The Early Morning Trips

What is it with Dads and early morning car trips? When I was a kid we would always have to get up at the crack of dawn to go on these trips where I would be the fat kid squashed between two big kids in the car, not allowed to put the windows down or stop at service stations to go to the toilet. As an extra treat to being hot, uncomfortable and busting Dad would play his country music at 15 million decibels and sing. Mum was an expert at pouring orange juice from a carton into metal cups that lived in the glove box for such occasions and handing out drinks to everyone before pulling a ham sandwich from the esky to feed us. This I think was just to make sure we got cramped legs and dvt's later in life. If by chance we happened to be in or near Ipswich where shamefully I was born Dad would take us on a tour... a long boring tour that we wished would end but weren't certain it ever would. Past our old house, past the big kids old schoools, past the meatworks, etc. A few years ago my brother tortured me in this same manner, AFTER he became a dad and the gene kicked in. Thankfully he will stop to let you go to the toilet, always has the A/C on quite cold and I don't mind his taste in music or his singing so I was not too traumatised. My Dad was also one of those dads that you would ask nicely not to drop you off at the front of the school (so no one could see how utterly embarrassing he was) and he would drop you off not only out the front but drive into the carpark right outside the office. PFM and I relied on her Mum for a lift when we were seniors, she would pick us up at the back down the road. Funny now how important that seemed then. The Pixie gets to experience her first painful early morning car trip planned by Dad tomorrow. He has his last medical with Rio Tinto tomorrow and we have to leave at 5.30am! EW!! Why oh why oh why did I say we would go??? I am obviously crazy and have no regard for my sleep or my comfort. I am going to stress to the Pixie that it is definately Daddy's fault we are out of bed and cold instead of tucked up together watching early morning cartoons.

This afternoon I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and LHT yelled out "Watch the bub," and took off out the door. I came rushing out to see a fire on the field across from us with a teenager from the school across the road trying to put it out. There was a woman there in her car calling 000. LHT took some buckets of water over as did the lady who lives 2 doors down. I was livid! I yelled at them, "Why the hell are you lighting fires, we have kids around here!" It pissed me off so much I rang the school and was assured that someone else had also reported the incident and teachers were on their way. Well the teen who had lit it had taken off to the middle of the oval leaving his friend to put it out, coward, and then he came back over to the scene of his crime. It wasn't like the teachers didn't have the time to come over there but they didn't bother. I am so angry. They had walked up the road when the firies showed up and we pointed them out and they went and spoke to them. My neighbour came home in the midst of the drama and she said someone had lit a fire a few metres from that one on Saturday night after an event had been on at the school. In the time we have lived here this is the third time the firies have been called and I have the police on speed dial too!! LHT says I should let it go but it is arson and if it had not been able to be controlled I dread to think what could have happened.

Made some things called pinwheels today. vegemite and cheese spread on puff pastry and then rolled up, cut into slices and baked. LHT fed three of them to the pixie before her dinner but that didn't stop her from eating a whole heap of peas which she loves, a kanga banga (and a taste of mash, she realised it was mashed, which is for babies, and flung it across the floor). She weighed in at 9.4kg at her 12 month needles but if they had weighed her tonight I think she would have tipped 10 - she leads with her belly! She has been cracking me up lately, today she was walking through the kitchen with a bum bag around her neck, her mobile phone to her ear, yacking away and she ran into the kitchen cupboard, fell over and laughed. HHML said, "She is such a ditzy blonde!" Ah well I am sure we can find her work in a sheltered workshop somewhere.