Tag-o-rama

Greetings all, this post is coming to you live from the school holidays in the Northern Territory, we only get 6 working days, but that will do to revive us, even with a chicken pox outbreak (the children are vaccinated, i am a pharmacologist at heart, so it should be mild & so far, number 2 has the most glamorous pox you can imagine, so neat & well . . . perfect, just like her). Bring on 4th term i say & let's wrap up the year!!

Well i have been tagged a few times in the past weeks, so as i struggle to create new posts, i am combining them here. I'm not passing on the tags, as i'm so new to blogging & i think all the blogs i like have already accepted such awards. I hope that doesn't offend anyone, i love you all & think you're all fabulous & being tagged is fun . . . anyway, my nominators & i all have a twins theme in common, strange but true.

First up was the delightful Samantha in the US, from The Handmade Dress blog/ Little Dresses, who has the best motto i've ever heard "she who dies with the most fabric wins". As a patient & loving serviceman's wife (to a fire fighter) & mother of 3 so far, plus auntie to potentially zillions, including brand new twins Iris & Lily, i simply adore her - we have so much in common. She nominated me as a . . .

i think every blog i look at his this badge already, so just consider yourselves all rockers!!

Next, the darling Fiona from Dragonfly Crafts in Australia, tagged me to do the letters of my name, with some meaning. Fiona is a fraternal twin & she's nothing like her sister, although they're great pals. I love the name of her blog as dragon flies are a huge symbol of the change of seasons in the Northern Territory. So here goes J E N N I E, yes that is my full name . . .

J is for jovial, i'm pretty happy, quick to smile & even quicker to giggle, especially at myself

E is for energy, i work out every day to make it through every day & to lose the baby blubber

N is for nice, i try to be nice & only surround myself with nice people

N is for numbers, i did pure maths at Uni & love numbers, spatial maths & geometry, N for nerd??

I is for invention, love necessity being the mother of it, otherwise i would never have started sewing

E is for everything, i have a long list of things to achieve each day & love it when 'everything' is done

Finally, the gorgeous Angelique, currently based in Noumea with her husband & 6y.o. twins (the sensible boy/ girl type) with the blog No Life Without Wife, tagged me with the 8 things/ facts/ habits about you . . . so here are 8 things you never needed to know about moi. I thought i'd do more about where i came from, as my blog is pretty current & reveals who i am now, with my children, habits & quirks.

1. I always knew i wanted to be a wife, mother & have 4 children, but i was academic & wanted a career in pharmacology or forensics (long before CSI thank you, i tried to get school work experience with the Sydney Coroner). I hadn't thought out how to have both, the finer details like funding this life etc. I was caught up in the mid 90's mix of feminism, independence, money & girl power, yet was an auntie & loved my neices & nephews - so much more fun & uncomplicated than office politics!!

2. I grew up on Sydney's leafy North Shore, in a beautiful big home, with great parents, 2 brothers & a sister. It was a beautiful childhood, strict, safe & sheltered, full of homemade goodness, as my mother was the original 1950's housewife. All our food was cooked from scratch with lots of home grown vegetables & herbs. Mum handmade our clothes, often matching (Von Trapp style) which we considered at the time, was the height of daggyness.

3. I come from a family of very focused & determined people. We all have 3-4 children each & run our own businesses. My eldest brother is rocket scientist, next brother is a doctor & anesthetist, my sister a ballerina (retired) so our big family get togethers are very interesting & diverse with our chosen paths in life, plus 14 children. Dad was a naval commander, so perhaps the discipline in all it's different forms, rubbed off on us.

4. My husband is the most important person in my life. I think you can say that out loud & let your children know. My husband was here first & my love for him is different for the love we have for our children. My mother made that clear to us & would support Dad in his decisions, which were always pretty fair - we'd have to put reasons for & against if we wanted to go to a party & waste valuable study time. My parents have been married for 50 years & still hold hands & run errands together. I can certainly see the value in keeping a marriage alive as once the children have grown up & left home, it's just the two of you again.

5. I'm a workaholic. I pretend i'm not by finding time for school duties and making my husband feel like he has my full attention in the evenings, then work for hours after he's asleep. I have been in paid employment since i was 12. First job was as a kitchen hand & ironing/ pressing table clothes for a catering firm, which i did all through high school. So no silver spoon after all!!

6. Silver Spoon comment aside, my family loves to travel. I was lucky enough to go around the world 12 times before i started Uni, with my 13th trip being the honeymoon. My mum was a farm girl from England, so she's travelled a long way since marrying an Australian sailor on Christmas Eve in 1955. Europe is my favourite place, the history, architecture, culture, food, hotel room treats, I love it all. I do have a thing for Disneyland though, all of them.

7. I never believed in love at first sight until i laid my eyes on my husband. I was 19 & trying to get out of an 18month relationship the coward's way - meeting someone else. I did what most girls that age do - fall in love with someone at work. I had joined the Army Reserve at Uni, a clueless officer cadet, i was a tom boy at heart & it was a great balance to my other super girlie part time job. Plus it was fun running around the bush in boy's clothes learning about what makes men tick, guns truly do nothing for me. So dating my instructor was a 'fling' & 13 years later, i still say to him, "if you didn't ask me out, i would have had such a crush on you". He was so charismatic, tall, handsome & excellent at his job. It was a natural progression for him to finally join the regular Army a year later, aged 24.

8. I love anyone is who is fabulous at what they do. You know, world championship sports, business leaders, world changing politians, amazing artists, obviously clever crafters & parents who do a fantastic job. All my best friends are in those categories, be it brilliant stylists, mothers, dentists or bank directors. I know it's a luxury to truly love what you do for a living, however, under the right circumstances, you can make it happen. I love my life, it's dynamic with growing children & personalities, my husband's career & deployments to war zones, where Posie & Edna&AliceMay are going, our next interstate move. It's very interesting & so far from where i ever imagined i would be. With plenty of hard work, experience & positivity, i'd like to teach our 4 children to be open to where life might take you. To know what you want, but sometimes you don't know what you want until you have it, then run with it.

Love Posie