busyness as usual

Port Douglas - a great place for a birthday...



my brown-eyed girl



the pool maketh the holiday



travelling in style



Gorgeous (Mossman) Gorge

We could fit him in our backyard, couldn't we Mum?

"OMG Emily, you won't believe it, I just saw that guy off Neighbours...."

Enjoying the marquee

they scrub up pretty well...

Where to start? It’s certainly not for a lack of news to report that this blog is so sadly neglected, rather a surfeit. It’s a busy Jennings life, but fortunately almost entirely good busyness, so no complaints here.

So how about a dot pointed executive summary? The pictures tell most of the story anyway, don't they?

· a gorgeous balmy September holiday in Port Douglas, filled with pools, beach, visits to lush Mossman Gorge, the amazing reef, an entertaining crocodile farm, a stunning skyrail ride through the mountains, not to mention some scrumptious buffet breakfasts where the girls had to laugh at the huge pleasure their mother derived from made-to-order-in-front-of-my-eyes omlettes – what’s not to get excited about – just what I wanted and I didn’t have to make it/clean up after it! Happy happy days with my very favourite people, so relaxed and fun.

· A new part-time job for me, writing creative training materials (and from home – yay!) Earlier this year, the very creation of this blog was partially an attempt to get writing back into my life, after too-long a hiatus. I could never have picked that life would lead me back to paid writing again, I love it. It has also created a beautiful life balance for me – teaching in the morning (sociable, fun, rewarding), writing in the afternoons (thankfully sedentary, creative) and Mum/taxi after school (fun, being involved, present and enabling a full life for the girls). Andrew had a laugh at my first project – writing a Personal Financial Management training program for VFL footballers! Loads of fun coming up with non-boring sessions like investment competitions and games, rather than arid slabs of financial jargon.

· Amy’s unlucky break when a thoughtless child threw a plank of wood in her path as she scootered down our street. She swerved sharply, lost control and badly fractured her wrist. Stoic as they came, not a tear was shed, from the spill through 9 hours of multiple hospital/emergency/radiology/ct scans/consultants/local anaesthetics/crunching it back into place/remanipulation and replastering a week later – whew. She amazed even the hospital staff with her pain tolerance and calm (yes, calmer than her mother). Much discussion about plates and pins, but she has avoided that for now. She will need xrays of her wrist every 6 months until she stops growing as the break went through the growth plate in her wrist. It’s been a huge frustration for my active girl who has badly missed school cricket, netball, horse-riding, piano etc and most of the (water-based) fun at school camp. We’ll keep our fingers crossed everything grows in the right direction in the future.

· Sophie starting Aikido classes (Amy is in a holding pattern and will join her next year). She cannot wait to earn her uniform and first belt and loves to come home and try our her moves on her pretty unwilling family members!

· Kate joining the school jazz band playing the trombone and enjoying playing Tequila and Tuxedo Junction just like her mother did a generation ago (some things, like good ole jazz standards and school bands, never change).

· Excuse one little maternal boast (sorry!) Kate and Amy both won netball awards this season – Kate for magically turning herself from a defender into a goaler in one season - height works at both ends of the court ;) - and Amy’s 2nd award of the year, this one for the extra commitment of continuing to go to practice plaster and all, working as the coach’s assistant and umpiring while she couldn’t play.

· Well, that’s the highlights, rounded out nicely with a mélange of spring races (see pics - can you believe that leggy young woman chatting on her mobile is my 13yo?? - oh, and look at my poor wounded equine-mad Amy looking wistfully at all those horses, she'll be back in the saddle herself next year and really what can I say about that cowboy hat except well, it's very Sophie and her sisters nearly killed Andrew and I for letting her wear it LOL), weddings, birthdays, school fetes, concerts, presentations and of course, now Christmas gatherings of all shapes and sizes. If I don’t get back here before Christmas (I'm well-meaning but realistic) – I hope everyone I’ve enjoyed chatting with in blogland has a warm, happy time enjoying their lucky lives and loves. xxxxx