I take your 24 hours Napoleon Perdis, and raise you mine

 I was at my delightful hairdresser's house last night, and she very kindly had a magazine for me to read. Well I like to think it was for me, but actually I think it was just hers and she hadn't got around to reading it yet.

 In the magazine was an article on " 24 hours with Napoleon Perdis." He does all these wonderful things like has a shower every morning - with a therapeutic shower head to was away bad karma, and has dinner with his kids.

This is Napoleon Perdis (Yes he is married -to a woman- and has three kids.)

 So I decided to record 24 hours in my life. Be prepared. It's riveting. And it is also not quite 24 hours, because you don't really want to hear about the sleeping bit.

5am- My day starts with my alarm going off. Just in case I didn't hear it the cats (William and Kate, or Will-yum-yum and Kitty Katy Purry) jump on my head just to check I have heard it. Charlie the dog (or Cha- Cha - it would seem no one goes by their real name in this family) doesn't have to jump on my head, because she is already sleeping on it. I bound out of bed, and then I remember I am 42 so in reality I walk careful until my feet and knees have all cracked into place and my back has started working. I put my eyes in, get dressed and as it a walking day grab the dog and jump in the car. 

5:15am Charchie Bear (her other nickname) and I get to the river and meet up with my friend Nic, and Wylie her dog who is also Cha Cha's boyfriend. We walk. Well after Cha Cha has done her poop. Around the river we go, but this morning the stupid river development threw a spanner in the works and blocked off the bloody path. In the dark this is tricky. We were hard core, we jumped the barricades, then weaved around the fence. Then we got to the last fence, it nearly had us. Charlie fell down the ditch. Nicole and I laughed. Charlie did a diarrhoea poo to get me back. 

7am  Home- do the ready for work dash. Have shower, stay in there until what I have decided to wear to work. Start getting dressed after I apply my toner, lotion, serum, eye cream, lip cream and moisturiser. Put on tights. Tight get stuck to some velcro thing in the drawer, and have a hole. Momentarily panicked at the thought of having to get back in the shower to decide on a second outfit. Crisis averted- found another pair of tights. Get dressed, move on to hair and makeup, yell at Indi every 5 minutes to check she is eating her breakfast, has put on her socks, is putting on her shoes, has brushed her teeth, and then I do her hair. She yells at me because we don't brush her hair that often so it hurts. I yell back because I am in a hurry. Feed the animals. Have to rinse the tuna because I bought them tuna in Brine and that gives them runny bottoms. Make myself a ham sandwich. Try and find my boots. Have to crawl on my hands and knees to find them under the bed. Should really start putting things away.

7:45 Leave home, grab my plastic cheese and vegemite toast sandwich and my berocca decide what car to drive (this is because Napoleon says he choses his car depending on his mood.) realise I only have one car so I pick that one, drive to Before School Care. Drop off Indi. Give her a big kiss and cuddle to show the people that I am a good mum to try and appease my working mothers guilt. Drive to Kalamunda. Get frustrated because people sit in the outside lane driving up Lesmurdie Hill going slow. Finally get to to top of the hill and get frustrated because Kalamunda drivers are the worst in the world.

9am School Assembly. Those two words say it all. I sit there like a mature teacher and listen. Not really I do the immature thing and write notes to another teacher. We giggle.

11am  Recess. I do duty. Duty involves walking around a small area ignoring all the crap kids are doing, and ignoring all the rubbish. I found a pen. Occasionally I engage in some small talk. A boy yells out  "What are you looking at dard (thats white boy pretending to be tough talk for " Hi Miss, I really want to say hello but don't want to appear uncool in front of my friends) I reply " Don't know, they haven't invented a name for it yet."( That's teacher talk for I am trying to be cool but can't think of anything cool to say)

11:30. My DOTT time. That's Duties Other Than Teaching. I visit my friend in the front office. I buy 2 eyeliners from the Avon catalogue.  I try to follow up on a student who got into trouble in my class yesterday. I won't say what it was for but lets just day it involved a computer, a picture of his butt and a screen saver. Then I bought a Scoopon for ballroom dancing. Justin and I are doing it with some friends. I bought the voucher before he could change his mind.

12.24- I taught some more, had lunch, write some exam prep notes for my Year 11's and 12's. Had a mug of ginger tea.  Had my ham sandwich and washed it down with a can of Sprite Zero. Then I taught some more.

3:20 Chatted to the cleaner, swore about how messy teenagers are, went to Woolies to grab some afternoon tea for India. Struggled between a cheese and bacon roll and a banana for me. Ate the banana. Got bad heartburn. Remembered why I don't eat bananas.  Ate cheese and bacon roll. Bugger. Should have just eaten the roll to start with. Went home, watched Bold and the Beautiful (whoever cast that new guy as Ridge is INSANE). 

                               You can't replace this

With this!!!

Then I made dinner. A very delightful potato bake, caramelised onions and steak sandwiches. Made enough for the whole family. The I remembered Alex wasn't coming home and I had not asked Laura over for dinner. Bugger.

6pm Dinner time. We eat at the table. Secretly I would much prefer to be eating in front of the television. We discuss our day and talk about our highlight and lowlight of the day. NOT. But if I was writing this for a magazine, that is what I would say. We eat and chat, I call my husband a nerd because he is wearing his glasses. Then I remember I am wearing my glasses.  I sneak the animals Alex's steak. They are happy. I tell Justin he needs to change the litter tray. He says he can't be bothered. Kate does a poop on the bathmat. I think she was proving a point. 

7:54  I am in bed with Indi and Cha-Cha. Gordan Ramsey is nearly on the television. 

 I'm struggling myself to understand this Gordan Ramsey think I am going through.


The kettle is on for my night time cleansing Green Tea - I need something to wash down my choc chunk "what else do you do with left over easter egg"cookies.  I honestly don't know why I can't shake that last 5kgs

I have Donna Hay and the new Vogue next to me as well as my book club book on my iPad.

 My alarm is set for 5am, and just like Groundhog Day, it will all begin again tomorrow.  Take that Napoleon Perdis- your life will never be this exciting.

A boring blog about my week. Read this if you can't get to sleep.

Well I have been a bit quiet this week. I was thinking what can I talk about the is interesting. So I thought I would tell you about my week. A normal everyday week, where nothing all that exciting happens. So it is actually not that interesting at all.

So Monday. Well Justy and I are doing this 5:2 diet thing, so Monday and Wednesday are our fasting days. Another word for this is our grumpy days. Monday morning is also a running day for me, so my day begins at 5am with a 8km run. So I am tired and hungry. I also teach a 5 period day. So I am tired, grumpy and, well, tireder. I can't really say if the diet is working or not because I am not weighing myself, but my jeans were a little bit loser today, so thats a good sign.



Tuesday. This day had a highlight because I went to a cake decorating class which was super fun. The lady that ran the course also had 94.5 on the radio so It was songs from 1985. Now in my last ditch attempt to hang on to my youth, I only listen to young peoples radio stations, but this was super cool. So needless to say I was in heaven, surrounded by cupcakes with 80's music on the radio. The cakes looked amazing and were really yummy. The place we went was Just Cakes it was super fun and everyone will think you are really clever.

  It was as if she magically knew my favourite shade of blue was Tiffany

The highlight of Wednesday was that my Strawberry Net order arrived. My latest obsession is with my lips, so I am testing out Cliniques " All about Lips" 

                                 and Mecca Cosmetica's LipDeLovelyLipPlumpingTopCoat. 

I think this is around the time that I should be talking about my first world problems - but I have already done that. I also had a red bull for breakfast. This is bad. I know.

Thursday was dull. The only exciting thing was that it meant fasting was over for the week. So me being me I had to eat everything in sight just on the off chance I had lost any weight. Self sabotage is after all my middle name. I made for dinner, on the recommendation from my friend Claire, Donna Hay's cheats chorizo stew with creamy polenta. Now as regular readers of my blog will tell you, I have a love hate relationship with Donna, but this worked out ok, with only a few adjustments. I added more tomatoes, some tomato paste, a little bit of brown sugar, and stirred in some gorgonzola cheese into the polenta. The recipe was from last months magazine. It was yummy. Although after a fasting day anything is yummy.

Friday was friday which translates as WINE TIME. I am very good with not drinking during the week, but come Friday night- the booze is back. I also went to a new massage place and had the most amazing massage of my life. She worked on my dodgy hamstring, my dodgy sciatic nerve (an elbow in your butt cheek is a really painful experience ) , my dodgy feet and my dodgy neck. It felt like it lasted for 5 minutes. I think I was in a trance.

Friday was also amazing because I discovered Red Rooster have Chicken Parmigiana back on the menu. It was good. I am still a little concerned about why the peas were grey, but you can't argue with a parmie. I also managed to clean the fridge by finishing off 3 nearly empty bottles of wine. Go me.

Saturday I was meant to go for a run. It would seem however that although my head wanted to go for a run, my body did not. So I stayed in bed, until 10 when I realised the dog hadn't been to the toilet and that may have been the reason that she was crying next to the bed.  I took Cha Cha to the park and she met up with her boyfriend Wylie. I decided that this was much easier than taking her for a big walk, so she ran around like a little rat. ( I actually don't know if rats run, but whatever). I then had to do the mad " Holy shit Indi has to be at a party in 20 minutes and she is still in her pyjamas and we have to go and buy a present" dash ( it's ok, she got there in time, no thanks to the dumb boy at Target, who, even though I told him I was in a very big hurry he decided to tell me how the song " Drops of Jupiter" always made him happy- this is puzzling for so many reasons because it is not an especially happy song, and he was like 18 years old it's not like Train is like Nirvana and cool. You will be happy to know he even started singing it for me.)

Saturday night was football. I love the football because I get to have a pie. You also get to watch bogans in their natural habitat. I always think I have a touch of the bogan until I get to the footy, and then I realise I am not even close.  The lady two rows down from us consumed 11 Smirnoffs Ices, the drunker she got, the more she and her son high fived each other. She also stood up every time the Dockers got close to a goal. That meant that Justin saw no goals, except for on the big screen. He was getting mad, and then I bought him a Magnum and it was all good. ( It's not a fasting day- don't judge). 

Today is Sunday. I got up and went for a run. It was nice. I always make a habit of smiling when I run, because people always say " You never see a happy runner." When I run across the Causeway bridge I even pretend I am singing to a song on my iPod- to prove just how super happy I am . 

I came home and read the paper, because I like a good read of the Sunday paper, because it is full of crap. Justin and I also play restaurant review bingo. We try and guess what suburb the review is in. It is not a hard game because she only ever reviews places within a 5km radius of Subiaco.

The tart at the Balmoral

I then had a little snooze and then we met my friend and her boyfie for lunch at The Balmoral. It was yummy. I had pulled pork slider and caramel tart- (not a fasting day remember). We then had to leave because the fire alarm went off. I don't think there was a fire, but the fire brigade did come. We were already in the carpark by that stage so I missed out on seeing the fireman damn it. Why are fireman so cute and policeman let themselves go?

And that is that. My week. I have just read it back. My own eyes are glazing over. It's like when someones asks you how your weekend was and you start telling them in detail and they you realise they didn't actually really want to know, they were just being polite.

A letter to my 17 year old self

Dear Emma,

                            

Well check you out you glam thing you! Embrace that hair style while you can because believe me this is about the only time you will be happy with your hair. But don't worry because in about 15 years this awesome thing called a GHD will be invented and it will change your life. You know that cowlick you hate at the front of your hair? Well this is straighten it out.

So the reason I am writing to you is to just fill you in on a few beauty tips that you really should start with now, because to be honest you will age ok, but there are a few things you have forgotten.

1. Sunblock. Yep I know it is still 1988 and only the weak wear sunblock, but take it from me - lather that stuff on your face. The Australian sun is fierce and this will give you wrinkles. You might also want to go a bit crazy and wear a hat.

2. Sunblock (yes again) but this time put it on your HANDS. These hands of yours is going to be one thing that will always give away your age. I would recommend sun block every day and hand cream at night. No need to go crazy and wear gloves (because that is just dumb), but look after them. Even in 2014 they haven't invented plastic surgery for that!

3. Moisturise your LIPS. Yep you heard me. This weird thing will happen to you in 2014. You will wake up one morning and have this deep line leading from your top lip. Your lipstick will bleed and you will look like a 70 year old crazy cat lady. You will then have to use a lip cream to try and solve the problem, so start young.

4. Moisturise your neck. Yep neck. It will go liney, crepey and like a chookie neck. You will morph into Kath from Kath and Kim before you know it.

5. Tricep dips will be important because you will get flabby arms. This is not good, especially when you are a teacher because as you write on the white board your arms will wobble. Just like Mrs Twaddle's - your Year 3 teacher.

6. Seriously think about getting your teeth straightened. Even though they warn you it will be a long process you will hate those front teeth of a passion for all of your life, and you will have no photos of you with an open smile. No amount of practising smiles in the mirror will perfect the angle where is doesn't look like you are missing a tooth.

7. You will get a nasty dose of Adult acne when you are in your 30's. Be warned. Oh and don't bother coming off the Pill that you take for your skin, the acne will come back. It does not make you feel young. It makes you feel sore.

8. When you are pregnant ensure that you rub that oil on the UNDERSIDE of your tummy. You see, you will be all proud of your self that you have no stretch marks and then you will have the baby and BAM- those stretch marks are amazing. Even the midwife will comment and shake her head in sympathy.

9. See how fat you think you are now? Well you are not and this is about as skinny as you will get. You will worry about your weight for the rest of your life, so maybe go easy on that. Oh and bad news, curves never come back into fashion, and you will lose your boobs when you have your first child.

10. Maybe start doing some exercise now. You will take up running when you are in your 30's. Really. And you will like it. Sort of. Oh and that aqua blue leotard and white leggings you will wear to the Step  Class is a mistake. Your mum will tell you it looks like you are wearing condoms on your legs. She has a valid point.

                             

11. Don't carry the cat down the stairs. You will fall, the cat will scratch you and you will have a scar on your chest that will never go away. You will fall down stairs a lot. Be careful.

Lots of Love

Emma
xxx

Happy Mother's Day

So it's Mother's Day. That one day of the year were your family spoil you rotten and you don't feel guilty about taking to your bed with a box of chocolate to watch episodes on Great British Bake Off (that Paul Hollywood is so attractive in an older  man weird kind of way).

Yes- those are their real names.

Being a mum is an amazing thing. For so many reasons. So, so many things.  As I have said before, I have been a mother now for 20 years, so I feel very qualified to report on the issue of what makes motherhood so amazing. 

You will always have someone to worry about. Yep. It doesn't matter if they are 9 or 19, motherhood means that you will have an eternal lifetime of worry. 

You will always have a messy room in your house. That room would be your child's room. And please don't whinge about how messy your child's room is messy when they are young. That is nothing compared to what it will look (and smell) like when they hit teenageness.

You will continue to learn. Because you will have homework to do.  Reading is the worst. In fact I would say that doing reading with young children could be used as a form of torture. Until of course they get to Year 11 or 12, or in my case Year 8 and you have no idea how to do those Maths problems. (and why they are important- isn't that why God invented calculators.)

You will reach a stage when the only conversation you have with your children is " What's for dinner" or lunch, or what time will it be ready. You should also be aware that they will usually almost always not like what you are making, and when you make something super awesome they will ask for 2 minute Noodles.

You will have every decision you make regarding your children judged by others. Who will not be afraid to tell you why your parenting decisions are wrong. You will be damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

You will be expected to get you hair cut into a mummy bob when you have your first child. You will then reach a stage when you ask your self " What the bloody hell did I do that for?" It is not easier. Putting your hair in a pony tail is easy.

                  To mum bobs we say no! ( but we all did it)

You will enrol your child in play group, dancing lessons, swimming lessons, art lessons and music lessons. And then you will have you second or third and realise no one has time for that shit.

You will learn all the songs to The Wiggles, Dora, or "insert the name of whatever childrens show is popular at the time". You will also remember the words to the songs for the rest of your life.

You will never get to either go to the toilet or have a shower on your own.

You will never have anything of your own ever again. You will have to share everything. Even your food. It is however important to remember that this is not reciprocated. This is especially true of iPads, your phone and your hidden stash of chocolate. 

You will suffer from a syndrome called " Mother's Guilt."  This syndrome hits with nearly every decision you make where you may not put the needs of the child first, like going back to work, or going to Bali with your book club. Actually that ones a lie, I never feel bad going to Bali. That's special mummy time.

You will become embarrassing and uncool. 

You will have to go to places with other peoples children, like those indoor playgrounds.

You will be externally tired, both physical and mentally. Like all the time.

You will drink a lot.

But

You will always have an excuse to go to a kids movie or a reason for knowing the words to any song from the Frozen soundtrack.

You still get to go to go parties where there is fairy bread, sausage rolls, birthday cake and lolly bags.

You will always have an excuse to get out of things you don't want to go too.  "Sorry I can't get a baby sitter." No one can argue with that.

Oh and you will have some amazing little people who you will love unconditionally for the rest of your life. You will be proud of them and think that they are the smartest, funniest and most wonderful people in the world.

Did I mention you will drink a lot?

Happy Mothers Day everyone!

If your mum says she wants nothing for Mothers Day... she is lying

Yeah, we all say it , well actually I have never said it, if there is an occasion where a present is involved , I want it (did I mention it is ONE MONTH until my birthday?) but no Mother means it. Let me just say if your mum wakes up to nothing on Sunday...watch out. We all know that when mum says nothing, she is really, really mad.

This will be my 19th Mothers Day, so I am hoping for something pretty spectacular on Mothers Day. Well I know what I am getting and it is pretty awesome, but I feel I can quite accurately tell you that the reason that Mums say they want nothing, is because mums are tired and exhausted and deciding what they want for Mothers Day is just too damn hard.

So if you have not yet purchased anything for the most important woman in your life, who selflessly gave up all muscle tone and a tight toned tumminess for you, here are some suggestions. For the record I am aware that there is only one more shopping day until Mother's day, but I am also quite confident in the fact that not many of you have gone out and bought for your mum or for the kids to give to their mum. Am I right or am I right???

Chocolates. Look they are a standard, but there are two types of women. Those who love chocolate and those who are on a permanent diet, and eat chocolate when no one is looking. So chocolate is a safe bet, but here is a little suggestion- don't do Ferrero Rocher. They scream " OMG it's mothers day tomorrow and I have forgotten and these will do." They will not do. This is the chocolate you give to someone you don't know very well.Or like very much. Instead why not just buy a few blocks of her favourite chocolate. Nothing would make me happier that a few blocks of Snack or that yummy cadbury stuff with all the bits in it. Tie it up with a ribbon. Mum will be stoked.

Champagne. If I have one word of advice for you- go for either her fav wine or spirit, or get yourself to Dan Murphy's and buy a bottle of Mumm Champagne. It is on sale for $79 for 2 bottles. It is yummy and it says Mum(m). Winning.

Perfume. Heres a hint- go into her bedroom, look at the perfumes and either buy a bottle of her fav, or take note of the ones she has and asks one of those delightful sales assistance to suggest one that is similar of in the same family (she will understand what that means).

Go to the Newsagent (or Coles, whatever works) and buy a selection of magazines. Tie them up with a big bow.

Candles. I know that candles alway come in the "worst present ever" list, but get a super nice candle from somewhere nice. Not Dusk, Target or Kmart. Go to Myer, David Jones, or Mecca. These one smell pretty and will take her away. Far, far away.

Day Spa voucher. This is such a great idea, BUT make the appointment for her. We mums are selfless and don't get around to making bookings for things. If the appointment is made, with someone arranged to look after the kids, life is good.

Winter pyjamas. Who doesn't love winter pyjamas? Warm, toasty and they suggest being able to spend the whole day in bed watching foxtel.

Flowers. All mum loves flowers. Even if they come from Coles.

                                 

A photo of yourself. Yep seriously. Mums love their children. We think you are amazingly wonderful human beings who are the most beautiful perfect people in the world. We honestly want a photo of you. It doesn't even have to be in a frame.

Nice lipsticks from Mecca

If none of these ideas work. Here is a suggestion. Go into your mums room and she what she likes. Maybe see if she is out of her favourite lipstick, if she needs some new gym clothes, slippers, bloody hell even shampoo. This shows that you care and take notice of her not just as someone who cooks and cleans for you, but as the person will love you no matter how badly you stuff up.

No Bunnings vouchers, kettles or irons.  

And if none of that appeals......how about a nice weekend in Bali with her friends????

First World Problems......

.. are an interesting thing. You see I know there are some serious problems out there, and I am meant to feel guilty about my little problems which are like nothing compared to real problems (like no food and water an stuff) but hell they are my problems and I am owning them.

So I thought in the spirit of " I am aware I live the most amazing life except of course for that 4 hours a week when I teach my Certificate II class (the worst four hours of my life- it's no secret, I even told them that)" I thought I would share with you some of my first world problems.

1. Some times I can't decide if I want a Latte or a Flat white. This is an issue because to be honest I don't really see the difference except one comes in a glass that gets really hot and the other comes in a cup.

2. Sometimes the seat warmers in my car gets really hot, and then I overheat for the whole day.

3. Sometimes I can't find the exact pair of black pants I want. You see I love black, but black is really hard to find in your wardrobe. And I have 5 pairs of black pants. It has to be the right pair of black pants.

4. Sometimes there are no new episodes of Come Dine with Me on Foxtel. I love this show, but I think I have seen every episode. Twice.


5. Sometimes my contacts get really, really scratchy, and then I have to take them out and wear my glasses and look like a nerd.

                     How I think I look with my glasses

                       How I really look with my glasses

6. Sometimes I get all the way to work without finding a single song I like on my iPhone. 

7. Sometimes the petrol gauge is empty and I have to go and get petrol. I hate getting petrol. It is such a waste of time. Sort of like going to the toilet. Why men want to spend hours in there is beyond me.

8. Sometimes I really, really don't want to get out of the shower. Because it is all warm and toasty.

9. Sometimes when I go to the shops after work there are delightful old people doing their  shopping. They get in my way. Is 4:30 really the first opportunity they have had to get to Coles?

 and

10. Sometimes people make fun of me because I drink my wine with ice (blocks, not chemicals). I like my drinks cold. Judge me, I am used to your look of disdain.

images via Pintrest.

So did you hear the one about when I decided to go to Bali for the weekend?

 I have done a bit of self reflection lately and I have decided I have a severe case of FOMO, or Fear of missing out. So when I sat down and thought about some of my fellow bookclubbers being in Bali without me, I went into a bit of a melt down for a couple of reasons.

1. I love Bali
2. I love my book club friends
3. I love Bali
4. I love Bintangs
and
5. I love Bali.

When the trip was first planned it was a family trip- to celebrate a clubbers 40th birthday, I was very sensible and firm and decided that we couldn't go.

Then I found out that two friends were going as singles. I felt a little bit of FOMO creeping in, but I sucked it up.

Then when we had dinner, and they were all talking about it, it was like my other twin took over. ( I am a Gemini. There is the sensible Emma who doesn't appear very often, and the irresponsible Emma, who appears quite often.) I really wanted to go. So there I was at the table googling away to find the cheapest fare.

I then hit sensible again and decided not to go  see this is the big issue with being a Gemini - you are constantly arguing with the voices in your head (voices in your head are normal...right?) and then the next day I got to work. After 15 minutes I thought stuff it. It was straight onto Wotflight to find the cheapest flight. Jetstar had gone down by $200 OVERNIGHT!! It was meant to be. I found the accommodation. $100 a night. WITH BREAKFAST!! Thats almost free! Whats a girl to do? (don't say be sensible and pop the money in a savings account to pay for your skiing trip. At least I thought it.)

                  My glass of Pink. Feeling very worldly

So I found myself passport in hand, at the airport sipping a glass of sparkling (it was Pink- thats all they had) 4 days later.  I left work at 3:00, and jumped on that plane at 5:50. By 11 I was sitting in a bar having the very first of many Mojitos.

The trip was not with out it's challenges. First- I was only allowed 10kg of luggage. I did the whole carryon thing. Well let me tell you- I have never been more proud of myself- my luggage weighted 5KGS!!! Yep you read that right. Although none anyone at any stage weighed my luggage, but it was only 5kgs.


Well actually that was the only challenge. The weekend was super awesome with some amazingly super awesome friends. I can strongly recommend a weekend away which ended up costing me less than a weekend down south would cost.

We had breakfast, which was included in my room rate, and by that stage all my stresses of that first week back at work were gone.

Work? What work?

We went shopping, I had a massage, we had drinks and dinner at sunset

Two of my gorge bookclubbers

We went to a drag show, where they served drinks made with lolly infused vodka 

This is Rach and a drag queen.

Then we drank bintang and danced some pretty fab dance moves at the Sky bar club whatever it's called.

Because it was Bali, there was no time for a hangover, so the next day we had breaky, followed by a massage, and then off to this amazing place for lunch.  I wish I could remember the name because you must go. We drank Sangira, 

This is Sangria bianco

 ate tapas and swam in the pool. It was amazing. Super amazing. Super, super amazing

Not a care in the world.

 How many shades of blue are possible in a photo?

Then it was time to go home. I wasn't sad, just felt incredibly lucky to be able to spend a couple of days with some amazing friends celebrating two birthdays. 

To top off the amazing weekend I even got a whole row to myself on the way home, AND it took me all of 5 minutes to get off the plane and through customs.

Then I went home, had two hours sleep and had to get up and go to work. For every up, there must be a down.