This week has been a screwy week. Yesterday, I woke up thinking it was Wednesday, then told myself I was lying and that it was actually Friday, and then realised it was Thursday. Quite the rollercoaster, and very disappointing to not be at the end of the week yet.
But here we are, it’s Friday, and here are five things for the week.
Cranky Picasso Paintings
One thing I love, like really, really love, is my son’s artwork. I have a frame on my wall that showcases the latest picture, and the inside is filled with many more. The more abstract it is, the better. It brings me so much joy. One of my most favourite ones is a portrait he painted of me for Mother’s Day, where the image resembles a duck more than me. But it’s brilliant.
This year I got this drawing, and it’s one of my favourites. It’s currently occupying the space at the front of the frame.
This week, my son brought home one of his latest drawings. I don’t know what activity they were doing, so I can’t really explain the inspiration behind a nun picture, but all I know is she does not look happy.
That does not look like a nun that you want to mess with.
My son brought it home, dropped it on my desk, and said “my pictures are trash.”
I made him sit down next to me, and then I showed him some of Picasso’s most popular stuff. We discussed how some of his work now is valued as some of the most expensive pieces of artwork.
What I was trying to convey is that what someone might find ridiculous, someone else might find to be an invaluable piece of work. I was that audience. I was in love with his drawings.
The outcome was not what I expected.
“So how much are you going to pay me for my nun picture, then?”
Our next conversation was about how to build a brand. He wasn’t very interested then. And I wasn’t paying for something I get for free.
There is no resilience!
When we were out at the wineries in Melbourne, we saw some people playing a little game at the bar. It looked like Jenga, but almost like they were building campfires.
We asked about it, and they showed us the box. It was called Tinderblox, and the aim was to build a campfire using the blocks and some tweezers. Each player takes a turn drawing a card, which tells them the pieces they need to add to the stack.
The goal is to first build the stack, then pick it up all at once, and transfer it to the pile.
It’s hard, but so much fun.
I ordered it when we got home, and it arrived this week. During the week our son doesn’t get any tech time, so we’ve been trying to play more board games together.
My favourite moment was when he was super frustrated and yelled, “THERE IS NO RESILIENCE!”
I couldn’t help it, and I laughed. Which made him burst out laughing, and eventually, my husband joined in. From that point on, whenever I messed up (and I was the first one out most of the time), I would yell, “THERE IS NO RESILIENCE!”
I feel like I need this on a shirt, or maybe a sticker.
Lucky I know someone who’s a bit crafty who could make that. (It’s me.)
Kel meets The Brighton Jotter
This week, I got the chance to meet Melissa, of The Brighton Jotter fame!
Melissa had been staying on the coast, my home region, for the last few weeks. We had a chance to catch up before she headed back home for more travels.
I’m very good at overanalysing, which means I’ve replayed the conversations 50 times in my head and figured out all the ways that I made a fool of myself. It was really great to meet another Australian blogger, and even more so, one that I really enjoy reading too! Fangirl moment!
We talked about running (because I like to live through someone else), our work, and the biggest challenge of all, parenting. I most definitely verbally spewed everywhere, talking so much, and so fast – a bad habit when I’m nervous.
But it was a lot of fun, and I’m so grateful that she was able to free up some time for me. I’d love to catch up again!
And maybe, just maybe, I won’t take a photo where it looks like I’m constipated *facepalm*
Australia’s Emergency Alert System
This week, Australia tested a new critical alert system called AusAlert (a very creative name, I hope the marketing team didn’t spend a lot on that one). Essentially, it sent a warning alert to every compatible phone in Australia. The phones vibrated, played a loud alert tone, and displayed a message on the screen.
As usual, the country took it in their stride and got on with it.
Kidding. Of course, there were claims of the government spying on us, and probably a bunch of other nonsense that I quickly tuned out.
They advertised it pretty heavily, making sure that everyone knew of the date and time, and what to expect. What I was impressed with was the consideration for all the people in a domestic violence situation who may have hidden phones. The government wanted to make sure they knew to put them in aeroplane mode so they didn’t get an alert, and find themselves in a situation of being caught.
I even had a reminder in my work calendar, so that I wouldn’t forget.
Spoiler – I forgot.
I almost shat my pants at 2 pm.
I’m that person whose phone is permanently in silent mode. Once I couldn’t figure out what the noise was, only to discover I’d turned off silent mode, and was hearing my ringtone for the first time.
So at 2 pm, I was suddenly greeted with a piercing noise, and my phone was going nuts beside me.
Test successful – I couldn’t have missed that if I tried.
My favourite comment I saw on Reddit was “I was on the toilet, it certainly helped to hurry things along!”
Now that’s the Australia I know and love.
This week, I learned
You know that little sliding thing on the door that you can push out, and it holds your door open for you?
Turns out I’ve been doing it wrong all my life.
I shared that on my Instagram account, asking if anyone else knew that. Thankfully, a couple of mates admitted they didn’t know either, phew.
But for all you Americans, well, apparently you lot knew. What’s the go, there? I thought we were allies!
Does your kid say anything that absolutely floors you sometimes? Do you have a board game obsession you’d like to share?
