Thursday, October 7, 2010

Social, sniffly Sal

I'm sure it's obvious to all and sundry by now that my social life is fairly quiet. Most likely there are some people out there who think I have entered the twilight years already, so infrequent are my forays into the realms of evening entertainment. So it was with giddy glee that I began to plan for a night out with some gorgeous friends of ours (Anna and Adam of mad-rooster fame, to be precise!). When Christian and I received our invitation, I realised that I had nothing to wear, so of course I would need to go shopping (and when I say "nothing to wear", this time I actually mean it. Unless I was to attend a cocktail function in jeans and a stained maternity t-shirt, or perhaps trackies?) Christian moaned and groaned and made all the usual noises about me being let loose in a shopping centre, and then smiled and said, "Go on, babe. Get something nice." What a sweetheart!!

I knew it would be no small feat to find an outfit that a) fitted, b) didn't make my breastfeeding boobies look more enormous than they already are, c) was comfortable, and d) was reasonably priced, so I decided to go shopping on Tuesday when I only had Maisie with me. I dropped the two big kids off at kinder and daycare (I always feel like the biggest hypocrite leaving Phoebe in daycare and then going shopping...even if it is only one day a week, I still feel like I'm cheating!) and after a quick appointment at the doctor to check Maisie's asthma, we headed off to the shops. Maisie always loves going shopping, as there's crowds of people she can shout at and watch, so she's always really good. I tried on lots of dresses, skirts and blouses, including the ones suggested by well-meaning shop assistants that made my chest look like the front of a battle ship. Surprisingly, I found a lovely outfit that was not ridiculously expensive and covered most of my lumps and bumps, so I was pretty chuffed. It was while I was looking for shoes that I began to sneeze, but I didn't think anything of it. Just before we left, I stopped to buy some water as my throat felt a bit sore, but the airconditioning in those joints always makes me feel stuffy. During the drive back to kinder to pick up the kids, I realised my head was becoming really hot, and my sneezing grew to the point I was driving through witches' hats in roadworks with my eyes closed for two or three sneezes at a time! (By the by, is it just me, or is there an epidemic of roadworks at the moment? You can't drive anywhere without doing 40kph on horrible bumpy gravel) I refused to acknowledge the obvious, and drove resolutely home with the kids in the back seat, sneezing every few minutes and feeling absolutely dreadful.

Yesterday I felt like death warmed up (and thus, no blog last night!). It is just a head cold, but unlike days of yore when I could either have a day in bed to knock it on the head, or go to bed early after work with a pharmacy of cold and flu drugs in my system, these days I have broken sleep, I cannot take anything to make me feel better because of the breastfeeding, and I can't find anybody to be a substitute Mummy while I am ill. Bleurgh. But because this will be our first completely child-free night out in almost a year (and a pretty swanky one at that!) I am determined to enjoy every minute! Today I still look absolutely dreadful with a streaming nose and a puffy Jabba-the-Hutt neck. (I am a glamourous creature, I know!) So to detract from my less-than-appealing physical attributes, I went hell for leather in the beauty department - something I haven't done in a long time.

Tonight I left my pyjama-clad children with Grandma and Grandpa, and scooted down the high street to get my eyebrows waxed. On my way home I stopped in at K-Mart and bought new mascara, a lippy and some nail polish. As soon as I get off this machine, I'm going to file my ragged nails, attempt to chainsaw the overgrowth on my legs, and wash the baby vomit from my hair (I'm telling you, I'm a glamour puss!!) Tomorrow I'm getting my jewellery cleaned, and I may even get a chance to paint my nails...but I'm not holding my breath. Once upon a time, this would have been the lead-up to any normal weekend. These days...well let's just say that Christian may not recognise the woman who goes up to the city with him tomorrow night - with any luck I'll have clean clothes on, washed hair, some semblance of makeup...that's about as much as I can hope for! And even if my stinking cold is still hanging around, I am going to have a ball, of that I am sure. It will be brilliant to spend a night with our friends without even having to think about unexplained tantrums or nappies. And I am definitely looking forward to spending time with my husband, whom I don't see nearly enough. I hope he knows how much I appreciate my new threads (and all the bits and bobs that were 'necessary' to complete the look!) And I know that when we arrive home after our night out, I will go straight to the nursery to check on my babies, to listen to them breath and inhale their baby scent, for I will have missed them terribly! Typical. And that is why, despite all the excitement and preparations and declarations that THIS time I will maintain a beauty routine, that my social life is so decrepit. Oh well. At least I know how pathetic I am! Bring on the bubbly!!

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