I have spoilt myself in the last couple of weeks.

These are Split Enz posters I have had since 1982.  Released in conjunction with the Time and Tide album. The Time and Tide concert was the first concert I had ever been to. I still have other posters too.

I had them mounted to protect their lifespan. The lady in the shop told me that by mounting them, they would lose value. I am not really bothered as I don’t see myself selling them anytime soon.

So they are now smiling down on me in the lounge.

The poster on the left is actually the back of the poster on the right !!!

Then we have books !!!!

As I may have mentioned I have a Supernatural addiction that I have passed on to the children. am a fan of Supernatural.

I am a member of an online fanbase, and I once made mention how I wish there was a book that covered all the lore and myths about the monsters and demons the Wincester boys kill.

TURNS OUT THERE IS SUCH A BOOK !!!!! Two actually. So I googled and found, here in NZ, they don’t stock the book on the shelves but order it in.

“The Supernatural Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons and Ghouls” and “John Wincester’s Journal” are by Alex Irvine and if the kids hadn’t grabbed them first to read, I would tell you about them   And yes, that is a Robert Pattinson book. WGO is a bit of a fan don’t you know……. 

I remember being young and going to sleepovers. We would talk til 10 at night, sometimes MIDNIGHT, but wake up the next day ready to go.

When I was a teen, I could and would party til the wee hours of the morning. And then get up the next day, no worries.

When I worked in a nightclub, I would be on my feet from 9pm til 5ish in the morning, come home, get a few hours sleep and be up for the now Teen Shamrock.

I have partied ALL night, and gone straight to work on no sleep. No worries.

Last night, I went out with the girls. 4 of us. Kimmie poos, T & R.  I have said it before and I’ll say it again, ALWAYS, side splitting laughter and comments from beginning to end. Got home, Jock had fallen asleep waiting up for me, so a widdle chat, then straight to bed and sleep.

I woke up this morning feeling like I have been pulled out the end of a bus backwards.

Woo Hoo, you must think !!! Nikki’s been a partying !!! What was that in your drink? What shenanigans did you get up to?

Um….. no.

It was a 6.15pm meet up with Kimmie poos to have a quick catch up over coffee. Movie at 7.10pm Finished not long after 9pm.  Then we stood outside the movie theatre talking for over and hour and a half. Then I dropped Kimmie poos off home, went home myself, widdle chats with hubbie and into bed just before midnight.

JUST

BEFORE

MIDNIGHT.

Sheesh, barely 42, and can’t make it to midnight. A shadow of my former self.

I’m off out to buy me a walking stick…… lol.

As I prostrate myself at the feet of the Mistress, I must confess, I don’t really have any screw ups this week. But I do want to take a moment to share some moments that aren’t so much screw ups, but still moments that make you stand still and go HUH?

When I blonded the boys hair on Thursday night, Celtic Lad’s came out with two large sections seemingly untouched !!! It still looks cool though.

A minor boo, I had dyed my hair also, and waited a day to apply the 2nd colour, so was a half blonde for a day. I coloured it a copper colour, more in tune with my natural highlights. Jumped in the shower to rinse out with creme conditioner. Doh, forgot the scissors to cut the satchet. Not to worry, thinks I, I will just rip it. Um, it is part plastic. The foil tears easily, but not the plastic. So I decide to squeeze the satchet, sending the contents to one end and thus bursting the plastic and getting creme conditioner into my hand…… Well, it all of a sudden spurted everywhere, and missed my hand. 

Anyway, some haha moments this week are all about Celtic Lad.

Have I mentioned CL decided he was psychic?  There have been moments where tbh, where things are predictable, however CL has sagely said “I knew that was going to happen.” After a while, he decided he must be psychic.

Thursday, after Playgroup. We had ALOT of stuff to put in the small Ford Fiesta. Too much in fact. But me being me, made sure it all fit in. It meant WGO sat in the front seat, and the Celtic Boys had to squeeze into a seat and a half. We had to get out and in of the car for errands and CL was getting squashed to say the least. As we got in the over packed car for the last time, he made the comment “You know, I may be psychic, but I sure didn’t see this coming.” ROFL !!!!!

Then, both boys asked to try a Frozen Coke from MacDonalds. We don’t do coke and haven’t for a number of years. But I said, “Just this once.” I made sure that they understood this was a one time only offer. (So often we do things once and all of a sudden it is meant to be routine) Driving away from Maccas, boys both supping on their Frozen Cokes and CL wisely says ” Mmmm, this takes like coke, only frozen.”  Yes son, I think the name was a bit of a give away……  ROFL.

And an update on that gosh darn it freakin’ cat that we are looking after. The black cat whose name is Liquorice that Jock renamed Lucifer.

JOCK HAS CAUGHT THE CAT !!!!!!!!

He stayed over there last night and it was raining cat and dogs (I know it was, I stood in a poodle) and he was woken at some ungodly hour to a cat meowing loudly wanting to be let in.

Of course, Murphy being who he is, the cat waited until we had rung America, calling our friend to let her know we hadn’t SEEN the cat in 3 days and asking if there were any ‘party tricks’ to getting her in. I had wondered the neighbourhood giving all in sundry my name and number. I now know where all the cats live in my friend’s neighbourhood. Jock texted me yesterday morning to say he had caught the cat, and 5 minutes later, the cat owner rang me asking me how things were going. THANK GOD I was able to say that we now had the cat back and discussed its care.

So that’s me for another week of madness and mayhem. Be sure to check out my leopard print sheeted Mistress to see what other screw up have been happening in the blogesphere.

Special Gift

Once upon a time Daddy and I,
wished upon a distant star,
We didn’t know if we’d get our wish,
the chances seemed rather far.

We asked God for a little boy,
To cuddle and hold tight,
To love and squeeze and give
a gentle kiss goodnight.

Well, God was listening and the answer
came straight from the blue.
Not only did we get one little angel,
He saw fit to give us two…

On Monday, 29th June, 1998, a miracle happened.

Celtic Lad and Angel Shamrock entered the world.

Much loved and much wanted babies.

Babies, I was told, I had a 5% chance of ever having.

Celtic Lad (on the left ) and Celtic Dingo (on the right) at the birthday party. (I have not included friends)

Celtic Lad had his party on Saturday. We took him and his friends to Laser Strike, then back home to hang out and have dinner. Celtic Lad chose sausages (vegetarian for him and 2 of his friends, and beef for the rest of us) roast potatoes and pumpkin, corn and mixed veges.  His vegetarian friend’s mother made a salad which was SCRUMMY !!!!

Dessert was Celtic Lad’s birthday cake, with icecream, gelato and sorbet.  One thing I love about having a vegetarian in the family and having vegetarian friends, is the different things kids end up trying, just small things that they wouldn’t normally eat. I made his cakes (one banana and one chocolate) using soy milk, oil and an egg replacement called ‘no egg’. It really isn’t that hard.

Part of Celtic Lad’s birthday present was blonding his and Celtic Dingo’s hair. CL felt he looked like Carlise from Twilight and CD was most impressed that he looked like Jasper.

With CL’s love of music, we bought him a CD of Bach and a CD of Beethoven. We only had 2 Classical music CDs. Celtic Dingo chose him 2 Indiana Jones movies.  He also received books, music CDs and a Science kit. His grandparents bought him clothes.

Today, we are taking the day off from homeschool. You can do that when the headmistress is your mother, lol. We are going into town into Te Papa (our Museum) and then lunch with Jock and Teen.

Home for a family dinner and then waiting for 9.32pm and 9.34pm, the times when our boys arrived.

My mate Ken died today.

He has been my mate for almost 20 years. I know that because I know we were first acquainted shortly after the birth of Teen Shamrock in ‘89. I took to him immediately. He was such a great help around the place. Well actually, not around the place as such, more in the kitchen.

We mixed together, we blended together, we pureed.

He could take anything I threw at him. I sometimes got a bit rough with him. He didn’t seem to mind. We had frequent contact, especially around baking time. I knew I could count on him to help.

But this morning, as I made Celtic Lad’s 2nd cake, something went wrong. Ken coughed and spluttered, and died on me. In the middle of mixing the chocolate cake. Unable to be resusitated.

RIP Ken.

Do you know what today is?

It’s the 25th June !!!

On 25th June 1960,  DA married MM in London England. They moved to NZ eventually and became my parents through adoption.

Awwwwwwww.

On 25th June 1952, Brian Timothy Finn was born. WHO? You might ask…. if you have been living under a rock in the Southern Hemisphere. Tim Finn, founder and lead singer of Split Enz. Tim Finn, Music god, in my eyes, anyway.

I was born in Te Awamutu, 25th of June, 1952

10 pounds of boy, Haul away, Haul away, Haul away,

My mother and father’s pride and joy.

This is a really bad version…. Sorry.

He wasn’t 10 pounds either. I don’t think 8 lbs 5 oz would have sounded as smooth, do you?

Thursday, 25th June 1998 is the morning my doctor J walked into the room I was staying in. He told me that we would not deliver the twins as planned. **this was in spite of a ‘yet another’  heart trace that showed Finbar was in distress** That I was nature’s best incubator.

This is from the CD I played every night in the hospital. Neil Finn’s “Try Whistling This”

This is the day that my doc later told me is the day that if they had delivered the boys  **as they should have**, (his words) both my boys would be alive and well today.

I will smile, have a good day, and no one will know any different.

But I hate 25th June.

Jock ordered this for the children:

It turned up a couple of days ago. It only needs 2 AA batteries. A great start for a budding director. The sound quality is hopeless. However, the kids spent yesterday writing scripts and filming, using Lego figurines and filming.

Here is one:

It has been great watching them film, download it to the computer, and analyse things like when they realise their hands are in the way, changing what they are doing etc. I am going to introduce the script board etc.

I think we will be filming for a while.

In need of a giggle?

Life dragging you down a bit?

Then pop on over to the Mistress for Screw Up Tuesday, where we share our oopsie moments and share a snigger, a chortle, a guffaw if you will.

When Jock the kiwi came home on Sunday (is it me or when you read Jock the Kiwi, do you think that’s like Bob the Builder?) , he decided to make a couple of banana cakes with the bananas that were going off. V turned up, we sat down to chat. JTK (Jock the Kiwi) went to check on the banana cakes, he realised he had turned the oven to GRILL, so the top of the top banana cake was charcoal black. It’s ok sweetie, I hear charcoal is good for the digestive tract, though not in the quantities you produce it.

So sing with me people:

Jock the Kiwi

Can he burn it?

Jock the Kiwi

YES HE CAN !!!!!

Next oopsie would be yesterday when we needed to clean the floor after bringing all the wood in. Celtic Dingo insisted that he do it, and who am I to say no………. So the lad is sweeping, sweeping and doing a good job. I was pottering around the place, when he says, “I’ll shake the mat and sweep under it.” I silently applaud myself on what wonderful husbands I am raising, and how my daughter in laws are going to thank me, love me and worship at my feet, when I come to the lounge to see Celtic Dingo has shaken the mat alright……. INSIDE !!!!!

And last but not least, we are looking after a cat for a month for a lady from church, while she is visiting overseas. Jock will be house sitting a few nights a week as well. Well, we let the cat outside on Sunday morning and haven’t been able to catch it since.  We call it, it comes to the side of the house, sees us and runs away. Last night, we hid in the house, leaving the front door open (AND IT WAS SO COLD !!)  for an hour and it still didn’t come in. I have left my name and number with the neighbours and if they see her, they will try to catch her for me. And I think, she may have to live inside for a while.

So pop on over to the Mistress and see what others have done or not done this week.

It was just me and the Squish (WGO) this weekend.

Mr S aka Jock and the boys went to a cub camp Friday night. In the rain and cold.  Tee hee.

So it was a lovely, quiet, relaxed, girly weekend.

We made Lemons Squares, thanks to Jeanie and Jayne’s recommendation.  Noice. Actually, noice is an understatement. They were to DIE for.

We shopped til we dropped. The Squishmeister loves her accessories !!!!!! She has an eye for bling. However, the child is not quite 4 and Mother doesn’t overindulge in those areas. There’s plenty of time for that.  I left it to her Daddy to cave in and buy his widdle princess all the accessories in the world. We went to Farmer’s and I bought the lads 2 pairs of trousers and a vest each. WGO picked out a vest and 2 long sleeved tops. All for the grand total of $100. Bargain !!!!

We scrapped 2 pages on my Sydney trip.

I can’t show any pics, as the camera is on the blink, the new video/camera thing we bought has it’s batteries run out and Jock’s at work with his Iphone.

I couldn’t be bothered with dinner, so we had take aways, then snuggles in front of the fire.

The Shamrock Men got home around 3pm yesterday, just in time for V to visit again. He came for afternoon tea, stayed for dinner and once again we talked late into the night.

I did a frittata, which, believe it or not, I have never done before. I saw Lee talk about his and I was talking with Teen’s flatmate who mentioned he loves making frittata, so I thought I would give it a go. Another thumbs up. Really nice.

V is off to Australia for about a month. He hopes to call me while he is overseas so his brother and sister can talk to me. I have suggested that it may cause problems and I am happy to wait until they are adults and can choose for themselves. I am hearing all about them via V anyway, so I know what is happening.

I have suggested that V see a counsellor. While I am happy to talk, I do not know how to unravel the training he has had for violence. I do not know what steps he needs to take to be able to make better choices. He did tell me on Friday night, him and a mate were about to get into a punch up and he thought of me, and walked away.  This tells me there is hope. He still has a reasonable amount of control and choice. I also know the changes we saw when the children lived with us. It is possible.

So, it’s been a wonderful weekend yet again.

Trish from Mylittledrummerboys just blogged about this and I thought I would give it a go ……….

….google your name, beginning with “unfortunately________” filling in your name and see what pops up.

Trish also googled “Fortunately _____________” as did I.

So you might as well know, though most of you do anyway, my name is Nikki.

Unfortunately Nikki starts dancing and she goes drunk. (used to but not anymore)

Unfortunately, Nikki will miss the Roanoke show because she’s busy with her other gig — playing drums for Beyonce (You heard it here.I am secretly a drummer for Beyonce)

Unfortunately, Nikki will not be able to enjoy or do any of those things but has family and friends who’ve become her voice. (**wonders what ‘those things’ are**)

Unfortunately Nikki never met her grandfather before he died. (True about 2 of my grand fathers. I met the other 2 however.)

Unfortunately, Nikki never made the appointment. (I didn’t copy the rest, but it looks like this Nikki died)

Unfortunately Nikki lived the lifestyle a little too hard and he is no longer with us but he left some good memories and a buncha cool records. … (As long as I leave a decent record collection, I will be remembered)

Interestingly enough, in the search results was another blogger named Nikki who played this in March, but did Unfortunately and Apparently.

Now the Fortunately list:

Fortunately Nikki realized that he needed to deal with the pain in other ways and that would help him kick his habits. …

Fortunately, Nikki has a wonderful husband at home who does the stay at home dad thing and keeps her sane (and well fed with some great meals). … (I WISH !!!!!!!!)

Fortunately, Nikki responded to acupuncture and Chinese herbs really fast. After a few weeks of treatment, her pain was noticeably reduced. …

Fortunately, Nikki said, she did not regret her decision. “It was such a blessing that I decided to be a Kapamilya because that’s how they make me feel …

But, fortunately, Nikki’s a poet, so I began to write my way out of it.

Fortunately, Nikki didn’t object to wrestling at our private basement gym and even consented to let me document this historic match on video. … (Was it in jello or mud?)