Take the Good with the Bad? I Wonder.....

They arrived home yesterday, high tailed it back instead of having the swim in the dam at Albury like they had planned.  The kids raced in to hug me and tell me how much they missed me, which was lovely.  Even Phill was being extra nice (as well he should) and I decided there was no point in carrying on the unpleasantness, after all I had a much nicer New Year than they did (poor kids).  Phill decided we'd go out today with the boat to one of my favourite spots, not to fish just to picnic and ride in the boat.  I agreed, anything to get the kids out of the house and away from the electronics. Well we had a really great day today, we have a favourite spot at Narrandera that we've gone to for years on and off.  It's a long drive but worth it.  We took the boat and as it's a public holiday (yet another one) we really thought the place would be crowded.  IGA at Junee wasn't open, nor was it at Coolamon, it's madness.  We drove on and went to Narrandera, I don't even know what kind of water it is, a river, a lake, a billabong, not sure but it's lovely.  We unhooked the boat and Phill and Em went in search of something for lunch as we couldn't bbq due to the total fire ban.  Temps of 40C were forecast today.  They came back with a bbq chook and two little salads which were lovely, one seemed like a potato and egg salad only without the potato (??)  There were people camped down by the proper boat ramp, they had ski boats and tents and caravans but there was nobody in our little spot that has the flat rocks we use as a picnic table.

We soon found out why, someone had caught a bunch of carp (an introduced pest here) and left them, dead in a heap behind the tree.  The smell wasn't bad, as hot as it was, the wind was going the other way and we'd only get a whiff now and then and to me it just smelled like fish, not rotting fish.
Emily was having one of her "moments" and she insisted on sitting in the car, dressed in a hoodie, jeans and a t shirt.  She refused to get out so Phill went up and turned the car on and opened every window and took the keys.  No dying from heat exhaustion today Em!  We had our lunch and went for a swim then got in the boat and powered all around the waterways, places we hadn't been before.  The last time we were there we were watching all the boats and wishing WE had one and today we did!  It was lovely zipping along the water, especially since we were wet and in our swimmers and barefoot so it was lovely and cool.

As you can see Emily relented and got in the water and got over her hissy fit. 

This what I imagined when we bought the boat last Winter.  Hot days when we can just pull it up onto the bank and swim near it then take it for a spin whenever we want.  I've always been a water baby and I hope we can do this more often.

Days like this give me hope, it reminds me of how it used to be.  Or perhaps it's always been like this but I'm just not taking the shit anymore?  I don't know, but it was a great day and I'll take it.

We lost the number plate off the boat, for the second time, we lost the original one driving it home the day we bought it!  Phill has gone off to look for it, and I wouldn't be surprised it he drives the whole way back to Narrandera to find the bloody thing.  We were going to order pizza but of course nothing is open.  I made Josh a chicken burger with leftovers from last night and Em is having spag carbonara and I'm heating up the rest of the meat sauce for Phill and me on spaghetti.
I stopped taking my supplements over Christmas, not on purpose, for all the good they were doing me, and weirdly I have little or no menopause symptoms right now.  I'm hoping that I've zoomed through it all and come out the other side.  I've heard it does happen, time will tell.
I am glad the world will start to get back to normal tomorrow.  The period between Christmas and New Year is like a limbo, everything seems to stop.  Time to get the Christmas decorations down and plan a few more outings for the school holidays then start to get ready for the school year at the end of January/early February.
The children dug some clay out of the bottom of the water today and made a big ball and brought it home and are making a "sculpture" for the garden.  Outside of course, it's so messy.  I love that they are creative and can't wait to see what they come up with.  Watch this space.