3 posts tagged “daughter2”

meeting mao and the goats

Oct 4, 2009
25 comments

Daughter2 and I saw the movie Mao's Last Dancer this afternoon. I have not read the book, but I suspect that the movie is a poor reflection of the book. It should have been a great movie, but instead it was just an alright movie. It seemed to hurry over the real life drama and the emotions of Li Cunxin 's life both in China and outside China, just to allow long passages of dance. It is of course full of Australian actors doing bad American accents. It was not a bad movie, but it just missed the mark on the real human story and the drama. I am going to read the book, I suspect they left out a lot of detail and emotion. The characters were very flat. It could have been so much better.

And when we came out of the movie they had set up pens in the foyer in which there were baby goats. I have no idea why, or what they were promoting, but there were cute little baby goats in a pen. Baby goats are cute Baby anything are cute. Oh except reptiles, and frogs. And maybe some human babies. It was rather weird because only about an hour before we went to the movies, Mr FD and I had seen an interview with a woman who has written "the definitive book on the history of the goat in Australia " - like there would be more than one book needed! It traced back to the past when the goat was important to survival for so many in the early days of Australia. The goat is now sadly, out of fashion...they don't even hold goat races anymore, alas. Apparently they were once THE place to be seen!

So, into the movie we went - no goats, and out of the movie we came - lots of goats. No kidding!!!!!! (I got to the joke first!)

We finished the afternoon with tea and cake, and discussion on the benefits of goats!

movie magic

Feb 15, 2009
7 comments

Sunday movie matinee

I have had a superb weekend. That is nothing something I say very often. I have nice days, but a whole weekend of superbness is unique for me. Yesterday, of course, I had the lovely luncheon reunion with my friends, and last night watched movies and ate Thai food with Daughter2. Nice evening.

Today, D2 and I went to the movies to see Ghost Town. I really, really enjoyed watching it and felt quite uplifted by the end of the movie. The man who sat beside me was so obviously enjoying it, and laughing out loud with such genuine pleasure that I think it enhanced my own enjoyment. I am very pleased to report that I enjoyed the movie as initially I had gone into shock at having to pay $20 for a movie ticket and a medium sized zero coke...a bit of a budget breaker for the unemployed I must say.

Afterwards we had lunch - I had yummy rice paper rolls with prawns and the most delicious dipping sauce. Then some shopping - I really broke the budget and bought 3 cds. Bad girl. Luckily I can save some money from the food budget this week as Mr FD will be away [no declaration of war from the Phillippines as yet, so assuming all ok]

We came home and I baked some gluten free/dairy free chocolate muffins for D2 to take home. In return D2 helped me put fresh sheets on my bed thus saving me the risk of dislocating something and having to have more physiotherapy. Good girl!

TOMORROW ALERT - Lunch with The Assistant, SHE WHO WAS GOING TO KILL ME WITH KINDNESS and the lovely POD woman. First contact since the apocalypse. The Assistant has organised...I think she wants to whine. I am postwhine now so not all that excited, but one must be polite. Afterwards I am going to see if I can get my student ID photo and card - at least then I can get a discount if I ever go to the movies again! Of course I will need some therapy after having to have my photo taken.

Ninotchka is now on Fox classics and I must watch, lying in bed on fresh, sun kissed, crisp white sheets -

The End.

what a day it was, it was what a day

Dec 1, 2008
13 comments

We helped Daughter 2 move into her new apartment on Saturday. At times I felt like I was held captive by an alien species never before identified by man nor woman. I was instructed to wait at our house until the removalists came by and picked up all the items she wanted from our house. Once they left I was to text her and let her know that they were on their way to her old place to pick up the boxes there.

I handled that okay, but then it was to be action stations and we were all to jump in various cars and make our way to the new apartment to await further instructions. I was ready… I was too scared not to be. However her various siblings thought otherwise. Daughter 1 thought it was the day to sort out her taxes with her accountant which were to have been filed June 30^th and so disappeared. Son, well Son was asleep in his cryogenic chamber and despite my escalating hysteria refused to gather the momentum, or interest that I was trying to instil into him from his doorway. Eventually Daughter 1 returned and so we left, but not before I gathered a ratchet and waved it at Son from his doorway and distinctly stated “I am taking this ratchet, you bring the other tools that you need to put together the desk and beds.” I said it twice just to make sure I got the message across.

If you are wondering why I chose the ratchet as my weapon of choice, it is very simple – it was lying in the middle of the living room floor, which is where all good ratchets go to lie.

Daughter 1 and I raced to the new apartment – and we were there before either Daughter 2, or the moving men arrived.. We sat in the afternoon heat thanking the Big Whatever that we had slipped under the radar.

Daughter 2 arrived. We all went upstairs and waited. The van was right behind her…and we waited and we waited . They had to go three streets from old to new apartment. Over 20 minutes later they arrived. I leaned from the balcony going “yoooohooo, here! Yooooohooo, hoy” in my best motherly fashion to attract the moving men and to halt their wandering up and down the street looking for the right number. They recognised the weird woman in the neck collar from their first pickup and so pulled in

About this time Mr FD phones and says that there is yet another severe weather warning and to take cover. Daughter2’s new apartment has only a single garage. Mother Flamingo Dancer has a brilliant stroke of genius, yet again, and I send Daughter 1 over to the old apartment to sit in the double garage there. I also intercepted Son and told him to go there also. We sit out the storm…

Daughter 2 then goes and collects her siblings so their cars can stay under cover and we all set too. Son asks for the tools. I show him the ratchet. He did not bring over any others…He has a desk, two beds and a flat screen television to assemble.

Mother Flamingo to the fore once more as she remembers giving Daughter 2 a little floral hammer that is a handy little tool that is in fact 5 different tools in one. Daughter 2 locates and hands it to her brother who sets to the task with a screw driver not much longer than his thumb nail. He had the good sense not to complain however.

Incapacitated as I was, and having already contributed so much brain power, I was given the momentous task of washing the dishes and cutlery as they were unpacked. Daughter 1 is obviously more trust worthy than I and was allowed to actually place the clean items in the kitchen cupboards. She was also allowed to make up Daughter2’s bed so that D2 could fall into it that night.

Daughter 1 said to her sister that she need to leave about 5pm. Her sister apparently looked like she was going to rip her sister’s throat out at any moment, but agreed she could, but also apparently hissed “but not Mum”. Daughter 1, bless her, slipped into a corner and warned me that I was under threat of death, so I made a big show of waving off Daughter 1 and giving Son redundant advice on assembling the television with his thumb nail size screw driver.

We were allowed out of our cell a little after 6pm. Ah the sweet smell of freedom. We had survived, thank God Almighty, we had survived!

Her lease is up in 6 months