Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Canberra and back to school

Oh Hai! I've got all these blogposts circling my brain but school started back yesterday, as did tap and I'm flat out like a lizard drinking.

So yes.

It's bullets again.

  • We went to Canberra so I could see my sister and her kids and the Paris Masters Exhibition. We stayed with my sister and she took excellent care of us. Thanks sis.
  • I really liked the exhibition. I went at a quiet time (last Friday of the school hols, 11am in the morning) and there was NO QUEUING.cultured10
  • I fell in love with Cezanne a bit more. His use of colours is truly great, and you'll never know this unless you stand in front of the actual painting. I wanted to lick the canvases or wrap myself in them or something. They made all my senses buzz.
  • My favourite picture was Van Gogh's Bedroom at Arles, but all his paintings in this exhibition were wonderful. His genius just pops out of the frames.
  • I was also really fond of the Toulouse-Lautrec portrait which he'd done on cardboard. Great art on a crappy surface, it had a special poignancy because of this.
  • I need to tell the saga of the lost sandal next time I blog. Don't let me forget.
  • I found $38 airfares so Cherub got to have his first plane rides. (Climber still remembers flying with me to Canberra when my niece was born. Plus he flew to Sydney to see his Grandma when he was 18 months, he claims to remember this but I think he couldn't possibly.) The trip to Canberra was fun, we came in with the sunset.
  • This shot is taken before take-off on the return trip, when all was well.travellers 12
  • The return trip to Melbourne was incredibly turbulent due to the evil North Wind.
  • (There is nothing good about a North Wind if you live in Melbourne.)
  • Climber has inherited Mister Fixit's ironguts, for which he should be profoundly grateful. He was slightly nervous, but essentially fine.
  • Cherub and I were this close to losing our lunch and we both hated it.
  • I had to calm and soothe poor Cherub through my own sweaty palmed discomfort and rising nausea and it was a tough gig. We're nearly down, it's just the wind, my goodness it's bumpy. Bleah.
  • The poor little mite pretty much kept it together for the interminable descent and then burst into tears on landing and said he was never going in an aeroplane again. A kind lady saw his distress and held everyone behind her back so we could get him off the plane quickly.
  • We missed Fixit while we were away. A friend told me he was wandering around like a lost lamb in our absence.
  • The whole family spent the morning at the pool on Sunday for the heatwave. It was ace.
  • The kids went back to school yesterday and all is well.
  • Except driving to school that first morning suddenly all the stuff I had to do came crowding into my brain and I could feel my shoulders rising and *bam* if you're not careful you can lose all your holiday relaxedness in one little car drive. I forced the shoulders down and took deep breaths.
  • My first tap classes were last night and now I have money in my wallet and joy in my step again. As I did the grocery shop this morning I could feel my happiness glowing out of me and it made me realise how much I've been missing tapping, and how lucky I am to be able to do it as a profession.
Okay. So I think we've caught up now.

17 comments:

  1. I wish that sense of holiday relaxation could stick around a bit longer. It doesn't seem fair to have it evaporate during the first drive to run errands afterward, you know?

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  2. I'd love to see more art but I think I've had my share for a little while ( I say this because I know I won't get to see this show - dammit).
    Poor Cherub - no one with any sense or imagination likes to fly!

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  3. Not such a great return flight...hate those ones.

    Really MUST get to see the paintings. Really this is our last free weekend but methinks its just not going to happen.

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  4. Oh, I remember going to the Impressionists (or similar) exhibition as a Year 12 art student. It was astounding and sensory overload. I love Cezanne, too.

    And I am so flying up to Canberra. Because I really need to visit my brother...

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  5. Bedroom at Arles is absolutely my favourite painting of anything, ever. The first one, though, where the colours are happy.

    I like Van Gogh's painting of ordinary things - the boats ones are up there, too.

    I am verra jealous!

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  6. Wouldn't it be nice if we could bank our holiday happiness and withdraw a little at a time as needed?

    You've been busy! I'm with Cherub. Take the train next time.

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  7. Glad you had a great time. Well done on staying in control through the North Wind - I would have just cried!!!

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  8. lucky guys...nothing beats standing in front of the actual paintings.. the intensity of the colours....
    turbulence sucks..
    but at least it was on the way home..
    imagine trying to get Cherub on the plane if it had happened on the way up?

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  9. So, YOU'RE the tap TEACHER? Wow, what syllabus do you teach? I do PDA (Pullars Dancing Academy), Cherin Pullar is my teacher and she is also one of my sewing students! I've just started a new grade - Alternate 6! Lovin' it!

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  10. Glad you are feeling happy!

    I'm with Cherub, happy and loving flying while the flight is smooth, hanging on for dear life when it isn't and making sure I have a good supply of sick bags.

    Although it is worse in those little ones, the way they bounce around, making your stomach heave, churning up your breakfast...


    mfffff....'scuse me....

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  11. I got overwhelmed this week too. So I wrote a list of all the things I need to accomplish, and then added a couple that I'd already done that day just so I could cross them off, because that always helps.

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  12. Dot. I hate bumpy plane rides too.

    Dot. Isn't it amazing that for $38 one can have a plane ride?

    Dot. One CAN indeed lose holiday equanimity in one short car ride. It sucks. You dealth with it the right way.

    Dot. Yes, earning a living by dancing is pretty good. I loved ity. I am now lucky enough to have found a second profession that I love and get paid (a LOT more) to do.

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  13. P.S.
    Dot. I also love Love LOVE Cezanne, and think the idea of wrapping oneself in his colours and paintings is a t'rific idea

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  14. That's plenty to catch-up with!

    Poor Cherub, that's not a good start to the flying experience.

    Sounds like you had a great time, and the fact that you're feeling glad to be back at work is even better, really.

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  15. Sounds like an awful flight. At least the visit to see all of that gorgeous art was worth it. I often think that you are very lucky to do something that you so clearly love for a living. My husband would be exactly the same as Fixit, poor love.

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