Poppalina

A Very Lolly Christmas

I am currently building the Great Wall of China in bagged and boxed lollies.

I have absolutely nothing to say about this, except to ask how it is that the world can need so very many sweets, especially at Christmas.

Good Lord...

Meanwhile on the Creative Front, The Genius has been accepted into VCE Art a year early, on account of her Considerable Talent. I'm rather proud of her, she had to jump through a few hoops for this privilege, not the least of them being refusing to take no for an answer. Her tenacity was admirable.

 

In other news, the leeks went to seed.

No real surprises there.

 

15

My dear little girl...

just turned 15.

I am speechless with disbelief.
  

A Day in the Life @ Chez Poppalina

When your mildly eccentric and rather earnest paramedic-studying boarder warns you

to approach the washing line with caution

  

Chances are she's not kidding.

 

I nearly had a fucking heart attack.

Acts of God

Our part of town has turned out to be Ground Zero for Melbourne's outbreak of Swine Flu.

So it was only a matter of time before we were directly affected.

A kid in Mym's class has tested positive,

and her whole year level has been quarantined for a week, by order of the Dept. of Health.

This coincides, hilariously, with two long hauls I'm supposed to do for work next week,

already delayed, owing to the floods up north.

I laughed so hard, I thought my bum might fall off.

Actually, that's a lie.

What I really did was shake my head helplessly,

and wonder how the Hell I'm going to swing this.

Mercury retrograde. Drives me nuts.

Feeling Squidgy

It's true. It was my birthday yesterday.

Birthdays scare me. I've had some nasty ones.

And I particularly had doubts about turning 45.

So I decided to just ignore it.

Yes, well, very funny. Over the course of the day, I was periodically DELUGED with birthday wishes.

In such vast quantities they came, that by close of trading, I was obliged to acknowledge that I was

a) loved,

b) very fortunate, and

c) not doing too bad for an old bag.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I haven't quite finished consuming a gift that mysteriously appeared in the mail.

       

Passion fruit marshmallow can best be described by one word,

...

And that word is orgasmic.

A Very Pavvy Christmas

As reluctant as I am to admit it,

The chocolate and white cherry

 

was all but eclipsed by

The Matterhorn,

  

Which I did not make.

Here's Looking At You, Kids

 The very best of Christmas, to you and yours.
 

 

Keeping Perspective

I don't know if I've ever told you

That I have the kind of daughter

who arrives home from school

with flowers for her mother.

So frequently,

that it's a wonder there's any flowers left in the neighbourhood.

Not that it's ever occurred to Mym that she might be in error,

And no one has ever told her off.

One old lady even pointed to a spot on her property where Even Nicer Flowers could be found.

People are exceptionally tolerant, in these parts.

But I wax sentimental.

The house and school hunting continues.

Stonewalled

Q: How hard is it to find a place in a good, alternative, low-cost school in Melbourne for a left-of-centre kid at short notice?

A: Very, very, very hard. Practically impossible.

And I can't do anything else until I find one.

Feeling a trifle screwed, right now.

Speaking of Acts of Gratuitous Kindness...

This came in the mail today, apropos of absolutely nothing.

Such good timing, too. I'd been having such a cold and confusing morning, and it made me all warm and fuzzy and light.

That Leah, next time I'm passing through Adelaide, I'm going to give her a Bloody Good Talking To.