Taking Stock; September

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Hi there my lovelies!

I owe you all a blog post. I've been sitting on one for a while and blow me down if Carly Findlay didn't beat me to the post with her Sliding Doors post! Ha ha! All I can say is, "Great minds think alike!" Love your work Carly!

Anyway, stay tuned for my musings on my own Sliding Doors moments....

In the interim, here's a round up of September so far - even though we're only in the middle of it. It's been a busy month already!

Making : Lots of art! Paintings to be exact; plus sketches of the process of the paintings so I can teach others how to paint in a workshop I’m running next week.
Cooking : As little as possible. I’ve forgotten how. It’s all, “Get your own!” at our place!
Drinking : Water and coffee.
Reading: Game of Thrones 3: Part 2.
Wanting: Nothing much
Looking: At places to rent on realestate.com.au
Playing: Lots of make-believe stuff during Weave Dance workshops on Sundays!
Deciding: How I want my hair cut.
Wishing: That I had asked for a fortnight off rather than just a week.
Enjoying: Swimming and having a week off running. (Although I’m not enjoying the injury!)
Waiting: To see what our book looks like when it comes back from the printers!
Liking: More daylight hours.
Wondering: How long it’s going to take me to drive to Adelaide on Saturday.
Loving: Exploring my own creativity.
Pondering: New directions.
Considering: Submitting a scholarship application.
Watching: Nothing. TV is way too boring.
Hoping: Things get better.
Marvelling: At how much my cardio fitness has improved. (40 laps of a 50m pool without stopping this morning!)
Needing: To eat better.
Smelling: Oranges.
Wearing: Leggings, dress, black shirt, teal jumper and boots.
Following: The beat of my own drum.
Noticing: How terrible my eyesight is getting!
Knowing: It will all work out in the end.
Thinking: That I should really order kitchen supplies for work!
Admiring: A dear friend, who dreamed a dream, invited a number of us to dream with her and then watching her work tirelessly to see our shared dream become a reality!
Sorting: Supplies for the painting workshop.
Buying: Supplies for the painting workshop!
Getting: Excited about the convention next week!
Bookmarking: Websites I need for work.
Disliking: The commute home.
Opening: Mail.
Giggling: With excitement about our book launch!
Feeling: Creative
Snacking:  On fruit and nuts.
Coveting: Hippy clothes.
Wishing: I had a job close to home or that I could work from home.
Helping: People explore their own creativity.
Hearing: Different music from different genres. 

We did Disney

We interrupt current musings to bring you some light and colour and fantasy courtesy of our DISNEYLAND TRIP!

Hooray!

Now I know there are all sorts of people out there with many and varied thoughts and feelings and opinions about the corporation that is Disney, but let's all forget that for a while shall we? Drop it all at the door as you leave the world of today and enter the world of fantasy.

I love Disney. I don't enter into all the psychology of whether or not Disney Princesses are suitable role models for young girls. Honestly, I couldn't give two hoots. Really. I think it's all a bunch of hoo-ha adults have just applied to an innocence that belongs to children and that they have forgotten.

I grew up watching the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights with my family. Babes In Toyland, Tom Thumb, Old Yeller bring back particularly happy memories. I loved watching The New Mickey Mouse Club in the 70's and my dearest wish was to own a pair of Mickey ears like all the Mouseketeers. I have vivid memories of watching Annette Funicello from the original Mouseketeers but of the Mouseketeers of my childhood the only names I remember are Lisa Whelchel and Mindy Feldman, despite the fact that I adored all of them. As a really little girl I "flew" around the loungeroom with my brothers as we played a 45" record of some of the songs to Peter Pan. To this day I know every single word to You Can Fly, What Makes the Red Man Red? and Following The Leader. Between the ages of four to twelve, I wasn't thinking about the psychological influences princesses such as Snow White, Aurora and Cinderella were having on me. They were cartoons! They weren't real....but they were fun to watch.....and that's where it began and ended.

I was more interested in Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy anyway.

As a child, going to Disneyland was my ultimate dream.

I cannot believe that as an adult I've now been twice. I now own those much coveted Mickey ears, embroidered with my very own name.

My daughter Chloe documented our Disneyland 2014 trip with video. She's editing it at the moment and has shown me bits and pieces of it. On the first day you can hear Georgia and I giggling with excitement as we entered Main St. I love that. I love that we just leave our grown up, responsible selves outside the gates and allow ourselves to become excited little children again.

I take this sign very seriously!

There should be more of it. Being a grown up is extremely overrated.

Day 1: Chloe's birthday. Very excited! I was especially excited because this time we could see the CASTLE! In 2004 it was covered in scaffolding. 

Disneyland is known as "The Happiest Place On Earth" and for Chloe's birthday it really felt like it was. Our first stop was to get her a birthday badge from the Town Hall in Main St. After that it was like every second person would wish her a happy birthday - Disneyland staff (also known as "Cast Members"), ride operators, waiters, strangers....everyone! It was pretty cool.

The crowds were huge, but we had a wonderful time. Last time we were at Disneyland you would be able to go straight to the front of a queue if you were in a wheelchair and wanted to go on a ride. Since then they have streamlined the process so that it is fair and equitable for all guests. They have introduced the "Return Pass" whereby you go to the Wheelchair Entrance (usually at the Exit) and get a Pass that gives you a window of time in which you can return and go on the ride - say for example you wanted to go on Pirates of the Carribean. The Cast Member would give you a slip of paper to say that you could return between 10:15am and 11:15am and you'd be able to go on the ride pretty much straight away. We found it really convenient because you could book Return Passes for several rides in succession and just go off and enjoy other attractions.

One of my favorites is the "World Famous Jungle Cruuuuuuise!" 

Of course there were rides the girls couldn't go on, but in their selfless way they encouraged Tim and I to go.

Here we are waiting to go on The Matterhorn! We waited an HOUR to go on it.


Part of the Disneyland experience is meeting the characters. DO NOT tell me that they're just suits. They're not! We really did meet the REAL Minnie, Mickey, Pooh and everyone else. Real I tell ya! REAL!

Minnie is Chloe's favorite. She is as sweet as....and VERY popular. The line to meet Minnie is something like an hour long!

All in all we had four days in Disneyland and California Adventures. Near the end of our time we kind of felt like locals and knew the park like the back of our hand.

This dude is known as "our biggest fan". He is there every time we do our very own parade down Main Street.

Actually we watched a couple of parades - ones that we didn't participate in!

We had a magical time. Just magical, even though it was crowded, even though we weren't able to use our motorised wheelchairs, even though we experienced a 5.1 magnitude earthquake at 9:30pm on the Friday night when we were waiting to go on Pirates of the Carribean for the second time and had to evacuate the park. Honestly, it was fantastic. 

When we were there in 2004 I made a wish at the Wishing Well. I wished that we would one day return to Disneyland. It came true! This time I didn't wish the same thing. I wished for something more close to home and personal. It's my dearest wish at the moment.  I hope beyond hope it comes true. It's starting to already!

But I do hope we get to go back again one day!

When I grow up

You know what? I don't think I'm going to grow up. Growing up is highly over-rated.

Remember being a kid? Those endless summers...the unending wait between birthdays or Christmases? Oh my gosh time seemed to draaaaaag! I couldn't wait to grow up, to be a lady, a mum, be able to drive.

Now I'm here in supposed Grown-up Land I really don't know what the fuss was all about. In fact, the younger grown ups and me tend to do lots of non-grown up things and have a wow of a time doing it.

Yesterday afternoon we made a Blanket/Sheet Fortress in the loungeroom. We adorned it with fairy lights and ate party food for dinner. A couple of us slept in there most of the night, along with the dogs. Sometime during the night the inevitable happened and part of the fortress collapsed...mostly on top of me. We laughed and made our way to bed. Our backs were sore and we were cold anyway.

I sit and reflect on why I didn't do more of these kinds of things with the kids when they were little, but then I smile and give thanks that we're doing it now. These are what memories are made of. When I'm gone I want them to remember the silliness that was their mother and tell stories to my grandchildren of their Nanna who refused to grow up.

Because being a grown up is terribly over-rated you know.

Quick convention thoughts.

Just a part of the crowd! Convention delegates - 2013

We've been in Tasmania for five days. They've been the most beautiful five days in a long time. How do I begin to describe the atmosphere of love and community and acceptance that characterises this convention? I can't. You have to be here and experience it to know it. This is known as a smaller convention in that there are about 61 people on site. Smaller, more intimate conventions have always, in my experience, been the best. Everyone works together beautifully, it all just flows, the children play together happily. There's no nonsense, no love triangles, no bitching, no one with their own agendas. I'll wait until I get home to write more details but here's a quick rundown:

• Monday medical day. Very informative. geneticists are on the verge of beginning human trials of a new drug treatment for achondroplasia (my type) which will hopefully mean that although it is not a cure, the complications that can be associated with the condition are lessened or eradicated completely. Very exciting! Monday night was the Cowboy & Indians disco which was complete fun and joy and this old girl was consistently the oldest chook on the dance floor but loving every second!

• Tuesday we went and visited historical Port Arthur which I found totally fascinating ...and emotional given that I visited the Pool of Reflection and paid my respects to the victims of the shootings in 1996 but particularly to Nannette, Alannah & Madeleine Mikac. I read Walter Mikac's book not long after it was published and was deeply affected by it to the point where I grieved for a long while after.

• Wednesday was the AGM and i accepted a position on National Council. Wednesday afternoon was the Short Artss workshop/Masterclass which, for the introductory session was a phenomenal success. I led the writing workshop and it was such a powerful session where stories were told, tears were shed and bonds strengthened.

• Thursday (yesterday) was a massive day. We went to the Cadbury factory, up to Mt Wellington and played in the snow (G was so excited! Her first snow experience!) and then explored the intricacies of MONA. I loved MONA in all it's arty senselessness. So many peoe were going around saying, "But what does this mean???" to which I would reply, "It's art. It doesn't have to have meaning!" I'd like to come back and spend a whole day there.

• Thursday night was the dinner dance at Wrest Point Casino. Excellent food, wonderful company and a good (but loud) band called Australian Made. I danced ALL night and went to bed completely sober but tired and happy.

• Today I've taken time out and have gone off to Richmond to poke around the shops. I'm sitting in a coffee shop with my Devonshire tea. It's been nice. I've got reception so I've caught up on emails, sent texts, updated Facebook some more and written this.

• Tim is enjoying himself in his sweet, quiet way. Georgia has newfound friends. This makes me happy.

• I am in a good place. I feel content and happy. I've felt completely relaxed this week and have let myself be authentic and maskless. The result of this has been people responding in kind. I am blessed with friends and feel very connected to this group for whom I hold genuine affection.

Peace and love.