15 Years Ago...

15 years ago today, I married Mr Cool. Boy, does that make me feel O.L.D! I tell people that I was allowed to get married at 15... but this is a lie.


When I think back to our wedding day, I have mixed emotions. Now, I know that probably sounds bad, but it was not the greatest time in my life. We married in December, but, in the May before our wedding, I contracted two blood borne viruses: Ross River Virus and Barmah Forest Virus. Both of these wreaked havoc on my body. 


I slept for more than 14 hours a day, not able to make it through a whole day without napping. I would have to nap several times a day just to cope, my uni grades went south pretty quickly and I just wasn't coping very well. I had the maximum doses of Vitamin B injections at least once a week. The hardest part of it all was my loss of short term memory. What this means is that I don't really remember much of that year, or the subsequent one. I don't remember making wedding plans or how I came to pick my dress. It is just a blank. It took at least three years before I started to have regular sleep patterns again and before I started to get some sort of immunity against any virus that walked my way.


So... when it comes to my wedding day. I really don't remember much. I remember driving to the church. I remember 'The Kiss' and I remember the drunk lady who yelled advice to me as we walked into the honeymoon suite at our motel. I don't remember much of the speeches, the guests, the flowers. I don't remember who gave me what or who said what. I do remember that no-one gave us a toaster, we had to go and buy one of those. If I think about it too much, I get a little sad. 


But, then I think of Mr Cool. He is currently patiently sitting and reading while I madly type away so that I can get something ready for the blog tomorrow. He is amazing.


I think of all the adventures we have had. We have caught planes, trains, buses, taxis, boats, ships and trams all over the world. We have made three of the most amazing children I have ever met {I am allowed to say this, this is my blog after all} and we are doing a good job of keeping them alive and mostly happy. We own {well, we pay the mortgages} of several properties and we have a plan for our future. These things mean more to me than who gave us the feather quilt or the coffee machine. 


Weddings are lovely, but, it is what happens in the years after the wedding that make all the difference. Mr Cool and I have spent years perfecting our communication, we speak deeply all the time and we are {usually} on the same page about almost everything. 


For a long time I thought that we were pretty normal. But, after this year, the year where 4 of our close friends have had major marital woes, we see that we are not normal. We are blessed. 


Tonight night we are going out for a fancy dinner. I am sure that there will be lots of reminiscing and lots of laughter. There will also be that quiet moment when we look into each other's eyes with anticipation of what the next 15 years will bring. 


I love you Mr Cool. I am so glad you are in my life. In the words of Whitney Houston from The Bodyguard, "I have nothing if I don't have you".


Mwah.

RemembeRED - Doomed Weddings

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This year has seen 1-2-3-4 marriages crumble around us. Mr Cool and I feel as if we are the last ones standing in a room once filled with married couples. It has been heartbreaking. I wonder if I had been at these weddings would I have seen the signs that it was doomed to fail? I really don't think so. I really don't think people sign up for marriage to see it end in a bitter, hurtful, regretful swan dive of sorrow.

I love weddings. I love the dresses and the flowers and everyone craning their necks to see the lovely bride. I love that I think back to my own wedding where I married the man I loved. When I go to weddings, I go armed with a handkerchief, mascara and a huge bag of well wishes. I pray that the marriage is a great one, not just a good one. I pray that the couple will be happy and that they have talked A LOT before walking down the aisle. I hope and hope that they can muddle their way to a happily ever after. Because, although weddings are lovely, they are really just the beginning. 

I  knew nothing of Mr Cool when we stood before our families exchanging vows - I knew NOTHING - nothing at all. Even though we had dated for around 4 years, I didn't know he preferred McCleans to Colgate, that he didn't really like mashed potatoes and that he took months and months to finish reading a novel. I look back now and wonder what on earth our parents were thinking of to allow us to get married at twenty and a heartbeat. 

Mr Cool and I have been married for nearly 15 years now. We feel we have a successful marriage. We talk all the time. Love each other to bits. Crave each other's company. Make each other laugh. Respect each other totally. Care for each other's dreams delicately. Love our children endlessly. We love to do life together and share every happy and crappy moment. 

So, I wonder if anyone at our wedding all those years ago, sitting in the congregation, thought that our marriage was doomed to fail? If so, I am excited to say that they were wrong! Given what we have been through this year, we know that what we have is well worth fighting for. 'Til death do us part.

I have linked up with 'Write On Edge' for RemembeRED... 

10 Things - 10 Reasons Why I Do Not Like It When Mr Cool Goes Away

10 Reasons Why I Do Not Like It 
When Mr Cool Goes Away

1. The buck stops with me - darn. If the power goes out - who deals with it? Me. If a child were to swallow a piece of Lego - who deals with it? Me. If a child pulls another child's hair then screams blue murder - who deals with it? Me. It is a lot of responsibility!
2. I get lonely - Mr Cool and I have been married for nearly 15 years. That is a long time. We have grown quite used to hanging out. Without him around I sigh. A lot. Sigh.
3. I have to make the tea in the morning - Mr Cool normally does this. And, on the weekends, we usually have our tea in bed. Yep, all of us sitting up in our bed nestled in pillows. It is lovely. Without him, it seems a bit too roomy.
4. I have to wrangle the kids alone - this is not always fun. When Mr Cool is around we tag team. He is the good cop, I am the bad cop. It all balances. Without him, the kids just have me. That is not always the most fun. 
5. It is not worth cooking for one adult - so I usually cook something easy and then count on having left overs. Eggs on toast is a favourite.
6. Doing dishes alone is not fun - Mr Cool and I chat and catch up and squabble while doing dishes after dinner. Alone, it is just me. At the sink. Sighing. 
7. I don't like going to bed alone - so I stay up late. I watch just another show. Then another. Then the shows start getting scary. Then it is so late that I begin to think that that bra they flog at around 11:30 at night actually looks really good.
8. I don't like sleeping alone - I have to make a 'Mr Cool' shaped shape in the bed with pillows. Then my imagination kicks in and I imagine that someone is in the house. Then I freak the shazam out of myself and have to force myself to chill out and relax.
9. The kids miss him - a lot. It is hard to be the one who stays at boringo home doing the mundane things while daddy is away having an adventure. Sigh.
10. It is just not normal to not have him around. It doesn't feel like home. Something is just not quite right. Like walking around wearing only one shoe.

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Cool Ad - Toyota Sienna (US)

These clips have CRACKED. ME. UP!  Mr Cool thinks that the characters in these ads are just like us.... Well, I don't think we are quite as cocky and Mr Cool has more hair.... But a stunningly funny snapshot of the modern mini-van world and awesome advertising campaign!

Toyota Sienna Adverts....

So... What makes these ads so cool?

1) They are slick - really well put together

2) They both endorse and 'take the mick' out of the mini-van, SUV driving set out there

3) They are a snap shot of the times: Pilates classes, DVD players in cars, hip-hop music and daddy bonding

I can't decide which is my favourite - what do you think?

PS - Thanks to the man who used to share an office with Mr Cool for passing these onto us. We both miss working with you!

Anna Says - Interview Someone Significant To Me

I am not quite sure why I wrestled with this topic so much. I couldn't decide whether to interview my mum, one of my gorgeous clever sisters, my inspiring mentor, my clever friends, someone from my past etc etc. But when I broke it right down, it was obvious who I should interview... Mr Cool. The most significant person in my life...


For a bit of background here are the stats...


Age: 32 days older than B
Weight: a little bit less than B
Height: just tall enough to give a good hug
Favourite bands: U2, Snow Patrol, Switchfoot, Delirious?
Favourite pastimes: Running {marathon distance}, testing clean skin red wine, football {sigh}, oh, and of course - coffee - espresso in fact
Job: Ummm....a teacher who also does high level admin like stuff that is ever so important
Known for: his intense fitness regime, his great sense of style, inappropriate jokes, his {verging on neurotic} neatness and his very cute children

B: How would you describe yourself?

Mr Cool: Balanced but neurotic, fun but obsessive, witty but predictable, excitable but stable, driven but can say ‘whatever’, organised but... just organised.

B: What are 3 things that are important to you?

Mr Cool: 

i) Family 

ii) Faith

iii) Friends

Gee, that sounds cliched, but really these three things sum up life.

B: Who knows you the best?

Mr Cool: By far and away, B. 

B: Who knows you the second best?

Mr Cool: Me! But not nearly as well as B does.

B: What is something you are proud of, other than your cool wife and lovely children that it is!?

Mr Cool: Running a sub 3 hour marathon. But more than that, that I kept trying for seven years before I achieved the dream.

B: What is something that has made you happy?

Mr Cool: Travelling the world with B. 

B: What is something that has made you sad?

Mr Cool: Hearing of past students who haven’t gone on with their faith.

B: Describe your fashion style?

Mr Cool: ‘Virile Yet Responsible’. I want my clothes to say,  “I am young and funky, but I am climbing the corporate ladder” ;0).  Anything that is cut well and fits properly. There is no excuse for poorly fitting clothes. I like brand names, but more for quality than being a label whore.

B: What are 3 must haves in your wardrobe?

Mr Cool: 

Weekend

i) An awesome pair of jeans 

{current favourites are Ben Sherman}.

ii) ‘The’ T-shirt; great shape, simple logo, black {current favourite is Ben Sherman}.

iii) Casual Jacket that goes with said jeans and t-shirt but is dressy enough to go with buttons and collars 

{current favourite is Country Road: kahki military style}.

Work

i) Suit - cut is everything. Single breasted, two button, flat fronted pants.

ii) French Cut business shirt - again, cut is everything. Cuff-links are essential.

iii) Tie - never compromise on quality here {but never pay full price}. Most of mine are striped. I like bold colours.

B: What would you never ever wear no matter what?

Mr Cool: A cummerbund. The biggest fashion faux pas of our century. I also violently oppose the wearing of ugg boots {in public}, floral shirts, long socks, white jeans and mankinis. 

B: How did you and B meet?

Mr Cool: Mr Agnew’s maths class year 9. I thought she was a snob, she thought I was an idiot. Turns out we were both right. Faking an epileptic fit in class didn’t help my cause.

B: Did you ask her out, or did she ask you?

Mr Cool: I did. She was very shy....

B: When did you know that you LUUURVED her?

Mr Cool: Actually, very early on. I have recollections of talking marriage before we had finished high school. I knew she was a keeper.

B: What is cool?

{It took Mr Cool ages to think of this - SEE it is hard to work it out!}  

Mr Cool: Cool is being/doing what you think is cool, despite what others think. I admire people who choose to run with something with scant regard for what others might think.  One of my favourite sayings is, “We wouldn’t care what people thought of us if we knew how little they actually did.”

B: Why is B so cool?

Mr Cool: {How do I summarise this in a cheeky way?} She is cool because she doesn’t try to be. The very fact that she is determined to find herself rather than try to become someone else is the ultimate in cool. Also, she packs my lunch, sometimes. And she is cute. {B may have added this last bit}.

B: Are you cool?

Mr Cool: No, not yet. Actually, I think being known in the blogosphere as ‘Mr Cool’ is hilarious. But given how uncool I was as a teenager, I have made tremendous progress on the journey to coolness!


B: Thanks for the interview Mr Cool! It was a fun way to spend an evening. You are cool - and you & I make truly cute babies. Check out BabyCool - he is getting so big!

Life is Cool - Dear {Skinny} B

Dear Skinny B,


I know you remember me, it has been a little while since we have crossed paths but I feel the need to contact you again. I noticed the other day that you have put on another few hundred grams. This worries me.


You may remember we first met when you were only just married. You and Mr Cool enjoyed setting up house and also enjoyed eating lots of puddings and things. It was okay for Mr Cool who was into cycling, but you, you were into sitting and reading.


At first, our meetings were not acknowledged. You pretended I didn't exist. You would see that I was standing in the mirror looking back at you, at times it made you upset, but you then just blocked me out. I didn't mind, I hoped that one day you would be able to see me and talk to me properly.


Over time you saw more and more of me. I started to take over. I stopped you from swimming in summer. I stopped you from enjoying living near one of the world's most beautiful beaches because you just couldn't find groovy clothes to fit. Remember trying to find board shorts in Noosa? That was not fun for you at all.


When you moved to London, it was me who was uncomfortable walking through the city and up the steps of St Paul's cathedral. Thankfully, for a time you had to walk so much to get to work that I started to fade into the background again. You were eating better, you were also so stressed out that you didn't eat all that much. And then, you got comfortable again. You found a good school and settled down. You would eat curries and cakes and chips - all these things were literally on your door step. You really ate your way through Europe.


I enjoyed the journey, but I know you found it hard. I remember the anguish you went through when you had to buy new clothes. I know you really love clothes. You would rather have less clothes of good quality than lots of cheaper clothes, but it was hard. Poor Mr Cool, there were many times he saw you walk out of change rooms crying. It was not fun. I wish I wasn't there.


So, why am I writing to you now? Well, back then you were only putting on a few hundred grams here and a few hundred grams there. No big deal in the grand scheme of things. But over years and years those few hundred grams here and there cost you dearly.


I want to remind you that you got rid of me a few years ago. Completely. You lost over 15kg of me. I was so happy for you! You got it. You worked out how to do it. You joined Weight Watchers. You started exercising. You then started RUNNING - oh my giddy aunt  - I was so so proud of you! You even ran a half marathon. In every one of the twenty-one kilometres you pushed me further and further away. I was pleased to go.


So, even though you have only put on a few hundred grams here and a few hundred grams there, I just want you to know that I am still here. I am a distant memory that I don't want you to remember. I don't want to resurface, I am happy to  lurk in the shadows of those photos you don't want people to see. I want you to remember some things for me....


1) You know what you should be eating. Just eat that stuff. Do not buy any more 'treats' even for the girls, they really don't need the kinds of things you have been buying


2) Write down what you eat - you know it works


3) Start exercising again. Those few hundred grams here and few hundred grams there can disappear really quickly. Remember it took years for me to surface, but in reality you were rid of me in a few months of focussed commitment


4) Remember the feeling of walking into stores and dreading trying on clothes only to then have to ask the sales assistant to get a smaller size? Take a moment to remember the look on your face in the mirror at that moment


5) Your motto for a while was - 'Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' - remember?


I am hoping this letter reminds you that I am here, in the background. Don't make me come out and smack you in the face.


Yours Truly,
Fat B

Life is Cool - Bye Bye Vespa

A litte bit of cool left our place yesterday. On the back of a trailer. Sigh...

Mr Cool sold his Vespa. A beautiful black Vespa with a tan leather seat.

Mr Cool had bought the Vespa when his old white BMW 318i essentially died. At the time, buying a scooter made a lot of sense. It was cheap to buy and extremely cheap to run {around $9 a month in fuel}. 

But, the best part about it.... It was cool.

Mr Cool would ride to work wearing his suit and helmet, he just looked so cute. It was like watching a slice of Europe zoom off into the distance. The girls loved hearing him come home as they could here the zooooomy zoom sound when he turned into our street. He would park it in the carport of our 60s chamfer-on-brick and it just... fit. It matched our house. 

Being a Vespa rider was something that defined Mr Cool, even though at work he had to park it beside a Harley Davidson, it did not take away from the Italian styling and the adventurous spirit that is the Vespa.

It was with much sadness that the black beauty had to go. It was too hard to have three children and one car, especially when one of those children was going to the school where Mr Cool worked, and another of the children was a wee baby who slept {occasionally} at peak school drop-off/pick-up times. It was also getting harder and harder for Mr Cool to lug all his work stuff to and from work. Then there was the inclement weather we have had over the last year. Sigh... But all good things must draw to an end.  

One day Mr Cool and I will go on an Italian holiday where we will ride a Vespa up to Lake Como and enjoy good food and wine and amazing views. We will scoot down alley ways in Rome dodging traffic as we admire ruins and historic buildings stopping for espressos and pizza. One day - sigh - when we do not have to cart around three small children each with their own specific car seat, prams, highchairs, nappies, wipes, sliced fruit and tissues. It will be a grand day indeed.

However, do not feel too sorry for Mr Cool....

He replaced the Italian masterpiece of engineering that is the Vespa with a German masterpiece of engineering that is the {1998} Fully Optioned Top of The Range Two Door BMW 318Ti - in Sierrarot Red parked in our carport {to help drive the children around - of course}.

Take a moment to think Vespa-ry thoughts with me.... Sigh...

How to Hug a Blogger - Part 2 of 3

So... in the last post about 'How to Hug a Blogger', you learnt how to become a follower. Here is a review in 41 seconds....

In tonight's post, you will learn how to read posts in few different ways...


1) Via Email: Would you like to get blog posts direct to your inbox? Well, it is so simple to do. Most blogs have a widget that looks like this:

This is simply a little program called 'FeedBurner', this program sends you the blog post in email form. All you have to do to receive these emails is literally insert your email address {again, no spam or junk}. You will get the posts quite soon after they are posted on the blog - it guarantees you don't miss out on the fantastic content on offer through your favourite blogs.


2)via Reader: Do you have a reader? You will know if you do... If you have gmail {which is powered by Google - remember in the last post I talked about Google Friend Connect?} this is an easy click of a tab and you can read your favourite blogs all in one place. It would look like this....

This is another program that puts all of your favourite blogs into one place making it a 'Feed' - a bit like a Twitter feed {which will be discussed later in the week}. RSS is the name of one of the programs that does this {the other is called Atom - oh see those bubbles floating up? I am getting out of my depth!} - so you might see a widget that looks like this:

I have literally just inserted the gadget below, you can choose how you would like to receive blogs and to whichever reader you choose to use... This helps those of you who might be Yahoo! fans, or who use AOL or... other reader using folks...

I don't know if it showed up in the picture of my reader above, but I have around 600 things stored in my reader... I am a bit old school, I like to actually go to the blogs I like and read the posts there. It seems a bit more 'writery' to do this. I literally have a little hand written list of blogs I 'follow' and comment on.


So, my blogging students, these are the blogging terms* you have learnt so far {in no logical order}...
Blog: an online journal, log or diary
Blogging: the fine art of writing a blog
Blogger: a creative soul who likes to blog
Search Engine: the way the internet is navigated, Google, Yahoo! etc....
Post: a single blog entry
Follow: to sign up to a blog saying, "I think you rock, I want you in my life"
Follower: a lovely person who likes to show support to a blogger
Spam: Nasty stuff - canned or fresh, no-one wants Spam in their inbox or in food
Comment: a thought or response about a blog post
Program: a string of letters and numbers and <>. These things {programs} do very cool things making the internet a much more interactive place to hang out
Gadget: a little program that works like a widget - even wikepedia can't tell the difference between a Gadget and a Widget... {Head Hurting}
Widget: a little program that is a link that does something tricky like searching through a blog or linking to another program like flickr (photo sharing through Yahoo!), facebook, other blogs etc
Feed: a whole run of things you subscribe to, all in one glorious place through a reader
Reader: a program that puts all the blogs you 'follow' into one place so you can go to blog nirvana and enjoy all your favourite blogs without getting RSI from clicking onto web pages


* I made these definitions up, they are as accurate as I need them to be - they make sense to me this way - as soon as someone uses techy terms like HTML or URL or similar, my eyes glass over. I really don't know the actual difference between a Widget and a Wot Wot, my agent takes care of all that...

Mr Cool really knows the way to a Blogger's heart.... He bought me flowers the other night, it has been a tough week - hormones and sleep deprivation do not make for a happy B. Well done Mr Cool!  How can a girl stay grumpy when her handsome husband walks in with a beautiful bunch of red roses? Not me!


The final post in this series will be about how sharing is fun, expect it next week. I will also send you some links to some blogs I read....


So, have you hugged a blogger lately?

Challenge is Cool - Day 9 - Someone You Love

The fatmumslim/white peach photography 30 day photograph challenge....

Day 9 - Someone you love

I <3 Mr Cool

(iPhone using Instagram)

Well, it is a bit of a no-brainer that I would choose Mr Cool for this post. I know, I know, I should have taken a photo of my three cherubs with their lovely squooshy cheeks and tendrils of lovely hair. But... they did not eat dinner nicely tonight, they spat toothpaste at the mirror, one required bottom wiping when previously one didn't and they all pretty much made from 5:30 - 7:30 pretty darn difficult.


So I choose Mr Cool as someone that I love.


He is so lovely. He is handsome, kind, thoughtful, funny, irreverent, hard working, cute, and all things great. I think he is pretty darn cool.


We have been 'going out' since high school and married when we were just 20. We have done the uni years together, worked full time together, travelled together, made babies together (obviously) and have shared the highs and the lows of that roller-coaster. 


I cannot and will not imagine my life without him. He is my rock. He is my laughing buddy. He is my partner in this three legged race called, 'Family Life'. We have so many plans and dreams and things to look forward to. I can't wait to spend each day as part of our dynamic duo.