Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Hurry, Hurry... Wait!

Look at these two gorgeous people. I love this photo. It's timeless!
Last week there was a loud rumbling in Brisbane as the clan gathered to celebrate fifty years of these two being married. It was a memorable and perfect few days of rambunctious, affectionate family gatherings, meals and sleepovers for the twenty five grand children and nine beloved siblings. This is the cover of the card that my clever sister whipped up to go with the huge coffee table book containing fifty years of history. It really was magical!
A couple of us did have to ad lib speeches. Mine began with the "Mawwidge, what is mawwidge?"quote from the Princess Bride, a family classic, and ended with DMC's metaphor about Mum and Dad being book ends to our eclectic and ever growing library of a family. Mum, being a bibliophile, seemed to like the reference. They did both get teary a few times over the week-end. It may have been a case of true love or perhaps of having twenty five grandchildren over simultaneously.
The out of towners all flew back Monday and life has returned to its steady thrum of getting through the holidays. There will be no more sleeepovers. Take your toothbrushes home, my little friends.
We may throw the odd birthday party in between if the weather allows. Eleven is almost as important as a Golden Anniversary.
There is always the chance you may be taken out if you have fancy socks on.
There has been some healthy old fashioned music and sing-along time.
There has been a lot of this 'orribleness. It was worse when they were all younger. That was two full days of contact and covering. This year I have been told that covering books after year 5 is uncool. Glory Be!!! If you hear otherwise do not tell me about it. They have all done their own labelling this year too.

The purchase of the high school uniforms was exciting, sad, proud, nerve wracking, and bloody expensive! They looked so handsome and grown up but their innocence was revealed by their inability to put on a pair of knee high socks or tuck in a button up shirt BEFORE you do up the fly of your non-elasticised shorts. Long socks, flies, tucking??? What manner of horror is this? AND I do believe these shirts may require- 'ironing'.
Play me a song, Shorty. The one about the boogy man is recurring at the moment.
Then there is the less memorable side of the holidays where bickering siblings are made to perform acts of appallingly anger fuelled bad spelling! ..."for no reasond!!!"
These bits of i-techo-void are going on a long holiday in the big high cupboard on Sunday night. They have all but stolen my boys' childhoods in the last two weeks although it did allow the Big Fella to finish roofing the 'ark' out the front. Even Shorty is asking to use the pie pod.
There has been feverish culling as I attempt to sublimate my anxiety about high school. The crocheted doll, made by my friend's blind granny, will soon be out on the street, cast asunder by this harsh landlady. I need room for uniforms, love! If any Brisbanians desire a bit of crochet perfection, feel free to ask before she is banished to Ron and Brian's retirement shelf.
Meanwhile this part of my life hasn't had a look in and, in fact, may have to be deconstructed to make a study nook for the boys and their Dad. I really don't want them to go back to school but probably will enjoy the next chapter as much as the last. Another part of me can't wait to kiss them all good-bye and go sit with Shorty on a bench and breathe deeply for about an hour next Monday. 'Tis a paradox!
P.S. Murphy has been around here with his law again. I was looking for something under-the-house and found a box of uniform shirts of the same size that I bought yesterday for the boys' new school. These have been handed down by a friend. There are EIGHT of them!

12 comments:

  1. I adore that picture of the wedding day its your mum and dad right?Beautiful! Would love to see one of them now.Time goes so fast.
    LOL about the uniforms dont you hate that?

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  2. Nelly: Their photos were something else! That photographer was good.
    Mind you they were serious lookers in their day and still make a handsome couple now.

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  3. What weard eyebrow thing? Sorry, but I had to ask.

    Huge congrats to your parents ... if mine can keep toddling on they hit 60 years in 2013, scary stuff!

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  4. Your parents look like old school movie stars in their wedding photo.

    I actually enjoyed wrapping my books (and my sister's) in contact when we were at school. I think it appealed to my obsessive nature. I also like wrapping presents. How's that for weard?

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  5. Your Dad looks like Charles Eames. Very good looking couple.

    I used to wrap my own books, and ended up naming all my own school uniforms. It's character building. In a way. I've also been told that it's uncool to cover books in brown paper, a cute picture and then clear contact.

    My relationship with contact (especially in last week's heat) was not a harmonious, loving one. It was sticky, sweary and bubbly in all the wrong places.

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  6. Annie: We were discussing the sixtieth at the fiftieth. By then the kids will be using canes too!

    CC: My Dad loves wrapping presents. He often waxes lyrical about his holiday job at McWhirters Dep't Store where he wrapped all the parcels in heavy brown paper with knife edge precision. As a result he gets to wrap all Mum's gifts for the family over Christmas!

    MMMC: That contact relationship sounds like one I had with a boyfriend in North Queensland! Delagation is the name of the game but I won't delegate to the husband again as he does not get the prepare-ye-the-school-books-early-thing .

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  7. That wedding photo is up there with the best.
    I'm sure if you asked them, that is how they think of each other still.
    There is always that bride and groom hidden by years , expanding waste lines, and grey thatch.
    I wish them congratulations and good health to witness a new generation to carry life's torch.

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  8. What a lovely couple! Give them my best wishes from afar. Covering school books- I don't think anyone does that here anymore because there's usually not enough books to go around so they photocopy things. I used to love doing that for my own school books.

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  9. DMC: Thank you for your lovely book end line. They haven't changed too much over the years!

    Deb: I loved it too but I was a big nerd and didn't have an i-pod or ten tv channels. Covering schoolbooks was a welcome change in the long summer holidays!

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  10. Lovely pic of your parents and so glad it was a real celebration for everyone.
    Beth too, has taken to wearing brightly striped socks in this heat. Biz to the arr.
    By delegating our book purchasing to David, we too seem to be missing a LOT of the stuff that we probably should have in the bag. I have prewarned his teacher and look forward to finishing the job (why can they never finish the job!) in the coming weeks.
    I look forward to the re-emergence of your art table, wherever it may be and whatever form it may take. I know it will come.
    One last weekend with them and they're off! Hooray!

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  11. Anna: I feel an art table is limiting me. What I really need is an art beach house! Alone!!

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  12. Thank YOU Annie.
    I am honoured by that.
    The English language is so rich in metaphor, simile and symbol.

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