Thursday 24 April 2008

Mother Darwin...

Ok apart from the things I have stated so far - this is what has gone wrong on mums trip.

  • Arrived in France in the middle of the night and forced to stay in a postage stamp sized dump. Some 18 hours later than they were supposed to.
  • Missed their train to Lille as nobody told them that Paris was an hour ahead of UK
  • Baggage damaged (and who on earth would know WHO did it - considering all the different flights she got on just to get here).
  • Moving between terminals in Kuala Lumpur to check in for their flight to Heathrow, they got onto the wrong train - the express into the CBD (roflolololol), mum said as it started to pull away she started howling and saying 'I don't want to stay here' and then under her breath 'this stinky place'. I'm sorry it sounds insentive of me, but I could just picture my parents - the door shutting and then going in the opposite direction and not stopping for 30 minutes. With no further Europe flights leaving until early the next morning, they would have been incredibly anxious waiting to get back to the airport.
  • Upon arriving at Lille to pick their car up they were asked to pay approximately $1000 for assurity. Something that they were not told about.

They still have to fly to Slovenia, get to Slovakia and Vienna and then get back to Slovenia for the flight to Helsinki, to the flight to Hong Kong and back to Melbourne. Apparently Mum says she will have a book to write of all the things that have gone wrong, and they are at a point where they are just laughing about things as they happen.

Good news is that they are now situated approximately 2km from Bray - this is where my Great Grandfather won his Victorian Cross. Go here: http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/bbgordon.htm to read about him. Anyway this is the reason that she is there - and I imagine it will be amazing for her - as it is also the 90th anniversary of this battle so there are plenty of people over there. I expect plenty of photos and stories about this place when she gets back. I do hope they are having a great time and eating as much French food as possible on behalf of me.

Somebody asked about how I feel about Anzac day. It's hard because for most of my life I haven't taken it seriously, mostly I used it as an excuse to have a hangover and lay about in bed. Now, maybe because I'm older or because I have children - I do feel quite sombre about it. I never knew my Great Grandfather, so I'm not sure what his position about War or his involvement in it. I don't agree with it and I'm sad that we have to have ANZAC day really, but regardless I still respect what they have done for us and I don't believe anybody should ever forget either. That said, I have never been to a march - but I might consider going with my mother next year because I know how important it is to her.

I'm also incredibly excited for my step-father. He is about to see his sister and his home country (Slovenia) for the first time in 45 years.

In other news;

Gymming? - Yes - yesterday and today. Todays effort included weight training interspersed with skipping just to keep the heart rate sky high.

Uni ? - On track - application done and handed in. I will hear back around May 20 whether my application was acceptable and ethical enough to do lol. I have planned for them to reject it once, but it will be an absolute bonus if it goes through, because then I can start my research a whole month earlier. I will spend this next month on my other work, I still have 3 assignments for my other subjects to do. And to organise my final placement.

Children? - Currently sitting in loungeroom watching television. They are generally exhausted on a thursday after childcare and kinder for 3 days in a row - so we slop around a bit on a thursday. I offered to take them to the beach today but Jude declined (!!). They miss each other so they just want to hang out together. How lovely is that?

James? - He is beautiful. I am thinking, thinking, thinking about what to do for him given that he is working his bum off for us. He is barely ever home, but when he is - he encourages me to get out and exercise, go out etc. And he is off feeding mum's animals twice a day no matter what. He is such a beautiful man. I can't wait to have a little bit of spare money where I can show I appreciate him.

OK, best go - children might get square eyes, Motherguilt is kicking in.

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