Hiya! It’s us, Mister C and Me…

A hearty Aussie hello from our little unique part of the world… I’m excited to write, this is our one hundredth blog this week- WOW! It’s hard to believe, but at the same time so true, with my many a late-night writing and reminiscing (almost) every week, since November 2019! It is a privilege and a pleasure to be able to write and run our blog site; having the ongoing support from our family and friends has been vital for our (little bit of) success. Mister C and Me wanted to send out a BIG thank-you, to everyone who is (still) reading our blogs and viewing our site after all this time; it really does mean the world to us! I hope we can continue to carry on this journey together; here’s to another one hundred blogs (I think I can do it?) and to a lot more ‘cluppas’ (cups of tea or coffee) while I write and you read our blogs…

Sadly, Covid is still affecting most of our communities in NSW and other states as well, with continued ‘stay at home orders’. It is disappointing to have seen in social media recently, the violent protests regarding vaccinations in Melbourne. Understandably, communities and some work-force groups are stressed, however this doesn’t warrant such violence and unnecessary damage to property; surely it could be done in a more respectful way? With the way of our world at present, my only advice is (as a registered nurse), in order to move forward through this difficult time, now is the time for people and their families to have their choice of (Covid) vaccination done -asap (if you are medically well to do so). As I have mentioned in previous blogs, in order for the ‘herd immunity’ to be successful, a higher percentage rate of the vaccinated population in our country is warranted. It’s week five of our continued ‘lockdown’ and the first week of the school hols; what have you got in store for yourself and your family? I heard some restrictions have eased; checkout your local media outlet for the latest updates (you may be pleasantly surprised!).

At the end of last week, I noticed I was feeling more stress than usual (not unlike other Mums at present); I will admit, I did spit the dummy! (wasn’t pretty). I guess with the ongoing (tiring) ‘lockdown’, all of the extra house work and washing with the kids and Husband home (he usually stays two days a week at his folk’s place) for such a lengthy period of time (we had been doing very well though); along with a few niggling work issues. I did feel quite overwhelmed with the notion of the school hols coming up and what to do with everyone, in between my (at times stressful and busy) nursing work. Husband tried to be supportive (in his own way) and basically told me to pull my head in-I went to bed early with no tea (not a good evening). Early the next morning when the house was peaceful and still (one of my favourite times of the day at present), I pondered on a few solutions to help our situation. Husband gave me hugs and asked what could he do to help and tried to understand, life can quickly become quite overwhelming for us Mums. I replied with, “Well, what If I book a night in a nice local hotel with Flossy? (Widy next time perhaps). He replied with, “What a great idea! Why didn’t I think of that earlier?” Flossy had been quite down the previous week as well, having sprained her left wrist outside (poor love), while also dealing with that ‘time of the month’ again (you know what I mean?).

So, Flossy and I packed an overnight bag with our pillows and off we went (all of five minutes) to our hotel destination early Saturday afternoon (it did feel a bit weird-but nonetheless exciting!). I drove around for a few minutes, to a couple of other hotels, as a kind of hotel guessing game together (was funny). Thankful for the extra funds to be able to stay somewhere for a bit of a break (thanks Husband); we were excited to see our hotel accommodation and were pleasantly surprised by the surroundings and attentive service. We went to a local supermarket after we had checked in, to grab a few supplies, which included some breakky items, choc biscuits, fresh strawberries and blueberries and some gourmet ice-cream (yum!). We were also excited to be able to arrange room-service for tea (thank-you-not something I have done much in the past), but with ‘lockdown’- no restaurants are currently open for sit down dinners (so sad). It was special to spend some Mum-Daughter time with Flossy (Widy next time and perhaps Mister C too- if time permits); we did our nails while we both applied a refreshing grape scented face mask, then watched hours of funny ‘You-tube videos’, until our room-service meals had arrived (thanks heaps!). On checking out, the hotel manager commented that he had a quite a few families from our local town also taking a break from each other (funny huh?) …

Alright, let’s go straight back into 2020 (the year of the Rat!) … I recall, the girls and Mister C had just commenced the new school term, with Mister C anxious about not wanting to go back to his current school. Mister C quietly told me at home that evening after his first day back to his old school, “I want to move schools, Mummy and that I don’t want to go back to the old one!” I had no choice but to contact the public school in our area, of which we were in zone for and arranged an appointment to meet the principle the following day. Naturally I was feeling worried and bit anxious myself, but after meeting with the principle (who was wonderful), my mind and pounding heart had been made up to move Mister C asap. The principle was very kind and agreed to contact the old school, to discuss the issues and obtain a copy of Mister C’s school files. We discussed his issues and both agreed a fresh start was warranted. I took Mister C into the new school to meet the principle the following day, he had a good chat about how he was feeling and why he wanted to move schools; he did very well and the principle was satisfied with the meeting.

I rang Husband straight after the meeting and burst into tears (was a relief) that Mister C had been accepted at the new school and he was going to start there on Friday. I quickly ran around later that afternoon, gathering a new summer boy’s uniform Mister C was going to need for his first day. I also contacted the old school, to let know that Mister C would not be returning back to the school (it was a satisfying call- I must admit). It was going to be a busier term (even year), with three children now going to three different schools (oh my!); but it was well worth the effort knowing the girls and Mister C were all going to be and settled. Husband commented, “Yesterday was Mister C’s first day at new primary school. It was mostly okay, except for a run-in with some child (boy) who apparently kept annoying him. So far so good, Mister C seems a lot happier, which is the main thing after all.” After the initial difficult first week at the new school, it was such a pleasure to see a smile on Mister C’s face each morning; he actually wanted to go to school and came home happy and more confident, that he could sit still and do some good school work, while also contribute in the class room discussions (such a heart-warming feeling).

Amongst all of the busyness of the family in the New Year, we had heard on social media a few weeks prior, that there was a devastating virus strangely named ‘Corona virus’, that had been detected in a China province and was causing catastrophic health issues and numerous deaths in this area of the world. I guess, being so far away from our country, many states and communities (like us) were aware of this virus, but continued on at that stage with their usual way of life. Husband commented, “The ‘Corona virus’ is making big news everywhere, there are only a couple of hundred confirmed cases in Australia, but I suspect in the next three to five days that figure will triple or quadruple.” Only time would tell and show that this particular virus would (literally) take over the world and change our way of life- forever…

Early February, we were still enjoying our virus freedom (not for long), Husband surprised me for my birthday (and Valentine’s Day so close together) with tickets to see ‘Queen’ (with Adam Lambert) live in Sydney at the huge Olympic stadium. Most people know I LOVE Queen, and they are one of my all-time favourite music groups ever. I had mentioned to Husband that tickets were on sale soon, but had then forgotten about it days later. Husband told me that he couldn’t get tickets; he then surprised me later, saying he had waited for nearly an hour on line waiting for tickets to become available and just like that, he won the spot to purchase two tickets (so exciting). Husband commented, “On Feb 15th, Wife and I went to see Queen in Sydney, was so great and we loved the concert. We also saw Wife’s sister and her family in Sydney the next day. The weekend later, we had a great small party at our house on Wife’s actual birthday, with some close friends.” It was a truly wonderful weekend, and I was so honoured to have spent it with Husband (my rock). I often think fondly back to that weekend, where it is my point of (Covid) reference, as being one of the last truly memorable events I have experienced in over eighteen months (fingers crossed- things will get better soon) …

A Word from Mister C…

Dad was downstairs in the early morning, getting ready for his work from home (still in lockdown). He saw Mister C sitting quietly in his soft grey bean bag and said smiling, “Hi, my son, no hugs this morning? You’ve been really quiet this morning, thank-you! What have you been doing- no favourite TV viewing?” … “Oh, hi, Dad,” Mister C looked up smiling. “I’m being like you at home work, not doing much, and nothing much to do!” Dad laughed and replied, “That’s funny, my son. I may look like I’m not doing much, but the computer takes my thoughts as I write them down and then puts them into spreadsheets to be processed for my work. “Oh, I’d like to do that, Dad,” Mister C replied; “Maybe when I’m older, I can get the computer to do all the work?!” … 🤔

Stay tuned…

For more thought provoking and silly stories from 2020. Mister C has a difficult, but enlightening first weeks at his new school, of which we were grateful to the school for the new beginning. Husband and I celebrate our eleventh wedding anniversary together in ACT overnight, along with a small gathering at his Bro’s house. The ‘Corona’ virus- ‘bug thing’ as Mister C called it, begins to take over the world… Thank-you for reading our one hundredth blog! Keep on reading, Me and Mister C… 🙃