Anyoung haseyo from Me and Mister C…

Anyoung (hello) to all in the Korean language from South Korea. I wanted to acknowledge this unique country, as Husband and I began watching the hit series ‘Squid Game’ towards the end of last year and also recently watched the movie ‘Parasite’, of which received ‘Best Picture’ (and other awards) at the Academy Awards conveyed in the US back in 2019. The black humour in both the series and movie had Husband and I reeling in wonder, horror and laughter all at the same time. Husband also commented, “I love the Korean BBQ ribs – they are delicious!” According to the internet, five interesting facts about South Korea include, South Koreans are one year older when born, while there’s Wi-Fi almost everywhere in South Korea. South Korea is also known as the biggest drinking culture in Asia, along with the fact that men are spoiled on Valentine’s Day instead of women; a fifth fact is, South Koreans celebrate a special day for “singles” (that’s nice!) … https://www.tripzilla.com/fun-facts-about-south-korea/122450

Happily, I can write we are now well over two-thirds way through the school holidays (yay!); what do you planned for the kids these last two or so weeks (boredom often sets is about now – don’t you think?)? As our family life routine is quite different at present, this week’s blog will be a sort of a holiday (shortened) version (apologies); time is a bit limited at present juggling work and the house flood repairs. I will admit, time has flown (particularly when you have flood damage and quotes to deal with), Mister C has mostly been occupied, attending a few days here and there at the school holiday program (thanks heaps). The staff and carers have been wonderful and Mister C has been really enjoying attending the fun days. He has also been helping outside with some gardening and playing with his sisters and having a bit of fun outside too with the snails, frogs and lizards that make our happy garden their home (with the little sunshine we have had). I promised to take the kids to the movies and lunch out somewhere this week (of course wearing our trusty masks and sanitising our hands).

Mister C was able to have his first Covid vaccination last week, I had to work this particular day, but Husband had it all covered and took Mister C to his appointment and stayed with him through the event and post monitoring (thanks our rock!). Mister C was very brave (good boy!) and when I got home from work, he came into the kitchen and said, “Hi, Mummy, I was very brave and had my needle. I have very strong arms and my right one is particularly strong now it has the Covid fighting vaccine going through it! I am tough and I can fight any bugs that now come my way!” I gave Mister C a big hug and told him how proud I was of him and gave him a little treat (lolly-pop reward) for braving his first vaccine jab (needle), Mister C had also got a lolly-pop as a reward at the Medical Clinic! Later that evening Mister C complained of a sore arm, so I gave him some children’s Ibuprofen, which helped; I also heated up our trusty small wheat pack and this settled him down into bed as well. The next morning Mister C was lethargic and also complained of a greater sore right arm. He rested through the day and stayed in is soft PJ’s too (with lots of hugs from Husband and I too). I was very thankful we were able to get a booking for Mister C, to have the vaccine before school went back. I Like many parents it has given Husband and I peace of mind (a little anyway) with the new school year approaching next week (who knows what’s going to happen next?) …

As I wrote in last week’s blog, through all the flood and damage to the house, we did manage to go on our little getaway to the Gong (Wollongong). We made the most of the trip (such anticipation from not going anywhere since January last year). The highlights for me were the beautiful beaches and collecting some ginormous lovely shells to bring home and our day trip to the glorious Nan Tien Temple and institute and beautiful Botanic Gardens nearby. The temple was wonderful (thanks so much for having us!) and I was able to get a little fill of peace and tranquillity (something I really needed that week). The girls did complain about having to go; indeed, the two girls were not even allowed into the main shrine area due to wearing shorts. Mister C on the other hand enjoyed it like me. We had a lovely time and tried to forget about what was waiting for us back at home; on the last day of our trip, we decided to book an ocean front villa at the end of March (with the kids), for our thirteenth wedding anniversary coming up (the kids were super excited).

Here are a couple of extra words from Mister C that were spoken during our trip away – enjoy! …

Driving down to Wollongong for our long awaited family trip away; we didn’t get to leave until after 2pm, due to all the flooding and mess, while begin with the clean-up. Husband was driving; about half way there, I looked out the window at the passing countryside and saw a whole paddock full of beautiful black and white dairy cows. “Gee, I love dairy cows! I love how they all line up in a long line and walk up to the milking sheds each day – so cute,” I said, sighing. I looked back out of the window a few seconds later and saw a randy big bull having some relations with another cow. I laughed and then said, “Gee, that bull is having some fun with those sweet ladies!” The girls giggled and Mister C looked up with a puzzled face and replied, “Cows have ooders, Mummy; they are not bulls.” We all laughed and Flossy said, “Don’t you mean udders?” We are laughed again …

We all went to the local bowling club for tea during our stay at the Gong (thanks for having us!). Husband was able to arrange for us all to catch the shuttle bus to the club and back (great service), so Husband and I could have a few happy drinks together as well (I always drove us home). A friendly club employee picked us up out the front of our hotel area; Mister C complained “You said a bus was picking us up, but that is a van, Dad!” Anyway, the driver was pleasant and we chatted about the local area. Mister C addressed the driver and said, “Hey there, we are from Goulburn. It’s a lot like here, but we don’t have any beaches. We have ‘Rambo’ our huge sheep though.” Flossy sighed and groaned, then said, “We really need beaches!” The driver smiled and looked at Mister C in his rear-view mirror and replied, “Yes, I’ve been there, I often wondered what the big sheep’s name was- ‘Rambo’, that’s cool!” On the way back in the shuttle, the same driver drove us back to the hotel. We had a lovely tea and were all chatting about various things in the back. The driver heard Mister C talking about orange hair, and said, “Well young man, you look like an orange- ginger ‘Ninja’ to me!” Mister C sat up excitedly, and replied ‘Yes, I think I am, but I’m also an orange orangutan too!” All laughed…

A Word from Mister C…

Driving Mister C and the girls to school one cold morning (last year), Mister C called out from the backseat, “Gosh, there’s lots of Bruce’s around here and over there, Mummy!” Looking through the rear-view mirror and smiling at Mister C, I replied, “Oh, what was that, my son? Did you mean the cockies?” … “Oh, yes. There’s lots of ‘Bruce’s’ over there, up there and down there!” The girls started giggling, who knew there was only one ‘Bruce’ as our resident cocky. I laughed then replied smiling, “There’s only one ‘Bruce’, my son.” Mister looked out the window again, then replied, “Yes, but they do all look just alike – they must be all ‘Bruce’s’ then!” … 🦜🌈

Stay tuned…

Our fifth book manuscript has now been edited (thanks!) and I have submitted it with the illustrations to my designer for review (thanks L.F). Once the kids go back to school soon, I will have more time to complete the next illustrations for the interior of the book (hopefully!)… Stay tuned for more zany Mister C stories and hopefully we will get our bedroom downstairs back in working order and Husband and I can both get off the hard sofa bed upstairs and one downstairs very soon…