Birthday, singing, orange house

1. My daughter's birthday went surprisingly well, considering the number of children at the sleepover. I've never had more than two children sleep over before, so I thought I might have been biting off more than I could chew. However, everything went smoothly. The swimming and dressing up kept them busy for hours. And now I have a nine year old. And a beautiful one, at that.
2. I relaxed on Sunday which is pretty unusual. I also had some girl time doing Sing Star with my daughter. We had a fun time. I love singing.
3. The orange house next door is finally sold after being on the market for many months. We are hoping the neighbours will be wonderful.

Birthday, cricket, family

1. I'm in the middle of our daughter's birthday sleepover. The seven girls are lying in the lounge watching a video as I write. They've done lots of swimming and playing and will hopefully sense the urge for sleep in the near future. It's gone very well so far - less hands on than I've been used to with parties for younger children. I've also noticed how very more "grown up" my daughter has become since her last birthday. I'm very proud of her.
2. Our son did very well at cricket today. He made a great catch early on in the game and also bowled and batted impressively. He batted 3 fours and a single which increased his batting average. We were all pleased that he did so well as assorted family members were visiting for the birthday celebrations and came to watch his game. As parents of cricketing children, we all continue to enjoy the 3 hour long enforced rest required while watching the game of cricket. Perhaps that's why the game was invented...
3. It was wonderful seeing our extended family gathered together for our daughter's birthday today. Thank you all for your generous gifts and the time it took to drive here and spend time with us. We really appreciate it and love you all very much.

Embracing change, birthdays, kohanga

1. I'm feeling happier about embracing the changes that are occurring in me at this pre-menopausal stage of my life. I feel less panicky about it and more "normal". It's a good day and I'm not feeling so many symptoms as I did yesterday, so that has helped. However, I think if I can relax into the experience it will be easier - rather than fight it, that is.
2. Plans for my daughter's birthday sleepover on Saturday are rolling along smoothly. She has very clear ideas on what she wants to happen. It's exciting but I'll be glad when the friends go home, I have to admit.
3. I visited a Kohanga Reo this morning to see what happens there. Kohanga Reo means language nest in Maori. It's an early childhood centre where Maori is spoken exclusively or almost exclusively. It was a big learning experience for me and I look forward to visiting again soon.

Wellington, menopause, cricket

1. My plans for my trip to Wellington are becoming clearer. The awards ceremony will be held at Parliament which is pretty exciting. I'm looking forward to it very much, as you can imagine.
2. My pre-menopausal symptoms are definitely becoming more obvious. I've had an up and down emotional day but I keep reminding myself that other women cope - and so can I.
3. The cricket season is nearly over and I feel sorry as I enjoy watching the boys practise and compete. Kids sport is great.

Joke book, friends, cooking

1. I was thrilled to read that my blog friend Sara has ordered a copy of my joke book from Amazon as a birthday gift for her son. That's very kind of you, Sara. It just goes to show how powerful blogging can be! I hope you and your family enjoy the book very much, Sara. Maybe I'll get a chance to sign it for you some day!
2. My friends and I had a lovely get together at my favourite cafe today. It was fun and relaxing and giggly girlish. I had the citron tart which was nearly lemony enough but not quite. I also had a latte. Yummmm. Happy birthday Rhonda. Enjoy being 40! It's great.
3. I spent the morning cooking dinner for us as well as dinner for my friend who's just had a beautiful new baby boy. Our group of friends is cooking for the family to give the new mum and decent break and today was my rostered day. I hope they enjoyed the meal. We thought it was delicious.

Daylight saving, baby, squash

1. On Saturday night we put our clocks back one hour because of daylight saving. It's been good in lots of ways. However, because of the way I do my blog, it means I will have to make an adjustment to the time I do it and I'm still getting used to it.
2. My friend Pele has a new baby boy. Well done Pele and Damian. He is beautiful.
3. We had our last game of business house squash today. Our team came third equal out of 12 teams which we were very pleased with. The children were particularly pleased with the Easter eggs as prizes. I actually played two games of squash today as I also played at lunch time with another mum. I feel very virtuous about that.

PMT, party, reunion

1. I've been displaying irritable behaviour due to a severe case of PMT (I think that's PMS in some countries). Feeling a lot better about it today, thankfully. Yesterday I wasn't a particularly pleasant person to be around. However, I did put on a good show out in public.
2. We went to our wonderful friend Rhonda's wonderful 40th birthday bbq in the evening and it was one of the best parties I've ever been to. I haven't been to many and we did have to leave early to go to another function, but it was outstanding. So thank you Rhonda and your family for a very well organised, delicious, hilarious event. We all had to wear something a bit posh, something that doesn't get an outing. My husband wore his pyjamas and dressing gown.
3. We then went to another of my husband's school reunion functions (we got changed in between). It was less fun for me than the first reunion night as it was a bit noisier and more difficult to hear what people were saying. However, we did catch up with a few people that we hadn't seen for a while so it was worth it.