A TO Z FAIL. FREE OUR KIDS WIN

I told you that I am good at starting things but kinda suck at finishing. So I got to "N" in the A to Z challenge. Not bad. Better than I had thought and the only real reason I didn't finish is because Christmas happened and I was away and the internet was slow and there were children everywhere and gosh darn it I was on holidays. And now that 2013 is here, I feel that completing the A to Z month would just be so last year. So there.

Hello 2013. You look like a shimmering jewel among the pile of semi precious stones and pebbles of my past. Please do not be a mirage! So far you are coming home with the goods. It's great! I hope everyone else is having a great 2013 so far.

After the holidays I am feeling refreshed, inspired and full of sprite. you are meant to right?! 
Well check this out... It's something that I have stumbled upon that I find very refreshing and inspiring.

FREE OUR KIDS 

The Toddler and Me and Our Year for Free 

This awesome mum has decided to cut the monetary crap out of their lives and live an entire year with her toddler basically for free. Hand me down clothes only, free and inventive activities, no more expensive toddler foods but real family food etc I LOVE IT. And I love that she isn't afraid to share her life in all it's messy (actually not very. I should do a 'home' post. Now that's messy) glory. So many bloggers out there are clad in designer wear, with designer babies in DIY designer homes. So nice that there is a mum out there just like me/us living the real life, trying to make ends meet, with a gorgeous happy child that doesn't require anything other than love, warm clothes, decent food, a roof and an imagination to make them happy.

Check it out. It's inspiring and refreshing and will hopefully leave you full of sprite too.

M IS FOR MANAGEMENT - TIME MANAGEMENT

Ok so today is actually day 14. Which means it's the letter N and not M. But I just need a moment to pause and recap what I missed during the week. 

K is for Kafka. Franz Kafka.

What an interesting man and a fantastic example of the modern day artist. Although he considered writing his calling, he had to devote what little spare time he had to it and hold down a day job. I love that.  

I also loved his novella "The Metamorphosis" (Die Verwandlung) when I first read it as a teenager. If you haven't read it, please do. It isn't long and it's quite funny in a black comedy kinda way. It's also hailed as being one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century. I gotta say I love the illustrations on 1960's Penguin books. They are rad.

L is for Labour.
One of my close friends went into labour on Wednesday the 12th which was L day. She has had a beautiful baby boy. He is stunning and fluffy and she is the gorgeous, smitten, calm and loved up mother I always knew she would be. xxx

M as I said is for Management. I need to somehow get better at this. You know... I am not sure that it is so much a time management thing. It could be more a case of not enough hours in the day - yes yes everyone feels that and what a boring statement, and also the fact that I can be lazy. Sometimes when I have the time I find I would just rather sit on the couch and veg out watching 4 Corners or some documentary eating frozen yoghurt and playing with my iphone.

N is for Nicole. Me. Nicole.
Pretty original. Ha! There you go. Tomorrow I will try and come up with something better. I have been under a cloud these past few days with a foggy, groggy head. Come on Christmas and holidays and no routine. Just a relaxed, take it as it comes couple of weeks!

J IS FOR JIBBER JABER

Day 10. The letter J.

I had to make this post about my little J-dawg. He is the J of my life and such a wonderful, lovely, funny little man he is. Affectionate, a little explorer, always on the move, a bit of a book worm (when he sits still), loves music and musical instruments and seems to have inherited his mum and dads set of lungs. Man is he loud! We love him to pieces and can't imagine our lives without him.

I IS FOR INDOORS

Day 9. The letter I.

INSIDE Petersham Bowlo Sat night.

I was yesterday's letter and I ended up being for Indoors. After a very quick outing to the markets, J and I escaped the windy wiley and spent the rest of the day pretty much indoors. We played with his blocks and made a city for his trains to drive through - before they were smashed down and pulled apart by a giant toddler. We danced to the Beatles did some tickling and hid in the lounge cushions. It was a nice afternoon chilling out at home after a rather LARGE weekend. D and I watched a movie in the evening before going to bed (at a reasonable hour).

And what a large weekend it was. Work Christmas party Friday lunch, gig Friday night, lunch at the Petersham bowlo with friends Sat, a play at a friends house Sat afternoon then back to the bowlo Sat night to see Mike Noga and Ben Salter - which was GREAT! Had an awesome and very very late night which I will probably need all week to recover from.

I hope you all had a great weekend too.

H IS FOR HANGOVER

Day 8. The letter H.

 A little bit what I look like and lot of how I feel today.

Unoriginal but that is what I am nursing after yesterdays work Christmas party lunch AND last nights gig. I was up bright and early at 5:30am with J this morning and did quite a bit of playing with the 'bawl" and his "choo choo" train when I would have much rather have been asleep.
Coffee coffee here I come.

G IS FOR GIGS

Day 7. The letter G.

G for gigs seems rather appropriate today as not only do I have a gig tonight with my band Juniper at the Newsagency in Enmore BUT I purchased tickets to see Nick Cave at the Enmore Theatre this morning. FLOOR TICKETS! WOOHOO! Can you tell I am a little bit excited? I haven't seen the marvellous Nick Cave before. I have somehow missed all his shows these last 15 years. Crazy I know.

Gigs gigs gigs gigs gigs. So many fun musical times coming up over the next couple of weeks/months too.
Ben Salter this Saturday 8 December at the Petersham Bowlo,  a Tumbleweed show in Wollongong in January which I am looking forward too as one of the support bands is Dropping Honey. A plug for my partners band yes but they are tremendously good I promise. 
They are also playing a show at the Petersham Bowlo with another friends band Your Loving Tyrant which I have yet to see in this current transformation. They used to be known as Traces of Nut. Another great band to come out of the Wollongong music scene.

Here are some tracks to listen to as you enjoy your day. Man am I excited about all these gigs. Just have to line up some babysitters! Any takers?

The Coward from Ben Salter's debut album The Cat
Daddy Long Legs (an oldie but a goodie) Tumbleweed
Dancing with the Black Rabbit Dropping Honey
The Bureaucrat Traces of Nut
Dry Juniper

F IS FOR F

The musical note F of course. It's also for forte.

(I know C is in the middle of the photo but it's the angle I took at the time.)

Happy Thursday!