Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya, Tomorrow!

Fridays.

I look forward to Fridays in the same way a five year old looks forward to Christmas. Friday is my day where I don't go to work. Nope! I don't have to get in the car and tackle the Monash Carpark Freeway or St Kilda Rd, or anything. I am not at my usual place of paid employment. I'm a free agent.

Not that Friday is my day to kick back or relax or anything. Far from it. Friday is the day where I schedule appointments and cram as much as I can into the 24 hours that Friday encompasses. Tomorrow won't be any different...however for the first time in a while I will have the house to myself for several hours. Do you have any idea how much I am looking forward to this? Hours to just go crazy with cleaning and tidying and restoring peace and order to the mess.

I've also seriously got to spend some time Christmas shopping. There are only 17 days to go and I have only managed to buy one gift. Just one. I'm kind of starting to freak out a little. I had grandiose plans of making my girls a crochet afghan each for Christmas but there's no way on God's green earth that's going to happen - unless I dedicate every waking moment to crochet....which is impossible. I wish I could though. Anyway, this means that I have to get off my keister and go down to the shops and find things suitable for a 24 year old, a 21 year old, a 20 year old and a 15 year old. Any suggestions?

One day I am going to do what I resolve every year and start my Christmas shopping in July, or by September and the VERY latest. At least then I have money courtesy of Mr Taxman. I resolve every year that I will do it but like all New Years Resolutions it falls by the wayside, along with the resolve to stop swearing, blog on a daily basis and finish all the unfinished quilts lurking in the cupboard.

So, tomorrow being Friday I will resolve to get each of my kids sorted. We're having a simple Christmas this year - clothes and things they need. Surely I can get that done?

Wordless Wednesday - Lunch break

Scenes from my afternoon lunch break in sunny South Melbourne.

Participating in Wordless Wednesday with Faith Hope & a whole lotta love.

Future Kids

Yesterday my family and I went to the annual Victorian SSPA Family Christmas Picnic. Despite windy, cold weather it was a lovely day.

I was astounded at the number of families who were there. So many of them! All of the children were no older than 10 years old. There were a couple of families there with babies under 6 months - all new little ones with a dwarfing condition.

I loved watching the little ones run around and play together. As I watched I thought, "Was I ever that cute?" Honestly, your heart just melts. I watched as new friendships were formed between the children and the parents got to spend time together chatting, catching up and gaining that reassurance and understanding that only a support group such as ours can offer. I spent time with some of the new parents with babies newly diagnosed with achondroplasia. I love listening to their stories...from when they first learned of the condition of their baby, through to acceptance and to where they are today. It's both heart-wrenching and exhilarating. One theme runs true though - that everything turns out ok in the end, that things aren't scary and as bad as they thought and that they are so in love with and proud of their child just the way he/she is. I love answering their questions. I love the hope I see in their eyes as they look around at the group, seeing short statured children running around having a ball, adult people with short stature living fun and fulfilling, purposeful lives and other families just like them who are able to relate to where they're at.

I watched those little ones running around and realised I was looking at the SSPA's future. My hope for them is that they are able to take it further than we have, that they will achieve more than we did, that they will also show the world that we're just regular people in a smaller body.

I wanted to take lots of photos to capture the goodness of yesterday but I didn't. Somehow I knew that these families needed their privacy. For a short while at an SSPA event you're just part of a crowd. You're not different, you're not unusual. You're just part of the group. I wanted to preserve that for them. I know how much I crave anonymity and invisibility when I'm out in public so I wanted to at least give them that respect.

Oh but the cuteness!!!

Pizza night

Last night my brother invited us all over for a pizza night at his place. No, we don't order pizzas in. Lane cooks the pizzas from scratch, from the dough to the toppings. The result is a wonderful smorgasbord of delicious pizzas that are devoured within minutes of coming out of the oven, accompanied by a multitude of salads brought along by the rest of us and washed down with some beautiful wine.

These nights with my family are my favorite times. Our kids all get on really well and enjoy spending time together. We, as siblings, just sit around and talk and laugh. It's great.

Times with my family centers and grounds me again. It's as though I come back to the place where I find myself again. All facades fall away, the public face goes and I am just me; accepted and loved and a part of something good. I don't have to try, there's no effort involved. I just....be.

It's like coming home, even though there's now no longer a family home to come to. The home is the family and wherever the family gathers. When my parents sold the family home I was scared I'd feel homeless, but I don't. Home is wherever we all are.

Sent from my iPhone

Let's Play A-Z

Playing along with Faith Hope & a whole lotta love.

A. Age - 44
B. Bed - Double
C. Chore that you hate - Ironing, closely followed by washing dishes.
D. Dogs - Maya, my 4 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel - blenheim. (white and tan)
E. Essential start to your day - Jogging and a cup of tea. (not at the same time)
F. Favorite Colour - green
G. Gold or silver? Silver
H. Height? 117cm
I. Instruments you play - Does the air drum count? Otherwise, none.
J. Job Title - Administration Assistant and general dogsbody
K. Kids - 3 grown ups and one teenager
L. Live - In south east Melbourne - right on the fringe.
M. Mothers name - Sue
N. Nicknames - Leis' and Prowdy
O. Overnight Hospital Stays - Teeth pulled when I was about 10, several nights following all of my 4 c-sections.
P. Pet peeves - people without a permit parking in disabled access parking OR delivery people and tradies parking there.
Q. Quote from a movie: "I hear them! I hear them Daddy I do!" (from Prancer)
R. Right or Left Handed? Right
S. Siblings - two brothers and four sisters. (all younger)
T. Time you wake up? 5:45am when the alarm goes off.
U. Underwear - whatever's comfortable.
V. Vegetable you hate - peas
W. What makes you run late? Traffic. I leave on time but the Monash carpark Freeway is a shocker.
X. X-rays you've had - I recently had a full spinal series done for my chiropractor, other than that, one on my arm when I was a teen and a full body set done when I was a baby and again when I was six.
Y. Yummy food that you make - Chilli concarne, Tomato and lentil soup, Apricot Coconut Slice
Z. Zoo animal - I love the giraffe. Such beautiful eyes.

Bubble

I love bubbles. So beautiful and fragile and temporary, filled with lots of enjoyment if only for a brief moment. And that's the thing I'm trying to remember. Just enjoy this beautiful moment for what it is. Who knows how long it will last? Who knows how long all these good things that are happening will continue? However, I'm not going to worry about that. I am just going to suck every last drop of goodness out of this time we're having. I'm going to marvel at it, look at it's beauty and appreciate it.

Tim's interview at Coles went really well. They are going to give him full-time work experience. I don't know how long he will be there for but the point is he has a foot in the door and there are people who are willing to take him on board and train him. He's needed that all along - just someone who will come alongside of him and show him the way for a while. The look on his face is priceless. He is so excited, so full of hope. He can't wait to get his Learners Permit and start to learn to drive. I am so happy for him I just want to break out dancing in the streets.

Please bubble. Please stay for a while. I just need this time of peace and beauty to last for a while, just so that we can get a breather and regain some strength for what the New Year will bring us.

The return of happiness

Honestly, I don't really think happiness ever left. I just think I forgot to look for it. I guess with the slow demise of my marriage, not being well for a while, my daughter's impending spinal fusion operation and a few other things, I've been (once again) in survival mode; putting-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other mode and just going through the motions; being neither depressed nor happy....just doing life.

However, happiness has returned to Life At Another Level in the form of all my offspring being back home again under the one roof. Sarah returned home from Uni last Friday. She is home again for the Christmas break and will return to Uni sometime in February. I am excited about having her home again. Last weekend was filled with a lot of talking and laughing. Oh my goodness how we laughed. At one point I was rolling around on the floor with an aching belly I was laughing so much. Add to that the dog becoming very curious and excited and getting in my face and almost suffocating me...well.....you had to be there.

Things seem to be looking up. I'm almost scared to trust it though. Is that silly? Maybe it's just past experience, but I can tend to get almost suspicious when too many good things start happening and maybe I even look for someone to come along and pull the rug out from under my feet. Why is that? Maybe this time I just need to ride this wave for all it's worth and just be happy in the moment. Right here. Right now. Things are good right now. Maybe I should just make that enough,

"So Leisa, what's happening that's so great?"

I'm glad you asked.

1. Sarah is home.
2. We have found the most fabulous chiropractor. This is a BIG thing. After years and years of the false belief that people with bone dysplasia (or a dwarfing condition) should avoid chiropractors like the plague we have discovered that it's not all "bone cracking" and contorting the body into uncomfortable pretzel-like shapes, but is gentle and brings about a sense of wellbeing and relief from stress.
3. My son Tim has an interview for some work experience down at our local Coles Supermarket. This is happening right at this very minute. There is a chance that this will lead to paid employment but even if it doesn't at least it will give him a foot in the door, some experience and a reference for his resume.
4. Tim is also going for his Learners Permit on Friday. Another great step towards his independence.
5. I have a job interview on Friday at a new childcare centre opening up in my local area. I'm feeling kind of confident about this as it's a centre being set up by my church. I submitted my resume to the director this morning (she has never met me) and within 2 minutes of driving down the road she called me and asked me if I could come in for an interview on Friday. I am hoping beyond hope that I'm selected as I am really passionate about Early Childhood (I'm trained) and I am desperate to work in my local area rather than commute into the city for an hour every day.
6. My parents are back home after eight months of being on the road. All is well with the world again.

So! They are the good things happening right now. Please God! Just let it all keep happening. We need a break. We really do. Just a little break. Huh?

In any case, I'm choosing to look for happiness. I'm not looking for happiness as my goal. I choose happiness, despite uncertainty, despite worry, despite everything. It's a choice and I choose it. I'm not going to deny the stresses because they are there. I'm not going to pretend things are all hunky dory when they're not, but I am going to look for the calm, peaceful bits in the storm so that the storm isn't so hard to weather.