It's Too Early!

Earlier this evening I was sitting at the computer proofreading James’ uni assignment, when I scratched my tummy. To my horror, as I scratched a little patch of skin next to my belly button, I felt something that should not yet be possible! I lifted my shirt up a little and looked down, to see, for the first time in my memory, my belly button: sticking out. In shock I pulled my hand away, and my outie went back home. I tentatively reached back and pushed the skin around my belly button in gently. Out my little innie button popped again! I have since checked on it several dozen times, and sure enough, it willingly pops ‘out’ whenever invited. Is this not too early?! Should my belly button not remain decidedly ‘in’ for at least the next couple of months? Some people’s belly buttons never even come out at all! I am afraid that it will pop out, and then spread so thin that I lose my little belly button completely!! I am a little worried about it, and feeling a little sad. I guess you don’t always appreciate little things like your belly button, until you feel its days are numbered! I will do my best not to let it stretch away.

I'm sorry, my nose is tilted so high in the air I can't see you properly down there...

So, this week my fabulous sister Tammy was in Melbourne for a business trip. She stayed an extra night, flew me down to stay with her an extra night, and take me to see 'Wicked', for my combined Birthday and Christmas presents this year!!!

Our ritzy weekend began as soon as I got on my Qantas flight. I have flown budget airlines for so long, it was shocking to be offered food, headsets, pillows, blankets, and anything else for my comfort, for free! Lol... my nose raised itself a little in the air. I also have huge amounts of faith in Qantas pilots - I get the brand name thing from my dad always buying Kraft peanut butter and Kellogs and Colgate, but I legitimately think the pilots must be better.

Upon my arrival at Melbourne airport, I saw a man standing by the baggage carousel holding a little sign with my name on it! I picked up my suitcase and he led me to a big, fancy, black car. I got in the back seat, to find a bunch of roses for me, and magazines and water for my convenience. I rode with my little nose pointing upward at a 45 degree angle all the way to our hotel.

When I got to the hotel and my chauffer pulled my suitcase out of the car, I began to lift it up the front steps but a man in a little hotel uniform suit ran out the door to assist me. I asked him to take it to the room where Tammy and I were staying, and found Tammy reading and waiting for me in the foyer. I had to lower my nose for our little 'Oh my goodness the chauffer was sooooo funny - were the roses you? Qantas food is free! This hotel looks awesome!!' reunion and catch-up.

That afternoon we were both tired, but I felt a little too 'wired' to have a nap! Mum had warned Tammy though to make me have a nap so I didn't fall asleep in 'Wicked' (my usual bedtime being curtains up for the first act), so we (also being starving) ordered a room service lunch and put on a movie. The room service was adorable! A cute older man wearing coat tails brought it up, and the silver domes just make food taste better! We got some gourmet sandwhich bites and salad, I had a club sandwich and Tammy had a steak and egg sandwhich, and everything was absolutely divine! :) This is me, excited about our lunch delivery. (Please note the tall bottle that looks like it contains alcohol. That's how they served my spring water - I actually had to figure out how to use a bottle opener to get it open!) And below, is the gorgeous Caesar salad, the sandwhich bites (photo for you mum! lol :)), and my club sandwhich (just so you can feel like you were there with us! :)):

After our scrumptious meal, and a bit of 'Fools Gold', we were both ready for a nap/half asleep, but room service came a knocking and we never say 'no' to people who want to clean up after us, so Tammy said "Oh yes we were just leaving", while I struggled to open my eyes and put my coat on, and we left to let them clean. We decided to explore the hotel for 20 minutes, then go back and have the naps we were both now ready for. Our hotel was awesome. It was adorable 5-Star service, but had last been redecorated probably in the 50's was Tammy's guess, and it has a lot of cool things which make it charming. Some of the ones we found on our sleepy afternoon are the original elevator shaft, old stained glass doors on the really big rooms with people's names on them (we're sure this must've been a relative), the hallways, and the original staircase with tiles on the floor that Tammy loved, because of the way they added to the atmostphere.

We thankfully retired to our room (which looked lovely! - Here's a shot of my favourite part (curtains! Chair!) and a part Tammy thought was hilarious (what a creepy way to hang two tiny pictures on a big wall!) Oh no! - Just realised I didn't get a good photo of the wall pictures. Imagine a huge wall, with two tiny photos hung right next to each other, right in the middle of the wall. It was pretty funny.

So we had a good nap, then got up to go to our show!!! We took a taxi to the theatre (a couple of blocks away), and thought we'd get some sort of little snack before the show (lunch was basically going to cover dinner). We found a Starbucks and got hot chocolates and one piece of raisin toast to share, then got in trouble cause Tammy made me sit at the next door restaurant's outdoor seating right in front of their doorway when Starbucks was full and they didn't have any customers themselves, so we sat at in a pretty little (slightly freezing) outdoor area to eat, and discuss the greater things in life. We then went back around the corner to the theatre.

I wish I could've filmed the show, so you could all see how fabulous it was, but after I got in trouble in the theatre for puting my drink on a wooden ledge, I got in trouble for taking photos, so I put my camera slightly grudgingly away and I can't show you anything at all. But it was awesome!! :) The first act was the storyline I knew more about, but everything in the second act was a surprise which made it fun. There were also heaps of pretty hilarious bits, and I loved the dancing! Tammy loved the singing! I also loved the singing, but Tammy says she loved it in a way that makes me think she might have loved it a tiny bit more than me. She wants to be reborn one day (totally not what is going to happen, according to our beliefs lol) with a broadway voice. I have no desire to be reborn with a broadway voice. But the girls in the show were amazing and hilarious. I loved it! I think it's a bit criminal that they won't let you take photos or record, but totally understandable, but I hope they record it sometime and sell the DVD's, because it was awesome and I wish I could watch it again and again!!! Hopefully they make a movie of it sometime, but it wouldn't be the same as the show! We enjoyed it immensly, along with the red drinks and green pringles (very witch-y snacks ;) If you ever get the chance, it was amazing! (Thankyou soooooo much Tammy!!!! :) xoxox)

We made our way back to our hotel, after a few long detours to look for taxi ranks, as my wraparound skirt undid itself and started to fall down underneath my long coat and my blisters from my lovely new shoes (thanks Mum!) burst and regrew. We were both blissfully exhausted, and went straight to sleep.

The next morning we did some more internet research on what to do in Melbourne, but we didn't really find anything different, and I was convinced we should just ask the concierge at the front desk, so we got ready to leave the hotel, packed our bags, and then called to ask if the hotel could keep our bags after we checked out, before we went to the airport. A bellboy came to our room to collect them, and we again expressed to each other our love for 5-star service.

We went downstairs to the hotel breakfast buffet, which of course, was fabulous. (Thanks Mum and Dad for shouting us breakfast!!). We had a course of hot food and a course of fruit, and I went back for another one of their mini sausages and bacon because they were so good! One of the cute things they had on their buffet all round the fruit section, were little shot glasses of strawberry smoothies!!! Cute!!! And yummy! :)

Then we saw the concierge, who gave us a map of Melbourne and suggested we take the 'City Circle' tram around the city, to get to see the whole city (about an hour round trip), and showed us a few places were it would be interesting to get off and look around. I have never taken a tram anywhere before, so this was a little bit exciting. We got on the first City Circle of the day, right outside our hotel, and enjoyed the speakers in the tram (it's a tourist tram) telling us what we were seeing and passing, and recommending cool tourist-y things to do. So many of them sounded interesting, but time consuming, and we only had a few hours. By around a quarter of the way into the journey, the tram was absolutely packed. Tammy and I had squished together on a small seat, and there were people sitting and standing everywhere. I had issues with their smells, and became convinced they all had the swine flu, which seems to kill pregnant women, so became a bit uncomfortable. We passed at one point a new Harbour Town outlet, which looked comfortable (secretly we both would've been happy getting lunch and watching a movie, but we were trying not to take the Melbourne thing for granted), and interesting places like the immigration museum and the original prison, where Ned Kelly was executed and you could 'walk the gallows' or be 'arrested' and put in a modern cell. We decided to take the whole round trip, then come back and go to the Harbour Town. When we got back to the starting point, the tram was so gross and crammed that we pushed our way off and caught a taxi back to Harbour Town. Taxis are lovely and uncrowded, and they take 8 minutes instead of 45 minutes to get to the same place.

Tammy bought some cute shoes I wanted, and I bought a cute maternity dress, and we had an extended lunch and chat at the Coffee Club - perfect for us :) We braved the tram back to the hotel, and decided that if we ever came back to Melbourne, we'd go to the Ned Kelly prison, because it sounds awesome :)

Here is our over-crowded tram just after we escaped the second time, our hotel from the outside, and me and Tammy (just to prove Tammy was there!) out the front of our hotel. You can see Parliament House behind us.

All in all it was a fabulous trip and we loved it. I've since had plastic surgery/James mocking me surgery to get my nose back into place, but whenever I start remembering the chauffered car, the 5-Star service, the amazing show, taking taxis, Qantas not charging me for their food, lol., it starts to raise itself again just a little bit.

Thankyou Tammy for the awesome trip! When I'm rich, we'll go again sometime ;) Love you! xox

My MOST FABULOUS NEWS!!!

Okay so we're pregnant!!!! :)

I haven't had anything to say on my blog for the last couple of months, because the most exciting thing in the world was happening and I was so scared something would go wrong I didn't want to say anything about the baby yet so I didn't say anything at all :) Now I will tell you all the things I wanted to tell you, but didn't yet...

1) Morning sickness is amazing, and it is not in your head! It is horrific! The constant nausea and having to eat all the time to calm your stomach but there's nothing in the world you can think of that you want to eat because you're so nauseous and you feel like setting the alarm for the middle of the night and eating to make sure you don't feel as sick in the morning, but don't bother because chances are you'll be woken up being sick anyway! And not wanting to make any plans to do anything, ever, in case you are suddenly dreadfully sick in the middle of it and need a quiet corner with a bucket - oh, and the bucket, which has resided permanently by my bed and in my hand/car/wherever I am since the end of April, is like my best friend. I feel totally insecure without it. It's wearing off a little now - I don't take the bucket everywhere, and I am going whole days at school without feeling it again until I'm at home :)

2) Cravings are also amazing and not in your head. Sooooooo not in your head! If you are around a pregnant woman, and she says 'Oh, I'm really craving _____', what she means to say is, 'If I don't get some _____ within the next 5 minutes, I will die, and I may take you down with me'. It feels like you'll just die if you don't get whatever it is you want and it's not fun like I always imagined, it's torture! And expensive!!! We used to have a budget that catered for all sorts of things, now we just try to save a tiny bit each week, because I am eating my way through all of our money! I always pictured lying on the couch saying to James "Dear, I'm craving chocolate - could you please bring home 7 blocks?", but it was more like "I need a chicken drumstick NOW, please! Quick! I know it doesn't sound realistic but I am going to die if I don't get to eat one and who cares if you're not wearing shoes and you're in the middle of your dinner and - (bursting into tears) - why aren't you in the c-a-a-a-r yet?!!!"

3) When people say you will feel emotional, they don't really explain it. I have never felt so out of control - it's not like you can just say 'suck it up!' to yourself very easily at all. James says "Hey sweetie did you have a good day?!" and it's like the end of the world has come and I can't stop sobbing, and when he tries to ask "What's wrong, why are you crying?!" as he does his best to comfort me which seems impossible, it just makes it worse, because I can't explain what's wrong or why I'm crying, and it seems awfully unjust of him to ask. One night James was out home teaching and I needed a ham and cheese toastie, so I went to the shops and got bread, ham and cheese, then I collapsed into tears in the car, because it felt like the task before me was absolutely 1000% insurmountable, and there was no possible way that I could make myself a toastie! I was around the corner from mum and dad's, so I went there, and when my poor 17-year-old little brother Ben answered the door, I collapsed in a sobbing heap, begging him with all my heart to make me a toastie. He was lovely - he made me a fantastic toastie, and he will make a great husband one day. It's hilarious now, but it's no joke at the time, I can't explain it!

If you can't tell - even though I'm describing these symptoms as terrible, I'm in heaven (okay a lot of the time it really does feel like hell, but at the moment I'm pretty good, so it feels like my life has never been better! ... I sound bipolar... I feel bipolar... ).

There are two amazingly especially wonderful things about being pregnant:

1) I'm going to be a mum!!!! James is looking forward to January (when our baby is due!!!!), but I am looking forward to February (when labour is behind me!!!) :) I can't believe it!!! I can't wait for every little bit of it, including being absolutely dead wasted from night feeds, and scrimping like crazy cause we have no income with James still studying, and wiping dirty nappies (I've avoided it my whole life)! I'm going to read to our children from birth - actually I might start now, and I keep listening to music that I think might make it happy, and I can't wait to homemake, and do all the ironing straight after it's dried instead of just before it's worn, and cook dinners and just everything. But there'll be a little baby there always! And I can't wait for it to wriggle and squirm then smile and roll and giggle and crawl and walk and jump and play and make funny faces and grow it's little personality!!! And then we'll have another baby and we'll all play together, and then another, etc. :)

2) I've discovered a whole other level of James. James has been like this amazing angel for the last 3 months. He was always wonderful, but I mean he's really been amazing!

- Every morning I wake up early and rack my brain for something I can eat. James rolls over as soon as he hears me stir and says 'what can I get you?', as if he can't wait for me to put him through early morning torture. Then he gets whatever I feel like I can eat for me in bed. Often this has meant he's had to go to our corner shop as soon as it opened at 6am, and picked up ingredients, or go to McDonalds to pick me up a bacon and egg mcmuffin (sooo gross, but soooo often craved against my will!). The sad thing is, he'll bring it to me, and just as often as not I take one bite and realise I can't eat it, and need something else. Some mornings I've had 3 or more breakfast plates with 1 bite out of each stacked up beside me and I've been beside myself trying to think of something I can stomach, while he patiently and gently offers suggestions and gets me anything else I think might work.

- Because I've felt so shaky, James has driven me to work every day and picked me up again for months, and even though this combines with the amount I'm eating in wasting our budget, and wasts about an hour of James' day, he hasn't said a word about it, except to offer and help and reassure and be otherwise wonderful.

- When I get home from school I'm always exhuasted, and James has taken care of dinner since the day I fell pregnant basically! I have had trouble seeing food before it was ready to eat, and he has just cooked and cooked and cooked. I had the bright idea to invite mum and dad over for dinner and I'd cook for them in the holidays (I figured if I had all day...), but he ended up happily taking over, and he always does. Today I got home and he was already halfway through the stir fry I had suggested, and he even made brownies for desert, and he seems sooo happy to be doing it, even though I know he doesn't like cooking one little bit.

- James has also packed all of my school lunches, including bunches of food (because I never know what I'll feel like come lunchtime :P) and tuckshop money just in case I don't want any of the food I have packed.

- Every time I'm being sick, James sits with me and rubs my back and helps me and quietly cleans up after me. He doesn't make me feel like I'm gross and horrible (which I promise you I am at those times!), he smiles at me and asks what he can get me and helps me back go bed or to do whatever I need to.

- James has done all of the cleaning in our house for 3 months. I'm not joking. Cooking, dishes, washing, vacuuming, you name it. I seem to spend everything I have making it through the day at school, and I fall apart when I get home and on weekends (I am getting a LOT better now :)), and he has been doing everything, so cheerfully and it seems gratefully!

- James is sooooo happy! When I'm lying in bed with horrible nausea for hours on end and I know he must be itching to go out and do something sporty or just something other than sit at home, he comes bouncing in and asks how I feel, and I say 'oh just nauseous', and he grins and says 'That makes me so happy! That means the baby's healthy! Is there anything I can get you or help you with to make you more comfortable?!' Then he'll sit with me and talk to me and reads to me. I would have thought James would get sick of me being sick and doing everything for me (I am!), but he seems to have neverending patience! Even sometimes when I know I'm being unreasonable and demanding, and I'm upset or worried for no reason and asking for things that are difficult but I'm finding it hard not to, I see him almost get a little tiny bit frustrated, but then he'll go out and come back a second later bouncy and happy and loving and I feel like he must be crazy for being so nice to me! He makes me smile and be excited all the time, no matter how I feel!! I love him so much!

I am sooo blessed to have such a wonderful husband, and he constantly amazes me. At this time when I am so much at my worst he just seems to be growing more wonderful before my eyes. He's gonna be a great dad!!! There are a million other things I want to say about him, but I do realise this is an epic entry and everyone but my mum has skipped it all :)

Final points
- I am due January 22 :) That means I will be very hot and bothered during the last few weeks of pregnancy lol
- We cannot WAIT to find out the sex of the baby so we can plan plan plan! :) Will let you know when I do!
- I am getting fat! :) So fat in fact, that the doctor thought I was 20 weeks pregnant and thought it must be twins because I'm only 14. I really got my hopes up, but it turns out I just 'carry big'. I am fairly sure it is just my fat, but the lovely doctor is telling me it's all baby - again, just 'carrying big' lol.
- When we went to go check for twins, we got to see the baby (just one!) and we think it may be a 'he' even though the ultrasound guy said not to take his word for it because it's too early to tell properly. He was moving and wriggling like crazy so it took ages to get the right pictures the ultrasound doctor needed. Go our active little baby! He looked so healthy and his heartbeat is strong!!! :) He has all of his fingers and toes and a spine and a heart with 4 compartments and everything! You should have seen James when we were looking at our little baby - he was so excited!!!
- I felt the baby kick about a week ago even though it's super early! I've been so paranoid hoping that everything is okay, and I prayed hard that I would feel the baby and I did, and then the next morning I could feel it again and I called James and he put his hand where I said and he felt it too, and I said "are you sure are you sure?!!!" because I was afraid I was making it up in my head, but he was 100%, and I've felt it a few times since, usually when I'm lying still trying to, but today heaps at random times!!

I have never been happier, and it feels like an upwards slope! :) Our families are so excited too! You should have heard the conversation I had with mum when I was telling her about yesterday's ultrasound and how the baby was moving and we think it might be a boy, etc., we were squealing and it was fun! I can't wait to go maternity clothes shopping (some more!) and baby clothes shopping together! And I can't wait to put together a nursery, etc! This is the funnest time ever!!! :) My dad has been making me the most amazing steaks in the world recently as I've been really craving red meat. I really wish I could share the taste with you so you know exactly how good they are. Even the fat is delicious! I keep thinking I hope they love our baby! I know our baby will love them, they are so wonderful!!!

We're gonna have a baaaaby!!! :) xoxxoxoxoxox

Bits & Pieces

We used to have 'Bits & Pieces' for dinners sometimes. We'd pull out cheese and nuts and dried fruit and meat pies and dim sims and leftovers and kabana (which we'd grill...mmmm) and whatever we could find, and eat it. Like our Boxing Day breakfasts, but less yum...

I had a dream the other night in which we had a baby and it was really cute and everybody liked it! I have a complex that we all love my adorable niece so much that nobody will really like my baby when I have one, because how could it compare with Jenna?! This dream was very comforting.

My kids make me laugh, a lot. They are so funny! Especially when they're not trying to be. One of my favourite moments of camp was when one of my students who feels constantly that the world is against him (sometimes for good reason at home I think) refused to come out of his cabin. I went and knocked on his door and asked him to come out. He came out with one of his grumpiest expressions on. I asked him what was wrong, and he explained that he'd really hurt his head (he said it like someone was to blame for it in a BIG way). "Oh no, J", I said "What happened?" "Well," he explained, "I was jumping on the table in the middle of the cabin, but I hadn't realised the fan was on!". I cracked up laughing (a somewhat unintential reaction), he couldn't help smiling, and we went to breakfast.

We are in a cold snap. Bring on hot chocolate! :)

I haven't been well lately, and James has been an angel. Every morning for the past week he's gotten me breakfast in bed!

I have received 3 bunches of flowers in the last couple of weeks, and all are still alive and in vases at home. Tammy bought me some, James bought me some, and my basketball teams at school bought me some today. I inherited a great love of flowers from my Mum. They are so beautiful, what wonderful creations!

Today we ran some sports day heats at school, and I was starting the 200m. At the end we stacked up all of the cones we'd marked the starting positions with, and the pink, white, yellow and green cones ended up in a cute rainbow patten.

Ben and Oliver will probably be ON their missions in 2 years. They've always wanted to go to China, even though it's not open yet. I heard the other week that a new ambassador from the USA to China has been appointed and he's a church member. We've said before that maybe the twins will be in the first group of missionaries sent to China, but at this rate it might be there before they are!

Air fares are soooo cheap! A friend of my mother-in-law just went to England for $400 return! We could hop across to NZ for that price!! Dad saw return tickets to the USA for some insanely small price, and there are $200 2-4-1 tickets to Japan! Global Financial Crisis + Swine Flu?

Yesterday I was waiting in the car as James ran into the shops for something, and there was a lady in the car next to me with two kids. She had a little boy on her lap who was probably 1, and a little girl next to her. The little boy was leaning back funny, and each time the lady and the girl laughed. The boy looked quizzical at first, but soon recognised it as a game, and starting 'playing' - leaning back funny and waiting for the laughter. It was cute :)

My little sister Bethany is studying primary school teaching. She didn't enjoy her first year much, but she just had an awesome prac and 2nd year seems to be going better. I hope she loves it because I do, and hopefully I'll go off and have babies and she can have all of my teaching 'stuff' until she goes off and has babies too! :)

James is doing well at uni, and loving it :) I'm so glad!!!

A principal at another school called me to see if I was interested in teaching at their school for the second semester. I went and checked it out and met the principal yesterday, and spent the whole of today being grateful that I'm at such a wonderful school with such wonderful kids! I don't want to leave. The only thing that really dampens my opinion of our school is the tuckshop. A sandwhich is about $5, and it's not that good. As my teaching partner put it, 'If you want to buy tuckshop, you're pretty generous to donate all that money to the school'. Even at private schools they're much more reasonably priced. I don't know how this tuckshop isn't more infamous.

I've always wanted a pair of black stiletto boots, really nice quality ones. Last year I said to James that if we didn't have a baby by this winter, could I have some? He laughed and agreed. Earlier this winter I bought some. They were obscenely priced and they're beautiful. They're just really hard to walk in. Sometimes I practice. I've only worn them out once, under jeans on a date with James. They don't seem to go with anything in my wardrobe... Maybe I'll spend the rest of my life wearing them around the house. I love them! :)

I recently read 'The Host' by Stephanie Meyer - Twilight author. She has a way of making really messed up things sound perfectly normal and excessively interesting. I like telling James about them and listening to how messed up he thinks they are. It's funny how normal it seems when you're reading it! I really enjoyed it! I am looking forward to reading the Twilight series and The Host again in a few years when I've forgotten them :)

I'm feeling very 'What a Wonderful World'. What a great song that is, too! When you start brainstorming nice things to write about, I guess it's like "Count your Many Blessings" and it will surprise you what the Lord has done! It does every time! :)

James and I are going out to get kebabs and a movie. I love Friday nights!!! :) I love chicken!!! I love everything right now :)

xoxoxoxox

Girls Night Out!

A week or two ago we received a very exciting email from Tammy, inviting all the girls of our family to join her in enjoying a 'Girls Night Out' together at the movies. There was a special preview screening of 'The Proposal' at the movies, and she got us tickets, and made up cute little gift bags for us and everything!

The gift bags were adorable - Beth and Jolea got HSM3 (If you don't know the initials, you are way out of touch with most 13 year olds!) bags, and I got a Barbie bag (yessss!), and I'm actually not sure what mum and dad got, but they were full of tissues and popcorn and chips and chocolates and fruit and little bits and pieces like fun lips and hearts clips and water and ginger beer, etc. It was a treat being at the movies together (on a school night no less :o) and I just wish Tammy hadn't had to ditch at the last minute to fulfill her calling (sigh. In a 'I'm-glad-you-fulfilled-your-calling' kind of way!) - we missed you!!!! (That is why Dad was there, despite not bing a girl...).

Apart from the accidentally naked scene and the very, very scary bartender it was a really cute movie. I enjoyed it a lot!

Thankyou Tammy! We will have to have a girls night out again soon, and you can come, and we'll make you a little gift pack! Love you heaps! :) xoxoxoxox

I'm soooo tired!!!

For the sake of the privacy of my lovely class I can't really tell you much of what's been going on at school, but I'm sooooooooooooooo tiiiiiired!!! :) Yesterday was a very crazy and a little disheartening and sad day!

Didn't go on strike today. I am so grateful to have such a well-paying job when so many people all around me are losing their jobs. It is a pretty innapropriate time to be rallying for a pay rise when people need whatever money can be spared sooo much more than us well-paid lot! It is a little sad that we're behind other states, but not THAT sad! If I have a serious issue with it I'll move interstate - the pay rate is public, so you know what it is before you get into it. That's my banner lol :) I just babysat the few kids who turned up to school, sorted out issues from yesterday (seerious issues - sad!), and caught up on a lot of marking and planning.

I wonder how tomorow will go!

Goodnight, I'm going to go to sleep on the couch watching a DVD while I wait for James to finish rugby training :) xo

Ode to Netball...

Growing up here in an Australian school, netball was hard not to play,

I played from a young age, continued through highschool and that's where till now, it stayed.

Volleyball and basketball were also on the cards, but netball was probably my best,

Basketball's easier to play casually, so I really gave netball a rest.

This year I joined a mixed touch football team, 'Slim Pickings' our proud team name,

I wrote about it a few weeks ago, said I'd update you after the first game,

But it was so bad, I felt so very dumb, I wanted to quit right away,

There's a kid from my school and my dad on the team, whose yells threaten to keep me at bay.

"Who the heck is that number 3 there? RUN UP RUN UP 3, NO! NOW RUN BACK!!!"

I couldn't figure out which direction to go, which was the up or back that I lacked.

And then last game I mixed up the times and arrived as my players walked off the field,

They seemed a little grumpy, I wonder if shame is all my turn on this footy team will yield.

Last night I was called by a friend who needed a player on her netball team,

I knew I'd be worse for not playing 6 years, but was eager and bursting at the seams,

The time drew close, I got pretty nervous, I drank water and cut my nails short,

I've been making a fool of myself on the field, hopefully I'd be better on the court.

They needed a center and a goalkeeper too, I used to play center a lot,

But I jumped in goal keeper so I could watch the game and remember the rules I've forgot.

3 seconds in saw me standing in eagerness at the third line which marked my prison,

As soon as my first touch of the ball in defence all my sleeping autopilot knowledge had risen.

After first quarter I was bucking to get out of my third, I gratefully swapped out of keeper,

And jumped on as center much to my delight, then quickly found the skills needed much steeper!

I switched again to GA for the last half of the game - my shooting has not yet awoken,

Actually that's an understatement - that part of me actually seems to be broken.

But I love the game, the whistle, the court, constantly being told to 'stand aside',

The defence player trying to trap me out of play, secretly jabbing me in the side,

The fact that when I shoot the players stand three feet away,

Intercepts, center passes, rebounds and sprints, it's the game I most love to play.

And whenever I did something not completely stupid, I could almost hear in my head,

My dad yelling 'THAT'S MY GIRL!!', as he used to, but all I could hear instead,

Was James who'd come along and joined the husbands who are on his rugby team, cheering,

And they shouted so enthusiastically for their wives that they received a preliminary warning.

They only have 2 more games this season but are down 2 players next week,

So I'll probably get another chance to enjoy a game in which I feel less like a geek.

And next year when 'Slim Pickings' starts picking up, and getting ready for the season,

I WILL SAY NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! And hopefully play netball somewhere. Bethy? Tammy? Mama? Jessima? Anyone? :) xo