family

3 months …

~ asteppingstoneembarkwithandrea ~ Leave a comment

Thankfully I decided not to number the weeks, I look back and see it has been 3 months since my last post. Once I get through the details of this post, you’ll understand I’ve been somewhat busy. The first quarter of each year, is the busiest for me in my work, as we deliver Australia’s largest youth writers festival. Always chaotic, throw in a new grandchild, a wedding, planning for a trip and as you can imagine, chaos reigns. My Sunday morning’s have been spent sleeping or just catching my breath.

March

Preparation is well and truly underway for Storyfest where we are getting ready to welcome some 10,000+ people to the festival. This year’s highlight is the launch of a book we played a part, albeit small, getting this book published – something we’re extremely proud of. I’m thrilled that this author, has now also signed another 3 book deal with a major publishing house. Navy was thrilled to make new friends with Kevin the Sheep, now she knows when his birthday is, and when meeting Emma Memma, she was starstruck!

A baby is due – my youngest daughter Dana, who I’ve mentioned previously, was due to deliver my grandson on 13 March – no problem, two weeks before the festival, we can do this. Well, said young grandson, had a difference of opinion and went two weeks over arriving on Tuesday 26 March (the middle day of the festival) but coincidentally on my mother’s 82nd birthday. There is no greater thrill for GG to share her birthday with her first great grandson. Welcome Rip Mackenzie Morris!

My eldest daughter Manon (the cool one in front), also got ‘officially’ married on Friday 22 March in Sydney. Manon and Shaelyn will celebrate with their friends in Italy for a European summer wedding and then spend a couple of months travelling.

A sensational way to continue the journey for these amazing young women!

Congrats girls – I love you both! Shaelyn, you’re my favourite daughter-in-law!

Needless to say, I don’t have to explain why there was no blog post in March!

April

Here we are settling into our new normal, planning for my 60th Birthday, the trip to Canada/Alaska and enjoying the spoils of our new baby. Navy’s 3rd baby is coming up and what is now to become a tradition with Manon, Dana and myself to make the birthday cakes together! I can’t tell you how many laughs, trials and tribulations there have been in just three years – but I cherish these few hours/days with my kids.

Navy wanted a rainbow party and that’s what she got! I love this kid more than life…

The Rainbow Princess!
Navy, Dadda and the Rainbow cake!

As we were ready to celebrate Navy’s birthday, Dana noticed little Rip was unwell, turns out our boy ended up having a week long stay in hospital – he’s on the mend but we had a couple of anxious days, that’s for sure. I know firsthand what it’s like to have a newborn unwell, it takes every bit of strength you’ve got. Dana was calm and in control to ensure Rip received the best of care, and that Navy was also able to celebrate her third birthday!

The munchkin spent some A’Ma time while Mum and Dad concentrated on ‘Rippy’ (Navy’s endearment)!

Rides at the shops!
Tea Parties!
Reading in her new chair!

Rip celebrated his one month milestone from hospital, a story for us to tell when he’s older…

One month!
A’Ma love for the boy!
Home time…

Again no explanations needed for why I didn’t blog in April!

May – here we are…

The start of the month has yet again been keeping me busy. I celebrated ‘THE’ day on Tuesday 7 May and had some friends gather the Saturday evening before. I’m extremely fortunate to have amazing family and friends who joined me in celebrating – thank you to everyone!

Gotta love it when your face makes it onto a cupcake…

If I knew how to make this a smaller image – I would!

My friend Cecilia and I embark on our trip tomorrow morning – bags are packed (well, I’m sure Cecilia’s is) and we’ll set off about 4.00am! We received an email late Thursday evening to tell us our cruise had been cancelled during a scheduled maintenance stop in Panama as they discovered an issue. Some quick thinking and phone calls, got us on the next cruise leaving 9 June, so we’ve had to extend our holiday by 9 days. We’re hoping we win lotto between now and then or we may have to grab a swag and camp out under the stars for a few nights…

Stay tuned as I blog our way through our travels abroad!

Oh Boy!

~ asteppingstoneembarkwithandrea ~ Leave a comment

A planning day to map out the next 3 years for Storyfest, a trip to the City, learning how to make soap, starting, what may become a family tradition and attending Dana’s baby shower – she’s been a busy week.

From the work side of things, we’ve announced two amazing women to join the Storyfest board which has approved the further development of regional festivals for children. It’s exciting to work with a group of individuals who share your passion. A trip to Brisbane (for work) reminded me of the craziness of the City and it’s been some time since I’ve been mid-Brisbane during the workweek. So busy – I’m not sure I could step back into that lifestyle. Taking me nearly 2 hours to get home, I’m not sure how people do that traffic everyday.

A few weeks back my friend asked me if I was interested to do a a soap making workshop, initially I was like – nope, not for me. I took a look at the information and decided I’d give it a go, if nothing else, it gave me an opportunity to catch up with Angéline. We set on Saturday morning to a little studio just around the corner – The Craft Parlour. There was a group of 5, all keen to try our skills at soap making. I had decided to embrace the soap making gig, I’ve been on a mission to use all the mini soaps, shampoos etc that you gather from hotel stays and was down to the last bottle of body wash. A particular brand of soap I love, I can’t get any more.

As we’re led through our course, there’s a certain personal element involved, you select the essential oils, whether you may like to add an exfoliating aspect, which is my case was poppy seeds. So we all ended up with a very personalised set of 6 bars of soap. It was a great morning, definitely something I’d have a go at doing myself – I wouldn’t say it’s a cheap way to get soap. I settled on Lemon Myrtle and Rosewood oils, added in poppy seeds and clay (for natural colour). Very happy with how my soap turned out. I was so engrossed in the process, I hadn’t noticed the others around me and their ‘flair’ or ‘artistic’ ability. The photos speak for themselves.

Ready to get our hands dirty…

My decorating skills need some work – hilarious!

Saturday afternoon, the family arrived and I found out that we were making a cake for the baby shower. Two tiered heart cake, iced and decorated! Last April, Manon, Dana and I made Navy’s 2nd birthday cake a multi-tiered frozen ombre! The opportunity to hang out with my kids and chat and laugh and try and figure out what the hell we’re doing is priceless and moments like these I will forever cherish! Due to a miscalculation of pans and cake mix – we ended up with a monster 4-tiered cake to celebrate this boy crashing the girl party!

Whilst we were absolutely thrilled at our achievements we then needed to work out how to transport! We backed up this morning to add the piping and the chocolate letters, I then left them to it to get it to the venue.

It was wonderful for Dana to gather with family and friends to celebrate the upcoming baby boy coming into our world – I think there were about 20+ of us of which 7 are pregnant! Holy hell – don’t drink the water!

Jody and I got the brief – it’s a boy!
The group gathers…
The gorgeous Mumma!
Sensational cake – we nicknamed her ‘The Titanic’
The last photo of the female legacy before this baby boy arrives. 4 generations! NB: Finn is missing! We need to work out how to superimpose her into the photo!

As I sit and type this, my apartment is a mess with the remnants of cake making and a two+ year old – I love it, my heart is full. Roll on baby boy! He’s due 13 March…

With many celebrations to plan for in the coming years, possibly my next craft workshop should be cake making!

It’s what we do, as Mothers…

~ asteppingstoneembarkwithandrea ~ 2 Comments

Before I write too much about my newest title – I need to reflect back on last week, which was about friendship. You may recall I closed off as I was heading out for lunch, with friends…

Nothing like those friends to keep you humble, I hadn’t mentioned them in my post, so they were sure to let me know, they weren’t my closest friends and that I should go hang out with my real friends! They tortured and teased me over lunch, which had us causing havoc with laughter from our table. It was a lunch that was pure gold. Who are the friends – I would have called them ‘recent’ friends although we have been friends for some 6 or 7 years now. Leanne and Kris who are always up for a catch up, who open their home to me for that drop in drink and are always inviting me to night’s out or a quick dinner. Leanne is my ‘no bullshit’ friend, absolutely tells it like it is and I love her for it. Leanne and Kris have both supported Storyfest for many years – they’re the first to donate their time and collectively have raised, I’m guessing, in the vicinity of $75K or more for disadvantaged kids! Salt of the Earth people! Kel, it turns out our kids went to school together although we never really knew each other then. Kel was too busy forging her career, she’s an amazing individual who I have sought advice from and I admire her for her ability to make change in her personal and professional life and absolutely crush those glass ceilings!

Photos: Leanne, Kel, Kris and myself; second image – Kris and Leanne celebrating my new apartment!

Now on to this week’s topic…

For the past 6 months, it’s been a shuffle of vehicles between Dana, BJ and myself. Dana’s little Mazda decided to up and quit on her, just before the wedding. They spent some money to keep her going until the end of the year although she just didn’t make it – the air conditioning went and it wasn’t feasible to fix it. At first, it wasn’t a problem although when I saw my 6 month pregnant daughter and granddaughter flushed, and hot and bothered, I made an offer – they can buy my car from me, at family rates of course, and I’ll get a new one. It’s what we do…

So about November, I took on the Mazzie with no air con (holy crap) and handed the Honda over to the kids. My Navy girl was very grateful and it definitely eased that hormonal pregnant woman – you’re very welcome BJ McKay!

How did we ever drive vehicles with no air con, I’ve definitely gone soft in my old age. I had thought that if I were to replace my car, I’d look at either an electric or hybrid, trying to do my part for the environment but also with the rising cost of fuel, I think this is the way of the future. Having driven a hybrid during the recent trip to the UK, I started investigating. I’ve never had a problem with my Hondas and they’ve just released the Honda ZRV a hybrid SUV. So this week’s venture was to take delivery of the new car and all things being equal, possibly my last car, maybe?

I was excited, I was on Navy pick up on Monday, so had let her know A’Ma will collect her, in the new car. I arrive and she’s less than impressed. She tells me my car is just like the red car across the street!!! Yes that is several exclamation marks – really? Like that red one – no disrespect, but really?

In the title of this week’s post, I’ve added ‘Mothers’, now that is not to say that certain fathers wouldn’t do the same however, in my personal experience, both my father and the father of my children, have always put themselves ahead of their families. This post is not about them or the respective traumas they’ve caused, I just believe a mother will go above and beyond, will go the additional step, will sacrifice that bit more whether it’s the extra potato from dinner or in this case, a car to be sure their children and grandchildren are safe. I’m fortunate that I’m in a position to be able to offer this to my kids and I do it because I want to.

I could write a post a day and not be finished in a month of Sundays about women I know and the sacrifices they have made for their children. They go about their day, most working full time jobs as well as nurturing the home, without any fanfare. Ladies – take a bow. You deserve to treat yourself, take that 5 minutes to yourself each and every day and don’t feel guilty. I know at times, I’ve indulged and my kids probably have wondered what was happening although I like to think, like other aspects of my life, I’m setting good examples for them to become strong women who value themselves.

Now that my girls have families of their own, I’m getting more of my time back – I do indulge, as I quite often sit at Rick Shores enjoying that bug roll – the kids will message me to complain about their invite!

First video in the blog, let me know if there’s problems viewing!

You may wonder how they know when I’m heading for a sneaky bug roll, we all have iPhones and share our locations, we’ve always looked at it as a safety issue, although as this example shows, the tables have turned, they can now also track me…

I’m happy to share a bug roll or ten with them – we’re off for bug rolls this afternoon, or so they tell me, it seems it’s my shout!

So I thought I’d wait until after lunch to publish – bug rolls a hit…

It’s just so beautiful sitting by the beach, enjoying great food, great wine and the best company ever!

Week Two…

~ asteppingstoneembarkwithandrea ~ 2 Comments

Am I going to keep these titles, counting away the weeks? Hmm I don’t think so, seems like I’m willing the year away and if I miss a week you will all know. I’ll title them by what I’m going to write about, this will jog the old memory when I look back and hopefully, maybe help me to remember what I said.

So, this week – let’s call this week Friends…

When you reach the ripe old age of 60, I believe you have a core group of friends. I was contemplating who in my group of friends has made an impact on my life in 60 years, so that’s where I’m going with this post. Now if you don’t feature don’t get all uppity about it, I’m bound to forget someone. I should pull out now right? Nah, that’s advice best given to young adults rather than a 60 year old post menopausal woman, who remember – ‘doesn’t give a damn’. (Reading this sentence back – did I really write this? I could edit but I vowed to be truthful)

Let’s start with friends I’ve caught up with this week. Monday night, a long overdue catch up with my friend Angéline. I first met Angéline and her family about 10+ years ago. We had mutual experiences as we had both spent time in the Middle East. Hailing from Canada, without close family nearby, we developed a friendship that incorporated being ‘special friends’ at the children’s school. I am now very honoured to be included in their annual thanksgiving dinner and the annual gingerbread house making. I love the extension of cultures and the warmth that this family offers to me. Although a now grown teenage boy may have other thoughts, we just keep a mutual distance although the connection is definitely there. To watch your friends’ children grow into amazing young adults is a privilege.

However, we’re here to talk about my friends, how has she impacted my life – at times, she challenges my views and makes me think, we’ve had great conversations about current affairs or startling news headlines. I know she’s the person I can have an open and honest conversation about any topic and together we solve the problems of the world over dinner. Similar things infuriate both of us although I’m decidedly more robust in my fury that Angéline is. Angéline has also become my theatre, show going, friend. I love the theatre and have attended many times on my own although sharing the experience, is always better! You can never see Michael Bublé too many times, am I right? I should also say that Angéline and her family have helped me to have a better understanding around sustainable living, being mindful of our environment and just trying to do better for our community. A friendship I cherish.

Debbie – ‘bug roll’ and that’s a guaranteed dinner at Rick Shores! As was Thursday evening. Debbie was my neighbour who missed my 40th birthday by a couple of weeks. What we have shared over the past 20 years is enough for a 5 season Netflix series. This woman is the holder of my secrets, she’s the Jeremy Renner to Ben Affleck in The Town the friend who always has your back and asks no questions! Over 20 years we’ve cried tears of happiness, cried so hard because we’ve been so angry we can’t contain it. We’ve celebrated milestones (it could just be Monday), holidayed and shared more laughter than you would think possible. We’ve not always agreed on situations but our friendship hasn’t waned. I’m sure there are elements of our friendship that drives the other mad but there’s a mutual respect that we have differing opinions and we agree to not agree.

Debbie was the person that kept my sanity when packing the ex-husband into a box at 3am in the morning! She would see the light on, knock on the door, taking to the next task without a word. We could have had our own ‘clothes line chat’ series. Both of us hanging clothes on the line at some ungodly hour of the night, led to more solving of the world’s problems. To be fair, it’s probably where our friendship really cemented itself.

Andrea – yes there are two of us, my mate from school. I recall we were inseparable for 3 years from Years 8 to 10. It’s weird how a short period of time can impact you. Both kids who grew up in Tugun, our paths had crossed as our parents knew each other. ‘Mitch and Buddy’ a bit like ‘Starsky and Hutch’ a television series from the mid-70s. Those precious school years, shape friendships for years to come. To be fair, Andrea and I have become greater friends in the past 5 years that ever before. We recently embarked on a month long trek through the UK, Ireland and Scotland – we survived and our friendship has survived.

When you talk about friends becoming family, this is so very true of the friendships I made whilst in Saudi. Again a neighbour (it’s a thing…) Michaela, Syd, Brad and Jai. Michaela being one of the first people I met when I arrived. They say girlfriends tend to sync well we certainly did that, our firstborn children being born a day apart although in very different parts of the world – Brad born in Zimbabwe, Manon born in Australia all the whilst we were living in Saudi Arabia. Our eldest kids will turn 31 this year!

Michaela taught me that Thornton chocolates can be a breakfast choice, that stopping on the M25 in London is ok, if you really need to hurl from too many champagnes from the night before and that friends can endure a 7 hour flight comatose, recovering from a 4 day trip…

I then have this crazy group of gals who during my time in the desert were my lifeline – I’m not sure I would have survived without them. We were close when our kids were little, they live on the other side of the world although I count them amongst my closest friends. We keep track via social media and have watched our babies grow and now watch our babies’ babies. I love these three women!

There are people you meet and just sort of click with – Kerry was the girlfriend of a friend. My friendship with said ex boyfriend long ago a distant memory, although Kerry and my friendship has lasted the distance for over 30 years. I attend her wedding and have just returned to the UK to witness her son’s wedding. Another friendship that has passed the test of time and distance.

I don’t see enough of these gorgeous people but love them from afar!

I am fortunate to be rich with folk I call friends. When I had the idea for this post, I thought oh, it will be easy, I have few friends who have impacted my life. How wrong I was. As I sit here, there so many more.

Cecilia – who gave me a job when I returned to Australia, which allowed my career to develop to where I am today. Our friendship has long surpassed a work colleague and this year, we’ll venture on a holiday together as we both celebrate milestone birthdays this year. Cecilia without a doubt, would be one of the most caring individuals I know, her dedication to help others in her community would be second to none. I value our friendship and look forward to our trip in the coming months.

Friday evening I ventured to Miami Marketta to watch a local young girl perform songs written whilst in Nashville for a hometown crowd. Lily Grace is certainly a young talent to watch as she heads off for another instalment in Nashville! Again an opportunity to share experiences with friends – new friends and old friends!

Yesterday I spent the day celebrating my cousin’s birthday – she is the only person I know who can text a group at 8.30am and by 9.00am there’s 30 people ready to party with her at midday. Some people I knew and count them as friends others I’d met a couple of times. It was a sensational afternoon/evening of a group of people gathering and just having fun.

I know we’re talking friends but my family are my friends – my baby sister Allison – who will celebrate her 50th year this year, always was my best friend…

But there’s a new kid in town now!

There are no words for the love I have for this kid – my little mate, my best friend who undoubtedly will hold my heart until the day I die…

I have always told my kids, I’m not their friend – I’m their mother, there’s a difference, a mother is so much more than a friend.

I could continue to write this post for some time although I need to get sorted, I’m off for lunch today – with more friends…

Note to self – get better at putting photos and text together!