesting that I wrote that post way back then (we had just moved to Mount Isa) in light of my current circumstances.
This photo was taken around that time. We were in our dickie little courtyard out the back of our tiny townhouse and the kids were sharing some frozen blueberries. Quinny had just turned one, Chance was three, and I was soon to be preggo with Darby. It’s amazing how, in hindsight, things back then seem so simple.
When love came to town
Hubs and I have lived in many cities and towns together. Starting off in Brisbane, where we met, fell in love and got married, we then headed south to Melbourne. Then came Wangaratta, Mount Beauty, back to Wang, then north to Townsville, Ingham and Mount Isa, and finally Rockhampton.
Looking at this list now, I can tell you that into our lives have come kindred spirits, unexpected connections, small-world coincidences, and four top-class Godparents. We are blessed, we are grateful and I like to think we do not take these blessings for granted.
So when an opportunity comes along to see one or more of these fine people (like on our recent trip to Melbourne) we grab it with both hands.
Enter The Godfather.
We struck up a friendship with Felix in Mount Isa very early on through a friend of a friend (I think!?) I still remember the first time I met him – it was at the races, and I had no idea that this was the beginning of a very special friendship.
One thing that really draws us to people is when they are interested in doing things spontaneously and we found ourselves going 4WDriving with an hour’s notice and it was great. Then there were the Saturday morning garage sale ventures where Hubs and Felix would go and “look at some stuff” with the kids on a Saturday morning while I had a sleep in. This would be followed by brunch and maybe even plans for Sunday would be made. And of course the kids grew to love uncle Felix.
So when Darby-doo came along, it was not a hard choice or Godparents. We had already become friends with Sonia in Townsville and had all moved out to the Isa together. We were a strong support for each other, especially in this early weeks and months, and when we found out we would be in Rockhampton together I almost burst with excitement.
So en route to his new soon-to-be home town of Orange, Felix decided to pop in and stay for a couple of nights. It was so nice having him around to play with the kids, and they fell in love with him all over again. And I just loved having one of our little crews back together, albeit only for a moment.
Honestly I’m just feeling so grateful right now for all the incredible people in our lives.
Holding an ice-cream-eating toddler while wearing a white shirt? Now that’s love. (And Napi-San a couple of hours later…)
Offering and being excited to come to playgroup, AND getting crafty with the kids.
Getting the Godparents back together in the same town again!
Coming to watch Chance get his special prep award.
Reading at storytime (so I don’t have to.)
Buying a completely adorable outfit at an op shop.
For these reasons and so many more, it has been a simply marvellous couple of days around here. I look forward to the next reunion!
Comfort factor
Last year sometime, Hubs made a comment that went something along the lines of “you don’t like to be uncomfortable.” Of course I took offence to this, as I’m always happy to leave my comfort zone for new adventures. I was living in Mount Isa for goodness sake!
But that’s not what he meant. He was saying that I don’t seem to like being uncomfortable. Like if it’s too hot or too cold or I’m pregnant or I’m sick or I’m injured. And I had to admit, once I thought about it, and after a couple of months of noticing certain behaviours of mine, he was right. I liked my environment, which included my physical self, to be comfortable.
So I started stepping out and seeing what I could do to better adapt to uncomfortable situations. And this year, I’ve really stepped it up a notch. When it’s hot, I still go for a walk. It’s always going to be hot, and commenting on it (read: whinging) will not change that fact. I sweat almost immediately, and start puffing not long after that, but I’m doing something positive for my body, so it’s worth being temporarily uncomfortable.
That’s the other thing I’m having realisations over. Nothing is forever. Everything is temporary. This too shall pass. (Yeuch. Cliche time.) My mother-in-law reminded me of this months ago: No matter how bad of a day I’m having, there has never been a day that hasn’t ended. I seem to have been having a few of those lately. It’s a mixture of exhaustion from solo parenting, and challenging two and four-year-old behaviour. Even Hubs’ patience is being tested and that guy is a saint! So I know it’s not just me.
But I know it won’t last forever. This behaviour is a time of learning, and with the right direction and encouragement, the kids will continue to thrive. I just need to continue with my deep breathing, and let a few things through to the keeper. I don’t have to connect with every delivery.
So in keeping with this theme, it’s 30 degrees today, and I’m about to walk to and from Chanbe’s kindy for the third time today. The first time was at 8:30am for drop-off and by the time I got home (pushing our huge pram uphill all the way) I was dripping with sweat, but I felt good. Then I walked back at 10am for the Mothers Day morning tea that they hosted and home again, and now I’ll be heading back again for pick-up. It’s okay to be uncomfortable, and it’s feeling better and better every day.
Oh what a night
It was 2:30am. I awoke to the sound of the rain pelting down. It was an absolute downpour and an absolute pleasure to listen to. As I started drifting back to sleep, I was hit by a horrible, horrible thought. I’d left the windows down in the car.
Mount Isa is hot. Have I mentioned that? So if there is any possibility that I might be going out again later that day, I leave the car windows open. I had gone shopping around lunch time, and figured that an afternoon outing might be on the cards, hence leaving the windows down.
Absolute torrential rain kept coming down. My mind was swirling with images of the car filling up with water and NEVER drying out properly; of having that manky smell hang around for months afterwards; of the electric windows shorting out and not being able to wind down anymore. I woke Hubs up gently and shared my concern, asking if he thought it was worth going and winding them up. He suggested there wasn’t much to be done.
I was just so annoyed at myself.
Another 10 minutes or so passed, and the rain just didn’t let up. I kept thinking that I should go and try and wind them up, but wasn’t sure if there was any point at that stage.
And then it hit me! We had met Hubs for dinner at the hospital and I had wound the windows up when we got home! WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The relief that flooded through me right there and then was indescribable. I know this is sounding dramatic, but just remember that I was half asleep at the time, which makes everything bigger in your head.
I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but I was too hyped up from the excitement that I hadn’t just flooded our car. And of course, just as I was drifting off, Darby-J woke up for a feed. It turned out to be a bit of a restless night, but I didn’t care. The car was dry.
Oh, and it’s our last day in Mount Isa. This time tomorrow the kids and mum and I will be getting ready to head to the airport. We made it. We survived. We learned things along the way. We made some wonderful friends whom I’m sure we’ll stay in touch with.
We had survived the Isa. And I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner that is 2015.
Moving is hard
And I don’t just mean physically.
Remember when we were packing up to leave Wangaratta and I said I’m never moving again? We’ve moved twice since then. I’ve also said of the last 2 places we’ve lived that I’d hoped we’d stay more than a year. This hasn’t happened but I’m saying the same for Rocky.
Moving towns is emotionally exhausting. There are new friends to make, new shops to find, addresses to change, kids to settle. The list goes on. I am feeling good about this move – for whatever reason I feel like it’s the right move for us – but there is still a lot to do.
I started writing this post yesterday and forgot to save the draft, assuming it would save automatically. I’m not entirely sure where I wanted to go with it to be honest. I don’t want to come across as complaining as I’ve been really lucky this past month having Mum and for the most part, Hubs, around to do so much for me and the kids. I’m not sure that it has hit me that we’re leaving in 3 days. It certainly didn’t hit Hubs until last night when he realised the kids and mum and I are leaving this Wednesday and he stays til next week.
Even though the removalists are doing the packing as well (a thousand times YAY!) there are still things to be done.
I’d best go and do them 🙂
Happy new year
It’s nearly midnight and we’re still awake. And on purpose! Hubs left for work an hour ago and the kids have been asleep since 8. And now it’s time for Mama bear to bid 2014 farewell, thank it for the experiences and the life lessons, and for my darling little boy, and say hello to the new year. A year full of promise for our growing family.
See you on the flip side.
Sometimes 1 decision is enough
As I mentioned in my last post I’ve been going round in circles trying to decide on an action plan for us leaving the Isa and getting to Rocky. The problem was that there were too many options and too many variables in each option. I was going to give you some examples but honestly my brain is fried from thinking about it. So I’ll just tell you that Mum and the kids and I are flying to Brisbane next Wednesday and Hubs is staying here another week after that to finish his shifts and supervise the packing and uplift of our stuff.
After that, I don’t know. Like I said, sometimes 1 decision is enough. Hubs starts work on the 21st so as long as we’re in Rocky a couple of days before that, we’ll be right. I have a feeling I might be arriving in a new town on my birthday again, just the way we arrived in Mount Isa. Happy birthday to me 🙂
So for the next week, I’m going to be culling and selling and giving away as much as I can part with. I’m trying to be ruthless, and comforting myself with the knowledge that there are op shops in Rockhampton if I need to replace things when we arrive.
Right now, Mum has taken Chanbe and Quindy to the library, and Darby and Hubs are both sleeping off their night shifts. I should also have a little nap but I’m feeling motivated so I’m going to do some squats (day 1 of a squat challenge) and then take some photos of stuff to sell.
Oh and I can’t believe it’s new years eve! I’ll probably make it to midnight but not intentionally. It will be because of this little man 🙂 Totally worth it. 
Feeling the festive love
Sorry that I’ve been missing since Christmas. I’ve been in a cycle of broken sleep, girly in-home movie nights with my friend, baking, constantly checking realestate.com for houses in Rocky, checking flights every day to see if they are going up in price as I’m yet to book anything and we might be leaving as early as next week, all the while thinking “I should blog”.
Our Christmas day was lovely. It didn’t exactly feel like Christmas but our little orphans Christmas was very nice and included a swimming pool so that was a bonus.
This is the love I’m feeling at the moment:
To be honest I didn’t really expect to get many Christmas or “new baby boy” cards and I really appreciate all the love that has been sent. It makes us feel closer than the nearly 2000 km away from Brisbane that we are.
Hubs is back at work after almost 3 weeks paternity leave and he finishes up here in 2 weeks. He then starts in Rocky on the 21st Jan – a bit earlier than we initially planned but we’re happy about that. I’ve been going around in circles trying to decide the best plan of action for us to get to Rocky and still haven’t come up with anything concrete. There are just too many options and they all have their good and bad points. One thing that’s making life easier is that the weather has been rather lovely since Christmas day. Lovely cool breezes during the day and very comfortable temps over night. I haven’t put the air con on since Christmas eve!
The kids are doing well. Darby is feeding nicely and packing on the weight and is even sleeping in 3 hour blocks over night! Chance keeps asking if we’re “moving to Rockhampton today” and Quinn is learning to use the potty! Is all happening here!
Now all we need is a house 🙂
Another different Christmas eve
I’ve been feeling pretty nostalgic about Christmas eve evenings at Nanny’s all day. The thought was with me this morning when I realised only a few short years ago I’d be getting excited already about the evening’s festivities. Nanny made Christmas special. She was the ultimate gift giver. The gifts weren’t necessarily useful or practical but there were always plenty, and the look on her face as she would give them out was pure joy.
“You like?” She would ask as I’d unwrap yet another nightie/quilt cover/towel/set of sheets/platter or any combination of those.
Of course I liked.
No matter the gift, present opening on Christmas eve at Nanny and Grandpa’s was a flurry of wrapping paper and lots of ooohs and aaahs, a few giggles, and some secret looks of whaaaaaaaaaat is this!?
Tonight we will feast on Hubs’ twice cooked lamb and some kind of yummy dessert with our good friend Sonia. I had contemplated making pierogi in Nanny’s honour but my tiny kitchen and 38 degree days defeated me.
It will be a different Christmas this year but no doubt just as wonderful as always 🙂