So Wrong

What is wrong with this picture ...

Sitting in bed watching Biggest Loser eating a box of chocolates.

What was I thinking?????

NYTC Showcase

What a fantastic show!!!

It blows my mind how talented these kids are. Even heavy metal loving - showtune hating Gary loved it!!

Although Samyson did not have a full solo the bit he did have in one song he did really well but every single act was just fantastic.

There is a musical called 13 which the one of the songs Samyson did is out of, he bought the album off i-tunes yesterday & played it non stop, he is hoping NYTC will do t his show (which Joe the CEO suggested they might). Not sure how it will translate from 13 13 year olds in New York using a cast of 200 from 7-21.

Next show is Seussical & I really hope Samyson get a lead in this one, the first time he did an NYTC show it was this one so it will be nice to have a bigger role this time. Siobhan is also looking forward to it and hopefully we can resurrect lots of the props so not too much to recreate for us in props :-)

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet, managed to get to Yoga yesterday so felt heaps better but am sore today. We go to Paihia on Saturday for a week so I have a million things to do to get ready.

Pizza IS dinner

One of my favourite things is homemade pizza but whenever I suggest it for dinner Gary reckons it is not "proper" dinner. A couple of weeks ago another blogger wrote about how she loves homemade pizza and posted pictures & so I was dying to have one myself (hmm the power of suggestion, is it any wonder I am fat??).

Anyway, after the school disco the other night Gary & the kids had fish & chips, I came home & made my pizza & despite not getting to eat it until 9.30pm, it was delicious. Earlier this week they all wanted sausages which I hate, so I made another pizza.

This morning, Gary suggests we have homemade pizza for tea - umm hello, why is it not considered "dinner" when I suggest it but it is when you do?? Anyway, I went this morning before work & got pizza bases & toppings before he could change his mind.

Now all I have to do is convince him that toasted sandwiches or soup are in fact meals and are acceptable for dinner.

Anyway, busy weekend, NYTC Showcase tomorrow so Samyson off to rehearsal 7.30 to 9.30 tonight, dress rehearsal sometime tomorrow morning then a show at 1.30 & another at 7.30.

Thankfully it is at the Pumphouse in Takapuna so not far to go.

Sunday I am going to Yoga & bugger anyone else.

Soccer World Cup

I don't like soccer and I have zero interest in the current World Cup.

So, why this morning when I was watching the news and saw the footage of our last minute goal (which gave us a draw, not even an out & out victory), did I find myself grinning like an idiot & then feeling a bit teary when they were interviewing the guys who got the goals father & other actual fans?!?!?!

On the positive side, if I ever get a trivia question asking what a vuvuzela is I now know it is a traditional South African horn which makes a buzzing sound.

Where does the time go

Our long weekend away was really nice, the weather was crap but we managed to survive.

We stayed at the camping ground at Orewa, unfortunately the one we used to stay at was bought by a developer who closed it down, got partway through building some, what now turns out to be leaky homes, and then went bust. The remaining campground is OK but small & cramped. We booked a kitchen cabin, apparantly "kitchen" means a sink, microwave and an electric frypan!!! There was no oven or even an element.

With the weather being so crap we got to spend time together as a family just hanging out, we played board games & watched a bit of TV, went for walks when the weather picked up. The kids got on really well with very little arguing. Only one meltdown from Siobhan & one hissyfit from Samyson.

The Tuesday after we got back Samyson was off school sick so I stayed home with him which meant I was even further behind at work but these things happen.

This last weekend, Gary was sick!!! He has the flu (actually I suspect it is just a cold but what would I know), consequently he spent the weekend in bed & is off work today. I on the other hand ran around like a blue arsed fly all weekend I needed to come to work for a rest.

I did manage to get to the gym on Saturday but slept in on Sunday so missed Yoga, no problem I thought, I will do some at home - it kind of loses that whole relaxing, spiritual side when you are accompanied by a 10 year old who is either giggling or going "ow ow ow" all the way through and when I did catch a glimpse of her trying really hard to concentrate with her eyes closed I just cracked up laughing.

I gave up & made cauliflower, coriander & coconut soup instead YUM!!!

A busy couple of weeks, we are off to the Bay of Islands the week before school holidays so I have a heap to get done at work so I can relax on holiday. Samyson has NYTC Showcase this Saturday which means Thursday night rehearsal, Friday night rehearsal (presumably at the theatre) 2 shows on Saturday from which I will have to get him to & from, at least it is only in Takapuna and we are going to the afternoon show anyway. Siobhan has netball on Wednesday so hopefully it is a 6pm game & I can go & watch her play.

I thought my life was busy

As much as it drives me nuts all the running around to practices etc, I have it easier than some.

When I went to pick Samyson up from rehearsal last night, one of the Mums mentioned that they were thrown into a big panic because of a fire at one of the schools as it threw their whole routine out. She then proceeded to list the schedule which included, dance, soccer, drive thru McDonalds, NYTC rehearsal and something else I can't recall. She had it down to 10 minutes blocks. A couple of the other parents were standing there nodding in agreement saying they have the same problem that they have to pick the kid/s up from school then spend the next 3 or 4 hours ferrying them from one activity to the next - and this happens 4 -5 days a week for some of them!!!

I know a lot of these NYTC kids are extremely talented but seriously, when do they get time to do homework or just relax. One of the boys mentioned his Mum is going to talk to his teachers about reducing his homework load as he finds it too much with his other activities (not only does he do NYTC but gets involved in other shows as well, he is currently doing Macbeth with Stage 2 - he is 11!!!)

We always said that the kids can get involved in 1 sport & one artistic (music drama) activity each, no more. That was more than enough practices and rehearsals for a kid.

Sometimes I wonder if we are restricting them too much but apart from the costs, we are 2 full time working parents, it is difficult enough to get them where they have to be especially if it is on the other side of Auckland or if two have to be at different places at the same time. In my opinion they need time to themselves just to relax & do their own thing and time to do their homework at a reasonable time instead of late at night after several activities or first thing in the morning while trying to get ready for school.

Anyway I am looking forward to a weekend that has no time constraints all, we eat when we get around to it, go where we want & do what we want when it suits - Bliss.

Bring on the long weekend

I am looking forward to Queens Birthday Weekend, we decided to go away for a couple of days. Our first choice of Awhitu down south of Waiuku did not happen due to their website being down when we tried to book so Gary suggested Orewa. It is close to Auckland so we will not get caught in the worst of the traffic which coming in & out of Auckland on a long weekend is horrendous.

We can just relax, go for walks, play board games etc which is what we all need.

Siobhan is home sick today, she still is suffering with the cold she had before show week and woke up this morning completely miserable. I was going to bring her to work but Gary kindly offered to stay home with her. I dosed her up with paracetamol, echineccea, breathe easy in the burner, cough medicine & Vicks on her feet. Samyson remade her bed for her and she was asleep again within minutes. Unbelievably she woke up about 8.45 again & phoned me to say she felt better & wanted to go to school, she still sounded like crap so I told her she wasn't going, she kept arguing that she felt much better and she wanted to go to school!! Finally convinced her that if she still felt fine at lunchtime she could go then - talk about role reversal, usually the parents are telling the kids they have to go to school & the kids saying they don't want to.

In other news, Samyson has been selected in the chorus for the NYTC Showcase. He auditioned for a solo but missed out so was really happy to get the chorus. He has rehearsals Thursdays 6.30-8.30 for the next 3 weeks, plus Sat & Sun 11 & 12 June all afternoon from 1pm & then in theatre Friday 18th & 2 shows on Sat 19th. Just when I thought I might get a break from all this running around, no such luck, this will be over & it will be onto the next show I am sure.

Roll on the weekend!!!