#1476 Together again

I don’t think I realised just how much I missed them all, until I saw them all today.

I’m talking about my family… my WHOLE family.

Cousins, aunties, uncles, kids, people who aren’t my blood technically but who I still faithfully call “cousin.”

And making it sweeter, having my parents, and sis and bro-in-law in the mix.

Age, gender, cultural ethnicity… it’s all irrelevant. We all blend and merge seamlessly into one. I talk to my younger cousins as easily as I do with my uncles, or the 3 year-old birthday girl.

We are all in such different stages of life, and it makes catch-ups like tonight that much more interesting. Either someone is plowing through work, looking for work, or thinking of finishing up work. Some are raising young kids, others teens, while others still are free now that their brood are independent of them.

Some are retired, enjoying the good life in the garden.

Some holiday a couple times a year.

Some are dreaming of their next holiday (um, us? 😂)

We get along, but we also argue. We shit-stir, and we agree to disagree.

And although there’s so much separating our very specific and individual lives, there’s one major factor unifying us all.

And that’s family.

We were together for a kid’s birthday today. And not ‘kid’s birthday’ in the literal sense… although there was rainbow cake, pink balloons, dress-ups and a jumping castle…

But there was so much noise. Rowdiness. Gee we can be f$#&ing loud! Anyone passing by outside would be forgiven in thinking it was anything but a kid’s birthday party.

We are passionate, yet we still have our problems. Health problems, kid problems, work problems and just generally, LIFE problems.

We share all this to lighten our load, then we smile. Eat some cake and drink some wine.

Go home full in our bellies and our hearts.

Because we are family.

And gee, I missed them. ❤

 

 

 

 

#1475 Maths can make you happy

Do you know how close I was to posting another coffee-related post today? That would have made it three in a row.

But I refrained. I found something harder to capture visually, but much sweeter.

It was after school and baby girl was using Mathletics – it’s a maths app that assists learning at home as well as in the classroom.

She somehow happened across a live challenge area of the app – of course – and was suddenly given 1 minute to complete maths equations suited for her level.

Before I realised what was going on, I turned to see her going –

“4 + 3,” holding up her hands with four fingers  on one hand and three fingers on the other, and proceeding to count them together to make 7.

She did this five more times with different equations. I just stared, watching her quickly work out how to add up the numbers to find her answer, amazed that she was doing it accurately.

She got 6 out of 6.

It was one of those moments of growth I was so happy to have been able to witness. I had just recently been to a parent info meeting at her school that touched on children not just  knowing the answer, but knowing how to work it out too.

Seeing baby girl work it out in front of me, was the simplest yet most satisfying thing to see.

Our children grow up in front of our eyes, and catching those moments of growth as it happens is the greatest reward us parents get, for all of our sacrifices, sleepless nights, tears shed, endless moments of worry and stresses about the future.

Let’s take all the rewards we can. ❤

 

#1474 A date with the parentals

In light of things about to get a whole lot busier, it was lovely to have this pre-planned day, to head across town and meet my parents in a shopping centre, near my old ‘hood.

Memories.

First I was just wandering without a care. Look here, look there… go wherever I damn like.

When I met up with them, it was BUT FIRST, COFFEE.

And then the pinnacle of the day, being also the least active… when Mum and I lay down to have massages.

Ahhh.

The lady who did my back, was kneading a point in my left shoulder blade so much that I nearly cried out. But I gritted through the pain, to get to the glory.

Huh. Much like life I guess.

It was MAGIC.

Then for lunch I introduced my parents to Roll’d… and if you haven’t tried their food, you are missing out. They are delicious.

And now my parents think so too. 😉👌

Best of all, was the bonding and quality time spent with them… because I just know at the end of it all, we all walk away, feeling happier and lighter.

❤

#1473 Double the treats with Hubbie

You know what’s great about having coffee with a loved one?

Two coffees… means two treats.

(Or in our case, 2 and a half 😉🤷‍♀️)

But whereas I’ve been good and going for simple, health-ier nibblies (like a tahini biscuit, for example) Hubbie doesn’t hold back, and goes for let’s say, a Portuguese tart.

Like today.

But… the custard was too eggy for him…

So I ate it.

Nom nom nom.

Just so you know, I’m going really well in my new routine and sticking to my guns, but sometimes you just gotta say “YES!” to the custard… 🍮

#1472 Sunsets and so much more

I’m grateful for the beauty in tonight’s sunset.

Colourful. Vibrant. Ethereal. Mysterious. Hiding something even more beautiful.

But I am also grateful for –

New opportunities

Things to do

A place to be of value

A different purpose

Blessings

But mostly I am grateful for old friends who tell you about job opportunities…

😉😁

 

 

#1471 ‘Guess Who?’ told her???

It’s after school pick-up, and baby girl and I are playing an impromptu Guess Who game.

I tell her that we’ll only play a couple rounds… so we play one game, and I win.

One down.

We start the second game. I am nearing the end, with far more of my people down, while she has loads left. I go easy on her, as she asks really specific questions that stall her progress, like “does your person have a headband?” when there is only ONE person with a headband! But also, I don’t avoid winning.

I ask a question and knock down a few more. I have 1 left. She is totally Megan. I have this in the bag.

But now it is her turn.

And she has LOADS left.

But then she asks… “is your person, Rebecca?”

What the actual F*&%????

She had 18 people up, but still completely fluked the question and picked the right person.

Rebecca it was! She won!

I was flabbergasted, asking “how did you do that?” She said she just knew, and still in total shock, we went on to play another game.

I went first. I asked a question and she responded, before I knocked a couple people down.

Now it was her first shot of the third game.

“Is your person… Lisa?”

FUCK OFF. No special characters either.

It IS Lisa!

How the $^%*$*$&#&(#()(???????

I couldn’t speak. I was actually staring at her, ‘like what is going on?’ I went to her side of the rug to see if she could see through my card somehow… nope. I look at her dead serious.

“How did you do that? Did someone whisper it to you? Or was it a feeling?”

“It was a feeling.”

I just can’t get over this. Someone is messing with me. Is someone messing with me? What is going on?

I ask her a series of specific questions. If she can tell the future I want the answers.

“Am I going to write a book?”

“Yes.”

(Hold on, I actually have written a book).

“Am I going to have my book in bookstores?”

“Yes.”

“What am I thinking now?”

She laughs. “I don’t know!”

We played two more games after that which I won… either her EXTREMELY lucky streak ran out, the ‘feelings’ stopped, or whoever or whatever was whispering in her ear ran off… either way… it made for a truly entertaining Guess Who session… I won’t be forgetting those games for a while.

#1470 Mills Beach Love no. 5

Make the most of every last summer day!

(WAAAAAAHHHHHH!)

Not summer day, as in seasonal… summer day, as in HOT.

Which is what we, and a billion other people who came to our seaside, did today. 🙂

#1469 Legends Live at Wembley

It was a simple thing that made me happy today.

You don’t necessarily have to go to, let’s say, a Queen concert, to have a grateful day, right?

(It doesn’t hurt though 😉)

You can just watch them on DVD, instead!

Which is what I did. If you think I wrote about Queen too much before Thursday night’s famed and unforgettable concert, you have another thing coming.

After seeing any performer/band live, I go a bit cray-cray and have to listen to their music for days, sometimes weeks on end.

I took out the Wembley DVD I’ve had for a while now, but sadly not watched a lot of, and started watching it today.

They are so damn good. Energetic, their vibe is palpable, bursting off the stage with their powerful and unique brand of soul-thumping rock.

I just L❤VE it.

🎵🤟🙏

 

#1468 We meet again

It’s been about 6 months since I last saw my old work crew.

I caught up with most of them tonight.

Something’s shifted, though. The last time I saw these guys was at our send-off party, and back then there were lots of well wishes, ‘stay in touch’s and ‘call me’s.

But now that we have seen each other and caught up…

It’s no more ‘good luck for the future.’

It’s actually ‘when do we do this again?’

This group, who I spent so many years with, and so many of my hours with, laughing and talking and gossiping, have gone from former colleagues, to –

FRIENDS.

And it’s a beautiful place to be.

They’ve transitioned from one part of my life to another.

And you just never know, do you? You never know what role someone is going to play in your life… As the saying goes, they could be in your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime…

And within that, their roles and purpose in your life can shift too.

Don’t be too sure of yourself. Allow some room to be surprised.

I sure have been lately. ❤

 

 

#1467 A crazy little thing tonight

I was driving in the car this evening, on my way to my musical destination.

I was on my way to see Queen.

Bona fide proper royalty. 😉

And they were blasting out of the car too… but the crazy little thing was, the Queen I was listening to had Freddie Mercury, and the one I’d be seeing tonight had… Adam Lambert.

It’s another one of those crazy things, when someone or something you love is not there, and something else, or somebody else, stands in.

Tonight, Adam addressed the elephant in the room early on.

He was NO Freddie. He was a fan, just like we were.

And tonight he was going to pay tribute, the way he knew how, and the way that he could.

With those formalities out of the way, the show went on in superb style.

Adam is a performer in his own right. He did an exceptional job bringing his take to Queen classics, and his vocal range is just as remarkable.

I loved some of his camp parades, and started to appreciate him in a whole other way.

He was somebody else to love.

But perhaps most touching of all? When Brian May did the guitar solo for Love Of My Life, even singing the sweet words Freddie used to…

And then 3/4s through the song, Freddie suddenly appeared on stage, on a screen next to Brian.

It completely took me aback. I fumbled for my camera, trying to record the moment, while looking past the phone to the stage before me to take in… Freddie.

It was the closest I’d ever get to him. Being in this large arena, with all these thousands of people, with Brian on guitar and Roger on drums… and Freddie as a pre-recorded video… I realised, this was as good as it’s gonna get.

It was emotional and extremely humbling.

And yet, it was still one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to, and it was missing one very important frontman.

How would it have been like, if Freddie were there? Would he have been able to hit his high notes? Would he have paraded around in his undies or some other garish costume? Would he have done his operatic solo, competing against the crowd, only to say “fuck you,” with a cheeky smile at the end when they managed to keep up?

No one knows.

But what I do know, was that despite his physical absence, his spirit was definitely there tonight.

He was all around us, just as his music grows in influence and deepens connections and traverses continents and generations.

 

I was thinking on the drive home, my head full of Queen and giddy from the experience… my relationship with Queen has grown like that of a friendship.

It started off as an acquaintance, grew to a friendship, merged to best friends…

And now, it’s true love.

“When I grow older

I will be there at your side

To remind you

How I still love you… (I still love you)

I still love you.”

😍😪🎵

Best birthday present EVER. Thanks sis and bro. This one was definitely worth waiting for. ❤❤❤