Heads Up! featuring Pretty All True

I’m still a newborn in the blogging world. I began The Little Mumma in 2009 but to say that my contribution to it was sporadic is to understate it dramatically. A toddler, a pregnancy and a deep laziness meant that I posted very irregularly. Finally, I got my act together in August 2010 and have been quite the dedicated little blogger ever since. There are still the pesky issues of MY KIDS and I’M LAZY but in general, The Little Mumma is a going concern.

So I’m still new and learning, learning, all the time. What has become apparent to me is that the blogging community is just that – a real community. If you reach out, if you participate, that community will rally to support you. It’s quite wonderful.

In particular, bloggers are great at giving shout-outs to other bloggers. And in December last year, I was absolutely stunned and thrilled to the core to discover that someone had made me a Featured Blogger of the week on her incredibly popular site. That was Kris at Pretty All True.

So I would like to pay it forward. I want to give back to the blogging community that I so enjoy being a part of.

And even though it may come off as an exercise in mutual back scratching, I am making Kris at Pretty All True my first Heads Up! featured blogger.

Yes, I feel I owe her a tremendous debt. But I am realistic enough to know that the tiny trickle of traffic I might send her way will barely register on her already wildly popular site. The main reason I am featuring Pretty All True is because I get a kick out of reading Kris’s writing and I think you will, too.

So go check out Pretty All True. All of her posts are amazing so it doesn’t really matter where you start but you should definitely read one of my recent favourites, Realize The Idiot Is You. It made me laugh in a manner that was audible to others…

But don’t always expect to laugh. This writing can bring you to your knees. That’s what makes Kris so fucking incredible.

Enjoy.

RMTT #16/ Friday Faves Christmas Combo!

Last night, Aunty Tor, a Family M-G fave, stopped by for a glass (or three) of Christmas cheer. We drank pink bubbles, exchanged gifts and drank more pink bubbles and then we laughed at YouTube clips of people being completely embarrassing or completely talented. It was ace.

But it meant Random Mumma Thoughts did not happen. It’s a busy time of year and maybe you didn’t even notice. But I’m choosing to believe that you did notice, that last night just wasn’t the same without RMTT.

And then, of course, today, I needed to write a Friday Faves.

Christmas Eve, huh? Yeah, I don’t have time for all this writing pressure.

So here’s my ingenious plan. I’ve rolled the two into one fabulous Christmas Combo!

Firstly, a Christmassy RMTT #16

–         Yesterday, I turned the house upside down looking for a card I had written for Aunty Tor some weeks earlier. I mean, I turned the place UPSIDE DOWN. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I was so, so fucking annoyed. It had been on my writing desk, in the same spot, for WEEKS! And now, GONE! It wasn’t until I was through my first glass of pink bubbles that I started to get over my frustration. Today, I find it. I find the card sitting on top of my computer. And I just feel very strongly that I checked there. THREE TIMES. If the card had a throat, I would definitely have punched it.

–         I have not wrapped the presents yet. And B has to put up the trampoline tonight. Relaxing Christmas Eve? Sure, why not? It’ll be fun. I love wrapping presents and B is a gun at putting things together….. We may need beer.

–         The reason I haven’t wrapped the presents which I have had sitting in my cupboard since approximately August is because….I can’t remember. But tonight seems as good a time as any.

–         The reason B hasn’t put up the trampoline yet is because it’s big and I felt the kids might get suspicious about the big fucking trampoline in the back yard.

–         This Christmas, the M-Gs are celebrating with four people and four people only. That’s right. We have forsaken all others and are just doing our own little family Christmas. We love our extended families, of course we do, but holy relaxation, it’ll be nice not to have to go anywhere or see anyone.

–         Downside – I have to cook.

–         Upside – I can reserve the crunchiest roasted potatoes for myself.

–         Threatening that Santa won’t bring presents as a way of ensuring good behaviour is a dismal failure. It’s a hollow threat. I know it and my three-and-a-half-year-old sure as hell knows it. What are we going to do? Cancel Christmas? Missing out on watching the kids open the obscene amount of presents ‘Santa’ brought them would just ruin our day. But even so, we pushed the ‘No Santa’ line right up until LD’s bedtime. He was breaking new naughtiness records all day long in what can only be viewed as a big ‘FUCK YOU!’ to the fat guy but I think the Santa thing did get LD (LittleDemon) to sleep more quickly than usual.

–         Zee has been an angel and I’m tempted to give him all of LD’s presents.

–         No matter how bad my day was or how heinous my children’s behaviour has been, watching them drift into slumber just about stops my heart. It is a gift. That moment is a gift. And it never gets old.

–         I love Christmas carols. No, really, I love them. I’m listening to Sinatra sing the classics as I type.

–         I love Christmas. I really do.

–         My Christmas tree is already dead. It’s been dead for a least a week. It’s so dry the needles just crumble to dust if you touch them. What a rip.

–         I think I might buy a big fuck-off plastic tree at the Boxing Day sales.

–         What is it about Christmas and just being compelled to eat shit constantly? I am a walking box of chocolates right now.

–         And also, some chilli flavoured potato chips… 

–         The gym is closed for the next four days.

–         NOT. MY. FAULT.

And now, onto Friday Faves. And at this time of maximumly extreme consumerism, I’m not going to show you any ‘stuff’ – the last thing any of us needs is to look at more things we could possibly buy.

Instead, I want to share a favourite Christmas photo.

It’s me, circa…I don’t know, maybe 1985? It makes me laugh. And it takes me right there. Our family Christmases were epic. At least, I thought so. My parents – namely, my mum – put on an awesome Christmas show.

I would so love to recreate that magic for my own family.

Merry Christmas to you and yours. Be safe and if necessary, be drunk.

The Little Mumma loves you! 

See you in a couple of days.

Introducing B

So, remember when I said I was going to do a series of introductions for some of the main players on The Little Mumma? No? Well, I did. I said it here. And I did the Proust Questionnaire and told you I had webbed toes and my lifelong dream was to do the splits.

In the spirit of reintroducing myself, I updated my About section recently, too. Did you see it?

And now, it’s time to introduce the next key player.

Readers of The Little Mumma, meet B.

B is my main squeeze although he will maintain I don’t do nearly enough squeezing. My reply to which is, I did enough squeezing as I gave birth to his sons so whatever.

B and I met at the dawn of the millennium. It was 1999 and we did party, just like it was.

I was 23 years old, living with Mr Wrong and dreaming of an acting career but doing very little in the way of pursuing it. I was all about the relationship angst back then.

B was the bass player in a band and one of my dearest friends, CC, was dating the lead singer. She invited me to a gig – but the rest was NOT history. I brought Mr Wrong along with me, we proceeded to have the obligatory fight and I ended up sitting on the curb outside the pub crying over spilt beer.

B remembers it like this. “After the gig, we headed outside to catch a cab and I saw Angie sitting in the gutter. And I thought to myself, ‘That girl is beautiful. She wouldn’t be crying like that if she was with me’.

BEST. STORY. EVER.

We didn’t get together for another 9 months or so. But fate was at work so eventually, the stars aligned or whatever. And then, yes, the rest was history.

What to say about B? How best to encapsulate all that he is?

I can’t.

These things are true though.

He is an exceptionally good man.

He is a brilliant father.

And he was right. He has never made me cry like that.

Together, we fit.

I reckon it might be serious enough to consider marriage. Ha!

One last thing to know about B. A thing that, for me, captures the very essence of the man.

If he finds a shopping/to-do list I have left lying around (and he finds many), he MUST, every time, without fail, make the following addition to that list.

 

I LOVE this guy.

 

Friday Faves – The one about the rocking chair

This is my rocking chair.

It lives in Zee’s room and is used for nursing my baby off to the land of nod. My mum, Betty, bought it for me while I was pregnant with Zee. After LD’s babyhood, I discovered it was the one thing I felt I should have purchased from the beginning. I knew I was going to be spending a lot of time in that chair so I needed it to be super-ultra-comfy. And not the usual ugly as sin nursing chairs I’d seen previously. Black pleather? Oh yes, a perfect addition to the typical nursery decor.

So, we found this one. My rocking chair. The rockingest chair of all.

I love it. But I lament a simpler time for my rocking chair and I.

Betty made the purchase a few months out from Zee’s birth. B set it up in our bedroom which is where little baby would be sleeping in the early days.

We had just moved into a new house. There was that smell. New. Nobody else’s DNA to corrupt it. My germ-phobic self was in heaven.

Winter had come and gone. The spring days dawned crisply. Perfect weather for fat pregnants like myself.

Zee was safely tucked up under my heart and LD still took naps. Both were infinitely more manageable back then. And lovable. Correlation between how much I love my children and how much they sleep? Strong. Very strong.

I remember the time so fondly.

It was to be the calm before the storm.

So I am wistful about my rocking chair and the peaceful times we shared. While LD napped, I would sit in my chair, feet up, rocking and reading. In particular, I read two books that my mother had loaned me. They had been sitting on my bookshelf for at least a year and I was delighted to be making a dent in the veritable shitload of books that had been stacking up.

The first was The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

The second was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

The first intrigued me, I assumed I would like it, and I certainly did.

The second was probably on my bookshelf for more than two years. I did not want to read it. I did not expect to like it. I absolutely, wildly, LOVED it. It will go down as one of my all time favourite books. Oh man, it was good.

I will always remember discovering this magical book while rocking in my very favourite chair.

And so, I breastfeed my pinching, eyelash grabbing, totally-worn-out-his-boobing-welcome baby son in my beloved chair and dream of a time when we can be alone together again.

Some day, I will have a room. A room with my writing desk,  a wall of books and a big bay window that the sunshine streams through. And the chair. And I’ll read in it just whenever I please.

Bag Ladies Giveaway Winners!

Four bags. Four winners.

Drawn by B who has lovely hands but not nearly as cute as the littles. So therefore, no photos.

Without further ado:

1. Brooke Dell-Sewell – Orange bag (Christmas Crackers Photo Winner!)

2. Julie Firkin – Orange bag

3. Danica – Navy bag

4. Fran – Navy bag

Also, there was the talk of four people winning 20% off vouchers. But, The Little Mumma is a super-moron and the vouchers are actually 10% off. Sooo, I drew two winners instead and each will get two vouchers. No doubt they will not be able to be used at the same time but it’s the best I can do, what with being a super-moron and all. Sorry loves.

Without further ado:

1. Bronnie – 2 x 10% off vouchers

2. Rona – 2 x 10% off vouchers

Congratulations to all the winners. Be sure and get your postal details to me so that I can get your prizes in the mail, tout de suite.

Thanks for entering, peeps. And now for some…..

!! Breaking News !!

The Little Mumma had closed down the Giveaway Machine for the year of 2010 but the people of Chocolatier wanted to spread some Christmassy cheer with you all so check back tomorrow for details of the new Last Giveaway of 2010!