Laughing out loud

According to East (my bridge partner) “If we think mistakes are funny, we will make less of them, and we won’t panic against good players. We don’t have to evaluate our self-worth by how well we play bridge.”

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

We came 10/16 tonight.

And yes there were occasions when laughing out loud was called for. Like when I miscounted my hearts and thought I had four when I had five, oh and when I defended as if we were playing trumps when we were in no trumps - that was a good one - or when I completely misplayed my hand and ended up cut off from dummy - yeah good one West!

Lucky I don’t evaluate my self-worth by how well I play isn’t it!

Imagine if that was the criteria for whether or not you were a good person… yes she killed a man but hey what a player! That six spades was awesome.

On other matters what is up with the news… is the Matt Birney story really that interesting? And what about poor old Neale Fong’s wife being done for DD? Who cares? And why should it make the news simply because she is married to a highly paid public servant. They could have afforded to take a taxi… well yeees but they were in Dunsborough (I think) and it isn’t easy to get taxis there.

You can imagine the scenario can’t you… they go out for dinner at one of those nice restaurants, have a few glasses of wine, and they are both a bit under the weather… he says something like… hey love why don’t you drive… if I get caught the press will have a field day.

Embarrassing for her though. Or is it? Is it more socially acceptable to lose your licence through points (consistant infringements) or by being caught over the limit? What do you think?

New Member of Australian Youth Choir

Yes, Dippity has been accepted as a member of the Australian Youth Choir level 1 Probationer choir. She is very excited. We had to go to the auditions with about a thousand other excited kids and finally after about an hour and a half of (it must be said) good-natured queueing we finally got to leave!

She starts rehearsals next February.

But I can’t stop thinking about the executioner in Singapore. 850 deaths over 50 years. He gets $400 a hanging apparently. I guess there have always been executioners but it seems so cold blooded and souless. What would a job like that do to your spirit?

I wonder what his archetypes are?

Kicking back

Honestly there is just not that much to report on. We had a little party for Hugamuga’s birthday which went okay. Took them by bus to Freo and then Timezone then bussed back for cake. Then went to D’s party in the evening which was quite ragey. Even met a porn star and THAT doesn’t happen every day. Good looking chap he was too.

Playing bridge again this week. Choir again tonight. Getting quotes to get the retic and garden sorted.

Oh I’ve discovered that I have a grove of plum trees growing in the front garden which the kids will be delighted with. We might have to learn how to make plum jam! They apparently (the trees that is) suckered from the rootstock of an ornamental plum. Hope the plums are nice.

Week two and we are surviving without a cleaner. It is much easier to keep the house clean now that most of the crap that we own is shoved into the guestroom. I guess the school holidays will be the test.

Hey if you’re in town and want to hear our choir….

Legs Eleven

I am the mother of an eleven year old. Wow. And what a gorgeous creature he is! Woke up EARLY and followed the clues to his present although I did manage to stump him on a couple of them managed to find the goodies before I left for work at 6. Told you it was early.

I was TIRED as I had been out playing bridge again. Didn’t get in til half eleven but the late night was worth it. WE WON! Still grinning over that. Some brilliant boards, some very awful ones but mostly good. And it was such fun! How sad am I?

Well as we said when we learned how to play (was it really 12 years ago) while we’re the youngest and prettiest in the room it doesn’t matter how badly we play or to rephrase - it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you look as you play. Twelve years later we are still the youngest in the room.

It is very sweet to win though. Did I mention we won?

Thank you East for a great game!

Bridges

I played Bridge yesterday. Proper in-a-club duplicate bridge. With convention cards (which I didn’t follow) and bidding cards (new to Perth since I last played).

It was great.

I was very nervous and of course the first contract we actually won was doubled. Sigh. My hands were shaking.

I was playing with the girl I learned with. Well I guess technically we’re not “girls” anymore but she looks just the same and I suppose on an average age basis we bring the group down a bit, age-wise. It was so bizarre to be back there - at the table - playing bridge. As if 12 years, two children, careers and life hadn’t got in the way.

She is still the same - still WAY better than me at bridge, still as encouraging, still as punctual. I’m very happy.

Today I thought I’d better read one of the many unopened-for-eight-years bridge books which line my shelves. I was encouraged by remembering most of the playing rules. Tomorrow I’ll look at bidding - that’s the tricky bit. It is such a great game.

It was also a blast to recognise so many faces at the club. We were hoping to catch up with our teacher who usually plays there but he wasn’t there for some reason. Ah well maybe next time.

What you don’t play??

Shoe Blues

I’m not having much luck with shoes recently. First off I was sucked in by a man who obviously does a lot of yoga - you know the type - thin, wiry, wears hemp clothing. You can trust a guy like that can’t you? Well he sold me “The most comfortable shoes I will ever wear”.

They are Earth shoes. Designed so that the heels are lower than the toes which is supposed to make you stand more upright. They are also touted to reduce cellulite. They can take some getting used to - he said - but you will never go back. Hmmmm.

So I bought some slide on scuffy type sandals and put them on. As soon as I started walking in them I felt I was walking on glass (not quite that bad) but I was assured that I just needed to get used to them.

I am going to take them back. Not are they not the most comfortable shoes I will ever wear - I reckon they are the most UNcomfortable. Yes my high heels are more comfortable. The tops of my feet are rubbed raw and my heels are in agony.

Then I went to a cheap discount store and found a cute pair of slingbacks which in fact are a million times more comfy than the Earth shoes. I loved them. Well the heel broke in half on Wednesday. I’ve had a heel come off a shoe before but that is the first time one’s snapped on me - and they are not even high.

Sigh.

So if you see me inappropriately wearing sandshoes it could be that they are my last pair left standing… so to speak.

The strawberry kid

At the Rally Australia last weekend, father-of-the-year bought son a 500g container of strawberries to munch through rather than the more common bucket of chips. Son finished them off in record time.

Father says - son, you’re going to turn INTO a strawberry if you keep that up!

Son replies - Dad, as I weigh 25 kg, I already am 2 per cent strawberry.

Gotta love maths!

And yes I am very grateful to his teachers for his maths knowledge and understanding… :)

A rant on school times

When was the last time anyone looked seriously at when school starts and finishes? For as long as I can remember school started around 8.30 - 9.00 (and I’m talking MY primary school days here folks) and finished around 3.15. But of course in those ancient times, the majority of families had stay-at-homes mums.

Since then of course our society has changed substantially. Now a majority of women continue to work while they raise a family. And now of course we see the Federal Government introducing laws to make single mums go back to work (15 hours a week when their youngest child turns 8). Now unless those mums can find part-time work between the hours of 9 and 3 (really 2.30 so they can get to the school lets be honest), they will have to spend money on childcare.

And we’re not talking about the school holidays - this is normal term time right?

It occurs to me that this is not an efficient use of our society’s resources and that schools need to play a part in this. I know that teachers have to do class preparation and many of them - particularly in the higher grades have precious little time to prepare lessons - but surely there could be a roster - like they have at lunchtimes where one or two in a school could supervise the playgrounds for the half hour before school.

Surely it would not be too difficult for schools to organise supervised homework time after school - perhaps the teachers could use the time to prepare lessons or mark tests? They could even have organised sport or again supervised playtime.

Extend the hours from 8 to 5 and I think the whole of society would benefit.

Yes I can hear the teacher’s union howling from here - and when I get 12 weeks holiday a year I’ll start listening!

Oh, you can tell that my husband is going back to work next week and the juggle begins again?? :)

Brain Dead

Don’t you hate it when you come up with a scathingly brilliant idea for a blog topic and you think to yourself - this is so scathingly brilliant that I’ll remember it when I next get to a computer - then you go off to the gym or whatever and when you do get to your computer you can’t remember it?

Driving into work today at just after crack of dawn I had a SB idea for a blog. There were several strands that wove together and I considered how to craft my writing in order to entice you to read to the end. What would be the most effective punchline I thought, how shall I grab their attention? You see I think of you dear reader.

But, like a fart on a breezy day, my thoughts have dissipated into the atmosphere and I’m reduced to talking about the weather.

Which is nice. Bit cold, but nice.

Sigh.

I’m in a choir!

Amazing huh? Work has put together a community choir led by the fabulous Martin Meader and I’m an alto. The first rehearsal was tonight and Jane from high school was there. I was feeling pretty smug as there was someone from my primary school there as well but the lady next to me knew someone from primary school, high school, nursing college and had recognised the neighbour across the road! Perth is a small place.

I love singing alto - it is such a relief not to have to reach the high notes! Although it is very hard not to try to. We are putting on a concert on December 6th in East Perth - I’ll be the one in the red tee-shirt (ha ha).

Also today, tips on getting into a fully booked restaurant:

1. Take M.
2. Get M to offer a “booking fee”.
3. Stand in the foyer - politely.
4. Don’t leave.

They will find you a table - yes even with a list of people to call back if there is a cancellation. Saturday night in Fremantle in the busiest of Thai restaurants. Delicious.

Then of course I lost my wallet! What grief. I had taken my credit card and some cash and put them in a thin wallet - as opposed to my big, overstuffed with receipts, wallet - but it still didn’t fit in my jacket pocket and somewhere between the Kulcha Club and Gino’s it fell out.

Today I get a phone call from the Police. It’s been handed in - with ALL the money! I’d already cancelled the card of course… Not only that but another wallet had been handed in with $240 in it - all still there! Isn’t it nice to know that there are some honest people in town. :))

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