Childhood memories

This anecdote to me symbolises the laughter between friends.  Then, now and always!  It is a true story.

A puddle.  Small and shallow but unmissable.  In the middle of the trampoline. 

The trampoline had been a great source of entertainment since my sister and I had received it as a Christmans present.  Large black rectangle, surrounded by springs that either gave you an electric shock or caught the hairs on your legs if you dared get on or off.  Certainly no safety padding.  The skill was getting on and off without slipping between the springs and bars and 'knackering' yourself.
Hours were spent alone or in pairs (sometimes braving groups of three) jumping, doing tricks, double-jumping (a cruel but funny tactic against your fellow jumper).  Unintentional exercise.  My cousin Naomi and I would spend endless hours on the trampoline.  Jumping till our legs were jelly then sitting in the middle, quietly bobbing up and down while we chatted.  And laughed.  Telling jokes and stories that would set us off into uncontrollable fits till we were breathless.  Then we'd stop, look at each other and start all over again.
One of these particular days, as the trampoline was growing old with visible fading and stretching in the middle, we were once again caught in the grips of laughter when Naomi suddenly stopped.  Her face went from a wide grin to one of shock and slight panic. 
"Uh-oh."
"What?" I asked, coming to a slow chuckle.
"Um..." 
She didn't have to say anything.  The reason for her shock and panic became obvious as she slowly stood up (clumsily - it's hard to stand up gracefully on a trampline).  Underneath her was a puddle.  Shallow but unmissable.  A slightly yellow tinge starting to spread across the surface.  Towards me.
"Ewww...."  a combination of repulsion and laughter.  "You peed on the trampoline!"
We scrambled off that trampoline like it was a sinking ship.  No thoughts or cares of electrice shocks or knackering.  Only when we were safe on dry land were we free to let our emotions free - and the laughter flooded out. 
"Careful, we don't wnat a second puddle!"
Tne minutes later the puddle was washed away and Naomi was wearing a new and dry pair of my underwear.  No one would ever be the wiser.

Until now :)

Freckle fraud

Reporting from Turtle Bay Resort, North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii.

I do believe that I have not seen one other freckly person since I've been in Hawaii.  Did I somehow make it through some secret screening process that weeds out the 'unacceptable' skin from the others before you enter?  Did my makeup work well enough to fool them into believing I have smooth, clear skin with no freckles?  I do believe that I am a bit of a fraud here.  There are some ridiculous skin colours here.  When I say tanned skin I am talking about a whole different type of tan than the golden, healthy-glow-type of tan that is synonymous with Australia.  This is a deep, I've-spent-hours-in-the-sun, leather-looking, glistening with oil and in twenty-years-I'll-regret-this-and-look-like-an-old-handbag kind of tan.  And the worst thing is - they look fantastic!  No matter what size they are they look toned without any cellulite in sight.  They look like they belong on the beach.  They look like the sun has dropped on them softly a silky, caramel coating.  Then there's me.  For whom the sun has seen my pale canvas and just thrown the caramel at me, flicking speckles of caramel over me randomly.  Flick, flick.  Missed a spot there.  Don't forget the chest and hands.  Some larger, mole-like splotches will break it up a bit. 
As an aside, I am also in the minority by wearing hats.  They seem to be an optional extra for beach-goers here.  Especially for children.  I haven't gone further than five metres from the hotel room without some sort of hat (it also helps to hide the top-frizz of the beach hair).  On the beach this afternoon there were approximately 60 people.  I counted maybe four or five people wearing a hat.  And that is not an exaggeration.  It seems the sun-smart message has not reached these people (most who are tourists from mainland US).
Aloha!

Helpful?

I realised today that men seem to feel the need to offer solutions or solve our problems - even when we're not asking them to! 
Today I was telling a friend (and PE teacher) how sore I was after doing a Body Pump (weights) class yesterday for the first time in months.  Just sharing the pain.  However he felt the need to;
1.  Tell me why I was sore (which I had sort of guessed!).
2.  That it isn't an effective source of exercise when done once-off and is why those classes are no good (though I did point out that you have to start sometime - there is always going to be that first class).
3.  Explain to me the 'right' way to do weight training. 
I feel a bit nasty writing that because he certainly wasn't doing it a condescending way - he actually was trying to 'help' me.  But all I wanted was a little sympathy :)

Technology Peer-Pressure

Is there such thing as technology peer-pressure?  Or, more specifically, iPhone peer pressure?  I believe so.  And I believe I have succumbed to the pressure.  I had found myself at lunchtime discussions with colleagues feeling ostracised and as if somehow I was 'out-of-the-loop' with technology (is this maybe how my Mum feels all the time?  Although she has just learnt how to text...but that's another story!).  Discussing their apps, pulling their phones out to show photos, check emails, google the answer to a discussion we were having.  And they all had one.  Except me.  I could only sit there and politely nod and act as though I knew what they were talking about.  But half the time I didn't.  They were speaking another language that I could only slightly decipher.  But certainly couldn't speak myself.  I had always been fascinated with the smartphone and impressed (if not a little sceptical) of the things it can do.  However I had never felt the need to have one.  I believed I could live without it.  And then I realised that maybe I did need it.  Maybe my life wasn't complete without one.  Or at least, maybe my life could improve with one,  So I succumbed.  I bowed to the peer-pressure.  I got an iPhone.  And for the first day I had it I was the 'popular' kid at lunchtime - pulling my phone out to show them, others crowding around to show me which apps to get etc.  
I do love it (have had it for three days now) and am marvelled by the technology (my favourite is an app in which I scan the barcodes of the books I own and it catalogues them for me) but I am finding that I am spending hours searching for apps, playing games, fiddling with settings.  And I'm not sure quite yet how it has improved my life.  Maybe it has added some enjoyment (like all new toys) and apps like 'mapmyrun' and 'calorie counter' will add something to my exercising but it's not like I wouldn't still be able to do those things without the iPhone. 
I guess I shouldn't question it's need in my life but just enjoy it.  And feel satisfied that now I can contribute to lunchtime conversations - I am no longer left out!

Facebook ‘Friends”

They really should have another name for it, or at least divide the people into categories.

When I found out I was pregnant, my husband and I saw a friend of his in the supermarket.  His wife was heavily pregnant at the time, so heavily pregnant in fact, that she was a week overdue and he had commented that she had gone for long walks to try and bring the baby on.  She then came around the corner of the aisle.  I said 'Hello' and shared with her our exciting news, expecting her to be excited too.  I commented to her that hopefully their baby will come soon.  She replied with ‘I don’t want to talk about it quite frankly’ and with that walked off, leaving her husband to try and explain her rudeness.

I decided from then on to not give her any of my time.  Now this may seem harsh but I didn’t know her that well and the times I had met her she wasn’t overly friendly anyway.  It was an easy decision for me, especially as being excited as I was about such a life changing experience for us, it was quite deflating. 

So the next few times I saw her I didn’t smile, didn’t acknowledge – nothing.  I didn’t think anymore about it.

Then recently, almost a year and half later, I get a friend request on facebook from her.  What the?!

1. I’m not her friend
2. Why would she even want to be a facebook friend after the way I treated her?

Of course I added her anyway, as you do.

Why is it when I’m happy I can’t think deeply?

Go back 5 years ago and I was sad - very sad.  The things I thought about and played around with in my mind were scarily deep.  I also felt deeply.  I really hurt.  I ached.  Deep down right to the core agony.  For the first time I really felt what sadness was.  I wanted a pill to make it all better and had to keep reminding myself that this is what sadness feels like.  It hurts.  I was meant to feel this way after what had happened.  So I allowed myself to feel it all, and with that came a lot of deep thinking, self awareness and analysing. 

Finally, I got over what happened and I am now genuinely happy and content.

All I can think about is funny and quirky things.  I always look on the brighter side of life.  Everything is light hearted and easy.  Not too much analysing required.  Life is just peachy.  I just live and don’t usually make the most of every moment.  The days go by and I’m just living a happy life. 

Do we need to feel sadness and hurt to think deeply? Why, when we are hurting, do we feel the need to write our thoughts down but when we are happy we don't?  Is that why there is the old cliché of the tortured writer or poet?  Are we subconsciously trying to capture ourselves at our deepest so we can remind ourselves when we are content that we can be a deeper being? Do we need to be hurt, in angst, in the depths of despair, to bring out deep thought?

But then I may also be contradicting myself, as is this thought about not being deep at the moment, actually, deep?

Isn't that a question?

Why do people ask 'Can I ask a question?'
Firstly, they didn't ask permission to ask that question - they went ahead and just asked it.
Secondly, by the time they wasted my time asking that pointless question, they could have just asked the question they really want the answer to.
Thirdly, what if I just said 'No'?