Chapter 37 - Downs and Ups

In which our hero feels a bit down, but rallies herself to go out in the stupid rain anyway because there's people to be and places to see...

So yesterday was a bit of a down day. Physically, mentally, emotionally. I just really didn't want to do things or be around people or deal with screaming children being horribly mean to each other. Probably got out of bed around 10:30 or something. Decided I'd go out to see Man of Steel. Thought I'd be polite and ask if #1 and #2 wanted to join me. Shouldn't have. I knew that before I asked, but I did anyway. Should have gone alone. We got there after the previews had started, and there wasn't three seats together anywhere except for the very front row, which I wasn't about to sit in for a Superman movie. I don't even know why they put seats there. It's way too close.

Anyway. So we pushed up the arm rests and all three of us sat in two seats. One side of us was by the aisle, which was OK, but one side was by a stranger, which neither kid wanted to sit beside. This meant they had to sit beside each other, so naturally there was some elbowing and complaining. They just don't know how to be still. I don't remember that being an issue for us as kids. We just never knew it was an option to be squirmy and fidgety, I don't think. Perhaps the parentals can correct me on that. I wish I knew how to teach a kid to just be still. Also, #1 likes to say what's going to happen just before it does, and one bit she recognised from the trailer, so she thought she needed to tell me what was going to happen in the next two seconds.

Now, those of you who know me know that I absolutely despise movie talkers. Like, that would be my own personal hell -- people talking in movies and electronic alarm beeps. I've told her several times that I find it very annoying, but she persists. Like the other day I asked her to stop, when we were watching Harry Potter 3, which I've seen before but not for a while, and then she did it again within a minute. The thing is that usually it's at home and we're watching something that either I've seen before or I don't care about, so it doesn't matter. But if it's something that she hasn't seen, she can't just watch and wait for answers, she has to ask and ask and ask and ask until she finds out what's going to happen. She did that to me during Doctor Who. It was all I could do not to scream. Needless to say I can't watch anything important with them anymore.

Anyway. As I said, I should have gone alone. Even if everything had gone fabulously swimmingly I still should have gone alone. I was feeling like I needed to get away and be alone, and yet I invited the exact people that I needed to get away from to join me.

Blurg.

Anyway. So today I decided that no matter the weather (it's been raining for three days-ish, which I'm sure doesn't help my mood at all -- it makes me feel like I'm trapped in the house) I'd go down and get a bit of shopping done and return a couple things to the library. So I did, eventually. I woke up in a generally better mood too, which helped, especially once I realised that it was Canada day. I put on my red t-shirt, and felt very good and optimistic about things. Also there was no early morning screaming and name calling to wake up to, as there was yesterday, so that helped my mood considerably. The kids and Sarah all went out to a doctor's appointment, and I walked down to the library, which is probably 30-40 minutes. (I've never timed it.) Then did a bit of shopping. There were some mini packs of Tim Tams for $0.99, so I got one of each. They were white and honeycomb. They're both quite good. Then I found an anniversary card for a friend of mine who shall for the moment remain nameless in case they're reading this and it ruins the surprise, and I got a stamp to mail it, and I withdrew this week's rent from the ATM, and then I was looking for a Disney Princess sippy cup in the shops (at Sarah's request) when I came across this interesting thing:

Apparently 'General Mills' is 'Uncle Toby's' here ... very interesting .. there's also a glasses place called OPSM, and their ads have that same little logo of "we heart eyes" as something at home that I can't remember at the moment. I'll see if I can find an example sometime.

Then, I found this very much exciting thing:

Look Dad! Look! Andy Warhol cans in a shop!

I kid you not! They're real cans filled with real soup! Some sort of Warhol 50th anniversary promotion. I was very tempted to buy one of each.

Anyway, then Sarah and two munchkins collected me from the shopping centre, and we came home and had a disco dance party, and then it was dinner time and then bed time. For them. I watched The Block, which is almost over again.

Another thing about being so down yesterday is that I've been highly conscious in the past few days of the fact that I'm missing the Mueller Family Reunion, which sucks in epic proportions and is massively saddening. Like, I even had a bit of a cry about it yesterday. This is added to the feeling that I've been having for the past month or so of a sort of "it's summer holidays time so it's time for a road trip to SD," and everything reminds me of there like the smell of the pine trees or walking through nearly empty gas station parking lots at 7 a.m. on my way to the bus for school. And it extra sucks because if I had the money I totally could have gone, because right now I'm on my winter break between semesters, so there would have been time. And I would have been able to see everyone that I feel like I haven't seen in forever. In addition to all that the Pick-nic is coming up on the other side, which I'm also going to miss.

So there you have it. It hasn't been the happiest of times recently, but today I got out and did something and got a little too excited about some cans of soup. It can't all be up, anyway, unless you're on speed or something.

Also, here's two ducks and an ibis by a stream of rain run-off that I passed on the way to the library.

Right. You can't really see the birds that well. They're there, though.

Ooh! Ooh! Wait! Here's another exciting thing! Last Wednesday I went out with Wen Ying so we could plan our expedition up to Noosa that's happening this Wednesday. We went to a little cafe thing while we were waiting for her car to be serviced, and I was getting hungry because I'd woken up late and not eaten brekkie. So I ordered the beef burger. (That's as compared to chicken burger. You can't just say burger, I don't think, and assume it's beef.) I know I've mentioned before about having had an Aussie burger, but that was just at the caf at uni. Sort of pre-made and wrapped up and heat lamped. This was freshly made, and it had grated carrot, grated beetroot (beets) (pronounced bee-chroot), cheese, egg... probably something else. It was weird, but delicious. And it dripped purple. Oh, and bacon. Epic, mate. Epic. Didn't really need to eat dinner until like a bowl of soup at 9 p.m. There may have been tomato and lettuce as well.

Then, after, Wen Ying and I went to Broadbeach, where she lives, and walked around a bit, and we saw this:

Tee hee hee ... party bus ..