Shhhhhhh

Something interesting is happening over at The Mum Files.

Someone you know might be there...


(And why don't you email them? You could be next.)

QUEEN OF THE WHOLE UNIVERSE

Well I like to think that I'm the Queen Bee around my small universe but during the weekend I was upstaged by some queens who were larger than life. They were competing at the St James Theatre in Wellington in the Queen of the Whole Universe beauty pageant. It's really just a big fund raiser for AIDs-related charities.

It's the 6th year this event has been staged but the first time it has been held outside Auckland. It was a heap of fun. If you get a chance to see this next year it's a great night out.

THE ANSWER IS NO!

So, if you had gorgeous red hair like this would you want to dye it brown? Even if 'all the other gingas at school are dyeing their hair brown'? Would you?

LIFE ELSEWHERE

Over the past few weeks we've been having geography lessons in our house.

DH has had not one but two work trips to the Middle East in the past month. We now know that Dubai and Abu Dhabi are emirates or states in the country known as the United Arab Emirates. And we know that Abu Dhabi is the federal capital of the UAE.We know that Doha is in another country called Qatar and that Qatar is pronounced 'cutter'. And we know that the Americans use the commercial airport in Doha as a base for their airforce planes that fly to Iraq. And we can find these countries on a map.

We've learned all about how the emirates are run
and DH has even met a Sheik. We've learnt that doing business there is quite different to how it's done in NZ. We know that if you want to have a drink in the Sheraton bar you have to show your passport. We know that women in the UAE can hold senior government roles. We know that temperatures in the Middle East at present reach in the 40s and will continue to climb over the next 2 months. We know that the tallest building in the world (the Burj) is being built in Dubai and it makes the other skyscrapers look like toys.



We've learned that DH takes some unusual photos when he is away but these give us more pleasure than the usual tourist shots.




We've been excited to learn about somewhere new.

And we're rapt that DH comes home to us tomorrow.

THE MUM FILES

Check out Lisa and Ligia's great new site "The Mum Files". Awesome tips and observations about family life and parenting. They both are great writers and have an awesome sense of humour. I'm loving it.

BLOGOSPHERE BOOK CIRCLE

June Book: The Zookeeper's Wife
Author:Diane Ackerman
Synopsis:
In a nutshell -a true story in which the keepers of the Warsaw zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands.
Verdict: I just couldn't get into it. It felt a bit 'try hard'. After chapter 4 I decided to give up. Life's too short. Maybe I need to try again some other time.


I feel like out I copped out this month so (purely to make me feel better) here's a review of a book I read last week that I did really enjoy:

Title: The Slap
Author: Christos Tsiolkas

Synposis: (courtesy Unwin and Allen publishers)
At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own.
This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the event.
In this remarkable novel, Christos Tsiolkas turns his unflinching and all-seeing eye onto that which connects us all: the modern family and domestic life in the twenty-first century. The Slap is told from the points of view of eight people who were present at the barbecue. The slap and its consequences force them all to question their own families and the way they live, their expectations, beliefs and desires.
What unfolds is a powerful, haunting novel about love, sex and marriage, parenting and children, and the fury and intensity - all the passions and conflicting beliefs - that family can arouse. In its clear-eyed and forensic dissection of the ever-growing middle class and its aspirations and fears, The Slap is also a poignant, provocative novel about the nature of loyalty and happiness, compromise and truth.

Verdict: I loved this book. Over the past couple of months reviews of this book seemed to pop up in publications I was reading. And then a week or two back I heard a long interview with the author, Australian Christos Tsiolkas, on National Radio. I knew I had to read it. I wasn't disappointed. It was gritty, fast moving and hard core at times. It made me think. I found myself taking sides. And then changing them. Another observation is that I realised I don't read many books by male authors. Are other people like that? If you don't like sex and expletives it's probably not for you. But I loved it.

RULE KEEPER

I have a confession. I am a rule keeper. I obey the rules. In my nearly 44 years I've never had a traffic violation - not even a parking ticket.

So it comes as some surprise to me to learn that I have produced a teenager who is not so bothered about the rules.

This morning I looked at her and said:
Hmm. That wouldn't be eyeliner you're wearing to school would it?

Miss 14:
Whatever.

Ruler keeper:
You could get a clothing detention if a teacher catches you.

Miss 14:
I don't care. T and J (BFs) both have clothing detentions at lunchtime today so if I'm caught I'll just go with them. We'll just chat during detention so it's no big deal. Don't worry about it.


She's right. I shouldn't worry. It's not my problem.

I just wish I was so relaxed.