Every day heroes

The media name new heroes every day.

Artists sing songs, paint pictures, write poems and stories about heroes.  TV is littered with shows about “Super Heroes”, crime, war and medical shows.

But what is a hero really? Do we diminish the power of the title by giving it to just anyone?

The Oxford Dictionary defines a hero as:

• a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities
• the chief male character in a book, play, or film, who is typically identified with good qualities and with whom the reader is expected to sympathize.
• (in mythology and folklore) a person of superhuman qualities and often semi-divine origin, in particular one whose exploits were the subject of ancient Greek myths.

While the Cambridge Dictionary says:

• a person who is admired for having done something very brave or having achieved something great
• the main male character in a book or film who is usually good
• someone who you admire very much

Members of the armed forces, police, firies, surf lifesavers, doctors and nurses can quite rightly be called heroes.   Their every action may not be particularly heroic per se, but when it comes to the crunch they will give everything to save the day, risk their lives, stop the “bad guys”, run into that burning building, perform medical miracles…

There are everyday people who also deserve the title, those who make huge personal sacrifices to make the lives of others safer, better, in some cases worth living.  Who go out of their way to improve the lot of others.  Foster parents, disability workers, exceptional teachers, some charities and religious organisations…

People who, when confronted with a situation will leap in without thought to their personal safety or the consequences, the neighbours who run into a burning home to save a child,  bystanders who will leap in to stop an attack,  come to the aid of someone who’s sick or hurt in an accident, they are heroes.

I am loathe to include performers and sports stars under the category of hero as their work and activities stem from an inherently selfish activity, be it singing, acting or sports performance, done for their own personal satisfaction and gain.  A few stand out for their humanitarian activities, charity and advocacy work but I don’t think just being a public figure automatically makes you a hero.  The dictionary definitions of hero though do include people who are admired very much, so we will have agree to disagree on this matter.

So I’m interested to know what you think makes someone a hero?

How does your garden grow?

...by sheer dumb luck it would appear in my case!

I am not known for my green thumb, I tend to enthusiastically plant potted colour around the place with visions of a splendid display of flowers.  I furiously sow herb & veggie seeds in every available space anticipating a magnificent harvest and near self-sufficiency…I water and feed my darlings religiously for a few weeks, then get distracted by something else…one by one they  die off, leaving a few disreputable specimens that never bear produce but that I feel so guilty about I can’t chuck away.

My current efforts, winter frosts have not been kind...

So in a huge move and after much discussion, nothing gets done around here without a LOT of discussion, it has been decided that we will be building a veggie garden.

There is talk of retaining walls, soil mixes, compost and worm farms…

Land has been allocated - how grand – and currently materials are being sourced.

We are as yet undecided as to what will be grown but are thinking of veggies for stir-fries & salads.

I am very much looking forward to enjoying the “fruits” of our labours.  Last summer we grew a lot of our salad veggies in pots on the back deck, that was OK but this year we are going to attempt something bigger.

I already grow most of the herbs we use and will be trying some extra ones now that we will have more room.

There is even talk of some fruit trees…

Boot camp...

I don’t generally sweat or cry in front of my colleagues and am not generally prone to vomit around them…well not since that time involving a work xmas party, a bottle of Southern and a fishpond, long story… but any, or more likely ALL, of these things are likely to happen if I attend the next social occasion being hosted by my business networking group.

No, it isn’t a booze fuelled meal at a dodgy Mexican restaurant, if only!

Some evil bastard has decided that a boot camp style group PT session would be a good idea.  Yes, 25 business types in their 40’s trying to suck their guts in whilst working out for the first time in 10 years and trying not to pull or burst something or be the one they call the ambos for…

A very good likeness...

The thing that popped into my mind when I heard about this ridiculous idea was Mrs Woog’s last visit to the gym, a hilarious episode – for us, maybe not for her - I am not keen to replicate in front of people I wish to impress.

I myself unfortunately will be busy that day, they haven’t confirmed a date yet, but rest assured I will be unavoidably elsewhere! 

Pretty things…

I am sometimes a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to all things online but yesterday I discovered Pinterest.   I have seen many bloggers mention it before but I didn’t go and check it out until now.

OMG… I am in heaven, and MrQ is scared.

Love that I can now get the inspiration I sought from magazines online, and can collect my ideas together without having to have piles of paper and magazines around the place.

So that is where I am if you need me…playing and planning our renovations.

Now I just need to make more money to pay for it all!

Dude… is that lippy on your teeth?

Now, before we start I would like to make it quite clear that MrQ wouldn’t wear make-up, I can barely get him to moisturise!  Shampoo, body wash, deo, aftershave balm and a teeth clean and he’s done, ready to go. And I am happy with that, he looks good and who wants a husband who spends more time in front of the mirror than them?

There has always been the need for actors and performers to wear make-up when they are working, I get that. 

Adam Lambert

There have also always been blokes who will wear make-up to create their public persona, to get noticed, to cause controversy…I understand that.

Boy George

Ben Affleck

I can also understand the need to cover up imperfections, to look your best, and I guess if a man feels the need to use make-up to do that then I am OK with that too.

Matt McConaughey

 BUT

Before the boys dip into the Revlon, slap on the Maybelline or trowel on the Max Factor I think a bit of guidance is required.  Something along the lines of:

Less is more:

Zac Efron goes girlie...

A natural look is best:

John Travolta channeling his "heart attack" look

Eye-liner has the word EYE in it for a reason:

Benji Madden

Joel Madden

Leave the blusher for the girls:

Daniel Redcliffe...who laid off the booze just in time.

Maybe skills should be taught in schools, at footy training and the office…

...cosmetic companies could clean up.

I myself am unconvinced, call me old fashioned, don’t want to share my lippy with my man.

What do you think?

Duck face…

No, that’s duck, duck…with a “d” not an “f".

There is a sad phenomenon sweeping the world, particularly in social media circles where people, most often young girls, or grown women who really should know better, post pictures of themselves pulling a “duck-face”.

Extensive 30 seconds of online research found these descriptions, shockingly though, the font of all wisdom, Wikipedia had nothing, seems even they drew the line…

From urban dictionary.com  (Please note, I selected the more pleasant descriptions – some people REALLY don’t like the duck-face!!!):

–  Similar to pouting. It is to express double the emotion of a pout, so instead of simply jutting out your bottom lip, you push them both out, making you look like a duck. –  A sad and tragic epidemic hitting young girls all across myspace and facebook usually found on girls who think they are flirty. –  A term used to describe the face made if you push your lips together in a combination of a pout and a pucker, giving the impression you have larger cheekbones and bigger lips. –  A facial expression utilized by attention-seeking teenage girls in which they push their lips outward and upward to give the appearance of large, pouty lips.

And then I found a treasure trove of duck face pics here…please find a few of my favourites:

First we have the amusing -

Derek Zoolander

 Then the deluded –

Ashley Tisdale...I don't actually know who the hell she is!

Megan Fox...possibly the  REAL reason why she was sacked from transformers!

 Then the disturbing –

Lisa Rinna...Might be time to stop with the surgery Lisa...just sayin'

...And then we have a special mention under the title 

“What the FUCK!!!!”-

Janice Dickenson...I'm speechless!

Now, I have chosen to show pictures of “celebrity” face pullers as they deserve everything they get and it is wrong to mock the afflicted, even if the affliction just seems to be being a teen aged girl.  Hopefully some of them will grow out of it.

So fess up, have any of you been guilty of the heinous crime of posting duck face pics on-line?

20

Twenty years ago today MrQ and I took a leap of faith and moved in together.

We had not much more than each other and the kids but were blissfully happy…

                  and SO YOUNG!!!!!!

I was thinner, he had more hair, God we were spunks!!!

20 years on, we are still happy, everyday life wears the edges off the bliss, but life is like that.  How boring would it be if there were no ups and downs, no challenges to work through together?

Life is more comfortable now, settled.  I wouldn’t change a thing.

Love you more than ever babe.  xxx

Postpartum (or After-after birth…)

Mrs Woog certainly started something here didn't she?  There is an equally brilliant follow up post on her blog with gorgeous pictures of lots of ladies post-birth.

Jane, from mum-i-am also did a great post in response.  Check it out here.

I think that the idea resonated with so many of us as we are all sick of the picture perfect model style photos people chose to show after their babies are born, hair and make-up done, lumpy bits disguised. 

Far more beautiful are the pictures of a tired, sweaty mum with bloodshot eyes and a bird’s nest hairstyle!  Eyes glazed with a mix of triumph, exhaustion, sheer terror and quite often a liberal sprinkling of drugs!

A common theme in comments and posts is how gorgeous and lovely people’s Obstetricians were.  Mine alas was not.  A very serious and quite frankly unfriendly man with hands like bunches of bananas – have you notices that Ob/Gyn’s often have the largest hands, what is with that?  

Eye-watering....

After birth...

Inspired by the ever funny Mrs Woog I have decided to share some of the glamorous photos taken before and after the birth of my son. 

Pop on over to see what she had to say, it’s OK, I’ll wait…

  

There was no money for beauticians so I went with the natural look. I was very lucky in pregnancy; it was the best my skin, hair and nails have ever been!

 Anyway, at this point I was beyond caring, two weeks overdue with a big baby in the heat of late summer my look was the last thing on my mind!

There are no delivery room shots, things were too serious for that, there aren’t even any shots for a couple of days after, I was too sick for that!

Between admission and induction, I was feeling pretty good about things at this stage… 

Sexxxy...

Several days later, the drip is out so it is after day 4…I swelled up like a balloon!

Oh dear....

My precious, made it all worthwhile...

All together now...awwww

 How about you?  Care to share???

In the unlikely event that you do not already follow Mrs Woog go and check her out...

Living with boys…

 I love my boys, I am very grateful for them, sometimes though it can be a bit much. 

Yesterday morning son walks out of the bathroom and says to husband, you might not want to go in there for a while, I just farted and it’s BAD.  To which husband replies, that’s OK, I just farted out here and its REALLY BAD.   A few minutes later I walked into the dining room, big mistake, as I picked myself off the floor and gasped for breath husband says, Oh yeah, I might have just farted… sigh.   Sadly this is common in our household, often without warning.

Someone will go and fetch a new toilet roll and place it on the toilet cistern for use, and leave the empty roll on the holder…or change the roll but leave the empty one on the side of the sink, one foot from the bin…WTF???

I don’t understand the need to spend half an hour in the loo with carefully select reading material to take in with you so you don’t get bored….and then “forgetting” to turn on the fan or give a quick “courtesy spray” of air-freshener on the way out…

Then there’s the inability to put plates in the dishwasher when you finish eating, occasional packing of the dishwasher after dinner but leaving the pots and pans unwashed…and wiping off the bench with a dripping wet cloth, would it kill them to squeeze the cloth first?

I don’t understand the roaming around the house in underpants complaining that it’s cold.

This list is not an exhaustive one, there are many, many things I do not understand about living with boys.

I’m sure it isn’t just my boys…

what do your boys do to make you crazy?

Not good...

I have been a bit quiet of late, things have been getting on top of me and life is a bit shit to be honest.

I started this blog with the intention of being honest, I'm not sure that I have been.  I haven't lied, I have just restricted posts to happy stuff, or the past, or ranty posts...


I seem to be alternating between apathy, rage and tears...no upsides at the moment!
  
I don't sleep.


I can't get motivated.


I fear I am neglecting my family.


I just can't shake the feeling that "something" is wrong.  I couldn't tell you what if you asked, I don't know myself.


I am sure things will get better...I just hope it is sooner rather than later!