Christmas Stampede

OK, there isn't a Christmas stampede quite yet, but the end of the school year is looming and with it goes my freedom. It feels like it is galloping towards me at a great speed. Lockie just thrives on school and is likely to get quite bored as the school holidays drag on - and that's where I will be stepping in and pulling out all stops...

Hopefully the weather will be lovely and sunny and calm and we can all go to the beach frequently and the parks, etc. Sounds good. Of course, if the weather is crap we'll probably go crazy fairly often. It's times like this I am grateful for living in a big city where there is always some place to go if it's wet outside - these hol's we will go to Te Papa and maybe even [finally] get around to their legendary Story Time. [Legendary to other Mums anyway]. We can also go visit different libraries - the new Karori Community Library [and cafe!] is lovely. The Karori swimming pool is the best one in our area I reckon and it may be a good time to introduce Bella to the joys of water, besides bath water of course. Then there are always lots of different malls to hang out at - the newest one in town is the Westfield Queensgate in Lower Hutt - I went the other day and it compares favourably with any of the fantastic Aussie ones I have seen in Sydney and Brisbane. Unfortunately Lockie always wants to make a beeline for the $2 Shop and buy some rubbishy item there that will guarantee to break in the car on the way home and then he will cry about it and then get mad and throw it...*sigh* STOP IT ANNA - got to be more positive!!

Read another good book the other day - "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time", about an autistic 15-year-old boy and the odd world he inhabits, surrounded by normal people who mostly don't 'get' him. It's quite an insight into living with autism [from his parents' view as well as his own], and very well-written by Mark Haddon. The boy actually has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. My midwife's teenage daughter has this, so it was interesting to read about it; she would often comment on something her daughter had said or done, when she visited me during my last pregnancy.

Looking forward to Christmas in that my wonderful twinny will be flying back over the gap to stay with us for a week or so, and we will reunite with two younger sibs and Dad in Wanganui for Christmas Day. Then there's the Jimmy Barnes concert on Boxing Day - I know I've mentioned this before but I ALMOST NEVER go out in the evenings so this will be a treat for me. And I bloody well deserve a treat every now and then!!!!