Well, by the end of this entry I will have managed 2 posts in a month. Could be a lot better, and I really will try to be more frequent in my updates. So what has been happening?
With Sean & Donna's wedding (one of John's best friends from high school) this coming Saturday; Donna held her hens party at the Doomben races during Ladies Day two weeks ago. A little dubious at first with the challenge of attending with Maddy in tow (John was at Sean's bucks party at the same time), I ended up enjoying myself more than I could have imagined. I didn't win a cent but it was all for good fun. Maddy as usual charmed the socks off everyone at the event, and our biggest problem all day was feeding her in my race day outfit. For my close friend Maree, it meant dragging her to the ladies' room every couple of hours and getting her to undo the zip on my dress for me! *LOL*
I forgot to mention in my last couple of posts, that whilst I enjoyed myself at the Gold Coast visiting SeaWorld; and attending the Australia trials for the World Gymnastics Championships; by far the biggest disappointment for me in a long time was discovering very last minute that Westlife were postponing their Australian tour. We now have dates for February 2007, and I'm pretty pesimistic that we're ever going to see them; even if I have managed to secure a ticket to the Sydney show as well as the Brisbane one. Not that getting into the Brisbane show will be easy given that John decided to 'spring clean' and accidently threw out my Westlife ticket! Not to fear, I can have it replaced according to Ticketek but it's a pain in the butt to sort out regardless.
One of these days I will work out how to add little videos so I can show you some snippets of our SeaWorld visit. Maddy wasn't overly interested in the animals at this point, but she did seem to like the dolphins and the fairy penguins. The best part of the day for our little girl was probably just getting to spend time with her family...as you can tell by the photo, Maddy is just adored by her 3 1/2 year old cousin Chloe. As time goes on they're becoming very close; Maddy just loves squealing as she chases Chloe around the house. The photo was actually taken on the Sunshine Coast at Caloundra where the gym titles were held. We stayed in a lovely resort (which just so happened to be the official competitors resort so it was hilarious whenever the lifts open and the Australian head coach, Peggy Liddick, would step out) and then a friend, CJ, kindly put us up for the 2nd night.
The competition itself was a real 'splat fest'. Between four of us, we managed to film most of the competition, but with three separate age groups/levels running at the same time across 8 apparatus it was tough. By far the class of the competition was Dasha Joura, a 16 year old from Western Australia. Her floor routine to a tango from 'Mr & Mrs Smith' went down a treat with everyone, she has so much spark and character. My personal favourite, Hollie Dykes, had quite a few falls and watered down routines. Regardless, what she did, she did beautifully and she definately continues the artistry which is quite lacking in international elite gymnastics these days. (Last week was the World Championships in Denmark, and Dasha & Hollie both placed in the top 8 in the all-around event. Dasha finished in 5th place quite controversally, many avid fans felt she should have at least been in 3rd place.) Anyway, I'm blathered on enough about the gymnastics. I'm just so pleased I've gotten to see two live gymnastics events in the past 18 months; and even prouder that I could drive myself to the latest event so I wouldn't miss it.
This week has been a bit of a struggle. Madeline had been going so well with her night sleeps; even if it meant that for now she had abandoned any sense of rest in the daytime. That I could handle when rewarded with 9 hours straight sleep at night. A few days ago, Maddy came down with a cold and has been running mid-to-high fevers on and off. As a result, I think I had 5 hours sleep from Monday night through to Thursday morning. Our poor little chicken is off colour and could barely raise a smile for me when I insisted on taking photos of her yesterday. She is certainly talking up a storm, and can move around the house at an alarming pace. Maddy has also developed a taste for foods of all kinds of naughtiness. Cinnamon donuts (she actually cries when they run out!), french fries, Italian ciok, corn chips, chocolate custard. Perhaps I'm a naughty Mummy for letting her try, but she does enjoy having a taste at what Mummy and Daddy are enjoying. By far her favourite treat however, is Sesame chicken sushi. She doesn't eat the seaweed of course, but she adores the chicken. I cannot believe how much this child can swallow.
I almost forgot to mention that last week I was able to catch up with my friends Juliette; and Leanne & her son Drew from BellyBelly. Leanne and I both had our babies at the end of the year...well actually, Drew was due on Christmas Day but didn't arrive until the first week of 2006. It was lovely catching up with Leanne, and we're hoping to make it a more frequent feature of our weeks. Drew is just gorgeous...in fact I don't think the photo does the little man any justice. He is going to be such a little heartbreaker when he gets older. He's also very laid back and easygoing; as well as apparently being a fantastic little sleeper since he was born. It's been a long time since I've seen Juliette, but i'm hoping she will be able to come down from Kingaroy again soon so we can catch up properly. I'd also love to see her daughter Hannah again!
On a final note, John passed his probationary period at work with flying colours. So basically, the move to Sydney looks all set, but probably not until February 2007. They still have a lot of work to do on the Qld Newspapers project, and I do know John'll be flying to Sydney in late November for their work Christmas function. He's hoping I'll be able to come along...guess it'll depend on how generous his work are feeling! *L* I'd better fly as it's so long past my bedtime, but I'm sure I'll think of more that I wanted to post.
I didn't know Lily personally, but I have been rocked to the core by the loss of such a young, short life. Lily celebrated her 18th birthday just a week after she won her 5th national title. To the outside world that didn't know her, Elizabeth appeared to have everything just right. She was amazingly talented, bright, loved by everybody that met her; yet for whatever reasons that only those who were close to her could possibly know or begin to fathom, she took her own life. It brought to light the incredible pressure the young people are put under these days to succeed and to reach their own high expectations. I hope that if anyone reads this, that is either a young person struggling with the pressures of end-of-year exams, or parents/friends/siblings of teenagers....please don't feel alone. Seek help and support from those around you or professionals.
